'Tis the season to send Christmas cards

December is here and I am officially allowed to write about Christmas, am I right? I hope that this will be a wonderful month for us all. I'll be going to Finland for the holidays and that's always great.

It's important to be nice all year round of course, but if it sometimes gets forgotten in all the everyday hectic, amends can surely be made around Christmas time. In my post Give a very merry Christmas from last December I wrote about being charitable and helping others, and I also want to remind of that again.

With today's post I want to encourage you to remember somebody with a card for Christmas, and also show you a few Christmas cards from my collection, old and new. That collection grows constantly, because I always buy more cards than I send. Quite often I prefer animals in serene settings on the cards, and I'm sure you won't be too surprised to learn that I have an extensive hedgehog card collection.

I love beautiful cards in general and like sending them to all occasions, but especially at Christmas it's nice to remember your loved ones and friends with a card. In my family this tradition is still luckily alive and well, but I'm afraid that many people are nowadays using the electronic greeting options instead. I think that a simple card can be a nice gesture and cheer people up, especially those who are lonely. If you know someone like that, maybe an elderly person or a long-lost friend, wouldn't it be great to send or give them a little card?

Give a very merry Christmas

It is finally December and Christmas, my favourite holiday, is getting close! I'm very excited and aim to inspire you with vegetarian Christmas meal and snack ideas throughout the whole month. Today however I'm not posting a recipe, but writing about being charitable. Isn't it such a wonderful feeling when you can help at least a little bit? I think it's always important to help others and Christmas is a good time to actually do something. Of course everyone should choose a charity or cause that is important to them personally, but as the hedgehog cause is close to my heart, I'm going to give you some tips how you can help hedgehogs and other wildlife near you.

There are many ways to help. You can make donations or volunteer to help at any of your local wildlife charities. Many local hedgehog rescue centers would be grateful for hedgehog food, blankets, bowls etc. and many of them even have wishlists in a popular online shop, so it's very convenient and easy for you to help.

On the British Hedgehog Preservation Society web page you can donate or raise money for hedgehogs or become a member of the society. You can also found plenty of useful information relating to hedgehogs there.

Also the Hedgehog Street is a great initiative. You can become a Hedgehog Champion and work with your neighbours in order to establish suitable habitats for hedgehogs right in your own area. Registering can be done easily online.

If you're interested in protecting wildlife near you, have a look at The Wildlife Trusts web pages what you can do. There are many options what can be done, you can even adopt a hedgehog.

RSPB has a nice gift shop, where you can purchase for example ten metres of hedgerow in the UK countryside. How about giving that to someone for Christmas instead of the usual Kitsch?

Us hedgehogs may hibernate in the winter, but we always wake up for Christmas and are very grateful for your support! Have a hoggy Christmas! #helpforhedgehogs

Your VegHog