Happy Hallowe'en

It will be a short update today. I have just one card to have a look at. It arrived in my mailbox on Friday and just in time for today's celebration of Hallowe'en. The card shows a little guy holding a huge carved pumpkin. It's a great themed card and as soon as I brought it home, my lovely Teena claimed it and put it on our mantle as a Hallowe'en decoration. She said I will get it back in my collection when Hallowe'en is over . Dave , a Postcrosser who lives in Moor Park, California sent this card along. In addition to other comments, Dave gave the temperature, weather conditions and the time and date that he wrote out the card. Sounds like a good idea - I think I will copy it. Anyway, thanks Dave for this card.
I can never find any themed postcards in my area. Only the tourist type postcards are all that appear in local stores. I think a few themed cards would be good, though. Dave used 3 stamps (2 face different ) on the card and all are from 2009. The polar bear stamp is a definitive and as anyone who has read this blog way back when, knows, I actually like and collect definitives, especially those from the U.S.A. This may be because the U.S. issues quite a lot of them and they have a great variety. The other stamp is a Greeting and Wishing stamp (at least according to one catalogue that I use ) and this particular stamp is a Celebrate stamp. What you celebrate when using this stamp is entirely up to you.

That's my update for this Hallowe'en. Enjoy.
Don't forget, I thrive on your comments and use them to gauge my work.

Mixed Bag of Cards- Macedonia, Turkey, Ireland and Germany

Hello again. As you can see from the title of this update, today's card are from all over. They really have nothing in common, no theme, no relationship - other than they all landed in my mailbox this past week. In addition to these four, I did receive one more which I will add to the blog tomorrow. Just 5 cards in a week, things have certainly slowed down.

My first card for today was sent by Ana from Macedonia. It's a card showing Macedonian cuisine and it's making me hungry. It looks like a fine scoff , as we say back home. The trout are especially appealing. I love fish but only have trout about once a year. Ana says on the card that a great meal like this would be a great way to celebrate the recent birth of my new granddaughter. And , I wholeheartedly agree. Ana, if I even make it over to Macedonia, I'll be expecting some of those trout. There are two great stamps on this card, however I could only find info about one of them. The dog stamp was issued in 1999 and shows a Sharplaninec. This is a breed of legendary guarding dogs, indigenous to Macedonia and Southern Serbia. Sharplaninec is a Macedonian word meaning Shara Mountain Dog. And, fine looking dogs they are, indeed. The other stamp , issued in 2006 , is unknown to me.

Card # 2 is from Turkey. It is a card showing a scene very much like a scene from here in Canada.I truly never pictured Turkey looking like this. I guess I should get out more. A Postcrosser living in Tuzla sent this card. Tuzla is a small town, a suburb of Istanbul, on the Asian side of the city. Tuzla is famous for its sea front, its many fish restaurants and its many narrow streets. The stamp on this card was issued this year, 2010, and is 1 of a wonderful set of 16 , highlighting Istanbul and its many sights. It's just a great set of stamps and one that would look great in my collection. How to go about getting it , I wonder.

My next card is from David in Ireland. It is a beach scene in Donegal. Donegal is the most northerly county in Ireland, extending along much of the northwest coast. The cancellation on this card has an interesting part- One million people. Two weeks. One euro. www.unicef.ie - Check it out and do your part.
David used 2 large new stamps from a set of 6 featuring fashion designers. Another nice set that would look good in Glenn's collection.

The final card for this time comes from Germany, Hamburg in fact. Ingo sent the card and says that Hamburg is Germany's 2nd largest city and Europe's 2nd largest port. I guess it's only right that the card show a ship, the Queen Mary 2. Also prominently on the card is the Landungsbrucken Clock Tower. The tower was erected in 1910 and indicates both the time and the current water level of the Elbe river. Ingo used 2 maritime themed stamps to get this card across the Atlantic. The larger stamp on the right is one of 2 designed by Udo Lindenburg . The other stamp shows a poster from 1890 by the Ballin Steam Shipping Company. To be honest though and as a result of my lack of German, I really don't know what this stamp is about.But, just the same, I do like the look of the stamp.

That's about it for this time. Leave a comment if you feel inclined . Take care.
I almost forgot, thanks to Ana and David for their cards. They are regulars. Thanks to the Postcrossers for the other two.

One more thing. Tune in tomorrow for that one card update that I mentioned earlier.

Two Places Worth A Visit , Both UNESCO W H Sites

Hello again. I have a short update for today. Canada doesn't have mail delivery on the weekend and on top of that I actually only received a couple of postcards all of last week. Must be a shortage of cards worldwide, I guess. As a result, I have just 2 cards for this time.

The first card today comes to us from Vilnius, Lithuania , compliments of Marganta, an international business student who also happens to be a Postcrosser. The card shows a large sand dune, part of the Curonian Spit. The Curonian Spit is a 98 km long thin curved sand dune that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The northern 52 km of the spit belongs to Lithuania while the rest is part of the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The width of the dune varies from 400m to 3800m, while the average height is 35m but heights of 60m have been attained. The Curonian Spit was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 2000.
Marganta used a great stamp , one of a set of 2, issued in 1999 featuring items from a war museum.

Card #2 comes from Northern Ireland, U.K. It shows a portion of the Giant's Causeway. Located near Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland , the Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. Often referred to as the eight wonder of the world, this remarkable arrangement of stones calls for an explanation. The peculiar columnar formation was caused by slow and irregular cooling of lava which produced hexagonal cracks. Although the stones are mainly six sided there are some of 3, 5, 7, and 8 sides. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear into the sea.
The card was sent by David who has often contributed a postcard to this blog. In fact , in addition to cards, I have received quite a bit of good and relevant information, that has helped me a lot. Thanks David. David used 2 stamps on his card. The smaller one on the left is a 2007 regional issue featuring stones from the Giant's Causeway. The larger stamp is from a 2010 set of 6 featuring Winnie the Pooh.

That's about it for this time. Hopefully a few postcards will arrive in tomorrow's mail. Stay tuned.
As I mentioned in the title of this update, both places featured here today would be great places to visit. I can only hope. Take care.

A Grand Announcement and Some Cards

I's time to get back to the blog. I have been a little busy as the title of this update implies. Before I get to the postcards for today, my Grand Announcement has to be made. On Friday, October 15th, my lovely Teena and I were blessed with the arrival of our 4th grandchild, and our 1st granddaughter . Ryann Lila Marie Moores has arrived. Strangely a lot of pink is showing up this time. Yikes, I may even have to start a pink stamp collection. She is certainly a little bundle of joy, though. And a pleasure to behold. Grandchild # 5 is due on January 01, 2011, so stay tuned.

On to postcards. Today's card are from the U.S.A , the U.S.A again, Germany and Belgium. The first card is from Los Angeles, Ca . and shows the L.A. skyline. Though this card is actually from Kimberly , a Postcrosser down that way, my son Parker, his wife and 2 small sons just returned from Los Angeles , having spent 5 days in Disneyland. It seems they had a ball, from the pictures that I saw. Kimberly used 2 stamps from a set of 5 featuring the Sunday funnies cartoon strips, issued in 2010, along with a 2003 American clock stamp.

The other U.S.A. card features a Great Egret. One of the largest egrets, this wading bird is often seen feeding alone in marshes , peering into the water with its neck stretched out , hunting fish and crustaceans. The card is from Jeanne who says she recently stayed in a dune shack on Cape Cod, without television, cell phones, or computers. Isn't that against the law ? Jeanne used 3 stamps , including the 2003 American clock stamp , a 2010 Scouting stamp and one other from the 2010 Hawaiian Rain Forest pane.

Card # 3 today is from Germany. Sonya sent this card along. It shows a section of the Berlin Wall near the Brandenburg Gate in November 1989. That's an East German policeman on top of the wall with West German policemen down on the ground. Sonya used 2 stamps from this current year. The one on the left celebrates 200 years of The Museum of Natural History. The stamp on the right is 1 of 2 designed by Udo Lindenberg.

The final card for today, from Brussels, shows us The Grand Place. It is the central square of Brussels. The square is the most important tourist destination and the most memorable landmark in Brussels. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989. Francoise used a 2010 stamp celebrating 50 years of independence in the Congo.

That the update for this time. As always, your comments are always welcome.

A Drama Theatre, Zug Lake, Mother Teresa and a Beach

Here we go again, with cards from Belarus, Switzerland, Macedonia and Portugal.
The Belarus card comes compliments of Yana, a Postcrosser living in Mogiliou. This is the 3rd largest city in the country and just 201 km east of Minsk. Pictured on the card is the Mahilyou Regional Drama Theatre. Yana writes on the card that it is the most beautiful building in Mogiliou. The card has a number of Belarus definitives on it and I will leave you to your own thoughts on them as I have blogged about them before. I will just picture them here.

Eduard mailed our second card from Lausanne, a city in the French speaking part of Switzerland. The card itself shows us the Lake of Zug. Zug Lake is a lake in Central Switzerland, situated between Lucerne and Zurich. The lake is 13.8 km long, 4.7 km wide and its average depth is 83.2 m. This card is actually a prepaid (stamped) card with a 2004 stamp image. Eduard added a great stamp that was issued in 2001. It shows a stylized aircraft in flight. This stamp will be a wonderful addition to my topical aircraft on stamps collection. Not that I would remove it from the card, of course.

Our next card is from Ana in Skopje, Macedonia. Ana's card is a picture of Mother Theresa. She was born in Skopje 100 years ago on August 26, 1910. This card celebrates her birth. I'm sure I don't have to write anything about Mother Teresa here . Her story is known the world over . Ana used 3 great Olympic stamps on her card. The stamp on top left was issued in 1998 and commemorates the Nagano Games. The other two stamps were issued in 2000 and commemorates the Sydney Games. Thanks Ana.

Today's last card is from Portugal. It is just a beautiful beach scene at sunset. Looks like a great place to just relax. I actually wanted to show this card mostly for the stamp used on it. It is a beautiful bird stamp. Anyone who topically collects bird stamps would certainly welcome this stamp in their collection. I wasn't able to come up with a year of issue but take it from me , it was issued.

That's the update for today. Don't forget , your comments are welcome and appreciated.

Four Postcards and Three New Countries ( but not in my collection )

I have four cards to have a look at this day. They come from France, Ukraine, Spain and Turkey. First though I have to say that it doesn't get any easier. I haven't received a card from a new country since back in August. If you look to the left at the list of places I still need a card from , you will find 27 places. Now , as of yesterday, the 10th of the 10th of 2010, I have to increase that to 30 and add 3 new places to my list. Yesterday, October 10, 2010 three new countries or entities were created. How did this happen ? Well, it seems, the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved. The island of Curacao gained its independence on October 10, 2010 and will issue its own stamps with the name Curacao. The island of Sint Maarten ( St. Maarten) gained its independence on October 10, 2010 and will issue its own stamps with the name of Sint Maarten. These two new countries are now autonomous countries within the Kingdom of The Netherlands. The third new entity is Caribisch Nederland (Caribbean Netherlands ) consisting of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. These so called BES Islands will also issue its own stamps under the name Caribisch Nederland. They have the status of special municipalities of the Netherlands. I honestly didn't know anything about this , until Johan left a comment on this blog. So I thank him for his heads up. I will update my list , possibly tomorrow.

Now for some cards. First up is a card from Bayonne, France. The sender of the card writes that Bayonne is an old town with a cathedral and two rivers. Bayonne is located in south western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers. The Cathedrale Saint-Marie is an imposing, elegant Gothic building. It was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The south tower was completed in the 16th century and the north tower was finally completed in the 19th century. So I guess it is an old town as it's written on the card. The stamps on the card include 2 definitives and a 2010 issue for Villeneuve Lez Avignon.

The next card is from Katya in the Ukraine. She lives in Kiev, the largest city and capital of the country. Her card shows the city skyline with the Darnytsia Railway Bridge in the foreground. Note the train traveling from right to left on the bridge. Katya used 3 fine stamps. The small one is a definitive from 2009. The large one on the top is from 2009 and is 1 of a set of 4 issued for the National Song. The large stamp on the bottom is from 2008 and is from a set of 2 commemorating Nikolaj Hohol.

Card number 3 is from Spain. The card , showing the Altar of the Nation in Rome, is from Ave , who is from Estonia but lives in Spain. This monument , has been nicknamed by the French , La grande tarte ( the big cake ) . It does in fact resemble a large wedding cake decorated with cream and meringue. The Romans however call it la macchina da scrivere ( the typewriter ). Needless to say, it is not a popular monument. Katya used a 2007 stamp from a set of 2 issued for cartography and astronomy.

The final card for today comes from Turkey. It shows a symbolic wooden Trojan horse in Canakkale. The city lies at the narrow entrance to the Dardanelles. Canakkale is the nearest major town to the site of ancient Troy. This is the wooden horse used in the 2004 movie Troy. Two stamps were used . The one on the left is from 1998 and is 1 of 5 in a set featuring famous persons, in this case , Feza Gursey . The top stamp, from 2010, commemorates the 2010 FIBA World Championship , held in Turkey.

That's the cards for this time. I guess now I will have to work on getting cards from the 3 new places I mentioned above. It's a changing world for sure.

An Ahma, A Few Old Buildings and a Nice Beach

Here we go again with my usual 5 cards that have arrived in the past few days. They come from Finland, Romania , Finland again , France and Poland. Looks like it's Europa day on the blog.
The first card , from Finland, shows an Ahma. Known in Finland as an Ahma , it's a wolverine in these parts. It's not an animal one sees often, but I have seen one in our local zoo. The wolverine is a stocky and muscular animal, often resembling a small bear.Wolverines have a reputation for ferocity and strength disproportional to its size. They roam throughout Alaska, Canada, the Nordic countries of Europe , western Russia and Siberia.
The card was sent by a PostCrosser named Pirkko. She used a new stamp that she says was issued on the day she mailed the card. It is from a souvenir sheet , celebrating Autumn, and showing a moose. Interesting , also, is the fact that the stamp contains Braille symbols.

The next card, from Romania shows the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest. From looking at the card, I can safely say that is is one beautiful building. I would love to see it . According to the Guinness Book of World Records it is the world's largest administrative building, most expensive administrative building and heaviest building. It contains 1,100 rooms, 2 underground parking garages and is 12 stories tall. It is constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. included in those materials are one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania, 3,500 tonnes of crystal, 700,000 tones of steel and bronze, and 900,000 tonnes of wood. In 2008 The Palace hosted the 20th NATO Summit.
The card is from Anca who lives in Bucovina which is located in the north of the country. Anca used 3 stamps including, on the left , a 2005 definitive from a set of 7 featuring pottery. The middle stamps was issued in 2007 and is 1 of 4 in a ceramics set. The larger stamp on the right is from a 2010 set of 4 featuring spiders.

Our third card today is again from Finland. It is a card showing the Turku Cathedral. This cathedral is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It is also a national shrine and considered to be the most important religious building in Finland. It was originally built out of wood in the late 13th century. It was consecrated in 1300 Later, more building continued in the 14th and 15th centuries using stone. The stamp is from a set of 2 issued in 2007 featuring antiques.

The card from France shows a picture by J.P.Guibert of a portion of The Palace of Fontainebleau. This one is not too shabby a palace , either. The palace and surrounding park were added as a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1981. The stamps are both from a 2010 booklet of 12 featuring Roman Art. Thanks to Frederique for this card.

And finally a card from Poland. It shows a beautiful image of a coastal beach scene on the Baltic Sea. Not a bad place to be right now. The stamp in the top left is from 2005 and is 1 of 2 definitives featuring architecture. The others are from 2001 and feature the architecture of farmhouses.

That is today's update . Thanks for tuning in and hope to see you back here again soon. Sounds a little like a newscaster signing off. Later.

Correction To Last Update

He there. I have just a correction to make to something that I wrote in my last update. I attributed the three cards from T.A.A.F. as having been sent by Johan. This was incorrect. Johan left a comment on that update to the effect that he did not send those three postcards. So , it remains a mystery as to the sender. Maybe someone will come forth and own up to sending them. Irregardless, they are great cards and I do thank whoever sent them.

No big update today, perhaps tomorrow.

More T.A.A.F. , A Million Cards? and Lucerne

Here I am again, just a little later than promised. It seems nothing is for certain when blogging. I have definitely been blessed with T.A.A.F. cards this past week. The cards themselves are certainly beautiful and dramatic , but in addition I know that the stamps on them will be superb. I mentioned a short while ago that I enjoyed the stamps of St. Pierre & Miquelon and French Polynesia , well, now I will add French Southern and Antarctic Lands stamps to that short list. They are a very good country to collect.

The first 3 cards for today are from T.A.A.F. I will show the cards separately , but will bunch the stamps from all three together. Card # 1 is another view of The Marion Dufresne. This is the ship that brings supplies and rotating personnel to the islands that make up the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

Card # 2 shows the crater on Saint Paul Island. The island is the top of an inactive volcano. Part of the rim collapsed in 1778, forming the water filled crater as shown on the card. Saint Paul Island has an area of 6 square kilometres. It is about 86 km southwest of Amsterdam Island. card 1 and 2 were postmarked at the Martin de Vivies base on Amsterdam Island.

Card # 3 shows Amsterdam Island itself. It measures 55 square kilometres. The population of the island is about 30 and they all live at the Martin de Vivies Base. One of the most interesting things I found about Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island is that they are 2 of only 3 land antipodes of the Continental United States. The other is Kerguelen Island. An antipode of any place on Earth is the point on the earth's surface which is diametrically opposite it. Two points that are antipodal to one another are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the Earth. Amsterdam Island is antipodal to an area 32 km southwest of Lamar, Colorado, USA. Saint Paul Island is antipodal to an area 16 km southwest of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, USA.

The stamps on these 3 cards are great stamps. The bottom stamp is from 2008 and features Penguins. The middle stamps include 4 of a 5 set of flags issued in 2008 and a single stamp from 2008 featuring The island and crater of St. Paul island. The top stamps include the same island crater stamp along with a superb Petrel stamp from a 2009 souvenir sheet of 5 , all showing various petrels. It is a beautiful souvenir sheet and one that deserves to be in my collection. One more thing about the stamps on these cards, the very clear and clean postmarks. Many countries ( including my own Canada) and their postal employees could certainly learn a lesson on cancellation from these cards. As far as I know, all 3 cards are from Johan, who I mentioned in a previous update.

The next card comes from Westminster, Colorado, USA. It is located about 20 minuets drive from either Denver or Boulder. This is a self made card and is of a scene near the sender's home. I don't have a name as to who sent the card , but the person operates a blog called- sendmeamillionpostcards.com . Quite a large undertaking , indeed. I thought it difficult trying for one from every country or stamp issuing entity. But, good luck to him or her. I will get a card in the mail very soon to reduce the million by one more. If all you postcard collectors and bloggers out there , checks out the website, send a card along and help reduce that million.
The two stamps, on the right and in the middle are new to my collection. Dennis the Menace and Tom Mix were both issued in 2010.

The last card comes from Lucerne , Switzerland. This city, located in north central Switzerland, was voted the 5th most popular tourism destination in 2010 by Tripadvisor.
The scene in the upper right of the card is a view of Lucerne from the Kapellbrucke, which is one of the city's famous landmarks, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century. Bruno , who must have visited this blog, sent the card and can expect a nice cover in return. Bruno used 3 stamps showing optical art, issued in 2010.

That just about concludes this update, save for my September postcard report. We can't forget that now , can we ? I'm sure you all were wondering about it. Anyway, September brought a total of just 27 cards, of which 15 were received through Postcrossing. I sent out 26 cards and 21 of them went to Postcrossers. Sadly, I did not receive any new countries in September.

That's it. Comments welcome. Don't be shy.