handwritten notes

walking my journal around tiny spanish towns

in every teeny-tiny town in spain their is a "bar casal," a town gathering place. i'm taking myself on a walk and journaling date to every single one in…

Mar 6 • holly Len Downing

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month in review: home through visitors' eyes

to say that dear friends old and new visiting reminds me how much beauty is around me is a gift is.... well, let me show you.

Mar 1 • holly Len Downing

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February 2026

the creative notebook: someone else’s words

There's an old tradition of stealing a single line of another author's words to start your own writing practice-and today we borrow from Nikita Gill and…

Feb 14 • holly Len Downing

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What Did I Sign Up For?

How to manage which content you receive from any of the people you follow here on Substack? Oh, it's all about the Sections and Notifications. And so…

Feb 11 • holly Len Downing

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the creative notebook: yelling and love letters

I keep returning to a journaling practice from Amie McNee I learned at the Barcelona Journaling Festival in the fall. The two-part, two voices practice…

Feb 6 • holly Len Downing

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January 2026

month in review: calçotada season is here

January is the month for wintering, for slowing down, for hunkering down under blankets with good books, and in Catalunya: it's for kicking off the…

Jan 30 • holly Len Downing

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let's take a day trip

I have spent the last year and a half exploring the incredible world around my village of L'Albi, and these are the gems I highly recommend.

Jan 23 • holly Len Downing

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How to Eat Like a Spaniard

I'm not talking about a healthy mediterranean diet. This is food culture and traditions and rhythms. What does a day of meals look like for a Spaniard…

Jan 16 • holly Len Downing

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the creative notebook: 2026 visions

on vision boards, starter pages, and starting over. without all the pesky resolutions and rush.

Jan 9 • holly Len Downing

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December 2025

goodbye, 2025.

and hello to a whole lot of change.

Dec 31, 2025 • holly Len Downing

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November 2025

the creative notebook: be a beginner

You know that wild idea you have that doesn't make any sense because you don't know how to do it? What if you allowed yourself to be a beginner?

Nov 7, 2025 • holly Len Downing

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October 2025

month in review: october is for nesting

This month, I found myself setting up for our first winter in the little stone casita in the gardens, and finding abundance in unexpected places.

Oct 31, 2025 • holly Len Downing

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