2020 in Postcards

  • December 28, 2020

We all know what didn’t happen this year: travel. And no travel (usually) means no postcards. But as you may know I found ways around that, and this past year ended up being a strong one on the postcard front!

When I visited Australia/Japan late last year and early this year I sent Kristin about 50 (yes fifty) postcards, four of which are shown above. As usual these are mostly amusing travelogues and I’m already thankful I did them since they contain slice-of-life memories that have already faded! Here’s an example of what I wrote on one from Japan:

Of course the last card from Japan (sent on January 20) was the last card I sent in 2020 while I was actually on holiday somewhere.

Then a friend (thanks JK!) made me some postcards for my birthday! This was perhaps a better gift even than she realized, because immediately I decided to use the same service (moo.com) to start making my own.

And I’ve made hundreds! Most of you have received some in the mail, and a few of you are receiving them weekly! This is in part due to covid, and in part due to me enjoying sending postcards. I hope you are enjoying receiving them.

Happily I’ve been receiving cards as well, and the above is a selection. Even if none of you are traveling either, you’re still sending me cards which is great. Every time I find one in my letterbox I smile 🙂

And then there’s postcrossing as well. I only check my PO Box every few weeks but every time I do there’s a pile of cards in there and I’m very close to receiving my 300th card! Covid is still slowing the mail for many countries, but even if delayed the cards eventually arrive and I haven’t had a single one ‘lost’ during 2020. Understandably the vast majority of cards contain comments about covid, and I can assure you people all over the world are hoping we get through this soon.

My latest idea was to purchase some ‘vintage’ US Stamps (some examples above) to use on postcards, and I’m just about to start doing that. Even though US stamps are good forever I’m still going to test this before sending a bunch of cards, but I’m optimistic you can look forward to cards with 30+ year old stamps on them soon…

Of course I hope 2021 brings travel back, and I can once again go somewhere and send you tacky tourist postcards. But even if that can’t happen I’ve got enough cards to keep me going for a good long while, and enough ideas to keep them fresh. Watch your mailboxes!

  • Posted in Art
  • Robert

Let’s Call It A Christmas Tree

  • December 23, 2020

I bought a multi pack of crystal tree growing kits recently and gave some of you one for Christmas. Who got one? I don’t remember! If it was you, here’s what you have to look forward to…

I believe all four kits were different colours, and we ended up with pink. It takes only moments to assemble it, and when you’re done be sure to put it somewhere it won’t be disturbed.

The above three shots are right after making it, then 1 and 2 hours later. You can see the tree saturates quickly, but the growth takes a while to begin.

Here we have 3, 4 and 5 hours after assembly. As you can see this is a high quality kit! I’ve blogged about these before and if you’re interested how they work go have a read.

And lastly we have 6 and 7 hours and then the final image is the next day (about 18 hours after assembly). What a lovely tree!

That’s a detailed shot of the crystals themselves. They’re very fragile so we keep it in a curio. In time they get stronger, but they will also fade as the food coloring evaporates. The white thing in the background of the photo is one we set up years ago.

If you get one from me for Christmas please set it up and send me a photo when it’s done. I’d like to see the colours 🙂

  • Posted in Crafts
  • Robert

Five Breakfasts

  • December 21, 2020

It’s time for another food review! This time its breakfasts. One a day for five days, all similar but different.

Oceanfish with a Shrimp Topper

As you can see this meal is fishy and oil and includes delicious cooked shrimp. It’s mostly mackerel (I think) and Zoffy took 4 minutes and 24 seconds to finish it without ever once walking away. I think that means it was good.

Skipjack Tuna with a Sole Topper

Now this is high quality! Who else eats skipjack and sole for breakfast? Zoffy took only 3 minutes and 10 seconds to polish this meal off, and that included one brief walk away due to being startled by a noise. She loved this one!

White Meat Chicken

Zoffy is a cat that loves chicken, and since her second love is fish then this delight – which is served in a tuna broth – is right up her street! Indeed the fact she scarfed it down in only 2 minutes and 48 seconds is good evidence of the fact that this was a breakfast for kings!

Light Meat Tuna with a Scallop Topper

Lest there be anyone that doubts the quality of the breakfasts I serve my cat witness exhibit D, which includes scallop! Yes, Zoffy eats a variety of different tuna breakfasts each week and loves them all. This time it took her 4 minutes and 15 seconds (the scallop takes a lot of chewing!) with only a brief walkaway since Emi wandered too close while she was eating.

Steamed Wild Alaskan Salmon

This is an unusual breakfast for her, since I had convinced myself she preferred whitefish and had stopped buying Salmon. Then amazon made a mistake with an order and we got a bunch of these. So naturally, salmon was back on the menu. She loved it! With no walkaways she ate it all up in only 3 minutes and 7 seconds! Obviously Zoffy is a cat of refined taste, and can appreciate a delicious cut of steamed wild fish.

So if we judge in order of how fast Zoffy ate them, the ranking ends up being
1) Chicken
2) Salmon
3) Skipjack Tuna
4) Light Meat Tuna
5) Oceanfish

And yes, I am careful she never gets the same choice two days in a row. She also has a range of different soup/broth meals she gets for ‘dinner’ every day as well.

It’s almost as if Zoffy eats better than me…?