One More Bunch of Postcards

Hello , thanks for dropping in again . It's still part of the long Easter weekend here in Canada, so there hasn't been any mail since Thursday and there won't be until tomorrow. So I will make do with some great cards received early last week. That's cards from Kenya, Belgium, Macedonia, Russia, South Africa and the U.S.A.

Jambo from Kenya. My first card shows a number of groups of the peoples of Kenya.Kenya is located in east Africa , with coastline on the Indian Ocean. The country of 44 million has been described as the cradle of humanity. In its Great Rift Valley, palaeontologists have discovered some of the earliest evidence of man's ancestors. In Kenya you'll find savannah, lakelands, and mountain highlands.The country is also the home of the annual wildebeest migrations at Maasai Mara Reserve.

Bruce used a couple of definitives from the 2001 set of 18 Fruits and Plants.

My second card today is from Belgium. It is a photo portrait of Emile Verhaeren , Belgian poet. The photo is by Fernand Beguin.

Johan used a quite recent stamp commemorating Vethaeren , issued 12 March 2016 , marking the 100th anniversary of his death. It was issued in a sheetlet of 6 stamps.

You can visit Johan fine postcard blog by clicking right here  .


Who's up for fishing ? How about in Dojran Lake, Macedonia ? That's the location of this elevated fishing hut . Dojran is a village on the west shore of the lake, in the south-east of Macedonia, about 170 km from Skopje.

Ana used a couple of fairly recent stamps including one showing the same fishing hut as shown on the card. It was issued in 2011. The other stamp is 1 of 2 in a 2009 set featuring Musicians. I guess the most interesting thing about this card is the cancellation date  -   29-2-16, making it a Leap day cancel. Thanks Ana.

Be sure to check out Ana's great postcard blog  here .


Now I think it's time for a Coke - yes a Coca-Cola. Here's a 1960 Coke advertisement. On the reverse of the card it says "Coke refreshes you best ". I couldn't agree more. If you look through a bunch of Coke ads from the 20s through the 60s , you can't help but see that a great many of them could have doubled as Esquire pin-ups. What sold Coke ? Apparently pretty girls, decade after decade. By the early 1970s the era of the Coke Babe ended, replaced by photos of happy young people hand-gliding, or water-skiing or snowboarding or even running down a mountain.  Let's not forget the 1971 Hilltop performance of "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke " or all the different Coke Polar Bears commercials.  I'm getting really thirsty about now !

This card is from May, a Postcrosser in Miami, Fl.  She used 2 copies of the 2016 Black Heritage, Forever stamp featuring Richard Allen, writer, minister, educator and one of America's most active and influential Black leaders.

Here's another card from Bruce, this time sent from South Africa. This one gives a great view of uShaka Marine World in Durban. It is a world class marine entertainment resort, the largest in Africa and
boasting the largest aquarium in the southern hemisphere, containing over 10,000 creatures. The 16 hectare theme park opened in April 2004.

Bruce used a nice aviation themed stamp from 2015. It is 1 of 5 in a set celebrating the Centenary of the South African Aviation Corps.

I'm going to call it a day here, I'll get to the Russian card next time, so be sure to check back. Thanks for today's cards go out to Bruce, May, Ana, and Johan. If you have a comment about anything on here, feel free to leave that comment.
 Take care.

Another Bunch of Postcards

Good day to you all . I'm back with another bunch of postcards , so let's get right to it. First up is a card from Belarus. It shows a drawing by Ivan Medvedev  from 1958. It is called Minsk Stairway - The decent to the river Svislach.

A Postcrosser named Luda sent this card along. On the back she wrote "East or West , Home is Best ". I couldn't agree more. Luda used a nice Flower stamp from a 2015 set of 4 , all showing flowers in Botanical Gardens.

My second card for today arrived from Singapore and on it we can see an area entitled Gardens by the Bay. This is an area built on reclaimed land , and consists of 3 waterfront gardens and the towering Supertrees display which stand 25m - 50m  . These provide a a fabulous light display by night.

As usual Jobbo loaded up his card with great stamps. On the left is 1 of 4 issued in 2000 to welcome in The New Millennium. In the middle is 1 of 5 issued in 2009. All 5 showed Modern Art to celebrate National Day 2009. The final stamp , from 2010, is 1 of 8 celebrating National Day 2010 Festivals.

Card # 3 is from Paris. It's a great view of the oldest bridge in the city. Construction of Le Pont Neuf  began in 1578 and was completed in 1607.

Dominique used a 2014 stamp, 1 of 6 in a set showcasing Photography.

This next card is an example of "Vintage Paperback & Pulp Fiction Covers Art ". A book cover from 1960 when books were 35 cents. A Woman Must Love by Sheldon Lord , cover art by Paul Rader. Lara from Eureka, California sent this card and wrote the following on it  " A man should be as the wind, bending  a woman like a tree ".  I leave its meaning to my readers.

Lara used the latest round shaped stamp issued by the USPS, showing the Moon. I wrote about this stamp in my last update, so no need to do it again.

There's one last card for this time and here it is. It's from Diksmuide, Belgium. This  Belgian city in the Flemish province of West Flanders, is famous for producing the famous butter of Diksmuide.

 

A Postcrosser named Vinnie sent this card and used a Butterfly stamp.It was issued in 2013.

That's all for this time. I want to thank Luda, Jobbo, Dominique, Lara and Vinnie for all the great cards shown here.Off course I have more great cards and that means I'll be back here again soon. See you then.

More March Madness

Hello people, no this is not about basketball, no matter what the title says. It's postcards and stamps , nothing else. Let's start with an old time picture of Los Angeles, and the card says it's from the 1940s. Lots of old time cars in this one. I wonder what that block or intersection looks like today.

Joyce from Canby, OR, USA sent this card, mailed from Portland. She used two copies of the 2014 Breast Cancer stamp. The stamp's motto is " Fund The Fight - Find A Cure ". A noble cause indeed. The breast cancer research stamp is a semi-postal , non denominated stamp first issued in 1998. It is priced slightly higher, at 10 or 11 cents, than the price of a first class stamp. The extra cost is collected by the USPS and allocated to the National Institutes of Health for breast cancer research. If a person used this stamp exclusively and mailed one letter a day for a year, the resulting donation would amount to $40.  Since this stamp first went on sale on July 29, 1989 the USPS has sold more then 924 million stamps, raising more than $72 million for breast cancer research. The small town of Loganville, Georgia with a population of just over 11,000 took it upon themselves to start a campaign to increase sales of the Breast Cancer Stamp. The campaign succeeded in making the Loganviille Post Office the number one seller per capita of this stamp.
 Congrats to Loganville - take a well deserved bow.

My next card was a surprise , sent by a new contributor , from Phuket, Thailand. The card shows the idyllic setting of Maya Bay, Phi Phi Islands.   Maya Bay is a beautiful bay that is sheltered by 100 metre high cliffs on three sides. The main beach is about 200 metres long, all of it silky white sand. Maya Bay became a major tourist attraction after The Beach was filmed there in 1999.

Khun used lots of recent large stamps here. The 2 on the left and the 2 in the middle are a complete set of 4 issued in 2015 for the Songkran Festival. The festival is celebrated as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. The single stamp on the right was issued this year and celebrates the Centenary of the Auditor General of Thailand.

Here's a card from a Postcrosser in Vienna , Austria. I guess it's some sort of water theme park in the area. Nothing on the card identifies the area.

Carina used a stamp showing the giant ferris wheel , the Wiener Risenrad.

Even though we may be in Spring, fall colours are featured on my last card for today. The card arrived from Maine , USA and shows an area along side Ocean Drive in Acadia National Park. The park is 47,000 acres if woodlands, granite peaks and rocky shores.

I don't know who sent this card . The sender left no name , just Greetings from Maine. The card arrived with the new 2016 Moon stamp from USPS. It is a Global Forever Round stamp and fulfills the international first class postage rate. My opinion of this stamp is that it is not a very attractive stamp, however it needs to be turned 90 degrees on this card so that the word Global is top and center. Then it looks a little more like the Moon. That's just my opinion of course.

There you have it, another update, albeit a smaller one than my usual. Thanks today go to Joyce, Khun, Carina and Mr or Ms Anonymous.
Thanks for dropping in and do it again soon.

Time For Another Update

It's been a few days since there's been any action on here , actually it's more like a week and a half, so that ends today. I have five cards to highlight today. They arrived from South Africa, Malaysia, Netherlands, Malaysia again and finally France. We'll get to those in a minute, but first.

I know March 9th has come and gone, however it was an important day in my postcard collecting history. That date marked my 10th anniversary in Postcrossing.  During those 10 years I have received 2239 postcards as a result of my participation in this fine project. And, I won't even mention all the wonderful stamps from around the world that arrived on all those cards. So if you're new to postcards collecting and not a member of Postcrossing, I would encourage you to join at www.postcrossing.com  .

Today's first card , from South Africa, gives us a good look at the Swartberg Mountains. These mountains are a mountains range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. They are comprised of two main mountain chains running east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2,000 meters with the highest point , Seweweekspoortpiek at 2,325 meters.

 

Bruce used 3 Wild Animals stamps from a 1998 set of 5. Interestingly the card received 2 cancellations . On 21 Feb 2016 it was cancelled at Tambo International Airport and then on 23 Feb it was cancelled at Witspo Mail Centre in Johannesburg. Don't often see that.

Today's first card from Malaysia gives a look at a piece of the Penang Wall Street Art in Georgetown. The one on the card is called  "Boy on a bike " According to Jobbo there was queue upon queue of tourists waiting for their turn to pose beside the painting.

Jobbo used 2 stamps here. On the left is a Flower stamp from a 2010 set of 8. On the right is a stamp from the 2012 World Post Day set of 3.

Next up is this stylish pin-up lady from The Netherlands. Hopefully no one is offended by her behind. After all we all have one.  Nice shoes though.

This was part of a card swap with Barbara. She used a number of stamps including an Elvis stamp. Going from left to right the stamps include : 1 of 3 Numeral definitives issued in 2012, 2 of the 2006 Beautiful Holland issues, and an Elvis Stamp , of which I know nothing. I am unable to find any listing for this stamp either online, or in my Scott Catalogue. I really would like to know more about it, when issued, any others in the issue, etc. If you have any info about Elvis , leave a comment . Yes I know, Elvis has left the building and so has the stamp, apparently.

Another card from Malaysia - another card from Jobbo. This one shows a monument to Captain Francis Light. He founded Penang as a British settlement on the 11th of August 1786. His statute stands in the grounds of the Penang Museum and Art Gallery.

Jobbo used 2 great stamps again , as he always does. On the left is a Bird stamp from a 2015 set of 3. It shows a Pucung Keladi or Striated Heron, a protected animal. On the right is 1 of 3 stamps in a 2011 set of Visual Art.

Last card, I promise. It shows an old time display exhibit at the Museum of Art in Rouen, France.

For some strange reason, Postcrosser Raven sent this card in an envelope. Perhaps she thought the old card would survive the journey better. Then to top it off, she used some ATM type of postage. Needless to say , Raven is new to the Postcrossing game and to postcard collecting.

Now as Bugs Bunny used to say, "That's all folks ". Thanks for these cards go out to  Bruce, Jobbo, Barbara and Raven. Thanks to all who read these words and do drop by again. Take care.

The First In March

Hello again , here we go with a new month. I realize I'm a couple of days late, but that's how it goes sometimes. To start March , I have three cards to have a look at. There arrived from Spain, Canada and Kenya. Let's start with Spain.

The card is from Zaragoza, the capital city of Zaragoza province and of the community of Aragon. It has a population of just over 700,000 and hosted EXPO 2008, a World's Fair on water and sustainable development. On the card you can see the Plaza of Spain and Independence Walk, one of the main streets in the city. In the center of the square is the Monument to the Martyrs of Religion and the Homeland. It dates from 1904.

 

Ana used a couple of nice stamps on this one. On the left is a recent King Juan Carlos definitive. The middle stamp was issued in 2014. It commemorates the 50th Anniversary of SEPI, the holding company of which Correos , the Spanish Post is a part . The large stamp on the right is 1 of 3 in a 2015 set commemorating Modern World Wonders. Shown on this stamp is El Castillo or the Temple of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza , part of the Mayan Ruins in Mexico. The other stamps in this set shown the Great Wall of China and Christ the Redeemer in Brazil.

Funny thing - that Chichen Itza stamp so dominates the card , that I at first thought that Ana had made it back to Mexico. Of course I realized my mistake after looking at and reading the card more closely .
One more thing - that stamp brought back some great memories for me. I have climbed  El Castillo twice, once with My Lovely Teena and once with my younger son Parker. Good times for sure.


Card 2 for today is a local card - posted here in Parksville. Two B.C. Ferries are navigating  their way through Active Pass in British Columbia. This is a narrow passage separating Mayne Island and Galiano Island, two of the Southern Gulf Islands. It is one of three passes leading from the gulf Islands tnto the Strait of Georgia. Active Pass stretches 5.5 km from northeast to southwest with two roughly right angle bends. It was named for the USCS Active, a United States Navy survey vessel, the first steamer to navigate the pass in 1855.

This is another card from My Lovely Teena. She made sure I received at least one card with the elusive February 29th cancellation date. This one clearly reads 2016-02-29 . She used one of the newest Canadian stamps. It was issued Februrary 1st and is from the annual Black History in Canada issue. It celebrates No 2 Construction Battalion who left Halifax March 28, 1917, to assist with Canada's war effort in Europe.

Today's last card is from Nairobi, Kenya - showing African wildlife - the wildebeest and zebra migration. I'm sure that most if not all of us have seen the wildebeest migration on television or on You Tube at sometime or other. Thousands of animals trying to cross a river teeming with crocodile and not everyone makes it out alive. Truly an image that you never forget.

 

 Bruce used a Bird definitive from 1993, showing a Speckled Pigeon and the  larger stamp from 2015 showing a space satellite.

There it is, the first update for March. Thanks to Ana, My Lovely Teena and Bruce for all the cards today.
Be sure to drop by again next week for all that's fit to print and show about postcards and stamps.
Your comments are welcome, so leave one.