Oh, please, Nooooo! And, as a fair warning, the day I see AI "art" decorating your posts, Terry, will be a day of weeping and gnashing of teeth. I prefer your black and white line drawings and evocative photos to anything a machine could make.
More seriously, thanks for generous words. It's been a sheer delight. I've bin thinking about the direction of my newsletter, but one thing I wouldn't wish to change is our correspondence.
What an awesome recap! Rebecca, you’re so organized. I’ve still yet to journal my trip to Scotland in late Sept, of 2022. All the notes and ephemera are still lying in a pile in my art studio. And I too had to look up “persiflage”--amongst others.
Thanks for the fun trip down memory lane. It seems each year for me, the lane gets shorter and shorter.
Love your writing, artwork and banter with Terry. ❤️
And thank you so much for reading, Jo! I'm looking forward to Terry's first letter of the new year on Wednesday - let's just say I'm bracing myself.... 🤣
Happy, happy sigh. Ah the memories. I still adore that synchronised swimming routine. And lovely to see you both looking so happy to finally meet. It’s been a pleasure to eavesdrop on your private conversations. 🤗😘🥰
Oh thank you so much, Beth! I'm so glad you've been reading our letters along with us - thank you so much for sharing! I'm bracing myself for what Terry throws at me in 2024! 😁
Loved this retrospective, especially your video on how to make a proper cup of tea. My Dutch relatives put milk in their, tea, too. Sunday afternoons at 3 was my family's tea time, and we would sit round the table and have tea in proper tea cups (I still have mine and my grandmother's tea cups).
Asking for a friend: Do you ever warm the milk before you add it to the tea?
I also like Terry's reference to one of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, in describing the bus stop puddle.
Thanks to you and Terry for adding to my reading joy in 2023 with your weekly letters.
Yes! Do! I think you should have a side by side demo with Rebecca, and random folks from neighboring highways and byways, and conduct a taste test to see who comes out most proper!!
A video of the event would be super, Terry can supply the background music and you, Rebecca, can provide the videographer. I would like to buy my premiere tickets now, please.
Thanks, Mary! I remember my brother telling me when he last went to the States that he would have to order 'a cup of tea and a glass of milk' in diners, just so he'd be able to have milk IN his tea! 🤣 We're so used to having them supplied together over here!
Ooooh, interesting question re warming the milk: no, never. It's funny, though, because it's fairly common for people take hot milk in coffee. I can't bear it if my tea isn't hot enough, so I take very little milk in it. It hadn't ever occurred to me to heat the milk, but the flavour of hot milk is so very different to cold milk that I'm not sure I'd like it. I'd better give it a go and report back!
Thank you so much for being such a dedicated reader of our correspondence - it's been so great to have you reading our letters over our shoulders! 😊
I love this so much! No, I'm not British, so I marvel at the sayings unfamiliar to me. Hmmm...who will exchange correspondence with me? Hopefully, someone as "chortlesome" as Terry.
Ah, the vagaries of British English versus US English, Mary - it catches me out so often!
Ooooh, you could ask one of your favourite Substack writers if they'd like to join you in a series of letters? I've seen some great collaborations in correspondence, and the peeps at Substack HQ have written a post or two about how to get started: https://on.substack.com/p/collaboration#§host-a-letter-exchange
Terry and I started with three letters each way over a three-week period, and feeling that we needed to have a theme - and being British! - we started talking about the weather. However, once we'd written a few letters and having decided that we wanted to carry on (and on, and on...!) they kind of found their own way in terms of subject matter and tone. Oh, and frequency - after our first collection of six letters we've each been writing once every two weeks, rather than every week, which I'd found rather too much alongside my regular weekly posts.
I've had an absolute blast reading Terry's letters and writing my pithy comebacks right back to him!
Thank you, Rebecca for this great information. I will get right on it as a wonderful start to my new year. I love British English. Many years ago (1975) I visited London for my 14th birthday. (We lived in Germany at the time) I was in love with everything British. Well, perhaps not the weather. But, who cares when you're 14.
So glad, Mary! And hey, you lived in Germany - I love the country, having spent plenty of time there when I was younger. It's been 20+ years since I was last there, though!
LOL re British weather! It's blowing a gale here right now...
What fun! Thank you for this reminder, Rebecca. I loved seeing the swimmers again. And your sweet faces with tea mugs. And your water color with pine is gorgeous. I do hope you and Terry will continue your letters.
Thank you so very much for reading alongside us, Sharron! Never fear: no let-up to the letters is on the cards! I'm bracing myself for Terry's first missive of the new year... come Wednesday I'll get to see what he throws at me to respond to! 🫣
Golly, this just made me realise how fast the year has gone! The thing is, I remember each of those letters. It feels like yesterday.
This has been such an often hilarious exchange between the two of you. Well matched, I'd say.
Also, Rebecca - you may have started something with the whole letter-writing thing. Go you!
Thing is, I just want more people to write letters to each other OFF Substack. I want letterboxes filled, the excitement of making a cup of tea, (oh alright TF - coffee), opening the envelope, listening to the crackle of paper as leaves are unfolded and then the delicious reading - sinking into another world!
Thank you for the year that was and here's to 2024!
Oh Prue, I'm so pleased to hear that you've hit the jackpot of recognising all of the letters I'd mentioned! It's been wonderful to have you reading our correspondence over our shoulders.
I totally understand your desire to write real-life letters - it's rather a lost art, isn't it?
I was delighted a few weeks ago to see that Julie B. Hughes of Run to Write and Amie McGraham of Cook & Tell have been writing to each other, and Julie posted this post about setting up a penpal scheme in which she is offering to match people. Have a look: https://juliebhughes.substack.com/p/do-you-want-a-pen-pal
Rebecca, I know of a lady in my home town who is part of a global group who send postcards to each other. I'm not sure how it works and how many words are exchanged but it's a nice idea.
I rather like the idea of letter writing. It harks to a gentler time when people really thought about what words the receiver might like to hear and where the choice of paper, pens, etc mattered greatly. Where letter-writing time was important and a part of life. Perhaps we were better people then, better etiquette, more respectful. I don't know.
I'm seriously thinking about Julie Hughes idea so thank you for that link. Have a good NY eve, see you next year!
I had a long-standing penpal from age 12 to age 15 - he was a lad I'd met on a boating holiday, and we were 'boyfriend/girlfriend' for that time. 🤣 He'd write me long letters from boarding school - pages and pages - because the boys would all have to remain seated during 'prep' time even after they'd finished their homework, and because he was pretty bright, he usually had tonnes of time to spare at the end of the session for writing letters. To be honest I found my role as the regular recipient of so many, many words rather too high-pressure!
A wonderful review of your correspondence through the year. I particularly enjoyed the synchronized swimming and all the talk of tea and then ordering coffee at your first meeting. Had me in stitches 🤣
Oh Linda, thank you - I'm so pleased that it made you laugh! Terry is such a gift of a correspondent - we always end up writing about the most weird and wonderful things! 🤣
Thanks, Rebecca. Sorry, do I know you?
🤣
Now come on, Terry - there's photographic evidence of our having met IN PERSON right here in this post! Are you losing your marbles....?! 😉
AI. Photoshop. The picture was faked
Oh, please, Nooooo! And, as a fair warning, the day I see AI "art" decorating your posts, Terry, will be a day of weeping and gnashing of teeth. I prefer your black and white line drawings and evocative photos to anything a machine could make.
Fear not, Sharron, it will only be occasionally
I don't know this bloke Al you're talking about. Short for Albert, right?
(My brain persists in reading 'AI' as 'AL' if it's written in a sans-serif font!) 🤣
More seriously, thanks for generous words. It's been a sheer delight. I've bin thinking about the direction of my newsletter, but one thing I wouldn't wish to change is our correspondence.
So kind, Terry! Same here! 😊
What an awesome recap! Rebecca, you’re so organized. I’ve still yet to journal my trip to Scotland in late Sept, of 2022. All the notes and ephemera are still lying in a pile in my art studio. And I too had to look up “persiflage”--amongst others.
Thanks for the fun trip down memory lane. It seems each year for me, the lane gets shorter and shorter.
Love your writing, artwork and banter with Terry. ❤️
I know! Rebecca obviously indexes EVERYTHING 😂
🤫😉🤣
Thanks, Gail! I'm glad I can give the impression of being organised, because I fear I'm not half as organised as I'd like to be! 🤣
Thank you so much for reading our letters over our shoulders - it's great to share the chortles with you! 😘
Thank you both for bringing some chuckles over the last year. May there be many more in 2024 xxxxx
And thank you so much for reading, Jo! I'm looking forward to Terry's first letter of the new year on Wednesday - let's just say I'm bracing myself.... 🤣
Happy, happy sigh. Ah the memories. I still adore that synchronised swimming routine. And lovely to see you both looking so happy to finally meet. It’s been a pleasure to eavesdrop on your private conversations. 🤗😘🥰
Oh thank you so much, Beth! I'm so glad you've been reading our letters along with us - thank you so much for sharing! I'm bracing myself for what Terry throws at me in 2024! 😁
Loved this retrospective, especially your video on how to make a proper cup of tea. My Dutch relatives put milk in their, tea, too. Sunday afternoons at 3 was my family's tea time, and we would sit round the table and have tea in proper tea cups (I still have mine and my grandmother's tea cups).
Asking for a friend: Do you ever warm the milk before you add it to the tea?
I also like Terry's reference to one of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, in describing the bus stop puddle.
Thanks to you and Terry for adding to my reading joy in 2023 with your weekly letters.
Thanks Mary. I shall have to make my own tea video in response, to show how it SHOULD be done 😂
Yes! Do! I think you should have a side by side demo with Rebecca, and random folks from neighboring highways and byways, and conduct a taste test to see who comes out most proper!!
Oh blimey, Mary, don't encourage him! He might jolly well just arrange this, you know! 🤣
A video of the event would be super, Terry can supply the background music and you, Rebecca, can provide the videographer. I would like to buy my premiere tickets now, please.
🤣
🙄
Thanks, Mary! I remember my brother telling me when he last went to the States that he would have to order 'a cup of tea and a glass of milk' in diners, just so he'd be able to have milk IN his tea! 🤣 We're so used to having them supplied together over here!
Ooooh, interesting question re warming the milk: no, never. It's funny, though, because it's fairly common for people take hot milk in coffee. I can't bear it if my tea isn't hot enough, so I take very little milk in it. It hadn't ever occurred to me to heat the milk, but the flavour of hot milk is so very different to cold milk that I'm not sure I'd like it. I'd better give it a go and report back!
Thank you so much for being such a dedicated reader of our correspondence - it's been so great to have you reading our letters over our shoulders! 😊
What a beautiful friendship!
I feel very fortunate, Punit! 😊
I really need to go back and catch up on my Brit reading! :)
Hope you had a great holiday and an upcoming safe and happy New Year!
Hey Mark, it's great to see you here! Thanks so much for reading! Hope you've had a lovely festive season, and all the very best for 2024! 😁
I so enjoyed reading this.
And thank you for sharing it. :).
I'm so glad, Olga! Thank you so much for reading along with us! 😊
I love this so much! No, I'm not British, so I marvel at the sayings unfamiliar to me. Hmmm...who will exchange correspondence with me? Hopefully, someone as "chortlesome" as Terry.
😂
Ah, the vagaries of British English versus US English, Mary - it catches me out so often!
Ooooh, you could ask one of your favourite Substack writers if they'd like to join you in a series of letters? I've seen some great collaborations in correspondence, and the peeps at Substack HQ have written a post or two about how to get started: https://on.substack.com/p/collaboration#§host-a-letter-exchange
Terry and I started with three letters each way over a three-week period, and feeling that we needed to have a theme - and being British! - we started talking about the weather. However, once we'd written a few letters and having decided that we wanted to carry on (and on, and on...!) they kind of found their own way in terms of subject matter and tone. Oh, and frequency - after our first collection of six letters we've each been writing once every two weeks, rather than every week, which I'd found rather too much alongside my regular weekly posts.
I've had an absolute blast reading Terry's letters and writing my pithy comebacks right back to him!
Thank you, Rebecca for this great information. I will get right on it as a wonderful start to my new year. I love British English. Many years ago (1975) I visited London for my 14th birthday. (We lived in Germany at the time) I was in love with everything British. Well, perhaps not the weather. But, who cares when you're 14.
So glad, Mary! And hey, you lived in Germany - I love the country, having spent plenty of time there when I was younger. It's been 20+ years since I was last there, though!
LOL re British weather! It's blowing a gale here right now...
What fun! Thank you for this reminder, Rebecca. I loved seeing the swimmers again. And your sweet faces with tea mugs. And your water color with pine is gorgeous. I do hope you and Terry will continue your letters.
We will. Rebecca needs the practice
🤣 The CHEEK! 😉
just joshin'
😂😂😂
Thank you so very much for reading alongside us, Sharron! Never fear: no let-up to the letters is on the cards! I'm bracing myself for Terry's first missive of the new year... come Wednesday I'll get to see what he throws at me to respond to! 🫣
The Lost Art of Letter Writing Reclaimed. By Terry and Rebecca.
I missed the Gastronomic Shakespeare month. Yummy titles! Lemon of Athens would be a sour play.
Yes, letter writing is certainly different from other genres 😊
'Lemon of Athens' - oh, that's brilliant! 🤩
Golly, this just made me realise how fast the year has gone! The thing is, I remember each of those letters. It feels like yesterday.
This has been such an often hilarious exchange between the two of you. Well matched, I'd say.
Also, Rebecca - you may have started something with the whole letter-writing thing. Go you!
Thing is, I just want more people to write letters to each other OFF Substack. I want letterboxes filled, the excitement of making a cup of tea, (oh alright TF - coffee), opening the envelope, listening to the crackle of paper as leaves are unfolded and then the delicious reading - sinking into another world!
Thank you for the year that was and here's to 2024!
Oh Prue, I'm so pleased to hear that you've hit the jackpot of recognising all of the letters I'd mentioned! It's been wonderful to have you reading our correspondence over our shoulders.
I totally understand your desire to write real-life letters - it's rather a lost art, isn't it?
I was delighted a few weeks ago to see that Julie B. Hughes of Run to Write and Amie McGraham of Cook & Tell have been writing to each other, and Julie posted this post about setting up a penpal scheme in which she is offering to match people. Have a look: https://juliebhughes.substack.com/p/do-you-want-a-pen-pal
Rebecca, I know of a lady in my home town who is part of a global group who send postcards to each other. I'm not sure how it works and how many words are exchanged but it's a nice idea.
I rather like the idea of letter writing. It harks to a gentler time when people really thought about what words the receiver might like to hear and where the choice of paper, pens, etc mattered greatly. Where letter-writing time was important and a part of life. Perhaps we were better people then, better etiquette, more respectful. I don't know.
I'm seriously thinking about Julie Hughes idea so thank you for that link. Have a good NY eve, see you next year!
The postcard idea is a great one!
I had a long-standing penpal from age 12 to age 15 - he was a lad I'd met on a boating holiday, and we were 'boyfriend/girlfriend' for that time. 🤣 He'd write me long letters from boarding school - pages and pages - because the boys would all have to remain seated during 'prep' time even after they'd finished their homework, and because he was pretty bright, he usually had tonnes of time to spare at the end of the session for writing letters. To be honest I found my role as the regular recipient of so many, many words rather too high-pressure!
Hahahaha!!!
A wonderful review of your correspondence through the year. I particularly enjoyed the synchronized swimming and all the talk of tea and then ordering coffee at your first meeting. Had me in stitches 🤣
Oh Linda, thank you - I'm so pleased that it made you laugh! Terry is such a gift of a correspondent - we always end up writing about the most weird and wonderful things! 🤣
You are so cheeky!! Loved it
🤣