I found a list of "Things You Should Not Send Your Penpal" at CityMity Penpals Blog. It was a good, sensible list.

Not many people are writing letters which are mailed though the postal system these days. I did, years ago and I started thinking to do so again. If I find someone I'd enjoy writing with. We used to exchange more than letters, stamps or postcards. There were friendship books, mail art and anything else you could fit into an envelope without too much of it sticking up from the flatness of the envelope.

One thing which is risky to exchange, seeds, or anything plant based. Very sad. Some plant things are ok, usually something which has been processed. I think you can send tea bags, but not loose tea. So, you could exchange seeds if they came from a seed company, but not seeds you collected from your own garden, or seeds you found on a road trip, in the neighbourhood, etc.

Currency is ok if it is very small in value. Very small, being less than a few dollars. I used to like seeing what change/ coins looked like from other countries. I still have some of the coins I collected from penpals.

As a teenager with a tiny budget, my biggest expense for letter writing (other than postage) was stationery. I would shop for boxes of stationery and especially if it came in its own pretty box I could keep long after I had mailed the last of the writing paper and envelopes away. You can still find beautiful or customized/ unique paper and envelopes online but a lot of it seems too girly for me now. I may end up sticking with postcards for awhile.

I have wanted to have a holiday and events site for years. But, I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. So, this site is taking awhile to pull together. I have artwork, from my ASCII art. I have posts and loads of ideas I've been gathering, collecting and curating. I found software which I can use to set up a calendar for all the recurring holidays and events. Most of all - I got the most excellent domain!!!

Coming soon, isn't quite right. Coming along seems a little better.

I get annoyed about US spelling being taught or expected/ insisted upon, in Canadian schools. When I was in college, years ago, we were told to spell the US way. I went to Centennial College, the Warden Woods campus which is gone now. My nieces attend school in Newmarket and are taught US spelling. If they (or myself in college) don’t spell the US way our words are marked wrong. In college I had to write very well in order not o have a failing grade – because I refused to spell the US way in Canada. I still refuse.

This site is going to be about Canadian spelling and Canadian things in general. I love being Canadian. I was born here, though I have travelled, I still like Canada the best.

I think it is sad to see so many personal journals disappearing. This site is about writing, journals and diaries especially included.

Think about the word in the list below. Have you ever used one of them outside of a cliche/ idiom? I have used lurch as a word in a sentence. It is a good descriptive sounding word for a person who doesn't walk easily. That is the only word I've used outside of the phrases they have become known by.

12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms

• Wend
• Deserts
• Eke
• Sleight
• Dint
• Roughshod
• Fro
• Hue
• Kith
• Lurch
• Umbrage
• Shrift