Thursday, October 31, 2013

Hallowe'en and a Few Cards

Hello again and Happy Hallowe'en to any of you who celebrate this day. Halloween or Hallowe'en, also known as All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on October 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. I have a number of great non- Hallowe'en cards to have a look at , but in addition I also have a couple of Hallowe'en  themed cards which I will mix in with the regulars.

But before we get to any cards , here's a great pumpkin  or Jack- o'- lantern  to add to the festivities.   


Now , I have a small bit of housekeeping to do with regard to yesterday's blog. I put up a card from Ukraine and I really didn't know anything about the card. Leslie was kind enough to leave a comment and offered some information related to the card. The card is a reproduction of a painting from 1880. The subject matter is as follows : It  is an Italian political cartoon showing a large balloon in the shape of a man ready to gobble up the moon, defended by a man holding a fork. Other armed men representing the nations of Europe and North Africa are falling off the balloon into the frying pan of war, held by the Roman god Mars. To quote a friend of mine, "Who Knew? "  It seems, only Leslie. Thanks lots, Leslie. 

On to the cards. Let's start with a gem of a card. A British Airways Concorde. For an Airline / Aircraft postcard collector, it doesn't get much better than that. Just a wonderful card. 





Laerke used a couple of Machin definitives along with a Greetings Cartoon Sincerely stamp from a set of 10 issued in 1996. 






My next card comes from Japan. I leave it up to my readers for any interpretation of the card. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions on this one. 

It is a nice card though and it arrived with a couple of nice topical stamps, thanks to Rainym. The larger one on the left is an Albatros stamp issued in 1975. The Whale stamp on the right, sorry , but I have nothing on this one, still a nice stamp though.





Now I think it's time for my first Hallowe'en themed card. These are not cards I have received , but a few blank cards in a huge card  collection that I bought last year.

Here's a card from the Netherlands, from the Land of Maas and Waal. This is a region in the Dutch province of Gelderland, located between the rivers Maas and Waal. Rosemary says that the area where she lives is surrounded by water so there are many ferries, large and small, to get around.





Rosemary used a couple of common Netherlands stamps which I have showcased many times before, so I won't this time. 


A card from Romania is next. It is an exhibit of Barite Quartz from The Museum of Mineralogy in Baia Mare , Romania. It is the biggest museum of its kind in Europe. The collection consists of over 20,000 samples. It has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Baia Mare. Here is the exhibit as shown on the postcard. 


Aurica used a 2012 stamp honouring Romanian writer Lucian Blaga. 





It's trick or treat time again. This time it's Charles Schulz's  Woodstock out trick or treating. I think maybe he thinks he's Superman. What do you think ?



Russia is up next . It's Lake Taimenye, located about 50 km from China.  It is the largest lake in the basin of the Katun River. It is situated on the south slope of the Katunsky Mountain Range at a height 1570 m. The length of the lake is 5420 m, maximal width is 1080 m and the depth is 68 m.

The water of the lake has muddy tint that is connected with waters taken from melting glacier. In summers the water on the surface warms up to 14˚C.
Two rivers flow into the lake, which originate in ice cirques of the Katunsky Mountain Range. There is a waterfall on one of the rivers.
In 1978 Taimenya Lake was approved as a monument of nature in Gorno-Altaiskaya autonomous region.



Tatyana used a nice selection of stamps on her card. On the left are definitives from 2008 and 2012. Now let's look at the 2 large stamps on the right. The top one is from a 2011 Aviation issue , 4 in the seyt. The bottom stamp , also from a set of 4, commemorates various Bridges and was issued in 2010.






This is my last Halloweén themed card.

  I think I'll call it a day here, that seems to be enough cards for this time. Thanks to Rosemary, Aurica, Tatyana, Rainym and Laerke for their fine cards.  Enjoy your Hallowe'en.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Today's and Postcrossing's 20 Million Card Milestone

Howdy folks, today I have cards from the USA, Ukraine, Sri Lanka , Qatar and another town in Newfoundland- Hopeall. However, before I get to the cards, I have a little news about Postcrossing. A major milestone was celebrated on Oct 29th, yesterday. Postcard number 20 million was registered as received early on the morning of Oct 29th.  Postcrossing has 449,302 members in 217 countries. It's goal :  is to connect people across the world through postcards, independent of their location, age, gender, race or beliefs. Postcrossing opened its doors on  July 14th, 2005 and the Postcrossing Project website was open to everyone for free. I think 20 million postcards since July  2005 is really an accomplishment. Here is a snapshot of how it has grown since then.
These were the dates of every million so far:
1st million
11 Apr, 2008
2nd million
26 Feb, 2009
3rd million
24 Sep, 2009
4th million
28 Mar, 2010
5th million
24 Aug, 2010
6th million
30 Dec, 2010
7th million
19 Apr, 2011
8th million
2 Aug, 2011
9th million
2 Nov, 2011
10th million
27 Jan, 2012
11th million
3 Apr, 2012
12th million
12 Jun, 2012
13th million
22 Aug, 2012
14th million
25 Oct, 2012
15th million
31 Dec, 2012
16th million
4 Mar, 2013
17th million
1 May, 2013
18th million
3 July, 2013
19th million
2 Sep, 2013
 
20th Million
29 Oct, 2013 

 

 

So you can certainly see how Postcrossing has grown. The first million took 3 years and 3 months, while the last million took just 1 month and 27 days.  Congratulations Postcrossing .

Now on to some postcards. My first postcard comes from Mclean , Virginia, USA. It is a card showing Sacagawea. She was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States. She was born in 1787 and died in 1812. 

 This is a prepaid stamped postcard, at least for partial payment of 19 cents. The same design as the card was used for the 19 cent payment. The other payment includes a 2012 Zazzle stamp and a 2012 stamp from a Civil War set of 2 . It is a self adhesive stamp commemorating The Battle of New Orleans of 1862. 





My next card, also from the USA is a reproduction of a 1927 photo of Suzanne Molitor as Joan of Arc in the 5th Centennial celebration in honor of the martyred French saint. Molitor was once acclaimed as France's finest horsewoman. 

Kaiti from Missouri used 2 stamps from this current year. The lighthouse stamp   is from a set of 5 Lighthouses  and the Butterfly was issued as a single stamp. Both are self adhesives. 



Now for a card from Ukraine. A rather strange picture on the card. I'm not sure exactly what it's all about. Perhaps one of you readers will enlighten me, with a comment. Anyway, it's one of the 20 Million I referred to earlier received through Postcrossing. 

Sasha from Kiev used a number of stamps including a couple of flower definitives. The large stamp in the middle is 1 of 5 different stamps in a 2012 souvenir sheet commemorating Nikita Botanic Garden. The stamp on the right was issued this year and commemorates Gurzuf, a resort town in Crimea, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. 


A land like No Other, Sri Lanka is next. This is another card from Ravindra. Sorry , but I don't know where them ruins are located or anything about them.

 
Ravindra used a current 2013 stamp commemorating the RISGO Centennial 2013, in Kandy, Sri Lanka. 
RISGO is this :   Rajans International Scout Gathering Of Centennial 2013. 



The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha can be seen on this next card. I've had this card since April , when Jean Pierre was in State of Qatar. The museum was designed by architect I.M. Pei and houses a world class collection spanning 1400 years. 

 The 2 stamps , both definitives, are from a set of 11 issued in 1996. 



The final card for today is another one for my Towns of Newfoundland Collection. It is from the village of Hopeall in Trinity Bay.


A bunch of 6 Ladybug definitives was used on this card along with a 2010 Canadian Navy commemorative from a set of 2. 





So ends another update. Thanks for cards this time going out to Jean Pierre, Ravindra, Sasha, Kaiti, David and the post office staff at Hopeall. 

With any luck , I should be back here again tomorrow, Oct 31st. Take care.

Rajans International Scout Gathering Of Centennial 2013, is an International Scout Jamboree to mark the Centenary Celebrations of 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scout Group (1913 - 2013) of Dharmarja College, Kandy, Sri Lanka. - See more at: http://www.risgo.info/#sthash.KkYxrsOH.dpuf
Rajans International Scout Gathering Of Centennial 2013, is an International Scout Jamboree to mark the Centenary Celebrations of 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scout Group (1913 - 2013) of Dharmarja College, Kandy, Sri Lanka. - See more at: http://www.risgo.info/#sthash.KkYxrsOH.dpuf

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Glut of Postcards

As the title of this update implies, I have many postcards that I can show . I have received so many postcards lately, that I now have a huge backlog, waiting in line. I'm talking about a backlog of at least 215 postcards. I know , it's an awful problem to have. That  been said  I guess it's time to showcase a few of said backlog.

Let's start with a couple of cards from a recent reader of this blog. Meelis who I believe comes from Estonia, at least his first 2 cards were posted from there. These latest 2 are from Ukraine and Belgium. Both are airline/aircraft cards so will find a home in my collection of the same. I'll start with the Austrian Airlines card posted from Lviv. It's a beautiful Boeing 777-200ER . Austrian has a great fleet of B777s, B767s, Airbus A321s, Fokker F100s and Bombrdier Q400s. I had the pleasure of flying on a B777-200 back in March of 2012 from Calgary to Toronto. Nice plane.


A nice selection of stamps arrived on this card, all transportation themed. All 3 stamps were issued this year. The upper left stamp shows an Antonov Airlines AN-158 and the upper right stamp is of Kiev Boryspil Airport. The bottom stamp is 1 in a set of 2 Europa stamps highlighting Postal Transport.





This Lufthansa Boeing 747 -400 is the second card from Meelis . A side view looking towards the rear. Lufthansa operates 30 B747s in its fleet and were once considered the Jumbo , but I guess they take a back seat now to the Airbus A380s.


Two more nice stamps arrived on this card. On the left is a 2010 Tropical Fish ATM stamp, 1 of 2 in the set. The red letter box is from a nice set of 5 Letter Boxes issued for Stamp Day 2011.




Here's another card from a Postcrossing meetup. This time it's from the 5th Taiwan Postcrossing Meetup , held June 7 & 8, 2013 in Taipei, Taiwan. The card is signed by 18 Postcrossers.

 

This meetup was granted permission to use a special Postcrossing cancellation designed by one of the attending Postcrossers, Weital. It was applied to cards going to just 50 Postcrossing members and I was lucky enough to be in that select group. Oh yes, almost forgot the stamps. The vertical stamp on the right was issued back in 1978. It is 1 in a set of 2 featuring Taoyuan Airport. The pottery stamp on the left, well I wasn't able to track this one down. I know nothing about it. I'm sure someone will leave a comment with info about it.




My next item isn't a postcard but a First Day Cover from China, Chinese People's Republic. The cover features a set of four stamps issued on April 17, 1996 of Chinese aircraft . A beautiful addition for anyone who collects aviation stamps. And you know I'm one. This is compliments of Michael of cddstamps. You can find his main site, cddstamps here. He also has a couple of blogs. cddstamps on aircraft & aerophilately and cddstamps on stamps . If you're looking for stamps or info about stamps cddstamps is a good place to go. Both of Michael's blogs are interesting and informative. I've been a reader for a number of years now.
Here's the F.D.C.

 
The Pont de Normandie is up next. This 2,143 m bridge is a cable-stayed road bridge that spans the river Seine linking Le Havre to Honfleur in Normandy, northern France. It is 856 metres between the two piers.The bridge opened on 20 January 1995. At that time the bridge was both the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world ,  and had the record for the longest distance between piers for any cable-stayed bridge. Both records have since been broken.


The mask stamp used on this card is from a set of 6 Theatre Masks  issued this month. Annick sent this card along.





This next postcard comes from Elena, a Postcrosser in Lviv, Ukraine.   The Vorontsov Lighthouse  is a famous red and white 27.2 metres high landmark in the Black Sea in the port of Odessa, Ukraine. It is named after Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontov ,  one of the governor-generals of the Odessa region.



Elena used a number of stamps on her card. There are 2 Berry definitives on the left , with a set of 2 stamps from 2012  entitled "The Man With The Camera 1929 " in the center and a lighthouse stamp on the right. This one features the Vorontov Lighthouse and is from a set of 6 issued in 2009. The lighthouse stamps make a very nice set. 



I think that's a good update for this time, didn't make much of a dent in the backlog of 215 cards , not that 5 more arrived today. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. Take care, and as always, your comments are  welcome. 

Thanks for cards/cover going out to Melis, the Taiwan Postcrossing crew, Michael, Elena and Annick.   

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Postcards Galore

Hello all you postcard collectors and bloggers. I have a bunch of postcards for today. Let's start with a couple from my World Post Day project. I asked My Lovely Teena to drop a few cards in the mail to celebrate that day. She posted one in Airdrie and it did receive a nice cancellation. Not a World Post Day cancel, but at least a readable cancel with the date as 2013-10-09 . It was dropped in the mail stream at 10 A.M. on Oct 09 and received by me at 3 P.M. on Oct 15. I don't think this will qualify as a banner delivery for Canada Post. The post office is just 3.8 km from my home , a 6 minute drive. It took 7 days to travel 3.8 km. That must be a record , but not one that Canada Post will like. It is a nice postcard though, a cover from The New Yorker of March 1, 1941. It shows a couple of vacationers deplaning from a DC-3 possibly, returning home in a in a slight snow storm. That's a time long gone when arriving passengers could be met at the bottom of the aircraft stairs with a warm coat by someone.


The stamp used commemorates the 150th Anniversary of The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment of the Canadian Forces. The regiment has earned Battle Honours in The North-West Rebellion of 1885, The Great War and The Second World War. According to Canada Post's 2013 Stamp Program, this stamp is due to be issued tomorrow, Oct 18th. Looks like I have an earlier than issued usage here, earlier by 9 days. With the Poppy on the stamp , it's a nice stamp to use leading up to Remembrance Day , on November 11th.



Now for another card from Teena , posted for World Post Day, but messed up badly by Canada Post. This one is an old time picture of Aspen Beach, Alberta.  It is now the site of  Aspen Beach Provincial Park,
 the first provincial park established in Alberta (in 1932) on the southern shores of Gull Lake.  The park is located 17 km west of Lacombe, a small city of just under 12,000.

 This card too was posted on World Post Day , Oct 09th in Lacombe. You would never know that, though,  from looking at the card. It was cancelled on Oct 11th in Edmonton, 121 km to the north. How Canada Post messed this up , I'll never know.
The same Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment stamp was used on this card.


My next card is from Vannes, France . The medieval town is located in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2000 years ago. The walled town of Vannes is without doubt one of Brittany’s most attractive sights, with many old buildings and houses.



Jean Pierre used a new commemorative from a souvenir sheet of 8 issued for the 100th Tour de France.

Just one more comment about this card. I didn't know until this card arrived that France used the long sprayed on cancellations that Canada is famous ( or not ) for. I won't feel so bad now when one of my cards slips through and arrives somewhere with the dreaded sprayed on cancel.


My next card is said to be the "most patriotic Turkish card of all time ". That's according to Leslie in Ankara and she should know. This card has it all, the Turkish Flag, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Ataturk's burial place.  Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish army officer in the Ottoman military, revolutionary statesman, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.




 Leslie used a couple of fine large stamps on this card. On the left is a 2013 semi-postal stamp , 1
of 2 in a set, commemorating the 130th Anniversary of the establishment of Beypazari Municipality.  The 6 sided stamp is from a set of 4 issued also this tear, commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Piri Reis World Map. Be sure to check out Leslie's postcard blog here . Here's the stamps.


Before I go on to the next card, just one more thought about Leslie. My congratulations go out to Leslie on her fine achievement in June. I'm sure she is quite proud and so she should be. Congrats !

Amelia Earhart is next. Another card for my Postcards of Newfoundland Collection. This time it's Harbour Grace.  Harbour Grace is a town in Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. With roots dating back to the sixteenth century, it is one of the oldest towns in North America. Harbour Grace was an important port and fishing centre since the earliest days of European exploration of North America and was a thriving seasonal fishing community by 1550, with permanent settlement beginning in 1583 (24 years before the Jamestown, Virginia colony, often incorrectly cited as the first permanent European settlement in North America, and two years before the "lost" colony at Roanoke, North Carolina). The town was named after Havre de Grâce, France. In 1610, pirate Peter Easton  made Harbour Grace his headquarters, and established a fort overlooking the bay. Then , later as trans-Atlantic aviation became more popular in the 1920 and 1930s, many aviation pioneers, among them  Amelia Earhart , chose to make their crossing from the nearby Harbour Grace airfield  due to its proximity to continental Europe. Altogether, some twenty flights left Harbour Grace from 1927 to 1936 in their attempts to cross the Atlantic.
 Amelia Earhart took flight from Harbour Grace on May 20, 1932, to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. Here the card commemorating that feat.





 The statue is located in Harbour Grace, NL on the site of the Spirit of Harbour Grace, the SS Kyle, and the Visitor Information Centre.
This card , and the next 2 , are all from the staff of the Harbour Grace Post Office. They used a different  Queen Elizabeth II  Diamond Jubilee stamp from 2012 on each card, along with the special , 75th Anniversary of Solo Flight Across Atlantic cancellation from 2007. 


Here are the other 2 cards from Harbour Grace.
St. Paul's Anglican Church in Harbour Grace was built in 1835, making it the oldest stone church in Newfoundland and Labrador


The "Spirit of Harbour Grace" is a DC-3 manufactured in 1943 by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California and was on charge to the United States Air Force. It served in North Africa until the end of the second world war when it was purchased by Resort Airlines in the United States. Later it was purchased by Leeward Aeronautical Service Lake Central Airlines where it was used as C47 cargo aircraft. In 1951, the plane was purchased by a Canadian company and modifies as a DC-3 Douglas. The craft was owned by Quebec Air until purchased by Roger Pike in 1977. It then transported food and dairy products from Stephenville to Goose Bay under private registration. In 1983, Mr. Pike acquired ownership of Labrador Airways Limited and the DC-3 was based out of Goose Bay transporting mail and cargo.
The aircraft was retired in 1988 and restored close to its original condition to commemorate the town's rich aviation history.

 I think this next card will be the last for today. I had 2 more ready, but it's getting late.
This one is the Hindenburg.  Fire & Ice : Hindenburg and Titanic is an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum . It opened in March 2012 and runs until January 6, 2014, so you still have time.

In 1936 and 1937, Hindenburg regularly carried passengers and mail between Europe and the Americas. Of the ninety-seven aboard  LZ 129 Hindenburg on May 6, 1937, thirty-five perished in the scorching disaster. Only a small amount of mail survived.

 This card comes from a U.S. Postcrosser named Cathy. She wrote the card during a recent Postcrossing meetup in Washington, D.C. She had the card signed by 8 other Postcrossers and herself. This is the 3rd card  , I believe, I have received from Postcrossing meetups around the world. Cathy used the round Global Forever Earth stamp which we have all seen by now.

Speaking of the mail aboard Hindenburg, here are a couple of the salvaged cards or letters.
  And



That's it for this time. Thanks to Cathy, Staff of Harbour Grace Post Office, Leslie, Jean Pierre and My Lovely Teena for all the cards.
Any Comments ? Don't be shy.