December 6 Hodgepodge

 I'd say the general store above was filled with a hodgepodge of Christmasy things, wouldn't you agree?  This is a scan of a Christmas card our family sent one year when I was growing up.  I know, because the card was signed by me with the names of my parents and siblings.  My mother often had me sign and address the Christmas cards to help out, and that was a chore I enjoyed taking on.  This one, along with several others, apparently did not get sent.  My guess as to why?  I'm supposing that my perfectionist mother didn't think the cards I'd chosen were right for those particular recipients and re-did them, tucking the unsent ones away so I wouldn't know.  No matter -- I'm happy this card with its fun scene was there for me to find, as I'd forgotten all about it!

I'm not sure how this happened so fast, but it's Wednesday again -- not to mention that it's also December!   So it's time for the Hodgepodge with Joyce and friends at From This Side of the Pond.  Head on over to get the questions.  Then answer them on your own blog and go back over to Joyce's to link up!   Here are the [very challenging] questions for this week:

1. What title would you give this current chapter of your life?

What an interesting question!  Let's see.  Maybe "a tale of two houses" for I am spending time at two.  Maybe "never enough time."  Maybe "the endless season" as it seems I am never going to be finished with this task.

2. December 6 is National Microwave Oven Day. Who knew? Besides popcorn and coffee reheats, what's the most common thing you microwave? Could you get along without a microwave?

I microwave leftovers quite frequently.  I also use the microwave to soften butter or margarine for baking cookies, to heat a mug of water for tea, to melt chocolate or butter for various recipes, to make oatmeal, to cook frozen vegetables.  If I am making a baked potato just for myself, I'll bake it in the microwave.  Some types of candy, such as almond brittle or peanut brittle, are easily made in a microwave.  Although there was that one time ... when making almond brittle, a kitchen disaster did occur.

Could I get along without a microwave?  Absolutely, but it really does simplify my time in the kitchen and saves a lot of dishes.

3. If you could insert yourself into any Christmas carol and experience the lyrics in real life, which Christmas carol lyric would you choose and why?

Another fascinating question that really makes one stop and think.  Of course any of the biblical ones like "Joy to the World" or "O Little Town of Bethlehem" or "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" would be neat to be part of, but you know, I really am happy to be living in modern times.  "Silver Bells" has always been one of my favorites.  How about this one: "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"?  I would like to take a look at the five and ten, glistening once again, and the tree in the Grand Hotel, and one in the park as well.  I suppose that is not strictly a Christmas carol, but it sure is a Christmas song.

4. Describe the most beautiful drive you've ever taken.

 Oh, that would really be difficult.  I would say almost any drive on Prince Edward Island.  Potato fields -- gorgeous green plants against red earth -- and fields of lupines, sloping down to the sea.  I have taken other scenic drives, up mountains and so on, but those invariably involve hairpin turns and switchbacks.  If I am truly to enjoy the scenery, it's better that the drive be straightforward and uncomplicated.

Partway up Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park

5. What's something on your Christmas list this year? (an actual list or figuratively speaking, either one)
 
On my actual list: Several winter getaways with my husband.
On my figurative list: The finished task of a cleaned-out house.  Also a new pastor for our church. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

 I seem to be enjoying Christmas music more than ever this year.  It's making a great backdrop for cleaning, baking cookies, whatever I'm doing.  My sorting and clearing out at my dad's home is being made much more enjoyable by having Christmas music playing while I'm working.  I just purchased John McDermott's The Holly and the Ivy and am loving it.

Music filled the house when my girls were home from college on Christmas break, back in the day

And so ends another Hodgepodge!  Happy Wednesday, everyone!  And Happy December, too.