Turkmenistan

Well, first of all, Happy Easter to all celebrating today! Hope you are enjoying it, along with some nice meals too....this may especially count for those who have been fasting....so it is about time to indulge into something 'forbidden'. Here Easter is next week, so today is just another regular Sunday. And since ive ignored you this past week, ill make it up today with a few nice cards (well, they are always nice actually :))

well, first one comes from the favourites tag....Claus always has in stock some rare countries....i dont know how he gets them all, but it is amazing! And i was really thrilled when he tagged me for this one :)
Well, it was not sent from Turkmenistan, so dont be TOO jealous...but still, the card is just great! I mean, it was in my favourites after all :) And i love cards showing anything traditional!

Now, I couldnt really find some reliable information about the kind of traditional clothes featured on this card...like on what occasions it is worn and from which part of Turkmenistan it originates and such...so if anyone knows, please help. And also, if you have info about the vessel the lady is holding and also the carpet/rug in the background, that would also be very appreciated :)

The Sabah State Mosque, Malaysia

Ive received a number of great cards from Malaysia lately, so it was a bit hard to pick just one for today...but after some eeny meeny miny mo, we'll go with this one

I was actually amazed to see such a grand building being a mosque...reminds me of the majority of cards ive seen from Brunei in way...
It is considered as one of the most outstanding pieces of architecture in Sabah and is a unique combination of prevailing Islamic architecture and contemporary design.
It was constructed in 1974 and can accommodate up to 5,000 worshippers at one time. There is also a special balcony exclusively allocated for Muslim women during prayer time, with room for up to 500.
In case you want to visit it, avoid doing that on Fridays, which is the day of prayer for Muslims.

and im in love with these new Malay stamps...they are just soo cute! The set has 3 stamps, issued this year, under the title 'Yes to life, no to drugs'. They are indeed a number of happy stamps :)

Thanks a lot to Erica for this card!

Still Life and Street, M.C.Escher

Well, Escher is one of my new discoveries...more precisely since last summer in when i accidentally got the chance to watch this video representing his works....i think my eyes were glued to the screen about how cool it was. I fell for the mathematical preciseness of his works and found it unbelievable in a way.

So I was sooo excited when recently i was asked for a swap, and found Escher cards to choose from! I have two so far, and two more should be coming, so im really really happy! If anyone has Escher cards for swap, please contact me! :)

This image here is called Still Life and Street and is Escher's first (woodcut) print of an impossible reality, dating back from 1937. His artistic expression was created from images in his mind, rather than directly from observations and travels to other countries.
This image is a classic example of Escher’s plays on perspective. In it, the horizontal plane of the table continues into the distance to become the street, and the rows of books on the table are seen to lean against the tall buildings that line the street.

And as for Escher, he was a Dutch graphic artist known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.
His real name is Maurits Cornelis Escher, but you will often find him as M.C.Escher, or simply Escher. A genius.

Indonesia

my last card for today comes from Indonesia as a swap with dear Shinta, who sent me this extra cool card which was in my favourites for sooo soo long! I think this is a favourite card of many out there! It is just soo lovely!

These are paper umbrellas and this lady, as the caption says, gives them the finishing touch! And what an artist! She is Japanese and us dressed in Indonesian daily traditional clothes 'sarong and kebaya'.

I used to have a paper umbrella...I think it was with Japanese designs...it was a really nice one, but still, the coulours on these here are so lively and give some fresh look to the umbrellas.

the two stamps on the left come from a set of 6 stamps issued in 2010, representing Cultural heritage, with this one showing a batik. The other two are from the Year of the Dragon stamps, issued this year. Really lovely! Too bad Macedonia does not issue these 'year of the....' stamps....actually, this year Macedonia has issued just one single stamp so far..which is disastrous...but i wont go into details about it here. Hopefully, the whole issue is going to be solved soon.

well again, Happy Easter to everyone celebrating, and a nice happy Sunday to all the rest :)

Osorno Volcano, Chile

well, finally, the silence can be broken! And no, this is not an April's Fools Day Hoax...it is indeed an update :)
Honestly, it is very hard for me to realize that it actually took me an ENTIRE month without an update! must be my record so far (to which im not proud)...but March was simply an extremely busy month, with loads of work to do and a number of other issues....that in a way, im glad it is over
Also mail was VERY slow in March...both ways! I dont know the particular reason behind this, but it definitely annoyed me...i mean, you come home and you are looking for a small dose of happiness...but your mailbox keeps being empty...for days...for a week...so I really hope April is gonna be better... in all the aspects....
today also the weather is simply AWFUL, so there is nothing better but stay at home...and do an update...AT LAST! :)

and first card comes from Chile, sent by Daniela, for the favourites tag

the view is just amazing! i love this contrast of the houses in the green surrounding, with the caped-in-snow volcano in the back!
The card shows the Osorno volcano, which is a 2,652 m tall conical strato-volcano and is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with 11 eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869.
The upper slopes of the volcano are almost entirely covered in glaciers despite its very modest altitude and latitude, sustained by the substantial snowfall in the very moist maritime climate of the region.

there are two really lovely stamps on the card, both issued in 2011.
the colourful one commemorates the centenary of UPAEP, while the mailbox is also from the UPAEP series.

Ybbstalbahn, Austria

this card arrived as a great surprise from dear Earney!

this is the Ybbstalbahn (or the Ybbs Valley Railway) which is narrow-gauge railway of the Austrian Federal Railways with a track gauge of 760 mm, located in the Lower Austrian Mostviertel.
The narrow gauge railway was built in 1898 by the Austrian Society for the local rails and has been operated since 1990 as a vintage train through the local railway operating company.
The one on the card operates from Kienberg through Gaming to Lunz am See.
Kienberg-Gaming is the starting point of the museum railway today and the original terminal of the Ybbs Valley Railway.

Earney was so kind that she also used a lovely train stamp too! the train stamp was issued in 2011 and commemorates both Karl Golsdorf's 150th Birthday and a Centenary of the 310 Class. The flower one is from the set of 5 flower stamps issued in 2007, with this one showing the Scotch Laburnum. Thanks a lot again Earney!

Latvia

well, here is one lovely card from Latvia.

recently I opened a thread on the PC forum, searching for my favourites...and have received loads of awesome cards since then...I just wonder why I hadnt thought of doing so earlier :)
so in case you can help me out too, feel free to check my thread on the forum :)
http://forum.postcrossing.com/viewthread.php?tid=65235

as for what's on the card....all I know is that this is at the Baltic Sea...I really dont know why Latvians are so persistent in not disclosing the names of the places they feature on their cards (unless it is Riga for example..)
But still, this makes a great card and im really happy to have it...I just dont know if I should consider this tree being in tranquility or in loneliness...

the stamp is from a set of four Coat of Arms' stamps, issued in 1994.

Thanks a lot to Svetlana for the great card!

New York, USA

Another card which arrived thanks to my favourites' thread :)

I had this NY scene in my favourites for a long long while, and im really happy that I have it in my collection now! Photoshopped or not, the image is freaking awesome! The full moon reminds me of those werewolf horror movies...
there is a lovely excerpt on the back of the card, from "The Lake" by Ray Bradbury. Goes like this:

"The next day, I went away on the train.
A train has a poor memory; it soon puts all behind it. It forgets the cornlands of Illinois, therivers of childhood, the bridges, the lakes, the valleys, the cottages, the hurts and the joys.
It spreads them out behind and they drop back of a horizon."

the 'train' moment is just so convenient....so thanks so much to Rozanne for selecting just this one for me

and Rozanne also used a bunch of stamps...I guess this increase in the postal rates gives the opportunity for loads of combinations unless you have the stamps with the exact amounts yet.
So here we have, from left to right, the Tiffany Lamp issued in 2008, then the Navajo Jewelry issued in 2006, next to its is the American Toleware from 2007. The fourth stamp is rather new to me and was issued just this year in a set of 5 Aloha Shirts' stamps (really cool!), while the last one is the most adorable to me, issued again this year, in a set of 4 stamps featuring 'Dogs at work'

I Hate Mondays...

and the closure for today...

Indeed! Coz the weekends are just not enough to do all what one wants to do and cant do it during the week.
Though once it starts, the week usually goes by so quickly, and before you are aware of it, another weekend is at the door...I mean, it is hard to believe it that it is already April....time simply flies...unfortunately.

Anyways, i totally adore this card! It is hilarious and adorable! Probably many people feel just like this ones Monday strikes again...

so wishing everyone a nice end of the weekend and a lovely Monday tomorrow...and hopefully see you soon :)