mickiecheryl

Please note – I always send my swaps on time (unless I have contacted both the host and my partner(s)) and only mark as sent after they are in the postbox. However, I can’t control when the post-person picks the mail up and what happens to it from there. Please contact me, politely, if you’re concerned about the length of time a swap takes to get to you or haven’t received a swap from me.

Ok, so I suppose it's only fair to warn you that I'm a technological idiot and apologise in advance for a mediocre profile. I penpal and am a lot chattier on the page. I tried to imagine I was writing a letter, but it doesn't work for me. So, apologies.

I currently live in Nottingham. I'm very much of the opinion that people should work to live and one of my hobbies is learning about other people from all across the world and hearing others' stories and experiences in life. I'm naturally introverted, so this allows me all the social interaction without actually being sociable - win win!

My hobbies include: reading, writing, blogging, learning languages (currently German, and Spanish) so feel free to jabber away to me in German or Spanish, or, if writing me a postcard, writing a few phrases in your own language for me to enjoy.

I also enjoy going on day trips, photography, and travelling. As I mentioned, I'm an introvert and my outdoor activities reflect that - I like walking and being in peaceful areas. My favourite local site is Belton House, where there is a wonderful lake walk and I find such inner peace and quiet.

Reading is probably my number one hobby. There’s even a photo of me ‘reading’ a ‘book’ before I could even sit up on my own. I try to read a bit every day, especially in winter time, with the dark evenings making having candles and low lighting making it a wonderfully relaxing activity.

As I read a lot, I don’t actually have favourites as I get something out of most of the books I read. But a few that have stayed with me are: “The End of Mr Y” by Scarlett Thomas; Charles Dickens; Sebastian Faulks; Edgar Allan Poe; I also make an effort to reread Enid Blyton’s Famous Five regularly to remind myself that anyone can do anything they set their minds to.

2020 – I realised that last year I hadn’t read any classics. I love classic literature so this year have decided to set myself the challenge of reading one classic and two non-classic fiction books each month. Add me on GoodReads (Mickie Morley) to check out my progress.

I love going to the cinema and watching films, but I don't actually have a favourite film. I enjoy most genres and will watch most things, but have never been so pulled in that I'll watch a film more than a couple of times. A few that I have watched more than once though, are:

Miss Sloane Christopher Robin The Little Mermaid Adult Life Skills The X-Men films Le Brio The Intouchables [the 2011 French film]

As a general rule I don't watch TV. There are two series that I watch each year:

Silent Witness Death in Paradise.

On Netflix I'm watching:

Stranger Things You Suits

This is my section! I love crafting. I have been penpalling since I was 13 and often get the urge to make an extra special effort with a couple of my longer-term penpals. Most of my penpals I've been writing to for many years and have a fantastic friendship with so love making that bit of an extra effort to make them smile when they open my mail.

At the minute I'm working on a few letters that are being written in notebooks with a few pages with designs or other crafty things on. One of the pages of the books I'm doing today has a little pop up pouch on it. However, this isn't regular as origami isn't my forte. I also love doing themed designs for my letters - e.g. in spring I often do a bee theme; or travel theme for holidays, etc.

I've recently added sewing to my repertoire and am now enjoying thinking up new projects and learning how to make them. If any sewers out there want to share anything - feel free to drop me a line, I'd love to see your creations/hear your stories.

Generally I only collect postcards. But I also enjoy reading a little message on the back. I appreciate any postcard you want to send me. Apart from ones with abattoirs or animals in pain on them - seriously, on Postcrossing once someone sent me one with a slaughtered pig on it - please don't. I don't like saying I wouldn't like certain cards, but who wants to see that?!

I appreciate pretty stamps but am not a philatelist. Instead I love seeing a beautiful stamp on a letter.

My other weakness is stationery. I can't pass a stationery shop without going in. Unfortunately there are hardly any here now :-( so I have to resort to buying my letter sets online. I love the pretty writing paper that my penpals use and send.

I've been penpalling since I was 13 and consider most of my penpals to be dear friends. I don't 'collect' penpals just to say I've got XX amount. Instead I prefer writing to people who take time and effort in writing and really enjoy doing it. I'd rather wait for a while for a letter and know they have been enjoying life, than expect a quick turnaround. I talk about everything and anything with my penpals from the indepth conversations to everyday comings and goings. Sitting down with a cup of tea and a great letter is the best feeling.

If anyone thinks, from my profile, that we would get along and wants to start writing, feel free to drop me a message.

International travel is something that has been sorely lacking in my life until this point. But I’ve unlocked my potential (i.e. got a new job that pays a decent amount and not all my money goes onto bills) and there’s no stopping me now.

I basically want to visit everywhere. But as long as there’s something to see. I like walking and hiking, but as part of a holiday, not the sole activity. My main passion is history and I love looking around historical buildings and sites and learning about the lives of the people who live(d) there and their country men and women.

June 2019 - I went to Amsterdam for the first time and loved it. I packed a lot into my two full days there and still feel like there’s a lot more to discover. But my next trip to the Netherlands will include further afield I think.

February 2020 – Kraków, Poland. My first time in Poland and loved it. It's a beautiful city and the food and drink are amazing.

Since September I’ve been learning Spanish. I’ve always been interested in different languages but tend to start learning one and then get distracted with another. I learnt German at school and kept it up sporadically during my adult years so can hold a conversation in the language. But I’ve decided that, especially now my job is much more global focussed, language skills can only be an advantage. So, Spanish. If you want to write to me in Spanish or German, please feel free. My Spanish is still very basic (A1 level in the European language criteria) so bear with me.