Postcrossing's 8th and A Few Cards and 111 Swiss People

Hello again, it's been quite a while. No, I haven't been away, just been away from my computer. I decided to take a little break from the computer and see how it went. Let's just say emails build up fast. Enough about that.
Today, July 14th, 2013 is Postcrossing's 8th birthday. Postcrossing went live on July 14, 2005 and since that day, 18,167,318 postcards have been received by 418,236 members in 215 countries. As I write this, 446,689 postcards are actually in the mail to members. I became a member on March 9th, 2006 and have received 1,796 postcards as a result. So, it's hats off to Postcrossing. If you are interested in postcards, give it a try, you won't go wrong. Check it out at www.postcrossing.com   . 

Now for a few cards, since that's why you're here.

Bermuda is up first. A lovely place if I do say so, I loved our time there many years ago. Jean Pierre's card shows St. Peter's Church in St. Georges's, Bermuda. It is the oldest surviving Anglican Church in continuous use outside the British Isles. 2012 marks the 400th year since the founding of St. Peter's Church. On 18 March 2012, the Queen ( Elizabeth II ) granted St. Peter's, the title Their Majesties' Chappell.

The stamp that Jean Pierre used also commemorates St. Peter's Church. It is 1 of 4 in a set issued in 2012.

My second card for today comes from Belgium and was sent by Johan. It shows 2 prop engines and part of a wing of an old Sabena aircraft from the past. Take a look at the old helicopter in the background between the 2 engines.

Johan used a couple of very interesting stamps here. They are heat sensitive and can change their appearance quite dramatically.  They were issued this year and are 2 of 5 in a very attractive souvenir sheet commemorating 100 years of weather reports at KMI. Take note of the fine cancel on the stamps, it is very similar to the stamp design.

 

You can see Johan's postcard blog here .

Next we have a card from Christmas Island , the Australian Territory in the Indian Ocean.   Christmas Island is famous for its red crabs, one of 14 species of land crabs that live there. During the wet season, tens of millions of red crabs migrate to the sea to spawn, releasing their eggs in the sea. Culverts have been built under roads to allow the crabs to pass safely below the traffic. Don's card gives you a look at a bunch of them making their way under the roadway.

Don used 3 wonderful stamps . The 2 stamps on top are from a set of 4 WWF Frigate Birds issued in 2010. The 3rd stamp is 1 of 4 in a set  featuring Crabs , issued in 2011. Also, note the fine postmark cancel on the stamps  featuring a crab.















Here's today's last card. It comes from Pia, a Postcrosser in Switzerland. It is an ad card for Surselva Brau, a brewpub in Flims, Switzerland. I guess there are many ways to look at a stein of beer.

 

Pia used a number of different stamps to send her card on its way. Here they are. 

 I was lucky enough to receive something else from Pia, and a big Thank you goes out to her for it. She sent a sheet of 6 of the new Swiss stamp issued in March of this year. It's the stamp featuring the portraits of 111 Swiss people. The 111 people featured on the stamp took park in an online competition by uploading their photo and hoping for the best. I think it's a great looking stamp and gave a lot of common people like me or you a chance to be on a stamp, something that doesn't happen very often. So, here is the sheet from Pia.

Pretty cool , isn't it ? 

Many thanks going out to Pia, Jean Pierre, Johan and Don.

So that's the blog for this time. I will try to get another update here very soon.
Take care, thanks for not forgetting me and for dropping by. If you have a comment, feel free, I love to read them.

Opps, I messed up a bit here. Today is July 13th not the 14th as I mentioned above when writing about Postcrossing's 8th anniversary. Oh well, better to be early than late . So, Happy Birthday to Postcrossing, tomorrow, the 14th of July.