And the Winner Is . . .

Me, or more accurately this wreath, which was created as my entry for the 2020 wreath competition here at our mill apt residence. 

The good news is that there was a prize associated with this win — a $100 Visa gift card. The unfortunate bad news is that there was only a single prize, which of course is now mine. It's valid until 2029, and I have no immediate spending plans. However, I will be celebrating a(nother) birthday early next month, and a self-treat is always nice.

WHY did I use the term unfortunate?

For two reasons, although we live in a very large apt complex with many apt doors, there were only 4 contest entries. This is out of a complex with over 300 inside doors. Contest rules were that the entry had to be handmade and only a door wreath would qualify even though residents decorate outside their apts like as we do. Online voting was done by residents the resident portal several days after the holidays.

So why the lack of entries? It might have been due to having only a single prize award. In past years, not only had there been more entries, not an overflow to be sure, but enough to qualify for the awarding of multiple prizes, 1st, 2nd, 3rd.

Management announced, in advance of the competition, that there would only be a single grand prize award. I publicly questioned that decision and was advised that as there were never a lot of entries, it was decided to only award a single prize this year. This made no sense to me. If entrants feel they have more than one chance to win something, isn't that always better odds?

While the lack of prize categories may have resulted in the sparse number of entries. Another factor could also be indifference. However, it does seem that with so many being at home, including entire families, there would have been keener interest to possibly win.

I enjoyed working on my entry during most of November and was pleased to have won. Unlike some others, I'm not a long-time crafter, but was just having some pre-holiday fun. I created four different wreaths from pine cones and corks; the other three were given as gifts. An added benefit was listening to audio books while making them. 

I thanked those who voted for my entry win, and complemented the other entrants (all done on the resident portal). And, in the spirit of graciousness, here are the other contest entries. Personally, I thought that #4 was very creative considering the present times.

Over the weekend, we took down the holiday decorations. Notice that I did not say all of them because when we looked at the windows, these two stragglers remained. Since the containers were already back in storage and stacked, we're keeping these hanging around the apt until  joined by their counterparts this December. Has this ever happened to you as well?

Meanwhile, we're still awaiting wintry weather to return. The  last measurable snowfall here in Nashua, NH, was Dec 11. This week, I saw photos of snowfall in parts of Texas, Canada, Japan, and Spain, so much for winter in New England.

Ending this post on a sad note and asking fellow bloggers to please keep fellow blogger Edna, in your thoughts. Her beloved canine companion, Pogo, died earlier this week.