Cards From All Over

Hello again. Here we go with another update of Gem's World Postcards. Today's cards are from all over. And where might all over be ? How about Madagascar, Wallis & Futuna, Zimbabwe, Finland, USA, Russia, and France. I think that qualifies as all over.

Let's start with the card from Madagascar. It's not everyday that you find a card from Madagascar in your mailbox. It's even better when it's a complete surprise, as this one was. The front of the card  shows a flower market , I believe , perhaps in Antananarivo.

Tsilavina R sent this card along. Perhaps a new follower of this blog, I really don't know. Tsilavina if you want, please drop me an email at glennemoores@gmail.com so I can properly thank you for this card. The stamp was issued in 2012 and that's all I have been able to find out about it. It does have something though, to do with Jean Laborde 1805-1878. He was an adventurer and early industrialist in Madagascar, having been shipwrecked ther in 1831 .

My next card shows Faioa Island, an uninhabited island , part of Wallis and Futuna in the South Pacific.
Looks like a nice little place to get away from it all and take in a little sun, sand and water for a few days.

Jean Pierre used 2 large stamps on this one. Postmarked Mata-Utu, the capital. The one on the left was issued in 2013 and celebrates 20 Years of the State School. The other stamp is from a 2011 set of 3 Bird stamp.

 

Today's 3rd card comes from Zimbabwe, but the garden featured on the card is the Denzhe Mukula Garden Project in Limpopo, the northernmost province of South Africa. Limpopo borders Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Members of the Limpopo community shared the dream of unearthing wealth from the earth. They formed the Denzhe Mukula Project , planting cabbages, spinach, beetroot and carrots.Pictured on the front are a few of the locals working in their garden.

 

Bruce used a 2005 R rate Bird definitive stamp on this one. It is from a set of 10.

Near the bottom , on the back of this card there is a nice slogan, quite appropriate for us postcarders.
It reads : Spread the Word. Send a postcard. Reconnect and Inspire. Doesn't that sound good for postcarders ?


Royalty is up next. It's Danish Royalty but the postcard is from Finland.  On the card we see HRH Mary the Crown Princess and HRH Frederik the Crown Prince and heir apparent to the throne of Denmark. They make a lovely couple unlike some other Royals around the world.

Minna used 1 of the Finnish Postcrossing stamps on this card. They were issued as a set of 4 back in 2013. As a stamp collector I am glad to have this stamp, I'm glad to receive any stamp , but personally I do not like this stamp issue. I made that quite clear back in May of 2013 on the Postcrossing site when their design was announced. It seemed to me that many Postcrossers just jumped on the band wagon because they were Postcrossing stamps. I guess I'm no bandwagoneer   , here is what I wrote on Postcrossing back last May.

"I applaud the idea of the stamps, I applaud the Finnish Post Office for issuing Postcrossing stamps, but not wanting to rain on anyone's parade, I have to say the stamps themselves are anything but nice. Reminds me of amateur hour, they are so like children's stickers, very childish in design, and no where near what a real stamp should look like. Another wasted opportunity for a beautiful stamp for a beautiful purpose."

 

 

What do you think, Ugly or not ?  Leave a comment , vote or whatever.  

Of note: The Netherlands issued the first Postcrossing stamps, followed by Finland and now , just a few days ago, Belarus.

 

I'm not going to get to all the cards planned for this time, four cards is good though. Thanks to Tsilavina, Jean Pierre, Bruce and Minna. I'm hoping for a little feedback today. Don't be shy. 

See you back here soon.