Show Notes
Pop the kettle on and pull up a chair — this is a Kitchen Table Letters episode, where I read letters sent in by listeners and members of the Betty Mae Wrote community, written in answer to a question I’ve set. This time, the question was simple:
What’s something small in your daily life that brings you a quiet kind of joy?
In this episode I read four beautiful letters — from Karan, Peggy, Jen, and Kim — each one a small window into an ordinary daily ritual that holds meaning.
* Karan’s letter — winding her watch. A daily ritual of winding an analogue watch that can’t be rushed — and how it became a grounding practice after a period of burnout.
* Peggy’s letter — the coffee run. A 15-minute drive to grab a takeaway coffee, and the noticing of the world along the way — from the different feel of each day of the week to memories of her mum and sister.
* Jen’s letter — an evening (and a morning) at home. Written in two sittings, with candles, a writing lamp, and her dogs nearby — on chatting with her kids, her husband hanging out the washing, and her morning coffee.
* Kim’s letter — journaling through it all. Started on a hard 30th birthday, her journals have carried her through divorce, loss, new love, and grandchildren — now lovingly nicknamed “The Book of Grandma” by her granddaughter.
Want to write your own Kitchen Table Letter?
The Kitchen Table Letters is open to anyone in the Betty Mae Wrote community — Instagram followers, newsletter subscribers, Lovely Letters Project members, Tea and Toast Club members, and podcast listeners alike.
Email me: kim@bettymae.com to request the current list of questions, answer as many (or as few) as you like, pop a stamp on it, and post it in. Your letter might just be read on a future episode:)
In today’s episode I also mention something utterly beautiful and in perfect keeping with the theme of today’s letters.
Jenny of Nordic Stories — photographer and visual story teller, has created Nordic Chapters, a monthly club encouraging everyday photography as a way of noticing and remembering ordinary life and the small things that bring us joy.
Jenny is welcoming in new members for September And the doors are opening next week for the brand new chapter.
It is such a cosy, delightful space to enter into and as someone who is taking part, I could not think of a more lovely, gentle way of pausing and noticing the life around me. What a beautiful experience! You can read more about Nordic Chapters here, and find Jenny:
* Instagram: @nordic_stories
* Website: Nordic Stories
If you enjoyed this episode, follow Tell Me Over Tea wherever you listen, and if you feel inclined, please leave a little review — it helps more story-lovers find their way here:)
Kim x
Where to find me:
✨I write, on Substack, a weekly newsletter, you can subscribe to that here: Betty Mae Wrote newsletter. It’s the space where I share stories (both mine and other people’s) and it’s also a way of keeping up to date with all things Betty Mae Wrote, Little Life Stories, Lovely Letters and the podcast.
✨The Tea + Toast Letter Club! A little moment to pour yourself a cuppa, find a comfy spot, and enjoy a letter (and some other goodies) in the mail every month. You can read more about it here.
✨If you’d like to get back into the gorgeous slow soothe of letter writing, please know you are always welcome to join: The Lovely Letters Project (it’s free!)
✨To find out more about my memory writing program, Little Life Stories you can do that here: Little Life Stories
✨I’ve created a simple and beautiful starting point for your own storytelling: The Five Minute Memory List.It’s a short, exercise (a cuppa’s worth), to help you gather memories and begin. It’s fun and easy peasey and it’s something you can use in your letter writing, journaling and personal life writing. You can grab that by subscribing to my newsletter (you’ll find it in the welcome letter one you’ve signed up): here
✨Or if you simply need a good old sticky beak around the place, please head on over here to the website:www.bettymaewrote.com
✨Oh and if you’re an Instagram type, be sure to follow me on Instagram: @bettymaewrote
Tell Me Over Tea is a cosy storytelling podcast about the stories that matter — one memory at a time.
Written and hosted by Kim, founder of Betty Mae Wrote — a slow-living space for letter writing, memory keeping, and everyday storytelling, from a tin cottage on the Far South Coast of NSW.
Music: Kim on the uke;) Rattling teacups – also KimProduction and Editing: Surprise, surprise, guess who? Yep! Kim again!
Art by Lewis Dillon (thanks, Lew!)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bettymaewrote.substack.com
