The Cat in the Tree and a Cross of Lorraine.

 BLOG # 1559   ---   Day 680 of the Pandemic

Hello again. I'm back with a couple of cards , 2 in fact, to showcase on the blog today. They arrived from The Netherlands and France.

 The card from Netherlands is a Christmas themed postcard so I guess I should show that one first. Titled " Rockin ' around the Christmas tree " I guess it shows that cats and Christmas trees don't always go together well. I do believe this is a self designed card by Barbara. And a very nice one it is ! 

Barbara used 2 stamps on her card. The left stamp is 1 of a set of 21 issued in December 2016 to celebrate December. The other stamp was issued in 2021 and is 1 of a block of 10 Christmas stamps. 

Now here's the second card. It's a look at the 44.3m high Cross of Lorraine at the Charles de Gaulle Monument located in the commune of Colombey Les Deus Eglises in North-eastern France. 

Dominique used a 1972 stamp on this card. It is one from a set of Famous Frenchmen. It was issued on the 100th anniversary of the death of French poet, novelist and journalist Theophile Gautier. 

That's today's two cards, as I mention last time, cards are quite scarce. Thanks to Barbara and Dominique for these fine cards that we see here today.  

On the pandemis front - let's hope the Pfizer pill to treat covid-19 is effective as the company says. Doctors seem to welcome it as a game changer. But of course , even after 680 days  , we should know the best defence is a good offence , like vaccination and masks.

Take care , stay safe. 

Horton Plains National Park and MEGA ARK

BLOG # 1558   ---   Day 675 of the Pandemic

Hey there. It's been a while since my last update. Cards are in short supply and I have just 2 for today.  Card 1 arrived from Sri Lanka. It celebrates Horton Plains National Park. The park was formed in 1968 and is located in the central highlands of the country. It is rich in biodiversity and many species found here are endemic to the region. The park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1988. The star attraction of this park is the World's End, where the plateau of the park comes to a sudden end and has a deep plunge of over 800 meters. 

Ravindra used a number of stamps on his card, all from different years. The top stamp is from 2013 and commemorated the 125th Anniversary of Christ Church Girl's College in Baddegama. The lower left stamp is from a set of 6 issued in 2021 showing Endemic Birds of Sri Lanka. The lower right stamp, from 2007, shows Muthiah Muralidaran, a cricket coach and former player. 

 

Today's second card is another favourite for me -  an Aircraft/Airline card. A B747 no less. It is registered as 9V-SFE , a B747 freighter in Singapore Airlines Cargo colors. The picture on the card shows it at Sharjah in December 1996. The aircraft is 25.2 years old and has seen service with Singapore Airlines, Great Wall Airlines, China Cargo Airlines, Air Atlanta Icelandic and Saudi Arabian Airlines. It was stored from March 2020 to July 2020 but is active again. I certainly like the nickname MEGA ARK , on the front of the fuselage. To me that implies great size, as Noah's Ark carried quite a lot also. 

Jean Pierre used 2 stamps on this one. On the left is 1 of 2 issue in 2020 for the Chinese New Year - Year of the Rat. The other stamp is from 2019 and commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Israel and Singapore. There were 2 stamps in the set and it was a Joint Issue with Israel. 

Well that's it for this time, a short update of just 2 cards. Thanks for these cards go to Ravindra and Jean Pierre. 

Take care , see you soon. 

Gems First card for 2022

BLOG # 1557   ---   Day 668 of the Pandemic

Well I have received my first cards for this year - one yesterday and one today. So that's what we have on the agenda today. The first one arrived from Estonia.  It's actually a Christmas themed card and was sent by Meelis. It shows a wintery scene of Tallinn with a large Christmas tree. Meelis wrote that when he sent the card Tallinn was much like the picture depicted  - snowy.

 A lovely Aviation themed stamp arrived on this card. It commemorates the 100th Anniversary of Estonian Civil Aviation . It was issued in 2021. 

My second card of 2022 arrived from Germany. 

The card doesn't say where or what town is depicted on it, but Dominique mentioned it might be a village in the Black Forest. I wonder , can any reader identify this little village ?

If so, leave a comment and I'll share it the next time I write. 

  

Dominique used a lovely Flower definitive. 

That's all I have for this time . Thanks go out to Meelis and Dominique for their cards. 

And now the pandemic. The pandemic continues to take its toll. Italy now making vaccination mandatory for 50 years and over, countries starting to give 4th shots, French President Macron wanting to piss off the unvaccinated and over one million new cases in the U.S. on Tuesday. There's just no end in sight. Through all this time the best advise has been to get Vaccinated. .

HELLO 2022 -- HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

BLOG 1556   ---   Day 663 of the Pandemic

HAPPY NEW YEAR              ------           HAPPY 2022

I want to wish Best Wishes for this New Year to all readers of this blog.    I wish nothing but the Best to you all, and especially during these trying times  -- Good Heath , no make that  Great Health. 

I also want to say thanks to one and all for every postcard sent to me and featured on GemsWorldPostcard. I can't do it without all of you. There are some special people and they deserve Special Thanks. 

In no particular order they are :

Josep & Assumpta

Johan

Barbara

Bruce

Rob

Gerda

Ana

Jean Pierre

Ravindra

Meelis

My Lovely Teena

Jobbo

David

Dominique

and last but by no means least , Isa .

If you see your name above just know that I am very appreciative of your contribution to my blog.  Thank you to all of you.

Air Inter A300

BLOG # 1555  ---  Day 661 of the Pandemic

Well I'm back with the last card I have on hand. As one might expect, it's an Airline / Aircraft card. It's my look at this Air Inter A300, registered as F-GBEB. The picture shows Air Inter on final at Toulouse - Blagnac Airport. The 18 year history of F-GBEB included service with Air France, Air Inter, Holiday Air, Ratioflug and Avtn Systems, with whom it was scrapped in September 1998 at Opa Locka, Florida. 

 

Jean Pierre used a current year stamp on this card. It commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of French singer-songwriter Georges Bassens. 

That's all I have for today. and maybe for the year, if no cards arrive in tomorrow's mail. Thank you Jean Pierre for this card. We are still stuck in a big deep freeze. I guess the good thing about it is that more people are staying inside and not mixing, so less chance of covid catching. If there is any upside to this cold, it must be that. . 

Take care all. 

Topless Soccer, Lufthansa, Air Lib and Zvartnots Airport

BLOG # 1554   ---   Day 659 of the Pandemic

Here's a few more cards to get in before the end of the year. Three are Aircraft cards and two are not. First up is this Lufthansa A321, registered as D-AIRX. The 23.3 year old aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa in October of 1998. It is currently stored at Budapest as of December 8 of this year. That's a Lufthansa livery that I haven't seen before. 

 Rafal and Jean Pierre sent this card and used a stamp from this year. It commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of teacher, politician and women's rights activist Hildegard Wegscheider. 

 

Well at my age I thought I had seen just about everything out there, but women's topless night soccer- that's a new one for me. With the temperatures here in Alberta the last couple of days, I pretty sure I won't be seeing it very soon. The last four days we have experienced highs of between -16 and -28, with lows between -18 and -33. The windchill has been between -28 and -42. So topless soccer , I don't think so. An interesting concept none the less. 

Nikita used 2 stamps on this card. The left card is 1 of 3 , issued in 2001, for the Introduction of Euro Coins and Banknotes. The right stamp , from 2008, is 1 of 5 issued to show Dutch Leprechauns. Another new one on me.

Today's 3rd card shows an Air Lib McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30. Registered as F-GPVC it was delivered to Finnair in July 1981. Then it saw service with Garuda, Air Lib and Omni Air. It was stored in July 2011 and later scrapped. 

 Jean Pierre used a 2021 stamp showing a Citroen Mehari. It was issued for Stamp Day.

Nice cancellation on this one. 

Time now for an Airport card. Zvartnots International Airport ( EVN ) .  It is located 15km west of Yerevan, Armenia - one of the oldest cities in the world, (782 BC ) . The airport opened in 1961. 

Jean Pierre used a stamp from this current year. It showcases the cartoon Lazy Huri. 

Well that's all for today. I have one card left for tomorrow. Today I have to thank Jean Pierre & Rafal, and Nikita. I'll try and get back here tomorrow, so be sure and drop by. 

Take care, stay safe. 

 

Boxing Day 2021

BLOG # 1553   ---   Day 657 of the Pandemic

Happy Boxing Day. This day originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, but is now primarily a shopping day. So there are long lineups and long waits at the mall. It is bitter cold here so all in all , it's a good day to work on the blog. 

I have a number of cards on hand that I want to show before the end of the year. I don't know how many I'll get to today, but I'll just take one card at a time. First up today is this Siberia Airlines IL-86. Siberia Airlines was founded in 1992. It is headquartered in Ob, Russia. It was rebranded in 2005 as S7 Airlines. As of 2008 S7 was Russia's largest domestic airline. It currently operates 94 aircraft consisting of A319s, A320s, A321s, B737s and Embraer 170s.

The aircraft on the card is an old IL-86 Soviet built airplane. It flew for Aeroflot Airlines from 1989 to 1993. Then it entered service with Siberia Airlines , flying until November 2008 when it was scrapped. 

 

This card arrived from Armenia and Jean Pierre used a really nice Aircraft themed stamp from 2019. It highlighted Civil Aviation. 

My next card is from Netherlands. It shows the annual family celebration of Sinterklaas walking his horse along rooftops while his helper, Zwarte Piet , throws presents down the chimney.  

Silvija used 2 stamps from this year. They were issued for Stamp Day. 

Who knew but it's another aircraft postcard. This time it's an Armenian Airlines TU-154, registered as EK-85536. The picture was taken at Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1996. This aircraft first flew with Aeroflot Airlines, then Armenian Airlines in September 1994. Then it was with South Airlines in March 2005, and finally Kallat Elskar Airlines in September 2005. Ek-85536 was stored in 2007 and scrapped  in March 2010.

The same stamp was used on this card as on the Siberia Airlines card above. The card was from Jean Pierre.

This next card arrived from the Netherlands but shows a manhole cover from Nagoya City, Japan. The card shows a manhole cover with the Naya-bashi bridge or barn bridge over the Hori-kawa river. The manhole cover was designed for 100th anniversary of the sewage service of Nagoya in 2012. The picture was taken by the sender , Barbara, in 2016. 

Barbara used a stamp from a sheet of 6 called Borderless Netherlands - Australia. It shows the S.S. Zuiderkruis passing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. 

I think that's it for this time. Thanks for the cards go out to Barbara, Jean Pierre and Silvija.

This pandemic has been around just about 2 years now. I have to say I never thought we'd be looking at a 3rd year of this but it looks that way. Stay safe.