A resumption… maps, books and a love letter!

Some recent snail mail…

827 - What better place to resume posting than with a handwritten Love Letter from about 1900 from my Austrian friend Renate?

912 - This is a Ukrainian post-box, courtesy of Julia (postcrossing UA-747921).

 It had this beautoful stamps on it.

927 – A card sent by Dai Li from China shows Joseph Roulin, a French postman, by Van Gogh.   

The Roulin Family is group of portrait paintings Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles in 1888 and 1889 on Joseph, his wife Augustine and their three children: Armand, Camille and Marcelle. This series is unique in many ways. Although Van Gogh loved to paint portraits, it was difficult for financial and other reasons for him to find models. So, finding an entire family that agreed to sit for paintings, in fact for several sittings each was a bounty.  Joseph Roulin became a particularly good, loyal and supporting friend to Van Gogh during his stay in Arles.

Here are some more US state maps I have received recently –

566 - Arizona from my friend Carol in Washington.

581 – New Mexico, also from Carol - this is one of my favourite State maps.

 718 – New Mexico from Sarilyn who lives in Texas but has a holiday home in New Mexico. (Postcrossing US-2304232)

661 - Oregon from my friend Arianne who also loves in Washington - another good example of the State map that shows what goes in the different parts of the State.

830 – Oregon from JarieLyn, a friend from Las Vegas

889 – My lovely Belarusian friend Mish had a holiday in Turkey -

887 - And Mish can have a walk here in this park in Minsk during her breaks at work - 

And I have acquired two new friends who have sent me lots of cards – Damien in France and Dai Li in China.  I shall feature some of their contributions soon.

Meanwhile here are some books -

736 - from Viktoria in Voronezh in Russia  (postcrossing RU-1816704)

748 - from Heleen in The Netherlands - a picture of Emile Zola by Edouard Manet -

 

772 - from my friend Danielle in Nebraska who is one of my most regular postcard swappers and who always seems to find exactly the right card for me.    This is 'Girl reading in a sunlit room' by Carl Holsoe (1863-1935).

809 - From Anastasia in Belarus came this postcard by contemporary artist Pino. 

Pino Daeni (November 8, 1939 – May 25, 2010) was an Italian Impressionist book illustrator and artist. He is known for his style of feminine, romantic women and strong men painted with loose but accurate brushwork. Considered one of the highest paid book illustrators of his time, he created over 3,000 book covers, movie posters and magazine illustrations.

These were the wonderful stamps Anastasia found for me.

860 - Another "reading" card from Daniell.  She and I have noted that there are very few pictures of men reading compared to those of women.  And those of men tend to be newspapers rather than books.

 

934 - from Jean-Michel (postcrossing FR - 318375) came this one 

I loved all the stickers and stamps he used on the back ...

935 - Jonnukka from Finland (postcrossing FI-1872109) sees me drinking a coffee and reading a book.  Fairly accurate.  That's what I'm off to do now before bed.....

See you soon...

Starting to CATch up!

I don’t know if I can ever catch up with all the wonderful postcards I’ve received since I last blogged but here is an attempt to do it by CATegory.

562-  I just love this one from Mish in Belarus.  I copied it and then laminated the copy so it can sit on my notice board while the original goes in its album.

 

586 - This little kitten came all the way from Monica in Sweden to say hello to Ivy.

604 - 'The Cat in Whittingron Gardens' by Nigella Bittleson came from Danielle in Nebraska whose cat goes by the delightful name of Chispa. (Chispa is Spanish for Spark.)

620 - My Friend Irina from St Petersburg is another cat person.  This photo is called 'Cats on the window' and was taken by Vyacheslav Andreev.

622 - 'My Friend Vasya' - another cat from Irina.  Sadly this got attacked by the post office machinery so I have 'repaired' the image a bit.  Don't you just love the pictures on the wall behind Vasya?

 654 - Another one from Danielle (and another one the Post Office have had a go at!)

674 - From Peter in Slovenia.

 

This was my first Slovenian card.

And Karen in Canada sent me a couple of cat stamps (564)  with a parrot perched temptingly between them!

Some cards I've sent recently

I’m back!  This first post shows a few of those cards that I have sent out recently.

A selection of cards to an American friend –

To 7 year old Jannic in Germany –

To Kinga in Poland who likes dogs –

 

And a doggy stamp as well –

To Ashley in Canada who likes fashion – a fashion plate showing summer fashions 1836 from Benjamin Read, a London tailor.  The setting is the Colisseum in Regent’s Park opened in 1832.

 And a Norman Hartnell stamp –

A traditional Liverpool view for Kris in The Netherlands -

Anna in Belarus had her card in an envelope –

Because she asked for a couple of coins, if possible –

The card to Anna who likes wildlife –

 

Heleen in The Netherlands is collecting post that shows Doctors in mailart and how one feels about them –

One of the latest issue of butterfly stamps went on Heleen’s card –

Another went on this next card, together with a butterfly stamp from the 1980s –

This card went to another friend.  It’s the sort of card I would love to receive myself (click on it to enlarge it if you wish) -

 

Once I saw this card I knew immediately who I had to send it to –

My next post will show some of the dozens I have received since the beginning of June when I was too ill to post; but not too ill to appreciate the cards.

Cards no 550 - 556 - a little miscellany

Oh Gosh!
 I have not managed to upload any postcard pictures this last three weeks. I am, amazingly, now sixty cards behind. I cannot believe that I have received so many cards in just three weeks. That is an average of over three a day. It makes me wonder if there is any chance of getting this blog up-to-date and, perhaps more to the point, keeping it up-to-date in the future without sacrificing the need to do various other things, like wash my face and drink my morning tea.
And yet some of the cards are so lovely that I really must share them with the blogosphere. So in the future I shall endeavour to do a compromise. This will mean some cards don’t get very much research or description. That doesn’t mean they are any less valuable additions to my collection – they are simply the sacrificial lambs to being able to continue with this blog. Any way, here goes….

Card no 550 – Bryony and Mark 

Dove Cottage, Grasmere

Country Card Sent From: England, GB 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Sheffield 

Date Received: 8th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 77 miles 

Time Taken: 1 day

It seems strange to now be the recipient of family cards from the Lake District having been the sender of so many from there in my youth. Dove Cottage was once the home of William Wordsworth.  I suspect a great deal has changed there since I visited it forty years ago when a few visitors a day was all it received.  Nowadays it has a major Visitor Centre.

Card no 551 – Xiaowen 

Hong Kong Metro map 

Country Card Sent From: China

Place that Card Sender Lives:  Fuzhou

Date Received: 8th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 5,970 miles 

Time Taken: 29 days 

Postcrossing i/d -  CN-911638

This stylised version of the Hong Kong Metro is based on the idea of the London Underground map by Harry Beck (1931) one of the greatest designs of the twentieth century.

Card no 552 – Ashlyn 

Hong Kong Metro map 

Country Card Sent From: Singapore 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Singapore 

Date Received: 8th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 6,834 miles 

Time Taken: 7 days 

Postcrossing i/d - SG-102214

 

Isn’t this a delightful Panda stamp.

Card no 553 – Martine 

Le Ferry-boat, Marseille 

Country Card Sent From: Corsica 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Piedigriggio 

Date Received: 10th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 942 miles 

Time Taken:   days

Card no 554 – Dasha 

Russian Revolution Campaign poster 

Country Card Sent From: Russia 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Moscow 

Date Received: 9th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 1,618 miles 

 Time Taken: 14 days 

The stamps included one of Russia's Winter Olympic's mascots.

Card no 555 – Maaike 

Letterboxes 

Country Card Sent From: Netherlands 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Roden, nr Groningen 

Date Received: 9th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 388 miles 

Time Taken: 6 days 

 Postcrossing i/d – NL-1849420 

Card no 556 – Jo 

Rubens the Cat 

Country Card Sent From: Belgium 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Schoten, nr Antwerp 

Date Received: 9th May 2013 

Distance Travelled: 342 miles 

Time Taken: 4 days 

 Postcrossing i/d – BE-207987 

I like this owl stamp.

That's all for now...