Never Too Old to Learn

When I stayed in South Carolina with my son several years ago, I spent a lot of time sitting around while my son practiced riding dirt bikes. He was at a training facility, so that was his purpose. I could only watch the boys riding the same track so many times in a day.  It was at this time that I first discovered blogs, and Postcrossing.  I don't know how I discovered either one, but I have really enjoyed both of them!
In case you have never heard of Postcrossing, it is a website that you can join for free.  The whole purpose is to send and receive postcards from people you don't know in other countries. Your address is only provided to one person at a time, as your name comes up on a list to received a postcard. You start out sending one postcard at a time until you get established, and gradually you can have more than one in the mail at a time.  I have participated on and off almost five years already. I have sent postcards to countries I have never heard of!  I am including a screenshot of the map of where my cards have been sent, or received from:

The red lines indicate cards I have sent, the blues lines are postcards I have received. This is fun to see. I wish my boys were still young enough we could have a map on the wall, and use this as a geography lesson. I never appreciated geography when I was growing up, now I wish I had paid attention more, but, you're never too old to learn new things. You never know what kind of picture your received postcard will have, I like to see ones that show something native to the country, like this one of "Kissing the Blarney Stone"

I always thought the Blarney stone was just an old wives' tale, I love this!  And I love this one I just received this week:

Unfortunately, the sparkle doesn't come through on this photo, it's much prettier in person.

I have received over 130 postcards over the years. I'm thinking I would like to start a scrapbook specifically for these, they are so much fun to look at.  I used to collect stamps with each of my sons as Cub Scout projects, so even the stamps from different countries are fun to compare. I encourage you, if you are looking for a new hobby, Postcrossing is something to look into, even my husband looks forward to seeing each postcard as they arrive. It's nice to receive something other than bills or junk mail in the box once in a while!

That's it for now, thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
Cindy

December Challenge

Welcome to December, already! Where have the past eleven months gone? I for one, am happy to see this year end, and welcome in a new beginning in 2018! It seems crazy that is just around the corner.

While scrolling through blogland recently, I stumbled across a photo challenge for the month of December. As a scrapbooker of sorts, I like to preserve memories, and this was a perfect way to document this month.  Whitney, from Come Home for Comfort shared a post of prompts to help photograph some of the things that make the holidays so special.  Looked like fun to me! Here are the  first few days that I have followed through with so far, I need to catch up today.

Day 1, the prompt was red.  For me, looking out my window at a 16 foot inflatable Santa, is a lot of red!

My husband and I had a lot of fun putting him up in the yard last weekend, when the weather was perfect for being outside! We smiled at the memory of my youngest son wanting to buy this for his dad when he and I were staying in Oklahoma together. We had to find a way to load up the heavy box, bring it home with us, and hide it from dear hubby. On Christmas Eve, our three boys were able to set it up in the yard as a surprise for their dad to find the next morning. Such a pleasant memory.

Day 2, the prompt was lights.  I miss the days when we would hang icicle lights all the way around the rooflines of our house. Since the new roof and gutter guards, we can no longer do those. None of our neighbors light their homes the way we used to when our children were younger. Something we see every year however are the lights around the county courthouse.

Greencastle is one of the older cities with the big courthouse in the center. It's not tall enough to make a perfect tree, but I'm glad the city hangs these strings from the rooftop.

Day 3, the photo was prompted by sweets.  I know a lot of people stress over baking for the holidays. I do not. Hubby and I realize we both struggle with weight issues, and with both of our fathers being diabetics, we do not do a lot of sweets. Every year however, I have M&M's on the table, in a special jar.

My middle son did not always enjoy crafts like his mom. But crafts are a popular activity in Cub Scouts, and I was thrilled when my child cooperated with his den leader in elementary school and made this candy dish. It is a simple mason jar inverted on a chicken feeder. But my son made it, and it has survived over the years. I love it! The fact that I collect snowmen only adds to its appeal for me! I made the mistake of not having candy in it one year, and I took a lot of harassment from my family. I haven't missed a year since.

I hope to keep up with this photo challenge throughout the month. These will make some wonderful memories for me to save for my family. I hope you'll come back to see the other traditions we love, and maybe join the challenge yourself. Thanks for stopping by!

Cindy