I know what you mean, Sjoerd. One year I sent around 70 Christmas cards, with a personal note on all of them. This year I'll send around 40, not counting the digital ones.
I actually enjoy sending real cards with little notes, but I am selective and do not send them to everyone that I know. Just friends and serious aquaintances. We here make a distinction between friend and aquaintance-- and there is only one sort of friend, but there gradiations of aquaintances. Chuckle. Things can be so complicated sometimes. I sometimes make e-cards, but not this year. They are fun to make. I once had a program called "skrippy" that allowed me to create any sort of card that I wished (with effects). It was fun, buit it seems that I have a lot less time these days.
Traditionally, family - close and remote, good friends and close acquaintances receive proper cards, usually with photos of the girls, and sometimes a cat or two, or the ponies as well. Very often people end up on my Christmas card list and just never get deleted, even though we haven't seen the persons for years and years. It's silly, isn't it? I collect all photo Christmas cards we recieve, thank-you-cards and such in a special album, and I like to sit and wonder at how big my friends' children suddenly are. I hope some of my cards' recipients are doing the same thing.
Well, it may be silly to keep folks on your list that you never see or correspond with, but I'll bet everyone does exactly the same. That sounds like an interesting thing to collect. I am a collecter by nature, but have pared it all down now to just stamps and old bank notes. Pretty old-fasioned eh? ha ha ha. Actually I don't really have much time for them lately. When I was a child I enjoyed collecting such things as bird's nests, butterflies, beetles, and a host of other things, and my interest in nature has lingered into adulthood. I suppose that gardening is in my blood. It's a form of appreciating nature, I believe. Well the skating turned alright for us here :-D . We won a few medals and increased our point standing. It was time for sausijsbroodjes and tea.mmmmmm Do you know them? It's a flakey pastry roll filled with ground sausage --heated and served warm.
I don't really send that many christmas cards,, an i also believe in "degrees" of friends. I have maybe 2 very close friends who i still stay intouch with since moving here, an i have 2 very good friend here in Norway. There is a difference. And then there is the friendship that i make during the summer months. doesn't last long but it was still a connecting of the moment. I watched a little cross country sking today, but i just couldn't get into it, an i love it too,, instead i worked on a rug i been making for a while now. kind of a rough day for me i guess,,, but theres always another day! lol.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I need to get out to the lottie tomorrow and start bringing hiome some tools and the gas bottle. I also need to check on those little broad bean plants. I'm wondering if the strong winds with rain and sleet have damaged them at all. I'm almost afraid to look. chuckle.
Sjoerd, hand me one of those pastry rolls, please. I had them in Amsterdam once, they are nice! Congratulations on your medals, very well deserved! My husband collects old bank notes and coins. Mostly Norwegian ones, though. Well, Biita, some days are just made for doing something other than you thought you'd do. I'd like to see your rug. I have to go mend a sweater and a pair of trousers, and I should brace myself and check through accumulated mail and sort some books. Anybody with energy left over, please send it here.
Skating and skiing are good sports to watch during the winter. They don't show too much skiing here at the moment, although later they will. I was watching the re-runs of skating with commentary last night and during the commercials they advertised the up-coming Paris-Dakar Rally. This year it begins in Lissabon. There are Dutch participants in this unusual "race" and I see that it will begin airing the 5th of January. We like watching this when it's so cold and dreary outside. It is pretty exciting sometimes. Say Biita...why don't you post piccies of your rug in the Hansdicrafts forum, I would be interested too. My mom is big on handicrafts and has made all manner of things in her time. She is interested in quilting now.
I had written a long, well formulated, witty and wise answer, and when I pressed "Submit" the forum went down and now I can't remember what I wrote. Anyway, I'm not very big into any sport, but occasionally a new hero surfaces, and that can make me interested enough to stay tuned. It's been some time since the last one. I think Sjoerd should persuade his mother to join the forum and post her projects. My guess is she'd fit right in.
I agree droopy, i think he should invite his mom.. i would love to see her work. and i am going to post my rug an a pinecone wreath i made. Rug isn't done tho.
HO HO HO....don't think that I haven't tried to get her to get a computer. She's not having any of it. She finds herself too old, and of course she's a tightwad. hahahahaha(( )) She had an opportunity to get one free, and declined---I was furious. chuckle. So I taught my wife's mum to operate a compi and she loves it. She uses it every day, albeit only for e-mails and doing online puzzles. She looks up things on the internet sometimes but isn'r very daring (her own words). She chose me to teach her because she said that I was the only one that didn't get angry and frustrated with her (back in the tewaching stage). Well, everyone is glad she learned to use it. It's great entertainment for her. Every years' end, I put all of the fotos of her grandchildren that she's saved-up during the year on a CD for her and she goes back and looks at those when the feeling moves her. A long-winded way of saying my mum won't do it. What a shame. Droopy. I know that feeling. It irritates me so much that I often just don't retype.
I admire your patience Sjoerd. I've tried teaching my mother-in-law to text for ages, but she's not willing to learn. It would be so nice if she sometimes would send an SMS, instead of trying to ring when we're all busy. We've managed to teach her to read SMS-messages, fortunately, so I always text her once a day while we're away, giving her a report of what we've been doing. My mother could easily work a computer, but she finds it too expensive to install broad band. I've given up arguing, because I know how stubborn she is. She enjoys surfing when she's visiting here, though.
Sjoerd,, i have an idea,,, got my thinking cap on (just found it) why don't you take pics for us!! then you can post an we can all see. I'm sure the work your mom does is wonderful..(plus i'm nosey that way). droopy i wrote up a post for the cactus thread, an when i went to post our line went down, i just didn't bother after that,, i have no idea if it posted or not,, i should check,,lol.
heh heh heh.... Droopy, your mom is sneeky. I know that mine would like it as well. I'll see what I can do about a piccy, Biita. I don't think that it will ever freeze hard enough to skate on ice here again. That's too bad. My partner still has her old Friese doorlopers. These are the simple, old fashioned skates that you tied onto your feet, then just went for it. They were made of a little wood and a blade with a cloth tie. They should be in a museum. hahahaha
I liked the old-fashion skates. They had leather straps and could fit most children's feet. Then we didn't have to get new pairs for them as they grew. It seems people have too much money these days. Or maybe the manufacturer needs more money... It's the same with ski bindings. All we can get are the ones made for special ski shoes, and the children outgrow them in no time. It's no good trying to buy things a little bit too large either, because they are uncomfortable and it takes the joy of sports from the children. Some things were better in the old days.
