Mont Popa, Eiffel Tower, Sri Lanka Flag and a card of Viet Nam

  Blog # 1636--- Day 1053 ( One Thousand and Fifty Three ) of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of                                                                                       Ukraine   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Hello again. Today I have a selection of cards to have a look at. The first one arrived this year and the others are left from 2024. 

Card # 1 -- Arriving from beautiful Myanmar. t is a look at Mont Popa,  a dormant volcano 1518 metres above sea level, and located in central Myanmar in the region of Mandalay about 50 km southeast of Bagan in the Pegu Range. It can be seen from the Ayeyarwady River as far away as 60 km in clear weather. The volcano last erupted in 6050 BCE. It s now a nature reserve and a national park. 

Jobbo used a Myanmar stamp from 2017 showing a Xylophone. 

Card # 2 --- Arrived from Viet Nam. Here we see a local bringing some goods to market. 

Alena used 3 copies of a 2023 stamp showing trees. It is from a set of 3.

Card # 3 --- This next card needs no introduction. It is quite self-explanatory. The Eiffel Tower . 

Jean Pierre used a 2024 stamp celebrating 700 Years of Poetry.

Card # 4 --- From the Flags of the World Series of Postcards. This is Sri Lanka. Another self-explanatory card, but this time with an abundance of information. 

Ravindra used 3 stamps on this card. The top left stamp is from 2021. It is from a set of 10 showing Gems of Sri Lanka. The top right stamp was issued in 2023, 1 of 2 in a set marking Diplomatic Relations with France. The 3rd stamp is a definitive issued in 2007. A set of 16 all showed Signs of the Zodiac. 

 

So ends another edition of My Blog. Thanks for today's cards go to Jobbo, Ravindra, Jean Pierre and Alena. 

In With The New

 Blog # 1635--- Day 1050 ( One Thousand and Fifty ) of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of                                                                                       Ukraine   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Well this is the first Blog update for 2025. So Happy New Year to all. I titled the last Blog of 2024 -  Out With The Old - , so this one is  - In With The New. The two cards showcased today are the first two cards that have showed up in my mailbox so far this year. 

The first one is from St Maarten and of course shows the most famous view of an aircraft flying low on landing , crossing over Maho Beach.  The beach is famous for being adjacent to the Princess Juliana Airport and is a popular site for tourists and plane watchers, who visit the beach to watch aircraft on final approach land at the airport right at the edge of the water. Maho Beach is unusually close to the threshold of a runway and is directly under the flight path, resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over the beach at altitudes of less than 100 feet (30 m) above ground level.

My lovely Teena sent this card , back home to me , from our last cruise in November of 2024. The two stamps are from a set of four issued in 2012 for Carnival.

I said that this was our last cruise, meaning our most recent , however it might be our last cruise, but I truly hope it will not be our last and final cruise. 

Cryptic and ominous !!

My second card arrived from Japan. It is a card from the Yushukan, a Japanese military and war museum which opened in 1882. It is located in Chiyodai, Tokyo. 

Jobbo used two stamps on his card. Once again I have zero information on them. 

I guess you were right Jobbo. I have no time or desire for Japanese stamps. I do not think I would put any other country in that category. I have collected stamps for well over fifty years and still enjoy the hobby immensely . Japanese stamps are just not my thing. 

This is how 2025 started on The Blog. I hope you enjoyed your read here and hope you will return. Thanks for todayès cards go to My Lovely Teena and Jobbo. 

Out With The OLD

  Blog # 1634--- Day 1041 ( One Thousand and Forty One ) of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of                                                                                       Ukraine   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Well the new year is just a few hours away now, here in Airdrie, Canada. It`s time for the last update of The Blog for 2024. It has not been a banner year for The Blog. Very low production , the lowest since 2007. I will do better in 2025, that is a promise. 

Now here are a few cards to end the old year. My first is this well travelled card from Bath, England. I will get to the well travelled part later. Barbara`s card shows the Roman Baths at the heart of the World Heritage Site in Bath. These Roman Baths are one of the finest historic sites in all of northern Europe. 

Barbara used a 2024 large King Charles definitive, along with a ! st Class , up tp 100g , Post and Go label.

Now here`s the thing I mentioned earlier about this card. It is well travelled. When I found it in my mailbox , originally on Oct 11th , it had no postmark, or cancellation of any kind. I said to myself, that`s not good enough. So I wrote a note to the Bath Post Office and stuck the card in an envelope and sent it back. I finally received it back on Dec 23rd, with the postmarks, as you can see . Now by my rough calculation, it is approximately 6,917 km from Bath to Airdrie. Then 6,917 km back to Bath and another 6,917 km back to Airdrie . That`s  3 trips across The Pond, for a total of 20,751 km. 

Card  2  --  Charles may be King of Canada and many other countries but this card shows us the King of the African Bush. 

 Lions are the only cats that live in families known as prides. The average pride consists of 15 or more lions, most of which are females. In the pride, the male lion`s mail responsibility is to provide protection to the pride. The lion`s roar is the loudest of any big cat and can be heard up to 8 km away. Lions face many threats including habitat loss, trophy hunting, poaching, disease and climate change. 

Ravindra sent this card from a recent African holiday. The stamps include 2 copies of a Bird definitive issued in 1993 and a 2019 stamp celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Mahatma Gandhi.

That`s all for this day, and this year from me. Thanks to Barbara and Ravindra for the last two cards for 2024. 

As I write this , we still have four hours to go before 2024 ends and 2025 begins.  I want to wish all reading this a very  Happy New Year and I hope it goes good for everyone. Take care .  

I`m sure wherever you are tonight you will most likely hear this old tune :

"Auld Lang Syne"

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup!
and surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak' a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

With that I`m signing off for 2024.  Cheers !!

Merry Christmas 2024

 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

Once again as Christmas Day is upon us, I want to take this opportunity to wish all my fellow postcard collectors , cover and stamp collectors and bloggers , along with all my readers a very Merry Christmas. My Christmas wishes for all of you are again summed up in the 3 Christmas stamps issued by Canada Post in 2007. Hope , Joy, and Peace.

Strange Place Names Indeed

 Blog # 1632--- Day 1032 ( One Thousand and Thirty Two ) of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of                                                                                       Ukraine   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Howdy folks. I imagine most of you are busy with Christmas preparations, at least those of you who celebrate .  If Christmas is not your thing , well Happy Today to you. 

I have two cards from two places with strange place names to begin. First is Intercourse, Penn, U.S.A. The card shows an Amish carriage tied to a hitching post. Horse and buggy traffic sometimes outnumber motor vehicles in the town.  There are a number of theories  as to how the town ended up called Intercourse and I leave that to you to check out .

Two nice stamps arrived on this card. The left stamp was issued in 2018 showing a Statue of Freedom stamp. The other stamp from 2019 celebrated 50 Years of the First Moon Landing. 

The other strange named town today is Dildo, in Newfoundland, Canada. Here we see the Dildo Marina. Dildo has become quite popular with tourists since 2019 when American Talk Show Host Jimmy Kimmel did live broadcasts with members of the community. 

The Dildo Post Office used a 2020 stamp featuring Canadian War Hero Leo Major, the one eyed ghost. On April 13, 1945, Major and his friend Corporal Welly Arsenault volunteered for a night patrol of German-occupied Zwolle, near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Arsenault was killed early in the mission. Major, enraged at the loss, took up his comrade’s weapon and charged the town alone. To make the occupying German soldiers believe they were under full attack, Major fired his machine gun through the streets, tossed grenades, and set fire to the local Gestapo headquarters. With the help of local resistance fighters, he took dozens of German prisoners, while the rest fled. For his bravery in liberating Zwolle, Major received the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

That's the two strange place names for this time, but there are many more out there. Blow Me Down, Jerry's Nose, Cow Head, Climax, Big Beaver, and Finger just to name a few. All I know is that I'd love to have a postcard from all of them. 

So ends another update of The Blog. Thanks to the Intercourse Post Office and the Dildo Post Office for these cards. 

Excited Animals, Road Safety and an Old Church.

Blog # 1631--- Day 1023 ( One Thousand and Twenty Three ) of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of                                                                                       Ukraine   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Hello again. Well the postal strike in Canada continues. Today is day 28, so that makes 4 weeks today. No mail coming, no mail going and no postcards moving in or out of Canada. But I still have postcards on my desk that have not yet made it on The Blog, this blog. 

My first card for this time arrived from Nairobi, Kenya. Titled , Fun In The Sun , as the old saying implies , these pictures do indeed tell a thousand words.  

Ravindra used 2 copies of the same stamp on this card. Issued in 1993, it is 1 of 13 in a set of definitives featuring Birds. This stamp shows the African Fish Eagle. 

Next up is this card from  Andorra.  It shows one side of the Church of Sant Marti de Nagol, located along a path from the village of Nagol in sant Julia de Loria. It was originally built in the 11th century. It was restored in the 20th century , preserving the side walls and the apse. The apse is the semicircular feature extending from the exterior , at the end of the church. 

 Josep and Assumpta used a nice large Spanish Andorra stamp from 2021 on this card. 

 

Even though I live in a bi-lingual country, sadly I am not bi-lingual.  So my comprehension of this next card from France most likely leaves a lot to be desired. I think it is advertising an awareness campaign against road risks , or a campaign for road safety, however you want to think.  I hope I got that right.

Dominique used a stamp from 1970. It was issued to highlight the National Police. 

 

Well there you have it, the end of another update. Thanks for todays cards go to Ravindra, Josep and Assumpta , and Dominique. Thanks guys. 

Towns of Newfoundland Day on The Blog

    Blog # 1630--- Day 1008 ( One Thousand and Eight ) of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Well I mentioned last time that I was going to show my Newfoundland Postmarked postcards. I have received a small bunch of them lately and it is time they saw the light of day. With these new ones  I now have received postmarked postcards from 59 Towns of Newfoundland. Only a small number , with many hundreds to go, but I am really enjoying receiving them. 

First up today is Corner Brook, Newfoundland's second city.  Corner Brook is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the largest outside the Avalon Peninsula. The area was first surveyed by renowned explorer Captain James Cook in 1767. Located on the Bay of Islands at the mouth of the Humber River, Corner Brook has a population of just over 19,300. Two places of interest nearby are the Marble Mountain Ski Resort and the Corner Brook Gorge. 

This card arrived with the 2024 Canada Post Community Foundation stamp. It was issued on April 28th. 

 

Next up is the town of Holyrood. Holyrood is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is  located on Conception Bay. It is approximately a 30-minute drive from the capital city of St. John's. During King William's War, the village was destroyed in the Avalon Peninsula Campaign. The town was settled way back in 1689 but only incorporated as a town in 1961. It has a population of 2,400 approximately 2,400 . Canadian actress Kate Corbett was born in Holyrood. 

The same Canada Post Community Foundation I mentioned previously was used on this card. 

Port de Grave is the subject of my next card.  Port de Grave is located on a peninsula in Conception Bay in eastern Newfoundland. It ha a population of approximately 975. People say that in Port de Grave  no two sunsets are the same. It also has the largest crab pot Christmas tree and world famous boat lighting festival during Christmas in the Harbor, since 1999. How old is Port de Grave, well official records indicate that a property in in the area has been occupied since 1595 by the Dawe family which makes it the oldest registered land claim in Newfoundland. 

The Postmaster there, Valerie, sent this card and again used the Canada Pos Community Foundation stamp . A popular choice it seems. 

Here's a card from the town of Goulds. Goulds is a rural town in Newfoundland southeast of the city of St. John's. In 2016 Goulds had a population of 4,418. The Goulds is known for having had two residents appear as contestants on Canada's Worst Driver TV series. The card shows a good harvest of cod fish spread out on racks along the waterfront. The fish are split and salted and then left in the sun to dry. 

This card arrived with a Total Solar Eclipse stamp from April 2024.

Noe we're moving on to Fortune. Fortune is a Canadian town located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Fortune is situated on the western side of the Burin Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland and was incorporated as a town in 1945. The town is located near the southeastern boundary of Fortune Bay. The town if Fortune is also the nearest Canadian port for travelling to the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. The name "Fortune" is believed to have come from the Portuguese word "fortuna", which apparently means "a place of good fortune." The name also appears on a 1505 map by Pedro Reinal as 'Y. Da Fortuna.' An exact date of settlement is difficult to pinpoint as most early records are sketchy, but French Captain Parat reported 73 men living here in 1687. However, Fortune has actually been in existence as far back as 1527, when it was recorded on both Spanish and Italian maps. It's population is 1,285 today but way back in 1687 it had a population of 73, all men.

The card shows a view of the fish plant, the major employer. 

The Fortune Post Office sent this card along and used a Hanukkah 2023 stamp.

It's the town of Colliers turn now. Colliers is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador. According to the 2016 Statistics Canada Census: the area had a population of 654. Colliers was once considered by John Guy and his associates as a preferred place for the first settlement in North America. It eventually lost out to Cupids. The first settlers arrived in the Colliers area from England.

Janet, the Postmaster in Colliers sent this card. She used a 2023 stamp honouring hockey pioneer Willie O'Ree, the first Black player of the National Hockey League. 

Avondale is the subject of my next card. Avondale is a town located on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was incorporated in 1974. The community is situated at the southwestern head of Conception Bay. It is located 59 km (37 mi) southwest of the capital of St. John's. The town has a population of 584. The earliest record of settlement in Avondale was in 1773 and by 1812 there were 12 inhabitants. My card shows a former railway station, now a museum.

This is another card from a postmaster. The stamp was issued in a set of 2 Endangered Frogs, on April 14 of this year. 

Just 2  more to go. Sorry for the length of this update but I wanted to keep all the Towns of Newfoundland cards  together. 

Now it's  Whitbourne's turn.  Whitbourne  is another  town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Whitbourne, Newfoundland's first inland town, is named after Sir Richard Whitbourne, one of the most colourful early settlers  of Newfoundland who wrote a book about Newfoundland that was published in 1620. The town was founded in about 1880 during the construction of the Newfoundland Railway and today has a population of 955. 

Canadian model and actress Shannon Tweed was raised in Whitbourne. She is married to Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS .

Another card from another postmaster. The stamp is from last year and celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

Here's the last card for today. 

Upper Island is the subject of this last card. It is located northeast of Bay Roberts. As of 2021, the population was 1,401. In 1675  the town has a population of 14. Upper Island was once known as The Walled City because it is built at the bottom of high cliffs. 

Well here we go again. Another card from another Postmaster. I must be really popular with postmasters.  The stamp is from 2023 and showcases actor Donald Sutherland. 

The END

Thanks to Valerie, Kim, Janet and all the other Postmasters. All these cards were sent by Postmasters.