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I was not expecting the deep cut reference to Noddy - whose series of books featuring were foisted upon me as a child for reasons uncertain (my mother’s nostalgia, I suspect). That costume would have been amazing.

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A would the car have been 😂

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Reading about the posted potato made me spill my tea, Terry! 🤣

Another terrific letter - I've laughed out loud several times, and I'm looking forward to penning my response to it in due course. Thank you for the Austen book recommendation - you've reminded me, actually, that I have an Austen-related book to read now that I've finished the glorious 'Emma'.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/13636953

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I take no responsibiity for tea spillage, Rebecca. You should know by now that reading my stuff can be dangerous. I might start putting a hazard warning on the top in future. That book sounds interesting, thanks for linking to it

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107 years! Is this a true story? Thats similar to the library book story that was returned after 40 years with a $2000 late fee. Something like that.

Here we have the Dead Letter Office. It’s where all the letters to Santa end up.

The garden hose attachment— one can spend hours in the hardware store. Did you find the correct attachment or did you have to make a trip back and exchange the item?

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Yes, is true! I read a novel about a dead letter office in South Africa. Can't recall what it was offhand. Hose: we put a cheap bag of ass9orted attachments in the hope that one might fit, and Elaine fitted it.

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Duct tape? That’s always a useful household item.

Ass9orted. Hehe.

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LOL

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Apr 11Liked by Terry Freedman

I had to Google Montjac. A cute little thing, I hope the cats didn't scare him.

Also had to look up Noddy. Really Terry?

I do see why you have to resort to the "bathing machine" to keep the women from fainting although it looks as if the muscles in your right arm have descended to your elbow which is an indication that gravity is catching up with you. Get that sorted out, Sir Terry!

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The muntjac thing was weird. We have no idea how it got into our garden, and no idea how it got out. The cats probably did scare it: even the tame fox is scared of them!

Why, what's wrong with Noddy? He had a great multicoloured car, and a friend called Big Ears who lived in a toadstool. The village police man was called PC Plod, a term used disparagingly even today.

I exercise with one arm at a time!

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🤣

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Apr 11·edited Apr 11Liked by Terry Freedman

Thanks for the chuckle tonight, and the mention. Lo and behold, I have an Enid book next to me which will be the next thing I pick up. Thanks, too, for writing about the The Real Jane Austen - I love those kind of books that talk about what folks did at particular times. It's a little bit like etiquette books but with (sometimes) more interesting tidbits. I had never heard of a muntjac but I looked it up and now I must draw one, perhaps for one of tomorrow's BrewTime(c) Post It notes. There are a few Brits in my office - maybe they'll yell over to me, "Hey! You drew a muntjac!" Your sending different things through the mail was so good! I would like to try send something clever to someone. However, if I go to the counter at my post office, I must answer questions before they allow me to buy postage: "Is there anything fragile, liquid, or perishable? Are there any lithium batteries or perfumes?" and so on. Love the drawings, too, btw.

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Gosh, your PO sounds more draconian than ours. We are just told not to post those things. Looking forward to seeing your drawing on a muntjac!

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Apr 10Liked by Terry Freedman

On variant addresses: I read in a biography of Harry Truman a description of sorting work done on postal rail cars between stations. One letter was addressed to "Judge Hot Dog, Washington." Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter got the letter promptly. I imagine it wasn't fan mail.

BGB and I are just about ready to step on our jet, arriving a ways north of you via Paris. I hope you have super powers enough to part raincoats and let the sun shine on us!

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LOL. Brilliant. Thanks, Mark. Remind me: whereabouts are you going? If Glasgow, take a souwester, galoshes and an umbrella each.

American to a little boy in Glasgow: Does it ever stop raining here?

Little boy: How should I know? I'm only 4

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So you’re saying when I arrive in Edinburgh this summer, I shouldn’t pack my sun screen?

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😂 I think Edinburgh is warmer than Glasgow, and drier. I just checked this using Perplexity.AI -- results below. But I think packing suncream might still be a tad optimistic!

Perplexity:

The weather in Edinburgh is noticeably better than Glasgow. According to the search results:

Edinburgh has significantly less rainfall than Glasgow. Edinburgh averages 43.7 inches of rain per year, while Glasgow gets 52.4 inches of rain on average

. Additionally, Edinburgh has around 40 fewer rainy days per year compared to Glasgow

.

In terms of temperature, Glasgow has a slightly warmer annual average temperature than Edinburgh

4

. However, Edinburgh is less overcast and has more sunny days, with an average of 189 sunny days per year compared to 205 sunny days in Glasgow

.

The search results indicate that while Glasgow may be slightly warmer on average, Edinburgh's weather is generally drier, less overcast, and has more sunny days, making it the more pleasant of the two cities in terms of weather

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Yeah, I think I’ll save the space in my carryon 😂 I’ll need it for wind and rain gear in the highlands I think!!

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Save space? How much were you going to take? Or do you have an ultra small carry-on? I think last time I trafvelled tubes of stuff + shaving cream were confiscated.

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No, you’re right. I can manage with a small tube on a short jaunt but being nigh-translucent and travelling for 10 days, I’m bringing checked luggage….for sunscreen and bringing back inordinate quantities of Jelly Babies and scotch.

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Apr 10Liked by Terry Freedman

Another delightful letter! I am so glad I subscribed to this exchange, Terry.

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Thanks, Sharron. I am too!

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They need to have that reverse question mark on modern keyboards!

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I agree! I gave up trying to find a sensible way of doing it on a Mac or a laptop, so I copied and pasted from an article in Wikipedia.

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