perfect gifts

the best gifts are the surprises you don't know you're going to get. they're the ones that a friend sees and just says, "i know this is so julie, i have to send it to her." i'd rather have that kind of gift than a birthday present any day.

well, today was my day on that sort of gift - there were two surprise envelopes in the mailbox today. one covered in quite a lot of south african foliage stamps and the other with the royal mail.

one contained the elusive mermaid from series 9 of the lego minifigures. i had bought most of the ones available in town but she had proved too shy for me. but molly found her and sent her my way, as a little surprise.

funny how she had to take a trip to south africa and back to end up here with me, 20km from where she originated.

the second package contained bits and pieces of paper ephemera - stamps, small cards and two fabulous old postcards addressed to someone named sabine. perfect! there was a little stash of veronica's beautiful cards and a bookmark i put to immediate use.

but best of all were veronica's experiments in printing with some old 1950s linocut blocks. (read more about them here, where you can see she's moved on to making her own linocuts.) i jumped up and down, saying yes, please send one to me a few weeks ago on her blog. but i didn't expect to get 4 of them! each more charming than the other.

this one, printed on an old dictionary page is my hands-down favorite.

but i like this one too. there's something wonderful and about the brown ink. i just adore them!

and this little row of gnomes - they immediately found a place on the cupboard in the entryway, so everyone can see them when they come in.

here's the back of one of those postcards. sent to bob and sabine in 1978 from somewhere in france, i think. there is another one from california. both mention the weather, so i guess not much has changed.

it's wonderful how a little surprise in the mailbox from friends can totally make your day and probably even your week. and by you i mean me. thank you again, molly and veronica!