Tajikistan - My First New Country of 2009

Well my country collection increased by one today. It now stands at 210. I received a postcard from Tajikistan, making it 210 different countries from which I have now received a stamped and mailed postcard. The card was sent around the middle of December by David H, who lives in the city of Khujand. The card shows a couple of Folk Masters carving some wooden bowls, pots and spoons. Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It borders Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the People's Republic of China. It became an independent country in 1991 and has its capital at Dushanbe. As mentioned my card is from Khujand, the 2nd largest city of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Syr Darya River. The city's population is around 150,000. David used 4 stamps, 2 face different. The 3 stamps on the left are from a set of 6 definitives issued in 2007. The stamp on the right was issued in 2005 and is from a set of 12 featuring different fruits. Thanks David.
This now completes the Asia part of my collection. But there is still a big world out there. Depending on what list one uses for completeness, I figure that I still have 46 more countries to go. But as I like to say , 210 is not bad .

One other card arrived today. It is from People's Republic of China and was sent by Postcrosser Jessie. It pictures a bronze statue of a turtle and a snake . I don't know what else to say about it except if the turtle takes one more step, it probably won't matter anymore. Jessie used a number of fine stamps. Starting from the left are 2 stamps, labels or stickers. I could not locate any information about them . They do not show any country name , at least in English and they also do not show a value. Any reader who may know something about these two items, feel free to let me know. The center stamp was issued in 2002 and is from a set of 6 featuring Zhu Da paintings. The next stamp was issued in 2007 , 1 of a set of 4 , featuring the architecture of historical city views. The last stamp, on the right , also was issued in 2007 and is from a set of 6 featuring scenes from the Beijing Opera. Thanks Jessie for this card.

All in all a good day. Any day that I receives a new country postcard is indeed a good day.
Thanks for reading, and leave a comment if you want.

Not A Great Update

Well it's not going to be a great update today. Just 2 cards and really there is nothing special about either. The first one is from Finland and shows a large bell atop a winter garden scene. It was sent by Veronica, a Postcrosser . The text on the card is in Swedish , God Jul och Gott Nytt Ar, and translates as Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year. Why a card from Finland is in Swedish is a bit of a mystery to me . Thanks Veronica. The other card is from The U.S.A. It too was sent by a Postcrosser, Elyse from Seattle. It shows a few trees, devoid of leaves, with just a few red berries and some light snow on them. I may be wrong, but this looks like a photo , not a postcard. Feels like a photo in fact. Thank s to Elyse. Both cards had common stamps , both of which I have showcased in the past.
A slow week for postcards so far.

2009's First Postcard

My first postcard received in 2009 is from Austria. It was sent by a Postcrosser. There is not much to say about the card except that it is a Christmas card styled postcard. I think the most interesting part of the card is the lack of a postage stamp. It has a Austria Postage Paid handstamp with the value of 1.40 .I wonder what the reason for this would be. Did the post office run out of stamps ? Were they too busy to sell a stamp ? Either way, I don't particularly like it. As a collector, I think all mail should have a stamp.
Your comments on this are welcome.

First Post of Year 2009

Happy New Year! How to start off this year? I guess to show the last few postcards from 2008. I have 5 to show from Finland, Poland, Togo and 2 from Germany. First up is Germany. The first card is from a new reader of my blog, Volker Kachele of Stadland , Germany. Volker has a wonderful photography website at vauka.com . It's worth a visit. The card shows a summer beach scene . It is called Sehestedt and is located at Jadebusen. It is on a bay of the North Sea in the north of Germany. The card has 2 stamps , both of which I have detailed before. Thanks Volker for this and keep reading my blog.
The other card from Germany was sent by Nika, who is a Postcrosser. The card shows Laveshaus, built by G.L.F.Laves in Hanover, Germany. Nika used 2 stamps from 2008. The larger yellow one commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ernst Christoffel. The other commemorates the 125th anniversary of the start of Drachenfelsbahn, the railway line in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. Thanks Nika.
Now for a card from Togo. It is my second card from this African nation. It is a city view of Lome, Togo. The card is from 2 U.S. Peace Corps workers there, Kara & Drew. Thanks guys for this great card. Two stamps were used . The stamp on the left is from 1999 and shows a portrait of Bella Bellow. Bella was one of Togo's greatest and most famous singers. Her career was cut short when she died in a car crash in 1973 at the age of 27. The other stamp is from 2007 and commemorates 20 years of the world wide fight against aids. It is 1 of a set of 3.
The card from Poland shows a number of views of Wigry. Wigry is a National Park in the North East part of Poland. Thanks to Joanna, another Postcrosser for this card. Joanna used 2 stamps , including a 2005 stamp showing a church in Sieradz. Sieradz is a town on the Warta River in central Poland. The larger stamp on the right is a 2008 Christmas stamp.
The final card , from Finland shows Helsinki's southern harbour with The Helsinki Lutheran Church on the left. Pino used one of the 2008 , what I like to call , live action stamps , in this case down hill skiing.
Thanks to all for these postcards. As always , your comments are welcome.
Regards

A Card From Brazil

I am showing just a single card today. It arrived on Dec 24th, the last day that we had any mail delivery. Next mail is due tomorrow, the 29th. The card is from Barra do Pirai.It is a Brazilian city in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. It had a population in 2005 of around 94,000 people and is located 127 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro. The card was sent by a Postcrosser living in Barro do Pirai. She used 4 different stamps to get the card to Canada. They include a 2002 issues featuring a trumpet, 1 of a set of 10 showing musical instruments. Next are the 2 Christmas stamps for 2008. The last stamp is from 2005, 1 of a set of 3 featuring different professions.

I also want to show a cover from Macedonia . It is franked with 6 different stamps from the years 1996, 1997 , 2006 and 2008. I am gaining a wonderful Macedonian stamp collection thanks to Ana, who sent a beautiful Christmas card in this cover. Thanks Ana. I just want to mention the stamp on the left . It is from 1997 and features Alpine Skiing. It is just a wonderful stamp.

December 24th - Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas To One and All
Once again as Christmas Day is just about upon us, I want to take this opportunity to wish all my fellow postcard, cover and stamp 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. What more could we ask for ?

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year , Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee , Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo ,Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo

Images Added

Hi there. Just a short note to say that the uploading problem I had has been corrected. I have now added all the images of postcards , stamps and cover for the updates of Monday 22 Dec and Friday 19 Dec. I hope you can now look back and enjoy them.
Cheers!