Leave Of Absence

My Dear Readers,

I want to thank you for hanging in there with me for so long.  I have to make this short and sweet; I have to forego posting on this blog for a while.  I just don't have the time, in between everything going on in my life, among other reasons.  I feel like I owe you more explanation than that, but I regret that I cannot give you one just now.

This is, hopefully, very temporary and perhaps the change of seasons will allow me back.  I don't know.  I am so grateful for all of you whom I have gotten the chance to meet in the blogosphere, if only virtually.  I treasure each and every one of you.  Thank you for taking an interest in my posts, in letting me brighten your day with song and humor, and also for letting me into your lives.  I will continue to read my blogroll as often as I can.

If you want to stay in touch, we can write letters.

For now, Farewell.  Have a gloriously happy summer, filled with cool breezes, fireflies, and the people you love.  I'll be thinking of you.

Ever Yours,

Jenny

LWA, Long Letters and the Library

I've already mentioned the Letter Writer's Alliance a few times here on TMP, but I couldn't pass up the chance to include them in my postal themed A-Z!!!

I've been a member since 13 September, 2011!

I got a letter from Donovan just last week and I LOVE her sense of humor!  I have to write back ASAP.  My time is pretty spliced at the moment, and if I'm to succeed at some of my major long term goals, I have to acknowledge that MOST of my time in an average day isn't my own, at least for a while.

But I am still making time for the things that matter to me.  I'm still working hard, knowing that while I will never be a perfect person, I can perfect some of the facets of my life to be better versions of themselves.  Things like... writing back in a timely manner, for example!

Are you an LWA member?  I've met a few pen pals via LetterMo who are!  If you are not, you should definitely consider it.  A lifetime membership costs less than a movie ticket.  Check out the blog HERE.

Now on to the second part: long letters.  Am I the only one who can't bring myself to send a postcard sometimes because there just isn't room to do the correspondence I want to convey enough justice?  Please tell me I'm not the only person who habitually, after filling up both sides of a blank card's inside, carries over to a second 7th or 8th page??  Granted, a lot of times my additional "pages" are cut down to the size of the card, so they aren't full sheets.  But still.

Of course, a logical train of thought would be that if I didn't let so much time elapse between letters, I wouldn't have so much to try and write about all in one sitting, and therefore the letter would be shorter than the paperback novels unauthorized autobiographies pleasantly lengthy epistles I end up penning and trying to process through the mail system within the 3 oz limit.  It may be that I'm just frugal with my stamp money.  After all, it's limited and strictly budgeted, so I try to get as much news and pieces of life to the recipient as the $0.46 allows!  Maybe that's the real reason about the "doesn't send postcards".  I'm more apt to send a blank postcard enclosed with a 3 page letter to a pen pal than to send the postcard by itself.

Anyway.
Here is a fantastic children's book that we love called "The Long, Long Letter."

It's very cute.  Go grab it at a library near you.  Don't know where your closest one is?  Use this handy Locator!  :)
The Dog River Library is one of my favorite places to write letters.  It's quiet (well, duh!), and a lot of times I use their copier to keep a copy of my outgoing (see my explanation of this in yesterday's post.) because it ends up being cheaper than having to continually buy new cartridges for my ink guzzling printer at home.  It's also a great place to write letters, because I'm an avid reader and a lot of my pen pals are too, so they are always asking what I've read recently or ask me to recommend favorite books.  Rather convenient to simply look in my bag at what I've just checked out or am returning! ;)

Source

Did you honestly think that I could go more than 5 blog posts without working in a reference to Jane Austen?  Silly goose!  Have a lovely combination of the "Keep Calm" motto and Mr. Darcy.  Yes, I know it, I spoil you rotten.  You're welcome. :)
Do you write short or long letters?  Do you love getting long letters?  Or not?  Why?
Comment away, dear readers!

Tea Themed Giveaway Winner!!!

As always, I'll cut straight to the good stuff!!!

I squealed out loud with glee when I drew your name, Laura!!!!!
THE WINNER IS THE LOVELY AND ONE OF A KIND LAURA B. OF "THE DAILY DODO" BLOG!!!

I wish so much that I could send an identical set of goodies to each and every one of you who entered.  You are all so sweet!  As my hand was in the drawing tin, swishing the pieces of paper around, I was hoping for each name in turn, because I love you all!

But I can't, as much as I want to.  If you didn't win, don't forget that there are giveaways on this blog pretty often, so keep trying!  I think the next one, I will come up with something that is 5 or 10 of a small gift.  That way, more people get to feel special and it creates variety in the drawings.  We'll see!

Congratulations, Laura!  Your package will be on it's way to you next week!

Tea Themed Giveaway!

I am so blessed.  Seriously.

I have a dear friend (who wishes to remain anonymous), who does not have her own space in the blogosphere, but who regularly delights in the comments and goings on of you who read The Modest Peacock that I share with her.  She says you are some of the highlights of her day! (I'm looking right at you, Muskoka River, Square Tooth Girl, Feathered Nest, Daily Dodo and all of my Snail Mail related blog rollers!!!)

A fellow tea drinker like me, she has asked to partner with me and contribute items for a Tea themed giveaway to celebrate the signs of spring that are popping up here in the South!!!  Isn't that the sweetest thing!  Of course I said yes!!

Together, we are offering a goody package that will have the following items in:

• One Old Country Roses by Royal Dalton Demitasse teacup and saucer set
• One box of Twinings Tea - Variety set (Eng. Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Lady Grey, Earl Grey)
• One package of Biscoff tea biscuits
• One box of Pims raspberry tea cookies
• One jar of Sweetwater Creek Farms local wildflower honey
• One tin of sugar cubes
• One box of International Delights French Vanilla creamers
• The current issue of Tea Time magazine
• One custom, one-of-a-kind beaded stretch bracelet, made by yours truly
• One set of notecards by Pooch and Sweetheart and a cool pen

All tied up with a fancy ribbon and signed with x's and o's!!!

Just leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing!  I'll select the lucky winner at random on Friday, March 22!  Don't forget to send your friends over as well!  "Tea for two" is twice as nice! ;)

I Have The Most Awesome Best Friend EVER

So apparently we had mail last Saturday that included packages, because when a guest came to the front door (that we don't ever really use ourselves) yesterday, there was a little stack of post sitting on the bench.  Really need to communicate with the delivery person about that.  ANYWAY.  My best friend of 20+ years sent me THIS:

I about fell over, I was laughing so hard!
In case you haven't discovered the wonderfulness that is the Hyperbole and a Half Blog, here is the post from whence this tea bling comes.  (Read it, I'll wait.)
I hope Allie is doing well and recovering from her battle with clinical depression.   The internet misses her dreadfully (as do I).  In the meantime, we at least have the archives of past H&AH to keep us laughing.  She is hilarious!
I'm going to fix a cup of caffeinated, sugared up tea in my new mug to give me a blast of energy and then take the Cute Gremlins to the parp park to play while it's blue skies and sunshine out!  Happy random Monday in the middle of February, everyone! :D

Giveaway Winner! :)

I was kinda wrapped up in Lucy Jane stuff earlier today and almost forgot to do the drawing for this blog!  There were almost 40 entries.  I will cut straight to the chase!

The winner is Cathy Olliffe-Webster of the blog Life on the Muskoka River!

If you haven't read her blog, you are in for a treat!  She is absolutely hilarious!!! :)
And if you didn't win this time, be sure to visit again, because there will be more giveaways (yes, plural!) coming up very soon to celebrate some recent achievements!

Grow Your Blog Party Time!!!

Hi!!!
This is a very special post, sending greetings to anyone who may be stopping by from the Grow Your Blog event, hosted by the fabulous and amazing Vicki of 2 Bags Full!

I started blogging 4 years ago- well, closer to 5, actually; my blogaversary is in April!  Cute Gremlin the Younger had just been born.  I only made 15 posts that year.  In 2009 our lives were turned upside down, but I managed to hide it really well for a long time.  I only posted 6 times the whole year, and 12 the next.  Finally in 2011 I decided to jump into blogging like I had never really done before.  It has been AWESOME.  I have met so, so, so many dear and wonderful new friends.  I have used my blog as a way to document and facilitate my newly revived love of hand-written letters/pen pals.  I have been welcomed with open arms into the lives and adventures of other bloggers who inspire me to be a better person, encourage me to live my dreams, and sometimes just make me laugh from my toes!

It's cold outside (at least in the Northern Hemisphere!)!!! So I've decided to host a GIVE AWAY with this Grow Your Blog event, with this peacock colored scarf, lapel pin, and journal as the prize!

Just leave a comment as your entry and I will pick a random winner on Feb. 1st and contact you for your mailing address.

As you read my blog, I hope that you find something beautiful, edifying, cheerful or downright hilarious here that makes you smile!  I've learned so much about blogging, and like to think I have improved over time. (Fewer giant walls of text, for example!) :)

 I'm going to visit and follow as many in the party as I possibly can.  If you decide to follow The Modest Peacock, a big HUG and THANK YOU to you!  I can't wait to get to know you all better.  Here's to growing and traveling and learning and laughing with our blogs!

SPG WAS IN MY POST BOX!!!!!

Ok, so with all of the mess that was being wrapped up in the late fall/last month, I have fallen a bit behind on the current 52 weeks of mail project, at least in terms of logging and documenting the incoming and outgoing.  There have been more things incoming than outgoing, as I am woefully behind in replies, but you know... kids, work, healing, priorities.  Y'all understand.

Anyway, I have to show you what came in the mail yesterday and Wednesday that just made me jump up and down, dance around the post box with flailing muppet arms, and squeal like a kid getting a pony for Christmas!!!!  (This is WAY BETTER than a pony!!!)

STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE SENT ME POSTCARDS!

The Spine's included an intriguing line: "A mysterious Canadian friend wanted us to send you some love..."  O_o
Now, I have several friends in Canada... they all read my blog and know how much I adore SPG.  My mind is just racing as to who could have been so kind!  Was it Snail Mail Fan, whom I met through her fantastic blog 100 Days of Snail Mail (she is no longer posting, in favor of doing other cool stuff, but the blog is still up for perusing and has some fantastic posts!)?  Or Cathy, who writes the hilarious Life on the Muskoka River?

Both of them are bright beams of sunshine to me, Snail Mail Fan with her amazing packets of a long letter together with interesting clippings and ephemera (she sent me the most beautiful map from the Nature Conservancy of Canada that I keep meaning to photo and show you!), and Cathy with her blog posts that make be burst out laughing (so loud that I alarm anyone around me at the time!) and her wonderful comments here on TMP.

Maybe it wasn't either of those, though.  Maybe another one of my Canadian readers.  I honestly have no idea!  But whomever was so, so, so, sweet- THANK YOU!  My treasured SPG postcards have a place of honor on a high up display shelf, next to the Brittney Lee print my BFF sent me from Comic-Con. (The link opens to her post showing the print I got, but take a look at the rest of her work!  Just breathtaking!)  They are up where I can see them every day while I create stuff for Lucy Jane, and barring a for-real tornado jumping in my window and carrying the shelf away, nothing can happen to them. :) :) :)

THANK YOU again, Mysterious Canadian Friend.  I love you bunches!  I hope you'll tell me who you are so I can send you thank you hugs and all!
Thank you, thank you, SPG for connecting with your fans and sending me the best and most unexpected love and encouragement to cheer me up!  You are truly THE BEST.  EVER.
I meant it, you know, that bit about dancing at the post box.  I really was!  And I absolutely couldn't care less who saw, (actually probably only the horses in the pasture across the road- I don't remember if any cars passed; I wasn't paying attention!) because it was pure and unbridled happiness like I hadn't felt in a long time!   I can't wait to pay it forward and encourage others/find ways to make someone's day brighter.

*blinks away happy tears*  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  I am so, so, fortunate to be so loved.
:)  

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Life...

I wish all of the best and most wonderful of good things for you this coming year, my dear readers!  I know I'm feeling good about a fresh start!! I hope you are too!  :)

For A Fellow Creative...

I'm a member of the Letter Writer's Alliance.  In their blog the other day, they featured The Laser Lace Letters, a wonderful creative adventure of Steampunk fiction by laser cut felt artist Haley Moore.

Just one of the beautiful cameos in the series.

This is an AMAZING project (that I wish I was rich enough to pledge the max support of, but alas, am not.)  She only has 10 hours left in the Kickstarter and is very close to her goal!  Please consider helping her fund it!

UPDATE: With 5 hours to go, she reached the goal and the project has been funded!  I am SO EXCITED for you, Haley!

The Pink Scarf Project

My beautiful friend Vicki, of the blog "2 Bags Full", has created an AMAZING year-long event/project to raise awareness and support for breast cancer patients.  She is asking for donations of pink scarves from anyone and everyone in the blogosphere who will be kind enough to oblige.  She is generously giving away a GORGEOUS, one-of-a-kind wrap that she knitted especially for this project.  If you have ever seen her knitted nests, you know that she can't make anything that isn't just perfection itself.  (If you haven't been so fortunate as to have seen the nests, go here to see my personal favorite.)

I've always said I know only enough about knitting to be able to make a scarf.  Well, perfect!  I'll be sending her at least one of those.  I also know (marginally better, if I'm honest) how to crochet a bit, and I will be creating a scarf (or 10) by that method.  I'm not going to sugar coat it- I want to win that wrap! (Credit for construction will actually go to Lucy Jane, though.)

But much more than that, I want to help Vicki in this worthy cause.  Many of you don't know that someone in my family has had a brush with this awful disease- fortunately it was caught and removed quickly and without much fuss and bother.  But sadly, many, many women are not that fortunate.

So here's an extra incentive to Vicki's wonderful project:  Anytime you send her a scarf and post a comment on her Pink Scarf Project Page that you have done so, come here (there will be a button on my sidebar shortly) and post a comment telling me that you have done so, and you will have an entry to win this Lucy Jane Pennybright "Hope" elephant, complete with her very own pink scarf!  (The mailing address to send the scarves and all of the wonderful details are on her blog at the above link.)

The drawing will be held NEXT October 1st when Vicki's project ends, AND I will also accept comments on this Lucy Jane post about the project.  (But only one entry for the ellie per scarf made and sent!!  I'm just allowing you to choose which blog you leave your entry on!)

So what are you waiting for??  Go to Vicki's blog, find out all the details, and start knitting (or crocheting, sewing, or whatever it is you do) a pink scarf to send her way!!  Best of luck winning the wrap and/or "Hope"!

PS- Here is Lucy's first scarf to send.  What do you think? :)

52 Weeks of Mail: The Rest of Year 1

Well, I managed to mail off one thing a week for most weeks of the 52 Weeks of Mail Project this past year, with a couple of exceptions.  I didn't quite make the goal.  Still, it was a fantastic thing to be a part of and I have made oodles of new friends all around the world!  I have joined in for Round 2 and will be posting photos of incoming and outgoing mail goodies on Saturdays each week.

This is the only "personal" thing I'm able to blog about at the moment. Which is so unfair!  :(  Eventually, I'll catch you all up to speed on goings on, but for right now, I can't.  So this will have to fill in.  I hope you are inspired and uplifted by the photos, and if you want to join in on the fun, be sure to follow the link above to the 52 Weeks Facebook page.

Here are the photos that I took of things I sent between the end of June and the 1st of October.  I sent more than this, and received some beautiful mail too, but I didn't get photos of it. (I'll try harder to document this time around.)

Wood, Don: King Bidgood's In The Bathtub and Heckedy Peg

The illustration style of these two books draws me back to them again and again.

We LOVE "King Bidgood's In The Bathtub"!  The Cute Gremlins think it is hilarious!  The King is having fun in his giant, bubbly, massive bathtub and refuses to get out.  So all the court has to move whatever plans they had going that day- yep!  Into the tub!  I immediately thought of Lauren at American Duchess when I saw the fashions of the court as they waited in the hallway, trying to coax King Bidgood away from his bubble-bathy buffoonery.

I wonder what Lauren thought when she saw what the water had done to the Queen's gown after having lunch in the tub?

[Edit/Update: I tagged Lauren on Facebook that I'd written this post and posed a question.  This is her reply: "lol! Well I think the illustrator knew/knows fashion history! Very impressive, that's not so far off what Elizabethan women were wearing under their skirts :-D"]

********

Heckedy Peg is equally as charming with the illustrations, but a more serious tale:
A poor widow with seven children must go to the market and leave the children alone at home (think Europe mid 18th or 19th century/Grimms tales kind of setting).  While she is gone, the witch Heckedy Peg comes and tricks them, and they are transformed into food.  By remembering what her children had asked for from the market, the mother was able to correctly guess which child had been turned into what food and save them from the witch.

This is my favorite image from Heckedy Peg, because I've known the love and strong maternal instincts that turn the poor widow into a fearsome and formidable force to be reckoned with when she is protecting her children.

That stance and body language?  Just about every mom in the world, including me, has been there and done that and will on keep doing it, whenever and if ever the need arises.  But the illustration of her doing it gives me added courage.  This is a scary world to raise babies in, even without hungry witches named Heckedy Peg.

I'd like to find more books at the library that are illustrated by Don Wood.  If I happen upon any soon, I'll be sure to post an edit!