Spring hodgepodge

My kitchen island decorated for maple season

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for the  Hodgepodge with Joyce and the gang at From This Side of the Pond.  Head on over to Joyce's and get this week's questions, answer them on your own blog, and then link up.  The Hodgepodge is a great solution to writer's block, and it's also a fine way to get to know other bloggers.  Here goes with today's questions:

1. Setting aside the real March Madness (NCAA Basketball) describe something happening at your house this month that might earn the title 'March Madness'?

Mud Season is beginning, and that tends to drive me mad.  I detest mud.  Yes, yes, I know it's because of snow melting and frost coming out of the ground, and those are GOOD things.  But mud is ugly.  And the grit that gets tracked in during mud season!

2. What's a favorite made up word from your childhood or a favorite from your children's childhood? Does your family still use the word today? If there's a story behind the origin please share.

Wow, there are a lot of ways I could answer this question (a question I would never have thought of, by the way.  Joyce is so inventive.). My mother used a lot of words that had to have been made up, though I'm not sure who did so or what the story was behind them.  For example, anything not straight or plumb earned the description "skewangly".  Pronounced skew (as in skewed)- angle-ee.  She might use this to refer to anything from an uneven hemline to a pan of inaccurately cut brownies.  I seldom use it, but sometimes I find myself thinking it.

This photo of falling snow is from 2011

One of our favorite family expressions came from my daughter.  Away at college, she once said in a phone conversation, "It's snowing like a bandstand here."  She likely meant to say "snowing to beat the band", but that's not how it came out.  Whenever we experience a heavy snowfall, that expression still gets used.  Snowing like a bandstand.  That happened just last Tuesday when we got about a foot of the white stuff.

3. Will you be doing any spring cleaning now that the season is upon us? I read here a list of 15 quick (under one hour) spring cleaning tasks. They were-

clean out a drawer, vacuum furniture, whiten tile grout, dust the nooks and crannies you don't get to year round, degrease kitchen cabinets, wipe down walls, go behind furniture, wipe down ceiling fans, vacuum the mattress, clean the range hood, wash baseboards, shine the stainless steel, clean out vents, tackle the windows, and wipe down gadgets

Of the fifteen 'quick' tasks listed which two most need doing at your house? Will you do them?

I try to keep up with cleaning all year round so that I don't have to do spring cleaning as such.  But I usually fail miserably, so yes, I have begun doing some spring cleaning.

Of the fifteen "quick" tasks listed, I can cross three of them off right now since I don't have grout, ceiling fans, or a range hood!  Of the remaining twelve tasks, since I can only choose two, probably wiping down walls and dusting nooks and crannies would be the most necessary.  The mattress and stainless steel were recently done, and I've done several drawers in the past week.

4. A favorite movie set in Paris or New York?

Annie.

5. What's put a spring in your step this month?

Some warm sunny days and several opportunities for mini-dates with my hubby.

6. Did you ever want to be a teacher? Why or why not?

I never did as a child or young person,  because teaching meant standing up in front of people and talking, something that terrified me.  As an adult, however, after trusting Christ as Savior, I came to realize that teaching is one of my spiritual gifts.  I've taught both kids and ladies in Sunday School, and have also worked as a teacher's aide at a Christian school.  It's so interesting to see how God works in our lives.

7.  What's your favorite floral scent? Do you have this somewhere in your home or maybe in a perfume? How do you feel about florals in food? How about wines with floral notes-yay or nay?

Hmmm... a toss-up between honeysuckle, apple blossoms, and lily-of-the-valley.  I have had each of these as perfume over the years.  I think edible flowers on/in food make a unique and interesting garnish.  We don't drink wine so I had no idea there were actual floral notes in wines.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

March is National Crafting Month and, although I've accomplished very little crafting, I have tried to work on something every day.  Mostly, it's been a cross-stitch Christmas ornament featuring a cardinal on a tree branch.  You can see a scan of the kit, below.

I did finish a crocheted hot mat too -- from this pattern -- some have asked about it, so here's the link -- Scalloped Potholder --

The one I just finished is a different color, but you get the idea.

A stack of finished hot mats, last summer

and I've been continuing to work on these fabric alphabet letters.

 Happy Hodgepodge Day, everyone!