Cayes of Belize, Cayman Islands, Anne Frank House, Bermuda, Singapore, George Street, and Holland Flowers Stamps

Here we go again, with another bunch of great cards to peruse. Lets start with a card showing San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. San Pedro is the major town on the island. It is also the town you will land at, boat to, eat in, shop in and meet people. David was lucky enough to use stamps from the Cayes of Belize , not just Belize. Cayes of Belize stamps were only issued between 1984 and 1985. The total number of stamps issued for the Cayes was just 27. With such a low number of stamps many stamp collectors might find them quite collectible as many are attracted to a country of which completeness might be possible. The most expensive of the 27 stamps merely catalogues at $8.75, so low numbers and low prices make Cayes of Belize a great place to collect stamps from. Now, back to the 2 stamps that David used. They were issued in 1984 , 2 of a set of 9 definitives.
Thanks David for this card.

The next card should make a few collectors quite happy. It is a map card and a flag card all at the same time. I do believe it's a map of the West Indies. Jean Pierre posted this one in the Bodden Town Post Office. Bodden Town is a village on the island of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. A beautiful , clear, readable, round postmark. I can only wish they were all like that. There are 31 "country " flags on this card. Jean Pierre asks the question "how many of these islands have I visited ? " The answer is only 15 , so still a bit of work to do there. There are 2 nice stamps on this card including, on the left, from 2006, 1 of 5 in a Trees set. The other stamp , from 2011, commemorates the wedding of Will and Kate. It is 1 of 4 in the set. Thanks Jean Pierre.

Here's another card from David. This one comes from The Netherlands, Amsterdam in fact. The card is a picture of Ann Frank's diary on display in Ann Frank House. Everyone knows the stork of Anne frank , so I leave it at that. David used 2 large stamps including the one on the right, of Ann Frank House. Thanks again.

Yes, another card from Jean Pierre. This one from Bermuda shows Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. Built in 1844, the lighthouse was the first of only a few made of cast iron. The stamp here is a beautiful stamp from a beautiful set of 4 Casemates issued in 2011. Casemates- look it up.

Now we have a card from Singapore. It gives a great view of the Padang, the Singapore River and the city center. The Padang is the open field in the foreground. This is a card from a swap with Daniel of Wax on Daniel-san Postcards and you can find his blog here . Daniel used 2 trolley bus stamps from a 1997 set of 9 Transport stamps.Thanks Daniel

Another of those mystery empty blocks above.

George Street, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador is next. George Street , a short 2 block street known for its many bars and pubs. It has the most bars and pubs per square foot of any street in North America. The street houses an annual Mardi Gras in October and the six-night George Street Festival in early August. It attracts over 120,000 people during the six night event. Take a look at the card and you'll see 6 or 7 of the pubs. Now this card is a special card for 3 reasons. One reason is that it's from My Lovely Teena. Reason 2, It was posted and got postmarked at Cabot Tower on Signal Hill. Reason 3- Teena sent me this card to mark my collection of postcards from the towns of Newfoundland and Labrador . I mentioned this new endeavor in my last update on July 27th. So here's card # 1 of my Towns of Newfoundland and Labrador Collection.And here's the postmark.
Thanks to Teena.

I am ending this update with 3 cards from David from his recent trip to the Netherlands. The first one is of the Central Museum in Utrecht.

The second on is of the famous windmills at Kinderdijk.

The last one is from Texel, the only place that a navy was defeated on horseback. Yes in 1795 the French army learned that the mighty Dutch navy was frozen in the ice around Texel Island. They rode in on horseback and demanded the navy surrender. No shots were fired.

Here's all the stamps that David used , 2 on each card. All flower or plant stamps.
Thanks again David.

That's it for this time. Should be back here again on Tuesday. Thanks to all for their postcards. Driving out to Banff tomorrow for lunch and dinner. Take care. Comments ?? ??

Cards From Bloggers, Collectors, Blog Readers and Travellers

Hello again, it's definitely time for another update. Today's cards are from as the title above says, bloggers, postcard collectors, blog readers and a couple of world travellers. There will not be any official Postcrossing cards today. My online postcard friends send so many cards that it is certainly time to showcase a bunch of them. Here we go .

First up and in no particular order, but someone had to be first.
From Canada no less, comes a fine card from the National Museum of Science and Technology. It shows a Bellanca Pacemaker taking off from a frozen lake in northern Ontario. Pam from Kingston, Ontario sent this card along. We have swapped a couple of cards and she always sends great cards with great stamps. She's a great card swapper. Pam used 2 stamps. The one on the right is a bit old, it was issued in 1983, 1 of 4 Locomotives stamps. The other stamp is quite new, it was issued on June 8th of this year. This stamp is a little unique, in that it was issued specially on a stamped envelope marking the 250th anniversary of the town of Torbay, N.L. It was only when I received Pam's card that I found out the stamp was available in panes of 20 and 40, without the commemorative envelope. I think that this stamp will be missing from most collections as it is not considered a stamp in the 2012 Canada stamp Program. Canada Post says it is not a new stamp but is considered as an official Canada Post product . Sounds like official jargon to me. It's a stamp if it moves the mail and in this case , that's exactly what it did. So in my book, and my stamp album, it's a stamp. It's one I'm glad to have received actually as I lived for 10 years in little , historical Torbay. Thanks to Pam, I'm now awaiting a small supply of Torbay stamps.

Here's a card from another swapper, JT from Wisconsin, U.S.A. The card gives us a look at the small post office in Glen Haven, WI. Glen Haven is a sleepy little town in the coulee country of Wisconsin, along the Mississippi River. JT used a number of stamps including 2 from the Legends of the West sheet of 20 issued in 1994. Thank you JT.

Now for a card from the always travelling Jean Pierre and it comes from Bermuda. The beautiful Southampton Princess Hotel is front and center on this one. Brings back memories of our visit to Bermuda about 20 years ago. The beach around this hotel was quite spectacular. The stamps on this one include a 2003 definitive from a set of 6 Shell issues and 1 of 4 in a 2010 issue of African Diaspora. Thanks Jean Pierre.

A card from Johan of Belgium is next. Johan and I have swapped a few cards these past years. He has a blog called Johan Postcards and you can find it here. Johan's card shows the entrance of Porta Nova going into Colle di Val dÉlsa, a town of about 21,000 in Tuscany, Italy. It is know internationally as a producer of crystal glassware, about 15% of the world's production. I certainly hope that Johan enjoyed his vacation in the Tuscany region, I know I would. Let's look at the stamps that Johan used. On the left is a 2002 definitive , 1 of a set of 10. On the right is another definitive from 2009, 1 of 4 in a set. Thanks Johan.

Here we go with another card from Pam in Kingston. Like I mentioned earlier, she sends great cards and this in another one. It's the World's Largest Weather Vane, located at the Transportation Museum in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. This old Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 can be found at the Erik Nielson Whitehorse International Airport. Pivoting on a finely balanced mount, this unique weather vane requires less than 5 knots of wind to turn. Pam used a new 2012 stamp commemorating the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The stamp features a double-scull boat. Thanks again Pam.

Now the final card for this time comes from South Africa. Bruce sent it along and on it we seen a few scenes of Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesburg. The airport was opened in 1947 by Field Marshall Montgomery of Alamein . Bruce thinks the pictures on this cards are from the mid 1980s. Jan Smuts Airport has been completely revamped and renamed since then, it is now OR Tambo International. Bruce used a 2012 International Small Letter rate stamp from a sheet of 10 different stamps celebrating the 100 years of George Pemba's birth. Thanks Bruce.

Before I sign off today, I leave you with this . I know that when My Lovely Teena reads this update, she will get a little kick out of my reference to Field Marshall Montgomery. It seems that whenever his name comes up, ( which isn't often I grant you ) I always mention to Teena about the time the Field Marshall visited my high school, Grand Falls Academy. I don't think she really believes he visited G.F.A. , but it is true, I was there. Just thought I'd mention that one.

Oh yes, one more thing before I go. As you all know I started out on this postcard thing, hoping to receive a stamped postcard from every stamp issuing entity in the world. I am getting there, I am close, with just 16 or 17 places left. Well, last week when I was back east in Newfoundland, i thought this would be neat. I now want a stamped postcard from every town ( at least those with postal service ) in my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Another big task, I'm sure. Currently I have just 3, Grand Falls, Dildo, and St. John's. I do believe 2 more are on the way, St. Anthony and Flatrock. So come on all you Newfoundlanders reading this , drop a postcard in the mail to me from your town. My address can be found over on the far left.

That's it for this time. Thanks to all for their cards. Leave a comment if you want, it lets me know someone is out there. Take care.

Another Milestone-- Card # 2500

A rather short update for this time. Just to say the my postcard collection has reached 2500 cards. The 2500th card arrived on July 20, 2012 after my collecting for 2326 days. That's a little over a card a day. The card comes from Sri Lanka and was sent by Ravindra. His card is a view of Galle Fort in the south of Sri Lanka. The fort was built between 1584 and 1684. In 1988 the Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in South and South-East Asia. The card arrived with a number of stamps including 2 definitives from a 2008 set of 16 zodiac stamps. The top right stamp was issued this year to mark the 700th anniversary of Asgiri Maha Viharaya, the monastic center founded in the 14th century.

Ravindra is a very busy postcard and stamp blogger with 4 blogs on the go. He operates Discover the World on Trains , Lighthouses on Post Cards , Lighthouses on Stamps and For U Car Fans . Thanks Ranvindra for making this milestone happen.

As I mentioned , this is just a short update . Thanks for reading , and drop a comment if you have one. Take care,

Some Great Cards and Postcrossing News

I'm back again. Back on the blog and also back from a week in Newfoundland and Labrador. Yes, I skipped out on the 100th Calgary Stampede to attend the 28th Exploits Valley Salmon Festival in my hometown of Grand Falls. My lovely Teena and I had a really great time, saw a lot of family and took in a couple of wonderful BBQ's. The town of 13,700 comes alive with between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors for the main event concert . This year it included Cheap Trick, Uncle Kracker and Aerosmith.

Eight postcards were waiting in the mailbox when I arrived back . None of which you will see here this update. I have others that arrived before I went. Got to get those on the go first.

Oh yes, Postcrossing. Just want to congratulate Postcrossing on their 7th Anniversary on July 14th. In those 7 years more than 12,000,000 postcards have been received by the 334,719 members in 207 countries. I have been a member for over 6 years ( 2323 days ) and have received 1413 postcards from my participation in Postcrossing. Congrats Postcrossing. Check it out at www.postcrossing.com .

Now for a few cards.

First up is this card from The Netherlands, showing a pretty spiffy car. Not quite sure exactly what it is but she looks good and I'm sure it can go. A Dutch Postcrosser sent this card and used 2 stamps from a 2011 Child Welfare souvenir sheet of 6 different stamps. Note the rare socked-on-the-nose cancellation. You don't see many these days, certainly not on mail here in Canada.

Card # 2 is an old maximum card from Transkei sent from South Africa. The maximum card is dated July 20, 1989 and shows a large bunch of mussels. The 1989 Transkei stamp is from a set of 4 , all featuring Food From The Sea. Transkei stamps were issued from 1976 until 1994. Funny thing though is that I know of another postcard on another blog that was postmarked Umtata on 30 Jan 2012 using only 4 Transkei stamps. No other supporting postage. To make the best of it, Umtata was renamed Mthatha in March 2004. I wouldn't mind finding one like that in my mail box. Now, getting back to the postcard- The 2010 South African stamp is the one that did all the work in getting the card to Canada. The mussels bring back memories from The Salmon Festival I mentioned earlier. At the Salmon Festival Dinner, there was an appetizer of all -you -could-eat -mussels. So I ate all I could.

Here's another card, this one from Belize. You don't see many from Belize so when you receive one you really appreciate it. This one gives a few sights around Belize City. David used 2 stamps including a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee stamp from a 2012 m/s of 6 values. The second stamp appears to be a locally overprinted stamp. The stamp was originally issued in 2005 , 1 of a set of 12 definitives . It was the 10c value. My stamp was overprinted in February and is now a 25c value.

Next up is a rather unusual view of a Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 at Frankfurt Airport. Unusual at least for most passengers and the public. It's a view I have had hundreds of times, not of the Airbus A330, of course, but of a Boeing 737.
Meredith posted this card from Como Post office in Saint Paul , Minnesota. She used a George Washington stamp from 2011 and a butterfly stamp from 2012.


Morocco is next. The postcard is of the port of Essaouira in south western Morocco. Fishing is an important way of life in the city of about 70,000, as evidenced by all the fishing boats. Also, from the picture on the card, the color blue looks to be important with all the boats painted blue. Makes for a nice picture though. Jean Pierre used a 2011 stamp from a Red Cross booklet of 10.
I think I'll call it a day here , I had a couple more cards ready to go but 5 is a good number to end on. Enjoy the cards and take care.

Who Would Have Thought -- A Really Big Coincidence

It seems I haven't been very active here on the blog as of late. June is now history and I only got in 5 updates. I managed 7 in May , 5 in April and just 1 in March. Let's hope I do better in July. Here we go with July's first entry. I have a number of cards for this time and they're all kind of related.
Looking up at the title of today's blog, you can see that I was somewhat surprised on receiving the first 2 cards of today.

Who would have thought this would ever happen ? It is certainly a big coincidence . I have 2 quite prolific supporters when it comes to sending me postcards. It seems these 2 guys are always on the move, somewhere in the world. Yes, I'm talking about David from Ireland and Jean Pierre from France. Now , here's the who would have thought or the big coincidence.

On Tuesday June 26th I found 2 cards from Florida , U.S.A. in my mail box. One from David and one from Jean Pierre. Both cards were written out on June 19th , one in Miami and one in Orlando. So, two guys , one from Ireland and one from France , happen to be in Florida at the same time, June 19th, write out postcards for me and then both cards arrive in my mail box the same day. What are the odds of that , I wonder ?

Here's the card from David. It's a 3D Walt Disney World card. Too bad you can't see it in 3D. You haven't lived until you see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck in 3D. David used 2 2012 Forever stamps featuring Disney Pixar characters. They are from a set of 5 Mail A Smile stamps.

Next up is Jean Pierre's card of Miami. It gives a look at the city shoreline showing American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat. The stamps are both Forever stamps , both issued this year, one for Arizona's 100 years of statehood and the other for New Mexico's 100 years of statehood.
Now keeping with the David and Jean Pierre theme, the remaining cards for today have all been received from these 2 gentlemen.

Here's a card from Roatan, Honduras. I haven't received too many cards from Honduras, this is only my second. David's card shows a few views of Roatan, the largest of the three Bay Islands. The other two are Utila and Guanaja. The stamp is 1 of 4 issued for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Here's Jean Pierre's second card of the day. It shows an Antony Gormely statue on Herm Island.
It has been on loan to the island since March 2010, but only recently , this past June I believe, it has been returned to the artist. Now about the island, Herm Island is one of the smaller islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is a very peaceful place, no cars, no crowds and no stress. Even at the only hotel on the island, The White House Hotel, there are no telephones, no televisions and no clocks.

Here's the stamps that got it across the pond. The flower stamp on the left is from a 2009 set of 10 Wild Flora. The second flower stamp was issued in 2008, 1 of a set of 7 definitives. The larger stamp on the right is a new 2012 issue for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. It is from a set of 6.

Another card from David. This one comes from Georgetown, Cayman Islands. The views on David's card bring back memories of my own visit to Georgetown. A great place indeed. And the stamp is another Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee issue.

The final two cards for this time are both from Guernsey and compliments of Jean Pierre. The first one is an aerial view of Lihou Island, part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the most westerly point in the Channel Islands. It was purchased by The States of Guernsey in 1995 in order to guarantee the people of Guernsey access to this beautiful and inspiring island. Jean Pierre used another of the Wild Flora set and a new 2012 Visit Guernsey stamp, 1 of 6 issued in May.

Now the last one- Another view of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands located near France but oh so British. We can see St Peter Port Harbour with a couple of smaller views of St Saviour's Church, Fort Grey, and Harbour Light.
The stamps include a 1999 Ship definitive from a set of 14 and a 2010 SEPAC issue of Point Robert Lighthouse on Sark Island. SEPAC is the Small European Postal Administration Cooperation.

So ends today's blog. Big thanks to David and Jean Pierre for all the cards.
Come back again, I'll be here . Take care.