Oh Jo, that's so lovely to hear - thank you very much!
I love writing them - they give me the chance to explore the kinds of stuff I wouldn't necessary write about in a stand-alone post. I thoroughly enjoy my correspondence on Substack with Terry, and can totally recommend this kind of collaboration! Thank you so much for reading. 😘
Oh wow, that shot of a cruffstard is making me rather hungry! I do take your point on the bookshelf system, but the colour coordination is so pleasing to the eye.😊
Jim says it was delicious! 😋 And you're right - the colours are so pretty! What had struck me most about that stock image, though, was the label which read 'Decorative Books'. I guess there were for sale ONLY for their decorative value, which is rather a shame! I wish I'd managed to find an example of an 'authentic' rainbow bookshelf instead!
I’ve known people who prefer visual bookshelf organization to alphabetical- I wonder if it has anything to do with being a visual thinker? It would drive me nuts.
Also “ cruffumbs” is outstanding. Perfect word for a cruffumbly confection!
Cronuts are quite delightful - when they were a big craze, I used to go to the Cornish pasty place here in Halifax and get a pasty and a cronut. Usually a lemon one: it was lemon glaze on top and a vanilla cream in the croissant layers inside.
Oh Alison, that sounds delicious! As for Cornish pasties - I have an absolute love for that meat and pastry combo! We were last in Cornwall in 2016 - the trip was less than a week and I swear I must have gained ten pounds....! 🤣 They're widely available, naturally, but there's something special about a Cornish Cornish pasty! 🤣
Cruffstard. I believe I really would like to have at least one, more honestly 2. Or 3. Imagine the mess I would make with 1 or 2, most likely 3. I hope it is going to be real custard, but that would be hard as in the US we seem to like chemicals instead of real food.
So books, I can’t even tell you how irritated I get when I see books organized by color in bookcases, that also have doodads, or other things that are not books in the bookcase. Seems apocryphal to me. I am one of those weirdos that have my books organized by:
One wall covering bookcase with all the nonfiction books, shelves organized by subject.
Two bookcases in my bedroom (fiction, novel types) by author alphabetical, one closed cupboard filled with cookbooks (by size unfortunately) 3 bookcases in my upstairs art room organized by craft type, one + a small book holder in the summer bedroom upstairs are all mysteries or Sci Fi organized by author, and the tiny (looks like a ship cabin) bedroom upstairs is filled with children’s books.
I like to know where every book is all the time. Lol
And although you haven’t said anything about clothes- mine are all organized by color and sleeve length. Make finding a shirt easy. I redid all my closets so that they were as organized as I could do (I had to do it all myself)
We have a very similar sorting system, except that I downsized so my art and gardening books line the garage instead. Definitely fiction in the bedroom and a couple of special fiction authors in a tiny bookcase between the two bedrooms and non fiction in the lounge room and cookbooks by size though. Ah well. It IS nice to know where things are. 😃🤗
I'm loving the sound of this, Beth! And yes, it's lovely to know where things are... my 'art department' is in a terrible state in that I can never quite get my hands on whatever pen/pencil/brush I'm looking for, and my bookshelves are a (temporary, I hope!) disgrace. 🙄
Oh, I loved this walk through your book collection, Julie, which sounds absolutely marvellous! I particularly love the sound of the tiny bedroom upstairs that looks like a ship's cabin, filled with children's books. How wonderful!
GREAT idea for how to organise clothes - ingenious! I've been wanting to clear out my wardrobe for absolute yonks (years, in fact). I wear the same ten or so pieces of clothing the whole time, and the rest are just gathering dust. I need to have a big clear-out, a mammoth laundry session and a long-overdue trip to the charity shop drop-off. Once I can see what's left I shall follow your approach to organising it!
I'll have a latte and a cruffstard or is that a cruffcus or muffcrust? Never mind, just bring me some toast...
The neologisms I especially like are those related to mixed-breed dogs: Pomsky, Schnoodle, Chiweenie, Cockapoo, Morkie! So many more hilarious ones. Chiweenie! ha ha ha
Up and about now so will add to this. This is another example of English vs American English. I was amused by Rebecca’s ‘half-inching’ instead of ‘pinching’ (Cockney rhyming slang - something I’m used to as an Aussie). But it took me a while to work out why ‘weenie’ for dachshund. I had to work through our only other name - sausage dog - and then realised I think you have a German derivative of weiners or something? Is this where weenie comes from? (Because a chihuahua is way weenier than a dachshund!) Always more to learn on Substack.
Learning! Ah yes. You might really need this info someday. In the US , wiener ( or weenie) is a synonym for hotdog or frankfurter. Because of its body shape, dachshunds are sometimes affectionately called wiener dogs or weenie dogs. Thus chiweenie for chihuahua-dachshund.
Cool. The American equivalent of our ‘sausage dog’ tag. Thanks Sharron. Enjoy your day. Or night. Or whatever it is over there. Yesterday! Yes, enjoy yesterday. Grin. (9am Thursday over here.) 😃
Sharron, please don't take this personally, but I think I'd go out of my way to avoid the cruffcus and muffcrust! 🤣
YES - those mixed-breed dog names are brilliant, aren't they? Over here Labradoodles and Cockerpoos are particularly popular - some friends of ours had a lovely dog which was a cross between a miniature poodle and a cockerpoo, so she was a cockerpoopoo!
I looked at that pretty snow-covered traffic light and thought ‘Wow! How did they manage to wire it up??!!’ until I scrolled a little further and realised that of course you HADN’T taken a photo of it at the time. D’uh! And that ‘cruffin’ DOES look surprisingly yummy! (and incredibly messy).
And the books with spine to the wall? I’d be there with a texta writing names or at the very least hints (topics or authors depending on the book) on the white page edges. But then of course my pesky brain would have to sort them by what I’d written! Can’t win. (Now imagining one of your spreadsheets with your own version of a Dewey system with numbers to categorise... OMG, this thought is getting more and more complex...)
I'll skip the food offerings, I think, and go for the books, specifically 'Good Handwriting and how to....' Long desire to write with a 'good hand' as illustrated in all good Regency novels.
BUT, and this really gets my wick burning very bright - DO NOT ever shelve books by colour! A travesty! And surely only in the homes of wankers who want to fill shelves and look intellectual when they're anything but. I speak of course of those interior designer people who walk around using big words like 'ambience' and have their noses perpetually pointing to the ceiling and their arms folded. Oh, they probably wear tan loafers without socks too.
BUT with rant over, I shall shrink back to my solitary tiny self and say I can't wait to read Terry's reply to your epistle!
Oh Prue, this lovely comment of yours has me laughing out loud - thank you so much! 😊🤣
I noticed during the first lockdown that politicians on the news, who were beaming in from their homes on Zoom etc, all seemed to have ever more intellectually 'impressive' publications appearing on the bookshelves behind them as the weeks went on! 🤣
Book organizing is a conundrum. Would the Stephen King book, On Writing, be sorted with Writing Instruction books, Memoir, or maybe Self Help? Same with Anne LaMott's Bird by Bird.
Oh gosh, yes, there are many books which span genres, aren't there? A lot of the memoirs I read are related to travel - but I like memoir to be together - and travel books that are only about travel, well, those should be together but not with the memoir. Golly, Carissa, I need to work this out properly...! 🤣
I learned the meaning of 3 newish-for-me-in-that-I-don't-use-them-in-daily-speaking words and like these words very much: au fait (I know I've seen it/read it many times but didn't know exactly what it meant); portmanteau, Jim's cupkins!; neologism, we make up words a lot. My vocabulary has expanded exponentially since I began reading your posts, and Terry's too, and everyone else's posts. Substack University is the best. Thanks for an evening chuckle. 😉
Oh, that's brilliant, Mary, thank you! I remember your post about the cupkins your Jim had made - they looked absolutely gorgeous, AND the name even makes me think of those acorn hats of which you're both so fond!
We have lots of made-up words in our family lexicon, some of which have been used in all innocence by those new to the family - great fun!
LOL re 'Substack University' - you're right, it IS the best! I'm always learning new words on here!
I do love your letters to Terry and vice versa they are so amusing and eclectic xxxx
Oh Jo, that's so lovely to hear - thank you very much!
I love writing them - they give me the chance to explore the kinds of stuff I wouldn't necessary write about in a stand-alone post. I thoroughly enjoy my correspondence on Substack with Terry, and can totally recommend this kind of collaboration! Thank you so much for reading. 😘
Oh wow, that shot of a cruffstard is making me rather hungry! I do take your point on the bookshelf system, but the colour coordination is so pleasing to the eye.😊
Jim says it was delicious! 😋 And you're right - the colours are so pretty! What had struck me most about that stock image, though, was the label which read 'Decorative Books'. I guess there were for sale ONLY for their decorative value, which is rather a shame! I wish I'd managed to find an example of an 'authentic' rainbow bookshelf instead!
it's the age old tug of war between form and function if you ask me
I’ve known people who prefer visual bookshelf organization to alphabetical- I wonder if it has anything to do with being a visual thinker? It would drive me nuts.
Also “ cruffumbs” is outstanding. Perfect word for a cruffumbly confection!
It would drive me nuts too, Kerry!
And LOL - I had such fun playing around with that word! 🤣 Thank you so much!
Cronuts are quite delightful - when they were a big craze, I used to go to the Cornish pasty place here in Halifax and get a pasty and a cronut. Usually a lemon one: it was lemon glaze on top and a vanilla cream in the croissant layers inside.
Oh Alison, that sounds delicious! As for Cornish pasties - I have an absolute love for that meat and pastry combo! We were last in Cornwall in 2016 - the trip was less than a week and I swear I must have gained ten pounds....! 🤣 They're widely available, naturally, but there's something special about a Cornish Cornish pasty! 🤣
They’re VERY hard to find here - the people who made them moved to Toronto some years ago and I was so sad.
There used to be laws prohibiting craftspeople from emigrating. Those were the days
Cruffstard. I believe I really would like to have at least one, more honestly 2. Or 3. Imagine the mess I would make with 1 or 2, most likely 3. I hope it is going to be real custard, but that would be hard as in the US we seem to like chemicals instead of real food.
So books, I can’t even tell you how irritated I get when I see books organized by color in bookcases, that also have doodads, or other things that are not books in the bookcase. Seems apocryphal to me. I am one of those weirdos that have my books organized by:
One wall covering bookcase with all the nonfiction books, shelves organized by subject.
Two bookcases in my bedroom (fiction, novel types) by author alphabetical, one closed cupboard filled with cookbooks (by size unfortunately) 3 bookcases in my upstairs art room organized by craft type, one + a small book holder in the summer bedroom upstairs are all mysteries or Sci Fi organized by author, and the tiny (looks like a ship cabin) bedroom upstairs is filled with children’s books.
I like to know where every book is all the time. Lol
And although you haven’t said anything about clothes- mine are all organized by color and sleeve length. Make finding a shirt easy. I redid all my closets so that they were as organized as I could do (I had to do it all myself)
Oops, I have a 3 bookcase filled with mysteries in that craft room as well. How did I forget it!
OOOOH, that's probably the best bit!!!!!!!!!!
it's a mystery
🤣
We have a very similar sorting system, except that I downsized so my art and gardening books line the garage instead. Definitely fiction in the bedroom and a couple of special fiction authors in a tiny bookcase between the two bedrooms and non fiction in the lounge room and cookbooks by size though. Ah well. It IS nice to know where things are. 😃🤗
I'm loving the sound of this, Beth! And yes, it's lovely to know where things are... my 'art department' is in a terrible state in that I can never quite get my hands on whatever pen/pencil/brush I'm looking for, and my bookshelves are a (temporary, I hope!) disgrace. 🙄
We all go through that regularly. We all try so hard to get organised and it just never lasts!! Ah well. Hugs dear Rebecca. 🤗🤗😘
Oh, I loved this walk through your book collection, Julie, which sounds absolutely marvellous! I particularly love the sound of the tiny bedroom upstairs that looks like a ship's cabin, filled with children's books. How wonderful!
GREAT idea for how to organise clothes - ingenious! I've been wanting to clear out my wardrobe for absolute yonks (years, in fact). I wear the same ten or so pieces of clothing the whole time, and the rest are just gathering dust. I need to have a big clear-out, a mammoth laundry session and a long-overdue trip to the charity shop drop-off. Once I can see what's left I shall follow your approach to organising it!
amazing. You wouldn't like to come and organise mine, would you? I've been going nuts trying tyo find two books that are not in their logical places.
I would if you sent me a ticket lol. I love organizing!
😁 thanks!
croissant+muffin+custard?
I'll have a latte and a cruffstard or is that a cruffcus or muffcrust? Never mind, just bring me some toast...
The neologisms I especially like are those related to mixed-breed dogs: Pomsky, Schnoodle, Chiweenie, Cockapoo, Morkie! So many more hilarious ones. Chiweenie! ha ha ha
My neighbour has a Doxipoo! Dachshund crossed with Poodle! So many inventive words these days.
Doxipoo! Ha ha ha. But it could have been weeniepoo! (I still think the chiweenie (chihuahua and dachshund) is the funniest!
Up and about now so will add to this. This is another example of English vs American English. I was amused by Rebecca’s ‘half-inching’ instead of ‘pinching’ (Cockney rhyming slang - something I’m used to as an Aussie). But it took me a while to work out why ‘weenie’ for dachshund. I had to work through our only other name - sausage dog - and then realised I think you have a German derivative of weiners or something? Is this where weenie comes from? (Because a chihuahua is way weenier than a dachshund!) Always more to learn on Substack.
Learning! Ah yes. You might really need this info someday. In the US , wiener ( or weenie) is a synonym for hotdog or frankfurter. Because of its body shape, dachshunds are sometimes affectionately called wiener dogs or weenie dogs. Thus chiweenie for chihuahua-dachshund.
Cool. The American equivalent of our ‘sausage dog’ tag. Thanks Sharron. Enjoy your day. Or night. Or whatever it is over there. Yesterday! Yes, enjoy yesterday. Grin. (9am Thursday over here.) 😃
I met a miniature dachshund named 'Chip' recently - short for chipolata, which are those really skinny sausages! 🤣
🤣
Doxipoo - that's adorable! 🥰
Sharron, please don't take this personally, but I think I'd go out of my way to avoid the cruffcus and muffcrust! 🤣
YES - those mixed-breed dog names are brilliant, aren't they? Over here Labradoodles and Cockerpoos are particularly popular - some friends of ours had a lovely dog which was a cross between a miniature poodle and a cockerpoo, so she was a cockerpoopoo!
I looked at that pretty snow-covered traffic light and thought ‘Wow! How did they manage to wire it up??!!’ until I scrolled a little further and realised that of course you HADN’T taken a photo of it at the time. D’uh! And that ‘cruffin’ DOES look surprisingly yummy! (and incredibly messy).
And the books with spine to the wall? I’d be there with a texta writing names or at the very least hints (topics or authors depending on the book) on the white page edges. But then of course my pesky brain would have to sort them by what I’d written! Can’t win. (Now imagining one of your spreadsheets with your own version of a Dewey system with numbers to categorise... OMG, this thought is getting more and more complex...)
Thanks as always dear Rebecca.
As ever, delightful.
I'll skip the food offerings, I think, and go for the books, specifically 'Good Handwriting and how to....' Long desire to write with a 'good hand' as illustrated in all good Regency novels.
BUT, and this really gets my wick burning very bright - DO NOT ever shelve books by colour! A travesty! And surely only in the homes of wankers who want to fill shelves and look intellectual when they're anything but. I speak of course of those interior designer people who walk around using big words like 'ambience' and have their noses perpetually pointing to the ceiling and their arms folded. Oh, they probably wear tan loafers without socks too.
BUT with rant over, I shall shrink back to my solitary tiny self and say I can't wait to read Terry's reply to your epistle!
Thank you as ever,
Your Faithful friend etc etc...
Ah, the loafers without sox! I see it daily. 😁
Yes, there's a big difference between men's loafers and good old, salt-water stained, worn boatshoes! Which should of course, be worn without socks...
I'm getting chilblains as I'm typing this, just from the MENTION of not wearing socks. Come on, it's WINTER!!!! 🥶🤣
Oh Prue, this lovely comment of yours has me laughing out loud - thank you so much! 😊🤣
I noticed during the first lockdown that politicians on the news, who were beaming in from their homes on Zoom etc, all seemed to have ever more intellectually 'impressive' publications appearing on the bookshelves behind them as the weeks went on! 🤣
Bet the tossers had bare feet and Italian loafers too!
🤣 I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they did!
LOL
LOL
Book organizing is a conundrum. Would the Stephen King book, On Writing, be sorted with Writing Instruction books, Memoir, or maybe Self Help? Same with Anne LaMott's Bird by Bird.
Oh gosh, yes, there are many books which span genres, aren't there? A lot of the memoirs I read are related to travel - but I like memoir to be together - and travel books that are only about travel, well, those should be together but not with the memoir. Golly, Carissa, I need to work this out properly...! 🤣
🤣🤣
I learned the meaning of 3 newish-for-me-in-that-I-don't-use-them-in-daily-speaking words and like these words very much: au fait (I know I've seen it/read it many times but didn't know exactly what it meant); portmanteau, Jim's cupkins!; neologism, we make up words a lot. My vocabulary has expanded exponentially since I began reading your posts, and Terry's too, and everyone else's posts. Substack University is the best. Thanks for an evening chuckle. 😉
Oh, that's brilliant, Mary, thank you! I remember your post about the cupkins your Jim had made - they looked absolutely gorgeous, AND the name even makes me think of those acorn hats of which you're both so fond!
We have lots of made-up words in our family lexicon, some of which have been used in all innocence by those new to the family - great fun!
LOL re 'Substack University' - you're right, it IS the best! I'm always learning new words on here!
The theft of the traffic light reminded me of some years back when the street outside of the apartment we then lived in had a missing stop sign.
Apparently (as our landlord told us), two people were having a lightsaber fight with road signs (one of which was the stop sign).
No idea who won. Nor if anyone was caught.
But the stop sign was replaced.
Not sure about the other road sign, though.
And no, you can't make this up. Ha ha!
Olga, that's an incredible story! People get up to the wildest things, don't they?!
Greatly enjoy these letters between you both!
Linda, that's so kind of you - thank you so much! I really enjoy writing (and receiving) these letters to (and from) Terry! I laugh so much, honestly.
But all my letters are meant to be serious! Typical
🤣
My bookshelf is configured by largest to smallest. It makes sense, doesn't it?
The pastry looks delicious.
It does make sense, Matt! That's how mine started out until it became overwhelmingly higgledy-piggledy. I MUST sort it out..... 🙄
Er, in what universe does it make sense, Matthew? 😂