Another busy day with job hunting and then, mid-afternoon, making a start on a letter to a fellow birdwatching enthusiast.  Knowing that my letters are never just a page or two and there was no way I would catch the last post at 4pm I decided to do another postcrossing card. This one is winging it's way off to Jason in Las Vegas, USA. 

It shows a few views of Hadrian's Wall which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. It runs for 73 miles from Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria on the west coast of England to Wallsend on the east...which, incidentally, is my home town and where I was born. 

I remember in the mid-70's being taken to one of the sites along the wall on a school trip but cannot remember which one it was. It's definitely a walk I'd like to do one day.  

  

A Simple Challenge?

The past three years have been rather stressful with various events doing their best to destroy my peace of mind and partly succeeding in sending my stress levels through the roof and changing the person I used to be. Looking back I sometimes wonder how I got through a couple of incidents....but you know what they say - what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! 

I don't know about stronger but it's definitely changed me and it's only now I see where I want to go and, for the first time in ages, I'm actually excited about the future and where it will take me! 

One of my favourite pastimes which I've done, on and off, over the years is penpalling.  You cannot beat the sheer joy of writing a letter to a friend...or complete stranger who will hopefully soon become a friend...and then hearing back from them. I know emails have their place in this fast-paced modern world but I still much prefer the slower pace of writing by hand on a carefully chosen piece of stationery, decorating and addressing the envelope and choosing the perfect stamps which, hopefully, the recipient will enjoy as much as the letter.

I've neglected this hobby lately and become just the worst penpal ever and can only hope those who's letters are still on my reply pile can forgive me for falling by the wayside as life and it's various dramas got in the way. We shall see over the coming months as I plan to focus on replying more regularly to all the lovely people who have taken time out to write.

Towards this goal I have set myself a little challenge for this new year - to write and post a piece of correspondence every single day of 2025!  Whether I'll achieve it remains to be seen but it'll be fun to do....and make a huge dent in my reply pile!   

1st January 2025 ~ day 1

It's been a busy day at home catching up on a few jobs around the flat so today's outgoing mail was something that didn't take more than a few minutes to choose, write out and post - a postcrossing card to Ales in Germany showing the city of Durham. I hope he likes it! 

First Post

The Dreaded First Post!!!  😬 Well, perhaps a slight exaggeration....it's not that bad!  

I've decided to finally sort out a blog for myself with the main theme being one of my main interests - penpalling and Postcrossing. There'll probably be the occasional gardening post too.....and hiking because that's something I've vowed to do a lot more of in 2025. 

A bit about myself: grew up in Wallsend and moved up to rural Northumberland with my husband and spent 19 years there before we separated in 2021 and, two years later, I moved to Choppington and then Blyth. I do miss having open countryside on my doorstep but it's not too bad where I am now - a new area to explore, better public transport links, a fabulous bigger apartment with so much light for my ever-expanding houseplant collection and a garden!  What more could a person want?