Hello fellow swappers,

Only fellow swappers would appreciate this: I can now with very good accuracy hold an envelope in my hand and tell if it is over 1 ounce. It’s the little things, right?

For those who may be interested, I don’t require a tuck in for a 💕. I do have a particular affinity for stickers, so if you’d like to stick one/some of those in, that would be great. Otherwise, if you’d like to skip it, please do. 💕

I like to think each swap I send out is special & somewhat customized for the recipient, whether it’s the postcard I select, colors I use, the postage stamp I use, a sticker or a response to something on your profile. Chances are high I’ll read your profile, even for a Chunk o’ Cardboard. I like getting to know my recipients.

I also take pics of most of my outgoing swaps, front & back, so if you’re missing a swap, I may have a photographic record of it, and the date I put it in the mail. (I take the pic right before mailing. I also take most swaps to the PO and go inside to mail them. (They removed the Blue drive thru boxes b/c of theft at the PO near me 😟.. Please contact me if you haven’t received it or it's late. I don't ever flake & I send on time, actually prefer to send early. That said, I don’t shoot pics of the RRTPC postcards, just the outgoing envelope. I DO take photos of all the previous and my added pages in Decos & MAJs, because each page is a work of art someone has created, and it could be somewhat reproduced if lost or ruined. Im not infallible; I did forget to put my username on a swap I had worked very hard on, and it was hurtful that that mistake was the salient comment from the recipient. Please give me the benefit of the doubt before writing an unkind message on my profile or rating me down. THANKS!

TUCK-INS: NO NEED. While I do sometimes like a little sticker if it’s something I’d like, I am becoming short on space. So while I appreciate the thought, I’m a little overrun with tuck-ins for now. P.ease save them for someone who would appreciate them more. Thanks❣️ ======================================= 🌸 🧁 💐 🌳 🍣 💕 🐈 🍟 👩‍🏫 🪴 🐝 🖼 🐛

Hi! I’m Nancy, aka VAgardengirlgirl, nickname VAgardengirl🤪. I live just outside Richmond, Va in Glen Allen. I’m a retired teacher. My beloved husband of 21 years still works and our son is in college . Now that DS is in college, Hubs and I are taking some trips in fall & spring. We’ve been to New England in fall (breathtaking!), Utah in spring and just returned from the Monongahela area of PA which was very enjoyable! Spring of 2024 takes us to Texas to see the last full solar eclipse (that’s anywhere near me) [probably] of my lifetime.

You may be asking, "why VAgardenGIRLGIRL'?"; does the double 'GIRL' mean I'm extra girly or anti-trans or that I am a go-go dancer?no no no. I’m supportive of the LGBTQ + community ❣️ ” Girl girl” is a typo, or actually a 'voice command-o'. Im a ridiculously horrible typer. Awful! It is literally faster for me to use voice command and then edit (much editing due to VC's limited capacity and my Southern accent). I noticed the girl girl mistake too late so I have to live with it. Oh, well, there are worse fates.

I usually have some postcard swaps going on so I can receive mail regularly, it my favorite swaps are little flat books where ppl add a page in the stated theme. I started with ATCs, but quickly moved on to decos, ‘zines & journals. It’s so fun to see swappers’ pages - we are such a creative group!

I'm a former 6th grade teacher, in my 60s, and now volunteer for a couple of non-profits, mostly from home. I have a very smart & creative son in college in Boston (Northeastern) and a very kind, smart, & funny husband. He and I met in the local scuba diving club, altho we haven’t dived in years. There’s a whole other world under the water, and it’s so peaceful and beautiful!

Although I’ve lived in the South my entire life, I dream of living in a cooler climate one day and of snow falling on Christmas Day ❄️.

I love snow! ‘Round here, 5” or more means school & appointments are called off and most people get an unexpected free day, which I LOVE! (Favs for snow day: a roaring, crackling 🔥 , baking, crafting, shoveling, napping, shooting pics of snow)

I read my local newspaper, The Richmond Times Dispatch (online), and particularly enjoy feature stories, Carolyn Hax (and all the discussion online about the column -it gets heated!!), Jumble,& Wordle (online). I miss Dave Barry’s weekly column, Farside, and Calvin & Hobbs, but now laugh at Zits, Dilbert and Pluggers.

#What I like to do#

• gardening, (growing mostly flowers)
• visiting state & national parks
• looking at gardens
• swapping on swap-bot
• reading (mostly audiobooks)
• cooking
• crafting
• watching TV & movies

We live on a few acres so I enjoy seeing the wildlife, in particular the birds. I typically have a bluebird family in the spring & it’s exciting watching the full progression of empty nest box to nest, eggs, babies and their departure! I love trees and find bugs 🐛 🐜 🕷 & snakes 🐍 interesting. They’re around here all the time, so we get along.

I make an effort to live environmentally-friendly and as of December 2022, I drive an electric vehicle.

🐈 I have 2 orange tabby cat boys whom I adore, Owen & Charley 🐈

##Particular ** favorite** things: are##

COFFEE

coffee flavored candy & desserts, lattes, espresso, coffee cups, quotes about coffee, chocolate covered espresso beans, cute little demitasse cups... Think the Bubba Gump shrimp guy in Forrest Gump talking about shrimp...that’s me with coffee

I also like

comical items!

To get an idea of my sense of humor, I find very funny:

*Ted Lasso * most of David Sedaris * Frasier * Atypical * Everybody Loves Raymond *The Middle *Woody Allen (he's not a child moister)or molester

#ITEMS I FIND ENDEARING#

MINIATURES

——————- even odd things like a tiny screw, tiny piece of satin ribbon, or an itty bitty feather. Doll house things like a tiny Kleenex box or a miniature book make me lose my mind!

I like tiny things, & sparkles!

• postage stamps = miniature art! I always notice the postage stamps on my swaps
• hippos, 🦛 especially baby hippos
• pastels, especially periwinkle
• flowers; my favorite is a bluet
• cute baby animals. What baby isn’t cute?
• birds, real or drawn
• trees 🌲
• anything having to with Thomas Jefferson
• anything with a bicycle 🚲
• clocks & watches ⏰
• photos of all sorts, especially close ups of nature

Robert Llewellen’s photographs amaze me! [robertllewellyn] [(https://www.robertllewellyn.com/]

## I also really like

NEAT HANDWRITING 💕💕😃😃😃

• early photos of famous people
• Quaint churches ⛪ with simple steeples
• colored or shaped paper clips & cute binder clips
• origami
• cute sticky notes (all sizes)
• small matchbox crafts
• tiny bottles (like perfume bottles)
• magazine ads with odd photos

• interesting ideas about life in the future

• natural items found outside. I usually have a bowl which I fill with natural finds I like: a feather, a tiny pine cone, a colorful stone or one in a particular shape, some interesting seeds, a pretty leaf, etc.

Books I’ve particularly enjoyed:

• All the Light We Cannot See
• Dress Your Children in Corduroy & Denim
• Gone Girl
• Angela’s Ashes
• • A Gentleman in Moscow*
• Prince of Tides
• The Poisonwood Bible
• Go Ask Alice
• • The Book Thief*
• Americanah
• • Middlesex*
• • The Corrections*
• • A Mother’s Reckoning*

TV Shows/series that have been favorites include: -——————————————————— * Atypical * The Kids are Alright * Frasier * Six Feet Under * Breaking Bad * Mr Mercedes *Dateline * Stranger * America’s Test Kitchen * Barefoot Contessa * and,....dare I admit it?.... The Pimple Popper

Movies I’ve loved

• The Wife
• Fargo
• the Sound of Music
• Harold & Maude
• We Need to Talk about Kevin
• A Christmas Story
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Elf
• Manchester-by the-Sea
• Shawshank Redemption

===========

I’m delighted with tiny stickers or cute postage stamps or little cute pictures cut from magazines.

NOT INTO

• Goth
• mustard yellow
• religious stuff (but do like holiday icons like bunnies & holly & gingerbread houses.
• “Dislike” lists that are longer than the “like” list

postcard favorites

• British royals)
• Photos of old cars, rustic homes, antiques,
• outdoor clocks
• churches,
• mailboxes,
• streetcars,
• trees,
• musicians,
• iron fences,
• steam trains,
• art photos,
• black & white photos,
• postcards of famous people in their early days

Homemade postcard favorites: * funny, weird or unusual magazine pics *a comic from the newspaper