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)!
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! 🤣
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!
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/333PEFMI0yQhttps://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
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!
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. 😃
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....! 🤣
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. 😃🤗😘🥰
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.....! 👀
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.
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. 💫🙏
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.
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. 😊
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.
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!
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. ☺️
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! 😊
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. 😊
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)!
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! 🤣
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!
Yup, new pens and notebooks are definitely NEEDS, Lyndsay!
Thank you so much for reading and commenting - glad to have you here! 😘
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
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!
Lyndsay, thank you for reading my comment.
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. 😃
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! 🤣
Apparently they changed it to be consistent with 'light'
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....! 🤣
🤔🤓😂🥺
Srry fr typo. Meant: TXTSPK. 😉
😃
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! 😊
Narnia!!!!!! That's exactly it, Denise! Opening a door and stepping through into a whole different place. Thank you so much for reading! 😊
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. 😃🤗😘🥰
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! 😘
Can I come too?
GIRLS' TRIIIIIP!!!!!!!!! 🙌🙌🙌
I'm in!
😁✈️🙌
Ah well, a woman can dream. However, reading your posts feels like traveling to me. I am always right there with you, Rebecca.
It's always good to have you along as a travelling companion, Sharron! I feel exactly the same about your posts! 😘
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.
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!
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!
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.....! 👀
I suspect you mark the pavement and walls with chalk. I'm right, aren't I?
Hahahaha!!!
😂
😂😂😂
🤣
Maybe you will have rename your newsletter...
🤣 I dream of such a day, Prue! 🤣
My first stop when I go anywhere is the stationery and art supply shops! This was a lovely jaunt - thank you!
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.
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. 💫🙏
You're so right, Louise! There's something magical about the unknown, isn't there? Thank you so much for reading. 😊
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.
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. 😊
Thank you! 🥰
😘
Thanks for sharing your adventure. I agree with Jillian, I liked your rating system.
Thanks so much, Scott! 😊
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!
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!
I certainly did, but your “review” just before them convinced me it wasn’t just a coincidence!
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. ☺️
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! 😊
This was a fun read! You like the same things as I do.
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!) 🤣
"Being a tourist in our own town? " Love this and has me thinking. :) Loved reading this today. Thank you for sharing.
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. 😊
I love this! Enjoy and look forward to your writing about it.
Wonderful to wander with you! And those illustrated mystery book covers are perfect.
I'm so glad you wandered with me, Julie! How lovely! 😊