I'm Back , But From Where ?

It's been a while since I've been here on the blog. It's good to be back, but I haven't really been anywhere. Time, there just never seems to be enough. I have been spending many evenings watching the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs (now over) , the weather has sucked, rain , rain and more rain. It's is actually pouring out of the heavens as I write this, so this seems like a great time to update the blog. To top if all off Canada Post has shut down, locked out 43,000 employees across Canada, after a series of rotating strikes. Postal service went from 5 days a week to 3 days a week , to Zero days a week, a total shutdown. Mail boxes are taped shut. So, no postcards arriving, no postcards departing, what am I going to do ? I don't think it will last too long, even though I am not in favour of it, I believe our government will force the workers back to work soon, most likely early next week. Enough pontificating , on to the postcards, that I have on hand .

Israel is first. The card , from a Postcrosser, gives us a bird's eye view of Masada, Herod's northern palace. Masada is located on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. The cliffs on the east edge are about 400 meters high , while the cliffs on the west are about 91 meters high.
My online catalogue of stamps seems to be down, so very little info on stamps is available. You will just have to enjoy looking at them. On this card from Israel you can seen 2 of a set of WWF leopard stamps recently issued by Israel. It is a magnificent set and one I would love to add to my collection. There is also a single stamp in the upper right corner.
Moving on, my next card is from Macedonia. Of course, it's from Ana, who else ? She recently found a selection of postcards and this Roman aqueduct is one of them. Some sources say this aqueduct dates from Roman times and others say it dates from much later. Who knows ?
Ana's blog, My World of Postcards is here . It's a great read. Thanks Ana for this card and the great aviation related stamp. It is from 2003 and celebrates the 100th anniversary of flight.Now for a couple of cards from somewhere sunny and warm, St. Lucia. A great place to show cards from , when it is raining and cold here. It's still raining and 11 degrees c here right now. Both cards are from Mandy, who I recently private swapped a few cards with. Her wonderful postcard blog, Gone Postal is here . Mandy's first card gives us a look at Castries, the capital , at night. Her second card shows one of the many lovely beaches on the island with Pigeon Island in the background. Mandy used the same 2005 stamp on both cards.


A Latvian card is next. It is from Maija and Sergey. The card shows Dome Church , of Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Riga. The stamp on the left was issued in 2006 and the one on the right in 2008. Both are nice stamps.

On the next card we can see a night view of Beijing, showing the China Millennium Monument. A couple o0f nice colorful stamps are used on this card from Yue Wang. The large stamp in the middle was issued in 1996 , while the bright stamp on the right was issued in 2009.
That is it for this update. Hope you enjoyed the cards . I'm hoping to be back here again tomorrow with another little update. See you then. Leave a comment if you are inclined to do so. I appreciate reading them.