Surprises in the mail

I joined the Swap-bot group a while ago partly to get some interesting mail. I'm tired of the weekly blank checks from the credit card companies urging me to spend, spend, spend. And the endless brochures from a travel company I like but, jez, I can't go on ten trips a year no matter how much a bargain. Lately I have been getting intereesting stuff in my mail. Some are letters, structured or otherewise, and some are "stuff". In the latter category have been a week's worth of cards from one person named Julie who makes her own cards and they are truly charming, don't you think? I get some Hello Kitty stuff, ugh, and other terminally cute or sweet stuff. But these cards are elegant and tastefully done. A joy to open an envelop and find them.

Another surprise was a fabric "scavanger" hunt, four kinds of sewing related items were suggested but today I got a major treat from Kaye. Four fat quarters, some wash away stabilizer which I'm really curious about since I've never used it, a couple of kinds of neat buttons, some ribbon with polka dots. AND, surprise! Kaye read the profile I wrote and went to Trader Joe's and found a Thai red curry dish that looked and sounded so tempting I forgot about the stuff in the fridge and had it for dinner. Lovely hot spice tinkling the mouth! I needed some of that lovely Czech beer but didn't have any. There are also beautiful packs of Ermil's coffee. NYC has a Trader Joe's but it's not on my usual path. This Thai stuff was so good, it's worth a special trip and if they carry it here I'll stock up. It's a quick microwave dish, great with rice as I did. But I'm sure with Thai noodles too. So nice of Kaye to think outside the basic listing and get something special for me! She's a stranger but feels like a friend.
Also lurking in a bag in my mail when I came home from vacation was this harmless looking fat black snake made of felted wool and trimmed with hand stitching, a glass ball on his tail and embroidered head. I'd been warned about his arrival a couple of months earlier by Ruth, my long time correspondent who was also a roommate on a trip to Tibet. She's retired to N. Mexico and concentrating on doing whatever crafts her imagination comes up with.


-- I have to change subjects entirely since, being a WQXR devotee [the classical music station of the NY Times] the first thing I heard this morning was that Luciano Pavarotti had died. And as I write they are playing him singing the quartet from Rigaletto; they have been playing various short pieces all day. I like the way WQXR celebrates such events. They also celebrate musical celeb's birthdays with recordings. The announcers are also allowed to share their own personal memories of people like Pavarotti. Radio can do this sort of special programming, in a way televison cannot. There will be more arias as the evening goes on.