And one more meeting card for today, which is from one of the bigger PC meetings regularly organized out there, and Helsinki is one of those places where some of the International meetings have taken place. I still haven't attended a bigger meeting and on one hand it makes me sad, on the other hand I wonder if people actually have time to chat or is it all just writing and signing postcards... I mean even with the mini-meetings I have been a part of, it is insane how much time the writing/signing cards consumes, let alone an International meeting with dozens of people attending :)
This is from a meeting in Helsinki, that took place on August 3rd, 2013, and I would have to thank Jetske for making sure I received one of these calm winter scenes of Helsinki :)
And here also the Postcrossing Parents have attended and signed my card, so it is even more special to have received this one. The adorable stamp is from a set of 3 Garden Berries' stamps issued in 2013.
Thank you dear Jetske for the card ❤! And to the rest of you for reading! Enjoy the week ahead - hopefully the weather will be on your side :)
A Finnish card I received in 2009...I think that I've been doing well in my attempt to take into consideration more and more cards received long time ago instead of just focusing on the latest ones :)
On the card you can see the Kuokkala Bridge in the Finnish town of Jyväskylä, which is located in the central part of the country.
Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, gave the city the nickname "Athens of Finland". This nickname refers to the major role of Jyväskylä as an educational center, and as the first place in the world to provide education in Finnish.
I didn't know that Athens was like reference to education....for me it just the capital of Greece, and the goddess of wisdom (though her name is Athena, not Athens actually...)
the stamp was issued in 2007 in a set of two Antiques' stamps.
I received this card back in 2012 from Minna as RAS. This is how the main railway station in Helsinki looks like during the snowy winter days...I don't know if it is always so deserted and empty, but sure feels tranquil and if it wasn't (probably) freezing cold, it would be really nice to sit here for hours and find your peace of mind.....
a very, very cute Christmas stamp issued in 1996 in a set of 3 stamps. Love those auroras!!
the last post for today will feature two moose cards from Finland.
FI-2012419
Both of these cards arrived this year and arrived as officials...and what surprised me the most that I realized I have not received moose cards before...and then you just get two different ones :) well, at least they are all different :)
This first one was sent by Malin who says that they are big but peaceful animals that unfortunately are very dangerous due to their size when they run into the road and the traffic...yeah, I have read stories about car accidents involving moose =/
delicious stamp from a set of 3 fruit stamps issued in 2013
FI-2036592
the other moose card was sent by Piipu, who says that in Finland they have a lot of them! well that comes as no surprise since most moose can be found in Canada, Alaska, Russia and, of course Scandinavia.
I once posted a Canadian moose card that you can see here
and here comes an absolutely adorable stamp! yeah, the Finnish just know how to do it! Heart-melting! This cute little bunny is from a set of six pets' stamps issued in 2012!
Btw, I dont know if you can see it well, but the cancellation says '2015' not '2014'...someone wanted to be ahead of time ;-)
well, finally this post comes to an end..hope you enjoyed it at least a bit...I surely enjoyed it a lot...as usual, it's always great to be back after a longer silence.
Hope you are all well! Happy Labour day and happy spring!!
and one more official card for today...and I have to close this update, otherwise im gonna be really late...
FI-1700500
To make it clear...im not all crazy about cute kind of cards..i mean, cute dogs/cats/animals...it's ok to some extent...but cartoons and illustrations, well not my cup of tea really...just on rare occasions...and I guess this card here nailed it into one of those rare occasions...maybe the fact it was sent by a 12 year old kid adds to the overall idea about the card...but still, this little girl on the power lines just makes me smile...and dont overlook the black cat either! I cant really explain it, but as a whole, this card is just so lovely! Not that Im gonna start a collection or something, but it is nice to have this one :)
The illustration is by a Finnish artist called Virpi Pekkala, but since the websites I came across were all in Finnish, I can not give you much info...however, I browsed the google images related to her works...and I must say that the one I have is definitely one of her cutest results :)
I guess you should be familiar with these Finnish stamps...but Repetitio est mater studiorium...so that odd shaped one is from a set of 4 archipelago stamps, issued in 2008. While the other one was issued in 2011, in a set of 5 stamps representing mailboxes...this big structure is more like an entire small post-office though...
ok guys, gotta go! have a nice evening! and dont forget to grab a waffle or two! :)
I got this adorable card from the favourites tag! Just look at this pair of cute children.
if im not mistaken, these traditional clothing should be typical for Inari, the largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official language and the centre of the Sami culture.
And Bear's Den Stone is the English equivalent to Karhunpesäkivi, a place in this area.
I would still need some help from some of my Finnish readers....Anu? Please? :)
well, whether im right or wrong, I wish you days ahead full of love and hugs and kisses :)
the stamp is from a set of two self-adhesive Dahlias issued in 2011.
I know the Finnish issue some of the most unusual stamps...but the last one ive seen definitely beats them all so far...maybe ill get it on some postcard too :)
In the meantime, you can check it out here:
as a whole, it is crazy, no?? and just fantastic. It represents the Sami culture. Übercool!
this is called Pikakala and is considered as a typical fish dish that includes salmon medallions garnished with dill and served with mushroom stew and potatoes.
definitely looks delicious to me, plus it is a light meal, and probably easily prepared.
there is a recipe on the backside about a trout file...but it is in Finnish unfortunately, so I am not able to share it with you...
there are two stamps on the card....the left one is from a set of 4 of those oddly shaped imperforated stamps, this one representing water, while the other one was issued this year in a set of 5 'mailboxes' stamp. Really lovely!! This is a 2nd class stamp. Here, we have no such division of 1st and 2nd class stamps....
a train card i had in my favourites for a long long while....and as it usually happens with this, first you dont have it at all, then you get it twice within less than a month :)
FI-1082170
One arrived as an official, the other one for the Surprise me RR. Im thankful to both thoughtful senders! :)
The thing about this card is that, next to the name of Oulu, stands the year of 1967....so it is very logical to think that this shot was taken back then...which in a way i find it surprising, coz to me it seems like a very modern image...but you know, looks can really fool you sometimes :)
still, whether it was taken nowadays or centuries ago, this is still more than a fantastic card and i LOVE it!
as i said, i got this card twice, and one of them (the official one) arrived with the Kimi stamp! (great combination, no...train card plus Kimi stamp!) Btw, im really mad at Kimi for not going back to F1....not that it matters, anyways :)
the other card came with the 2008 Christmas stamp called "Frosty night"
Well, one more card for today....sorry if you expected more, but there are just so many other things I have to finish...and half the weekend is almost gone =/
FI-1009871
this is a fantastic official card I received, showing train drivers in Finland back in 1908...or 103 years ago! So precious!
Im just not sure where exactly in Finland this is located...my guess would be Helsinki, but I dont really have something to support my assumptions....either way, it doesnt really matter, coz the card itself is just fantastic. So nostalgic too....and somehow back in this time, men so much looked alike....with the mustache most of them were wearing and the way they dressed...and I love these old locomotives...they may be outdated, but they are still so charming, arent they? :)
well, here is this new Finnish stamp that I would never guess it's a stamp if I saw it somewhere at random...probably the most unusual shape of a stamp ive received so far...and I think it is a rather problematic one coz it cant fit just anywhere...however, they are really cute...they are self-adhesive and come from a set of 5 issued for the Valentine's Day this year...called Branches of Friendship...well, it is nice to see Valentine's Day considered as Friendship also and not just as for boyfriends/girlfriends....
Believe it or not, it was over two months that i didnt receive an official card from Finland...I really dont know why, but they simply avoided me...and then this week, i received a fantastic one, from my favourites! Thanks a million to Anne for sending it to me!
FI-956437
The card shows the Santakari beacon (or in Finnish, Santakarin pooki), where the word 'pooki' means a lighthouse or another big landmark without any light.
It was built in 1857 by G.T.Chevitz and belonged to the Maritime Department. When it became the property of the town, it was renovated in 1997. The building is a symbol landmark for nationally valuable cultural environmental sites Niemi-Santakari.
The tower rises 21.5 m from the sea level. It is octagonal and its area is 7x7 metres.
Pooki was not suitable for a lighthouse, because when the ships grew bigger, they gradually moved from the southern passage to Valkeakari passage. There the ships were well guided by the Kylmäpihlaja lighthouse. The Santakari landmark was only serving the users of the Rihtniemi passage. It was, however, still meaningful for the ships coming from further away.
Finland has issued such lovely Christmas stamps! I wish ours were at least half this nice! These were issued on 5 November, showing Santa and reindeer, and both are self-adhesive.
I dont know about you, but compared to lets say one or two years ago, I feel that the number of my received Finnish cards in general has greatly decreased....
FI-815054
This is an official card sent back in May (FYI, the FI id has already surpassed the number of 900,000! Wow! For comparison, Macedonia has just gone over 700 only....what a difference!).
Anyways, the card shows Korkeasaari, which is an island in Helsinki, Finland where the country's biggest zoo is situated.
The zoo is located on a 22 hectare rocky island. It's connected to mainland via a bridge, where there is access to the zoo all year round. A ferry and water buses take visitors to the island summertime from Kauppatori and Hakaniemi.
Korkeasaari is one of the most popular places among visitors in Helsinki. The animals on display are divided geographically to Amazonia, Africasia and Borealia. Animal species number about two hundred, and plant species about a thousand.
The main collection comprises mammals and birds, but even reptiles, fish and invertebrates are on display. (The Amazonia building has an aquarium department.) No big mammals (elephants, giraffes, hippopotamus) are on display, as all warm climate animals must be indoors for wintertime. The collection of big cats is quite good, and the snow leopards born in Korkeasaari are famous.
Two or three times a year the zoo organizes night walks, when visitors can see the big cats and other nocturnal animals in their natural waking hours
So, if you happen to be in Helsinki at the right time, I would surely recommend one of those night visits...I really believe they are worth it!
This map here gives me a summer impression, it feels happy and lively, and has....mhm mhm mhmm strawberries! And everything is so nicely green...i had my doubts between spring and summer but due to the strawberries, summer prevailed.
a nice round-shaped stamp issued in 2009 in a set of two, under the subject of Melting Glaciers.
FI-671803
If the one above showed summer, this one reminds me of autumn a lot....feels like the summer colours have faded away, and its time for harvesting....the colour of the grass feels more autumn-ish than summer-ish or spring-ish.
A lovely Auroras stamp...issued in 2009 in a set of 3, representing Northern lights....well, of course...
FI-705894
And here comes the winter...this one cant be interpreted any other way :)
Funny, but all these three cards came as officials actually...thanks to 3 different considerate Finnish postcrossers!
the stamp is a Christmas one, issued in 2008 in a set of 2 Christmassy stamps :)
Well, I had received a bunch of cat cards so far, and I thought that its a bit pointless to post them one by one, so i decided to post a few altogether with a few words for each of them....and in the meantime, i had removed the "cats" from my wishlist, until a further notice...i really need to find a way to deal with these first :)
FI-567683
a card from a dear forum member, Soilian, which came as an official. Its always nice to receive officials from people I already sort of know :)
And a great stamp! Issued in 2008 in a set of 2, both of 0.80 € value, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Mika Waltari. He was a Finnish writer best known for his novel The Egyptian.
The stamp shows an illustration for a detective novel published in 1940, Komiario Palmun Erehdys or Inspector Palmun's Mistake.
This other cat card came as a part of the WOTM lottery I wont for the month of October :)
the stamp is the quite famous definitive depicting flowers (issued in 2009 in a set of 2)
This one came as a swap....I just really like such cat-dog friendships, esp. when such big dogs seem to be so harmless and cat-friendly :)
I love this stamp too. Its from a set of two stamps from 2009, regarding the EUROPA - Astronomy issue.
DE-321869
My last cat card for today is another official (in case you had noticed, there is some similarity among these cats....and more or less they look like my Kimi....though I must say Kimi is much more adorable....sorry :P)
Another German flower (from 2007), the tulip in particular. The stamp on the right is from a set of 2 issued in 2008 representing Greeting stamps.
A card I got as a surprise from dear Micaela....and which obviously had a nice trip to Macedonia.
I dont really mind it much it got into this condition...still its in one piece still, and its nice to feel a card has really travelled....I WOULD prefer though if postal workers were a bit more careful when handling mail and cards which are out of the regular postcard range.
Here you can actually see a collection of a number of different postcards related to the Northern Lights, and I do own half of them I think :)
here is something to enjoy....you can turn on the speakers as well....the music is nice and interesting
a self-adhesive stamp from a set of 3 issued in 2009, depicting Northern Lights of course. Just makes me wonder, is Finland completely turning towards self-adhesive stamps? What about people who collect used stamps, you cant take these off from an envelope, unless you just want to keep the piece of paper along with the stamp as well, which personally i dont like much....
This picture is taken in front of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on the Independence Day....which is actually today, so thats why i decided to post this card today, thinking it would be the most convenient moment to do so.
The 6th of December is celebrated in Finland as the day of declaring independence from the Russian Empire.The movement for Finland's Independence started after the Revolutions in Russia caused by the disturbances from the defeats of the WWI. This gave an opportunity for Finland to withdraw from Russia. After several disagreements between the non-socialists and the social-democrats about the matter of who should have the power in Finland, the parliament finally declared Finland as an independent state, on 6 December 1917.
well, i would like to use this opportunity to wish a Happy Independence day to all my dear Finnish people, Essi, Markus, Micaela, Essi (another one), Anja, Marja, Katja, Johanna, Kati, Henrikka etc etc etc.....and of coursem Tiina, the sender of this card, without whom i probably wouldnt have made this post today...or at least not with such a perfectly appropriate postcard.
a self-adhesive stamp issued in March 2009, called the Rose Blossom...
ok, i really think i should get down to work....though i so much feel like doing other stuff....
Im starting to feel guilty...since i didnt do ANY of the reading i was supposed to do and which i said i would simultaneously do while writing here...
Actually, i started clearing up my PC and then my keyboard ceased working and then i had to do all the restart and then got carried away with my cats...uhmm, i guess ill just share this last card for today and get down to some work
As you already know, i LOVE the Northern Lights even though i still cant comprehend in a simple human language how they actually work. But i love it that they come in such different colours....this is like someone from above is landing down on Earth....in some movies i had watched, when aliens or just anyone had to come down from the space, such lights would appear to lighten up the way and announce the coming and all.
Btw....i have this card twice....just a few posts before i was talking about this double card issue...when i got it for the second time, of course, a small shadow of disappointment ran over me...but then i saw the stamp (the second one here) and i was WOW...finally i got it :) And i got both of the cards in tags, which still means a lot, knowing that people DO care to fulfill my wishlist :)
this stamp was issued in 2007 and comes from a set of 2 depicting Fine Arts, Classical Architecture, with Antiques as subject
and this other AWESOME stamp which i know many of you know by know, is that famous 3D stamp with the guy on skis who moves down the mountain if you move the stamp back and forth. It was issued in 2008 and comes from a set of 4 depicting Winter Sports, with this one in particular showing Alpine Skiing. It is also self-adhesive (of course)
hmmm, ok...i need to check on the washing machine and do at least a bit of the reading i have to do....thanks for reading!
Well, i coudlnt take it anymore and had to cool myself somehow and had to post this snowy snowy card....its just getting too hot here, and im getting frustrated with it...i just cant and dont function in such heat...i idle and do nothing smart all day long...there are so many things i need to do, but for some reason im getting apathetic again, and just dont feel like doing anything...i often think that i really need to move out from here...i dont know where, no one guarantees that its gonna be different and ill feel much better, but on the other hand, i feel like i need that change in my life...and that i need to be away from a certain number of things and people that surround me here...boy, this sounded so xenophobic! But well, dont worry...it most probably doesnt refer to you, since that number of people doesnt really read this...at least i think so :)
This is Kemi...a small city in Finland, located in Lapland. One of the things this small town is famous for, is that it actually claims to be the home of world's largest snow castle (reconstructed every year with a different architecture). You can see it on the bottom left picture.
I love those snow/ice sculptures people make...sand as well, but i think that ice and snow are much more delicate since they have the ability to melt...so to be able to make an object of snow or ice, which wont change its shape, is really fascinating to me, and due to the characteristics of the ice, they always just look magnificent...
In the Kemi castle you also have a restaurant, a hotel and a chapel....im pretty sure that its a feeling one of a kind to be the guest of such a hotel and to eat in that restaurant...something which i would love love love to visit one day! I dont really know how all that snow endures the lights and how they have the heating issue solved....but you know, i think im gonna tell you all about it one day, from the face of the place :)
and here is my favourite Kimi stamp....this is funny though, a Kemi card with a Kimi stamp...Kemi - Kimi, Kimi - Kemi......hehehehehehehehheee!!!
ok, im off to another attempt to clean my room....lets see how far i get this time...
Morning everyone! Well, its morning indeed! For a CHANGE, i had managed to get up rather early (before 9 am, and that IS early for me) and more surprisingly, i dont feel really tired and all. Lately, ive been feeling awfully tired (i will again probably by tonight coz its gonna be a busy busy day) and my eyes start to close before midnight, and by 1am, i just feel totally incapable to keep them open or to do anything and all i want to do is sleep sleep sleep! Which may not be awkward, but if you knew me better, you would know that i actually barely can go to sleep before 3 am or even later, even if i feel tired, and then, the next day i can sleep for 24 hours if i could....but these past few days ive been having a real problem and could just barely make it by midnight.....I wonder for how long this kind of sleeping routine with me is gonna last....usually, its not much, and i just go back to my 'insomniac' attitude...but well, thats not really the issue of the updates here....all i wanted to say was that even though i need to go to work early, im still able to actually make an update BEFORE i go, coz apart from having time, i even found all the stuff needed for later, so i just feel like i could allow myself to post here...otherwise i doubt i will be able to do it till tomorrow or even Thursday....
and ok, lets get down to some business actualy...how i started, i will end up having no time to actually post the update with so much rant :D
You know that I love Finland and Aurora Borealis and all....but this here, has got to be one of the MOST magnificent Aurora Borealis cards i have seen. Its BLUE!!!! Well, ok, Bluish, but the blue colour is really predomonating and in contrast with the snow and the trees its just amazing! And its a huge card as well! And i just love it!
And im EXTRA EXTRA thankful to Essi for actually sending it to me! It was a great surprise and a very pleasant one! Essi, Kiitos!! :) (if there is one thing i learned with postcrossing is how to say 'thank you' in a number of languages).
I would really love to experience the Aurora Borealis for real one day. I wanna know how it feels...to see the tremor of the lights, to hear if there is some sort of a sound (like the sound of the snowflake when its snowing, which you can best experience when all around is still and quiet...)....i think that its just a unique and one of a kind feeling....worth experiencing!
Ok...i wont bore you with details and facts and theories about the Auroras....ill just put something for you to enjoy...i even think i was able to go a step further in my comprehension of the Auroras in general, after watching this...
