craftynut

There are no postal strikes at the moment but that does not rule them out completely. Hopefully, the backlog will start to clear. I am disappointed though because from 31st January, we can no longer use old stamps for postage. I prefer the old picture stamps and used these whenever I could get hold of them. Now, we can only use the rather large ones with the funny code bit attached.

I mark swaps as sent after I have either put them in the postbox or taken them to the post office if they need to be weighed. Sometimes if I put items in the postbox on my way home from work, it means I have missed that day's collection and it may not be collected till the next day. Be assured though, if I mark as sent then the swap has begun it's journey. Occasionally we have what we call in England, bank holidays, which means items could be sat for 2 or 3 days in the post box. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about this and it may mean, the postmark is different to the send date. I have no control over when post is picked up from the postbox.

If you feel you have not received my swap in a reasonable length of time, please message me. I am sure we can sort it out. Also, I always rate. If you have not received a rating, then it has not arrived.

Just to give you an idea, international swaps can take up to two months to reach me but that does not matter because I am very good at being patient. I will usually wait at least that long before messaging to say a swap has not arrived.

I love to be outdoors. It doesn't matter whether it is sitting in the garden, going for walks in the woods or camping. Sometimes we put the tent up in the garden just for fun. I spent a night out in a thunder storm. It was amazing seeing the tent light up with the lightning.

I like to spend my spare time creating things for the grandchildren. I like to knit, sew and attempt to crochet.

I live on a dairy farm with my husband and some of the children, the rest have their own families and homes. We have several pets 4 dogs, 3 geese, 7 chickens, 6 calves- they are not part of the farm, a pond with fish and tropical tank in the house.

I would like to read much more than I have time to. I read a lot of children's books as I work in a primary school. Have discovered a new author, Edward Marston. He has written a load of books about a railway detective during Victorian times. I guess I like them as in my spare time I volunteer at the nearest steam railway.

In a swap recently my partner told me about her go to book - Poison Study by Maria V Snyder. I thought I would give it a go and I am hooked. Thank you for a great recommendation.

When I go anywhere I like to get children's books in the language of that country.

I will try nearly anything, although I am not very good at art but I enjoy giving it a go. I prefer to mess with fabric or paper/card. I produce better results. Knitting is what I do most, followed by sewing. I am aiming to do a crazy quilt for my bed.

I am beginning to dabble with junk journaling, journal cards, making envelopes and pockets. I have been watching You Tube videos to learn more. I have several made and just need the time to fill them.

I have discovered paper napkins and love them. I am going to have a lot of fun seeing what I can do with them.

I have found the theme that I like when I make junk journals. I love vintage. So now I collect old tickets, photos, receipts and anything really. My favourite recent buy was a collection of greetings cards from the 1920s. I have quite a stash of old postcards and love to read them and discover about people. Also, now having a go at Zentangle inspired art and ATC's and having loads of fun.

I would love to build a fairy village in the garden for the grandchildren.

We do not watch television but we do watch DVDs. We watch boxed sets of TV series inbetween repeatedly watching Star Wars, although I have not got all the films yet. The rest of the family prefer action films.

This may take some time to do. A little will be added at a time.

A- animals of the large kind, Aboriginal art, autumn and autumnal colours,

B- books, buttons, birds, blue

C- cows, celebrations from other countries, candles, castles, cross stitch, crazy quilting

D- dragons,

E- Emerald - the colour, embroidery

F- flora and fauna, fresh cut grass,

G- grandchildren visiting, Gruffalo,

H- Harry Potter,

I-

J- jigsaws, jumping in puddles, junk journals,

K- knitting, keychains,

L- learning something new, languages ( I would love to be able to understand much more than I do), Lego,

M- mushrooms,

N- New Zealand (my favourite country), needle-felting,

O- owls,

P- postcards, patchwork, pocket letters,

Q- quotes that make you reflect or uplift,

R- reading, ribbons,

S- sewing, stationary of all kinds, social history, storms, Star Wars, space, stamps,

T- trees, turquoise

U- upcycling - I will try an reuse anything,

V- visiting National Trust places - or anywhere old, vintage ephemera,

W- watching the birds on the feeders, wool - I have lots of it, woodlands, walking,

X-

Y-

Z-Zog,

Impatient people especially drivers, earwigs, feeling like I have wasted time, anything rude or crude, tea, coffee, make-up, roses, potatoes, cooking,

I just wanted to say what an amazing site swap-bot is. I have had some really amazing post.

Thank you everyone.