May 4th , 2012 Update

Hello once again, I'm back with a few more cards to have a look at. It's May 4th, the fourth day of National Postcard Week. So my Card # 3 is off to Ireland and Card # 4 is on it's way to Turkey. Just 3 more to go to complete my one card a day for every day of National Postcard Week. Hope you are doing something to celebrate too. Now back to the cards at hand.

My first card is just a dandy. A black and white South African Airways card. It gives us a wonderful look at a South African Airways Douglas DC-7B in 1950. Another great addition to my Aircraft on Postcards collection. Thanks Bruce. The stamp is quite interesting. It is from a set of 10 self adhesives issued on Aug 22 , 2008 . They were issued to commemorate The Flowers of Namaqualand, the yearly event where by millions of flowers bloom along the arid West Coast all the way up to the Orange River. Here's what makes them interesting. The stamps have unusual shapes, cut in the shapes of flowers. The stamps also have a wild flower scent contained in microscopic cells that are printed on the stamps using silkscreen. The scent is supposed to last for many years. And believe me it does. Issued in 2008, it still smells of wild flowers today in 2012.

Card number 2 is one that I mailed myself from my recent trip to Cuba. It is of The Havana Great Theatre and The National Ballet of Cuba. The building was started in 1907 and took about seven years to complete. The image of the building is raised from the surface of the card, so if you slide your hand over the card , you can feel all the contours of the building. The stamp is from a 1996 set of 5 ships issued for CAPEX the World Philatelic Exhibition held in Toronto, Canada in 1996.

Now for a look at Card # 3 which comes from Philippines. It gives us a look at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. I have a number of airport cards but haven't featured many in the blog. Willa sent this one along and used 3 stamps from 2011. They are from a set of Marine Life definitives.

Here's a card from Republic of China, Taiwan. It's for all the Railroad, Railway, and Train postcard collectors out there . It shows the Alishan Forest Railway train stopped at Fenqihu, the half-way point of the 86 km railway. The network of narrow gauge tract includes z- shaped switchbacks, 50 tunnels and more that 75 wooden bridges. Now, here's the stamp that Little Seven used, however I couldn't find any details or listing of it.

And, the final card today is from Finland. It's a reproduction of a painting of the Herzogin Cecilie, a German four mast barque , named after German Crown Princes Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg- Schwerin. This barque was launched 22 April 1902 and met her end on 18 Jan 1936 when she capsized and sank. The stamp used is 1 of 6 in a 2011 m/sheet featuring Comics.

I think that's about it for this time. Hope you enjoyed your read here and that you will come back again. Thanks for cards go to Bruce, Willa, Little Seven , Me and a Postcrosser in Finland.

Take care.

Hey, It's National Postcard Week May 01 - 07

National Postcard Week May 01 - 07 , 2012


Hello again. It's May 01, 2012 and that makes it Day 01 of National Postcard Week. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am posting a single card every day during Postcard Week. I'm sure I will post other cards during the week, as a result of my participation in Postcrossing , but each day there will be a specific card sent just to celebrate the week. The first card , # 1 is going to South Africa.

Now let's highlight a few cards. First up is a card showing the death of English balloonist Thomas Harris . He died while flying the balloon Royal George on 25 May 1824. Natasha, from Ukraine used a number of great stamps on this card. In addition to 3 flower definitives there are 2 large stamps. In the upper left is a nice airship stamp showing a Kyiv Airship, issued in 2011. The other large one on the right also was issued in 2011 and is 1 of 4 issued showing Water Mills of Ukraine.
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My second card is from China. It looks like a large dragon atop a pagoda. The stamp on the left and the one in the center were both issued in 1998. The left stamp is 1 of 3 issued for the Lingqu Canal, the oldest contour canal in the world. The middle stamp is 1 of 4 issued for the Lingnan Garden. The stamp on the right is 1 of 5 bird definitives issued in 2002.
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Card 3 and card 4 are both from David, a frequent contributor to this blog. He hails from Ireland but seldom seems to be there. Both cards are from france. This first one shows The Bourges Cathedral , a cathedral dedicated to saint Stephen in Bourges, France. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was inscribed on the list in 1992. David used 3 Marianne definitives and a 2012 commemorative featuring Moulins in Allier department.***********************************************************************************

David's second card provides a look out over La Havre, a city in north western Fance on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. The city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. On this one David used the same Marianne definitives and another 2012 commemorative highlighting the 90th anniversary of The Great Mosque of Paris.


Thanks to Natasha and David for their cards. Also to a998899a for the card from China.

A little explanation might be needed here. I started this update on Tuesday, 01 May. I ran into technical problems with space on Google and Blogger and finally got it corrected today, it is now Wednesday, May 02, Day 2 of National Postcard Week. My second card for this event in now on it's way to France.

Take care , enjoy your postcards and stamps.

Catch Up , Catch Up and Catch Up

Well, I'm finally back , back from a cruise, back from a week in Cuba and now back from a week in Newfoundland. To say I'm tired, tired of airports, tired of lineups, tire of dragging suitcases around, tired of living out of a suitcase, tired of food on the go, tired of different timezones and jetlagged , would be one huge understatement. I am just glad to be back home and will not be going anywhere anytime soon. The worst part of the whole thing is that I lost my camera, I left it on the airplane of the flight from St. John's to Toronto. It's been 3 days now and still nothing from the airline. I guess it's gone for ever. Anyway, I posted lots of cards while I was away, and received lots of postcards while I was away. I have lots of material to work with here on the blog. This blog has certainly taken a beating the last 2 months, with just one update in March and just four todate in April . This is number 5 . I'm sure that May will be much better with updates more often.

I also want to mention National Postcard Week which is just about upon us. It runs May 1-7, 2012. I'm not sure where National Postcard Week actually is observed , possibly England, but I intend to observe it here in Canada. I first mentioned it in my blog of 27 Jan 2012. At that time I wrote how I might observe it and asked my readers how they might take part. This is how I will take part. Each day of the seven days , May 1 - 7, I will mail a postcard mentioning the week, that's seven cards in all , to seven postcard friends. So if you get mail from me off and on, watch out for your National Postcard Week postcard. The cards will be numbered 1 through 7, but not in any order of importance. I also invite any and all that read this to send me a postcard to celebrate National Postcard Week 2012. Mark the postcard as such and when the week is over , we'll see how successful it was. My postal address is over on the left side.


So let's get to a few cards. First up is a card from Julia in Russia . The caption on the back of the card says "View on the Cathedral of Moscow , Kremlin".

I'm not quite sure that accurately describes the picture on the front. What do you think ? Anyway it is a very nice card with a great sunset. The stamp Julia used is from the set of 12 Kremlin definitives of 2009.

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Today's second card is from South Korea. It is a picture of the pavilion in the center of Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul.

The stamp is 1 of 4 in a really beautiful set of Dinosaurs issued in 2011. A set that would be welcome in my collection.

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This next card also comes from Russia and was sent by Sasha. It's a drawing of what people in the 19th century imagined Moscow would look like in the future. Steamboats, airplanes, and a big port in front of the Kremlin, at least that's according to Sasha.

The stamp is one issued for the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi, Russia. The stamp was issued in 2011 and features fast track skating.



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Okay, yet another card from Russia. Angela sent this one and it shows the University Embankment with a view of the Sphinxes.

This card arrived with a couple of large stamps which is often a rarity. Many Russian cards arrive with just definitives, so it's always a pleasure to see one with these large commemoratives . The stamp on the right was issued in 2011 and is 1 of 6 issued commemorating contemporary art. The other large one was issued in 2009 and is 1 of 2 in a set of paintings.












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Here's today's final card. It is from Paulina in Poland. She writes that the photo depicted is called "Their Streets, the House of Ghosts". I leave it to my readers to figure that one out.

And here's the stamps , I have shown them many times in the past, so no comment.





So there you have it. Thanks to Julia, Sasha, Angela and Paulina for their cards. I should be back here again tomorrow to end the month . Take care and Cheers !!

Equatorial Guinea , New Country # 256 Plus Another Mishmash of Cards

Hello again. Well this is indeed a good day on the blog. It is always a good day when I get to introduce a new country in my card collection. Here we go -- Equatorial Guinea, how good is that ? That makes # 256, leaving just 17 more to go. This is the first new country since 03 Jan of this year. And the best part is that I wasn't even expecting it, the sad part is that I don't know who sent it to me. Here's the card. Nothing to identify it as from Equatorial Guinea, other than the postmark and the stamp. It is postmarked from Malabo, the capital of the country. Equatorial Guinea is located in west central Africa. Despite it name, no part of the country lies on the equator, and it is entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, except for Annobon Province , which is 155 km south of the equator. It shares borders with Cameroon and Gabon. The card arrived with a great stamp, 1 of 3 in a 1994 set commemorating the 25th anniversary of man's landing on the Moon.

I just hope that whoever sent this card might read this and drop me an email at gemsworldpostcards@shaw.ca and let me know how they found out about my collection and the fact that I needed a card from Equatorial Guinea. Plus I'd like to say " thank you".

Now for the Mishmash.

Germany -- This is a great card showing not 1 but 2 Super Transporter Belugas. These Airbus A300-600St Belugas are the true heavy lifters of the air freight industry. If you got something big to move, these are the guys that you want. The ones shown on this card are # 3 and # 4 of the 5 built. Igor of www.covercity.de sent this card and his postcard blog Ansichtskarten can be found here . Igor used a wonderful souvenir sheet showing Zeppelin Airship LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin"with a special postmark marking the hundred anniversary of Airship LZ 11 "Viktoria Luise ". Just a great card with great franking.

Ledbury, England---A surprise card from Michael of cddstamps. It shows Market House , which was built in 1617. Ledbury is a thriving market town of 9,900 in rural England. Michael used a 2012 definitive from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic stamp set. They were issued on Jan 05, 2012. They are a self adhesive set consisting of 2 1st class and 2 worldwide up to 20 grams stamps. Michael has a number of websites and blogs . You can find him here, here and here .

Latvia---Another post/mail box. This one from Riga. I never know if these small ones are postboxes to send outgoing mail or personal mailboxes to receive your mail . Perhaps someone in Latvia can let me know. Regardless , it's a good one for my collection. Could even be a German box. The stamp that Silvana used is from 1996. It is from a definitive Coat of Arms set of 4.

Grand Falls Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada---A card showing a picture from my hometown. It is a look at the Pulp & Paper Mill which operated in the town from 1909-2009. It was the a main resource for the townspeople during that time. Although it's difficult to see, the card was posted on Leap Day, Feb 29th of this year. The stamp is Canada's domestic rate Year of the Dragon stamp.

A Submarine From The United States---The USS Cavalla was a nuclear attack submarine, launched Feb 19, 1972. She was 300 feet long and displaced 4,500 tons. The Cavalla was decommissioned on 30 March 1998 and was scrapped by 17 Nov 2000 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. I don't think I could serve on a sub, I'm sure I'd find it too confining. Kate of deltiolog sent this card along and you can find her postcard blog here . We've swapped cards a number of times and hopefully will again. Her stamps on this one include the 2011 George Washington definitive and 1 of a set of 4 self adhesive Working Dogs stamps, issued this year.

The Scottish Tartan---Here we have the Scottish Tartan. This is a reproduction of a Scottish definitive stamp designed by Tayburn, and issued by Royal mail on 8 June 1999. This one is compliments of Jean Pierre and he used a stamp from a 2011 set of 8 featuring The Crown Jewels. Also of note is the special cancellation from Edinburgh for The Queen's Jubilee .

The Lost Bridge---Here we go with today's final card . It comes from Sri Lanka and shows us The Lost Bridge In Arugambay. Ravindra wrote on the card that the bridge was washed away in the 2004 tsunami. Ravindra has a couple of postcard blogs here and here . The 2 stamps used were both issued in 2012. The one on the left celebrates 100 years of Sri Lankan Scouting. The other stamp commemorates Gamini Fonseka ( 1936-2004 ) , a Sri Lankan film actor and politician.

So ends another blog update. It was great to add Equatorial Guinea to the fold and it will give me great pleasure to put a line through that country in my list over on the left side. Many thanks to all who sent cards, Ravindra, Jean Pierre, Kate, Silvana, Michael, Igor and the mystery person from Equatorial Guinea. I hope to know who you are eventually. Take care. See you soon.

No Themes Today- Anything Goes

I thought about going Theme again today, but didn't entertain the thought for long. It's going to be a bit of this , a bit of that and anything else that strikes my fancy. The cards will be as varied at the stamps on them.

Let's start with a card from Portugal. A black and white card featuring an old 1947 Mercedes Benz. An impressive car then , an impressive car now. The Mercedes Benz of today is a sweet car as I'm sure the 1947 model was. I'd go so far as to say, if you can find a 1947 Mercedes Benz today, just buy it. This card is from a Postcrosser who lives near Porto , famous for Port wine. The stamp, sorry , the label highlights 112 the emergency telephone number for the European Union. I guess , the equivalent of 911 over this way. I'm always disappointed when a Postcrosser , or anyone else for that matter , uses a postal label instead of a postage stamp. When I go to a post office I always ask for a stamp , even when sending parcels. Even if it takes extra time , when sending parcels, I still moisten the stamps and stick them on. I guess that comes from a long time as a stamp collector. Anyway I would have preferred a stamp on the card, but what happens in Portugal is out of my control. I am still thankful for the card, so there.

Here's a card from Dili, Timor-Leste. Not a place you get a card from often, so when one arrives you want to share it. This is just my 3rd Timor-Leste card. This one is a view of Dili from off shore. Dili is the capiital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of the country, with a population of just under 200,000. David from Ireland sent the card along , from his recent trip over that way. The stamp on the left and in the center are 2 of a set of 6 issued Nov 28, 2010 for international Biodiversity Year. All 6 of the stamps show reptiles and amphibians native to Timor-Leste. The stamp on the right was issued in 2002 , 1 of 10 issued to mark Independence.
Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa , what can I say that hasn't already been said. This is a beautiful postcard of a beautiful painting. The Mona Lisa, a half-length portrait of a woman by Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world." It is located in The Louvre in Paris. Rumiko from Japan is the sender and she used a wonderful aviation stamp. It is from a mini sheet of 10 different stamps issued in 2010 for the 100th Anniversary of Aviation in Japan. It's a really beautiful sheet and one I would love to add to my collection.

Rum Point, Cayman Islands-- Sounds like a good spot to spend a vacation. Rum Point is located on the North side of Grand Cayman Island . It is an area of beautiful water, great sand and lots of trees if you want shade. It's another card from Jean Pierre who visited the island in March. He used ( on the left ) a 2010 stamp featuring a Catboat, from a set of 6. The 2nd stamp was issued in 2100 and also is from a set of 6 featuring shells.
Here's another mailbox or postbox if you prefer. This one you can find in Taiwan. A nice enough box, don't you think ? One more for my collection. The stamps are a little common , I won't go into them, but here they are.
And the final card for today is The Penguin John Lennon card. It comes from up north, Edmonton way. About 300 km north of here. It comes from Jacqueline who has this blog, " a postcard project" . You can check it out here. She used a 2011 Baby Wildlife definitive of a pair of Arctic Hares. Sadly it escaped the post office's postmark. Yes, it even happens here in Canada.

So ends another update. Hope you enjoyed it . Take care, call again.