The Wednesday Hodgepodge #66

I hope you are all having a good week. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1. What was the last thing you celebrated?

I think the last big celebration was Father's Day when we went out for a meal to celebrate Stu. All our big celebrations are coming up all my family's birthdays over the next couple of months. With nothing big to celebrate, we have been celebrating the little things like the nice weather, leftover pizza for lunch, family time, little adventures, clothes drying out on the line quicker than I can wash them and Ellie having another job interview on Monday. I will write more about it later in the week as I am writing this before the interview happened.

2 July 29th is International Day of the Tiger. Besides the wild animal itself, when you hear the word tiger what's the first person-place-thing-whatever that comes to mind?

When I think of tigers, the first thing I think of is Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh! When Becky was little she loved everything about Tigger and was crazy about the song The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers. She would bounce around singing it at least 5 times a day. I was pregnant and we were talking to Stu’s brother about baby names. He jokingly suggested, in front of Becky, that the new baby should be called Tigger. Well, that was it. Becky was convinced. As far as she was concerned, the baby’s name had already been decided. She told everyone that her new baby sister was going to be called Tigger. After a lot of discussion and tears, she did come around to the idea of her sister being called Ellie. lol

3. The expression 'eye of the tiger' describes someone with intense focus, determination, and the drive to succeed. What area of your life are you currently bringing that kind of energy to?

At the moment, my “eye of the tiger” is probably going into making the most of life and not sitting back waiting for things to happen. I am trying to create my own opportunities instead of waiting for them to appear in front of me. I’m trying to say yes to new experiences, living more in the moment instead of planning everything in great detail and of course, working towards my goals.

4. What was the last meal you cooked?

I am writing this on Sunday morning, so the last meal I cooked was last night and it was homemade pizza. I say homemade but I did cheat slightly and buy ready-made pizza bases and we just added our own toppings. Ellie made her own with way too much on top and I made Stu's and mine. He had tomato and sweet chilli base, onions, mushrooms, pepperoni, ham, salami and cheese. For mine, I had a BBQ base, onions, mushrooms, sweetcorn and chicken with a little bit of cheese on top!

5. Describe your July using exactly five words.

Family, football, walking, busy days!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I have done a silly thing. I wanted something easy to have on the TV in the background and decided to start watching The Walking Dead from the beginning again. I seem to do this every year around this time of year. The good thing this time is that there is even more to watch because I saw on social media that there is a new series of one of the spin-offs, Dead City, which follows Maggie and Negan. The Walking Dead is one of those shows that I loved. The characters, the storylines and all the twists and turns kept me watching even when the last couple of seasons were not that great.

The great sock mystery!

Some people say you know you’re truly running a household when you start losing socks at a suspicious rate. If that’s the case, then I must be running an empire because in 2026, the sock situation has hit a new level in this house. What gets me is that we're not talking about toddlers pulling their socks off and losing them when we're out. We’re talking grown adults, people with jobs who make mostly sensible decisions, yet they can’t keep a pair of socks together for more than a week!

Every time I do the washing I feel hopeful. I open the washing machine and think this is the time when everything will match and every single time, there it is. One sock, alone, looking at me like it has no idea where its mate went. How does this even happen?

Nobody claims responsibility, of course they don't. My youngest says she put both socks in the wash, my eldest promises she didn’t leave one in her room and Stu keeps giving me suspicious looks as if I’m the sock thief. It’s become such a normal part of life that I don’t even get annoyed any more. I just sigh and put the lonely sock in the sock basket. We have one now, as there were so many odd socks at one point, I gave up, put them all in a basket and hoped the pairs would be reunited at one point. My girls don't even care any more, they just wear odd socks which doesn't really help the situation.

I’ve spent more time thinking about where all the socks go than I probably should. So I came up with a few theories, not wild, not silly, just everyday possibilities that somehow still never fully explain it.

The bedroom black hole!

My girls seem to have one in each of their bedrooms as so many things go in their bedrooms never to be seen again. There must be something about bedrooms that just swallow socks. They tidy, hoover but then they move the bed slightly and suddenly eight socks appear and of course, not one of them matches the others.

The laundry basket problem!

Everyone in the house will swear they definitely put both socks in the basket but I’ve lived here long enough to know what actually happens: one sock goes in and the other gets abandoned on the landing, behind a radiator or under a chair. It’s always somewhere weird, like it got tired halfway to the basket and needed a lie down.

The washing machine shuffle!

Somehow, socks love clinging inside sleeves or getting stuck inside trouser legs. Half the time, I find them curled up inside a hoodie like they’ve been on a little ride and forgot to tell anyone.

I can’t be the only one who feels proud when two socks finally match up again. It feels like I’ve solved a tiny puzzle no one asked me to solve. The funny part is that even though everyone in this house is an adult now, the sock mystery hasn’t improved. In fact, I think it might be worse. Adults have bigger socks, more socks and an incredible ability to lose them mere minutes after taking them off. I try to be organised. I’ve bought matching sock sets, I’ve tried washing them in those little mesh bags and I’ve done the whole only buying black socks, so everything matches thing but no matter what, the sock chaos continues!

Sometimes I think the mystery isn’t meant to be solved. It’s just one of those small, everyday things that make a home feel like a home. Do you have a problem with odd socks?

Our weekly meal plan! 27th July - 2nd August!! #MealPlanningMonday

How are we heading into August already? I keep saying it but this year is flying over! Before we know it, we'll be buying Halloween sweets and then it'll be Christmas! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was a nice quiet one and just what we needed. Our weekend was mostly spent gardening, watching TV and nothing much else. It was nice though.

Last week's meal plan did not go to plan at all and only started going to plan on Friday. lol All our plans changed at the start of the week and we never really got back on track. All was good though. We didn't eat badly and we ended up having ham salad one night because it was quick and easy, chicken fajitas because everyone fancied them and some leftover Bolognese from the freezer, which was one of those meals that saved the day.

This week we have a few nice plans that I'm looking forward to. Becky is planning on doing a little baking. It all came about because her partner couldn't get their favourite banana bread from the shop, so she said she would bake some. I bought the bananas with the food shop late last week so they will be almost overripe when she comes to use them. Stu also has a day off work this week, which doesn't happen all that often, so we're going to make the most of it and do something as a family. Everyone is free and it has been a while since that happened.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Pork and apple sausages with potato wedges and mushrooms and peas!

We're starting the week with something nice and easy. I really like pork and apple sausages as they just seem a bit more interesting than plain sausages and the apple gives them a lovely little bit of sweetness. I'll pop the potato wedges in the air fryer until they're nice and crispy, the mushrooms fried and we'll have peas on the side too.

Tuesday - Chicken dippers in wraps with salad!

This is one of those meals where everyone can make their own wrap just how they like it. I'll cook the chicken dippers in the air fryer and everyone can fill them with whatever they want. Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and whatever salad bits we have in the fridge.

Wednesday - Cheeseburger pasta bake!

We're having something a little different in the middle of the week. We had this cheeseburger pasta bake before, many moons ago and I fancy making it again. It has all the flavours of a cheeseburger but mixed with pasta and loads of cheese on top. I'll probably serve it with some garlic bread because this meal feels like it has to have garlic bread!

Thursday - Quiche and salad!

After Wednesday's pasta bake, we're keeping things nice and simple on Thursday! Quiche is an easy tea and it's perfect at this time of year with plenty of salad. It will be shop-bought quiche, probably cheese and onion or cheese and bacon.

Friday - An all day breakfast!

We'll be having sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans and chips. I know some people would prefer to have hash browns but we've always preferred chips as they seem more filling.

Saturday - Chinese takeway!

We haven't had a Chinese takeaway in what seems like ages, so I think we're due one. I usually go for sweet and sour chicken balls with fried rice but I will be pinching bits from everyone else's meals too. That's the best thing about a takeaway in our house, everyone shares.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plan for Sunday. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy and use up bits from the fridge, freezer and cupboards.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 19th - 25th July Week 30 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. I have had a great week with lots of time outside, which is always a good thing when the weather has been so nice, warm but not too hot! We've had another quiet weekend so far and I don't have much planned for today apart from watching TV, catching up on some blogging and eating lots of nice food.

Now for a photo every day!

200/365 19th July

I didn't want to like the half-time show during the World Cup, it seemed like such an American thing but I loved it! My favourite part was definitely The Muppets appearing. I was not expecting that at all and it made me laugh. 

201/365 20th July

Mine and Ellie's little adventure on the sculpture trial started with brunch! We decided to have something to eat before heading off and it was a lovely way to start our day. The food was only OK though. The sausages were too undercooked for my liking and the bacon was overdone. We didn’t let that spoil our day and we definitely walked off all the calories afterwards.

202/365 21st July

I don’t think my cherry tomatoes are actually cherry tomatoes! They are carrying on growing and growing but they are not turning red yet. I keep checking them hoping to see them changing colour but not yet. I do love growing things, even when it doesn’t always go exactly to plan.

203/365 22nd July

It seems like years since I have had a butterfly cake! Ellie brought me one in and it took me straight back to being a kid. They were always a Sunday afternoon tea treat and a favourite at parties. It was a lovely little surprise and definitely brightened up my day.

204/365 23rd July

I love the sunflowers in my garden. I always thought sunflowers moved to face the sun but mine are doing their own thing and pointing in all different directions. I read that young sunflowers do follow the sun but once they mature they usually face east. There's a little fun fact for you.

205/365 24th July

The farmers around here have been really busy harvesting their crops over the past couple of weeks. We've heard them at all hours doing their thing. It always amazes me how quickly it all happens. They were busy on Thursday and I passed by the field while they were combining. I ended up getting a mouthful of dust from the machines but I still had to stop and take a photo because it is such a fun part of living in the countryside.

206/365 25th July

Stu is planning on decorating the bathroom when he has some time off work next month. He has some big plans and has been ordering stuff in preparation. Instead of painting around the shower, he's ordered some PVC shower wall panels, so it'll look a bit different when it's finished. It's his project, so I'm quite happy to let him get on with it. The last couple of times the bathroom has been decorated, I've been the one doing all the work, so I'm more than ready to let him get on with it. It might be one of the smallest rooms in the house but it always seems to take the most work!

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