Welcome to Litsy!

It's a day to celebrate 🍾 #NaturaLitsy is a year old today. Thank you so much to all you lovely Littens for all your encouragement, enthusiasm and support as we celebrate all things of the natural world. #NaturaLitsy would be nothing without all of you. I've had the best time exploring the natural world with you. 💚

Intense, touching, poignant. Hughes addresses all but 2 of the birthday letters to Plath over a 25 yr period starting after her death in 1963.
“…and your long brown legs propping your drawing pad; I drank from your concentrated quiet, in this contemplative calm. Now I drink from your stillness that neither of us can disturb or escape.”

#RushAThon Day 16 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

“Don‘t Blink” Kenny Chesney

#BOOKNOTES 🎂🎶🕯️

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Thank you for all the birthday love! It was delightful ❤️💐🤟📚here‘s to the later half of my thirties 🥰🧶🦄👵🏻

#daffodil #poetrymatters
For those that haven‘t read, Birthday Letters is a mix of love/hate poems that Ted wrote in the years after Sylvia‘s death and finally published in 1998 not long before he died.
This one gets me with your daughter doesn‘t remember you 😢

Happy Birthday to You @Professional_Book_Dragon !!!!!! 🎉

@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TheBookHippie @MoonWitch94 @laughterhp @Allyu @CBee @Seekingtardis

#LitsyLove #LitsyLoveBirthDayWishes

#JumpIntoJanuary Day 9: There are quite a number of books with #BirthdayInTitle as you can see here - I haven‘t read any of them yet - story of my life.

Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes and letters! I turned the big 3-0 today and it was made so much better with your help.

#LitsyLoveBirthdayWishes #LitsyLoveCrew

Thank you so much #LitsyLove family for all the birthday wishes today! I received a wonderful #arc from #atriabooks and my boyfriend got me a new #readingbuddy in cute llama form.
Overall, I had a lovely day of doing nothing productive, followed up with a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot. 😊🥰

To my #PoutinePenPals with July birthdays I didn't forget about you! These were sent back to me, apparently I need more postage. They are heading back out later today. 💌🎂

Thank you for all the #LitsyLove! I‘m so overwhelmed with gratitude. Misty And Christine, thank you for setting up this group to bring us all so much joy!

No you‘re answering #Litsylove on top of your dog bc she won‘t allow anything else. If my handwriting is bad or there‘s squiggles now you know why 😂

Wishing you a very happy birthday @vkois88 !!! Hope today is as amazing as you are! #BirthdayLove

#thought #poetrymatters
It seems that Sylvia had a Veronica Lake bang 😁 @Cinfhen @saresmoore

Happy, happy birthday to @Ddzmini 🎉

I celebrated a big birthday this year, 40 😮
Ten of us went on a girls‘ holiday to Mexico. Such great memories.

My usual celebration is a bit more low key, maybe some shopping and lunch with my mum, dinner with my husband and son.

Hope yours is lovely, however you celebrate.

#birthdaygiveaway #birthdaysurprise

After reading everything written by Sylvia Plath and her journal, I thought I would read Ted Hughes‘s book of poems Birthday Letters, which mainly consists of stories of their relationship. It was interesting to see the other side of the affair and how her depression was interpreted by him.

#mylifemylove #abbainaugust
Yes, Ted cheated on Sylvia, as he did on every woman he was ever with, a life time cheater.
When this book was published just before he died, his love shines through and he started writing these just after her death.
Why!? It‘s fascinated me since my teens. This set of poems is the other side of the scales to Ariel. I read both in one sitting in awe of their art.

Thankyou for birthday wishes! @BookwormAHN @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Saturndoo (Robin) Kaye (Julie) and Jessica- thank you for thepage markets!!! Litsy is not letting me tag some people. Not sure why! #jb

I love the poetry of Ted Hughes and this collection of his poems seems more personal than most since it is a collection of his poems about his wife Sylvia Plath. I fell in love with Hughes poetry in college, and even wrote a paper about his poem Daffodils which may just be one of my favorite #poems ever. What poets do you enjoy? Im always looking for more good #poetry #summerreads

#jb mail! You all have no idea what how much joy I get from your letters and cards. Every day is brighter because of each of you. Today‘s pic is brought to you by @Theshadedbuffalo @BookwormAHN with adorable stickers @Wife @Kaye x2 plus a bookmark @vkois88 @Lovesbooks87 @Mitch and @dariazeoli Thank you all!

These poems are making my heart hurt. In a good way, though.

Reading always helps calm me down when I‘m anxious and can‘t sleep. In these instances, I tend to go for poems or short stories.

@tpixie Thank you for these little gifts and kind note. You brightened my day 😊 #covertocover

While I was away last week, the first birthday parcels arrived. Thank you so much. 😍 @DeborahSmall @Bambolina_81

Now I have to wait three more days until I am allowed to unwrap them. 😍😘

Three more exciting finds from today‘s book sale! A Persephone, a British Library Crime Classic, and a nice little hardcover of Hughes‘ Birthday Letters. 👏🏻👏🏻

#PersephoneBooks

Hey everyone! We‘re sending out a reminder about signing up if you‘d like some #BirthdayLove on your special day!
There is also an important message: if you change your Litsy handle (username) and have already signed up please email us and let us know! Sometimes we aren‘t always able to track you down and we don‘t want to miss you on your birthday! 😉

@robinb Thank you so much for the birthday wishes! I love the #litsyfamily!

@Beck9lol - Look what quietly landed on my doorstep yesterday! I've said it once and I'll say it again .. best #Penpal in the universe! My birthday is next week so I shall practice mucho restraint! Thanks so much, Becky! ✍ *Massive Muppet arms* 🎉🎉🎈❣🎁💌 #Februarybirthdays

Sending a HAPPY BIRTHDAY bear hug to @Fernoppy , whose delightful #LitsyPenPals letters always bring joy to my day! Posting now, as it is already Feb. 10th in Australia. A card is on its way to you, Jenny! I hope it gets there on time. May the coming year bring you many relaxing hours of reading! ❤️📚💌

#loveneedsnodisguise #nuyear
I think Ted spent most of his life disguising his thoughts and love for Sylvia - blown out of the water when this collection was printed. He starting writing this collection not long after her death and over the next 30 years or so added to it. To me, this is the companion to Ariel. It‘s wonderful.
Ted however, not so much. A life long cheater who was always juggling 2 or 3 women.👇

#Birthday #tuneintonovember Does this book make me think of hours spent reading and appreciating its poetry? Nah, it makes me think of a boy in college who told me he regretted giving away his copy so the next day I left a copy outside his door and bought this copy for myself.

#maybookflowers #inmemoriam
Ted Hughes's brilliant poetic memorial to his life with #america #rockinmay the great American poet and author of the wonderful 'bell jar' and his wife Sylvia Plath

Feb. 16 - Full Moon and Little Frieda by Ted Hughes 🌝 #LitsyPoetry365

The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough, that they didn't invest enough heart, didn't love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.

"You were a camera/ Recording reflections you could not fathom./ I made my world perform its utmost for you./ You took it all in with an incredulous joy/ Like a mother handed her new baby/ By the midwife. Your frenzy made me giddy." Ted Hughes is the best.