Let's start with the contest from my last update. The winner is Johan of johan postcards . His guess was Anne of Brittany and it was the first correct guess received. Johan will receive a Joint Souvenir Sheet issued by Canada Post to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The sheet contains two international rate stamps issued by Canada. One stamp is the same design as the domestic Canadian stamp issued for Vimy Ridge on April 8th. The second stamp is the French designed stamp featuring the Canada Bereft statue at the Vimy Memorial. This French designed stamp will only be available as part of the joint souvenir sheets and joint first day of issue envelopes. So there won't be a lot of these stamps floating around.
Congratulations Johan.
Now on to the cards. I'm beginning with another card for my Newfoundland Towns Postmark Collection. This time the card is from a town called Pacquet. The card shows a small fishing boat moored among ice pans. In spring and early summer arctic ice drifts south , creating hazards for boats and fishing gear.
Pacquet is a small town on the northeast coast of Newfoundland in White Bay. The town had a population of 184 in the 2011 census. Pacquet was once part of the French Shore of Newfoundland , so it is likely that it was settled by French speaking fisherman. It was a base for French seasonal fisherman from about the time of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The first officially recorded residents were noted there in 1857.
A 2017 Year of the Rooster stamp was used on this card.
Now it's another card from another island. From the island of Newfoundland to the island of Sri Lanka. Hey, I just realized that 3 of my next cards are from islands. Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Sri Lanka again.
This card is titled " Flowers of Sri Lanka " and features the Agapanthus africanus, a flowering plant native to the Cape area of South Africa. Why it's on a card of Sri Lanka , I leave to others to discover.
This is a card sent by David from his recent trip to Sri Lanka and other locales. The stamps are from a 2015 set of 7 celebrating Kumana National Park. It's a great topical set of the wild animals of Sri Lanka.
A card from Male City, Maldives is next. Male is the capital city of the Maldives , an island in the Indian Ocean. With a population of just over 133,000 and an area of 5.8 sq km, it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
It's another card from David, and he used 2 stamps about which I have not been able to find any information.
Next it's The Rock, not the actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson and not any radio station , which are often called The Rock, but The Rock of Gibraltar. Yes, that one - the 426 m high limestone promontory near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. One more thing - let's not confuse this Rock with that other Rock - the island of Newfoundland - referred to , here in Canada as The Rock. I know , I know , that's enough about The Rock.
Jean Pierre used a nice Year of the Snake stamp here. If I remember correctly, the Year of the Snake was 2013 and this stamp was part of a set of 2.
Now it's back to Sri Lanka again. The wonderful old bridge on this card is the Nine Arches Bridge, often called The Bridge in the Sky, is one of the iconic bridges in the country. It is located in Demodara, between Ella and Demodara railway stations. The nine span bridge is 91.44 m in length and at a height of 24.38 m . Construction on the bridge ended in 1921.
Ravindra wrote on this card that he had traveled over the bridge on this same train a number of times. We have a nice selection of stamps on this one. On the left is a previously issued stamp featuring Orion, with a new surcharge for 2016. It is supposed to be a new value of 5.00 on an old value of 45.00 . For the life of me, I can't see it as that - looks like a 5.00 value over a 5.00 value. The center stamp was issued in 2016 and celebrates National Meelad Un Nabi - The Prophet's Birthday. On the right, a stamp from 2017, issued for National Integration and Reconciliation Week, which was held Jan 8-14 .
Here's a card from Albania. It was posted in Elbasan, but is of Berat. Located in south central Albania, Berat is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, dating back possibly to 3000 BC. Berat was inscribed on the UNESCO world Heritage Site list in 2005.
I love it when a card arrives loaded with stamps, as this one surely did. Indrit used 5 great stamps from a set of 25 issued in 2004. The set celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the National Art Gallery in Albania.
We jump over to Belgium for this next card. It's Norbertine Abbey or Tongerlo Abbey. The abbey was founded in the 12th century and is indeed a place of tranquility and peace. The abbey was also known as the home of Tongerlo Abbey Beer. It's no longer brewed at the abbey , but still available elsewhere. I hear it tastes great.
Gerda again used a great stamp on her card. The large one with the Polar Bear is from a souvenir sheet of 5 issued in 2016 highlighting Endangered Animals. I was lucky enough to receive the Rhino and the Gorilla stamps on an earlier card from Gerda. She also used 2 Bird definitives , one from 2007 and one from 2009.
I mentioned earlier about Indrit's card arriving loaded with stamps. Here's another example, this one from Moscow, Russia. I think this card is a Russian example of a Pin-Up card, at least that's what Ivan wrote.
Ivan also wrote that he used stamps featuring the most beautiful women of Russia. The stamp on the far left is from a set of 4 issued in 2010 under the label of Costumes. The other 3 are stamps are from a Costumes set of 4 issued in 2009.
Lille, France is the subject of this next card from Dominique. Lille is a city in northern France, near the border with Belgium. On the card we can see the old exchange place, where old books, old postcards and stamps and other collectibles are sold every day.
Perhaps Dominique picked up these 2 stamps at the exchange. They are both 50 years old, having been issued in 1967. On the left is a stamp commemorating Stamp Day 1967. The other stamp commemorates the upcoming Grenoble Winter Olympics of 1968.
This next card is interesting. It is one from a series called Thailand in the Past. Here we see the Royal Crematorium for King Mongkut at Phra Meru in Bangkok, dated 1869.
Jobbo used 2 fine stamps as always. On the left , from 1999, a stamp celebrating the former King's 72nd Birthday. It is from a set of 9. Over on the right , 1 of 5 stamps in a 2008 set celebrating Children's Paintings.
Well that's just about it for this time, much longer than my usual update, but when you get good cards you just want to keep going and share them with everyone.
So let me just end as I started, with another Newfoundland Town Postcard. This time it's Hickman's Harbour. This small scenic fishing village is located on Random Island in Trinity Bay, on the east coast of Newfoundland.
The card shows a fishing boat catching caplin off Random Island.
One of the recently popular Post and Go ATM stamps from Canada Post was used on this card.
The End - thanks for all of today's cards go out to The Postmasters at Pacquet and Hickman's Harbour, David, Jean Pierre, Ravindra, Indrit, Gerda, Ivan, Dominique and Jobbo.
Take care and Happy Easter to all those that celebrate and Happy Sunday to those that don't. No mail here in Canada on Monday, as there was none on Friday past, that will make it 4 days without a new card. I don't know how I survive.
Cheers.
