94 Comments
Jul 15, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Such a clever format! I love the ratings! And it’s good to know you’ve had some success with the blind-date-book thing! It seems like too big a risk to me (mostly because my apt is so small & I don’t have space for more books)!

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Thank you very much, Jillian! I know what you mean about the risk of buying books that are strangers.... I too have very little storage space! In fact one of the ones I bought in Tring is destined for a prize draw prize - it will still be unopened, so that'll be really exciting. Well, I HOPE it will, put it that way! 🤣

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Who doesn't love a day of shopping, especially when it comes to stationary. Literally before reading this I posted to Notes the gift I was given yesterday - a new pen! And now I obviously need to go out and buy myself a new notepad or two .... 😏

Exploring a place where you have no real expectations and then discovering wonderful and surprising things about it is the best. Thank you for sharing your day with us Rebecca!

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Yup, new pens and notebooks are definitely NEEDS, Lyndsay!

Thank you so much for reading and commenting - glad to have you here! 😘

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For a person who claims to only be able to knit a scarf, you’ve knitted a beautiful story in marvelous palettes of colored pencils, weird stuff, book covers, museums and a “cakeaway” (my new favorite word). Your footnote is hilarious: “I haven’t opened them yet, because for now I don’t want to cheat on my Cambridge book date. I’m not that kind of girl…” LOL!!!

Isn’t it amazing what a small town only miles away can reveal and inspire?

Our area is called The Mahoning Valley, after the Mahoning River that runs down the middle. That river was abused/polluted for about 70 years by the steel mills that made this area famous. A town over from Youngstown, called Struthers, was in the heart of the steel mills. I went to school there for 2 years; it has a small, but kind of famous, downtown. Downtown Struthers was the backdrop for scenes in the 1978 movie, “The Deerhunter.” In fact, the Bowladrome Lanes were featured in a famous scene with a young Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro: https://youtu.be/333PEFMI0yQ https://sirstoria.com/locations/unitedstates/ohio/struthers/buildings/bowladrome-the-deer-hunter/944/

If you notice the various storefronts in downtown Struthers from the Youtube video, you can see it’s the perfect location to film my wife and I doing a dance scene from the movie, “Blue Valentine.”

It will be all in fun and we do things like that all the time; point being to leave a record for our sons to show that yes, mom and dad were all about having fun, not just raising the two of you!

You see my wife knows a bit about tap dancing…her dad taught her how to be a ‘hoofer” and I can strum a ukulele and sing a falsetto. I think we can have fun and do the scene justice; you know why? “It’s because I love her mo-oosst of alllllllllllll.” https://youtu.be/VNZgUM542VI

This was our first video, done in less than 30 minutes…it was a LOT of fun… https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kjCceYCNgn6ggswD1ANC0vENNxZvIiSP/view?usp=sharing

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Such a kind comment about my writing, JRB - thank you so much.

And oh wow, amazing stories from your own back yard! I have bandwidth issues at the moment so can't access videos - but I'll be sure to check them out. Thank you!

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Lyndsay, thank you for reading my comment.

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Any town with an independent bookshop is on my bucket list. Must investigate. Thanks for another delightful post, which I discovered today was spelled deliteful until the 1500s. 😃

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Thanks, Terry!

Deliteful/delightful - that's so interesting. Reckon those pre-sixteenth century peeps had a better idea about how to spell than we do! 🤣

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Apparently they changed it to be consistent with 'light'

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Yeah, but they could've done it the other way, right? Turned 'light' into 'lite', etc etc. Would've been text-speak five hundred years ahead of time....! 🤣

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🤔🤓😂🥺

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Srry fr typo. Meant: TXTSPK. 😉

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Amazing what you can find when you're not searching for it... like your very own Narnia! I absolutely love the How Novel idea too! What a find! 😊

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Narnia!!!!!! That's exactly it, Denise! Opening a door and stepping through into a whole different place. Thank you so much for reading! 😊

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Happy, happy sigh. Yes, we are most definitely similar souls. I want to Be there!!! But then, I could help you fill in a glorious couple of hours in my own little village. I was showing a new neighbour around yesterday and we had such fun. Being appreciative of the things around us is such a Joy. But oh wow, you have really made me want to visit the delightful little town of Tring. Thanks SO much for sharing. 😃🤗😘🥰

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I'm tempted to visit your village myself by what you've said here, Beth - how lovely - and what a lucky new neighbour of yours to have had that guided tour - and to have you as a neighbour!

Thank you so much for reading! 😘

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Jul 15, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Can I come too?

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GIRLS' TRIIIIIP!!!!!!!!! 🙌🙌🙌

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Jul 16, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

I'm in!

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😁✈️🙌

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Jul 16, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Ah well, a woman can dream. However, reading your posts feels like traveling to me. I am always right there with you, Rebecca.

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It's always good to have you along as a travelling companion, Sharron! I feel exactly the same about your posts! 😘

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I felt like I was shopping with you! And those mystery books👀! I’m normally a tourist in my own town when the grandkids come for a visit. They love browsing our two antique stores to look for treasures, visiting our local grocery (small and family-owned vs. a big box store), and climbing the grand oaks in town square.

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Holly, it was great to have you along with me for this post - thank you so much for reading! Sending love to you across the pond. ♥️

Wonderful to hear that your home town is already a tourist destination for you and the grandkids - seeing things with a different set of eyes colours everything differently!

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You had me at Stationery and Art Supplies. Writing paper, cards, pens...

I'm even with you in the Recycled Clothes shop (love the skirt).

And then the Bookshop - Mystery Books fascinate me and I'm off to our indie bookshops next week to see if they have caught up with this trend. It's rather exciting really - unwrapping slowly, wondering, wondering...

And the Ironmonger's, we call them General Stores here and they are as rare as hen's teeth. I love finding one - an Aladdin's Cave. Peculiar to smaller towns which makes them all the more special.

This is just the loveliest post - I felt as if I walked with you, a real journey of discovery.

And well done, Rebecca, for not getting lost! Go you!

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Oooooh Prue, you're going shopping for mystery books!! How lovely - do report back, won't you!

And yes to ironmongers being as scarce as hens' teeth - there is a national chain of a kind of ironmonger, with branches in many towns, but the independents are amazing - you never know what you're going to find! The knitting wool was such a surprise - it was incongruous, but I LOVED that shop for having it as part of their offer!

I'm so glad you enjoyed the read, Prue - thank you so much for coming along with me every time. Always lovely to have your company!

LOL re not getting lost! It seems I haven't managed TO get lost for a little while now, have I?! 😂 Maybe I'm improving at last.....! 👀

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I suspect you mark the pavement and walls with chalk. I'm right, aren't I?

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Hahahaha!!!

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😂😂😂

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🤣

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Maybe you will have rename your newsletter...

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🤣 I dream of such a day, Prue! 🤣

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My first stop when I go anywhere is the stationery and art supply shops! This was a lovely jaunt - thank you!

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That's so kind, Patti - very many thanks! I have always loved stationery, and used to horde it in the days when I would spend all of my pocket money. 'I'm saving this journal/notebook/pen/pencil/rainbow stripy eraser/whatever because it's TOO SPECIAL TO USE!' I would say. These days I am more intentional, and (try to!) buy the things I know I'll use. I have my favourite pens and notebooks - but today, in a farm shop of all places, I found myself buying that exact rainbow stripy eraser, because I NEEDED it.

(I didn't need it. 😉)

I spent a whole 40p on it, and popped the rainbow into my pocket. It was a treat, and I'm so happy to have it.

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There is nothing more delightful than meandering through a new town and discovering hidden gems. It’s that little bit of joy when you push open the door to an independent shop not knowing what you’ll find. 💫🙏

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You're so right, Louise! There's something magical about the unknown, isn't there? Thank you so much for reading. 😊

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I love this, Rebecca! I love all of your writing. This captures the essence of what I love to do most when I travel- wander and be in wonder. And discover! And I have found that it is as easy to do with an open mind in a town near home as it is to do in a far flung destination.

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Camille, thank you such a lot - what a lovely thing to say! Yay to 'wander and be in wonder' - I've just written that in my journal to remind myself to live life more with that in mind. Thank you so much. 😊

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Thank you! 🥰

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😘

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Thanks for sharing your adventure. I agree with Jillian, I liked your rating system.

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Thanks so much, Scott! 😊

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Ah what a lovely day! I described my current city to someone as always feeling like you’re on vacation, in the summer, and this has reinforced my plans to uphold that. I did a circuit of shopping yesterday, but not quite so lovely as yours - errands, mostly, but I did have lunch at a local seasonal place and it was great.

Your rating system is excellent!

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Alison, you're a step ahead of me - until my recent trip I don't think I'd appreciated my own surroundings as much as I should - I love love love that you described being in your city as 'always feeling like you're on vacation! Gorgeous!

Re the ratings - LOL - did you notice that they were all the same? I feel it looks as if I was making it up, but they did genuinely score that highly! I did toy with the idea for only awarding four stars for the skirt-buying escapade, but that would have been unfair, because it's absolutely not the skirt's fault for being perhaps a smidge of a half-size on the small side....! 🤣 So, five stars it is!

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I certainly did, but your “review” just before them convinced me it wasn’t just a coincidence!

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Rebecca, your storytelling is captivating. It seems like you appreciate life in a way many have lost touch with. This makes me want to pay more attention in my own adventures in my day-to-day. ☺️

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That's so kind of you to say, Erika - thank you so much! My unexpectedly free time had been such a treat, and I'm so pleased I decided to risk getting lost and to NOT just hang out in the van. I'm happy that you enjoyed reading about my day! 😊

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Jul 15, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

This was a fun read! You like the same things as I do.

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Thanks so much, Julie! Stationery, books, second-hand clothes shopping and a FREE trip to a fabulous museum are always at the top of my list! 😊

(After all that, Jim was pretty lucky that I'd even remembered to pick him up a treat at the deli!) 🤣

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"Being a tourist in our own town? " Love this and has me thinking. :) Loved reading this today. Thank you for sharing.

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I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, Julie - thank you! I'm already looking forward to that trip to my just-down-the-road town for a similar sort of browse, but I can't wait to see it with different eyes. 😊

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I love this! Enjoy and look forward to your writing about it.

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Wonderful to wander with you! And those illustrated mystery book covers are perfect.

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I'm so glad you wandered with me, Julie! How lovely! 😊

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