Letter 10

Goodness gracious, ten letters, ten weeks. What a lot of writing. Here's to another 42!

This week I wrote to my dearest Mama! I have been super busy this year and haven't spent half as much time with her as I wanted to. So I wrote a little note an sent a present to just let her know that I love her very much and how much she inspires me. We've planned a trip in the new year to the Scott Polar Resarch Institute in the Spring! I keep saying that we don't thank other people enough in our day-to-day lives and it really is true. So, this week, this is your homework: say thank you to your parents! I am so so so so lucky to have such an amazing one, who has coped admirably with me and my almost-27 years of not-always-the-most sensible ideas. (See below.)

I'm really really busy at the moment and it's been important for me to claim some time for myself. One thing that added to the hectiness was the 'euphonium' I bought off of the old ebay, which needed to be collected from Bristol. It also turned out to be a small tuba. So, I looked forward to a massive long drive to Bristol and back. To soften the blow, I decided to break my trip before I collected my instrument at the Lahloo Pantry which is a totes amaze tea room and tea shop in Bristol that I have been well perving on online. Not only did they stay open late so I could sit down, rest and write my Mum's letter but they were super kind and friendly and so very enthusiastic about their business - late Christmas presents? Go here! Seriously, I actually can't recommend them enough. I've not come across such a novel, kind and accommodating independent business in a really long while.

This is festive notepaper - note the gold pen to match the red and green stationary - that I wrote my thank you letter on! It was accompanied by a DELICIOUS matcha latte - like a latte but made with green tea. I tried to make one at home, but failed. I also had some AWESOME lemon drizzle cake (soz babes, I ate it all).

 

And this is my finished festive letter, complete with sample of Darjeeling Second Flush for my darling mother! I think the heart-shaped tine gives Lahloo and me both extra points!

Then I bought some Christmas presents*. I enjoyed my array of products and I can definitely say that they are all delicious! I picked up some lovely free postcards that I'm going to use for Postcrossing, to spread the tea love all around the world!

The letter project that I finished this week was the 12 Days of Love Letters where you wrote a letter of support to someone who needs it, for each of the twelve days of Christmas. The organisation as a whole is great, but I would be lying if I said I didn't ultimately find the project quite challenging. Some of the circumstances that people are in, I personally found very upsetting, and also felt very responsible for what I wrote in the letter and how that content might be reacted to. I guess letters that challenge you are perhaps the ones that it is most neccessary to write and those people are the ones who need the most love and support. However, I was out of my depth. I still wrote. I have 12 letters to send. Yet knowing who I might be writing to, for me, personally, I might not participate so deeply again. However, I think everyone should have a go.

We're about to go into Christmas week and I'm determined to keep the writing going. I've not mentioned the Christmas cards I've sent, or the postcards, because they are not extraordinary. But please, this week, do some extraordinary and say thank you to those who raised you. I'm pretty sure they did a very good job!

*actually things that I'll tell myself are presents, but will (not-so-secretly now) keep