tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53937048363640195152011-09-20T04:22:26.431+10:00Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.comBlogger781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-9588196311926840502010-12-21T15:48:00.000+11:002010-12-21T15:48:08.338+11:00

Here's the thing: rather than blog about writing letters, I really want to just write more letters. This is why I am hanging up my blogging cap, at least for now. I have enjoyed hanging out here so much. I have made innumerable friends - most of them now pen friends - through this very blog and am grateful for everyone who has stumbled on this little place and decided to write to me. Your

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-61593042258831505062010-12-01T21:55:00.000+11:002010-12-01T21:55:54.042+11:00

Ah, 'Better late than never' is a saying I am grateful for as I often draw upon it. This is one such occasion. I have FINALLY drawn my give away (only one week and two days late). Here is the result: True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:71 Number 71 is the lovely and talented lady behind 365 Letters. Congratulations! Your prize will be winging its way to you shortly. Love from Kaz

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-87373858446798273662010-11-30T21:37:00.000+11:002010-11-30T21:37:08.856+11:00

I had the great fortune recently to get to write a story about the connection between a man that lives near Yass and the late great Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Kingsford Smith and his co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge went down in mysterious circumstances over the Bay of Bengal 75 years ago, while making a world-record attempt of the fastest flight between England and Australia. The

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-7370356954670825452010-11-27T18:28:00.000+11:002010-11-27T18:28:18.492+11:00

A wonderful card from a Postcrosser in the US. After working Monday to Friday for the past few weeks, I can totally relate! Why can we put men on the moon, send digital messages around the world in seconds, find cures for all kinds of disesases... yet we can't invent houses that clean and tidy themselves while we sleep?. Really, what are scientists doing with their time?? Have a great weekend

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-7148156289093826712010-11-25T17:25:00.000+11:002010-11-25T17:25:11.220+11:00

I'm going out on a limb here but I'm going to declare my preference for shorter first letters. What do I mean by shorter? Well, not super short. Probably about two pages. or the inside of a card plus a sheet of writing paper... roughly speaking. Less can work well, too... because sometimes less is more. Prescribing the length of a letter is always a controversial area, so I want to make it

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-84323405002470581492010-11-23T00:42:00.000+11:002010-11-23T00:42:15.801+11:00

I picked this book up on ebay recently. I couldn't resist it. I think it must have been part of a series called 'Australian Knowledge' that probably went out to primary schools everywhere. Judging by the hair styles, etc, I would have placed this in the 1970s, but the publication date says 1985. Funny... I remember the 80s being much more 'modern' than this. What a happy young postal worker, in

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-40863900607854474602010-11-19T22:46:00.000+11:002010-11-19T22:46:26.785+11:00

Sometimes you get a letter and you just know it has had a long and tiring journey. Of course, I had a hint about this particular letter, as Angelia had already blogged about its adventures here. Still, when it arrived today I took one look at it and wanted to give it a cup of tea and a good lie down.  Do you see the chunk that the sorting machine took here? And a nibble here? And then it

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-72516987542121861522010-11-14T21:27:00.000+11:002010-11-14T21:27:25.572+11:00

As I was hanging out at my friend's cafe today, making the occasional chai latte or cappucino and penning a few (long overdue) letters, a friend dropped in who works for the Defence Department. I've never really gotten into what he actually does there, except I know he wears a uniform and travels from time-to-time, but today I got a little more of an insight. He asked me about how my

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-92081055024752143442010-11-13T17:59:00.000+11:002010-11-13T17:59:25.998+11:00

... and this week I love Sunday more than usual, because I get to hang out in one of my favourite places and hopefully write some letters. My good friends Chris and Sally have a little place in town that is sort of a gallery, sort of a cafe, but neither 'officially'. Really, it is a community space. They always open it on Saturdays. Last Sunday, I ran it for them for a few hours because there

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-59539908450744159512010-11-10T17:32:00.000+11:002010-11-10T17:32:53.573+11:00

Seeing as things have been a bit busy lately and I am missing having the luxury of writing long, luxurious blog posts, I've decided to do a few quickies just to keep things ticking along. Like the previous post, this is a postcrossing postcard. It arrived a few weeks ago, and was sent to me from Kaella in Massachusetts. I love it! I was a Nancy Drew fan as a girl and now my daughter is an avid

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-50337368320356115232010-11-08T18:45:00.000+11:002010-11-08T18:45:45.278+11:00

If I needed any proof that life has been a bit too hectic lately, I found it today. I was scrabbling around in the back of my car for a pen - I'd dashed out to interview someone and in my haste forgotten a pen; luckily I always have a few lying around - and in the seat pocket back there I found a postcrossing postcard from Portugal, postmarked Oct 19. The thing is, I don't even remember getting

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-82932324116009723542010-11-03T20:43:00.000+11:002010-11-03T20:43:17.899+11:00

Life is good, the sun is shining, kids are happy, lots is happening. I have been receiving some beautiful letters lately... so grateful for these wonderful gifts through my letterbox. I haven't blogged much lately as I am at the pointy end of a short course I took on. All the assignments are suddenly due and - as life would have it - I have also been asked to work more days at the paper lately.

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-19284791227491120152010-10-30T14:28:00.000+11:002010-10-30T14:28:45.688+11:00

I have been feeling very contemplative the last few days, which is juxtaposed with the busy-ness of my days. Every time I have a few minutes to myself I find myself slipping into deep reverie. Ponderous... that's another good word for it. My kids and I were frazzled the other day and we all argued. One of the things my daughter said in the heat of the moment was that instead of spending time

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-48738127183546580722010-10-28T07:50:00.000+11:002010-10-28T07:50:42.070+11:00

The winner of my second ever giveaway is Donna in the UK! I'm a little behind schedule as I was away camping on Monday, got back late on Tuesday and worked til 8pm on Wednesday... that's my excuse anyway! But the next draw will happen on Monday 15th October - sharp. Promise. Donna has won a package of paper goods from my collection of bibs and bobs. For those who didn't see my earlier post

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-31055437827249489952010-10-26T21:37:00.000+11:002010-10-26T21:37:57.634+11:00

Just home from a lovely camping trip with very special friends. Of course, I took letter-writing supplies so - along with swimming, eating, roasting marshmallows, bushwalking and nipping into the nearby small town for op-shopping, hot chocolates and book-browsing - I managed to get a few letters written. And quite a few postcards, of course! I also found myself, at one point, trying to explain

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-40710862121785733062010-10-22T00:33:00.000+11:002010-10-22T00:33:34.410+11:00

I'm a big fan of post offices, mine in particular. The staff are (usually) friendly and helpful and they are starting to get to know me now. At first I was shy about offering up my pieces of mail art... wondering if there would be a comment, or some scathing remark about the problems my glued-on bits or unusual addressing style would sstuff up the mail sorting machines. But there's been nothing

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-73469207890522495752010-10-19T22:38:00.000+11:002010-10-19T22:38:50.076+11:00

Recently Missive Maven wrote a really interesting post about Christmas cards and I thought perhaps I'd add my two cents worth to the topic as well. You can read her post here. My stand on holiday cards is this: I don't send them. Not because I don't celebrate religious holidays, or whatever. There's two reasons I don't send them and they're pretty simple: 1) I basically see Christmas cards and

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-37279052205149349342010-10-18T01:00:00.000+11:002010-10-18T01:00:00.363+11:00

"... and by the way thank you for the cheesy postcard :). It funnily enough looks even more cheesy with the hole in it. A poor snail took refuge in my letter box during a deluge and snacked on the card, luckily it had the decency to eat the address part first, heh." Huey is an old friend living in Melbourne who I send little notes and postcards to often. I loved hearing about that snail in

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-44992585919269299142010-10-16T00:03:00.000+11:002010-10-16T00:03:00.290+11:00

I'm always a bit torn about putting up pics of the beautiful mail art I receive. The reason? I feel like there is no hierarchy of mail and I don't want it to look like I value these any better than the sprawling letter on plain white paper in a plain white envelope that Kerry sent me, or the chunky letter that Geoff folded four times before it fit (just) into the little teeny envelope he used.

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-695592381790165052010-10-13T07:34:00.000+11:002010-10-13T07:34:07.802+11:00

I have been a busy bee lately. For a woman who normally has a bit of time on her hands (the way I like it), the last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy. I have been called into work on extra days. I have just had a weekend away, hot on the heels of a holiday with the kids, and it's possible the kids and I will be camping with friends this weekend. I am not complaining at all. I LOVE my job and

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-21547505585410332782010-10-08T11:02:00.000+11:002010-10-08T11:02:51.195+11:00

A couple of days ago I went to check my post office box and realised I'd left my key at home. No problem, I would just pop into the post office (I needed stamps anyway) and ask them for the spare key. The woman on the counter was in a cheery mood and after sorting out my postage, she offered to check my post box for me. She was gone a minute or two and then handed me three pieces of good mail -

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-60210483506279668052010-10-07T10:18:00.000+11:002010-10-07T10:18:42.418+11:00

I put all the names are in a hat (my son's Zoro hat). My son helped with the drawing and here he is closing his eyes tight so he can't cheat. :) His hand goes in... And the winner is.... Jackie Flaherty! Jackie, I was hoping to get in touch with you first (sent you a message). Hopefully you will see this and get in touch. Love from Kaz

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-2579883989645778112010-10-06T21:22:00.000+11:002010-10-06T21:22:51.628+11:00

Dear Suki, I got your melancholy postcard today. Such a beautiful card, such sad words. I would so much like to write back... please let me know your address and we can correspond. You have sent me on a search now to find a beautiful postcard to send back. I just hope I can find the words to say what I want to say... Love from Kaz PS I have drawn the giveaway and notified the winner... I

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-24352916401218421402010-10-05T23:03:00.000+11:002010-10-05T23:03:10.719+11:00

I'm a little behind schedule, as I said I would do this yesterday. School holidays have been eating into my 'me' time. However, this evening I have been putting together an envelope of goodies for the giveaway. It's been so much fun putting it together and I hope the recipient will enjoy receiving it just as much. It's not quite ready so no pic yet... I have an assignment to finish tonight so I

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-49027781104102992602010-10-05T10:20:00.000+11:002010-10-05T10:20:49.240+11:00

There's nothing like a few days at the seaside to blow away the cobwebs. I felt like my mind bubbled while we were away, and I have come back with lots of ideas and things I want to do. I also wrote LOTS of letters and postcards. This is my post on day 2... or was it day 3... And this was my post the day before we came home... There was more, but I didn't photograph everything. Highlights

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-86262354981918524122010-09-27T22:54:00.000+10:002010-09-27T22:54:19.531+10:00

This is a wall in my kitchen. I was going to call it my postcard wall, but then I remembered that there are still many things here that aren't postcards, though since joining Postcrossing the postcard ratio has gone up. A few notes about my wall: I don't put everything up all at once, in fact if I wanted to put up all my postcards the wall would be full; I change things about all the time,

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-90478253440620616592010-09-25T10:53:00.000+10:002010-09-25T10:53:47.058+10:00

I haven't posted any pics for ages! Ok, so I like words... but pics are good, too. So here's some from the past few weeks that are kinda sorta related to letter-writing. You can decide by how much. :) This is Daisy, the kitten we adopted last week. She helps me write letters ALL the time. The stationery store in Potts Point, Sydney, that I might have raved about on one or two postcards.

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-11584874844099401142010-09-22T21:57:00.000+10:002010-09-22T21:57:28.178+10:00

The person I wrote to has received my letter, and this evening he sent me a message on facebook. I sat at my computer a full 20 minutes, finding all sorts of other stuff to do, while the presence of his message burned a hole in my brain. Finally, I talked myself through the worst case scenario: he was angry and upset and had written me a message full of vitriol. After a few minutes thinking

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-683330729793776602010-09-21T14:56:00.000+10:002010-09-21T14:56:49.405+10:00

Just a quick post today, as I'm busy answering as many letters as I can before my kids and I head off on a little holiday next week. Isn't it always the way? I just posted about getting mail every day last week, then Monday rolled around and my letterbox was... empty. So was my post office box. I think the universe was reminding me not to take good mail for granted! The plus side is that it

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-43445312905364231662010-09-19T10:04:00.000+10:002010-09-19T10:04:23.071+10:00

Recently I said that I was looking forward to the time when I'd receive good mail every day of the week, and last week it happened. On Monday I had a letters from new penpals Sally and Patty; on Tuesday from my old friends Lynley and Danielle; on Wednesday a first letter from Wendy and a reply from Rebecca; on Thursday a letter from Sue, another new penpal; and on Friday I had a letter from

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-57966003830617404452010-09-17T01:27:00.000+10:002010-09-17T01:27:57.285+10:00

 So I stumbled upon an online penpal list recently, and saw some things that made me ponder. I was scanning through, thinking that I would put one or two people on my 'write to' list... but I ended up leaving empty handed. The thing was that everyone had conditions. It was things like "only people who write long letters" or "don't write if you are going to stop after a while", or they would

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-14554326982822960212010-09-14T17:20:00.000+10:002010-09-14T17:20:32.608+10:00

Half the fun of a trip away, I think, is sending poscards and I was filled with happiness to have so many to send on my recent weekend in Sydney. I had a lovely time. I was in a small (cheap!) hotel in an area called Potts Point which is just squeezed in between Kings Cross (Sydney's infamous red light district), and the bit of Sydney Harbour with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Opera House. It

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-14771776478290175282010-09-09T10:44:00.000+10:002010-09-09T10:44:38.318+10:00

I'm off to Sydney this weekend and just thought I would make the offer to send a postcard to any of my lovely followers who would like one. They will all be fabulous touristy postcards of the Sydney Harbour Bridge or Opera House, or something equally iconic of Sydney. This is on  top of those people who I regularly send postcards to when I travel. If you would like one, please leave a comment

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-39606579015135536502010-09-08T20:40:00.000+10:002010-09-08T20:40:10.408+10:00

If you are waiting for a letter from me and wondering where it is, I'm going to shock you here and tell you that I am not going to apologise for the time it takes me to get a letter back to you. I've not forgotten you, and I'm not twiddling my thumbs. I'm replying to my letters in the order I received them... and I'm following my natural rhythm of letter-writing. By the same token I'm not

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-71909637771164729102010-09-06T22:08:00.000+10:002010-09-06T22:08:18.622+10:00

In the lead up to the Australian election I wrote a handful of letters to Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Then we had our federal election on August 21. Two and a half weeks and a hung parliament later, and we still don't have a result. I've got it written in my letter list for tomorrow to write to Australia's new PM. You can see my dilemma. We might, might have a new government tomorrow if the

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-69442264740380363662010-09-04T13:26:00.000+10:002010-09-04T13:26:45.962+10:00

Sometimes, just sometimes things can go a little awry in the world of snail mail. For example, Queenie over at Queenie and the Dew keeps getting her own mailed letters returned to her by Royal Mail in the UK. Wouldn't that just drive you nuts? I had my own little misadventure the other day, and it was to do with a Postcrossing postcard that I'd sent to Spain. I was happy to hear that my postcard

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-49143229723535694502010-09-01T22:12:00.000+10:002010-09-01T22:12:11.405+10:00

It's been three months since I started keeping my stats now on incoming and outgoing letters. I'm not big on posting those stats on my blog, but suffice to say that production has increased hugely over this time and I am getting good mail pretty regularly these days. My current aim is to write enough letters that I receive good mail every single day of the week. Won't that be something? :-) As

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-28082541970102344362010-08-30T23:20:00.000+10:002010-08-30T23:20:41.799+10:00

Have you ever had to write a tough letter? I'm a nice person (my friends will tell you!) and 99 per cent of the time I write nice letters. But sometimes... just sometimes I feel the need to write a difficult letter. I have been wrestling with this one for weeks and have gone back and forth on whether I should write it or not. I have re-written it in my head dozens of times. But today is the day

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-76895061092856569232010-08-28T21:29:00.000+10:002010-08-28T21:29:23.986+10:00

This is my post office... I love this place.

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-983603691276289372010-08-27T07:56:00.000+10:002010-08-27T07:56:35.718+10:00

I love handwriting - mine, yours, everybody's. I would handwrite this blog if I could! Receiving handwritten letters is wonderful and I don't mind if the handwriting is neat, messy, lopsided, curly or erratic - it's all good to me. When I receive a letter - particularly from someone I have never met - the handwriting provides some great clues as to the personality of the writer. Don't get me

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-62840043095990748772010-08-24T21:46:00.000+10:002010-08-24T21:46:08.803+10:00

Yesteryday I learnt a lesson. I received only one letter... one little letter, thin and small. It came in a black envelope so I almost didn't even see it inside my post office box. I looked on the back to see who it was from and am ashamed to say that I wasn't sure at first... Kate... in Canberra.... hmmm... I know a few Kates and at least two of them are in Canberra so it took another minute or

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-50022770013478239652010-08-22T23:37:00.000+10:002010-08-22T23:37:07.442+10:00

A recent letter has got me reflecting again on why letters are different to other forms of communication and - in my opinion - often better. My brother Geoff wrote me a lovely letter after I had sent him a pretty random card with some ramblings. I can always count on him to give me a very considered and eloquent response. He wrote, "I started  with 'Dear' and not 'Hi': this seems to indicate

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-51656908241729623952010-08-21T00:31:00.000+10:002010-08-21T00:31:40.876+10:00

See this? It's a picture of the Yass River in flood. We've had a huge amount of rain lately. I thought the pic was apt, as I've had a flood of mail this week. It feels like things are gathering momentum. I feel like I've done a pretty good job keeping up. Even so, this is my 'reply to' hoard: You may be able to spot your letter there, if you've written to me recently. I'm averaging about two

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-67407626465352120002010-08-20T00:00:00.000+10:002010-08-20T00:00:55.089+10:00

Only two days til the federal election now, and I have finally received a letter back from Julia Gillard. I"ve actually sent three letters in total now. I sent the third one just a couple of days ago... it seems that once I started I just kept going! A letter arrived yesterday and, strictly speaking, I can't say it's from Ms Gillard. It came with a 'with compliments' slip from the Labor

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-10278942100009456212010-08-18T07:52:00.000+10:002010-08-18T07:52:49.483+10:00

I have just reached a major milestone. I have sent (and had received) 20 postcrossing postards - Yippee! What's the big deal? Well, when you start out on postcrossing you can only send to five addresses... but once you reach 20 sent postards (they have to be registered on the site from the recipient) then you can begin sending six. And when you get to 40 sent postcards, you can send to seven

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-2658421615747086942010-08-16T01:41:00.000+10:002010-08-16T01:41:03.488+10:00

Little things often make me happy. Today (Sunday) I woke up feeling kinda flat. You know when you have those kinda days? The kids were at their dad's house and I was missing them and not feeling very excited about anything. So, I used my typical antidote... and call me a shallow cliche if you like, but this really does the trick for me - I put on some pretty clothes, did my make-up and hair and

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-22651541952945239452010-08-14T00:04:00.001+10:002010-08-27T07:13:43.178+10:00

I've realised, as I was sorting out some of my stationery and things, that I have managed to amasse a lovely collection of pretty things this week. Some of them are things sent through the mail, and some of them are things that I plan to send through the mail, sooner or later. Strictly speaking this didn't arrive in my possession this week. In fact, I think I have had it since about 2003.

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-26775877992485976052010-08-11T15:57:00.000+10:002010-08-11T15:57:52.357+10:00

This is something I'm still figuring out. I tend to pick up my mail when I am either a) on my way to work, or b) on my way home from work, with kids in tow. Either way, it is not an ideal time for sitting and reading letters. Ideal meaning, in this instance, sitting down in a quiet place in a big comfy chair with cup of tea and bikkies to mull joyously over letters, etc. I like this idyllic

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-22827592615404403812010-08-10T00:24:00.000+10:002010-08-10T00:24:46.389+10:00

I used to think letter writing involved just that: writing letters, but I have been on a steep learning curve over the past couple of months. I have discovered mail art - envelopes that land in my post office box all bright and beautiful, often made from recycled materials, paper peppered with stamps and doodles, and all sorts of eclectic finds tucked in with the letter. I received a gorgeous

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-12576535575039107702010-08-08T00:45:00.000+10:002010-08-08T00:45:42.078+10:00

I'm not a big one for stats - you'll notice I don't post my incoming or outgoing mail stats regularly. I don't post them because I feel like it then begs comparisons, and I know what I'm like. If I start to put pressure on myself to maintain some sort of average or keep the numbers up, then I'm just as likely to rebel... and the whole thing will fall in a heap! It's just a personal preference,

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-69190259946963895212010-08-05T23:56:00.000+10:002010-08-05T23:56:54.404+10:00

Pip from Meet me at Mikes posted some blogging tips today (they are excellent, btw, check 'em out), and one of her suggestions is to be candid. So here I go... I am a naturally upbeat person. I like looking on the bright side. It doesn't mean I'm never sad, disappointed, tired or disillusioned. It's just that I don't live there... I let the feelings flow over me, I take care of myself... and

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-83962353191859975882010-08-03T22:42:00.001+10:002010-08-03T22:49:55.839+10:00

A little while ago I was walking around Yass with my friend Charmaine and bemoaning that I couldn't find any good stationery in any of the shops. Of course, I forgot that I already had quite a bit of nice stationery still at home (it seems to be the lot of us letter-writers that we're never totally satisfied with the stationery we have and are always looking for more!). I also had yet to discover

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-43899332746625410072010-08-01T23:41:00.000+10:002010-08-01T23:41:33.586+10:00

It's no news that digital communication is fast. And often that's a good thing. If I'm running late to pick up my kids, it's no good writing them a letter. But does everything need such immediacy? I don't know the stats but I would hazard a guess that the most common form of communication these days is email. When I worked as a marketing manager in a large organisation I just about lived in

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-3784144403330777332010-07-30T17:45:00.000+10:002010-07-30T17:45:16.626+10:00

I'm doing a personal op shop challenge at the moment. The deal is that I have pledged not to buy any new clothes for 12 months. Anything I want or need has to be sourced from an op shop or other second-hand outlet, or garage sale. A nice side-effect of this is that I'm now spending a bit more time in op shops, and today I went to one in Yass that I hadn't been to before. I stumbled upon a

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-66399200345072450902010-07-29T01:10:00.001+10:002010-07-29T01:11:59.528+10:00

Before I returned to letter-writing, I had many more bad mail days than good mail days knew I had letter sationery... somewhere thought postcards were only for tourists had no idea what was on the current series of postage stamps hardly ever went to the post office didn't really know anyone in the US, UK or Canada didn't know what letter art was didn't have a glue stick on my bedside table had

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-83868699517814745012010-07-26T23:50:00.001+10:002010-07-26T23:56:00.865+10:00

Is it just me, or does every passionate letter-writer get a bit obsessive about certain things? I'm talking about those little things that go hand-in-hand with writing letters: keeping fastidious records, collecting stamps, hoarding stationery, etc, etc, etc. I've got to explain that I am not the most organised person, in my usual life. In fact I shy away from too much organisation... as if it

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-30735596647331126472010-07-25T00:26:00.000+10:002010-07-25T00:26:07.904+10:00

Thank-you to Ria at 'How many kilometres?'  for inspiring this blog. I had a couple of other things in mind to write about, but then I headed over to Ria's blog to check out a giveaway that I had heard about via the blogosphere. It sounded like a great giveaway (and it is!) but best of all I liked that she asked her entrants to supply their favourite quote. An excellent idea, and after reading

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-71608359659148433362010-07-22T13:14:00.001+10:002010-07-22T13:30:12.970+10:00

I'm seldom lost for words - any of my friends can tell you that. But again and again lately the question has arisen, what do you write in a first letter to someone you have never met? I've received many lovely first letters since I began this blog - they were from Sine (US), Lorrie (Canada), Rebecca (UK), Joseph (US), Angelia (US), Rudy (US), Sue (US), Jennifer (US), Elle (US) and Esme (UK).

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-26327410311061911542010-07-20T21:59:00.000+10:002010-07-20T21:59:04.559+10:00

This was just some of the mail I received today. This included six postcrossing poscards. SIX! In one day! It's kind of bizarre that they were sent on different days from different countries - Taiwan, South Korea, US, Finland, Germany and Malaysia - and they all landed in my little letterbox in this quiet little town on the same day. I love these kinds of random coincedences. Check out the

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-32011972083386907082010-07-18T14:23:00.001+10:002010-07-19T13:55:35.196+10:00

Ever since I first wrote to Julia (Australia's Prime Minister - since we're corresponding I think we're on a first name basis) a few weeks ago, I have been feeling the urge to do it again. I'd like to keep up a little running discourse. I'll try not to bother her with long boring letters, but will just send her my (succinct) thoughts about what's going on in the country and how she is going.

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-32045194805976596982010-07-15T11:58:00.000+10:002010-07-15T11:58:38.292+10:00

I'm about to head off on a little road trip. The kids are with their Dad for a few days and I have no work commitments for the next three days so I am taking advantage. I plan to meander around the Southern Highlands, then head down through the Kangaroo Valley until I hit the coast, then gradually wind my way back home. I don't enjoy packing but at least my hobby is easy to pack. A pad of

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-85711983887771535202010-07-13T00:53:00.001+10:002010-07-14T23:12:04.163+10:00

One of the joys of being a letter-writer is the lovely responses you get from recipients. But best of all is when a recipient of a letter says something like, 'Oh, I'd forgotten how much I love letters... I'm going to get back into writing them!' This is pretty much how things have gone with my friend Dani. We worked together years ago, then lost touch, then got back in touch via facebook, then

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-90471940463358972982010-07-10T23:19:00.000+10:002010-07-10T23:19:55.391+10:00

I was v. excited to get my first postcrossing postcards this week. They are just so random! I rather think that the people behind postcrossing are quite genius to have worked out how to create this system  - and keep it going. I seem to have a nice steady flow now of postcards leaving and postcards arriving. It feels quite rhythmic. My very first one arrived from Kimberly in Malibu - beachy!

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-18588190246214523012010-07-10T10:41:00.001+10:002010-07-10T10:42:16.447+10:00

the golden adventures of...: ♡ Giveaway ♡ I just found this giveaway - it's gorgeous. I'm in! Be quick though... it finishes tomorrow. Love from Kaz

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-11288038554682725182010-07-08T22:42:00.000+10:002010-07-08T22:42:50.626+10:00

One thing I know about letter-writers - we love all the bits that go with it. Beautiful paper from vintage to fully-recycled with bio-ink, and everything in between; pens whether it's a fountain pen you were given years ago, or a crazy-coloured gel pen that just writes beautifully; letter openers; letter holders; seals; and then all the extra bits and pieces to make mail art - it goes on and on

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-17934621744157533682010-07-06T13:58:00.000+10:002010-07-06T13:58:18.070+10:00

Last night, I dreamt about mail. It was a good dream, but it had a warning in it too, and when I woke up I realised my subconscious was strongly suggesting that I invest in a post office box... just to keep my home address off the internet. I can kind of see the sense of that, so I listened... and today I went and got myself a post office box. If you all ready have my home address, that's fine -

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-61786773524933436372010-07-05T23:55:00.000+10:002010-07-05T23:55:39.427+10:00

My love of writing letters originated in a love of words. That hasn't changed... but since exploring the online community of letter-writers, I have been exposed to so much beautiful letter art - and have even received some myself - it seems to be having an effect on me. I've found myself lately acting like a bower bird, collecting all sorts of little bits and pieces that I might be able to use

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-67391058548705207942010-07-03T22:41:00.000+10:002010-07-03T22:41:46.832+10:00

As my letter-writing ramps up - I'm now averaging about a letter a day... though sometimes I will go 2-3 days without writing one and then write a few all at once - I'm realising that I need to get more organised. I'm a bit haphazard at the moment. Sometimes I'm on the sofa,with my letter-writing supplies spread out beside me... this can get messy if I'm doing a bit of letter-craft! Sometimes I

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-24456904067727033072010-07-01T16:17:00.000+10:002010-07-01T16:17:45.184+10:00

Up until recently, I only ever wrote to people I knew. And the letters I occasionally received were also from people I already knew - my friends and family. But one of the lovely side-effects of beginning this blog is the letters that I am starting to receive from all around the world. They just turn up unannounced, looking sweet and inviting, in my mailbox - and I love it! Here is one from the

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-413106169873074632010-06-29T02:35:00.000+10:002010-06-29T02:35:04.170+10:00

Australia Post has just been given permission, by the Australian Competition and Consumer Comission, to increase the cost of a stamp (for a domestic letter) to 60 cents, up from 55 cents. I'm not sure if this will mean an increase in overseas mail, but last week I sent a bunch of postcards overseas for $1.40 each. I understand that for businesses who do bulk mailings, these price rises might

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-32575921953416884982010-06-27T11:47:00.000+10:002010-06-27T11:47:05.739+10:00

On Friday I received my first ever letter from a friendly stranger who reads this blog - thank-you Sine. I have become a follower of a number of other letter-writing blogs on the net. Many are people who have been doing it for years, and have dozens of people from all over the world who write to them regularly. But this is all new and exciting to me! I started out just writing to my friends and

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-21477428082914151282010-06-25T10:55:00.000+10:002010-06-25T10:55:55.041+10:00

Yesterday was an historic and momentous day for Australia. We gained our first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. I was pondering this last night and realised that we also have our first female Governor General, and our first female Premier of New South Wales - quite a trifecta. As a woman, and as the mother of a daughter, I am so glad that my children are growing up in a world where it is

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-89789754776559636952010-06-23T22:45:00.000+10:002010-06-23T22:45:26.692+10:00

At work today, a colleague experienced a run of technical glitches with her computer. A piece she had been working on for some time seemed to just disappear. She was understandably exasperated, and as another staff member tried to help, tempers flared. Thankfully all was recovered soon after and everyone calmed down; normal programming resumed. It just got me thinking... One thing you will never

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-5262601678738543202010-06-21T01:06:00.000+10:002010-06-21T01:06:25.076+10:00

I'm writing some postcards tonight, to five people around the world that I have never met. They are in Taiwan, Finland, the USA, Poland and Germany. The addresses have been given to me by a website I found the other day - www.postcrossing.com. It's an experiment, and I don't know if these people will write back. But sometimes letter writing is like that. Lately, I have had a lack of letters

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-26945810495381775932010-06-15T08:03:00.000+10:002010-06-15T08:03:36.911+10:00

It was the Queen's Birthday holiday here yesterday, which means... no post! I am already jealous of those countries that get post on Saturdays. Why does Australia Post only deliver Monday to Friday? How slack! I wrote to Lynley yesterday so will get that mailed today, and am crossing my fingers and toes that the postie leaves something nice in my letterbox today. :-) Love from Kaz

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-68527530140886005822010-06-14T02:58:00.000+10:002010-06-14T02:58:29.366+10:00

Wow. I have been lost in a bout of websurfing tonight, and discovered some beautiful blogs about letter art. I have received some beautiful letters over the years. A stand out is probably a girl called Sue who was part of a group whom I travelled to India with, many many moons ago. Sue and I became close, and on our return we kept in touch by writing letters (she was in Brisbane, I was in

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-77827400595453229472010-06-12T21:02:00.000+10:002010-06-12T21:26:02.592+10:00

My love of letters began when I was just a kid, and it was mainly through my Mum's influence. She grew up in Adelaide, but we lived in Geelong - about 700kms away. The way she used to keep in touch with her Mum, my Nana, was to write letters back and forth. A pretty commonplace thing in those days. But I remember how much my Mum enjoyed those letters. They weren't written on fancy paper, just

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393704836364019515.post-45144914706497721012010-06-11T23:29:00.000+10:002010-06-12T00:23:26.904+10:00

Everyone loves receiving handwritten letters. Am I right? Imagine going to your letterbox and instead of a window envelope there’s a thick cream envelope with scrawly handwriting, addressed to you. Immediately your interest is piqued. Perhaps you smile. Because a handwritten letter is a wonderful thing.When you receive a handwritten letter, you know that someone has been thinking of you. You know

Love from Kazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422359607097037290noreply@blogger.com3