At one point in my teens, I had over 50 pen friends from all over the world. It was such fun, but as many things do it trailed off. I’d stop writing, or they would and then we’d just lose touch. It happens. I must say though my ability to spell was incredible back then. Today I just take a stab and hope of the best.

Anyway, of recent I’ve been missing getting interesting letters in the mail.  I do get quite a lot of interesting mail thanks to Postcrossing and other things like spending too much money online, but I miss letters. I miss writing them, posting them and all the rest of the whatnot that goes with letters.

So, as it’s February tomorrow (actually it’ll be February all next month too) I thought I’d do a little project with myself and my pen. I’m planning to write at least one letter a day for the entire month. I have to admit I yoinked the idea from someone on Twitter that was retweeted by the Postal Museum but I can’t find that tweet now, so maybe I made it up.

So now I just have to think of another 25 people to write letters to! Will I fail? Will I win at life? Who knows – only the Shadow knows.

I have in my possession, via my gorgeous Sister in Law Donna, a book called Countryside Softies.  It’s a selection of animal patterns made from felted jumpers (sweaters) and printed fabrics and basically just oozes adorable and cheerful. It’s by Amy Adams, who has created a series of British Woodland Creatures including otters, badgers and hedgehogs.

They are, basically, fantastic. Full of character and joy and whimsy and fabrics and yum. Now, my fabric stash is not by any means huge, but it’s also not by any means being used up. And so, I have decided to make not just one or two things from this book, but all the things from this book.  Oh yes. I have made my start with a set of bees.

Slightly out of focus due to breeze and also rush – I had the dog out in the garden with me and he tends to wander off and get lost in a bush if he’s not called back.  (He did dash off as it happens, but was found talking to the other dog through the gate, and not splashing around in next doors’ dam like he usually does).

This is my favourite of the three. I didn’t have any old jumpers to felt, and while I am planning a trip to the Op Shop to see what’s there (yes okay therefore adding to the stash – sssh) I couldn’t possibly wait a single moment to make a bee. These ones are made of fleece. No machine sewing which may explain their slightly distorted forms (the elongated one I suspect was the last of the late night sewing sessions).

They are now cheerfully hanging in the window above my pitcher plants because that amuses me. I’m easy to amuse.

Next project: Not entirely sure, possibly the fox. Or the otter. Mind you the bunnies are cute…

Firstly, the Stamp Box. Yonks ago I bought a set of 6 Vintage Blue Mountains postcards on ebay – and they were in a bulk lot which included some random banknotes and a couple of hundred Australian postage stamps. Now quite some time ago I made a stamp covered box for my cousin, and with all these stamps on hand I thought it was about bloody time I made one for myself.

It really is as simple as slapping some paint and glue around on a box. Also not a bad idea to spray on some sealer (or brush it on). This one is not particularly elegant, but it’s bright and contains stamps I either remember being in circulation or with really nifty design. I still have a ton of stamps left over (and have ordered another 600 from the same guy for very cheap as they’re so interesting)  and some more subtle ideas up my sleeve. This box is not lined as I intend to store rubber stamps in it, and want the inside to end up all inky and loved looking.

The second project was inspired by an impulse buy at the hardware where I got the box while cashing in a gift certificate. It was “The Little Pot of Horrors”  - a small pot containing both venus fly trap and pitcher plants. They enjoy, according to the tag, having wet feet and the pot they came in didn’t have a water base thing. So while at the Reject Shop for something else which I don’t actually remember (my god, sometimes reading this must be like talking to your great-great Grandmother) I picked up a plain brown pot with a built on saucer and some string.

You know the whole “Put a bird on it” thing from Portlandia? Yeah well in my case it’s “Wrap it with string” because I’m stupidly in love with how string looks wrapped around things. I don’t know why, texture I suspect (and that hessian-y smell of the stuff). So I present to you the string wrapped pot, with bonus wrapped stone as a feature.. uh.. feature.

Made with joy and a metric shitton of hot glue. Yay for hot glue I say!

I’m aware proper bloggers would have removed the aircon remote, tweezers and rubber snake from the background of that photo, but I like to keep it real, yo. Besides, there’s a frame around it. A frame means I’m practically an expert.

Wrapping a pot really is just a case of “glue string, wrap, cover join with something”. All the ends are held in place (under the stone) with the aforementioned hot glue, while double sided tape in strategic places around the pot keeps the string in place while wrapping. I’m rather pleased with it – it looks a tiny bit designer and only cost about $4.50 ($4 for the pot and 50cents worth of string). I also enjoy the fact that the pitcher plants look like they’re all either singing or shouting at each other. Or both.

Look Who’s Come Crawling Back
This is the Gnome Who Sold the World, a Gnome I decorated and released for the 2010/2011 Moving Cache Race. He was hidden by the Living and Learning Centre in Panton Hill, but after 2 “Did Not Find” notes, I went to check on him and he was gone. I assumed, as he was near some houses, that he’d been muggled (a term used by us trendy and elite geocachers when a non-geocacher has tampered with or removed a cache).

I archived the listing and thought no more about it, but a couple of weeks ago my mother came home with this gnome. She’d found him in the Living and Learning Centre garden, so we guess someone found him out in the wild and popped him in the garden.

He’s a bit faded but none the worse for having been missing so long, and is in retirement in our own garden.

Dicey is growing up

By sheer fluke I managed to catch Dicey in the act of moulting – this is the process by which spiders grow as their skin doesn’t stretch as they get bigger. I missed the very start of the process, but managed to video most of it. Over all it took about 45 minutes from the time I spotted Dicey hanging upside to the time he walked away from the old skin. Yep, He. Now that he’s more mature, I can see he’s not at all a she. Oops.

A new spiny in the house

I’d noticed Dicey’s tank wasn’t really tall enough, so I wandered into the new pet shop near me to see what they had in taller tanks. Not much for under $150 sadly, but what they did have was Spiny Leaf Insects. I first owned spinies in 2008 or so, purchasing two ladies who gave me much joy. This one came home with me and has already asserted her personality, so yup, her name is Diva (and yes, she’s a she, of this I am sure for once!)

So that’s a quick catch up on stuff I meant to mention. If I don’t post anything else within a week, shout at me.

I’ve been surrounded by huntsman my entire life (much to the delight of my family I’m sure when I was at the screaming and gibbering stage). I was watching a huntsman eat a moth the other week when it suddenly occurred to me that in 33 years of spider co-habitation I’d never seen a huntsman actually attack. I’d seen them laying in wait, and I’d seen them eating their prey but I’d never seen one actually pounce.

Clearly the only option (if you’re me) is to obtain a spider as a pet in order to watch and learn. Which is exactly what I did.

This is Dicey, who is a female (I think, judging by her pedipalps) Jungle Huntsman or Heteropoda jugulans native to the tropical areas of Australia. I bought her mail order (you really can get anything on the internet). She arrived in her postal box on Thursday and has since then been perched in her tank, feasting on all sorts of delicious insects. She’s only a young un and will grow about 50% bigger than she is now, and I think her colour will change, but I’m not 100% sure on that. I look forward to her first moult though

I now know why I’ve never seen a huntsman catch its dinner – they are fast. This morning I dropped some breakfast in for her (a slater beetle) and in the time it took me to close the lid of the tank she had it. I’ll video this one day, just so you can get a wee bit freaked out. I know spiders aren’t every ones cup of tea. You may now spend a moment being thankful I didn’t share the maggot infested blowfly meal photos. You’re welcome.

I bought her from Minibeast Wildlife, who can ship Australia Wide except for WA where insect ownership is illegal. I can’t recommend them highly enough – very helpful and they only ship on Tuesdays to make sure the lovely creatures they sell aren’t stuck in transit over the weekend.

Anyoldhow, here is the card which graced my letter box today:
This came to me from a 7 year old lass in the US named Madeline who loves dogs. It’s funny, but it’s almost as if I am nerding up by osmosis. This is the second card I have that would not be out of place being sent to my better half (although this one lacks Batman, in his professional opinion).

I’ve also ordered a book on mail art, so hopefully I will have some nifty mailable stuff to show you at some point. If not, well. You’ll just have to get on with your life without it. I’m so sorry.

What it is: “The Queen Art and Image”
What you get: 20 postcards from the National Portrait Gallery (UK) collection.
From photographs of Queen Elizabeth as a young new ruler, to a mother, to the long serving monarch to art from the (I think) annual official portrait, this collection gathers together some of the finest (and .. less fine) portraits.
Some of the more interesting works include a picture of the Queen made from tiny pictures of Princess Diana, and a very modern art portrait. There’s also wonderfully quirky news snaps of Her Majesty being more herself.
Quality: Excellent. The colours are rich and bold, the cards are a good weight and have a matt back for easy writing on. Each card contains full information about the work. They are “bound” to a taped spine, and easy to separate without leaving residue.
Would I buy again? When these are all sent out, I will buy another copy.
You’d be surprised at the number of people who want Royal cards, which is why I bought these. They are great looking, handle well and printed sharply.
Recommended!

And of Dinosaurs:
What it is: Dinosaurs by Dover Publications.
What you get: 12 cards, each featuring a painting of a different dinosaur.

The cards feature slightly dated looking paintings of Dinosaurs – the sorts of illustrations that were used a lot in non fiction books in the 1980s. They might well be, as Dover uses archive images to print their postcard packs.
Quality: Good, but not great. The printing is fine, although the paintings look a little bit muddy (I suspect that’s the paintings themselves not the prints though). The weight of the cards is light, they are more a heavy paper than a light card making them very flimsy feeling.
Would I buy again: Nope. There’s more to be said about these Dover cards, which I will finish saying below because -

- Now we have bunnies.
What it is: Beatrix Potter by Dover Publications
What you get: 12 cards featuring images from the Beatrix Potter books.
The photograph isn’t really representative of the cards as it’s blurred and since it’s 11:30pm I can’t be bothered taking a new one. Lazy! Featuring the rabbits, pigs and other creatures Potter made famous, these cards fall just short. Most of them have excessive white space due to the shape of the image chosen, and the paintings look a bit washed out compared to the ones in the books.
Quality: See notes for Dinosaurs above.
Would I buy again: Nope.

Some general notes about the Dover postcard booklets.
Ugh, getting these loose from the pack is tricky work, they are well and truly glued in. Not only to the spine, but also to each other.  No matter how careful and gentle you are when you separate them, they will show damage to both the front and back. This can be trimmed off with a paper cutter (and will be as I’ll use them for postcrossing and people tend to prefer well presented cards) but really with the many binding options for postcard books, trimming isn’t something that should be needed.
So you do end up with torn backs and images torn off the front on the spine side, which is really disappointing and not a problem I’ve ever had with postcard books before. I think from now on I’ll avoid the Dover books, regardless of popularity of the subject.

I had no idea what was going on, I missed the news announcement with the details, all I knew was somewhere something huge and devastating had happened.

My car didn’t have a radio, so I drove on to work wondering, and grabbed the papers when I walked in. The attacks had started at about 11pm Melbourne time, so the papers had some rough coverage and photos. New York had been hit.

I won’t go into all the rest of it, it’s all pretty well known. Hell if you’re hazy on the details today just pick up a paper (or, okay, use the internet). It’s 10 years since the attacks, and we must never ever ever forget. Apparently.

September 11th, 2002 as I drove to work one of the local churches was flying three US flags, with another larger one hanging over the entrance. I nearly drove off the road. I swore creatively, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I shouldn’t have been so amazed though, for the entire preceding year people had been walking around with US flags worn as bandanas or sewn on the backs of jackets for reasons I didn’t – and don’t – fully understand.

Australians as a rule don’t tend to go into the annual memorial chest beating pain can you believe it’s been X years. Attempts were made on the anniversary of Black Saturday, and attempts will probably be made on the anniversaries of the flooding that took so many lives. We just can’t seem to get into it. Though our news people are certainly trying, with mournful impassioned voice overs on the news reports designed to emulate the US style of reporting.

Which is not to say we don’t care. Any life lost is a sadness, a heartbreak for the family and friends and community.

And for all the unbreakable “respect” and “love” and “grief” for those who died that day, there’s little mention of the fact their deaths were used to fuel a war that was essentially unrelated to terrorism on any level.

In the 10 years since 9/11, more than 20,000 civilians in Afghanistan have been killed. That doesn’t include those who were injured, disabled from their wounds, orphaned children. All in the name of revenge. We’re supposed to cheer every bomb strike, every death, every “win” because dammit this is a war on terror and these people deserve to die.

Who will remember them other than family and friends? Will there be a national memorial? A minute of silence to think about their lives cut short?

Is it purely because the attacks were on the US that the world is expected to mourn and grieve and vow revenge? I wondered then and I wonder now if the US would have carried 24/7 coverage for a month if the attack had been on Sydney, or Rome, or London. Would the world be printing memorial edition newspapers today? Would documentaries be screening internationally?

It is not at all my intention to dismiss or belittle the genuine suffering of those who lost loved ones, or who witnessed things no one should ever have to witness. I suspect today is a terribly hard date to get through for those people, and I wish them all the very best in the world.

It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I cannot fathom maintaining the rage for 10 years, for being happy to hear of children dying in a far off land because they are part of the “terrorism threat”. I can’t fathom never letting go, to the expense of all else. I can’t understand it, and I don’t want to understand it.

I am not lighting candles today, or observing a minute’s silence. I didn’t turn my headlights on in the couple of years after the attacks when everyone was “showing solidarity” (don’t ask, I never did figure out the headlights thing). I am most certainly not flying the US flag – I don’t even own one. I don’t own an Aussie flag for that matter.

As tragic and heartbreaking as the events of 9/11 were, it is time to let them go. Not to forget, but to allow the families and friends of those who died, and those who lived in NY at the time, their ownership of the grief that they should no longer have to share with the world.

One concept I am seriously having trouble with, which is popping up all over the place is “No other Western Nation lost so many people in a single day”. Maybe not, but where is the compassion for places that don’t happen to be western who lost people in Earthquakes, Tsunamis, storms, floods? Japan lost 20,000 people. Haiti lost 316,000. There’s no one to blame for natural disasters, which makes it very hard to use them to fuel hate and fear and wage a war.

That’s the difference.

AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS IN AUGUST
DO NOT LEAVE THE “RELIGION” SECTION BLANK. BE SURE TO AT LEAST TICK CHRISTIAN (OR YOUR OWN FAITH).
1,000,000 MUSLIMS WILL TICK THEIR BOX.
10,000,000 AUSTRALIANS WILL LEAVE IT BLANK THEN WONDER WHY CHRISTMAS CAROLS ARE BEING BANNED IN SCHOOLS!
PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
IT’S NOT ABOUT RELIGION, IT’S ABOUT KEEPING OUR WAY OF LIFE .

Some of them also mention the banning – omg – of Easter Bonnet parades in schools. Oh the humanity. I quite like that whoever came up with this pile of shit is apparently psychic. How exactly do they know how many people will tick their boxes? It’s all very interesting.

This, my friends, is nothing more than a pathetic fear campaign. “It’s not about religion” screams the all caps copy paste, “It’s about keeping our way of life!”. Fine and dandy, but I don’t see anything about Jewish people ticking their box, they also don’t generally celebrate Christmas.

I don’t have any religion, but I’m not about to worry about what other people say on their census forms. Yes, it may well be that communities that were not previously identified as Muslim now appear and that will allow planning to happen to build a mosque or two. Just as Christians have a right to build churches all over the place, so Muslims and any other religion has a right to have their own places of worship.

No, Christmas carols and plays and endless freaking tinsel in Target when you just popped in to buy a pair of shoes will not stop, regardless of how many non Christians tick their boxes on the census forms. What might happen is a wider understanding and knowledge of other important festivals and celebrations for other religions, which would not end the world.

When the first instance of this copy paste hate campaign appeared on my facebook, I was shocked and angered. Now I’m mostly just saddened. Australia has had many of these campaigns over the years. Any time a new culture has arrived the newspapers have been full of angry white people complaining about all the bloody Chinese/Italians/Greek/Vietnamese people “flooding” the cities.

These days we happily tuck into a bowl of pasta or a plate of stir fry while we sip our espressos and think nothing of it, but it seems we haven’t moved beyond a xenophobic fear of the different.

Australia is multicultural and multifaith. I don’t think we realise the importance of that second one. Even as an atheist I can appreciate the importance of being able to worship – freely – in your own religion. In too many places around the world it’s illegal to do so, and faith has to be hidden away.

“Our Way of Life” here in Australia is a blessed one, a laid back one and one that should and can embrace all kinds of people from all kinds of places and faiths.

Imagine how it must feel to be so hated for nothing more than your faith. To have your entire personality discounted because you’re one religion not another. I can’t believe this even happens in this country, but it does and it’s heartbreaking. And yet we claim to be a forward thinking nation.

So come August 9th, I will be ticking the “No Religion” box on the forms, but not because I want Christmas Banned, just because it’s true.

This windmill comes from Russia, it’s from the Museum of Wooden Art in Veliky Nougorod. It’s a great photo, I love the composition.

From Arkansas (which as a kid I pronounced Ah-can-zas because I was not gifted) comes this card of the capital, Little Rock. This card apparently made it all the way over the pond without any postage – there’s no stamp and no patch where a stamp would have been. Mysterious! Or prepaid. I like Mysterious!

Last but not least, from Germany is this card of Xanten. It carries the tagline “Urlaub am Niederrhein” which translates to “Holiday on the Lower Rhine”. Thanks, don’t mind if I do!

So that, my little froglets, is my incoming mail for today. I will post again when more cards drop into my PO Box. In the meantime, I’m also blogging for my employer at HeavenAddress, which you can read right here.