Early December hodgepodge

 

  Time for the Hodgepodge again, where Joyce asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers on their own blogs! It's good blog fodder for today's December Daily post, so here we go:

 1. 'Tis the season to be jolly....so are you? 

I wouldn't say jolly, precisely.  Happy, certainly, and definitely joyful -- but I can't say I'm jolly.

Lovely, meaningful graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.  Check out her Advent series!

 
2. Do you trim a tree this time of year, and if so is yours all done? What's something in your home-closet-life that needs to be trimmed in the new year? 

We do trim a tree, and it is not done.  (That's last year's tree below.)  My hubby was talking about wanting to get a real tree, so if we do that the tree will not go up early.  As far as something in my home/closet/life that needs trimming in the new year, I'd say all of those areas have something that needs trimming.  Clutter is probably the biggest thing I want to trim.

3. Are you 'dreaming of a white Christmas'? Is that a possibility where you'll be celebrating? 

 Yes, it is a possibility here in New Hampshire.   We have a small amount of snow on the ground currently, but more warm temps and rain are predicted, so it's possible we might not have snow for Christmas.  But we do have it, more Christmases than not.

 

I am not likely to venture up Mt. Washington as cited below -- yes, it will have snow, but it will also have insane winds and subzero temps.  Mt. Washington famously has the worst weather on earth.  The article was a bit misleading: "For a New England white Christmas ... go here."  However, here's a quote from the Mt. Washington State Park website: 

"The Visitor Center at the top of Mount Washington is now closed to the public and will re-open at a date to be determined in May of 2022. 

There are currently no services, amenities, or any indoor shelter available at the top of Mount Washington for summit visitors and hikers."

So I really can't recommend you visit there for Christmas.

According to this site the top ten places in the US you can count on for a white Christmas are- North Pole Alaska, Crater Lake Oregon, Yellowstone National Park, Winthrop Washington, Aspen Colorado, Ketchum Idaho, Mt. Washington New Hampshire, Whitefish Montana, Duluth Minnesota, and the Lake Tahoe town of Truckee California

Of the snowy spots listed which would you most like to visit? 

 I will go with Whitefish, Montana.  (But the photo below is our woodpile, here in NH)

4. December 8th is National Brownie Day...will you be celebrating? How do you like your brownies-chewy or cake-like, frosted or plain, nuts or no nuts, a piece from the middle or give me the corner? As a child were you a member of a brownie troop? 

Hmmm .... I had not known about this, but maybe we will celebrate.  My mother always baked brownies for her Christmas goodie trays, frosting them with white frosting and decorating with poinsettias made from candied cherries.  They were so pretty!

I like my brownies moist and chewy.  Frosted (with chocolate frosting) are the best.  Nuts are optional.  The corner sounds good to me.  (My father-in-law always requested a corner piece from any frosted cake, since the corners tend to have more frosting.)

Not a member of a Brownie troop.  I briefly considered becoming a Girl Scout, but ended up not.

5. Share a favorite line or two from a Christmas carol or holiday tune. 

How about this one: "I've got the candles glowing in the dark."    Not even sure what holiday tune it is from, but I hear it frequently when I listen to our "local" Christmas station.  That line jumps out at me every time as summing up just what I am trying to do right here, right now in a very dark world.

This card is  (or was; it may have sold) in my Etsy shop.  Isn't it gorgeous?

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We're trying to plan our annual tradition with four of our local grandkids.   Recall, we tweaked it last year (read about it here: Tweaking a tradition if you missed it), and this year we are planning by mutual agreement to tweak it even more.  They will come here for breakfast, then we will have a time of candy making and crafting.  Later, we'll go out for ice cream at the place pictured below.  Everyone is so busy, we just have to find a day that works for all of us.

And the Hodgepodge is a wrap for this week!  If you'd like to join in too,  head over to From This Side of the Pond to get the questions and link up.