Happy New Year 2018 and Welcome Back Here :)

*cough cough cough* (clears throat)

Well, hello hello hello out there! Oh yeah, look who's finally back! :D
You still can't believe it right? Me neither! What I esp. cannot believe is that it has been more than a year since I've done a real postcards-related post here - all those yada dada's don't count to the actual contribution to this blog, but frankly, I didn't expect that the whole Photobucket issue would end up being so demotivating in the end. But truth is, it was, cos the entire starting-things-from-scratch was so tedious, that I just never really got down to it. All the time I kinda secretly hoped that maybe Photobucket would get back to its senses and at LEAST let us unfortunate users use the photos that were already there, prior to their nonsensical decision - but of course, that day still hasn't arrived and obviously, it never will, so I just have to get over it and maybe, just maybe, one day, be able to repair the damage they had done.
But in the meantime, I guess it is time to continue this blog's sole purpose cos despite the dreadful silence here, there are still people out there who still check this place from time to time, and hope for something new. And here I would like to send special regards to my two regular bots in the form of william charles and linda clark - seems that a day doesn't go by without me getting a notification that one of you has visited one of my two blogs - you really seem to be dedicated to whatever you are doing ;-D

And lets get down to some actual business right now, with this super cute surprise that arrived in my mailbox today.

It just seems like the perfect card for this so-called 'grand entrance', plus it is holidays related, so looks perfect.
It is not signed, but based on the cancellation, I can assume who sent it to me ❤

And I just wanna wish you all Happy Holidays and a fab  year ahead. Hope life gives you health, love and lots of lovely surprises in your mailbox :)
Thank you for all the awesome cards you sent me last year - finding those surprises in my mailbox can often cheer me up even on a very shitty day, so keep them coming! :*

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 :)

Cats

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 :)

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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.

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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.  

When cats and dogs get together...on a Postcard Friendship Friday

Its always fun to hear how some people claim that certain kinds of friendship just CAN'T exist...probably often based on some sort of prejudices or just personal experience. But I always want to prove such theories wrong...friendship can exist in any kind of a form, shape, relation, devotion....it just takes a desire and a good heart and the ability to escape from narrow-mindedness...and observe the world and things around you with no rejection and be open to all new and old experiences.....and give things a chance...at least once...or twice...or if you think they deserve it, endless number of times...
The cat and dog friendship is something which has often been analyzed and narrated and pointed out as something which doesnt really exist since dogs always chase cats, cats fear dogs (esp. when they bark) and they just simply cant stand each other....but a look on a cat and dog together makes my heart melt...I had seen real such examples, and here is a card which i love from the bottom of my heart, which gives such a warm and kind atmosphere....

When i found this card in my mailbox, i had one of my 'tears got into my eyes' reactins...but i think that my mum reacted even 'worse'! She said she wanted to have this card zoomed, framed and put in the living room! Yeah, you read it right...and those words came out from my mum's mouth, not mine...
The main reason why we both so much love this card is coz the cats are as the same breed as mine...while the dog is of the same breed as the one  i used to have....so this is some sort of heavenly combination...and apart from being cute, it has a much deeper emotional value to me.
And then again...just take a look at how that kitty is sniffing the dog, or maybe giving him a friendly kiss...i dont know...but that scene is just overwhelming me. And for the millionth time makes me wanna get a Collie and try to befriend it with my cat....my cat has had his times when he was sitting next to a dog...most probably coz he thought that if he tries to run away the dog will go after him and eat him alive...but you could feel that he was all unnerved and as if lying on needles...

and now shoo shoo shooo....go over to Marie's at her PFF and see whats going on there.....unless its from there how you had come here :P

In The Loving Memory of Edi

Today wont be a regular update but more of one of those posts regarding some occasion...and im dedicating this post to my beloved dog i used to have years ago....coz today it would have been his birthday...he would have turned 16...the sweet sixteen...which feel bitter and sour...coz i terribly terribly miss him.

 

No wonder why i was so delighted and emotionally moved when i received this card not so long ago...even though i think of Edi every now and then, this card brought back a whirlpool of memories.

I got Edi when i was nearly 13 years old, as a present from our next door neighbours who also had a dog called Ares...and Ares was my best friend when i was little coz he constantly played with me, and i was one of those kids who had no fear of dogs but who even dared to taunt him and annoy him (in a nice way) and Ares never got bothered or harmed me in any sort of a way....and due to my love towards him and my love towards animals in general, our neighbours decided to give me one of his puppies...you could never precisely imagine how i felt back then nor how my reaction was...it is all blurry for me as well, but i know that i was simply overjoyed.

I named him Edi, coz he had to be named with a name starting with the 5th letter from the alphabet...I wanted to call him Erik, but Erik had already been taken, so i went for Edi...

Edi was one of the most loving dogs ive seen....maybe too loving coz he could befriend anyone easily and thats no good when dogs are in question...i dont say that he should have been dangerous and harmful, but he did need some more discipline regarding interaction with other people...well, he needed discipline in general, he was just too playful.

Problem is, i was a bit reckless with him and i didnt really treasure the fact i had him (and here comes the rule that you are never aware of what you have until you lose that). I loved playing with him and all, but i didnt really take much care of him when it came to making him a meal or taking him out for a walk or stuff like that....thats one of the things i really regret, coz if i had him now, he would have been my best companion for a walk at times i need one and i just want to be alone but yet have someone with me...like right now for example...

Unfortunately, i didnt have him for long....it was 9th November 1995 at around 1:30 pm when someone took him away...i never found out who...i was at home when that happened...i heard the front door open and i thought it was the postman (see the irony here?) so of course i didnt really react, but i just waited for him to ring the bell or drop the mail...after several minutes realized it wasnt the postman and i got this bad itch inside my stomach...i ran out, just to see the front door left open...with Edi nowhere in sight...thats how it ended...the fact i didnt react on time is something i will balme myself for the rest of my life...but regrets dont work...if i ever have another dog i would like to be no other kind but a Rough Collie...also known as a Shetland dog...or the most popular, a Lassie...

  as an addition, i found this old card recently while i was cleaning my room....i found it under the bed...you just dont want to know what all kind of stuff i found under my bed...and i had totally forgotten this one, and the only reason why i had bought it is coz of the dog...this was back in time when all kinds of postcards could have been found here...nowadays there are NONE like this...

And here is Edi..this is probably my most favourite picture of him...coz he stood still while i was taking this photo even though i know he was annoyed with those glasses on him...but he was a poser sometimes...and i loved him for that...and for enduring my nonsense esp. at times i was bored...

and here below are some more pics related to Edi's father, Ares...when i was little my mum simply constantly took photos of me and of what i did...half of the pictures i have in general, include a dog or a cat in them...surprises you?! :)

 

The cat on the following two pictures was also my neighbours' and when she had kittens, Ares was the one who looked after them and who was carrying them around....I was amazed

 

 

this is Ares, and me.....and my mum

  

another one in our backyard... 

  

the only point about this photo is the thing im holding in my hands...i was visiting my ganrdparents (on the picture) at this place they were staying on vacation and on our way there at one place i found a postcard with a Lassie...i wasnt just thrilled and happy...i was the most proud kid in the world then....you can see it from my face and how im showing off the card....just please, no comments on my hairstyle :P

 

I dont know if Edi is still alive or is peacefully sleeping in Heaven....i just hope that he had a good life and wasnt ill-treated.....I hope he knows i awfully miss him ;-( 

 

Montenegro

I didnt actually intend to do an update today...apart from the fact i spend way too much time at the pc due to work, i have way too much work to do as well...but I was told that the deadline which was like supposed to be tomorrow, first postponed for Tuesday, and then for Thursday...and i felt some sort of relief, coz im way too much behind with the work, and now Thursday seems somewhat i can manage...though if i keep going with this pace I doubt, esp. since while I have to work on one document, i get others in the meantime as well...plus the lessons i have to prepare for next week and all...and i really have no idea how im gonna manage it all...but at least the pressure i feel had eased a bit...of course, it doesnt mean i can just go and idle now, but at least it doesnt feel so helpless now...and i fell somewhat disappointed with some people and i just need some remedy and clearance of thoughts...and this is my refugee...

Anyway...even though this card is about Montenegro...my post has nothing to do with Montenegro..but more with the dog on the picture...now, i know some of you will know what im gonna rant about...and feel free to skip this longish post...but i just feel inspired and find it appropriate for this card...

So...whats the deal...few days ago, out of nowehere a small puppy appeared in my garden (not one bit as the one on the card, but this is like the only card I have which features a dog :)). Anyway...the puppy was the most adorable fluffy thing i had seen..small and white...well, it was soo dirty and sticky that you couldnt call it white..but it was defintiely way too adorable...i regret not having taking a single picture of it...and it was way too lively coz it wouldnt stop running and jumping and going around...way too playful...and way too hungry coz it ate whatever i had given him...the sweetest thing was when i noticed that it accomodated himself (or herself, i dont know actually...but ill go for himself) in my mum's pot flowers...and was pretending to sleep, but when i would come around, it would raise its head, start waving its tail and jump to me...if it wasnt so dirty, i would have squeezed the hell out of him of hugging...we played with small balls as well, and he would run after them, bring them back to me, or hide them again behind my mum's pot flowers...i really dont know why he so much wanted to be around those pot flowers...some feeling of safety i guess...anyway...eventually i had to leave for work and was wondering if it would be there when i come back...well, it was...in my neighbours garden actually, he found a whole in the fence to be able to move here and there, but when i called him he came to me, again all jumping, yupping, running...waving its tail....a real real sweetheart....a few hours later, he went to sleep and he even found himself a hidden place for it...i really dont know how he managed but he was managing with everything perfectly, even though he was here for the first time...an incredibly incredibly smart puppy!!  Well...the following morning i woke up really early...partially coz i had work to do, partially coz of him...but to me greatest disappointment, he was gone...and hadnt come back until now....if it wasnt for my mum and dad to see him as well, I swear i would have thought it was all a hallucination...I still hope it would come back...and frankly, im gonna do whatever it takes this time not to let him go...i know my cat wont be happy, even though the puppy wanted to play with him and was teasing him and all...but i think that with time, they will settle down together...I just hope it would come back one day soon...he made me fall for him at an instant..and then just left...its really not fair...i wonder if it would have been better if he never showed up in my life at all...I wonder why things or people you care for the most just dont stay....life...

btw, this card was sent to me by my mum and dad back in 2001 from their holiday in Budva...a funny thing my mum had written on the card is: "Today its pouring, but its great for walking". I dont get it...if its pouring, how can it be great for walking?? it not a drizzle or a light rain....its pouring...or as the British would say..its raining cats and dogs....ha...now this is an irony :)

Serbia

A lovely card from Serbia, showing some really beautiful nature....



The top left picture shows the Shar-Planina mountain...well, the special thing about it is that apart from being a mountain in Serbia, it is as well a mountain in Macedonia, so we share it...it is in the northern part of Macedonia, and southern part of Serbia.
It used to be a very popular winter resort but due to number of reasons, people ceased going there...or at least not in the same number they used to...

The bottom pictures show Lake Vlasina which according to Ana (the sender of the card, yeah, my namesake) is an oasis of untouched nature, known as well by the small floating islands.
The picture next to it shows Djavola Varos (Devil's Town) which is an unusal group of rocks formed by an erosion. The red-coloured stream makes that place even more mysterious.
And the picture on the right shows the waterfall near Dojkinci village (Stara planina)

Ana says that her big desire is to have a Shar dog (its a breed of dogs that originate from the Shara Mountain)
They really are lovely dogs, and extremely smart...they may intimadate you esp. since they get to grow a lot...but they actually are very timid, unless you are some kind of a threat to them or their territory. My aunt and uncle (and cousins) who live next to me, have one...I love that dog...and whenever i give him to eat from my hands he ALWAYS is sooo careful and gentle, and takes whatever i give him with his teeth but always makes sure he doesnt bite me... I used to play a lot with him when he was smaller, but now i cant...not coz i dont want to, but he is so huge and heavy that he will definitely knock me down :P
And Ana's mentioning of wanting to have a Shar dog, reminded me of my trip several months ago...i was on a picnic with some friends, and when we arrived there i noticed this adorable little dog hiding under a card and yapping...i took him and he immediately calmed down and startet waving its tail...we gave him some food as well...thats when i took these pictures...sorry for the quality but i took them with my cell phone... he eventually started running after us...unfortunately we couldnt take him coz we had to unpack and settle some stuff but later when we went for a walk he was still there, hiding under the car, yapping...the more the day went by, the more i kept thinking about him and wanting to take him home, even though i know that my cat wont be so happy about it, and that my mum and dad would definitely not like it...but this puppy just so much grew to me that i really wanted to have him...so before we went home, i went to check if he is still there and take him...unfortunately he was gone..we searched the whole area, but no sign of him...to this very day i still cant forgive myself for not taking him...he was simply adorable and at least dogs are happy when they see you when you come home..unlike my cat :)
Below are some images of him...just so you get the idea of what i was talking about and see why i so much wanted him...



yeah, thats my hand...feeding him...with bread...i was amazed to see that he actually ate plain bread




he was just soooo adorable and wanting to play and cuddle...