dustcollector

I am a retired school librarian and former English teacher. Currently I share my home with cats and two dogs.

I love most kinds of music, but I am not a musician. I only play the radio, and I only sing for small children who are very forgiving. If I must chose a favorite type, it would probably be folk music from around the world. I often listen to classical music.

In my opinion, Charlotte's Web is right up at the top of the best books in whole world. Another favorite is Seedfolks. I read lots of books intended for children and young adults. The illustrations in picturebooks make them particularly tempting. I enjoy the Harry Potter, 39 Clues, Percy Jackson, Septimus Heap, and Missing series. I love audio books and listen in the car all of the time unless I have a passenger. I am enjoying the Massie Dobbs and Inspector Gamache mysteries. The Ruth Galloway and Bruno, Chief of Police series are also engrossing mysteries.

One of my favorite films is A New Leaf with Walter Mathau and Elaine May. Other favorites are What's Up, Doc? with Barbara Streisand and Madeline Kahn and Man's Favorite Sport with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentis. I know they are oldies, but so much fun. March of the Penguins made me cry. I've seen Avatar twice. Hidden Figures was excellent. Love Coco! I am eager to see the Downton Abbey movie next month.

Some shows I don't like to miss are the Amazing Race, Nova, and Nature. I enjoy dance programs. Sunday Morning on CBS is one of the best shows on TV, but I need to record it if I want to see it. We see Jeopardy at suppertime. When I was staying with my mom, I really enjoyed the Doc Martin series which is now on our local PBS station. Father Brown, Endeavor, Death in Paradise, and the Agatha Christie mysteries are intriguing, too. I also listen to some PBS programming while I am doing other things. I am a fan of NPR. Ghosts is a hoot!

I like arts and crafts. I have done some sewing and embroidery, but not counted cross-stitch. I enjoy making something out of nothing. My mother was very resourceful that way. I have been spending a lot more time with plants in the yard and have my own private jungle. It's always a struggle to keep up with the weeds!

As a volunteer, I use my post cards from swaps for activities with students at school. I appreciate interesting stamps almost as much as the postcards. I learned about Postcrossing from another Swap-bot member's profile, and I have been doing that, too. Mail is so much more interesting these days! I love things representative of other countries and cultures. I also would like for students to see UNESCO sites (see the list at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list . I love seeing book illustrations, too.

I always read my partner's profile and try to suit his or her preferences. Please let me know if you have not received a swap. If for some reason, you do not receive a rating from me, please contact me after a reasonable amount of time has passed. I try to rate the day something arrives. Once in a while, postcards have been trapped in catalogs or magazines.

Gardens around the world-- Ethnic or national holidays and traditions-- Birthday wishes in languages other than English-- Christmas cards in languages other than English-- Children's book illustrations-- Fairy tales-- Folk art-- Ethnic foods or recipes-- Indigenous people-- World capitols and flags-- International pop culture icons-- Ethnic dress-- Masks-- Landmarks and points of interest-- UNESCO world heritage sites-- Plants or animals unique to an area-- Significant international historical figures, artists, composers, performers, leaders, rulers-- Unique buildings or homes-- Unusual vehicles