A little selection

Some of these are from as far back as August 2013.

757 from Alina from Dneprodzerzhins'k in the Ukraine (UA-702038).  (Try pronouncing Dneprodzerzhins'k after a drink or two!)

And the stamp has this super inkwell on it.

770 A mail carrier in Puerto Rico from Matt in the USA (US-2347235).  Where a card is received as a result of postcrossing I have included its i/d number so that anyone who wants to ‘Favourite’ it can do so.

775 – From my friend Mish in Belarus to whet your appetite.  It reminded her of one of her favourite childhood treats – bread with butter mixed with garlic and salt.  “Yummy!”

Aren’t these fantastic stamps?

776 – Kerilesen from Germany sent me this picture of a motor post vehicle from Berlin around 1900 (DE-2381999).

778 – Also from Germany came this card from Conni (DE-2377477).  Entitled ‘Read’, the photo was taken by Raffaele Celentano.

789 – Simona sent me this from Lithuania’s first ever postcrossers meet-up.  It was signed by all those who attended (LT-313498). 

792 – A Lithuanian postbox – also from Simona.

And a Happy New Year...

I have received so many cards over the Christmas and New Year period that there is no way I can put them all on this blog.  So I have just chosen a couple of my favourites.  The above one (1269) is from Susanne, my friend in Dortmund, Germany. 

This one (1273)  is from eight year old Katya, a postcrosser (UA-900492) in the Ukraine.

It had these super stamps on it -

The above stamp is of a beautiful Russian actress from the turn of the Twentieth Century.  Vera Kholodnaya was the first star of Russian silent cinema. Only five of her films still exist and the total number she acted in is unknown, with speculation ranging between fifty and one hundred.  She died young as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Anastasia from Minsk in Belarus sent me this delightful card - 1223 - which says (in Estonian) 'May your Christmas wishes come true'.

This map of Switzerland - 1201 - came from Michi (CH-174908).

This was the first time I had ever seen a hologram stamp (which proved impossible to scan properly).

 Chloe from the Philippines sent me this direct swap map - 1208 -

 
 Books, of course, feature on a lot of my cards.  This one - 1195 - from Danielle in Nebraska is by Katsuhisa Toda and is entitled 'The Key'.

 Bonnie Jeanne sent me this Reading Woman card  - 1222 - which is one of my favourites.  By Edouard Gelhay it is entitled 'Elegant Women in a Library'.

 Kate, a teacher from Russia, sent me this postcrossing card (RU-2247373) from my favourites - 1205.

We have had a mild winter so far but there are floods across the whole country (100 flood warnings last night alone).  So the title of this card from Danielle - "Mail in all conditions" - seems quite appropriate even if we haven't had the snow yet.  Meanwhile Danielle and much of North America is freezing.

Many of my Christmas postcards featured Santa Claus in his various guises but on this one from Monica tomten knocks on the door on Christmas Eve while the family are gathered at the table rather than sneaking down the chimney overnight.

 The postal services have been extra busy over the last few weeks  as 1197 from Heleen in The Netherlands shows.

Heleen used one of the best postal services stamps I have seen yet -

Natalya, a Russian civil engineering student and postcrosser (RU-2236074), sent me this Happy New Year Card (1191) and I am happy to pass on those same wishes to you...

I have been so lucky.  And I haven't even shown you my New York cards from Virginia, my cards of India from Amit,  or my Chinese cards from Dai Li yet...

1172 - 1184 with Christmas wishes

1172 – From Dai Li in China.  I always like envelopes from China – they are so attractive.  And in this one was the Chinese red envelope (紅包, hóngbāo). 

And a beautiful miniature stamp sheet.

1173 – From Annina in snowy Finland (FI-1955477), a snowy painting by Arvo Laihonen.  It is entitled Lentävä lammas which according to Google Translate means ‘Flying sheep’.  Somehow I doubt that’s what it really means but then again Lammas in English is 1^st August so it surely doesn’t mean that either.

1174 – My first card from Macedonia and the 54^th country that I have received cards from. It’s always a real thrill to get a card from a new country.

  

And this postcrossing card (MK-4177) from Iva was made even more perfect by being a map.

And its stamps.

1176 – From Maryna in the Ukraine (UA-865355) came this work of art from Canadian illustrator, Claudia Tremblay.  There are some more of her lovely works on her blog.

And its stamp.

1177 – From Kasia in Poland (PL-812166) a map of the natural history of Malopolska.

Małopolska or Lesser Poland (also Little Poland) is a historical region of Poland; its capital is the city Kraków. It forms the southern part of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland. Historical Lesser Poland is much bigger than the current voivodeship which bears its name, stretching from Częstochowa in the west to the lands northeast of Lublin in the east. In the late Middle Ages, Lesser Poland gradually became the centre of Polish statehood, with Kraków being the capital of the country from the mid-11th century until 1596.

The card had stamps and a perfect miniature stamp sheet

And this lovely little sticker with the clever addition of arms and legs.  Postcrossers are often so imaginative and take so much trouble.

What more could one ask for from a card?  Daughter-who-takes-photos also thought it was absolutely super.

1178 – A Christmas card from Siggi in Germany which Daughter-who-takes-photos thought was lovely too. 

 

1179 – From Chris (the Flamblogger) came this view of Oceanside, California. 

1180 – From Germany with Susanne’s usual delightful patterns and stickers on the back –

 

1181 - I can't get used to cards which say the children are excited 'for Santa to visit and for summer break.  It goes against all my innate logic to have a Santa who comes arrives in the summer but that's what happens in Jamie's world down under!

1182 – Although this card is labelled Tokyo it came from Nelly, Hugo and Theo in France with Christmas and New Year wishes.

1183 – These Greenfinches came from a German postcrosser, Gisela (DE-2732108).

 

1184 – MaryLou and Greg in the San Diego, California (US-2541193), sent me this postcard of the lovely Audrey Hepburn.

520 – Girl in Ukrainian national costume

Card no 520 - Tanya 

Painting by Kateryna Biletina

Country Card Sent From: Ukraine 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Lviv 

Date Received: 27th April 2013 

Distance Travelled: 1,176 miles 

Time Taken: 10 days 

 Postcrossing i/d - UA-579727

Kateryna Biletina (sorry - link now dead) studied at the Odessa Art College and then the Kiev Academy of Fine Arts. She is a well-known book illustrator and portrait painter. She paints well known people and then dresses them in traditional costume. I don't know what the musical instrument is that the girl is playing.

"The girls portrayed in these pictures do not wear national costumes in real life but you should see how they change in these costumes! I asked my friends and acquaintances to bring me what they had at home and they brought a lot of ribbons, necklaces, shirts and chemises. It appears practically everyone has grandmothers’ chemises in the far corners of the family wardrobes." 

The stamps included both a lovely acorn and oak leaf one and an appropriate girl in traditional costume.