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!

Washington Coast, USA

Will close today's update with the Washington Coast...

received this card from Bryon recently, showing Ruby Beach which is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the coastal section of Olympic National Park.
And from the first glance it reminded me of a card I received time ago...see below

Bryon used three great stamps here..two from this year already...the Lunar New Year stamp and the other one shows Richard Allen, as part of the Black Heritage series. The South Dakota stamp was issued in 1989, commemorating the South Dakota statehood.

As I mentioned above, the first glance at Bryon's card reminded me of this one and I was like convinced they were showing the same place until I read that Bryon's card shows Ruby Beach...and that's when I got confused :) See, this card shows the Rialto Beach, which is also in the Olympic National Park...so it seems that there are rocks of this kind all along the Pacific Coast :)

the back of the card here says: "The wilderness beach from La Push, Washington to Cape Flattery is controlled by rules of the Pacific Ocean. There are no sheltered Lagoons. One must climb headlands cross numerous streams, enter cocoons of fog and watch for storm waves that could trap you against sheer cliffs. This beach can be an experience of solitude never seen before".

I received this one from Mary back in 2010 (hides in shame) for the Mini RR at the forum....that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore from what I know =/

Mary used three extra-cute stamps - the Peanuts one was issued in 2001 showing Snoopy. The Sylvester and Tweety stamp was issued in 1998, while Bugs Bunny is from 1997. Sylvester has always been one of my favourite Looney Tunes characters, along with Sylvester Jr. - Sylvester Jr. is just way too adorable!! :)))

thanks a whole lot to Bryon and Mary for the great cards and amazing stamps here!!

Wishing a great cozy Sunday to all...it is a rainy gloomy one here...the Icelandic people would say it is Gluggaveður, or window-weather - the one that is best appreciated indoors :)

 Stay well!

Space Needle, USA

hey, here comes that famous Space Needle, and two cards featuring it, where this first Did You Know card, I have absolutely no idea whom I had received it from nor when I had received it...however, it does contain a number of information primarily about Seattle, so Ill type it for you since Im not sure how well the zoom works on the images here...if there is something incorrect, I ask the Seattleites reading this blog to kindly correct it...thank you ;-)

Seattle, named after Native American Chief Sealth, was founded in 1851 by 5 courageous pioneer families homesteading from Illinois.
Seattle's first industry was timber. Logs from the surrounding old growth forests were skidded down the steep and muddy hills to Henry Yesler's mill on waterfront. This area of Seattle became appropriately referred to as "Skid Row" and the phrase soon took on a new worldwide meaning when it became associated with the seedy activities nearby (have to interfere here but to me Skid Row is a rock band from the 80's of the last century)
Seattle's first buildings were constructed on wooden pilings just above the tide flats. At high tide, a flushing toilet would sometimes cause a gushing fountain in the street, After a fire destroyed most of the city in 1889, city engineers began leveling the hills and raising the waterfront streets. Half as much dirt as was moved during the digging of the Panama Canal was pushed into Elliot Bay. Seattle's past can still be seen on the underground tours in Pioneer Square.
In 1916 when a man named Boeing launched his first float plane, Seattle's huge aircraft industry was born.
The Space Needle, built for the 1962 Century 21 World's Fair, would later become an international symbol for Seattle.
Known for its majestic colourful landscape (and occasional rainfall?) - occasional?? SERIOUSLY??? - visitors are finding out first hand that "The Emerald City" upholds its reputation as one of the nation's most livable cities.

well, no stamps on this one but yet, quite educational...

anyways, moving onto the second Space Needel card....*cough cough*...ok the card is really lengthy so it has suffered its wears and tears...problem is I am not really sure if it arrived this way or the constant moving of postcard bags and boxes around had its contribution *feeling ashamed a bit*

But it is an AWESOME card...with even more AWESOME stamps, sent by one of those Seattleites ;-)

took you a while to scroll till here, no? =)
this is what the back of the card says: "This spectacular view of the Space Needle ® was "painted" with light from a helicopter rising first up one side and then the other side. This 600 foot structure is topped by a revolving 220 seat restaurant, which will make a complete rotation each hour and will afford the visitor a breathtaking view of the lakes, mountains and salt water surrounding Seattle.


Yeah, that's definitely something Id love to see, feeling like being on the top of the world!

btw, this commemorative series is sponsored by the SPACE NEEDLE ®

aaaand...ta-dadaaaa here are the absolutely fantastic stamps!! those who know how much Im into astronomy and everything space related will surely know why im so thrilled about these! I had to put them into extra-large, so I can admire them even more.

this entire block of stamps was issued in 1981, portraying the Space Achievement and Space Flights, like exploring the moon, understanding the sun and comprehending the Universe. Stunning stunning stunning!

And there is of course a matching stamp featuring the Space Needle, issued in 1962 for the Seattle World Expo.

And now of course, the biggest THANK YOU to Bryon the Seattleite for a treat to droll over! Cant express myself how much I love it!

oh btw, if someone is interested in more Space stamps, particularly USSR ones, I posted a couple yesterday on my stamps' blog, so if you want, you can check them out here

Washington Apples, USA

next comes a very cool card from Bryon!

have you heard that slogan, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"? Well, apples are indeed healthy and full of vitamins, plus they are tasty so it shouldn't be too difficult to play along.
The card in a way advertises the Washington apples, since it is the state with the largest production of apples in the US. Now, I have not tried the Washington-produced apples, so I can not give any comments upon them, but I will 'abuse' this opportunity and tell you that in Macedonia you will find one of the most delicious apples too! :)) Yup, the apple is the most popular cultivated tree fruit, and in the total fruit production, the apples cover more than 50%. And with around 280 sunny days a year, our country is indeed a great soil for lots of delicious fruits and vegetables which do not taste like plastic.
Some Macedonian varieties include (names just transliterated): Tetovka, originating from around the town of Tetovo, in north-western part of Macedonia. Then, Karapasha, originating from the Prespa region, and Alamanka, originating from the Ohrid-Prespa region. The Prespa region is in a way the most famous for apple production in Macedonia.
Of course, we also harvest some other varieties, like for example, Jonatan (Jonagold) or Gold delicious, both originating from the US of A :)

and what a great way to seal this card, with apple stamps!! these are just so lovely (what isnt lovely is that the domestic card rates in the US have gone up). How can one even keep track with prices increasing in the blink of an eye?!
This set was issued January 17, and here you can devour a piece of a Baldwin apple, a Northern Spy apple, a Golden Delicious apple and a Granny Smith apple. Some funny names here :)

thanks Bryon!!

Alki Point Lighthouse, USA

this lovely lighthouse came as a surprise from dear Maggie, coz she saw it in my favourites!

Apart from being a lighthouse, i just love the whole picture here; the snowy mountain in the background and the sun reflection against it, compared to the white as snow lighthouse and the light glowing inside....I just LOVE the comparison here!!!

the back of the card says: "the Alki Lighthouse portrays the beauty of the Pacific Northwest"....I wonder how many lighthouses are actually there in the US and how is it possible to determine which one of them EXACTLY portrays the beauty of this or that coast....to me, they are all just outstanding!!!

Maggie used a se-tennant issue from 2010, representing the set of Negro Leagues Baseball, which pays tribute to the all–black professional baseball leagues that operated from 1920 to about 1960.

Thank you so much again Maggie!!

Mount Rainier, USA

Card I received in the favourites tag

The view is just amazing...reminds me of the Alps and Milka chocolate :)
But this is actually in the USA, in the state of Washington...and this is Mount Rainier, which is a massive stratovolcano located 87km southeast of Seattle. is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list, or one of the 16 volcanoes with the greatest likelihood of causing great loss of life and property if eruptive activity resumes.
The most recent recorded volcanic eruption was between 1820 and 1854, but many eyewitnesses reported eruptive activity in 1858, 1870, 1879, 1882 and 1894 as well.

Ehh, who could have thought that something so beautiful could cause such a devastating damage.

and here's how the USPS machines sometimes cancel the stamps....
Apart from the well known stamp with the American Clock, the other two were issued this year...the cute doggy stamp is from a set of 10, called "Adopt a shelter pet"....if I could, I would adopt all shelter cats and dogs to be honest....and the flower stamp is titled 'Love: Pansies in a Basket'

that's all for today, thank you :)

Washington, USA

A lovely map card I received from Maggie who has been very kind to help me each time I got stuck with those Japanese stamps :)

The card is really lovely in colours...well you know...dominant blue, and you have seduced me :)

Here some nice info from the back of the card:

Columbia River System Dams

Installed Generation Capacity (in megawatts)

Grand Coulee   6,494 F                                  Priest Rapids   789
Chief Joseph     2,069 F                                  McNary          980 F      
Wells                774                                        John Day         2,160 F
*Rocky Reach  1,280                                     Dalles              1,807 F
*Rock Island    624                                        Bonneville        1,062 F
Wanapum         831

* - Owned by Chelan County Public Utility District
F - Federally Owned

Hope you got it all right :)

The two stamps on the right come from a set of 10 issued in 2008, called "the flags of our nation". The top left stamp is a definitive from 2004 representing a Chippendale Chair, while the one underneath is another definitive from 2003 showing the American Clock

Thank you Maggie for the great card! :)  

Washington, USA

My last card for today came as a surprise from Chris

I have to say that I am EXTREMELY happy that thanks to some of you, my train collection keeps growing and growing!
On this one, you can see the Skagit River Railway. The Skagit river itself flows both through British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the US, but this scene here is on the US side, between Sedro Woolley and Concrete, Washington. A 48 mile nostalgic scenic trip along the Skagit River.

Aaaand....not so long ago Chris got his postmark permit, so now all postcards I receive by him dont  have that usual USPS cancellation but this special one from Chris, which at least I know will ALWAYS be clear and I wont have to depend on the mercy of the postal clerks if they're gonna give me a nice cancellation or no, or if they will give me one at all :)

Thanks Chris!!!

Washington, USA

This is the last of the set of 5 lighthouses Addis sent me...

It shows the Grays Harbour Lighthouse.......At 107 feet, Grays Harbour Lighthouse - also known as Westport Lighthouse - is the tallest lighthouse in the state of Washington and one of the tallest on the Pacific Coast. Dedicated in 1898, this white octagonal tower and its two oil houses continue to mark the harbour entrance.

 

and the stamps, of course....just that with this new Blogger version i somehow stuggle with the size/placement of the pictures...in the other version, i struggled with other stuff, now those things are fixed but some other issues have popped out...well, at least here are the stamps :))

 

Hahahhahahahaaaaaa...believe it or not, just as i was making this post, i got a call....for some more work to be done...aaaaaghhhhhh....well, at least i got a nice deadline, so i may be able to enjoy making updates here as well (yup, i do enjoy doing this indeed)...i just still havent seen the actual document....some seem as science fiction, for which neither the rest of your life would be enough to make them right...oh well, wish me luck, and keep dropping by...thank you :)