Out With the Old Today -- Last Blog Update for 2022

                               BLOG # 1584 --- Day 311 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                                     GLORY TO UKRAINE

It's that time of year, Dec 31st, 2022 , New Year's Eve.   2023 is just around the corner. 

I just want to thank everyone who sent me a postcard or postcards this past year. I really can't do this without the help of all of you. No postcards -- no blog . So Thank You one and all. I received 323 cards this past year. That's not bad at all . 

I'll start this update with the last card received for 2022. It's from France and was in my mailbox yesterday. It's an Aviation themed card and a new  ( old )  airline in my Aircraft / Airlines Postcard Collection. Here we have a Trans-Union Douglas DC-6, registered as F-BOEX. Trans-Union was a French airline that operated in Europe from 1966 to 1974. It specialised in passenger and cargo charter operations. A total of 704 Douglas DC-6 were built between 1946 and 1974. Many DC-6 still fly or are deemed airworthy, mostly in Alaska and South America.   Besides Trans-Union , F-B)EX also saw service with Alitalia, Air Afrique, Belgian International, Delta Air Transport , Comair and Everts Air. Everts Air in Alaska might be your best bet to see and fly on a DC-6 today. 

Jean Pierre used a stamp from a booklet of 12 , Masterpieces of Art, issued in 2022. 

I was going to sign off here and end the year , but it's still early here ( 1 PM ) so I'll just add a couple more cards that arrived recently. 

Here's a night view of Metz showing the Temple Neuf, built in 1901 . Metz is a city in the northeastern part of France, at the point where the Moselle and Seille rivers converge. 

 

Dominique used a 50 year old stamp featuring French Art on this card. 

Now it's time for today's last card and the last card for year 2022. This one arrived from Luang Prabang, Laos. David's card is a map of Laos and shows some of the sights and people of the country. 

David used 2 stamps from a 2015 minisheet of 4. It was issued to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Luang Prabang on the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

 That's it for today and for 2022. Thanks to Jean Pierre, Dominique and David for their contributions today and all this past year. 

Thanks to all who read this blog and thanks to all who sent cards . It's been a good year. 

                                       H A P P Y                     N E W               Y E A R

                                                   On          To         2023

After Christmas Tidy-Up

BLOG # 1583 --- Day 307 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                                     GLORY TO UKRAINE  

Hey there. I hope all that celebrated Christmas enjoyed the day as much as My Lovely Teena and I did. Christmas Day was great with family and lots of turkey and other wonderful foods. Yesterday, Boxing Day in these parts, was a quiet day as usual. 

Today is a very foggy day with 1 C, with about 500m visibility. 

I have a couple of items to show that will most likely finish off the Christmas theme here on the blog. Of course if anything else arrives I'll certainly show it. 

First up is a Christmas themed card from Belgium. Gerda wished me a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year. I certainly am having a happy holiday season so far and I am looking forward to a great 2023. The card shows 2 Santa's delivering a Christmas card or letter. They seem to be in a bit of a hurry though. 

Gerda used the 2 Christmas Snow Globe stamps of 2022. 
 

Next is this Christmas / Santa card from Monaco. It arrived to me unsolicited , so I don't know who is responsible other than Santa himself.

 

This arrived from Monte Carlo, Monaco however the return address is Santa Claus Village, Lapland, Finland. Perhaps Santa was on vacation prior to Christmas. Santa used a 2022 Europa stamp in the theme of Stories and Myths. 

Lastly I received a Letter from Santa, again unsolicited., addressed to Dear Child. That's me I guess. I won't show the letter, just the envelope. It's from Santa's Office in Libourne, France. The postmark is pretty cool too, Santa-Sleigh, Libourne. Santa made himself the focus of the preprinted postage . 

I like the return address :

1 Naughty or Nice Street, Lapland.

There you have it. Thanks go out to Gerda and Santa, the Man in Red. for their contributions. 

Take care.

CHRISTMAS DAY WISHES FOR ALL

 BLOG 1582   - Day 305  of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

Once again as Christmas Day is upon us, I want to take this opportunity to wish all my fellow postcard collectors , cover and stamp collectors and bloggers , along with all my readers a very Merry Christmas. My Christmas wishes for all of you are again summed up in the 3 Christmas stamps issued by Canada Post in 2007. Hope , Joy, and Peace.














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Cards, Cards, and more Cards !

BLOG # 1582 --- DAY 300 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                            GLORY TO UKRAINE

Hey it's good to be back here again so soon after the last time, like yesterday, no sorry the day before. My production here is way down over the year so I have to blog on as much as possible. 

So here are some more cards from the pile on the desk. It should be getting smaller but it sure doesn't look like it. I'm sure there's an end there somewhere, and I'll get to it sometime. 

Today's first card is from Peru. You know I have been collecting postcards since March of 2006 and this is only my second card from Peru. So I was quite excited to receive it. It resulted from a private swap with a wonderful Postcrosser down in Lima. The card says " Child of the Sacred Valley of the Incas ". The valley is in the Andes of Peru, north of the Inca capital of Cusco. The Sacred Valley is a major tourist destination. In 2013, 1.2 million people, 800,000 of them non-Peruvians, are estimated to have visited Machu Picchu, its most famous archaeological site. 

Francesca used 3 stamps from last year. They show the evolution of the Peruvian Coat of Arms. 

Now we go from Peru to Georgia for a look at Tbilisi's Bridge of Peace. The Bridge of Peace is a bow-shaped pedestrian bridge, a steel and glass construction illuminated with numerous LEDs, over the Kura River, linking the Rike Park with Old Town in central Tbilisi. The bridge opened in 2010 , spans more than 150 meters and cost 7.08 million Euros. It has become an important pedestrian crossing in the city, as well as a significant tourist attraction and one of the most well-recognized landmarks of the capital. 

This is another card from Alena, she's sent me a few cards now these past few months. She always uses great stamps and this card is no exception. The 2 top stamps were both issued in 2018. The left stamp shows a painting by David Kakadadze. The right stamp showcases Georgian writer, poet, journalist and publisher Ilia Chavchavadze. The Fish stamp on bottom is from 2000 and 1 of 5 in a set. 

 

Now we go from Georgia to Spain . Josep & Assumpta's card shows us Sant Pere De Rodes. This is a former Benedictine Monastery in the North East of Catalonia , Spain. The abbey dates from the year 878. It is located in or near the town of El Port de la Selva, a place of about 980 persons on the Costa Brava.

 This card arrived with a nice large stamp from this current year. It commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the Installation of the Sea Level Marker in Alicante.

This time we move from Spain to Germany for two cards. This first one shows us Zugspitze - the so called Top of Germany.  The Zugspitze, at 2,962 m  above sea level is the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmish-Partenkirchen, and the Austria-Germany border runs over its western summit. Three cable cars run to the top of the Zugspitze.

Meelis used a stamp from the Baby Animals set of 2021. 

Meelis's second card is from Trier, a city near the Luxembourg border. The card gives a view of the Weihnachtsmarkt in Trier. This is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany. 

Meelis used 3 stamps here. The left Flower stamp , from 2021 is from the World of Letters set. In the middle is a Flower definitive. The large stamp on the right was issued in 2020 under the heading `Environment Protection is Health Protection `.

This next card is from Maseru, Lesotho, The Kingdom in the Sky. You know since I have been collecting cards I have seen many postcards with people having a rest or a sleep in so many places. On the beach, in a tree, on rocks, in the pan of a truck, just to name a few. Now we have this young guy catching some z`s on the back of his donkey. Whatever works I guess.  

Bruce used 2 Flower stamps from a set of 15. They have 1997 printed on them but my catalogue says they were issued in 1998.  I guess it doesn`t matter. 

This just in  , so no time like the present . A wintery themed card with Christmas wishes from Jean Pierre.  

Jean Pierre used a recent stamp highlighting Mende in the department of Lozere. 

Here`s the last card for today , it`s about time it makes its debut. I had it for a couple of months now. Its theme is `Let postcards travel the world `.My Lovely Teena sent this card to celebrate World Postcard Day, way back on Oct 01st  I know, I know, that`s really tardy. 

Teena used 1 of 5 stamps in a set showing Vintage Travel Posters. 

Well that`s the update for today. I want to thank Meelis, Josep and Assumpta, Alena, Francesca, Bruce, Jean Pierre and My Lovely Teena for all these cards. It takes many people to make a blog entry. 

Hopefully I`ll be back here in a day or two, but the days are really busy  and getting busier.  

Cards from Dominique

BLOG # 1581 -   Day 297 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                                GLORY TO UKRAINE 

Hello again postcard fans. A few blogs ago I filled GemsWorldPostcards with only cards from David. Well today, because I have such a pile of cards still on my desk, I have decided to use only cards that Dominique has sent. So it's Dominique's day today. 

My first card today is from France and shows the Citadel of Carcassonne. This is a medieval citadel that was restored at the end of the 19th century and in 1997 it was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. 

Dominique used a stamp from this year, celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of French writer, poet, playwright and actor Daniel Boulanger. 

This second card is a great view of the Leaning House located at 9 rue de la Halle in Thann in northeast France. It was built in 1594. 

Another stamp from this year was used on this card. It commemorates the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Louis Pasteur.  

Card # 3 --- Here's a view of a village in Alsace with it's cathedral showing prominently in the center of the town.

The stamp on this one is 1 of 4 in a minisheet issued this year. It commemorates the 140th Anniversary of the National Federation of the National Federation of Firefighters of France. 

Card # 4 --- Here we see Restaurant du Caveau du Chatelet , located on the river Lauter in Wissembourg, France. The town is situated between France and Germany. Wissembourg has changed hands a number of times over the years. It was annexed by France in 1648 and then became part of Germany in 1871. It was then back to France in 1919, then Germany in 1940 and finally France again in 1944. That's a lot of flag changing. 

Dominique used a 2022 stamp featuring Guide Dogs for the Blind on this card. 

Next up is a card showing Zweibrucken Castle, located in the town of the same name on the Schwarzbach River. The castle was built between 1720 and 1725. It now houses the Palatine Higher Regional Court.

The latest Postcrossing stamp , from Germany  was used on this card. 

It appears Dominique gets around to many towns and villages. Here's another - Hunspach. This small town , with a population of just under 650, is located in north-eastern France. Many of the houses in the village are of the white walled half-timbered style as shown on the front of the card. Hunspach was voted the " Favorite Village of the French " in 2020 beating out Les Anses d'Arlet in the French Caribbean island of Martinique. 

Dominique used another of the Firefighters of France set which I mentioned earlier.

Time now for the seventh and final card for today. It shows Lubeck Gate. Lubeck is located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. Lubeck Gate was built between 1464 and 1478. Lubeck's city centre is Germany's most extensive UNESCO World Heritage Site. It made the list in 1987. 

That was the last card, now here are the last stamps . The left stamp was issued this year and is one of many in the World of Letters series. The right stamp, issued in 2018, commemorates the 275th Anniversary of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

That's it for this time. Big thanks go to Dominique for all these cards and stamps. 

Take care and we'll do it again soon.