So many postcards.....

 So many postcards, so many lovely smiles they have brought me.

1750 - this view of Germany by night is from Susanne.  what you cannot tell from this scan is that if you tip the card at an angle you get a different picture - a relief map of Germany.  Wonderful.

1749 - Igor, a postcrosser, sent me this card of Cheboksary, the capital city of the Chuvash Republic, Russia and a port on the Volga River. Population: 453,721 (2010 Census).

The Europa stamp theme this year is music and the Russian one of musicians is lovely -

1747 / 1748 - Two cards from Natallia in Belarus.

1746 - And another Belarusian friend, Anastasia, sent me this card and stamp.  The Ice Hockey World Championships are being held in Belarus this year.

1745 -  Arches National Park in Utah has more than 2,000 stone arches.  Thanks Bonnie Jeanne - I think this is the first time I've had a card with a hole in it!  An intentional hole any way. :-)

1743 - My super postcard swapping and blogging friend Danielle in Nebraska sends me lots of cards, all of them fascinating.  This one is from a recent visit she made to Texas.

For the drovers heading longhorn cattle up the Chisholm Trail, Fort Worth was the last major stop for rest and supplies.  Between 1866 and 1890 more than four million head of cattle were trailed through Fort Worth which was soon known as 'Cowtown'.  That makes this chap look rather lonely!

1742 - A lovely card from Heleen in the Netherlands.  It is ironic that I was over the moon when colour photography became accessible to all and now I find the atmosphere of black and white usually so much greater.

This is a Europe music stamp from the Netherlands.

I have just had a lovely letter from Arianne in Washington State.  Her envelope had a lot of different stamps.

Among the many interesting bits and pieces enclosed with the letter were a couple of playing cards -

1741 - I started with a card from Susanne in Germany and will finish with another -

I love that pigeon post card!  It's called 'Racing Pigeon' by Gerhard Gluck, the 65 year old award-winning German caricaturist.

award-winning German caricaturist, 65

And on the back Susanne included a football badge.