Penny, Bwindi, Nairobi and Gasadalur

Hello again, I'm back with a short update today. It's still winter here with cold temperatures, flurries and lots of snow on the ground. Spring, I don't think it's happening here this year, think maybe we'll  go straight from winter to summer. Of course the good thing about winter is that it's a great time to concentrate on postcards. 
So let's get to some.

I know many of you collectors have heard about the Penny Post, any postal system in which you could send a normal letter for one penny. Penny Posts operated in London, Edinburgh, and throughout the British Empire, even Buffalo, N.Y and Baltimore, Maryland in the U.S. Well my first card today is not about the Penny Post , but the Penny Post Office. It comes from  Penny , B.C. Canada. It is a card showing the Penny Post Office in winter. .  Penny is a community  located between  Longworth and Dome Creek on the north bank of the Fraser River in central British Columbia, Canada. It was established as a station on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914. Penny Post Office opened 1 February 1916 with Nels Pederson as postmaster. Penny was the last  community in Canada that still relied on the railroad for postal service. Sadly, like all good things, it has come to an end. The Penny Post Office was closed by Canada post on Dec. 30, 2013.

Luckily my postcard was postmarked on the last day of service at Penny Post Office. This is thanks to Angie , a Postcrosser who lives in nearby Prince George, ( nearby is like a100 km or so ) . We swapped a couple of other cards which I will show when they arrive. The stamp is a Queen Elizabeth definitive issued last year.

The next 2 cards are both from David's recent trip to east Africa. The first one is from  Kabale, a city in Western Uganda. It is a convenient base for tourists traveling to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. The park is a sanctuary for colobus monkeys, chimpanzees and many birds (such as hornbills and turacos). It is perhaps most notable for the 340 Bwindi gorillas, half the world's population of the critically endangered mountain gorillas.

David used a Bird definitive from a set of 14 issued in 1992, along with 2 triangle shaped stamps from a 2013 set of 4. They commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sikhism in Uganda.

 David's second card is from Nairobi, Kenya. It shows some of the high buildings in the city, including the Kenyatta International Conference Centre ( bottom center ). The airline person in me likes the  " Fly Kenya Airways The Pride of Africa "sign on the building in upper right. 

 
David used 2 stamps from a set of 100 marking the 50th Anniversary of Independence for Kenya. The left stamp shows the lowering of the Union Jack and the right stamp shows the hoisting of the Kenyan flag on Mt. Kenya.

The last card today is from Torshavn, the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands, Denmark.  This beautiful card shows the Falls at Gasadalur . In 2007 Gasadalur had a population of 17, a small place indeed. In 2012 it climbed to 18. The village has been in danger of depopulation since it is hard to reach, to solve the problem in 2004 a tunnel  through the mountains was made so the village could connect to the main road network of Vágar island.

This card comes compliments of Jia Yi Wang of China who was on holiday in the Faroe Islands.
The Butterfly stamp is 1 of 4 in a set issued in 2010. Take a look at the clear cancellation , don't you think every postcard deserves this treatment ?

 
 So ends another postcard update. Thanks go out to Angie, David and Wang for the cards. Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you want. Cheers. 

It's Springtime In Alberta

Yes, the calendar tells me it's spring today, the t.v people say it's spring, but how come the weather department doesn't know ? We are experiencing an Alberta Clipper today,  with snow , blowing snow and reduced visibilities all over. The temperature is - 3 and with the wind , it feels like -12. The next days won't be much better, with temperatures between -9 and -17 with flurries. So I ask - where is spring ?

Anyway it's on to postcards. My first card comes from Pinegowrie, a suburb of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. The card shows Union Buildings in Pretoria. They are the official seat of the SA government and house the office of the President. The Union Buildings  are built at the highest point of South Africa's capital city, Pretoria. They were designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1908, building began in 1909 and was completed in 1913.  In 1994 the buildings were the scene of much jubilation as they played host to the inauguration of former President Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected President, and heralded the beginning of a new era in South Africa's history.

 The Union Buildings were 100 years old in 2013 and as such were the subject of 2 M/sheets of stamps containing a total of 20 different stamps. Bruce used 2 of the 20 on his card. The longer one on the right is a view very similar to the picture on the postcard.

Today's second card comes from Sumy, Ukraine. Sumy is a city on the Psel River in Ukraine.  As of 2004, the city's population was 283,700.  Sumy is located in the northeast part of Ukraine, well away from Crimea , but quite near the border with Russia. Nina's card shows an old Russian steam locomotive.

 Nina's stamps include definitives from 2012 showing Trees and Fruits, along with a stamp issued for EURO 2012 Football.

An A380 Airbus is shown at Frankfurt Airport on this next card.  The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner.
The A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and entered commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. As of February 2014 Airbus has received 324 firm orders and delivered 124 aircraft. Emirates has the most A380s on firm order with 140 as of January 2014. The first aircraft, MSN003, (registered as 9V-SKA) was delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October 2007 with flight number SQ380 between Singapore and Sydney . Passengers bought seats in a charity online auction paying between $560 and $100,380.

Emirates was the second airline to receive the A380 and commenced services between Dubai  and New York in August 2008. Qantas  followed on 19 September 2008, starting flights between Melbourne and Los Angeles in October 2008. By the end of 2008, 890,000 passengers had flown on 2,200 flights totalling 21,000 hours. In February 2009, the one millionth passenger was flown with Singapore Airlines and by May of that year 1,500,000 passengers had flown on 4,200 flights totalling 41,000 hours.Air France received its first A380 in October 2009. Lufthansa received its first A380 in May 2010. By July 2010, the 31 A380s then in service had transported 6 million passengers on 17,000 flights totalling over 156,000 hours between 20 international destinations.
Airbus delivered the 100th A380 on 14 March 2013 to Malaysia Airlines.

 ^{I am happy to say that I have in my collection an A380 First Flight cover that was flown on that first commercial A380 flight, SQ380 / 25 Oct 2007 from Singapore to Sydney. It is compliments of Mr Michael Dodd who carried it on that historic flight.  Michael operates cddstamps and you can find his site here .   Now here's that cover.}

Chrissy used a flower definitive and a stamp commemorating the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. It was issued in 2013 and is 1 of 2 in the set.

Who said " You're deth-picable! " ? If you said Daffy Duck, you're correct and he is the subject of my next card. The card is actually a reproduction of the 1999 U.S. Daffy Duck stamp.

Kim from new Jersey used a number of stamps on this one. The card is a prestamped postcard with the 1999 Daffy Duck stamp printed on it. Kim also used the Wood Duck stamp, the Frederick Douglas 1995 stamp and a Circus stamp.

That is the update for this time. Thanks  going out to Bruce, Nina, Chrissy, Kim and to Michael. Be sure to check out Michael's stamps and covers . I'm sure you'll find something you like.  

Thanks for dropping by. Do come again. Now I'm going out and enjoy spring - shovel the snow that's fallen in the walk and driveway.  

The Great Wall, Edinburgh Of the Seven Seas and More

Hello again. Anyone who read the last installment of this blog will remember I mentioned how many cards on average I receive per day. Well this past week kind of blows that idea up. For this current 5 day week , Mon-Fri, I have received 2 postcards. You know the expression "the cheque is in the mail " , well I'm sure in my case "the postcards are in the mail ".  

So let's get to the postcards I do have. The first is from China and shows the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China . This section is  the most visited section of the Great Wall, approximately 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Beijing city . The portion of the wall running through the site was built in 1504 during the Ming Dynasty . The highest point of Badaling is Beibalou  approximately 1,015 metres (3,330 ft) above sea level.

Bruce used a 2004 Bird definitive , 1 of 2 in the set.

 

Edinburg Of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic Ocean. How is that for an address?
Tristan da Cunha  is the most remote  inhabited archipelago in the world, lying 2,816 kilometres (1,750 mi) from the nearest land, South Africa, and 3,360 kilometres (2,088 mi) from South America. Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.  This includes Saint Helena 2,430 kilometres (1,510 mi) to its north and equatorial Ascension Island  some 3,730 kilometres (2,318 mi) to the north of Tristan. The island has a permanent population of 275 (2009 figures).

The capital, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is regarded as the most remote permanent settlement on Earth, being 1,350 miles (2173 kilometres) from the nearest human settlement, on Saint Helena.

This card is from the Tristan Post & Tourism Department. They used a stamp from 2013 showing some residents returning home in 1963. 2013 is the 50th anniversary of that Homecoming.  The 1961 eruption of Queen Mary's Peak forced the evacuation of the entire population to England.

You know , Tristan da Cunha is on my list. I have a small list of places that I would really love to see before it's all over. Strangely  they are all islands - Tristan, St. Helena, Pitcairn, and Easter Island . A guy can dream, can't  he ?  Of course, there are other places but none seem so exotic or remote as these four. The Falklands were on that list, but I was lucky enough to get there and I loved every minute.

Stand back , we're coming in, is what these gals could be saying. I do like the swimming caps though. I'm sure they will make a comeback.

Marijam from the Netherlands used a couple of Animal stamps, from 2013.

. I think I'll leave it at that today. Thanks for the cards going out to Bruce, Marijam and Tristan Tourism. See you all again soon.

Eight Years of Postcards

The title of this update suggests an anniversary of sorts. It's not today though. Two days ago, on March 9th, marked 8 years of collecting postcards and 8 years of membership in Postcrossing. That's 8 years or 2922 days. In that time I have received a total of 3416 postcards, through Postcrossing and other means. That's a little over 1 per day. Of course some days  I receive more than one , and some days I receive less than one - like none. Yesterday would be an example of a none day.
Today I have a few Postcrossing cards and one non-Postcrossing card to have a look at. Let's start with the non-Postcrossing one. It comes from Bujumbura, Burundi. I mean how often do you receive mail from Burundi , or for that matter , how often do you even say the words - Bujumbura, Burundi ? If you're like me, not too damn often. However , when you have a postcard friend like David, there is always a chance of receiving a card from some exotic place like Burundi. David's card shows a couple of local fishing boats on the beach.

The stamp on this one is from a souvenir sheet of 4 issued in 2012, celebrating Royal Drummers and Dancers.

My next card comes from a Postcrosser named Ramesh in India. Ramesh works for India Post , so I guess he sees lots of cards coming and going. His card is of the new Indian Navy Ship Vikramaditya, an aircraft carrier. She was commissioned in 2013 in Severodvinsh, Russia. The ship has been named in honour of Vikramaditya, the legendary 1st century  BC emperor of Ujjan, India. The aircraft carrier is 284 metres long and 60 metres high and weighs 40,000 tommes. It can carry 24 fighter jets and 10 helicopters, along with a crew of 2,000.

Ramesh used 2 very recent stamps . Both were issued in 2013. The one on the right commemorates the Times of India and the other celebrates Eklavya, a character from a Hindu Epic.

Here's a card from Argentina. It's a card celebrating The Dakar Rally, part of which now takes place in Argentina. From 1978-2007 the rally was known as the Paris-Dakar Rally and was run between Paris, France and Dakar, Senegal. In 2008 the rally was cancelled due to security concerns. The 2009 Dakar Rally  was run in South America ( Argentina and Chile ) .  It has been held in South America each year since 2009. Despite its "rally" name, it is an off-road endurance race, properly called a "rally raid ".

Mariana used a couple of commemoratives and a definitive to move his card along. The top stamp was issued in 2012 to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Tucuman. The middle stamp commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the City of Villa Carlos Paz in 2012. The bottom stamp is a Ceramics definitive from 2008.

The skyline of Warsaw, Poland is featured on this next card. It comes from a Postcrosser who calls himself AAZ.

Aaz used  a couple of Dog stamps from 2006 and another stamp from 2002. The dog stamps are from a set of 5 issued for the World Dog Show , held in Poznan in 2006. The stamp on the left is 1 of 3 in a City Folklore set of 3.

I'm going to call it a day there. Thanks for postcards going out to David, Ramesh, Mariana and AAZ. Thanks for dropping by, please do so often. Later.

Another March Update

Hello again folks. I'm back with a few postcards and stamps for you to have a look at. Let's start with David's recent postcard from his current trip to East Africa. I say current as he was in Malawi only yesterday. His card if from Kigali, Rwanda, the Gem in the Heart of Africa. At least that's what the card says. David's card shows us a Waterbuck, a large antelope found in sub-Saharan Africa. This one is pictured in Akagera National Park. The park covers 1,200 km² in eastern Rwanda, along the Tanzanian border. It was founded in 1934 to protect animals and vegetation in three eco-regions: savanna, mountain and swamp.

 

David used a 2010 stamp on his card. It is 1 of 5 in a set of Paintings issue.

 

My second card today is from another  new reader of this blog . It is Lando from Mexico City. His card is an image of  Our Lady of Guadalupe, or the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is housed ion the Basilica of  Our lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

Lando used a 2006 stamp featuring  Xavier López Rodríguez, better known as "Chabelo",  a Mexican actor and a TV host who has been working on television for over sixty years.

 

Here's a card that arrived from Russia, but it shows a Sabena Douglas DC-7C Seven Seas. It is OO-SFA, the first of ten DC-7Cs delivered to the Belgian national carrier. DC-7cs were built between 1953 and 1958. Sadly, OO-SFA was destroyed in a crash near Casablanca- Cazes Airport on 18 May 1958.  The aircraft had departed Lisbon for a flight to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), in the Belgian Congo. Severe vibration in the number 1 engine forced the crew  to shut it down.   Casablanca ATC was advised that the flight wanted to make an emergency landing there.  At 04:19 a runway 21 approach was attempted, but the aircraft did not touch down. Some 600m beyond the runway threshold at a height of 5m, full power was reapplied. The DC-7 was then seen to climb whilst in a sharp left turn.   At approximately 25m, the aircraft stalled and crashed into buildings and caught fire.  61 of the 65 souls on board perished.

Katia who works in the airport at Moscow used a couple of quite nice Russian stamps, one from 2008 and one from 2013. Here they are again. The one on the left is an Europa issue featuring the Letter. The great looking one on the right is another Europa issue, this time for Postal Transports. 

This next card showing a young lady in a wheat field says on the front  "My Country Ukraine " Let's all hope it stays that way. Ukraine is going through a very difficult time right now , and I'm not at all sure , it's going to end well. Yuliya from Rivne in western Ukraine sent this card and wrote that her city is known for beautiful Amber jewellery . 

Yuliya's first stamp ( on the left ) commemorates the sometimes called  "Forgotten ", first All Russian Olympic Games , held in Kiev in 1913. Her second stamp commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the End of  World War II.

Riga, Latvia is when my next card originates. It says on the card- Riga, Nice Place, I can't argue with that, since I've never been there , but you might want to keep your head down if you are anywhere near all those wires shown on the card. 

Inguna used a couple of 2013 Coat of Arms stamps and a 2013 Iris flower stamp. 

 

I think this is my last card for today. It comes from the Netherlands. It is a Jean Loup Sieff photo from 1974. I don't know the name attached to it, but "Girl Taking a Nap " seems appropriate. 

 

Yvette used 2 stamps from 2011. They are from a self adhesive set of 12 Environment stamps. Not exactly the best set of stamps I've seen. 

There it is , another update to the blogosphere.  Number 562 for me. Tune in again soon, leave a comment, make a suggestion, send a postcard, whatever you like , or do nothing.

March's First Cards

It may be March, we may even be getting closer to Spring, but it's still no warmer here. It'll still freeze your you-know-whats off. Anyway since weather is a federal matter and the feds are always caught up with other things, we take what we get when we live where we do. Postcards, of course I have postcards. Let's start with a helicopter card. I get a lot of plane cards but not many choppers. This one is a United States Army UH-1 Huey. As an armed fighter, troop carrier, medevac aircraft and training aircraft , the versatile Huey supports a wide variety of Army missions. With more than 9,000 produced from the 1950s to the present, the Huey is flown today by about 40 countries. The Huey began arriving in Vietnam in 1963. Before the end of the conflict, more than 5,000 of these versatile aircraft were introduced into Southeast Asia.

This card arrived with a number of Transportation themed stamps. First is the 5 cent 1948 covered wagon of the Swedish Pioneer Centennial issue.The other 4 are Railway stamps. The 2 on the right were issued in 1987 and the lower 2 in 1999.

Today's second card comes from Potsdam, Germany.  It gives us a look at Potsdamer Platz or Potsdam Square. The square  is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about 1 km (1,100 yd) south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag . It is named after the city of Potsdam  some 25 km (16 mi) to the south west, and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the Potsdam Gate.

Dagmar used the 2013 stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig Leichhardt. He was the young  Prussian explorer who went missing in the Australian desert  in 1848 , never to be seen again.

 

Guadeloupe is next. The card was posted at Les Abymes,  the most populated  commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles.  It is located on the west side of the island of Grande-Terre. Pointe-a-Pitre International Airport  is located in Les Abymes. The airline Air Caraibes has its headquarters in Les Abymes. It's Air Caraibes aircraft we see here on this card, on the ramp at Orly Airport in 2004. The aircraft in the foreground is Air Caraibes' Airbus A330 with the registration of F-OPTP . Back in 1998 the aircraft belonged to Swissair as HB-IQB and now since 2010 belongs to the French Air Force as F-RARF. Aircraft do tend to get around. Air Caraïbes is a french airline and is the regional airline of the French Caribbean which comprises two overseas departments of France: Guadeloupe and Martinique. The airline is headquartered in Les Abymes in Guadeloupe.

 

Jean Pierre used a nice topical Bat stamp from 2103. It was also available as 1 of 4 different Bat stamps in a beautiful souvenir sheet . The other stamp a  20 gram letter rate stamp. 

The next card is from Russia and should be of interest to the Railroad / Train card collectors out there. Yes, I know, the same Russia that's in the news these past few days. 

Elena used 2 military  aircraft stamps from 2005. They are from a set of 5. Hopefully no Russian military aircraft will be used anytime soon against Ukraine. 

An 1816 view of Helsinki, Finland is front and center on this next card. Not a lot going on back then. 

Leyla used a 2013 stamp from a set of 3 highlighting different Fruits. 

 

Here's another card from Finland. I don't think this is Forrest Gump's momma but she does seem to be enjoying her box of chocolates.We all remember when Forrest said "My momma always said Life  was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get . "

 

Riina used a 2012 Spring Blossoms stamp from a set of 6. 

I do believe that makes 6 cards for today, my usual number, so I think I'll call it a day. Thanks go out to Riina, Leyla, Elena, Jean Pierre, Dagmar and the sender of the Huey card. I can't quite make out the name. 
Take care, be back again soon.