Cards From Collectors, Bloggers, Swappers and Travelers

Hello again, I'm back for another go on the blog. I've tried to do this update for a couple of days but couldn't get going. I'm  under the weather , as we say.  The weather here for the last week sucks big time. Cold, snow  and the ground has been white for a week now. Snow flurries every day, even now as I type this, it's snowing.It's even a chore to walk to the mail box, so my Lovely Teena has been picking up the mail. I know I'm going to owe her Big time for that. Yes, the leaves are still on the trees, but what do they know ? I guess I have The Flu, but don't worry, you can't catch it thru the internet. You can get most everything else thru  the net, but not the flu.I don't know how far I'm going to get here, but I have a number of really nice cards for you this time. They are nice cards from nice people. People who collect cards, swap cards, blog about cards and people who travel and send postcards. I think of you all as Postcard Friends.

Now on to the postcards. They come from a number of far and distant places. Sri Lanka, Portugal, South Africa, France, Gibraltar, Spain, Zimbabwe, and the U.S.A.
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Let's start with Sri Lanka. Ravindra's card gives us a look at a group of tea pluckers in Nuwara Eliya, a city in the hill country of Central Province. It is located at 1,868 m and is considered to be the most important location for tea production in all of Sri Lanka. Ravindra must have know that I love a good cup of tea.


 

 He has a number of postcards blogs about lighthouses, trains and cars. Here is his blog on lighthouses.  He used 3 great stamps on this cards. The stamp on the top left and the one on the right are from a set of 4 issued in 2010 celebrating Horton Plains National Park.I now have 3 of the 4 stamps in the set, thanks to Ravindra.   The large diamond shape stamp is from a set of 12 mixed issue stamps from 2010. This one celebrates World Children's Day.
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Now a card from Evora , Portugal. Evora is a city of around 42,000 and due to its well-preserved old town centre, the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1986. David's card is a view of Giraldo Square, the main square of the city.


David used a stamp from a 2012 set of 4 Paintings stamps. The set actually included, in addition to the 4 single stamps, 2 souvenir sheets , each containing a single stamp for a total of 6 Paintings.











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My next three cards are compliments of Jean Pierre. His first one is from South Africa. It's a view from the top of Table Mountain, of  the Rotair, Lion's Head , Table Bay and Robben Island.






Jean Pierre's choice of stamps here are from 2010 and 2008. The left stamp is from a 2010 set of 27 Handicrafts definitives. The right stamp celebrates 10 Years of South Africa and China Diplomatic Relations. 
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His second card comes from his homeland of France, Sete in fact. Sete is a commune of roughly 42,000 in southern France. It is the second largest fishing harbour on the Mediterranean Sea. The card gives us a look at the lighthouse at sunset.


The stamps on this card include a number of Marianne definitives along with a stamp from 2012. It is 1 of 4 in a souvenir sheet entitled The Road To Santiago de Compostella.

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Jean Pierre's third card is from Gibraltar. It's an aerial East view of the area including the airport. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian peninsula.
                                                             

The 2 monkey stamps used are from a set of 6 issued in 2011, all of which show the Gibraltar Barbary Macaques. They received a 28.09.11 date stamp , so I'm not sure if this card has been on the go a  year or so or  if they were already postmarked when purchased. Perhaps Time will tell.

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The next two cards come from Spain and both were sent by Fabienne. We did a private swap of 2 cards. She collects cards of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and I happened to have 2 in my collection that she did not have. I sent her a card of Gros Morne National Park and a card of LÁnse aux Meadows National Historic Site , both  WH Sites in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada . In return she sent me 2 cards and here is the first one. It is a view of snow on the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. The cathedral is located near the Royal Palace in the centre of the city.


This card arrived with 3 great stamps , one dating back to 1968.That's the stamp in lower left , it was 1 of 3 issued for the Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble. The other 2 stamps were both issued in 2012. The large stamp on the right was issued to celebrate the Constitutional Monarchy. The other stamp is 1 of a 3 set featuring Mushrooms.

Fabienne has a wonderful blog called World Heritage Postcards. Check it out.You won't go wrong.

The second card from our swap shows a view of Madrid surrounded by the  Sierra de Guadarrama Mountain Range. Madrid is the highest capital city in Europe after Andorra la Vella , in Andorra. 

Again a great selection of stamps was used, dating back to 1958. The train stamp on the left is from a set of 6 issued for the 1958 Railways Congress. The middle stamp is 1 of 3 issued in 1982 for the World Cup of Football. The stamp on the right was issued this year and honours a Lawyers Association.

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Here's a card from Zimbabwe in southern Africa. Bruce's card shows a traditional way of life with regard to music. We have a drummer and his drum, marimbas and a mbira, a finger piano. 

Bruce used 2 copies of the 2012 stamp featuring the 1987 sculpture Family by Bernard Matemera.













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I think that's about all I can get through this time. I will save the USA cards for next time. So Thanks for cards go out to Bruce, Fabienne, Jean Pierre, David and Ravindra.  These were really great cards accompanied by great stamps. Drop by again soon. I might even be here again tomorrow, depending on how I feel in the morning.And as always, your 2 cents worth is always welcome via comments.