Are you a bird-brain??

It seems that birds of a feather flock together!  So, if you are reading this you are probably a blogging friend of mine.  Or, perhaps you are a Facebook friend popping in to see what this week's Hodgepodge questions are all about.   Read on to see that there is a theme this week.  Joyce, our dedicated blog leader, connected the questions once again!

1.  Joyce's hubby spent last weekend pheasant hunting.  Are there hunters in your family?  If so, what do they hunt?  Which of the following have you tasted - pheasant, rabbit, venison, duck, goose?   Which would you most like to taste, or are most willing to taste? 

Right off the bat, Joyce has a question that strikes a chord in me.  I do not have immediate family members that hunt, but I married into some that do.  And living here in South Carolina, I am surrounded by people who enjoy hunting as a sport, who were raised holding a gun from a very young age.

I did not grow up that way.  So, I have a couple of issues with it.  First, I do not like the fact that SO many people own guns.   I consider them too available, and therefore there is mis-use and accidents and I think it can be "asking for trouble."   Good  and careful hunters lock them up.  I am glad about that.   I also do not understand shooting at a living thing (a creature of God) and killing it.   There was a time in our country's past when our forefathers HAD to hunt to survive, to provide food for them and their families.  But, we do not need to do "survival hunting" anymore.  So, now it's a "sport" and not a necessity.

As for the list of animals above, I do not think I have had any. Maybe duck a long time ago.

2.  What high spot have you visited that gave you a wonderful 'bird's eye view' of something below? 

Immediately I thought about how I had been to the top of one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in NYC, to a bar and restaurant that used to be there.  It was an amazing view of all of Manhattan, and the boroughs - and all the way to parts of New Jersey.    Of course, we all know what happened to that view.

I have been to the top of other tall buildings - and to the top of a couple of lighthouses. The lighthouses give beautiful views of the waters and beaches.

3.  Do you have any birds in your home?  These could be either live pets or decorative, as in bird prints, knickknacks, fabric, or pottery. 

No real birds here inside! Only outdoors and free!    We have a cabin on the Black River about 40 minutes from here.  On the cabin's screened-in porch I have a small pottery bird.  i also have a print hanging above the couch there that has a bird sitting on a branch.

4.  Tell about a time you 'killed two birds with one stone.'

I can't think of a particular incident, but I suppose I try to do that as often as possible.  Isn't it another way of saying 'multi-tasking'??

5.  Your favorite song with a bird in the title?  

"Blackbird" by the Beatles.   And, who doesn't love "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd??

6.  What most recently gave you goose bumps? 

This past week, my hubby, my brother, and I took our boat down the Intracoastal Waterway from Pawleys Island to Beaufort.  It was a 6 hour boat ride each way…so we spent the night on the boat in Beaufort!  I got goose bumps when it got chilly and I have skinny legs that look like chicken legs when they get goose bumps on them! ha!!   Attractive - not!    But, it was a lovely trip, and a fun adventure.   So, I got goose bumps from the beauty of nature - and real goose bumps from the chill in the night air!

7.  Halloween is this Friday….any plans?  Did you trick or treat as a child?  Carve pumpkins? Share your most memorable costume. 

First, we have no specific plans for Halloween this year.  We do not get trick or treaters at our home so I think we will go out for a Friday dinner at a restaurant.

Yes, I did trick or treat as a kid!   I'm sure I was part of the pumpkin carving process too, but as the youngest of three I think my older siblings did the cutting, and getting the goop and seeds out of it.  I watched.

I used one of my mother's old fancy black formal dresses as the base for a few costumes when I was a kid.  I remember I used it to be a gypsy…adding a red bandana, big earrings, lots of baubles.     When we three kids were really little we did actually go to the store and pick out the plastic mask and costume that came in the box.  Remember those?    Do they even make them anymore?

8. My random thought this week. 

I am making wine cork Christmas trees to sell at a church festival/bazaar right before Thanksgiving.  I put a picture up on Facebook and already have "advanced orders".  They are a hit!   I ran out of corks and put out a plea for some more, and church members and others have come through for me.  So, now I need to get busy and make more.  Below is a picture of the sample one I made.