Saint Peter Port, Guernsey

Well, it's been some lousy day today...not that something in particular has gone wrong....it is one of those days when you feel this bad karma around you and you dont feel good about anything...so I need some cheering up...and posting some cards should help :)

and quite a card to kick off...my very very first card from this country which may bring question marks to some like, 'where on Earth is this?!'...well, i was ignorant about it until some years ago as well...but ive had my lesson portion so that nowadays I can actually brag about it :P
Well, first of all I would like to thank my dear Susan for this lovely splendid surprise and for thinking of me in the first place when visiting Guernsey (and Jersey too ;-)) She says that the flight from Jersey to Guernsey is 10 minutes only...now thats rather funny...coz it would take you more time to check-in, go on board, wait for the plane to take off than the actual flight...but i do agree it is worth it coz you can actually see the island from the air, and that is an opportunity one of a kind.

And the card is really lovely...said to represent the Fisherman's Quay....and I like the contrasts...you know, you have boats and small ships...resident buildings....and in the background you have castles (or cathedrals) lurking...or if im not mistaken, one of those might be Elizabeth's College, founded in 1563 under the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.

As for Guernsey (or Bailiwick of Guernsey)...since I havent introduced it to you before....it is a British Crown Dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, Guernsey is not part of the UK; and while it participates in the Common Travel Area, it is not part of the European Union.(which means I need a visa to get here....)

and here is the lovely stamp! One of the three EUROPA forest stamps issued this year...this stamp shows a hazelnut...mmmmm, hazelnuts....would love some right now!

Susan! You are just amazing!! Thanks a million dear!!!  

Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Next comes a fabulous card from New Zealand...showing the National park Tongariro....

I once wrote about it, so you can read some additional details about Tongariro here. The difference is that on this card the volcanoes are under snow which just makes the view extra beautiful...plus here you can see one more volcano, and that is Mt. Ruapehu, which is also one of the most active volcanoes in the world and the largest active volcano in New Zealand, with its highest elevation of 2,797 m.
The back of the card says: "This tranquil photo belies the fact that these volcanoes have been among the most active in the world in the 20th century".

btw, 'aoteaora' (the caption you can see on the card) is the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand

the stamp is from a set of 6 issued this year, under the subject of "kapa haka" which refers to the cultural dance of the Māori people.

The Consistuent Assembly, Lithuania

this card is one of the many dear Inga sent me...

this card is about the Constituent Asssembly which gathered in Kaunas on May 15, 1920. It then took the state's governance upon itself, declaring Lithuania to be a Democratic Republic. The Assembly then drafted the fundamental laws of the Lithuanian State: the Constitution (which consolidated democratic order), a Land Reform Law, and introduced the national currency - the Litas. It also founded the Lithuanian University in Kaunas in 1922. In 1926 president Stulginskis spoke on National Day festival: '...Today we commemorate the greatest event in our Nation's life - the moment, when this Lithuanian nation announced its Independence to the whole world.  In celebrating this event we should remember another, and no less important campaign - the gathering of the Constituent Assembly on the day when Lithuania started administering its internal and external affairs according to democratic parliamentary laws...' [Speeches at the May 5 celebrations]
(from the back of the card).

On the card you can see President Aleksandras Stulginkis, Prime Minister Leonas Bistras and Col. Pranas Tamasauskas, arriving at the May 15 celebrations. Kaunas, 1926
       

Grand Teton, USA

Here is a card which cracked me up in a way

well, there is nothing funny about the card....on the contrary...it is breathtaking...but in case Grand Teton doesnt ring you a bell, i will get down to it later.

The Grand Teton Nation Park is located in northwestern Wyoming, named for Grand Teton which is the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. Records indicate that the first humans arrived here more than 11,000 years ago. Quite hard for me to imagine how LONG ago actually that was....and one of the American tribes related to this place are the Shoshone people.

To be honest, there is just too much info around both for Grand Teton and the Shoshone...and I have difficulties in order to pick details coz they all seem interesting and somehow related to each other so you cant just omit something just like that..so in order to avoid a real 45-minute history/geography lesson, ill let you just enjoy the lovely view...

and here comes the 'funny' moment....Bryon knows that i sort of dread and cringe my teeth at this Grand Teton stamp coz it seems that the majority of my US mail arrives with it...but despite that, he had to send it to me along with a matching postcard....the outcome? A fantastic card and few minutes of laughter....really...I just love those kind of moments...coz I know they are never ill-intended...and having fun is one of the parts of postcard-sending i totally love....and this one really was...I even love the Grand Teton stamp for a change :)

So thank you Bryon...this has got to be one of my favourite postcard moments! :)

Dog-sledging under the Northern Lights, Norway

Well, Ill close today's update with another view to enjoy..

i know it is Norway Im talking about, but im not being biased...I think that wherever in the world this was, I would have loved this card just equally. The northern lights just know how to charm a postcard. I dont know where exactly in Norway this is, but it is not as if it matters after all...

And thanks a lot to Sissel for always enriching my precious Norwegian collection...and for always finding such fantastic cards to send me. Shall I mention how stunned and excited I was to receive an official card from her not so long ago? Yup, postcrossing is fantastic, in case you hadnt known that.....:)

the stamp is from a set of two EUROPA stamps from the Children's books issue of last year, presenting "Grandma and the eight children", books by Anne-Cath. Vestly.

till next time...

Chicago, USA

this great Chicago view was sent to me as a surprise by dear Carol

the back of the card says 'a unique view of the sun setting on Chicago'. And it is a lovely view indeed....problem is, im not quite sure which buildings are exactly portrayed here, so you will excuse me for the lack of information about that and just enjoy the view. 

Barbados

Well, good morning world (or afternoon/evening....depending at what time you read this).
Longish silence again....mainly due to lack of time...plus I was out of town this past week...plus I havent been in my greatest of moods....and though the following 4 cards have been prepared to be posted time ago, it is just now that I have the chance to do so...and well, the problem of not posting for a long while is that cards pile up..new countries as well...and eventually it is more difficult to choose what to post first coz there are so many great cards that I have the itch to post each and every one of them...
For now, I will start with a Barbados card...my first one from this country...and it is Glenn to blame for it :)

And it is a very lovely card indeed, showing a typical Barbadian chattel house...'chattel' means 'movable personal property' and 'chattel house' is a Barbadian slang for a small wooden house that working class people would occupy. The term goes back to the plantation days when the home owners would buy houses designed to move from one property to another. Chattel houses are set on blocks or a groundsill rather than being anchored into the ground. In addition, they are built entirely out of wood and assembled without nails. This allowed them to be disassembled (along with the blocks) and moved from place to place.
Modern chattel houses tend to have a greater degree of permanence, as they are often connected to the electricity mains, and may either have a permanent septic tank or be connected to a public sewer system.

I really like this one on the card...it is so colourful and feels so cheerful and cozy....and the surroundings seem to be quiet...so feels like a nice place to go to and get away from the daily busy life....plus you have a bus stop just in front of your door...im not sure how often does one pass by, but at least you are connected and dont have to worry in case you want to go somewhere else.

and two very nice stamps here....the one on the right is from a set of 4 issued in 2002 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), while the other stamp was issued in 2006, again in a set of 4 stamps, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Cave Shepherd & Company Ltd.

Thank you sooooooo much Glenn for such a great card and stamps and for adding a new country to my collection!

Linz an der Donau, Austria

I got this card for the Autria vs world tag, and it shows the city of Linz...so rather different than the majority of Austrian cards I have in my collection (it is my own fault for the large quantity of Vienna cards)

the card shows the city square in Linz...which immediately reminds me of our city square and the construction works being done to it, but I wouldnt open that story right now....here, from left to right you can see the city hall, the old cathedral and the Holy Trinity pillar, which is 20m tall, marble carved in 1723 to commemorate the town's deliverance from war, fire and plague.

two stamps used on the card...the one on the left is one more common stamp, issued in 2007 in a set of 5 flower stamps, depicting Scotch Laburnum. The other stamp is a really great one, issued in 2009, representing Austrians in Hollywood, and here you can see Fred Zinnemann, an Austrian-American film director.  

Crimea, Ukraine

My last card for today is an official one from Ukraine.

UA-56940

On this card you can see the Dragons and Satyrs in front of the western side of the Massandra palace in Crimea, situated in Upper Yalta and is one of the best architectural monuments of the Southern coast of Crimea. It e was the residence of the Russian Emperor Alexander III. The palace was built in 1881 in the style of Louis XIII, under the French architect Bouchard, so the palace is often called the "Lesser of Versailles". At the palace’s and park’s balconies and terraces there are established decorative vases and sculptures depicting Greek gods, sphinxes, chimeras, satyrs, vases, tall columns, statues and fountains.

three stamps were used on this card...the left one is a definitive issued in 2008 representing a tobacco pipe...the middle one is from a set of 3 definitive stamps issued in 2007, representing a crock, while the one on the right is from a set of 18 stamps from the Fifth & Sixth issues of Definitive postage stamps of Ukraine 2001-2006...this one represents a Sweet Brier.

thanks for dropping by and have a lovely week ahead!    

Folk Clothings, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Well, after they decided to fry my brain today, I decided to put aside everything work related tonight and do something relaxing instead...otherwise i would probably collapse during 5 more hours interpreting tomorrow....quite inhuman and unacceptable...those who have 'been there' know perfectly well what Im talking about...but sometimes you just have no choice...or they dont even give you one..nor they just dont pay you for it....but as long as there are sheep (like me) to be sheared....

Thats why there are postcards to turn to and ease your mind...and the first one came this Saturday as a grand grand grand!!! surprise from dear Pinar....from a very new country to me, and that is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus!!

For a few years back Ive been checking some travel offers to this country....one reason is coz it is rather mysterious to me and not explored enough (or at all)...the other reason is coz I wanted to go there and send out a bunch of postcards coz this is considered as a hard hard to get country! But there, Pinar overtook me and decided to surprise my dear mailbox with this treat! Doesnt mean that I still dont consider going to TRNC one day.

Pinar had chosen such a beautiful card for me! It is so lovely and colourful and it is always nice to see other countries' traditional clothing....the ladies' clothes here are somehow odd...for my eyes at least...cant really explain it why....the boys' clothes feel more authentic..what I love about this card is the moment captured and the girl's smile...so cute and genuine...I wonder if this was as a part of some traditional event, ceremony, holiday...or maybe just getting ready for a regular performance....either way, a lovely card :).

and...here is the stamp! to serve as proof where this card was directly mailed from :)
the stamp is from a set of 2 issued in 2010, regarding the Islamic Conference.
Now, down to the tricky part about Northern Cyprus...as you may or may not, it is a a de facto independent state, recognized by Turkey only...but however, they have their own stamps...which makes it more than worthwhile..but...the Universal Postal Union does not recognise Northern Cyprus as a separate entity, so in case you want to mail something there, it has to go 'via Mersin 10, TURKEY'. Quite confusing that a country is not recognized by the UPU, yet mail sent with its own stamps arrive perfectly well.....

Thank you so much Pinar for such a precious piece of card! 

Ruhnu, Estonia

A card that came from Janek...last year...

It is from the island of Ruhnu, where you can see two churches. The wooden church dates back from 1644 and is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Estonia. The Lutheran church next to it was built in 1912 and is the place where services are currently held.

here are three lovely stamps...the middle and the right one come from a booklet of 8 stamps issued in 2001 under the title "Fairy tales"...the left one is part of 4 stamps issued in 1992, under the subject "Baltic Sea" (all four stamps represent birds)

Thanks so much to Janek for always picking such interesting stamps! And i hope he is doing ok...been a long while since ive seen him around...

Museum of Transportation, USA

An update without a train card is not an update :P And here is a rather unique one....

...or scary as it may appear on first, second, 100th sight :)
This appearance to me is at the same time scary, fascinating and powerful...this is the Union Pacific Rotary Snowplow at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis (Missouri)

from the back of the card: The ultimate weapon in the fight against the snow! This is the world's largest with a 12-ft cutting wheel, which opens to 14 feet with the wings open. Not self-propelled, it needs at least 3 locomotives to push it with an operating speed of 10mph.

Maybe our authorities shall consider of purchasing one of this kind to use it when the snow surprises them and the streets are chaotic...and even though snow is something that regularly happens here in winter, authorities are ALWAYS surprised, and it ALWAYS catches them off guard....

and a bunch of stamps all over the card! among which two I dont really see on my cards...one is the dog stamp from the 'Adopt a Shelter Pet' issue from 2010, while the other 'new' stamp is the flower one at the top right corner, issued in 2004, in a set of 2 'Wedding' stamps.

If anyone has a spare FDC of the pets' stamps, I would love to exchange for those! 

Dellimara Lighthouse, Malta

well, one more card for today....after a train, follows a lighthouse...this time one from Malta

this is the Delimara lighthouse, situated on the Delimara fort. This fort was built between 1876 and 1888 by the British. It is mostly underground, with the fort's main armament mounted in casemates set in the cliffs on the shoreward face of Delimara Point. At the surface it is a polygonal fort, rectangular in outline, with rock cut ditches on three sides, and the gently curving vertical cliff forming the convex fourth side. Ventilation apertures and access passageways are spread out across the face of the cliff, and even out onto the seaward face of Point Delimara.

well, there are plenty of cards in my stocks, waiting to be posted...but I think this will be enough for today...im off into the fresh air a bit..I quite much need it! Stay well!  

Mayotte

Quite shocking how time flies...you just blink, and you realize it is almost two weeks that have past since the last update....where did the time go, I have no idea...even last weekend I didnt seem to have the time to post some cards...
well, seems it's gonna be a busy weekend...I was supposed to go out of town, but I guess that plan goes down the drain...I feel disappointed in a way, but I guess next time....

anyways, before I dive into lots of work again (and maybe some other nice eventful things), Ill relax with some coffee and some cards....where the first one coming from a, for me, new country in my collection...and this time it is Mayotte...well, if it is French related, then it is most probably thanks to Jean-Pierre :)

this card with nice colours shows one of my very favourite scents...her majesty, the `vanilla`!! I LOVE vanilla flavoured stuff (years ago, when I was into the McDonald's thing, I always preferred the vanilla milkshake to the chocolate one....nowadays I stay away from Mc as far as possible...)...I enjoy all sorts of bath foams and body lotions which are vanilla scented...and right now I have three small vanilla scented candles...the only vanilla thing I probably dont like is its concentrate, or in its raw form, coz then I think it doesnt taste even close to the taste it has in ice-creams and chocolates...I guess it is the same as my beloved coconut...

Here on the card you have an example of the vanilla fruit, in dried form, and believe it or not, it is the second most expensive spice, after the saffron...I just am not sure if this card is placed in the right position or if its upside down...but I guess it doesnt make some drastic difference either way...

and here come the precious stamps....with perfectly clear cancellations...they are a part of a small sheet of 4 stamps titled hair-dressings...really cool!

Sapi Island, Malaysia

I received this card back in 2008 from dear Caroline...yeah, embarrassing on how many older cards there are that I have never posted...

This lovely card shows the Sapi Island...one of th five islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park...it is one of those paradise-looking places on Earth. Picturesque place with white sands and crystal clear water.

Have you started making holiday plans? Any particular places youd love to visit this summer? I have no idea about my summer schedule so I cant be making any plans holiday wise...though I really want + need to get away from here.... preferably somewhere rather solitary and isolated, yet, a place which would offer plenty of things to see and visit...you know, the Ibiza kind of holidays are not really for me :) So take me somewhere nice and peaceful please! And make sure there are postcards to buy and a Post Office to mail them at :)

Caroline used two stamps...maybe the bird stamp is something you are familiar with...it is from a set of 8 definitives issued in 2005...the other stamp however, is not something I usually see on cards from Malaysia, and it is a really nice one, so im happy to have it...it was issued in 2008 and comes from a set of 5 stamps regarding the National Angkasawan Programme...this programme is an initiative by the Malaysian government to send a Malay to the International Space Station on board Soyuz TMA-11   

Cherokee Alphabet, USA

One VERY cool card! Which I believe I had received as a swap..in 2009...but im not quite sure...so you see, this is what happens when one delays posting of cards for so long...plus when they are blank on the back...th 'blank' thing means that most probably the card is a swap, however, not always it can be a guarantee coz I had received tags and officials this way too...as well as lovely small surprises...

AGAYUH (a-ga-yuh): Agayuh is an English word for the Cherokee alphabet invented by the Sequoyah. The word is pronounced nearly the same in both Cherokee and English. 'Agayuh' is to Cherokee as 'alphabet' is to English.If a list of words were to be arranged in the sequence of the alphabet, they would be arranged from 'a' through 'b' through 'z'. If a list of words were to be arranged in the sequence of agayuh, they would be arranged from 'a' through 'ga' (down in columns) to 'yah' (yv).

Pronunciation of the Agayuh (in words the pronunciation may be different)

a - as in 'ah'
e - as in 'they'
i - as in 'ski'
g - as in 'go'
o - as in 'note'
u - as in 'true'
v - as 'uh' in 'huh'
ts - as 'j' in 'jaw'

d, h, k, l, m, qu, s, t, w, y as in English

I have to say that this whole explanation from the back of the card made me go 'V'???? However, it still makes a great cool card!    

Charminar, India

Another 2008 card, this time coming from India.

on the card you can see Charminar (in English 'Four Towers'). It is a massive arch built by Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah, in 1591 to commemorate the end of the plague in the city. The symbol of the city is an impressive square monument with four minarets. The monument is a magnificent square edifice of granite, built upon four grand arches facing North, South, East and West. These arches support two floors of rooms and gallery of archways. At each corner of the square structure is a minaret rising to a height of 24 meters, making the building nearly 54 meters tall. It is these four minarets that give the building, its name 'Charminar'. Each minar stands on a lotus-leaf base, a special recurrent motif in Qutub Shahi buildings.

There was this talk of going to India this summer...but I dont think it will really happen...at least not this summer...and we were also advised that the best time to visit the country is actually February/March...so we'll see. The whole idea was to go to Sri Lanka first and from there go to India...a really great way to use the route and see Sri Lanka too...but I guess we'll need to wait for some better times...

Sheep, Ireland

Well, since both of the cards represent Irish sheep, I decided to include them together in one post.

the first card came as a swap...and it shows a fantastic scene of sheep at the Dunquin Pier, on the Dingle Peninsula...quite an interesting path to climb.

these sheep here come from the Derryclare Lough in Connemara...

Have you noticed the beauty of the Irish cards? Not just coz of the scenery...but they simply make them in a way, that these cards look stunning...they have great photography, lovely colours, clear images...I wish our printing houses/photographers paid more attention to this...im pretty sure we would have much more amazing cards to offer.

This second card comes from the Ireland vs Other Countries RR...and arrived written and stamped.

the stamp is probably the most common one you would see on Irish cards..or at least the flower theme is common on the Irish stamps...this one is from a set of 3 Wild Flowers' stamps issued in 2008, representing the Sea aster.

thank you for following, and if you are anticipating Friday as much as I am, im wishing you a great fulfilling weekend!