The last One For February

Well it's certainly time for a new update. I haven't done very well this month and next month, March,  will not be any better. After today don't expect anything new for at least  thee weeks or more. I'll be away from the blog until March 24 or later. Do make a point to come back as there'll be lots new by then.

Now on to some postcards, the reason you're here today.

My first card for today is from Perth , Western Australia. It is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and is the fourth most populous city in the country. Perth was originally founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. David's card provides a look at some of the modern buildings in Perth's skyline.

David used 3 current 2015 stamps , all featuring old 19th century clipper ships that sailed in Australian waters. Featured is The Phoenician, The Monkchester and The Arabian. A fourth one featured The Frances Henty.

My next card is perhaps a Valentine's card from Poland. It features  two young lovers and was posted on Feb 13th, one day before Valentine's . It's a Postcrossing card from Swidnik, a city in eastern Poland with just over 40,000 inhabitants.

Dominika used a couple of Heart Shaped stamps issued for Valentine's Day 2015. She also used a small definitive from 1997.

Have you heard any Volkswagen jokes lately ? Remember the one about the lady who looked under her front hood and thought someone stole the engine ? Or the one about the guy at the gas station who didn't know whwre the gas went ? Or the water for that matter ?  People used to make a lot of fun of the VW. I remember, I used to drive a 1968 Bug  back around the early 1970s. That old gas heater really didn't do all that well during a cold Canadian winter. You always needed a scraper handy to scrape the inside of the windows.

This is a Postcrossing card sent by Yanz  from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, some 12702 km away. She used a 1999 stamp commemorating the 125th  anniversary of Taiping, a town located in northern Perak. There are four stamps in the set and all featured different modes of transport. One showed a hand drawn cart, another a car, another featured planes and of course the train , as shown.

Here's another addition to my Airlines / Aircraft on Postcards collection. This one is a Luxair B707. The airline operated aircraft LX-LGW in the 1970's. On this card it is shown at the old airport terminal in Findel.

Meelis , who often contributes to this blog, sent this card from Luxembourg. He used 2 Europa stamps from 2013 featuring Postal Vans.

Now we have a Nouvelles Images card entitled Sea, Sex, & Sun. Many people go out of their way for these these type of cards, but not me. I wouldn't buy it , but of course, I'll collect any card I find in my mail box. And be happy about it.

Actually my main reason for putting this card on here is to showcase the stamp. It's a Postcrossing stamp issued by Finland. That country issued 4 Postcrossing stamps in 2013. I now have 2 of the 4 different stamps. I had a lot to say about these particular stamps when I featured my first one here on the blog, back on Jan 16, 2014. Nothing has changed since then. I'll leave it at that. Feel free to go back and have a look at my rant about them from that time. You can read it here  

Now for a card from Russia. It's a Postcrossing card from Helena, showing the Ostankino TV Tower. Ostankino Tower is a television and radio tower in Moscow.It stands 540.1 metres tall and was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. It is currently the tallest freestanding structure in Europe and the eighth tallest in the world. It was built between 1963 and 1967.

Helena used a couple of great large stamps. The horizontal stamp was issued in 2013. It is 1 of 4 in a set featuring World War II warships. The triangle stamp , is also from a set of 4 issued in 2013.

This next card shows The Map Room of the Cabinet War Rooms Museum in London, England . Cconstruction of the Cabinet War Rooms,began in 1938. They became operational in August 1939, and remained in  operation throughout the Second World War, before being abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan.  

Regular contributor Dominique used a nice international Postcard Universal Mail stamp featuring Christ Church College. An agreement with Royal Mail enables any postcard bearing this type of stamp to be mailed through Royal Mail's network of red post boxes and post offices located throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

I think that's it for this time. Thanks for cards go out to David, Dominika, Yanz, Meelis, Susanna, Helena and Dominique.Great cards and great stamps all around. Take care and drop by again in about 3 weeks. See you then. 

Two From Johan, One from Maria and One from Helga and Flag Day 2015

First , before I get to any postcards, I want to mention Flag Day 2015. Today Feb 15th is Flag Day in Canada. It commemorates the inauguration of the Flag of Canada, The Maple Leaf, on February 15th , 1965. Fifty years ago today our flag flew for the first time. It is not a public holiday, but any Government of Canada that wants to declare it one, will get my vote. So without further ado, I just want to fly our flag for a bit here.
George F.G. Stanley designed the current flag, which is inspired by the Royal Military College of Canada’s flag. The multi-party parliamentary committee formed to select a new flag unanimously chose the design on October 29, 1964. The House of Commons passed the design on December 15, 1964. Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed the new flag on January 28, 1965, and it was inaugurated on February 15 in the same year.

Canada Post is also commemorating our flag's 50th anniversary.  Pushing the boundaries of stamp production, Canada Post has created Canada's first fabric stamp as a fitting celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Canadian flag . Denominated at $5, the innovative stamp uses a satin rayon fabric and  special ink to create a durable and spectacular image. Canada Post is also issuing a celebratory Permanent rate stamp that showcases an undulating flag with a blue sky and "50" in the background.

Now on to the postcards - the reason you tuned in . My first card is from Belgium. It shows a Concorde's nose dipped low over a Citroen , or at least what I think is a Citroen. We don't see many of them in these parts so I could be wrong.  The time frame of the picture is 1969. Thanks to Johan for this card. 

Johan was able to secure a First Day of Stamp Issue cancellation on the stamp he used on this card. It is 1 of a set of 5 .

My second card arrived from Russia. Now I'm not one to talk, and I like receiving all cards, but this one is just not that interesting or exciting, at least not to me. All it  shows is a number of QR Codes. 

Pretty boring, right ? Well the stamps are good though. Maria used 2 stamps from 2013. They are from a set of celebrating Olympic Sport Legends. 

Here another card from Belgium, again sent by Johan. It's a view of Oostende Airport. Oostende  is a Belgian city located in the Flemish province of West Flanders.

Postcards of airports might make a quite interesting collection. Maybe I should go through my card stock and see what I can come up with. 

Johan again received a First Day of Issue Stamp cancellation , Jan 26, 2015 on this one. It celebrates Thorgal,  a Belgian fantasy comic book series by the Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and the Polish graphic artist Grzegorz Rosiński. It combines several themes and legends, ranging from Norse mythology  and Atlantean fantasy to science fiction, and such genres as dark drama, horror and adventure stories. The comic first appeared in serial form in "Tintin" magazine in 1977.

I have just one card left for this time. It is from Belarus and was sent by a Postcrosser named Helga. The card celebrates 20 Years of Belarus WWF  stamps. This is my second card from this series. My first featured all bird stamps. 

Helga used a stamp from 2014 featuring an Olympic Medal winner. It is from a set of 3 . 

That's my update for today. Happy Flag Day to all my Canadian readers. Happy Day to everyone else. Take care and catch you next time.

Five More For February

Well it's raining again here on Vancouver Island, so a good day for postcards and blogging. Today mu cards are from Portugal, Germany and the U.S.A.
Let's start with a card from Raul who lives in Coimbra, in the center of Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital many, many years ago, Coimbra  is better known for the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world. The historical University buildings were classified as World Heritage by UNESCO in 2013. Raul's card shows the Palace Hotel of Bucaco, built between 1888 and 1905. It is still a magnet for tourists.

Raul used a stamp from 2013, 1 of 8 in a set highlighting Traditional Festivals. 

Today's second card , from Germany, is an older card showing the Catherdal of Cologne. This one shows the cathedral and the area around it as it was before the destruction of World War II.

Stephanie used the current German stamp for foreign postage. It is the same stamp David used on his card from Germany, which I posted in my last blog update.


My third, fourth and fifth cards are all from the U.S. First up is this card showing the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. The five tower complex is a modern city within a city. Its facade is made of reflective glass. Originally completed in 1977, the facility features a 74-story, 1,300 room Marriott Hotel, surrounded by five 39-story office towers totaling a combined 2.3 million square feet.  

Emarie used 3 different stamps. On the left is an Abraham Lincoln  self adhesive from 2014. In the middle is a self adhesive Forever Christmas Poinsetta stamp. It is from a 2013 Booklet. On the right is my first Batman stamp. It is 1 of 20 stamps in a minisheet issued in 2014. Sixteen of the stamps are vertical images of Batman and four are Bat Symbols highlighted in a search light. 

  


This next card was posted in Boston, but it shows a display aircraft at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs , Colorado. This is a military academy for officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado.  Graduates of the Academy's four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree, and are commissioned as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force. Shown on the card is a T-38 Talon. The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twin-engined supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2014 in air forces throughout the world.

A Postcrosser named Julia used 2 nice Hummingbird self adhesives from 2014, along with a 2012 Purple Heart Forever stamp.

The last U.S. card today and the last card today arrived from the state of West Virginia, and shows an old , fancy mailbox.

  

Julie used a number of stamps, 3 in the upper right corner and 2 in the bottom left. The top 2 upper right stamps are from the set of 4 issued in 1988 commemorating Antarctic Explorers. The stamp located just under there was issued in 1972 and commemorated the 100th Anniversary of mail Order. The 2 stamps in the lower left are 2 of 4 in a 1993 set commemorating the national Postal Museum in the United States.

Well, that's it for today. Thanks for cards go to Raul, Stephanie, Emarie, Julia and Julie. Take care, and check back again soon for another update.

February's First

I know, we're already a week into February and this is only my first update. Sometimes it happens like that. Priorities and all. I was out to Calgary for 5 days so that was a big part of the time. Anyway it's on to postcards now. First up is a card showing an Asiatic Lion at the GIR National Park & Sanctuary. The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is a forest and wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat, India. It is the sole home of the Asiatic Lion and is the world's only place where lions and tigers coexist. These lions were once found across northern Africa, south west Asia and northern Greece. Now there are only around 411 left in the wild and all of them are in or around the Gir Forest National Park.

This card arrived compliments of Nagi who writes the blog - SIDS Hobby Center - and you can find it all here .   It has lots of great information about stamps, postcards, and postmarks . Check it out for yourself. Nagi used a couple of definitives on his card. On the left is a 2008 Rajiv Gandhi issue. Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the seventh Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, his mother, to become the youngest Indian prime minister. On the right is a 2009 stamp featuring Homi Jahangir Bhabha , an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Next is a card from Cologne, Germany. An interesting card with two views of the same area. On the top is a 1945 , after the war view. Then below - the same area in present day. Standing upright and tall in both views is the Cologne Cathedral, dating from 1248. The cathedral,  suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II. It did not collapse, but remained standing in an otherwise flattened city. The great twin spires are said to have been used as an easily recognizable navigational landmark by Allied aircraft raiding deeper into Germany in the later years of the war, which may be a reason that the cathedral was not destroyed.

Regular contributor David sent this card . Be sure to check out his great postcard and stamp blog - 
Postcards A World Travelogue. You can find it here .  You'll also learn a lot about the world. David used a new 2015 stamp featuring Ludwigsburg Palace.  Ludwigsburg Palace is a historical building in the city of Ludwigsburg, Germany. It is one of the country's largest Baroque palaces and features an enormous garden in that style.

Another addition to my Airlines / Aircraft on Postcards is next. It is an Austrian Airlines Boeing 777. Aircraft OE-LPD , nicknamed Spirit of Austria, was delivered on 30/01/2007, and is a smaller B777-200. I'm hoping to be flying to Sydney on the bigger B777-300 next month.

A Postcrosser named Yulia sent this card from Belarus. She used a 2014 Flower stamp, showing a Dahlia. It is 1 of 4 in a Botanical Garden set.

Anyone for Sushi ? That's the complete theme of this card from Kobe, Japan. Featured are 20 different sushi.

Michiko used a 2012 teddy bear stamp. It is 1 of 10 different bear stamps in the Autumn Greetings sheet.

Yes, another Airline / Aviation card - this time a JAL B747 freighter. It's actually a B747-200F. The B747-200F was a cargo plane developed from the B747-200B. The cockpit of the B747 was originally placed on the second deck in anticipation of its conversion to a cargo plane. The aircraft was equipped with a nose door that opened upward, allowing it to handle long cargo that to date could not be loaded on other cargo planes.

Another Postcrosser , Ren from the port city of Kobe sent this card and used a nice Aviation related stamp from 2010. It is 1 of 10 different stamps in a  beautiful mini-sheet issued to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Aviation in Japan. It would be a wonderful sheet to have in my Aviation Stamp Collection.

That's 5 cards , so I think that will do for today. I have 5 more here on my desk ready for tomorrow or the next day. Thanks go out to Ren, Michiko, Yulia, David and Nagi for the cards featured today. Take care and leave a comment if you want to or you feel you need to . I'm always happy to read them.