Leap Day - Leap Year 2016

Well this is the day - Leap Day. It only happens every four years, so enjoy it today. There won't be another one until 2020.  At least you'll know there will be a Summer Olympics that year, because the Summer Olympics always take place during Leap Years. Now it's on to postcards. Actually just a postcard, I only have one for this time.
My postcard today arrived today from France.  It's a view of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacre-Coeur Basilica. It is located at the summit of butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Construction began in 1875 and was finished in 1914.
There are great panoramic skyline views of the city from the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.

Dominique used a commemorative stamp from 2015, commemorating 700 years of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

That's all for today. Just one card is quite unusual for me. I don't think I've done many blogs  , if any, with just a single card. I'm usually a little more wordy than that. I have run dry of cards, who would have thought?
Oh well, there always tomorrow or  the next day.

Thanks Dominique for today's card.
Take care and be sure to come back now , ya hear.

A Short Sunday Update

Hello people, thanks for dropping in. I just have two cards for this time, so it'll be a short update. Cards have just about dried up this past couple of weeks. Hopefully next month will be better with more cards in the mailbox. The cards for today arrived from Mexico and the Czech Republic.

Let's go to Mexico first. On this first card we see an aerial view of Playa del Carmen and its famous Fifth Avenue. Riviera Maya is a stretch of  Caribbean coastline on Mexico's northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, famous for its all-inclusive holiday resorts.

.   This card was sent by Jean Pierre back in Dec of last year. It took 2 months to arrive here in Canada, and from past experience with cards from Mexico, sadly that seems to be the norm for cards from there to here.
But it arrived , and that's the main thing.
Jean Pierre used a 2015 stamp showing a cactus flower. It is 1 of 2 in a set issued in se-tenant format.

Card  2 for today is an interesting one. It shows a part of John Lennon Wall in Prague. Once a normal wall, but since the 1980s , it has been filled with John Lennon inspired graffiti and snippets of lyrics from Beatles' songs. The wall continuously undergoes change and the original portrait of Lennon is long gone. Today the wall represents a symbol of ideas such as Love and Peace.

 Meelis used a nice selection of recent stamps. The stamp on the left celebrates the National Museum in Prague. The two stamps on the right were issued in 2015 and were issued se-tenant. Nice aviation / airplane stamp  for my collection.

There you have it, another update in the books. Thanks go out to Jean Pierre and Meelis for their cards.

I will be back here again tomorrow with a Leap Day update . Speaking of Leap Day - Feb 29th , I have prepared a few postcards and will be dropping them in the mail tomorrow in hopes of them securing a Feb 29th cancellation. However with Canada Post's reputation, who knows. Many postcards seem to completely escape any cancellation. So keep an eye on your mailboxes in a week or two. Who knows, maybe I'll even be lucky and receive one or two with the scarce Feb 29th date.

Take care.

Five Choice Cards

Hello again, well I have certainly been a little lax with updates this month. This is just the third one. Hopefully this one will be good enough to make you come back again. The cards for this time are from Andorra, Netherlands, France, Brazil and Canada.Let's start with the card from Andorra.
The card shows a really nice aerial view of Andorra La Vella. It's the capital city of the Principality of Andorra, located high in the east Pyrenees between France and Spain. The city is at an elevation of 1,023 metres and as such, it is the highest capital city in Europe.

Ana used 3 stamps on this card. On the left is a stamp issued in 2007. It highlights Natural Heritage and shows a painting of Encamp. The middle stamp is a Christmas stamp from 2011. The last stamp on the right is also from 2011. It is a Europa stamp highlighting Forests. Andorra has 2 postal systems  - Spanish and French. Ana's card was posted through the Spanish Postal System.

Card 2 is again an aerial view , of the canal network in Amsterdam. The network consists of more than one hundred kilometres of canals, 90 islands and 1500 bridges. There are three main canals, Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht. They were dug in the 17th century and form concentric belts around the city. The canal ring area was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.

Johan used 2 stamps from a set of 10 issued this year. They honour Jheronimus Bosch, an early Netherlandish painter.

Nice "Socked On The Nose " postmark on the stamps. A little rare these days, I think.


The Chateau de Couches, a historical monument in the municipality of Couches is featured on this next card. Known locally as Castle Marguerite de Bourgogue, it consists of a 11th century tower, underground tunnels, a 12th century tower and a 15th century chapel. The medieval fortress belonged at one time to the Dukes of Burgundy.

Dominique used 2 stamps issued in 2015. They celebrated Phila-France 2015, the 88th FFAP Congress held in Macon, in Burgundy. FFAP is the French Federation of Philatelic Associations.

We go from Europe to South America for the next card. Brazil in fact.  Its a few views of Black Lake in Gramado, a small tourist town in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande de Sul. Gramado is known as the Christmas in Summer Capital. Natel Luz , the annual Christmas Festival  began in 1986 and has grown into Brazil's largest Christmas event.

This is one more card from my brother Dale , who recently spent a couple of months in Brazil. Dale used a couple of stamps from 2009.

Here it is  - the last card for this time. An Aviation related card , no less. On it you can see a restored Norseman Mark V. CF-MAM is owned by the Aero Space Museum Association of Calgary and on display in the Petro Canada Building in Calgary, Alberta. The Norseman was introduced in 1935 , with 904 aircraft produced by 1959 when production ended. 42 Norseman are still registered in Canada. This aircraft type operated in or were registered in 68 countries through out the world.

This is another card from My Lovely Teena. We were recently on a short trip to Calgary and she picked  this card at the Aero Space Museum to send back to me. She used one of Canada Post's Great Canadian Goalies set issued last October. The goalie shown one on the card is the great Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers. Parent won a number of Stanley Cups , along with the Vezina and Conn Smythe trophies. In 1984 , he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

There you have it, the complete update. Thanks for cards today go out to Ana, Johan, Dominique, Dale and My Lovely Teena. Thanks to you , for dropping by and be sure to check me out again. Take care.

Still February -- Good Thing , Too

Yes we're well into February and this is only my second update for the month. Obviously things don't always go as planned. Looks like I'll certainly be able to use the extra day this month. Too bad it only comes every four years. More about that later, now it's time to move on to postcards.

Let's start with another card from My Lovely Teena. Followers of this blog will know that whenever Teena and I go on any trip , excursion or outing - big or small , I usually find a card from her in my mail box after I return. Our recent outing to Victoria , the provincial capital , was no exception. Teena chose a card commemorating Mile 0, the Pacific Terminus of the Trans Canada Highway. The Atlantic Terminus is in St. John's , Newfoundland  - 6,888 kilometers to the East.

Teena used the recent  ( Jan 11 ) Year of  The Monkey domestic rate stamp. The Monkey is an all-powerful symbol of honour, luck, riches, and longevity, according to Chinese custom. Those lucky enough to be born in the Year of the Monkey count brilliance, flexibility, skillfulness and inventiveness among their traits, along with an excellent memory, an iron will, and a strong drive to succeed.

Today's second card is from Sri Lanka and is of course from Ravindra. You can visit one of his blogs right  here .  The card is titled "A Taste of Spice ".  Now I'm not a big spice guy, but I do see cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom among the spices shown. The others I leave to my readers.

Ravindra used 2 stamps on his card. On the left is a definitive from 2012. It's 1 of 16 in the set.  The larger stamp on the right was issued on Dec 31, 2015. It commemorates the Birth Centenary of the Most Venerable Davuldena Sri Gnanissara Mahanayake Thero.

Next up is a view of Montevideo, Uruguay. You can see the Legislative Palace where the Uruguayan Parliament meets. The building was built between 1904 and 1925.

This is another card from my brother Dale who spent New Year's in Montevideo. Unable perhaps to find a Post Office over the holidays, he took the card back to Rio and posted it from there. Hence the Brazil stamps. On the left is a definitive from 2006. On the right is a 2015 stamp showing peppers. It is from a set of 4.

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania is featured on my next card. Valley Forge is a National Historical Park in the United States. It commemorates the sacrifices and perseverance of the Revolutionary War generation.
Valley Forge was the military camp in southern Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles southwest of Philadelphia. The American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777-1778 there, during the American Revolutionary War. It turned out to be a rough winter as starvation, disease and exposure killed over 2,500 American soldiers by the end of February 1778.

This is another fine card from Mike and Ashley of West Chester, PA.  They most always add a few new issue stamps to their cards, and such is the case again today. The Penguin Additional Ounce stamp is from 2015 but the other 2 are 2016 Forever issues.   The middle stamp was issued on Jan 29th , it is 1 of a set of 10 showing Botanical Art. The right stamp , issued Jan 15th is from the Love series. This one shows a Quilled Paper Heart.

There you have it, that's the update for this time. Thanks for cards go out to Ravindra , Dale , Mike & Ashley and of course to My Lovely Teena. See you again soon.

Ryann's Card, Britain's Most Northerly, Laos and Europe's Most Western Point

That's quite the title - it covers a lot. This is the first update for February and since this is a Leap Year, logically I should be able to get an extra update in. So that's good.

In my last update I highlighted a card from my grandson Evan. He had sent it from Maui while on vacation. A number of days after receiving Evan's card, I was thrilled to find a card from my granddaughter Ryann in the mailbox. She found time to write out this card , while in Maui , also. Ryann's card  shows the Giant Banyan Tree located in Lahaina , on Maui. Extending about 200 feet wide, the giant Banyan tree of Lahaina is a sight to see. To memorialize the 50th anniversary of the first American Protestant mission in Lahaina, a banyan tree seedling was planted on April 24, 1873. The seedling was 8 ft high when it was planted, by 2005 it had grown to a height of 49 ft, with 16 trunks. It is the largest banyan tree in Hawaii.

As I did with Evan's card, I am showing the back of Ryann's also. Just in case she forgot what she wrote. Mahalo Ryann, I love the card.

My next card arrived from Baltasound in the United Kingdom. Baltasound is the largest settlement on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands. Unst is the most northerly inhabited island in the U.K. The card arrived from and shows the Baltasound Hotel , Britain's most northerly hotel. It is the only hotel on the island of Unst.

Now a little about how this card came to me. First I owe the idea for it to Johan of   Johan Postcards  fame.
I saw a card from Unst on his postcard blog and thought to try for one for myself. I contacted the Baltasound Hotel and the rest is history.
The card arrived with 1 of 8 stamp issued in 2015 featuring images of  Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Expedition as recorded by Frank Hurley, the expedition's official photographer. Take note of the special cancellation showing puffins and the words " Britain's Most Northerly Post Office ".  A good card all around. Thanks to the staff of the Baltasound.

Laos is up next. A short while ago, back on Nov 4th, I commented that I considered Laos one of those rare countries, postcard wise. I now have another Laos card, so I guess it's getting to be a little less rare country. Jobbo's card shows Wat Xieng Thong or Temple of the Golden City. It's a Buddist Temple, located on the northern tip of the Peninsula of Luang Phrabang. Construction took place from 1559-1560.

 

Jobbo used a nice selection of stamps as always. On the left is a stamp from 2014,  highlighting Historic Buildings and Places. There was a set of 5 issued . The center stamp , from 2000, is 1 of 4  issued for the Millennium. Lastly on the right is a joint Issue with Russia , issued in 2015. The joint issue celebrated the 55th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the two countries.

Here's today's last card, a nice lighthouse card for all you lighthouse card collectors out there. This one is the Cabo da Roca  Lighthouse which overlooks the promontory towards the Atlantic Ocean. Cabo da Roca is a cape which forms the westernmost point of mainland Portugal and continental Europe.

Jean Pierre used a 2015 stamp , 1 of 4 issued showcasing the Portuguese Sea.

Well there you have it. Thanks for cards go out to Lovely Ryann, staff at Baltasound Hotel, Jobbo and Jean Pierre.