Fountain of Youth, USA

Ok, one more card for today. I don't wanna push myself too far after all this idling :)))

The card shows the Statue of Juan Ponce de Leon, discoverer of Florida and its first Spanish governor from 1513 to 1521, was dedicated on April 3, 1950, the 437th anniversary of his landing in 1513.
Quite a strange number for an anniversary...
As for the effects of the water drank, I cannot vouch, sorry :)

two stamps from that beautiful sheet of stamps featuring the Southern Florida Wetland, issued in 2006.
Another small birdy on the left, from a set of two issued in 1988, showing the grosbeak (the other one shows an owl), and a flag stamp from 1976, featuring the state of Florida (quite convenient, both this one and the Wetlands stamps, related to the card :))


Thanks to Bryon for this card, who is one of the few that regardless of my absence from the blog, feeds my mailbox quite regularly :)

Yeah, that would be all folks for now... might squeeze in another update before the end of the year, or maybe not...one can never predict what turn life will take...

Stay well!

Kilaeua Lighthouse, USA

Next comes a card from Bryon.

The card shows the Kilaeua Lighthouse, on the northernmost point of the Hawaiian Island, built in 1913.
Interestign fun fact about it is that it can be seen briefly in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch, and it plays a more important role in the sequel, Stitch! The Movie. In the film, the lighthouse serves as a rendezvous point where the protagonists are to trade Jumba Jookiba's first 624 experiments (the 625th experiment was taken by Gantu earlier) with the antagonist Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel for Jumba himself. The lighthouse in the franchise was said in the movie to have shut down years ago due to the financial troubles of keeping it running. Towards the end of the film, however, Experiment 221—an electrical experiment that Lilo names "Sparky"— is given the lighthouse as a new home, and he uses his power to make the beacon shine again.

Well, for those of you who have watched it, this may be interesting trivia... i still need to put this on my watching list :)

a number of lovely stamps on the back! Two are from the amazing last year's set of Bioluminescent Life of a total of 10 stamps. The stamp on the left features a firefly, while the one on the right a marine worm. These stamps do not glow in the dark, as some may wonder, but they are highly reflective under white light - something I yet need to test.
The remaining two stamps are quite older - the left one, issued in 1977 shows the Peace Bridge, an international bridge between Canada and the United States - and as the name suggests, it was named to commemorate 100 years of peace between the United States and Canada.
The last stamp is from 1968, simply titled Register and Vote - and I guess it is another self-explanatory stamp as well :)

Las Vegas, USA

Moving a bit over the pond, where some states experienced real polar temperatures resulting in closed schools, offices, airports.

Nevada fortunately didnt make the list, otherwise Im not sure Glenn would have enjoyed that part of his last trip (and Im curious where else he had headed after the Casino adventures :P


Yeah, as he says, more than enough glitter on this card.. speaking of which, recently I was 'lucky' enough to be showered with LOOADS of glitter at a gig I attended. Still I can find specks in my hair :D

And the stamps are very anti-polar too :) Three seashells from the set of 4 issued in 2017.

Trains, Alaska

A bit north now, where we have not one, not two, but three train cards from Alaska! I actually have quite some more train cards from here, but will leave those for another post.

First is the McKinley Express, which as like all Alaskan trains, takes you through stunning landscapes and sceneries. (Blogger keeps underlining my 'sceneries' with red. For a while I thought that I must have been dreaming that scenery has its plural, but it probably is blogger in the middle of some kind of nightmare.

as for the stamps, we have 3 copies of the Toleware stamp from 2007 and the se-tenat stamp from 2012, commemorating the 2012 the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festilval, Washington D.C.

The other two cards show trains in Skagway, and on this one the Thunderbird Diesel crosses the  Glacier Bridge.

More toleware stamps here, as well as one from 2012 commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Louisiana Statehood

Skagway is said to be one of the busies, exciting stops along the Inside Passage but it seems that these train lines mainly serve people who are on some kind of a cruise already and if a free seat remains, a regular mortal passenger may as well enjoy the ride.

and here we have an Inverted Jenny stamp (of course, not the very original one, but the one reissued by USPS in 2013 as a commemoration of the 1918 24¢ Jenny Invert airmail stamp error that shows the blue Curtiss “Jenny” airplane flying upside down within the red stamp frame.

Oregon Lighthouses, USA

There is something really appealing to the eye (at least mine, even though it is short-sighted), when you have a series of postcards on a theme that come from the same designer/publishing house.

And here we have 3 of the kind, showing three beautiful lighthouses that can be found in Oregon.

First is the Cape Arago Lighthouse, first lit in 1934, automated in 1966, and deactivated in 2006. Today, only the third light remains standing, all other buildings having since been demolished. The site is not open to the public, and the entire area is fenced off.
Well good it exists on a card at least...

Four cool stamps, 2 from the set of 4 Paintings issued in 2014 representing artists from the Hudson River School. The first one is by Thomas Moran, while the second one is by Asher B. Durand.
Then below we have the Mariner 10 on a stamp, from a set of two Space Stamps issued in 1975, while the last one is from 1971, featuring the American artist, John Sloan.

Next is Cape Meares, an inactive lighthouse on the coast of Oregon, built and first lit in 1890, while the U.S. Coast Guard permanently switched it off  on  June 25, 2014, as it was no longer considered necessary for safe navigation of the seacoast.

here we have the other two art stamps from the above mentioned issue (here we have the works from Frederic Edwin Church and Thomas Cole. Below we have the two superb stamps from 1971, celebrating a Decade of Achievements for the US in Space. And lets not forget that red stamp, that is from a set of 4 issued in 1945, featuring Franklin Roosevelt

I was about to say that this series could've been called the Inactive Lighthouses of Oregon, but this one proved me wrong, cos it seems to be still active nowadays, the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Being 28m tall, it is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon.
Made in Paris in 1868 and shipped to Oregon, Yaquina Head Light was first lit August 20, 1873, and automated in 1966. It is active with an identifying light characteristic of two seconds on, two seconds off, two seconds on, and 14 seconds off.

Another oldish red stamp, issued in 1958, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Noah Webster (the Father of American Scholarship and Education). Right above it is a very nice stamp from a set of three issued in 1973, presenting the Progress in Electronics. And then two newer ones, from 2014. Two hot rods, or to translate it into understandable English - old, classic American cars with large engines modified for linear speed :))))))))))))))

Kinsey's Locomotives, USA

Next is a meeting card from over the pond! And I just realized that the majority of meeting cards I receive are from Europe, and rarely something coming from a different continent. I guess I just don't know the right people :D

But I surely know the right person for this one :P It is from the meeting in Seattle that took place last July the 30th and the guilty one why I have this card is of course Bryon :) And he made sure to enrich my train cards' collection as well :)
The card shows the Heisler locomotive (rebuilt and regauged by Heisler Locomotive Works) in Redmond, Washington in 1922.

Now I do not really recognize the majority of the usernames, but I do see that people had fun with leaving coffee marks on this one... I wonder why :D They were even kind enough to explicitly tell me about the origin of the stain, so you can see a cappuccino, an americano, a chai and something jam-filled - I guess it is some kind of a cake we are talking about :)

As for the stamps - the red pear definitive was issued in 2017, as well as the sharks ones, which come from a set of 5 (showing the Great White Shark and the Mako Shark), and also we have a stamp commemorating the bicentennial of the American Revolution, issued in 1971.

Well thank you Bryon very much   ❤

Montana, USA

Next is a card from one of the people from my list of 'responsible for keeping my mailbox entertained, whether I am on a hiatus or not'.

At first glance, one may not be fully aware about what this 'enough said' entitles - one could think Montana struggles with some electricity issues, but at second glance, that would mean half of the US does as well - though now with all the Trump's policies, who knows...

But what the author of this card actually wanted to point out was the population density in Montana - at 630 miles wide and 255 miles high, Montana is the 4th largest state but the 44th least populated one, having only seven people per square mile.... yep, enough said, you guys live in tranquility.

lot of cool stamps here. First the older ones. A unique set combining four stamps in a block that contains one overall design. (I am not sure what the exact philatelic term would be for this, it is not se-tenant). This issue commemorates the 100th Anniversary of National Parks and it shows the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, an area that contains some of the earliest sites of English colonial settlement. Issued in 1972.

The forever stamps are from 2017. The se-tennat hockey ones were issued by USPS and is a joint issue with Canada, celebrating the history of ice-hockey. The stamp on the right portrays a modern hockey player, skating on a pond in present day, wearing a modern uniform and contemporary equipment, while the left one shows a vintage player, representing the game's past, against a snowy background, wearing a vintage garb and old-fashioned equipment.

And last we have two definitive grape stamps issued in 2017, for additional postage. Hmm, too many things revolving around grapes lately, and the product thereof...

Thanks a bunch to Bryon for this one! :)))

Fort Lauderdale, USA

Glenn has been on one of his cruises lately, and as always, never fails to send me a card from wherever he is, regularly feeding my hungry mailbox.

This card is from Ft. Lauderdale, which if I got it right, was the embarking point, but seems it has arrived like, the last...  cos just the other day i received one from the Bahamas, saying it was the last stop - but then taking a look at the cancellations something doesnt make sense so I'm a bit confused,  but alas, what matters is that they have arrived :)

Ft. Lauderdale always associates me to my best friend from primary school who moved there back then. To the rest of the world it is this popular tourist destination with plenty of sunshine, lovely beaches at the Atlantic Ocean shores.
It is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict.
Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed: the first was at the fork of the New River, the second was at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the present-day Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third was near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

being disproportionate in size, the cancellations kinda overshadow the stamps and this is the thing that kinda got me confused - when I checked Glenn's blog, it said that he was already back from his cruise at the end of November, but the cancellation here says 04 December, so who knows what has happened.
The stamps are from a series of four Forever stamps issued in 2016, called, Sonbirds in the Snow. Featured on these three are, from left to right: the golden-crowned kinglet (or Regulus satrapa), the cedar waxwing (or Bombycilla cedrorum), and the red-breasted nuthatch (or Sitta canadensis).

Thanks a lot lot Glenn for this, and all the other surprises sent my way!!

New York, USA

Another surprise card, this time from dear Agi and her last year's trip to the US....when I do the math, feels like she's seen half the world so far...I wonder when or IF i will ever achieve that (well whichever way you turn it, she will always be ahead of me anyways :)

The card shows a scene from the Central Park in NY, a place which I don't know, is inevitably mentioned in every single movie set in NY....or at least that's my impression of it :)

It is said to be the most visited park in the entire USA, with 40 million visitors in 2013.  With 341 ha in size, it definitely seems like there is plenty to do and see here.

the stamp is the 2014 Christmas one, showing the Evergreen Wreath.

Hvala ti puno Aginice! :*

Go Green, USA

This last card for today is something I should have actually planted but never really had the heart to ruin it along with the stamps, so it has remained as a nice souvenir :)

This card is part of the Go Green campaign by the USPS, and it says: Small steps can make a big difference for our environment. Be a part of the change. Go green.

Don't throw this note away. Plant and watch it grow! (well I never had the intention of throwing it away, but as you can see, I didn't listen to that other part of the advice either).

 Step 1: Prepare a pot of soil or small patch of garden.
 Step 2: Place card on top and cover with a 1/4" fine layer of soil.
 Step 3: Water daily and allow sunlight.

The card came with three of the Go Green stamps (there were totally 16 in the set), where each one gives you some recommendation of how to Go Green.
Do you practice any Go Green  activities in your every day life? I hope so! :)

I hope Bryon will forgive me I never planted nor smoked this one :D

Hope summer is treating you well guys! Until next time...

Laguna Beach, USA

Well, one more card for today - it all started with a beach so lets ended with one too, this time with one from California.

from the back of the card: Crystal Cove is one of the many beautiful coves that line the coastline of Laguna Beach. These pristine covers make for some of the best swimming in Southern California.

Seems that I am on a streak of surprise cards today, sent throughout the years. Makes me feel kinda special, you know *I wish I had a blushing emoticon here*

Three great stamps - starting from left to right - an amazing The Wizard of Oz stamp! It comes from a set of 4 Classic Film Posters issued in 1990. The middle one shows the Johnny Cash stamp, issued in 2013, while the last one is also from 2013, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of West Virginia Statehood.

Who do I thank for this one?? Well, Bryon of course :) Go and take a look at this cover I received today :D (I'm a bragger, I know :)))

Well, that would be all for today! Have a great weekend ahead! :)

Devils Tower National Monument, USA

Next we are moving onto a card where again I feel as if an apostrophe is missing in the name....hahaha, I don't know, maybe this heat has really started messing with my reasoning :D

This one comes from the Bryon fairy and it shows the Devils Tower, which is one of the most unique formations in the world. It is an laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Mountains
It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from summit to base. Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument's boundary encloses an area of 545 ha.

and as you have realized so far, Bryon never fails on stamps and for this particular occasion he has even found a perfectly matching one! yep, that's right! That violetish stamp on the very left shows the Devils Tower National Monument and it was issued in 1956. Then we have a sort of a matching stamp  - it may not be showing the Tower but it shows a Wyoming scenery, the Teton Mountains in particular, and it was issued in 1990 for the 100th anniversary of the Wyoming statehood. The remaining block of 4 stamps comes from a Wildlife Booklet Issue which consists of 10 stamps and was issued in 1981 - here you can see, in order of appearance, the Zalophus californianus or The California sea lion, the Bison bison or The American bison, the Ursus arctos or The brown bear and the Ursus maritimus or The polar bear.


Thank you Bryon! :))))

Seattle, USA

The last post for today features two cards from Bryon that somehow I can relate to our current political situation...that is the Colourful Revolution that has been ongoing here for over a month.
I know that the foreign media are not really covering this event, so if you are curious to read more about what's going on, you can read the following article that wraps it up nicely

Colourful Revolution in Macedonia


And if you are wondering what's the relation of that Revolution to these cards...well they are also very colourful :)

The first card shows The Gum Wall in Seattle - yep, what you can see here is chewing gums indeed. I find it both super-cool and gross :)
It is a local landmark of Seattle in an alleyway in downtown of the city and was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009 - I mean, what else could one expect =)

Three nice stamps on the backside - the famous American clock is first, while the middle and the last stamp were both issued in 2011 - the first one for the Hanukkah and the latter for the Kwanzaa Festival.

This second card shows something that is also kinda typical about Seattle and that is a bunch of umbrellas in the streets cos of the frequent rains. Maybe it is not fun when it is raining so often, but the thing makes a really cool card :)

another bunch of nice stamps, featuring again the American clock at the bottom, while the top row of stamps starts with a fab George Gershwin stamp from a set of four American Art stamps issued in 1973. The middle one is from 2012 issued for the 100th Anniversary of Arizona Statehood while the last one is also from 2012 for the Distinguished Americans series, featuring José Ferrer, a Puerto Rican actor, theatre and film director.
He was the first Puerto Rican actor, as well as the first Hispanic actor, to win an Academy Award (in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac).

Well, Puerto Rico is a US territory after all...

Thanks a lot Bryon for both of these cards, they were kinda inspiring :)

And it is a bit early, but still, wishing you all a great weekend!

Princeton, USA

So after that Norwegian confession, lets move on to this next card from Princeton in New Jersey that arrived as an official earlier this year.

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from the back of the card:

A look at some of the unique architecture and shops on Nassau Street. The historic Princeton University Campus is located across the street. Here you can also find the Drumthwacket, which is the official residence of the governor of New Jersey.

the USPS Christmas stamp from 2014.

Florida Keys, USA

A great card from Florida that Jean-Pierre sent me from his travels in 2011.

On the card you can see the Seven Mile Bridge coming south from Marathon to Key West and was one of the longest bridges at the time it was built. (1982).
It is located in the Florida Keys, a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost portion of the continental United States.

Whenever I look at this card, it looks like a bunch of light-bulbs had been lined up, lurking from the water.

Three nice stamps here - the George Washington one from 2010, next to whom is Mother Theresa, issued in 2010, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of her Birth, while the third stamp is from 2011, simply titled Jazz.

Thank you very much Jean Pierre!!

Our Old-Time Freight Train Eqpm't, USA

ok, this is like the only newer card for today, sent recently by Bryon....

this is a piece of art by Gregory Lee Blackstock, who among else is well-known for such visual lists...and I must say I find them really cool...kinda remind me of the Novelles Images.

Born in 1946, Gregory L. Blackstock, a retired Seattle pot washer, draws order out of all the chaos with a pencil, a black marker, and some crayons.
Blackstock is autistic and an artistic savant. He creates visual lists of everything from wasps to hats to emergency vehicles to noisemakers. In the spirit of the Outsider art of Henry Darger and Howard Finster, Blackstock makes art that is stirring in its profusion and detail and inspiring in its simple beauty.
He has never received formal artistic training, yet his renderings clearly and beguilingly show subtle differences and similaritiesenabling the viewer to see, for example, the distinctive features of a dolly varden, a Pacific Coast steelhead cutthroat, and fourteen other types of trout.

this particular card shows the "Our Old-Time Freight Train Eqmp't" dating from 2007, done in graphite, crayon and permanent market on paper.

really cool, dont you think?

The Moon stamp issued this year.

Thank you Bryon for introducing me to such a cool artist!! :)

Portland, USA

Next is a cool bikish card from Bryon..

The back of the card says that 'bicycling and rain are two things that Portland is known for'...and well,  as long as you have the right clothing, there is no problem when riding your bike in the rain...the only problem here is the lack of the cycling paths..and the streets and pavements are either in terrible condition or not cycling-appropriate...so by the time you get to your destination you are all wet, despite your rain coat...water is just splashing from all the cracks and holes.... =/

Just recently I realized that I should find a seat cover for my bike, so that when it rains, the seat won't get ruined...since mine is not made of plastic but it is kinda soft, and not so rain-friendly...and looking at this card keeps reminding me of it...so I guess I should be looking at it like more often until I finally get it done :)
Anyways, it's been a nice weather here recently...a while ago I came back from the Cycling Critical Mass - it was a nice ride...esp. now that the weather has gotten warmer but it ain't too hot yet...winter rides are always in the dark and there are not many people...but I think that today there were around like 300 cyclists maybe...yep, we are fighting for our rights...it has been a slow process but there have been some improvements after like almost four years that this event has been regularly taking place.

well, here are a few pictures from today's edition, photo credits go to my neighbour Dimitar.

me and my friend Sašo while waiting for the event to begin

somewhere down the road - the last Wednesday of the month,when the patience of the car drivers, bus drivers, pedestrians is being tested...and they seriously have failed on a number of occasions :)

and a number of nice stamps...and two different cancellations, a red and a black one...cant figure out the date on the black one though...I wonder if both cancellations bear the same date or just wondering whatever has happened here :)
As for the stamps, the bottom one is more or less familiar, the Navajo Jewelry from 2007...as for the rest...first we have one from 1974 from a set of 8 stamps that are part of the Universal Postal Union Issue - the set consists of paintings by different artists, this one is by Liotard. The one next to it shows Chief Josef, and I believe this painting can be found at the National Portrait Gallery - issued in 1968. The last two stamps are from the Vintage Circus Posters' set of 16 issued in 2014.

Thank you Bryon =)

Fort Collins Brewery, USA

Next is an official I received in 2014, and a very very cool card, even though I don't drink beer...

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This card is like an ad for the Fort Collins Brewery in Colorado and as can be seen from this card, they even have beer with bicycles on it....now even though I don't like beer, I may actually give this one a try....just cos of the bike :)

from the back of the card:

Saddle Up. Fat Tire Amber Ale delivers a happy balance of distinctive nutty malt flavours and fresh hoppiness. As a consumer once wrote, "this beer just makes you smile."

and at first I thought 'hoppiness' was some spelling mistake, since it got underlined with red as well, but turns out that is something about the level of the bitterness of the beer or something...

Well if you are ever nearby, you can visit it, they seem to have a nice taverna as well...and later, well just let me know how it was :)

a few stamps here, mostly well-known ones...starting from the bottom with the American Toleware from 2007, then above it, the American Clock from 2003..and then the Navajo Jewelry from 2004 - the other two I dont see that frequently - first is a Christmas stamp from 2007, and then a flower one issued in 2013, showing a Poinsettia.

thanks a bunch to Louise for this super-cool card!

Horseshoe Bend, USA

Next is an official card I received just recently from Cal...

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It shows the Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River in Arizona. It is a horseshoe shaped meander and its rock walls contain variety of minerals, among which are hematite, platinum and garnet.
This place is considered like one of the most photographed ones on the Colorado River....kinda justified...the view on this one is stunning...I can't event imagine how it would be to be actually standing at this spot from where the picture was taken :)

a number of nice stamps on the back....the well-known clock to you all...and right above it a bird stamp from a set of 4 Coast birds issued in 2015, with this one showing the Frigatebird. Then we have a somewhat older stamp, from 1962, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Arizona Statehood. The last one is from the two Vintage Flowers' stamps issued in 2015.