Lots more cards

819 - Sini in Finland has sent me some super maxi-cards.

821 - Ann from Sydney in Australia sent me this beautiful picture of the Sydney Opera House - (another UNESCO WHS) as a thank you for some cards I sent to her.

Lovely wildlife stamps.

823 - My lovely friend Martine - my favourite Corsican - has sent me lots of maps of Corsica.  I doubt anywhere has more map postcards. This one has a charming little pussy cat on it.

826 - Seren in the USA (US-2371932) sent me a picture of her favourite hotel 299 Madison Avenue - the Library Hotel, just down the street from the New York Public Library.

I love all her stamps.

838 - A thank-you card from Andrea, David and Petra in Hungary.  It shows part of a cyclorama which depicts the arrival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin in 895.

839 - Another post-related maxi from Sini.

859 - My Chinese postcrossing friends Dai Li and Feng have both sent me lots of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  This one from Feng shows the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall.

844 - This is another UNESCO site - The Potala Palace in China - from Dai Li.

841 - And another UNESCO site from Dai Li but this is in Cambodia.

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 sq km, and including a forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.

848 - Irina in Bulgaria sends me lots of cards and many of them are the shape of the country like this one.

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851 - Another from Irina - God's Bridge.  It is not a UNESCO site but regarded by many as one of the world's natural wonders.

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907 - My first card from Thailand (TH-145305) - thanks Leedonghee.

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1206  - Rita from Lithuania sent me this wonderful card (LT-341001).

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1212 & 1214 - Virginia from Barbados sent me a number of cards from one of her visits to New York.

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1222 - Monica in Sweden and Danielle in the USA are fellow bloggers and send me lots of cards - they are my most regular swappers and have become friends over the years.  This card from Danielle is really atmospheric.

1221 - Bonnie Jeanne from Pennsylvania sent me a card that I have sent to others - it is from the postcard book 'The Reading Woman' and I love it to bits.

Bonnie Jeanne used these stamps.

1227 - Amit in India sent me this view of The Valley Of Flowers.  I appreciate the scale is probably a bit different but it could easily be a view in the Grampians.

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.

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.