Thursday, December 19, 2013

A Christmas Meme

Since it's almost Christmas, I thought I'd do a Christmas meme. 


1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? We've never had presents from Santa. We may have to start if our grandson stays over on Christmas Eve.

3. Colored or white lights on tree or house? The tree has alternate strands of white and blue. The house has blue lights around the window and white lights on the shrubs. We have multi-coloured indoor lights around the kitchen window.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Not the real thing; just a plastic ball in the entry.

5. When do you put your decorations up? We start in middle or late November and aim to have everything up four weeks before the big day.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Roast turkey. I make a wonderful plum pudding, but we are often too full to eat it.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Christmas Eve with my grandparents and their friend, Mrs. A. The windows were dark, the lights were dim, and the Christmas tree glowed brightly in the corner.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I never heard of him until I went to kindergarten. Then my mother explained that he was a lie that bad parents told their children. (Nice, huh?)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have family over on Christmas Eve and we open gifts with them. Next morning Ron and I open our gifts to each other.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Coloured lights, strings of silver beads, and a variety of ornaments. We have a special one for each year we have been together.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love to look at it; hate to shovel it. I want it for Christmas Day, then it can go away till next year.

12. Can you ice skate? I used to skate every day after school and on weekends with my best friend, at an outdoor rink in our neighbourhood. It was free and it was what everyone did back then.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It was a leather purse, full of tiny samples of make-up and cosmetics. I was 13 and it was the perfect gift for me at that age.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
The music.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Shortbread.

16. What tops your tree? Nothing. The tree touches the ceiling so there's no room for a topper.

17. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving, without question.

18. Candy Canes - yuck or yum?  I don't care for the peppermint ones, but there are some wonderful new flavours out there that are pretty good. Butterscotch is my fave.

19. Favorite Christmas show? Haunting Harmony. It's the story of a Canadian choirboy who has been chosen to sing the first verse of "Once in Royal David's City" at the traditional carol service. He meets the ghost of a long-dead Welsh chorister who also wants to sing the solo.

20. What is your favorite Christmas song? "The Huron Carol", Canada's oldest Christmas carol. It's the story of the Nativity written for the Huron Indians in 1643, using imagery that they would understand.




From Hermione's Heart

Please feel free to do this meme and share your holiday customs with us.

16 comments:

garyntboy said...

Beautiful carol, made me think of Christmas 2011 when we went to Ely cathedral to listen to a choir.
Kind regards,
Gary.....Merry Christmas to you and your family...xx

Roz said...

Great meme Hermione, I enjoyed reading your answers.

I think it's sad your mother told you Santa was a lie bad parents told their children and love that you have a special ornament for every year you and Ron have been together.

Hugs,
Roz

Hermione said...

Gary - Sounds wonderful. Cathedrals have such wonderful acoustics.

Roz - Yeah, she's a real Grinch!

Hugs,
Hermione

Aimless Rambling said...

Very haunting melody.

On my post today I used a meme that I borrowed from Ronnie via you. Great minds...

Sorry about your Santa experience and Ray and I always bought a new ornament eery year also.

Bobbie Jo said...

What a beautiful carol for a beautiful people. Thank you for posting it.

My dad would string up multicolored lights (the only kind available at the time) around the house and also we had two tall candle lights that he would put out. One Christmas, he came home with a doll of Emmet Kelly, a famous guy who portrayed a hobo. It had a blinking red light for his nose. That became a part of our Christmas decorations for years.

Two of my favorite memories as a child was helping Mom decorate the tree and making cookie cutter cookies. I had so much fun decorating the cookies. For the tree, we would take Ivory Snow and make "snow" for the branches. The lights went on first and then the "snow." Once it dried, we put on the tinsel and ornaments. On the coffee table, Mom put down a mirror and we had candle snowman figure skaters on that. She sometimes surrounded it with angel's hair. You had to be careful with that because it was spun glass.

We also had a lighted church that we put up every year along with a nativity scene.

My brother and I hug our Christmas stockings on either side of the fireplace. On Christmas morning, the next-door neighbors would come over and watch us open up our presents. It was a fun time.

I don't decorate anymore since it is just me. My brother gives me a center piece for my table and I have that, which is nice.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

ronnie said...

Hermione,

What a lovely meme and a beautiful carol.

How special to buy ornaments every year.

I really did enjoy reading your answers. Thanks for sharing.

Love,
Ronnie
xx

Cat said...

I really enjoyed your answers Hermione.

I am so sorry you have the sad memory of your mother telling you Santa was a lie bad parents told their children.

How wonderful that you have a special ornament for every year you and Ron have been together. I would think that the memories that each bring back would be a very special part of decorating the tree each year.

My mom started a tradition of giving each of my boys a special ornament each Christmas so that when they got their own homes, they had a collection of memories to decorate with.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Blessings…
Cat

Anonymous said...

Fun meme! We celebrate with our children and grandchildren Christmas Eve also. I miss having young children at home Christmas morning and watching them find their gifts from Santa. Can't wait to have everyone together!

Merry Christmas, Clara

Kenzie said...

Loved the picture, and reading your answers. The leather purse with the makeup sounds pretty cool! :)

Minielle Labraun said...

Gosh I loved that song...beautiful, just beautiful.
Loved the Meme. Once I am off for the Holidays, I may borrow it if I can?

SirQsmlb said...

This was awesome, hermione! Thank you so much for sharing!!

I will be steeling it soon =)

Merry Christmas!

hugs,
fiona

Oh ya, btw, were you one of the bad parents who told your kids that there was a santa clause?

Hermione said...

Leigh - So now you'll have a second meme to do!

Bobbie Jo - I remember Ivory Show. You could mix it with a little water and use it to make sculptures. We had that spun g lass stuff too - ouch!

Ronnie - Thanks you.

Cat - That was a lovely traditions your mother started.

Clara - It doesn't seem like a real Christmas without children in the morning.

Kenzie -It was cool!

Minelle - Please be my guest. The more the merrier!

Fiona - I don't have children, so I never had to make that decision. I assume our grandson (Ron's son's child) will be told about him by his parents.

Hugs,
Hermione

Terpsichore said...

thanks for sharing your traditions. :-) I have not had a chance to finish my meme...but will soon...thanks for sharing it! :-) Hugs

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing that! I love learning how others celebrate the holidays.

Terpsichore said...

by the way...sorry about santa...I tell my kids I believe in the magic of santa and that is the truth... :-)

Hermione said...

Terps - I'm looking forward to reading it. Every year we watch "Prancer" which is all about a little girl's belief in Santa. It never fails to make me cry.

Measha - I enjoy it too.

Hugs,
Hermione