Snail Mail

I've ordered some Save the Post Office Cinderella stamps from The Perforated Post!  Aren't they cool!  Perforated and gummed like real stamps.  :) Can't wait for them to arrive.  

I love both versions,

and I will, of course, continue to buy real stamps

and to send letters and postcards--

adding the faux postage from The Perforated Post.

Incoming Mail

What a delightful postcard from Zoe!

Made my day!

 delightful

and from Carol

Outgoing Mail

postcards to the grands

to Bryce Eleanor

 to Mila

More play with water colors and cartoon-y characters.

to Max

I was looking at images of art deco/art nouveau stained glass

and drew some less than perfect lines, then added some stamps.  

I think I'll try this again.

My friend Penne shared this: Put a Woman In Charge; Keb' Mo" with Roseanne Cash

Dedicated to his mother. "My mother just recently passed at the age of 91. She was smart. She was strong. She was a leader. This video is dedicated to her and amazing women everywhere that are getting the job done." -Keb' Mo'

August!

Another month down.  What a year this has turned out to be.  Enough said.  

I saw this quote somewhere that perfectly describes my situation:  "Sometimes it takes all morning to get nothing done."  :)

I've been trying to get more reviews written for the book blog.  Patting myself on the back for progress.  Any progress.

Incoming Mail

I love Connie's envelope with the embossed 4 cent Pony Express stamp.

And the snail.  Of course, the snail.

Annie's envelope and card with Richard Scarry illustrations,

mail images, vintage stamps, and another snail!

Outgoing Mail

postcard to Erica de Massey

Saw this on FB 

#s 2, 5, and 12 are my favorites

1. So let me get this straight, there’s no cure for a virus that can be killed by sanitizer and hand soap?

2. Is it too early to put up the Christmas tree yet? I have run out of things to do.

3. When this virus thing is over with, I still want some of you to stay away from me.

4. If these last months have taught us anything, it’s that stupidity travels faster than any virus on the planet, particularly among politicians and bureaucrats.

5. Just wait a second – so what you're telling me is that my chance of surviving all this is directly linked to the common sense of others? You’re kidding, right?

6. People are scared of getting fined or arrested for congregating in crowds, as if catching a deadly disease and dying a horrible death wasn’t enough of a deterrent.

7. If you believe all this will end and we will get back to normal just because we reopen everything, raise your hand. Now slap yourself with it.

8. Another Saturday night in the house and I just realized the trash goes out more than me.

9. Whoever decided a liquor store is more essential than a hair salon is obviously a bald-headed alcoholic.

10. Remember when you were little and all your underwear had the days of the week on them. Those would be helpful right now.

11. The spread of Covid-19 is based on two factors: 1. How dense the population is and 2. How dense the population is.

12. Remember all those times when you wished the weekend would last forever? Well, wish granted. Happy now?

13. It may take a village to raise a child, but I swear it’s going to take a whole vineyard to home school one.

14. Did a big load of pajamas so I would have enough clean work clothes for this week.

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Positive Things

These Articles Make Me Happy 

I'm interested in the environment and look for good news about how we affect the earth, like this article about rewilding in East Anglia.  “We want to focus on a little nature everywhere rather than a lot of nature in one area.” 

And a Wildflower Corridor for pollinators.  

The first two are in the UK, but Texas (and probably other states) has an interest in encouraging wildflowers and pollinators as well:  Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  You can also join the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge. 

Some great inspirational quotes about trees.  Here are just a few:

"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." 

― Warren Buffett

"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky."

― Kahlil Gebran

"You know me, I think there ought to be a big old tree right there. And let's give him a friend. Everybody needs a friend."

― Bob Ross 

The Garden Makes Me Happy

Honeybells cuphea and begonias

 Milkweed

 sunflowers from seeds knocked out of feeder

Letters Makes Me Happy

Incoming Mail

I love the way the flower on the envelope echoes the above wildflower theme,

the stamps echo the cheerful yellows and orange of the flower, and the

way Wonder Woman charges into the fray.

Even more, I love the long letter from one of my oldest friends.

and how about this cheerful envelope from Julie Tiu

with the hashtags #yourbeautiful letter, #Naomi Bulger, and #mailart (on back)

Outgoing Mail

This made me laugh!

Mid-Week

We needed rain, and last night we got it by the buckets full.   Last night was a spectacular show of lightening amid the accompanying rumbling thunder, but this morning, all clear and a little cooler.  

crepe myrtle confetti in bucket

Books/Reading

At certain times there will be a spate of new books in one genre.  Lately, fantasy series have been getting new installments, and I've caught up with The Black Witch Chronicles by Laurie Forest, a spin-off series from Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim trilogy about the warrior bards of Swan Island, and I am now reading the second book in the Rampart Trilogy by M.R. Carey.

Of course, I never neglect reading mysteries/thrillers, but I also enjoyed the memoir Becoming Duchess Goldblatt.  Love her twitter feed and her pungent tweets and comments:

"As a fictional utopia, Crooked Path doesn't have any police to defund.  Much like heaven, this town is run by librarians in sensible shoes who make house calls."

"You may think, as I do, often: the world is so big and broken, and I am so small and broken. Duct tape and Elmer’s glue, my friends. Stock up."

Her Grace is a pleasure and an inspiration.

Mail

I ordered some new size 10 envelopes which arrived yesterday, and I really like them.  I experimented with a collage on one yesterday and was pleased.  Today I'll write a letter so I can send it out into the world.

Yesterday, the following went out to family.

Outgoing Mail

Mila

 B.E.

Max

Max always gets a pun :  

There was a baguette in a cage at the zoo.  The sign read:

Bread in Captivity.

Cats
I am really tired of wrestling with Edgrr for room in my chair.  Even worse--when he tramps all over the desk while I'm trying to type and trying to keep him from spilling my coffee at the same time. He's usually such a pleasant fellow and he has lovely purr,  I only need half the chair, but I am rather stringent about messing with my coffee.

I wish the cartoon had Edgrr's face.

Keeping Busy, but not always productive :)

I have been on another attempt to straighten and organize my sewing and craft stuff.  I've gone through my fabric stash and filled a box for Goodwill.  Added some ancient Quilting Arts magazines and even some of my beloved Prims magazines.   Started another box and filled it with more fabric and other miscellaneous items that were intended for various projects and will never be used again.  (Sometimes items move back and forth from the donate to the keep pile and back again.)  

Have to wrangle the chaos upstairs before I can play again.     

Favorite books so far this month:

18 Tiny Deaths:  The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics.  I'd never heard of Frances Glessner Lee before, but she is almost single-handedly responsible for pioneering forensic science in the U.S.  A remarkable woman.  

Glass Houses is the 14th book in Louise Penny's Three Pines/Inspector Gamache series and as compelling as I expected.  

February Incoming 

From Iliana, aka  "the bookbinder"

from Hannah

Mardi Gras Season card from Teresa

Outgoing

Lost Words postcards to Hannah and Melody

 (Kingfisher)

(Bramble)

Love the Chinese New Year stamps and have already used several.

Word Play  -- such fun!  Manipulating words to illustrate meaning.  So many good examples!

More Fun--Since it is the Year of the Rat, it seems appropriate to mention Rachie's Ratirement Home.  Far, far away in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel and her team take in rats and mice and care and rehabilitate them.  They even have a FB page.  It was, however, the best and worst rats of the week that got my attention.    

I found James Preller's Valentine to the Earth and loved it.  (James Preller is an American writer of children's books including Bystander, Six Innings, and the Jigsaw Jones Mysteries.   Wikipedia) 

In this current world of bad news, do you look for positive news to cheer you up?  Positive news is out there, but doesn't get a lot of attention in the midst of all the depressing news and events.  I need hopeful.  Sometimes desperately.  When depression and/or anxiety threaten to overwhelm me, a few "good news" items can perk me back up.  A friend posted the following on FB, and I didn't have to time to view it when I saw it, but kept the link--and I'm so glad I did.



I have written a few letters and have some to answer, but it seems I have gotten behind in so many things lately.  Happily, I'm still on target with my three goals and have yet to miss a day of yoga or walking or weekly getting out of the house.  

 used vellum to make this envelope; next time, I'll decorate 

the letter inside so it will show through :)

on back of Max's - another pun

On back of B.E.'s

I expanded on the embroidered mandala using the tart tins again and some small circles.  

I don't know if I'll continue to add to this piece or not, 

but I've enjoyed using the beautiful variegated pearl from Stef Francis. 

 The pearl cotton is so fine it is hardly bigger than sewing thread.

After knocking my good scissors off the counter, I decided to make a scissors keeper.  My first attempt, ended up with the addition of a mother-of-pearl button before being sent off as a gift.  I'm making another one for me.  I have a lot of scissors because I cut a lot of paper, but my good scissors are another thing entirely and deserve more care.

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