Wednesday Hodgepodge

Well, look at me, 2nd week in a row to participate in the HP. Yea!  And, it's the busiest time of the year but guess I'm on a roll.  Many thanks to Joyce for staying with us all these years and coming up with fun questions week in and week out.

1. What's one fun thing on your December calendar? 

I have several fun things on my calendar but one that I'm really looking forward to is our daughter's arrival with her 3 "sidekicks" on the 26th.  Her husband will be unable to come as they have a zoo (horses, sheep and dogs and puppies due to arrive near Christmas) and someone has to care for the zoo.  Often they can hire someone to do the caring but it can get rather hard to do so during the holidays.  So, that's just the way it is and we, as Joyce would say, roll with it. 

2. Sherwin William's Color of the Year for 2024 is Upward, described as 'a hint of silver lining', 'a breezy blissful blue' (see sample here). Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year for 2024 is Blue Nova, where 'violet and blue come together in a sumptuous hue'. (see sample here) Valspar's Color of the Year for 2024 is Renew Blue, a balanced blue with a touch of grayed sea -green' (see sample here). 

Seems like the design world is keen on the color blue for the new year. Do you have a lot of blue in your home decor currently? What shade? Of the three colors listed which one's your favorite? Do you need to paint? How likely is it you'd select one of these shades for your home? Which one? 

I do have a little blue in our house.  The above is one of our guest bedrooms in a soft grey blue with that color carried out in the bedding.

Our more formal dining area is a silver  grey blue that I love.  We used Sherwin William colors throughout the house.  These are the only two rooms with "blueish" colors.

Upward would be my choice of the colors listed and we do not need to paint inside, perhaps the porch columns in the future.  But, we would most definitely not use any of the new shades of 2024 for them. They will be repainted the original color, a light off white.

3. Do you struggle with 'the seasonal blues'? What are some things you do to try to beat the blues? 

I don't know that I would call it struggle but the week between Christmas and New Years can be a real downer for me.  I don't dwell on it but rather work on all the year end things, organize and clean and clean.  It keeps me busy and before I know it, it's January 2nd of a new year.

4. Blue jeans...love 'em or no? How many pair do you own? Are you married to a particular brand? 

A couple of years ago Bridget introduced me to Democracy jeans and it was a game changer.  They have the absolution technology that makes them so comfortable in the waist.  I'd have to say I LOVE them.  They have "bocoos" of styles, colors and lengths.  As to how many jeans I have. Well, let's just say, toooooo many.  Chicos has a style that I wear too but it's mainly Democracy and they're priced so, so reasonably.

5. In terms of holiday preparation (baking, shopping, wrapping, mailing, meal planning, etc) how far along are you? 1=haven't given it a second thought, 10=nothing left to do but wait. 

I'm at about an 8 or 9. Tree is up and touches of other decor around,  gifts are bought and wrapped, cards are ready to mail, meals are planned and groceries bought (unless it's an item that can't be bought this far in advance).  And, I've made my usual 30 - 35# of fudge and have begun wrapping and delivering it.  I've been making this fudge for almost 40 years and I think you might call that a tradition for sure.

The above picture is of 10 packages of fudge ready to be delivered day before yesterday. It's one of the highlights of the season for me.  I love seeing just how attractive I can package  it. I know, weird! ~chuckle~ If you happen to be interested, you can find the recipe for Cotton Country  5# Fudge under my Recipe Tab at the top of my blog.  I also added a whole lot of helpful hints to the recipe.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our family Christmas will be after Christmas this year.  Every few years it happens like this.  Bridget and family, when it works, come before Christmas and go home on the 23rd so they can be home for Christmas Day.  But, this year the boys do not get out of school until the 21st and that doesn't leave them enough time to come and get home on the 23rd.  So, they will arrive on the 26th this year, we'll have our family Christmas on the 27th and then just enjoy each other until they have to head back to Oklahoma on the 30th.  It's never bothered me as to the date we have our Christmas, we make it work when we can all be together.