Unexpected Mail

When I'm expecting some post, I end up listening for the footsteps of the postman striding up our garden path and the clunk of the letterbox flap combined with the thump of mail falling to the hall mat.  These days there is quite a lot of junk mail delivered with the regular post, but when I was younger, the bills were fewer and the hand addressed mail more regular.  The anticipation of opening an envelope written in an unfamiliar hand was only exceeded by the happy recognition of a letter from an old pal.

These days it's all too easy to dash off a quick e-mail or post something short on social media.  Less thought and effort can go into "talking" this way, and quite often less attention goes into "listening" like this.  A physical letter can be read and re-read while it hangs around on the side table; a postcard adds some colour to the kitchen noticeboard; both remind you to get back in touch with the sender!

A couple of my blog friends (Ruth & Mel) have been making an effort to send real mail out during February: their cards really brightened my month along with a wee prize and a beautiful thank you note.  A great reminder that post doesn't have to mean payment and a nudge to put pen to paper a little more often myself!

A Great Cause

I was intrigued today to receive some mail from America ... it's not my birthday ... I hadn't ordered anything ... none of my friends were over there on holiday ...

Upon opening the envelope I had a brief sensation of déjà vu ... I'd seen that striking image before ... a photo-card made by Rinda.  She and her beautiful daughter Clara were thanking me for supporting them with a (small) financial donation as they train for a sponsored half-marathon in aid of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

You can read all about WHY they are supporting the cause right here. 

I lost a dear school friend to leukaemia 40 years ago and while much progress has been made in treatment since then, there is still a long way to go!  Rinda & Clara have raised a massive 85% of the target they set themselves ... perhaps with a few more donations they can exceed it!   

Good luck girls, both with the training for June 2nd and with smashing that target!

Happy Mail #3 & A Winner

Thank you Blogger for publishing the posts I'd scheduled since May 28th - the day of my surgery.  They ran out rather quicker than I expected ... or perhaps I took longer to feel up to blogging again?

My surgery went without incident ... other than waiting 7½ hours before being wheeled into theatre ... my recovery (so far) has been pretty painless and I've been dutifully doing my physio exercises and taking things very easy (no driving, no lifting).  I'd had a trapped nerve in my elbow which was causing pins-and-needles-like numbness in some of my fingers.  Nerves take a long while to recover so it may be some time before I know whether the operation was successful ... things certainly haven't got any worse which I'm sure is a good sign!

While I'm still not up to spending much time at the computer, I couldn't let today pass without shouting out a huge

"THANK YOU!"

to Alison who really brought a smile to my face when the postman popped a lovely envelope through my letter box.  In the envelope were a gorgeous hand made card, filled with kind words, and some lovely goodies to enjoy once I get scrapping again.

You made my day week Alison ♥

And, hoping to do the same for somebody else, I remembered that I was overdue making a draw for my {Inter-}National Scrapbooking Day challenge to make something using up left over alphas ... if you linked back to my blog you doubled your chances of winning a small prize.  Random.org did the work and .... 

JJABauer was the winner - the goodies will be on their way as soon as you let me know your address.

Happy Mail #2

The same day that my Happy Mail from Natalie arrived there was also a note from the postman telling me he'd been round with a parcel while I was out and that I had to wait 10 hours before going to the main post office to collect it!  In effect that meant I had to wait until the next day, but boy was it worth the wait!

My friend José (who introduced me to scrapbooking back in 2006) had sent me some glue supplies: I love Hema's photo glue as it's cheap, easy to apply, repositionable, easy to clean up and it's also photo safe! José is VERY crafty and so it wasn't just any parcel that I picked up ... inside the brown paper packaging was ...

AND there was a little extra something in there just for fun:

Almost too nice to start using ... but not quite!  Thank you José - I ♥ you!

Happy Mail #1

Look what was waiting on my doormat when I came home the other day - some beautiful mail art from Natalie over at Almost Never Clever - it's part of Ginger's words-themed 2012 Mail Art Exchange.

 Thank you Natalie - a gorgeous envelope enclosing a beautiful card.  They made my day!