Time to Catch Up

Yes, it's time to catch up here on the blog. I haven't been around for a while , so it's time to get back at it. Let's start this time with a card from the United States. It was sent from Landrum, South Carolina - a small town in the western part of the state. Carol's card shows a New York model from around 1925.

Carol used 2 older stamps  - the 10 cent and the 5 cent ones. These date from the time of much cheaper postage. The other 2 stamps are Forever stamps valued at 50 cents each. Both were issued this year. On the far right is 1 of 20 in the O Beautiful Landscapes set. The other one honors First Responders.

My next card is a Train card for all the railroad nuts out there. All I know about this train is that it is Russian.

Katya used a 2012 stamp. It shows the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wrangel Island, possibly the last place on Earth where woolly mammoths survived.

I like the picture on this next card. A little guy, perhaps a Postcrosser, trying to get his postcard in the mailbox. This is the post office on Taketomi Island, Okinawa, Japan. A nice looking post office for just around 325 people.

This card arrived from the city of Nara, which was a former capital of Japan. The stamp is from 2015 and was issued for International Letter Writing Week.

Now here's a card from Ljubljana , one of Europe's greenest and prettiest cities. David's card gives us a look at the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in Preseren Square. It was built between 1646 and 1660.

David used 2 fine stamps on this card, both Mini-sheets of 1 and both issued this year. On the left is one highlighting Fauna - Domestic Animals. On the right , one celebrating World Bee Day. I truly didn't know there was a World Bee Day. Once again I learn something from my postcards and stamps. World Bee Day is May 20th, the birthday of Anton Jansa who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping in his native Slovenia.

Just three cards to go , so hang in there. Two of the cards were sent by Dominique and the other by Ravindra. Let's look at this first one from Dominique. It's from the Stiftsmuseum in Aschaffenburg. It houses items from prehistoric, Roman and medieval times.

Dominique used a special stamp here. It was released by Kultur in Hessen in conjunction with Deutsche Post to help promote cultural sites in Hessen.

Here's Dominique's second card. It's a look at the Isenheim Altarpiece, an altarpiece painted by Matthias Grunewald around 1515. It is on display at the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, Alsace, France.

Two stamps from 1973 arrived on this card. On the left is a stamp celebrating Stamp Day 1973. On the right, a stamp commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Identification of the Leprosy Bacillus by Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen.

Now it's last card time. Ravindra's card shows Galle Fort and Galle Lighthouse. The fort dates from the late 19th century while the lighthouse was built in 1938. It is 18 m high.

A nice circular postmark cancels the 2 stamps on this card. The top stamp is from 2013 and is one of two issued for the 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The bottom stamp, also 1 of 2, highlights the visit of Pope Francis to Sri Lanka.

That's all for this time. Big thanks for cards go out to David, Katya, Carol, Dominique and Ravindra. Take care and drop by again.