A Catch Up Post

It is certainly time to catch up, I have been silent for over a week. But that hasn't stopped the postcards from arriving. I have more than enough for a few updates. So let's get to it.

First up is a card from New Zealand, offering picture perfect scenery. This is a KiwiRail card that my brother Dale wrote while travelling on the train as it went over the Southern Alps from Akaroa to Arthur's Pass. Travelling across Canterbury Plains and then over the Alps, some of the scenery you encounter is only accessible by the

train. This card arrived without a stamp other than a hand stamp reading Permit Post, New Zealand, Permit No. 89456.

Today's second card is certainly a welcomed card. I only just recently announced here in the blog that I was starting a collection of cards showing mailboxes, and now I have another one. I guess it never hurts to advertise. O. K . I collect cards showing manhole covers, mailboxes, post offices, civilian aircraft and airlines. There you have it now . This mailbox card comes from Evgeniya in Moscow. The stamp on it is from a strip of 2 with a center tab, a Joint Issue with Armenia, issued in 2011. The other stamp on the left is just a regular issue from 2009 which has been mentioned many times before. Evgeniya wrote that she is new to Postcrossing, but that she loves the hobby. I second that motion.

Card number 3 is a really nice appealing card. On it is what I think might be an early airmail pilot dressed in his uniform from days gone by. I'm not sure what the words on the top of the card means, maybe something along the lines of "air mail post for heroes ". I 'm sure some of my Finnish readers will let me know. I think this card will go in my group of best or favorite cards. Not sure why, I just like it. Gertrud who lives near Helsinki sent this card and wrote that it's from Finland, land of a thousand lakes. Reminds me of the Thousand Islands in Ontario, Canada. Gertrud used a 2008 Braille flower definitive.

Here's a card from Holland or The Netherlands. The card says Holland and shows a typical scene in Zaanse Schans. This is a village on the banks of the river Zaan, with wooden houses, gardens, small hump-backed bridges, workshops and windmills all restored as they would look in the 17th or 18th centuries. The Zaanse Schans is one of Holland's top tourist attractions. Matty used one of the new Postcrossing.com postage stamps issued back in October. There are 3 international stamps in the set and this is the second of the three stamps that I have received. I hope to receive the last international one soon. Then I'll have to work on the 3 domestic issues of the set.

Today's last card comes from the U.S.A. It will be of interest to the lighthouse postcard collectors out there. It shows Wood End Light and Bell Tower on the beach at Provincetown, Mass. Provincetown's youngest light ( 1872) was built between Race Point Light ( 1816) and Long Point Light ( 1827) midway along the barrier beach sandspit protecting Provincetown Harbor. In 1902, a wooden bell tower and 1,000 pound fog bell were added. Today, only the lighthouse remains - unmanned and running on solar power. A sign of the times , I guess. Julie writes on her card that the beach is a good place to fly kites in summer. She also used a number of older stamps. The Progress in Electronics stamp was issued in 1973 in a set of 4. The 22 cent Massachusetts stamp was issued in 1988 on the 200th anniversary of the state. The 3 Railroads or train stamps were issued in 1987 in a set of 5.

So ends another update, that's one more in the books. Thanks for cards to Dale, Evgeniya, Gertrud, Matty and Julie. This was my first update for December, a little late I know, but it won't be the last. I will be here tomorrow. So if you're reading this today, drop by again tomorrow for more of the same. See you then, Cheers !