Plating it Up: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

 

Do you feel like you have a 'full plate' at the moment? In what way?

Yes, and no.  I finished up teaching a course a couple of weeks ago, so one huge thing was removed from my plate.  Now I'm heading into the fun season of a full plate.  I'm prepping for holiday celebrations and my upcoming two week Christmas break.  I'm also looking over my 25 for 2025 list to see what fun things are left to complete.

How did you learn to cook? If you have children did you teach or encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more 'let's wing it'.  

Most of my cooking skills came from observation mixed with trial and error.  I took Home Economics in 7th grade.  However, as I've mentioned previously, the teacher's "Pitchfork and Torches" technique of instruction did nothing for either my sewing or cooking skills. Fortunately my mom and my older sisters Ida and Margie were great examples to observe when I was younger.  I "inherited by osmosis" their propensity to be able to either follow a recipe to a T, or tweak it depending on what's needed.

Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. 

Although I've been at this for four years, every new college course I teach feels that way to some extent. The students who dig deep and challenge me with questions aren't the problem--they are a delight.  The students who don't care, don't do the work, and have no respect for the subject (and sometimes the instructor) infuriate me and occasionally send me into existential dread.

Hey, I take theology seriously. 

When did you last say 'the more the merrier' and mean it? 

Whenever any of my friends and I get together for something fun, I'm game for as many as are able to enjoy. 

Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. 

Today
Have 
A
New
Kind of 
Song in your heart 

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts." - Colossians 3:16 (The Holy Bible: New International Version)

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. 

Insert your own random thought here. 

In case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post "Puppy Power" is here.
• My latest Weekly Digest "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is here.
  
• My latest First Line Friday post: #39:  The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here.  (Updated regularly)
• My "2025 I Can Only Blame MyShelf Reading Challenge" is here. (Updated regularly)

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: The Weekly Digest

 

Looking out the window....

Our first snow of the season is quickly approaching.  The fall colors are fading fast, but bright holiday decorations will soon take the grey out of the corners.  The crows and magpies are still screaming their morning heavy metal riffs.  Hopefully they will hang around all winter since they are not migratory birds.  The bunnies and squirrels are still scampering around making their last preparations for sheltering for the winter.

Favorite quote(s) of the week... 

 

Come, then, and let us seek His face. There is no reason for despair, or even for despondency. Let us love a God who disciplines us, and before long we will sing, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me (Isaiah 12:1). Be gone, you dreary forebodings, you ravens of the soul! Come in, you humble hopes and grateful memories, you doves of the heart! He who pardoned us long ago as a judge will again forgive us as a father, and we will rejoice in His sweet, unchanging love. - Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 343. 

 

It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us-the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage-may-eventually be gathered together in heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss-except the inventor of the telephone. - Mark Twain, Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living, 49:37 in audiobook version. 

 

Many imagine that faith is entirely irrational.  But Scripture never sets faith and reason over against each other as incompatible.  On the contrary, faith can only arise and grow within us by the use of our minds. - John Stott, Balanced Christianity, Chapter 2, around 12:41 in audiobook version.

 

The melancholic is both outgoing and shy--in love with people and yet craving of time alone. He can be the center of attention and yet one who walks the solitary hills for hours alone with his thoughts. - Michael R. Phillips, George MacDonald, Chapter 3, around 1:50:18 in audiobook version.

 

"If persons are often highly affected when with others and but little moved when they have none but God in Christ to converse with, it looks very darkly upon their religion." - Jonathan Edwards, qtd. by Donald S. Whitney in Chapter 7 of Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health.

 

I'm thinking about... 

• My 26 for 2026 list.  Anybody got any ideas?
• My one word for the season.  I think I have one and I'll blog about it soon. 
• What I want to call my 2026 reading challenge and what art to make for it. 
• Remaking my "Auntie's Workshop" logo...yes again. 

   

What I've read since the last digest...

• The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis by Jason M. Baxter  ✮✮✮✮
• Balanced Christianity by John Stott ✮✮✮✮ 
• Ester Ried by Isabella MacDonald Alden ✮✮✮✮ (a glorious reread).  Please see my review of this work here.

I'm currently reading...

• The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
• The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald.  Please see my First Line Friday post here.
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Orange is the New Chicken'" is here.
  
• Puppy Power:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

From the Workshop... 

Well, it's finished!  Yes, this is the project I've been hinting at for a couple of months.  It's called a "String Quilt."  If you want to see the instructional video on how this is made, please watch here.  Normally, it's made with leftover scraps from other projects.  However, I purposely planned out the color scheme of this one.  I purchased the 10-inch paper piecing squares online, cut several fat quarters into 2.50-inch strips, and followed the instructions in the video.  This was so much fun.  BTW--a plain Elmer's washable purple school glue stick works just as well as the glue they recommended.  This pattern will be yet one more good use for scraps.

I am thankful for...

• Pleasant smelling candles and essential oils.
• Relatively consistent sleep.
• Early morning coffee or tea. 
• Our IT team at work. They have to deal with some weird stuff.
• The "skip ad" button on YouTube. 
• Finishing my yearly reading challenge early this year. 

 

 

 

 

 

First Line Friday #39: The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald

Thanks to Carrie at
Reading is My Superpower
for the Link-up

 

 

Title:  The Princess and Curdy
Author:  George MacDonald
Genre: Children's Fantasy

    〰First Line〰

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

Curdy was the son of Peter the miner. He lived with his father and mother in a cottage built on a mountain, and he worked with his father inside the mountain.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────

Synopsis:  (From Goodreads) 

Curdie, the miner’s son, meets a mysterious wise woman who gives him a magical gift and sends him off on a dangerous journey to the city of Gwyntystorm, where the king resides. On his way, Curdie meets with strange creatures and makes unlikely friends, before uncovering a great threat to the king’s household and the whole kingdom. Will he and the Princess Irene be able to avert disaster? What will the fate of Gwyntystorm be? In this classic tale of adventure, George MacDonald weaves his storytelling magic—the same enchantment which has inspired many noteworthy fantasy writers over the past century, including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. If you’re a fan of Narnia and Middle Earth, you’ll find in MacDonald’s stories many elements which are at once familiar and entirely unique. Enjoy these beautifully designed editions—again and again—or share the wonder of "The Princess and Curdie" with someone special.

 〰First Thoughts〰

One of my favorite YouTube channels is Malcolm Guite's channel.  I was introduced to his writings during my studies at Colorado Christian University.  He mainly films from his study where he shares gems from his own writings as well as insights on his favorites authors.  One of his favorites is the Scottish-born fantasy author and poet George MacDonald (I've included one of Guite's videos below).  MacDonald's writings have also been mentioned by C. S. Lewis as part of the reason he became a Christian.  Hearing all this--plus a recent reading of one of his biographies-got me curious about his writings.  Then I remembered that a friend had given me a copy of The Princes and Curdy.  

My only trepidation about reading this is my fear of not understanding it.  From what I have observed from scholars and experts on MacDonald, his writings can be convoluted and difficult to decipher.  I'll have to employ the same strategy with this volume as I did when I made my third (and finally successful) attempt to read through all the Chronicles of Narnia series last year--don't get bogged down with trying to find a deeper meaning; just be a kid and enjoy the story for what it is. 

 

So, what's the first line of the book you're currently reading?