Jan

Updated March 2013: I now live alone in a small retirement complex (even though I'm not retired!). My husband is in the rest home area and my Mum lives in one of the serviced apartments. My Dad was in the hospital area until he died in 2011 - people say we own the place! lol

Until January this year I was working from home and caring for my husband without help, but it all got too much. Although I feel VERY guilty about it, he had to go into full time care. I'm still recovering from 10 years of worry and responsibility.

I still work from home, but now I can get out a bit more. I'm grateful to the friends I have made here, who helped to keep me going.

PLEASE NOTE: I will never intentionally flake or not rate a partner. If you don't receive something from me, PLEASE LET ME KNOW and I'll resend. I would also love it if you would rate me for my swaps, so that I know you have received them. :)

I'm a self-confessed "Crazy Cat Lady" - even though I am currently servant to only one! (Dogs have masters - cats have servants (or slaves or staff).)

Wolves are my passion. My birth totem is the wolf and I actually saw one when I was in Canada in 2012 - an emotional experience for me.

Other animals and birds that I am attracted to are: - bears - badgers - owls - pukeko (a New Zealand native bird) - dolphins and whales - raccoons - skunks - squirrels - chipmunk - highland cattle - alpaca and llama

• "The Talisman" by Stephen King and Peter Straub
• "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende
• the "Harry Potter" series by JK Rowling
• "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" by Tolkein

• "How to Train Your Dragon"
• "Inception"
• "Avatar"
• "LOTR" series (of course)
• "Truly, Madly, Deeply"
• nearly all of Tim Burton's movies
• "The War"
• the X-Men series

I especially love Tim Burton's "Nightmare before Christmas", I think the songs are wonderful. Lost count of how many times I've watched it!

I'm loving the postcard swaps - especially (if naked) when there's a nice hand-written message on the back. I especially love "touristy" postcards.

I don't collect handmade, Zazzle etc, arty, funny or unusual PCs.

I like them naked or in an envelope, with postage stamps rather than labels, and landscape (width greater than height) if possible.

My USA Collection ...

... now includes at least one postcard from each of the American states!

USA postcards I'm still looking for -

• State map cards: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennesse, Vermont, Wyoming and Washington DC (I now have one of part of the city thanks to Laura).

• State Capitols: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota.

The following categories show postcards that I currently have. So I'm still looking for the other States:

• State cards (that list or show details about the state): currently have - Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

• State birds: currently have - Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

• State flowers: currently have - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and North Carolina.

• State flags: currently have - Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

• Big letter State names (the ones with photos inside the letters): currently have - Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.

The following are other series' of which I have just a few, that I really like:

• State maps that look like they're on old parchment. So far I have Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

• Postcards that look like stamps. So far I have Delaware, Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.

• State maps of Native American Tribes. So far I have Arizona, California and Oklahoma.

Inga Look: I've just discovered these postcards - both the old ladies series and the inspired by nature series. I would love to receive some of these.

Canada Post prepaid postcards: would welcome any of those - especially the older ones.

Australia Post prepaid postcards - this is my newest collection - thanks Jenny. :)

Animals (especially domestic cats and wolves), birds, insects, and zoo postcards from around the world.

Steam locomotives and trains.

Commercial airliners in flight. I also have some on the ground - they're OK to - I just prefer the ones in flight. :)

APART FROM THAT I LOVE TOURISTY POSTCARDS FROM ANY COUNTRY.

Animals, birds, insects etc: - I love CATS, badgers, wolves, bears, pukekos, owls, alpaca, llamas, butterflies, dolphins, whales, spiders, snakes.

Not so keen on dogs (yet - lol).

• LOVE: Maroon/burgundy/wine, olive green ❤❤
• DON'T LIKE: murky browns, orange, neons
• DO LIKE: most other colours.

My beloved cat Maggie passed away on the 11th of July 2012, but her furry presence is still with us, so there is bound to be a little of her in anything I do - at least for a while.

I now have a black boy with a little white bib. His name is Rex, but I would have called him Tui after a native New Zealand bird with similar markings. He belonged to neighbours who moved away, taking him with them, but he kept returning. Eventually they couldn't catch him and he fended for himself for a few weeks before befriending me. He'd always visited me, so I hadn't realised the situation. When I did, I offered to look after him, so he became my companion. It's taken a long time for him to let me pick him up, and he's still jumpy at the slightest sound, but we're getting there. He still thinks he's going to be taken away I think.

We are a non-smoking household and I prefer to swap with non-smokers whenever possible.

I haven't been flaked on in ages, but sadly it's time to revive this section of my profile ...

Angel @kirstyenarno for BIG Postcard Swap #5 - a real angel!

Flaker: @StephenB for BIG Postcard Swap #5