Happy New Year 2010

I guess it's about time to get back to the blog and postcards. But, first I want to wish all my readers, postcard and cover bloggers, and fellow postcard collectors all the best for 2010. Happy New Year one and all. There hasn't been much in the way of mail here in Canada for a week or so. We didn't have mail service on Dec 25, 26, 27 or 28th. I didn't receive any postcards on the 29th, but two arrived on the 30th. Then , yesterday, to end the year I received five, including one from a new country in my collection. That was a great way to end 2009. More about the new country later.

Actually , let's do it now. Chad, how's that for a new country in my collection. Country number 231. Another card , another country from Africa is just great. What do I know about Chad ? Not a heck of a lot. Chad is a landlocked country in central Africa. It shares borders with Libya, Sudan Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Of those countries, the only one missing from my collection is Central African Republic. Chad has a population of approximately 11,206,000 persons and has its capital at N'Djamena. The country is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the whole world. The card shows an area of natural rock formations in the Ennedi region in the north east. The card is from Celeste, a journalist based in the capital. Celeste used 2 stamps , one from 2004 and one from 2005. The 2005 stamp on the left shows an ancient skull, while the 2004 stamp on the right is 1 of a set of 4 issued for the prevention of aids. Thank you Celeste.

The next card is quite interesting. It is from Australia and appears to be homemade. It is a picture showing new growth in the bush , taken at about 2 months after brush fires. The sender , a Postcrosser , used a 2009 Christmas Island , Australia Christmas stamp.

My next card is from The Netherlands. Again sent by a Postcrosser it shows Hunebed D6 of Tynaarlo located in the province of Drenthe. Of 54 dolmens in The Netherlands, 52 are located in Drenthe. Desiree used 4 different stamps, 3 of which are semi-postals. These stamps are certainly a bonus, as most all stamps that I receive from The Netherlands are the regular priority stamps. Thanks Desiree, these stamps are just great.

My next card is from Utah, USA. This card shows Dead Horse Point State Park. Located near Moab, Utah the overlook at Dead Horse Point is 6000 feet above sea level. The erosion below the lookout has taken about 150 million years. Marie another Postcrosser sent this card along. She used 2 new Abe Lincoln stamps from a set 4 issued in 2009. It's great to see new issue commemoratives from the U.S. I don't get that many of them. Thanks Marie.

Now for a card from Germany, Hamburg in fact. The card shows a bridge and the card sender says that Hamburg has more bridges than any other city in the world. More than 2300 bridges in fact.

Finally, a postcard from China. The card is rather plain, but what redeems it to me is the stamp . The stamp is huge, it covers the whole front of the card. It was issued in 1993 and features sculpture art from a cave temple. An outstanding stamp and great addition to my collection.

So that's the first update for 2010. Hopefully there will be many more.