You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha Doing? Version 2015.5
Travis of NNY wrote: "Nettles are very common here too. I hate getting ib to them but they are all over the pasture if you dont keep it bush hogged. What I do have to investigate is some plabt that I haven't seen much..."LOL! Special parts. That's a new one.
Rusalka wrote: "Bwahahahaha!!!"Right along with you sister!
Does anyone of you do postcrossing? I've been a member for over 5.5 years although I haven't sent any cards in the last 1.5 years. I found some international stamps in the drawer and I just sent out a couple of cards again. I think many of you would enjoy it :) (you send an old-fashioned written and stamped postcard to someone somewhere in the world, and you get a card back from another random person in the world)www.postcrossing.com is the website
Peggy wrote: "Does anyone of you do postcrossing? I've been a member for over 5.5 years although I haven't sent any cards in the last 1.5 years. I found some international stamps in the drawer and I just sent ou..."I haven't done it. It sounds interesting though. A childhood friend of mine and I were writing hand-written letters back and forth for a bit. It is always fun to get real mail and not bills or junk mail :-)
It is! It really brightens your day to find unexpected real mail in your mailbox :)
That sounds neat, Peggy. When I was in junior high and high school I used to write letters back and forth with a friend. He was a grade above me and had transferred schools, so we wrote letters to keep in touch. I remember how fun it was to get a letter in the mail. I remember at one point we would start writing little messages in code for the other to figure out. It was a lot of fun for two nerdy kids! LOL.
Peggy wrote: "Does anyone of you do postcrossing? I've been a member for over 5.5 years although I haven't sent any cards in the last 1.5 years. I found some international stamps in the drawer and I just sent ou..."I haven't done it but I may well sign up and start doing it. It's a really nice idea!
I just signed up - it sounds amazing. Have you sent/received many over the years Peggy?I also forgot to reply about that little village. I've put it on my places to visit when we eventually travel to the Netherlands.
Awesome Sarah and Lisa :DI have about 765 sent and 765 received. I was obessively active for a while, also sending additional cards through the postcrossing forum, so in total I have over 2000 cards I think. I also used to scan all my outgoing and received cards, had them organized in online photo-albums etc. I used to get cards every day. But then I got lots busier with work and stamps became much more expensive, so I quit for a while. Slowly starting over now, but only via the website and without scanning and uploading everything, and just a couple of cards each month :)
That's a fun idea, Peggy. It reminds me of the pen pals we used to have in school. I remember a girl in Wisconsin and a guy in Italy. I think there were others. Letter writing is becoming a lost art.
My Mum used to get an embroidery magazine from the UK when I was a kid, and it had a kids section in there asking for pen pals. The kid would write a paragraph or so about what they liked and were they lived, and then the address was below. You'd write to them, and they choose whether to write back or not. I had a few pen pals over the years from that, including a girl who sent me a tape of Blur (appropriate) and Oasis before they made it over here in Australia. And then filled the rest of the tape up with Ant and Dec songs... we were 10, it's excusable.Writing that out, there is no way that would be still happening... publishing out names and address of children.
We had similar things to get penpals. Although I'm not sure if addresses got actually published or whether it went through some middle person.
This was the sunset last night. Amazing. 
I can't see the picture Sarah. It says [image error]
It works now. Wow, that's beautiful! I love the reflection of the colours in the canal.
Me too. I had to walk around the corner from where we're moored to see it. It was great from our boat but there are too many trees. I wandered up on my own and it was one of the best sunsets I've seen in England. I took a few pics and raced back to the boat to get my partner to come see. we walked back up and by the time we got there the sky was normal again as the sun had gone down. We have the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this weekend. we're not going but hope that the wind is right and we get another clear evening and they'll head our way. I love hot air balloons.
Is that one of those festivals with many balloons in the air at the same time? I would never ever go into one, but suddenly seeing one somewhere always makes me smile :)
Yes it's exactly like that Peggy. I've always wanted to go in one. One day...
Beautiful colours!Actually, I've been in a balloon. It went up pretty high (it was so scary!) but it was attached to the ground with a big steel cable. We did it when we were in Cambodia to get an aerial view of Angkor, but now that I think of it, I wonder if it wouldn't be safer in a real hot air balloon over here than in an anchored one in Cambodia ;-)
I reckon you might be right. I've seen the ones you mean. There is one in Krakow but we didn't go on it - too cold for that. I guess there are the occasional accidents but I guess it's about doing your research and finding a reputable, experienced company who offer rides.
Balloons are a huge thing here in Canberra, as I've said before. In autumn and winter I'll see a good 10 or more on my way to work. Lots of friends have gone in them, and my old work owned 2, so every raffle had first prize - a balloon ride. Never heard of an accident here in Canberra. Sometimes they land not where they are supposed to (in the middle of a highway I've seen) but drivers are so used to them (and they are hard not to see coming) you're usually okay. You jump out, and they pull the balloon off the road within a minute. There was an accident sometime in the last year in Aus, but that's such a small chance I don't really pay attention. I haven't gone up as I'm not great with flying in general.
Same here Rusalka. Flying and heights are not my favourite things, and to think of climbing in a hot air balloon which in my mind (not true, I know) is very vulnerable, flimsy and uncontrollable... *shudders*
That's amazing you got that many cards Peggy! I have decided to get some postcards made up of scenes I've seen since being on the boat (plus some of the boat) - I thought I could bore some more people worldwide about the fact I live on a boat.
That's a great idea Sarah, I'm sure everyone will love it! Besides receiving cards which is a lot of fun, I also love making people happy by sending them a card. When you register a card there's the option (which most people use) to write a thank-you message to the sender, and it's so nice to see someone in the world being excited about your card :)I'm not sure if I mentioned it here, but a while ago bf and I were looking at places in the Netherlands to go to for a weekend. We also looked at Groningen, in the north, and there we found someone on airbnb renting her boat out! We didn't go anywhere after all, but we are keeping this one in mind for some time soon :)
Sounds fun Peggy! We've been looking at places in Europe to go with canals so we can check out other systems (not with our boat of course). Netherlands, Southern France and Italy all have good canal systems. If you do get a chance to stay on a boat Peggy, you should do it - it's quite the experience. I'm amazed at the amount of mainland Europeans who have come here this summer to spend it on a boat on the canals. We met a Dutch family who were very competent drivers despite it being their first time on a boat.
I have gotten really behind with this thread. I had a stomach bug last weekend and have been working and getting ready for my kids to start back to school this week. My kids start back this morning. I had to go into work early last night to transport a baby to another hospital and so I got off a little early. I am sitting here drinking coffee and trying to stay awake until it is time to get the kids up.Nettles: The stinging nettles experiences made me giggle. @ Sarah your post about the nettle uticaria--It is a fancy medical term for the rash which is basically hives.
Homeschooling: We only homeschool one of our 3 kids. We are only doing him because we were having behavioral issues and he was so stressed at school he was either having meltdowns or shutting down completely. He is starting 4th grade this year and we are going to put in some counseling to develop some coping mechanisms. The hope is that we can reenter him in school next year after he matures a little. I will be transitioning to a new job next month and so my husband will start working from home so we can continue homeschooling him for this next year. My other two kids thrive in public school. So we are on both sides of the coin at the moment. I know that we have a very active local homeschool group that does social events and field trips together. We are not members at this time, but know some people who are.
@ Sarah: I love seeing all your boat pictures and hearing about your canal experiences. It seems like a really cool way to live.
@Peggy: Does the postcard exchange allow kids to participate? It could be a cool experience for my kids and a fun way to learn about other countries.
It has no age limit Amanda :) On your profile page (what others get to read about you when they draw your address) you (or the kids, how old are they?) can write that they are children and what sort of cards they like. I've sent cards to children on postcrossing several times. I like it, I always try to make those cards fun but educational :D
Well I've just requested my my address to send one to. Wouldn't it be funny if we ended up posting/receiving one to/from a YLTO member!Thanks Amanda!
That would be awesome :D What's your name on postcrossing Sarah? And which country are you going to send to?
Peggy wrote: "That would be awesome :D What's your name on postcrossing Sarah? And which country are you going to send to?"My username is sarmor. I reckon we should set up a thread for postcrossing in this section, especially if there are a few of us doing it. My first country to send to is Germany!
Beautiful photos, Sarah! Sunsets here in Virginia are pretty but nothing like when we lived in Nebraska :) It is a very rainy and gloomy day out today! No walk for Blake dog so we will have to snuggle up on the couch instead this morning :)
Gorgeous sunset, Sarah!My city used to be called the balloon capital of the world back in the 80's. They'd have balloon races and there would be scads of balloons in the sky all summer long. But now, you hardly ever see one. Re/Max Realtors still has one and you'll see it up once or twice a summer. I don't know what happened to kill the interest in the area.
Great pictures, thanks Sarah! I just had a random thought. I think you have said that your partner has a car. Where do you park it when you live on a longboat on a canal?
Hello everyone. We are in our 1 week family vacation in a beautiful place in pocono county, PA. I promised myself not to be in the computer for more than 30-40 minutes a day, so I'm trying to catch up with all the chit chat in here.@beautiful colors, Sarah!
@Amanda, good to know you are feeling better.
I used to have pen pals when I was 11 or 12 years old. I was fun.
Hope you and your family have a great vacation, Sandra!
Sandra, enjoy your stay. We have a house up there but it's a long term rental so rarely go up there.
Sandra you are a week late. Last week was the NASCAR race at Poconos
@Cherie - we Park our car on the nearest Street we can where it's legal to park. Sometimes it's a 2 minutes walk to the boat and others 20 minutes. The difficulty comes when we have to move the boat and the car gets left behind (like today). So when we reach our destination one of us will have to cycle back to get it. It would make sense for one of us drive boat and the other the car but we both like being on the boat so cycling back it is. The other day it was only a 15 minutes cycle as we didn't move far but this time it's probably an hour.
Is it legal to moor your boat anywhere along the canal Sarah, or are there designated areas? How many different places have you stayed at, since you started living on the boat?Does your partner go to work by car?
Oh, I didn't realize that you move the boat so often. Do you have to or is it by choice? Do you have to pay to be moored in different places? Do you have to pay to park the car?Happy vacation, Sandra!
I better go to bed. Night.
Oh, I didn't realize that you move the boat so often. Do you have to or is it by choice? Do you have to pay to be moored in different places? Do you have to pay to park the car?Happy vacation, Sandra!
I better go to bed. Night.
Travis of NNY wrote: "Sandra you are a week late. Last week was the NASCAR race at Poconos"Oh. My husband won't like to know that. :)
Anyways, there's a lot of people from NY here.
Thank you, everyone. We are resting and having fun.@Tasha, it's beautiful here. Actually all the way we drove from central PA to here was beautiful. And the property we are renting has a private lake, and even llamas, peacocks. Of course there are many other obvious animals like deers. My kids are fascinated. And the cabin is not huge but it's comfortable for all of us, something that is not always easy to find.
I just hope the weather goes all the week as pleasant as yesterday.
Sounds really nice, Sandra. Enjoy. Yes, a lot of people from NY and NYC go to that area. I always found that interesting. Many also commute from the Poconos to the city.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
It Starts with Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways (other topics)The Whole 30: The Official 30-day Guide To Total Health And Food Freedom (other topics)
Fortunately, the Milk (other topics)
Fortunately, the Milk (other topics)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Gillian Flynn (other topics)Fiona Wood (other topics)
Jay Feldman (other topics)
Kevin Hearne (other topics)
Cherie Currie (other topics)
I am laughing. Sorry. But that's funny! Sorry.