Got it! Thanks so much!

All set - thanks!

I just popped my cards in the mail. You should all see them soon.

I sent mine a few days ago, might be awhile before they arrive! Post from Oz is very slow.

I've received bookmarks from Rosefolly and Sheri - all beautiful, and I'm enjoying the exchange as much as ever. And folks, you'll get duplicates - Rosefolly and I found the same bookmarks! I bought mine (the Carl James Freeman wildlife bookmarks) at the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge on Maryland's Eastern Shore last May - how about you, Rosefolly?

Donnamira, I bought mine at a bookstore in Traverse City, Michigan, on our book club trip this past year.

I have received Sheri's, and I will wait patiently for yours, Siobhan.

I've got my cards and bookmarks together. Does that count? Have also received Rosefolly and Sheri's pretty offerings.

I have mine but still have to address and mail them. I have received a couple in the mail already but am delaying opening them so that I can open and ooh and ah over them all at once. Hmmm, I wonder how long I can hold out?

Over the years, I have heard several people say they do that, Rouan. Not me. I open them first thing.

I dropped mine off at the post office this afternoon. Like Rouan, I’m trying to hold off opening them. It’s doubtful that I’ll be successful waiting until Christmas but we’ll see...

I can't wait to open anything! I have had a couple of Christmas gift hampers given me already and have ripped into them! Well, the chocolate boxes needed to go into the fridge this hot weather and I had to sample them to make sure they were all right...

A likely story, Ann. I'm buying my own Russell Stover's dark chocolate and marshmallow Santas just in case they run out. Eating them, as well, of course.

Does anyone know about Cees chocolates ( California ) ?
OMG..........now there's a box that I cannot walk past.

Yoyobon, do you perhaps mean See's chocolates? They are my favorite. Many places have local chocolates that are regionally loved. These are the best I personally have ever encountered. The only others I have ever come across that came near them was when a friend brought me back a box of Lir chocolates from Ireland. They were also very good. But no, I still think See's are my favorites.

I have a friend in Baltimore who agrees with you about See's chocolates, Rosefolly.

Yes ! I meant See's. They buckle your knees :0)

My DIL is from California and her family always sends pound boxes of See's for all occasions. This side of the country rarely encounters their delights.

For several years See's had a kiosk at a local mall here in Louisville from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Alas, not last year or this. They gave away a free sample to everyone, too. I first discovered them at a convention in Los Angeles where we were given a piece in a small box as a dinner favor. I agree that it is superb candy--and I am a dedicated chocoholic.

Today the mailbox was full! Christine, Sheri, and Rosefolly. Absolutely delightful! Usually I save them up and open them with a bit of ceremony, but this year I’m ripping right in!

I've been opening mine as they come as well. So far Sheri, Christine, Maryann, and Libby. All wonderful.

And I must say Skibby that for a newcomer to the exchange, you started off with a bang!

I'm also opening them as they arrive -- I just love this tradition and all the bookmarks have been wonderful!

I finally got mine addressed; they will be in the mail tomorrow morning. And...I caved in and opened all that I have received so far. I had a suspicion I wouldn't make it till Christmas! LOL

Siobhan, you were concerned about how long the overseas mail might take, so I wanted to reassure you. I got your card on Friday.

Other cards with bookmarks I have received so far include Donnamira, Christine A, Skibby, Sheri, and Merryworld.

Siobhan, I can also report that your card arrived here on the east coast of the US just today. And ditto to Rosefolly's list - this bookmark exchange gets to be more fun every year!

I mailed all of mine yesterday so you should all receive them soon.

Me, too, Rouan.

Thank you everyone for the wonderful and thoughtfully chosen bookmarks. It is such a fun tradition. I keep all of them in a small Lane cedar chest ( given as a gift to high school senior girls by local furniture stores hoping to sell a full size Lane cedar chest , aka hope chest ) . The chest is now filled to the lid !

Once again, it has been such fun to do this. I keep my bookmarks in a pretty crystal flower vase, and then when it gets too full, I put them in envelopes by theme. I'm planning to get more of them framed when I get richer. I have six 16x20" frames now and enough bookmarks for LOTS more.

Yoyobon, I have one of those small Lane cedar chests, too. They must have been doing this for a looong time!

Carolyn , actually I got it a looooong time ago :0) 1962 to be exact.

Unfortunately I too, succumbed to curiosity, and opened all of my cards prior to Christmas. Thank you all for the lovely bookmarks and cards! I really enjoyed the selection of bookmarks and cards I received. I look forward to this tradition just like all of you do as well.

Now I only need to wait another eleven months and I get to participate again!

Ha yourself, Yoyo. Mine is from 1952. I'll bet they don't do it anymore, cedar chests probably being archaic these days. I may be sitting on dozens of valuable antiques. One young woman who cleaned for me told me she liked my vintage furniture.

Carolyn.....I doubt that anyone younger than 50 actually knows what a cedar chest/hope chest is. Perhaps it still exists in the deep south which seems to hold on to traditions like that. The hope chest went the way of getting silver, crystal and china when you got married. The wedding gifts frequently were delivered to the bride's home ahead of the wedding so that they could be opened and put on display for friends to admire when they stopped by. Usually the dining room table was the staging area for the gifts. I loved seeing the store trucks drive up and the driver come to the door with the gift wrapped boxes.

yoyo, over here we don't use the expression 'hope chest', but say 'bottom draw' instead. I don't know if it is the same in the US but here very few 'young women' live at home before marriage and are far more likely to be shaking up with the husband-to-be and quite a few arrive at their wedding with a couple of children in tow who might (or not) be the off-spring of the groom.

Weddings have become huge business over here with £1000's being spent on the festivities. A 'wedding-overseer' I met at such a reception told me that trouble always starts when a 2nd or 3rd time bride (always dressed in virginal white) invites ex husbands and their extended families. Before the night is out a punch-up can be guaranteed.

Of course more discreet, low key events are possible.

We have a popular TV show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding detailing the happiest day of their lives for the very young brides of the Irish 'Traveller' community (previously known as 'Tinkers') Of course we all pretend we would never stoop so low as to watch it . . . but we do!

Big Fat Gypsy Xmas Wedding

Vee.....we have the same show here but I've never watched it, not because I wouldn't but probably just because I haven't ! I WILL stoop so low as to watch many of these bizarre shows just for a chuckle.

One of my favorites is the US version of Say Yes To The Dress ( the southern one being the strangest .....apologies to y'all who live in the south :0). The best bride-to-be was the one who brought along her future husband's current wife to agree about her gown choice. Yes, current wife. Apparently he was going to take another because the first wasn't able to perform her duty.....and she was very misty-eyed and approving of it all.

Another show which never fails to amuse is one called Four Weddings wherein four brides who do not know each other attend each other's weddings and then vote on various aspects of the affair. The bride with the highest score wins a dream honeymoon.

So much for romance. Maybe we should return to bookmarks!

Anyway, one of my Christmas gifts was a framed picture of my grandson, his bride, and me taken at their lovely outdoor June wedding that was quite romantic with even a tiny tearing up at one point in the ceremony from DGS. First wedding, white gown and veil, no excess baggage, and lots of prayers for long-term success.

I have received all of my cards and bookmarks and love every single one! You are all so thoughtful and so good at choosing delightful offerings! Especially good this year as I am in the midst of moving for the third time this year and didn’t receive anything else from the USA as my family is waiting for me to settle and/or visit home soon. Let’s do it again next year!

I ordered a packet of bookmarks from a catalog, but when they arrived (cute as can be on the face), they are valentines. Now all I need are a dozen or so people to send valentines to.

Valentine exchange! Or set a new trend and send valentines at Christmas. :)

How about bringing them to your local nursing home for those who would most appreciate a cheery note ? The activity director can give you first names.

Valentines make perfect bookmarks. :)

I like the nursing home idea.

Thanks. I like the nursing home idea, too, and I have a church friend who just was transferred to one for rehab. I am planning to go see her Monday and will take the bookmarks with me.

Sounds like a good idea.

Some people in nursing homes get regular visitors. Sadly, some others do not. It's not always neglect. Some don't have much family left, while others may have family that lives too far away. Whatever the reason, it must be lonely and dull for those who don't have visitors.

Last month I contacted our local nursing home to ask if there was someone who had few visitors and might like to get gifts at Christmas. The social director jumped at the offer and immediately gave me the name of a woman who had no one in the area and only one sister who lived across the country and visited her once a year. This woman was in her mid 60's. I filled several totes with wrapped gifts and surprises for this woman and delivered them to the nursing home.

It made me consider that this might be a good project for my little group of friends who convene every two weeks for knitting, kvetching and laughing. Why wait for a holiday to cheer someone ?

That is a lovely idea. You remind me of a knitting/quilting group I know.

I've often thought it would be nice to organize and lead a small book discussion group at a nursing or assisted living home. But I've never acted on it.

I once volunteered to read to patients at a nursing home. The first two people they sent me to were in no condition to be read to, and the third one was bored. I didn't try again. This was a home that had asked our church for volunteers, and reading was one of their suggestions. The activity director, unfortunately, didn't seem to be aware of the request or know what to do with me.

I volunteered for work at a maternity hospital and was given a trolley of books and magazines to offer. This was in the days when new mothers stayed put for a week or more! The mothers didn't want reading material, being busy gossiping on the phone or to others in the ward!

Shortly after, I got a job in a library with people who did want to read!

I once entertained the idea of offering a refresher course in knitting at a local nursing home. I'd read a study which noted that many times women who are suffering from dementia show remarkable improvement when engaged in this skill that they once enjoyed.

Reading would seem like a very difficult activity to share....especially in a nursing home setting. It requires concentration and an level of involvement that I doubt these residents would have.

My mother spent her last years in a nursing home with vascular dementia. She continued to read until shortly before the final months of her life. She read much simpler books than she had read in her earlier years, and she rarely finished them. I suspect she forgot what happened in chapter one by the time she reached chapter three, but so long as she took pleasure from the process, it was worthwhile to her. It must have been. She requested a new supply each week and seemed to enjoy the effort. Reading was the fundamental activity of her life.

The nurses told us that she was the only patient on the dementia ward that they had ever seen reading. The others watched television, which she ignored.