Leżajsk, Poland

Last card for today brings us this snowy view from Poland, showing the Bernardine Fathers Basilica in Leżajsk.

The current Bernardine church was erected in the years 1618–1628. It was founded by Łukasz Bnin Opaliński, the Great Marshall of the Crown and his wife, Anna from the Pilecki family. The church was built in the place, where, according to the legend, in 1590 Tomasz Michałek saw the Virgin Mary with St. Joseph. In 1594, a wooden church was built in the place of revelation, and 16 years later, the first stone church was erected by the Bernardines, who came here from Przeworsk in 1608.

the stamp is a definitive issued in 1996.

enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone! and see you around =)

Martinique

Rainy rainy Sunday evening...and really cold...not the most appealing weather for going out...not that Ive been in the mood for something else but staying at home doing nothing...this update was supposed to finally happen yesterday, but how I possibly managed to waste two days in vain, beats me!
Well, I must admit that actually this kind of gloomy weather does suit me..my mood in general sucks...I guess im on a roll of crappy things happening...so in general. when I'm not sleeping or giving/having classes, you'll find me either 1. catching up with postcards; 2. Playing Candy Crush Saga (yeah, seriously, that's what people feeling depressed do); 3. Arranging stamps; 4. Watching "Big Bang Theory".
And well, lets add 'posting postcards' to all that..hopefully on a more regular basis...for now I just wanted to change that sad post you end up seeing when you come for a visit...so it may not be some chatty long update, but still it counts as one..and to my surprise (again), I realized that this is my very first Martinique postcard here...when I was thinking why is it so, the answer I came up with is that probably I was waiting for a Martinique card with Martinique stamps...yeah, I can hear some of you bursting in laughter on behalf of my ignorance...I don't mind...I deserved it  =) So, here then comes the beautiful Martinique card with...of course, French stamps =)

kind of a dreamy card...during the winter months...and as for the basics, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the French Republic. As part of France, Martinique is also part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole.

27 regions of France...no wonder I so often see French stamps on my postcards =P

This country owes its name to Christopher Columbus, who sighted the island in 1493 and finally landed on 15 June 1502. The island was then called "Jouanacaëra-Matinino", which came from a mythical island described by the Tainos of Hispaniola. According to the historian Sydney Daney, the island was called "Jouanacaëra" by the Caribs, which would mean "the island of iguanas". After Columbus' initial discovery, the name then evolved into Madinina ("Island of Flowers"), Madiana, and Matinite. When Columbus returned to the island in 1502, he rechristened the island as Martinica. Finally, through the influence of the neighboring island of Dominica (La Dominique), it came to be known as Martinique.

a small revelation: my first thought about Madinina 97.2 on the front of the card, was that it is a radio station in Martinique (yeah yeah, blushing blushing blushing :))))))))

well, Im not complaining about the frequency of French stamps...France has really nice stamps actually, and even nicer mini/souvenir sheets!
Both stamps were issued in 2012 and belong to two respective sets of 12 stamps..with the first one coming from the set of 'green vegetables' while the av...pardon, papaya one, is from the fruits' set...yeah, looks like an avocado to me, sorry :)

Lappstaden, Sweden

A beautiful Swedish card...I love those colours! I would love a sweater like that too!

and this lady and two children come from Lappstaden, which is the largest preserved Sámi church town in Sweden.
Although you probably won’t meet any Sámi here, you will at least be able to see how they used to live in traditional huts, or kåtor. About eighty of these huts in the eighteenth-century Sámi church town have survived, and are clumped unceremoniously next to a yellow, modern apartment building. The design of these square wooden buildings supporting a pyramid-shaped roof is typical of the Forest Sámi who lived in the surrounding forests, constructing their homes of indigenous timber.

seriously, Id love a sweater like this! It is just so much....ME!

well, a special part of this card is its back..because the stamps are all over it!! Katja has really put her efforts on it!
The three flower stamps are actually Christmas stamps (boy, I dread its coming!) issued in 1990, and these are part of a set of six stamps.
The blue stamp (at the very right) was issued in 1979 as a part of three stamps featuring Nobel Prize winners. This one here shows Johannes Stark who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1919, for his "discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields".
The remaining two stamps were also issued in 1979 (im truly amazed at the fact that such oldies still can be purchased and used), and are a part of a set of 5 stamps about Fishing Development. Not quite sure what that one is all about though...

Benjamin Franklin's Grave, USA

A cool official card!

US- 2151651

Ok, for some of you it may not be so cool, but you know I love graves and cemeteries...and well, this one is nothing explicit..you can barely see a grave or a tomb here :)

as the back of the card says: 

Benjamin Franklin's Grave, Christ Church Burial Ground, 5th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This famous statesman, who died in 1790, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Nearby at 4th and Arch Streets, a huge fiberglass bust of Benjamin Franklin is covered with 80,000 copper pennies, symbolizing Poor Richard's adage, "A penny saved is a penny earned".

(This reminded me of the "even a penny will help" technique....just rambling...but when you think about it, it IS an efficient one indeed)

two stamps on the card...the well-known American Clock...and maybe the not-so-well-known Wisdom definitive stamp issued in 2008, featuring the work of a New York artist, Nancy Stahl.

Humble Administrator's Garden, China

well, one more card for today, this one coming from China...and this place has a very funny name I must say =D

The Humble Administrator's Garden is one of the four best known gardens in China. It falls into eastern, central and western parts, with a dwelling quarter in front of it, a typical layout in the private gardens in Suzhou. In 1997, the Classical Gardens in Suzhou were inscribed on the List of World Heritage.
It is the largest garden in Suzhou and is considered by some to be the finest garden in the entire southern China.
For another Suzhou Garden, click here

and two really nice stamps! The left one was issued in 2012, as a part of 3 Merchant Trade stamps (this one in particular bears the title "Achievements (Headquarters, Hong Kong)", while the other one is from 2011, issued in a set of 4 stamps about the Universiade Shenzhen 2011.

So, that would be all for today...thank you for reading..feel free to comment...and a huge thank you and big hug to all who have been so supportive over the past few weeks...I really really appreciate it!
Wishing you all a lovely week ahead!

R.I.P Foxy dearest (26.05.2009 - 16.11.2013)

when last time I said I may not be in the frame of mind to post for a while...I certainly didnt't foresee this coming...yeah, the events I was referring to did turn out the worst way...but the actual shock came a few days later...on something I couldn't even have imagine...my dearest Foxy the cat is no longer among us...and I can not possibly find the words to describe how heartbroken I feel ;-( Sorry if this may be a yada-dada post, but I've written about so many things here and commemorated events and all, that I just can't go on without doing a post for him on one of the saddest occasions...and I already did a post about him here...and I have a few cat cards with cats that look like him...so I found them somewhat appropriate for today

And it all happened so soon and so out of nowhere...I mean, Kimi is ill (feline leukemia), and has been on daily therapy for almost two years...he can't be cured, but the therapy is keeping him alive...and if it comes to Kimi, aside from being ill, he is also twice older...so subconsciously Im somewhat more prepared that something may go wrong with him...not that I am REALLY prepared, one never is for that, one always has hopes until the last moment...but you know what I mean...
But no, I still can't accept it that it happened to Foxy...and I don't know what actually happened...he was missing for a day...and the next morning I found him in one corner, all quiet, as if something hurting him...my first thought was that he has been hit by a car or something, by the way he could barely walk...took him to the vet later that day, turns out he had some internal bleeding and his bladder was dysfunctional so he has been retaining everything inside for a few days...with a temperature lower for 3 degrees that the minimum one...but after giving him the treatment, the vet said he'd be ok, and to bring him the next day for some additional therapy and all...unfortunately, he didn't get to see the light of the next day...it was a shocker to me...still is....and it is still a mystery to me WHAT has actually happened...whether he has really been hit by something..whether he actually had kidney failure as a result to the internal bleeding...I really really dont know...all I know is that I just cant forgive myself for not being able to spot some signs earlier...and why wasnt he meowing the unusual way...cats usually should do that...Foxy was so apathetic...I lay in bed, and put him on my chest, and he was staying so still...coz he was actually getting ready to die *sigh*...and he died just next to my bed..not the most pleasant thing to wake up to...and the immediate reaction was to go back to sleep...as if what you have just realized is nothing but a bad dream...but unfortunately, it wasnt...it was a bad reality =/

Ive lost pets before...but never hurt like this...coz Foxy was so different and so special...a cat with a character...the one who would never sit still, the one who loved opening doors, who could never have enough food to eat, who loved jumping at you out of nowhere to bite your leg, who loved laying in ambush and jumping at you...the cat who knew what to do when you'd tell him 'sit down'....yeah, that was Foxy...made all our days so fun...that all who knew him, are gonna terribly miss that
But I guess those whom I care for so much, decided to leave me together...be it a cat or a man who has so much gotten under your skin...they just decide to leave (and thats a third failure of the year, but this one hurts the most coz it has been the most meaningful one...and you cant help it but start wondering why it always has to end that way? why cant it just for once go nice and last? Something Ill never get an answer to...

I really would like to think of him as taking a nap somewhere...he just didn't deserve to die...not so soon, not this way...he cant even possibly imagine how much he will be missed...and how empty it feels without him =/

After this, I think I will give up on collecting cat cards...at least for a long while...I unliked everything cat-related on Facebook as well...some people have told me to get another one, just like him...but there is NO cat like him...and no, I can't go through this again...I still have Kimi, and his day will come eventually...it is more than I could bear already
And Kimi is all alone now..yeah, there is no one to tease him and chase him and fight him...but Foxy so much protected him from other cats as well, despite being twice younger..

And sorry for the spirit of the post today...but as you know, on such occasions, this is the place which helps me at least a bit to cope with things by getting them out of the system..cos crying for three days and not being able to sleep nor eat, certainly hasn't helped much...

here is one of the Foxy pictures I so much love...he is just so adorable and as someone said, has such a warm face =[

Cardiff, Wales

well, here comes an update..to keep me sane...due to some recent events..and depending on how things develop after tonight, I may not be able to post an update soon again...wont bother you with details, but thats the story of my life...of nice things going wrong out of nowhere...and depending on how everything develops tonight or in the following days, I may not be in the frame of mind to post anything here for a while...though i truly hope that's not gonna happen...but for now, ill bother you with some cards....and the first one here comes from Wales!!! And it is a very very special card!

well, you may wonder, what's so special about it? first of all, it came as a surprise from dear Herbert...who seems to be having a nice deal of travels =) second....when I received it recently, I came to a realization that actually I've NEVER EVER posted a card from Wales before...I mean, NEVER! And I DO have Welsh cards! I swear I do!! like at least 10 of them!! But why oh why on Earth I've always skipped Wales when choosing what to post...beats me! I am really really clueless on that one...but well, here is the time to fix my mistake and give Wales its honorary spot here...a lovely card coming from Cardiff.
And I wont go into details about each image...Ill leave that for my future Welsh posts...but for now I'll just tell you what is on the card...from left top...first you have the City Hall....then you have, well the Welsh dragon of course, but having a Welsh flag-card, Ill leave the story about it for that one =).
Next to the dragon is the Llandaff Cathedral.
Then, second row left is the Millennium Stadium, while the bottom line starts with the Bay...then in the middle is the Norwegian church, and at the end is the Castle.
One funny thing that Herbert told me about his trip here, is that no one spoke Welsh...he has asked several people to say something or write something in Welsh, but no luck...huh...thats odd..personally I find the Welsh language and its crazy long words for the names of places...I mean, are even the Welsh able to say, Im going on a holiday in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch without having their tongue stuck?
And wow, I wonder how it is to be an interpreter in Welsh..I mean, I sometimes struggle even with that simple language called English..and I often wonder how difficult it is to be an interpreter in German...but the Welsh certainly beats it...

well, Wales doesn't have its own stamps of course...and I love this one Herbert used, showing Captain Cuttle from the Dombey and Son. It is from a set of ten Charles Dickens' stamps issued in 2012. Must admit I haven't read this one...

Thanks so much again Herbert!! Always love your surprises =)

Riga, Latvia

I've posted about Riga before (on three occasions)..but seems that I have acquired a number of Riga cards in the meantime as well...and they are all so fantastic, that I just have to make a Riga post...again...

This first card arrived few months ago, resulting from a swap with Patrik...boy, I cant possibly explain how I felt when this one arrived and I saw the view and its colours! I think it is this card that made me dig into my boxes for the older Riga cards and make a Riga update...if this card doesn't make you want to visit Riga, I dont know what will! Lovely lovely lovely panorama of Riga!! Like on an early morning when the city is waking up and getting ready for the day.

It is one of those Latvian stamps from the "Coat of Arms" series...this one issued back in 1994 in a set of 4 stamps.

Another panorama of Riga...this one being more like after a nice autumn rain when the sun is struggling to breakthrough the clouds at the end of the day...

This one was sent by Oleg, almost 3 years ago...who also used the Coats of the Arms =)
The first and the last one were issued in 2010...the first one shows the Coat of Arms of Preiļi, while the last one shows the Coats of Arms of Viesīte
The middle stamp was issued in 2007, showing the Coat of Arms of the Latvian town Auce

this card gives us a closer look on the Riga castle at the banks of the Daugava river, which today it is the official residence of the President of Latvia as well as home to several museums

another Coat of Arms' stamp =) this one issued in 2005, showing us the Coat of Arms of Daugavpils. The other stamp is a Christmas one from a set of two issued in 2012

the last card here shows one of the several bridges connecting the two parts of Riga, and if im not mistaken, this one should be the Vanšu Bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge

hey! No Coats of Arms here!!!! Ha! and I so much love this Astronomy stamp!! (Some of you should know why =) It is from the EUROPA 2009 issue, when the theme was Astronomy. Lovely!!!

Edinburgh, Scotland

Well, if we had Wales, while not have Scotland as well while we are at it..Ive never posted an Edinburgh card before, so lets share some beauties here :)

dear Anu sent me this one for the favourites tag. lovely lovely lovely winter snowy view of the Edinburgh castle, known also as the Iconic Scottish Tourist Attraction.
Edinburgh Castle is located at the top of the Royal Mile, at the west end of Edinburgh's Old Town. The volcanic Castle Rock offers a naturally defended position, with sheer cliffs to north and south, and a steep ascent from the west. The only easy approach is from the town to the east, and the castle's defenses are situated accordingly, with a series of gates protecting the route to the summit of the Castle Rock.

Anu used lovely stamps on this one! And rather old ones! From left to right...first we have a great EUROPA stamp from 1992 from a set of two stamps on the theme Discovery of America. Next to it is one of the five Cinema stamps issued in 1996, commemorating the 100 years of going to the Pictures (yeah, actually the British people go the Pictures, the Americans to the Movies...) I must admit I find "Going to the Pictures" really old-fashioned, and just now I started thinking if it is still used nowadays or not...
At the very right we have a stamp issued in 1992, from a set of 4 Lord Tennyson stamps...(Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets)
And of course, a purpley Queen stamp =)

and for a comparison, here I also have the Edinburgh Castle in spring or summer...not quite sure...but it is nice to see it both covered with snow and without it.
And the back of the card says "Edinburgh Castle, dating from the 12th century, sits high on a crag of ancient volcanic rock. Seen here across Princes Street Gardens at dawn....ok, at least we know it's dawn, the season is irrelevant :))

the stamp is from a set of 8 Country Definitives (or Regionals' stamps), issued in 2011, with this one here representing...well, of course, Scotland!!

Crater Lake National Park, USA

A breathtaking view...a splendid surprise...from Bryon's stock of artillery :P

seriously...this card is soooo magnificent, with the colours so nicely blending into each other that one starts wondering where does the Lake actually end and the mountains begin...you can actually feel the freezing cold by just looking at the card, despite it is sunny...as the back of the card says "Crater Lake reflects Wizard Island on a snowy afternoon"
It was established in 1902 and is considered to be the fifth oldest national park in the United States and the only one in the state of Oregon.The park encompasses the caldera of Crater Lake, a remnant of a destroyed volcano, Mount Mazama, and the surrounding hills and forests.

and of course, Bryon never goes wrong with stamps either =)
The large ones are the ones issued in 2012, commemorating the Civil War 1862 (the war lasted from 1861-1865, but I think that for each, or almost each year, the USPS has issued some stamps)These stamps here depict two pivotal Civil War battles from 1862; the Battle of New Orleans (top stamp) and the Battle of Antietam (bottom one).
The Olympic Decathlon stamp was issued in 1979, for the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow that were held in 1980.
And well, you are familiar with the American Toleware stamp =)

thank you Bryon..nice missile this was...even the stamps were corresponding :D

Yoshkar-Ola, Russia

well, lets close this blog with a Russian card...since I mentioned Moscow in the previous post...and I realized it's been a while since I've posted something Russian here...

RU-2028259

And this is an official card I received this year...showing the Obolenskiy-Nogotkov square in the evening, in the Russian town of Yoshkar-Ola, the capital city of the Mari Republic in Russia

Pretty cool name for a town that is...Yoshkar-Ola means red city in Mari. The current name is the third to have been given to the city. It was known as Tsaryovokokshaysk before 1919 and as Krasnokokshaysk between 1919 and 1927. These names were derived from the name of the Malaya Kokshaga River, which runs through the city. The city's old Mari name was Charla. Btw..the Mari language is spoken by nearly 500,000 people, primarily in the Mari Republic. It belongs to the Uralic language family.

what I absolutely love about this stamp is how its grey colour blends into the greyness of the back of the card, that they are almost like one! Awesome!!  It was issued this year in a set of 3 stamps for the Olympic Winter Games that are going to be held in Sochi next year, from Feb 7-23. Don't miss it =)

Upper Shoal Bay, Anguilla

have I told you it has become really cold here...just overnight? Yeah, as usual...until few days ago I was wearing short sleeves...now I need my winter jacket...and one way of surviving the cold gloomy days is...dreaming of the opposite...and if the opposite is something exotic and rare in the form of a postcard, it makes it even better! ok, the cons are that one may get frustrated for not being able to go here anytime in the near future....though I may turn to that Canadian Superman to help me on this one :P
Superman knows no borders, right? and can get anywhere on this planet in like a jiffy...we have to turn mailbox attacks into something useful eventually :))))))))))))))

Anyways, trying to be serious here...this beauty shows us the Upper Shoal Bay in Anguilla...it is a part of the Shoal Bay (the other part obviously being Lower Shoal Bay) and these two are separated by a curved point of the beach rightly called "the bend"....hmmmmm....
It is said that the "lower" part of the beach is the one usually occupied by swimmers, snorkelers etc...while the "upper" part is the undisturbed one....well, it definitely looks that way...boy, the tranquility I've been longing for for so long....

oh beautiful stamps....they remind me of anything but the gloomy winter...and what a great clear cancellation!

the beautiful butterflies were issued in 2006 in a mini sheet of four stamps. The WWF one shows us a green turtle from a set of 4 stamps issued in...wow, 1983! This one took me by surprise...I mean, there is no actual reference what a 1983 stamp should look like, but I expected it to be a more recent one, due to colours and quality and all...I think I have established myself some strange criteria stamps-wise

and before I end this post...huge thanks to JP for the beauty! I shouldn't underline Im envious he's actually been here :)

Boka Kotorska, Montenegro

I was so so so thrilled when a week ago or so I received some postcards from dear Sissel! I missed her in my mailbox and missed her around! So it is so heart-warming when you find such surprises in the mailbox!

And I can't believe it she's been so near me this time!! I hope that during one of her future travels, she will drop by here as well *wink wink* :)

Here she sent me a cool map card of the Boka Kotor Bay in Montenegro...driving along its coast offers you one of the most splendid views in the whole country! The bare thought of the Adriatic Sea makes me sigh...haven't been there for a while...there was this opportunity to go there for a day or two with my dad in September...Im not actually sure what his plan and intentions were, but I didn't really care...to his question: "Do you want to go by car to Budva (the most famous place in Montenegro)...." my answer was an immediate YES...didn't question the conditions or anything...unfortunately, nothing turned out from that...and right now it is just too cold to go there...so I guess Ill have to wait for another opportunity....and invade some other places in the meantime. *cough cough cough* :P

Sissel used two stamps...the left one was issued in 2009 under the name Universiade. The other one was issued in 2010, as a part of two Art stamps.

well, the map Sissel sent me reminded me I had two other maps of the Boka Kotor Bay that I bought myself when I went there in 2009...and making the comparison, the publishers have really advanced on the topic...the map above looks somewhat plain...the map below reminds me of a pack of cigarettes...Im not exactly sure why though...

Thanks a lot again Sissel for the lovely surprises!!!!

Troy, Turkey

Another surprise card here...this time from Danut. Thanls a lot again for it Danut!!!

A really cool UNESCO card showing the archaeological site of Troy...oh yeah, THAT Troy, the one where that Trojan War took place!
Ok, this place is so full of stories and there is so much to be said about it, that it would turn into an endless post...I just started wondering now if I've ever actually read the Iliad...or anything by Homer...I know it was talked and talked and talked about in high-school...but beats me if we were supposed to read his works...or just excerpts..and the more I keep thinking about it the more assured I am I haven't read those...should that be embarrassing? hmmm...well, speaking of reading...I could certainly recommend "Journey to Portugal" by Jose Saramago....currently reading it...has some nice melancholic touch of making you long for places...Im pretty sure Id be dreaming of Portugal once Im done with it..

ok, no stamp on the card...just the red thing...and, khm khm, if you've been wondering what the heck is that huge stain...let me tell you...it is nothing else but coffee...and no, the card arrived in perfect condition...it is clumsy me who does disasters...spilling coffee or other drinks is one of my specialties...one of the worst outcomes is when postcards or letters happen to be around...which unfortunately was the case this time...don't know how many postcards exactly suffered...with a small or not so small stain..but even one is more than a lot...I really need to get something that you can lets say, fix on a desk or a wall or anything near you...in which you can put your cup of coffee or whatever you are drinking...so that no matter how much you move around, that you can't spill the glass/mug/cup over...anyone ever seen something of the sorts? Seriously, I desperately need one...before an even worse disaster happens...and I can be a walking disaster, trust me...

Jaén, Spain

Last card for today came as an official sometime at the beginning of the year.

ES-203185

It is a really lovely card, from the city of Jaén, showing the grand Jaén Cathedral, which is one of the most important Renaissance-style cathedrals. Construction began in 1570 and was completed in 1802. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, and it was built to shelter the relic of the Holy Face, or Veil of Veronica, lodged at the major chapel and exposed to the public every Friday. Due to the length of time in its construction, different artistic styles can be appreciated, the most prominent being Renaissance; Andrés de Vandelvira the most important architect. He is the greatest exponent of the Andalusian Renaissance. It aspires to be listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO

so, if it does get listed as UNESCO whs, I already have the problem solved :P

The stamp on the right is from a set of 3 "Civic Values" stamps issued in 2012. This one is about "Getting distracted at the Driving Wheel"
. The other guy..well you know him, Juan Carlos, and those Spanish definitives :)

Ha! Cant believe it I did another update in just a few days! Well, hope you liked the cards...till next time...enjoy your autumn/spring days..depending where on the Earth you are :)

Long Bay Beach, British Virgin Islands

Been having an "itchy" keyboard for days and weeks (ahem, have no idea if it is appropriate to use itchy in such an expression but oh well, you get my point). And as usual, so much going on, combined with my overall disorganization, leads to no blog posts, and postcards just piling and piling up....*sigh*...I don't know if those 'time management' training courses work, but sometimes I do consider signing up for one...
anyways, due to the above mentioned reasons I haven't been so active in the postcrossing world either...with some exceptions *cough cough cough* but I hope to get back on track in the following days...along with showing you the beauties arriving in my mailbox...and for today Ill start by bragging with this card I received like over a month ago...my very first written and stamped card from the British Virgin Islands!!!! Yaaaaay!! I received one from the US Virgin Islands long long ago...but it had to be years before the British ones could be added to the collection as well =)
and thats all thanks to Pat the world traveler! If I can't travel the world, at least Im happy and thankful to know people who can and who send me postcards from there!

Pat seems to have enjoyed and relaxed and maybe had a couple of cocktails at this beautiful Long Bay Beach on the island of Tortola, which is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands.
The BVI Tourism describes it as a mile-long stretch of white sand beach fringed with palms and sea grapes, perfect for a tranquil sunset walk. The eastern portion is lined with a resort and guest houses, while the western end offers peaceful solitude and ideal swimming.

It is not like it makes you dream of the ocean and sandy beaches at the end of October, is it...I mean why should you...you should enjoy the cold, gloomy, freezing days of autumn/winter....

and here comes the stamp....aaaaaaaaand, it is the Queen again...sometimes she is everywhere you turn to....this stamp is from a set of 4 issued in 2006, commemorating her Majesty's 80th anniversary.

Queen or no Queen, this card is a real gem for my collection and Im endlessly thankful to Pat for that!!

Fort St. Angelo, Malta

A surprise card from dear Silvan.

I don;t know who is the actual photographer, but this whole series of cards has been taken from the same angle and I must admit that sometimes I get the feeling that it is the one same place on all of them...coz the fortifications just simply resemble one another...I mean, they are forificarions after all =)

This one here shows us the Fort of St. Angelo, which is right in the centre of the Grand Harbour.
And the back of the card says....The most impressive fortified position in the Grand Harbour, Fort St. Elmo, was the centre of the fighting that took place in the Great Siege of 1565. The fort is nowadays in the hands of the Knights of St. John whose flag proudly flies from the ramparts.
For a moment I got confused, how come now the back of the card is talking about a different fort, but I guess they just wanted to give us this history example...cos Wiki tells us about this point in history when Fort Saint Elmo was the scene of some of the most intense fighting of the 1565 siege, and during the bombardment of the fort, a cannon shot from Fort St Angelo across the Grand Harbour struck the ground close to the Turkish battery. Debris from the impact mortally injured the corsair and Ottoman admiral Dragut Reis, one of the most competent of the Ottoman commanders. The fort withstood the siege for over a month, falling to the Turks on 23 June 1565. None of the defending knights survived, and only nine of the Maltese defenders survived by swimming across to Fort St. Angelo on the other side of the Grand Harbour after Fort St Elmo fell.

So now it is all clear :)

wow! a SEPAC stamp!! It was issued this year in a set of two animals' stamps. It shows a wild rabbit, which is considered as a protected mammal in Malta.

Thanks a lot Silvan!!!

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, USA

Next comes a cool train card from West Virginia (a not so often represented US state on this blog...and this is just my second WV card here, so it does deserve to be shown)

I received this one for the NA x World RR from Angee...lovely card! Angee says that the Cass Railroad dates back to 1901 but that you can still take rides on it.
A ride aboard a Cass steam-driven locomotive is an unforgettable thrill. The park, located in Pocahontas County, offers scenic excursion trips that give train lovers a glimpse of the state's vast Potomac Highland wilderness area. Restored early 1900's Shay, Climax and Heisler engines, pictured here, make Cass Scenic Railroad State Park America's authentic operating museum of lumber railroading.

word of the day: lumber

we have three nice stamps here from which I see the top right one for like the first time....errmm, I think...I don't wanna be mistaken like I was with those Industrial stamps...once mistaken and you start doubting yourself forever and ever :P
It is a FOREVER stamp from this year that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln signed on January 1, 1863.
The stamp next to it is from that beautiful Earthscapes' set issued in 2012...and I guess you are familiar with George Washington's stamp from 2011.

Tartu, Estonia

I decided to end today's update with this Estonian card

I've already written about Tartu, and here now we have these two cool statues...you may be recognizing the guy on the left...one of my all time favourite writers...Oscar Wilde!! While across is an Estonian writer called Eduard Vilde...and this installation is actually called "Two Wildes" and its author is some guy called Tiiu Kirsipuu.
These two have never met, but Tiiu seems to have been inspired by their similar last name and by the fact that they also lived at about the same time. Oscar lived from 1854-1900, while Eduard from 1865 till 1933.
I've never read something by the latter and I don;t know if some of his works can be found in English here (im like more than sure it is a no-no when it comes to Macedonian). But I would really like to read something coming from his pen...and if you have some particular book to recommend, would be happy to hear about it :)
Btw, I think I have whined before about the kitschy Skopje 2014 Project...and statues and monuments are a great part of it...makes my teeth cringe, for many reasons...if you care to see more and be all WTF, just click here...and I cant help it but make comparisons...the above pictures invokes admiration...the project in my hometown...erm, definitely a descriptive word that should be censored =)
But at least the tourists often have a good laugh about it, wondering where's the sense in all that...unfortunately, I do not have the answer...I just am appalled and frustrated.

and a stamp from this year's EUROPA theme of postal vans...Estonia issued two stamps for this occasion.

well, off to seize the rest of the day =)