Turkmenistan

Well, first of all, Happy Easter to all celebrating today! Hope you are enjoying it, along with some nice meals too....this may especially count for those who have been fasting....so it is about time to indulge into something 'forbidden'. Here Easter is next week, so today is just another regular Sunday. And since ive ignored you this past week, ill make it up today with a few nice cards (well, they are always nice actually :))

well, first one comes from the favourites tag....Claus always has in stock some rare countries....i dont know how he gets them all, but it is amazing! And i was really thrilled when he tagged me for this one :)
Well, it was not sent from Turkmenistan, so dont be TOO jealous...but still, the card is just great! I mean, it was in my favourites after all :) And i love cards showing anything traditional!

Now, I couldnt really find some reliable information about the kind of traditional clothes featured on this card...like on what occasions it is worn and from which part of Turkmenistan it originates and such...so if anyone knows, please help. And also, if you have info about the vessel the lady is holding and also the carpet/rug in the background, that would also be very appreciated :)

The Sabah State Mosque, Malaysia

Ive received a number of great cards from Malaysia lately, so it was a bit hard to pick just one for today...but after some eeny meeny miny mo, we'll go with this one

I was actually amazed to see such a grand building being a mosque...reminds me of the majority of cards ive seen from Brunei in way...
It is considered as one of the most outstanding pieces of architecture in Sabah and is a unique combination of prevailing Islamic architecture and contemporary design.
It was constructed in 1974 and can accommodate up to 5,000 worshippers at one time. There is also a special balcony exclusively allocated for Muslim women during prayer time, with room for up to 500.
In case you want to visit it, avoid doing that on Fridays, which is the day of prayer for Muslims.

and im in love with these new Malay stamps...they are just soo cute! The set has 3 stamps, issued this year, under the title 'Yes to life, no to drugs'. They are indeed a number of happy stamps :)

Thanks a lot to Erica for this card!

Still Life and Street, M.C.Escher

Well, Escher is one of my new discoveries...more precisely since last summer in when i accidentally got the chance to watch this video representing his works....i think my eyes were glued to the screen about how cool it was. I fell for the mathematical preciseness of his works and found it unbelievable in a way.

So I was sooo excited when recently i was asked for a swap, and found Escher cards to choose from! I have two so far, and two more should be coming, so im really really happy! If anyone has Escher cards for swap, please contact me! :)

This image here is called Still Life and Street and is Escher's first (woodcut) print of an impossible reality, dating back from 1937. His artistic expression was created from images in his mind, rather than directly from observations and travels to other countries.
This image is a classic example of Escher’s plays on perspective. In it, the horizontal plane of the table continues into the distance to become the street, and the rows of books on the table are seen to lean against the tall buildings that line the street.

And as for Escher, he was a Dutch graphic artist known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.
His real name is Maurits Cornelis Escher, but you will often find him as M.C.Escher, or simply Escher. A genius.

Indonesia

my last card for today comes from Indonesia as a swap with dear Shinta, who sent me this extra cool card which was in my favourites for sooo soo long! I think this is a favourite card of many out there! It is just soo lovely!

These are paper umbrellas and this lady, as the caption says, gives them the finishing touch! And what an artist! She is Japanese and us dressed in Indonesian daily traditional clothes 'sarong and kebaya'.

I used to have a paper umbrella...I think it was with Japanese designs...it was a really nice one, but still, the coulours on these here are so lively and give some fresh look to the umbrellas.

the two stamps on the left come from a set of 6 stamps issued in 2010, representing Cultural heritage, with this one showing a batik. The other two are from the Year of the Dragon stamps, issued this year. Really lovely! Too bad Macedonia does not issue these 'year of the....' stamps....actually, this year Macedonia has issued just one single stamp so far..which is disastrous...but i wont go into details about it here. Hopefully, the whole issue is going to be solved soon.

well again, Happy Easter to everyone celebrating, and a nice happy Sunday to all the rest :)

Osorno Volcano, Chile

well, finally, the silence can be broken! And no, this is not an April's Fools Day Hoax...it is indeed an update :)
Honestly, it is very hard for me to realize that it actually took me an ENTIRE month without an update! must be my record so far (to which im not proud)...but March was simply an extremely busy month, with loads of work to do and a number of other issues....that in a way, im glad it is over
Also mail was VERY slow in March...both ways! I dont know the particular reason behind this, but it definitely annoyed me...i mean, you come home and you are looking for a small dose of happiness...but your mailbox keeps being empty...for days...for a week...so I really hope April is gonna be better... in all the aspects....
today also the weather is simply AWFUL, so there is nothing better but stay at home...and do an update...AT LAST! :)

and first card comes from Chile, sent by Daniela, for the favourites tag

the view is just amazing! i love this contrast of the houses in the green surrounding, with the caped-in-snow volcano in the back!
The card shows the Osorno volcano, which is a 2,652 m tall conical strato-volcano and is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with 11 eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869.
The upper slopes of the volcano are almost entirely covered in glaciers despite its very modest altitude and latitude, sustained by the substantial snowfall in the very moist maritime climate of the region.

there are two really lovely stamps on the card, both issued in 2011.
the colourful one commemorates the centenary of UPAEP, while the mailbox is also from the UPAEP series.

Ybbstalbahn, Austria

this card arrived as a great surprise from dear Earney!

this is the Ybbstalbahn (or the Ybbs Valley Railway) which is narrow-gauge railway of the Austrian Federal Railways with a track gauge of 760 mm, located in the Lower Austrian Mostviertel.
The narrow gauge railway was built in 1898 by the Austrian Society for the local rails and has been operated since 1990 as a vintage train through the local railway operating company.
The one on the card operates from Kienberg through Gaming to Lunz am See.
Kienberg-Gaming is the starting point of the museum railway today and the original terminal of the Ybbs Valley Railway.

Earney was so kind that she also used a lovely train stamp too! the train stamp was issued in 2011 and commemorates both Karl Golsdorf's 150th Birthday and a Centenary of the 310 Class. The flower one is from the set of 5 flower stamps issued in 2007, with this one showing the Scotch Laburnum. Thanks a lot again Earney!

Latvia

well, here is one lovely card from Latvia.

recently I opened a thread on the PC forum, searching for my favourites...and have received loads of awesome cards since then...I just wonder why I hadnt thought of doing so earlier :)
so in case you can help me out too, feel free to check my thread on the forum :)
http://forum.postcrossing.com/viewthread.php?tid=65235

as for what's on the card....all I know is that this is at the Baltic Sea...I really dont know why Latvians are so persistent in not disclosing the names of the places they feature on their cards (unless it is Riga for example..)
But still, this makes a great card and im really happy to have it...I just dont know if I should consider this tree being in tranquility or in loneliness...

the stamp is from a set of four Coat of Arms' stamps, issued in 1994.

Thanks a lot to Svetlana for the great card!

New York, USA

Another card which arrived thanks to my favourites' thread :)

I had this NY scene in my favourites for a long long while, and im really happy that I have it in my collection now! Photoshopped or not, the image is freaking awesome! The full moon reminds me of those werewolf horror movies...
there is a lovely excerpt on the back of the card, from "The Lake" by Ray Bradbury. Goes like this:

"The next day, I went away on the train.
A train has a poor memory; it soon puts all behind it. It forgets the cornlands of Illinois, therivers of childhood, the bridges, the lakes, the valleys, the cottages, the hurts and the joys.
It spreads them out behind and they drop back of a horizon."

the 'train' moment is just so convenient....so thanks so much to Rozanne for selecting just this one for me

and Rozanne also used a bunch of stamps...I guess this increase in the postal rates gives the opportunity for loads of combinations unless you have the stamps with the exact amounts yet.
So here we have, from left to right, the Tiffany Lamp issued in 2008, then the Navajo Jewelry issued in 2006, next to its is the American Toleware from 2007. The fourth stamp is rather new to me and was issued just this year in a set of 5 Aloha Shirts' stamps (really cool!), while the last one is the most adorable to me, issued again this year, in a set of 4 stamps featuring 'Dogs at work'

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 :)

St. Barthelemy

So here comes another update...with a brand new country!!

and maybe it is not so hard to guess that it comes as a surprise from the world-traveller known as JP..I really wish i had the chance to visit at least half the places he had visited...esp since they are all so rare and exotic!
At least for now ill find consolation in the cards he sends me...and hopefully one day ill get the chance to pay it back :)

well St Barthelemy is an overseas collectivity of France (these overseas territories can be really status-confusing).
It is a volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reefs and has an area of 21 km².
It is the only Caribbean island which was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time; (Guadeloupe has also been under Swedish rule only briefly, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars - Im mentioning Guadeloupe coz of something later)
The language, cuisine and culture, however, are distinctly French.
Im not sure which place is exactly shown on the card...my guess is that is Gustavia (the island's capital, named after the Swedish King Gustav III) ...but then again, the airport (which you can see in one of the pictures, should be in St. Jean...so it might be that too...since I do not have a confirmation on this, ill leave it as a guess for now)
well, whichever place this shows, it is a lovely card and a fantastic addition to my collection...crossing out a country i scarcely hoped i would cross out from the list :)

All thanks to JP!

and now here come the stamps (just like French Guiana, St. Barth also uses French stamps). The butterfly one is just awesome and was issued in 2010 in a set of 4 stamps, with this one showing the Morpho menelaus (its colours are just lovely!). The other stamp was issued in 2009, in commemoration of Aimé Césaire, a French poet, author and politician from Martinique, one of the founders of the négritude movement in Francophone literature.
now the whole deal with the stamps is actually the cancellation...coz it bears both the names of St. Barth and Guadeloupe....which is somewhat illogical to me....so I copied the following extensive info from Glenn's blog...I hope he doesnt mind..but often I go there to check for info on some stamps, if he has them featured...and I think that regarding this issue, the info, left in the comments, is really explaining the whole thing...


France is divided into 27 régions, similar to provinces in Canada but with less power. Each région is divided into a number of départements, similar to counties, but with considerably more status than in Canada. The overseas régions of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and, since last year, Mayotte are small enough to only be made up of a single département each. Until 2007, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin were administratively a part of the Guadeloupe région/département, when they voted to split away from Guadeloupe and become separate . At the time, they were granted distinct postal codes (977xx and 978xx respectively), but for some reason La Poste doesn't want to play along and continues to apply Guadaloupe's 971xx postcode to these islands. So, in summary, your "Saint Barthélemy - Guadaloupe" postmark should have stopped being used in 2007, but wasn't. :-)

 I told you these overseas territories are complicated :)

Baked Potato Soup, USA

next is something which could come in well during these winter days (as much as I had enjoyed the sun this Saturday, the weather has gone crazy again here...)

so here is your ultimate guide on how to prepare an Idaho baked potato soup.

what you need for this are:
- ⅔ cup butter or margarine
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 7 cups milk
- 4 large baking potatoes, baked, peeled and cubed (about 4 cups)
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
- 1¼ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper

Basic cooking instructions: In large soup kettle or Dutch oven, melt the butter. Stir in flour; heat and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Add potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil; stirring constantly. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; stir until cheese is melted. Serve immediately. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Bon Appétit!
thanks a lot to Tina for this angel card that she sent on behalf of one of the cards in this RR that never arrived. Tina always sends great cards. This one from The Subway is just a proof of that.

and the stamps...with the new postage rate....the Monarch butterfly is a definitive issued in 2010. Next to it is a stamp issued in a set of 4 in 2003 from the Third American Treasures Series, featuring works by Mary Cassatt, an American painter and printmaker. The third, 4c stamp featuring a stagecoach from 1890s, was issued in 1982.

Torre de Hércules, Spain

another great surprise in my mailbox, this time coming from dear Bea, who decided to contribute to both my lighthouse and UNESCO collection! :)

the card shows the Tower of Hercules, which is an ancient Roman lighthouse, and a UNESCCO whs since 2009, located in the city of Coruña. It is the oldest Roman lighthouse in use nowadays and the oldest one in the world as well, built in the second century! (So I guess it did deserve to be inscribed on the UNESCO's list!)
And since I love myths, here is what is related to this lighthouse:
-According to a myth that blends Celtic and Greco-Roman elements, the hero Hercules slew the giant tyrant Geryon after three days and three nights of continuous battle. Hercules then—in a Celtic gesture— buried the head of Geryon with his weapons and ordered that a city be built on the site. The lighthouse atop a skull and crossbones representing the buried head of Hercules’ slain enemy appears in the coat-of-arms of the city of Coruña.
Another legend says that King Breogán, the founding father of the Galician Celtic nation, constructed here a massive tower of such a grand height that his sons could see a distant green shore from its top. The glimpse of that distant green land lured them to sail north to Ireland.

and the card comes with a matching stamp too!! ♥ ♥ ♥   It was issued in 2009 in  a set of 6 lighthouses' stamps! The definitives from the Juan Carlos' series are something you are familiar with I guess...if im not mistaken, the blue and the greyish one were issued in 2002, while the pink one should be from 2009...I hope i got it right :)

Muchas gracias por la sorpresa querida!!!

Friday Market, UAE

well, I guess it's gonna be a day with surprise cards, though it turned out that way pretty unintentionally :)

and another surprise from JP...this time from a different side of the world, in particular, the UAE.
The card shows date selling in a traditional Friday market. I dont think ive seen so many dates at on place but it certainly looks interesting (even though im not a fan of dates...dont know why but ive never gotten into them...just like raisins...)
Still, i totally love the card, since as you know, I love such cards showing traditional markets.
It's funny though...with so many people selling dates, how do you decide from whom to buy them?

the stamp JP used was issued in 2005 in a set of 6 Desert Plants in the UAE stamps, with this one featuring the Prosopis cineraria.

well, that would be it for today!

thanks a lot to everyone for the lovely surprises in my mailbox, and of course, to all of you for reading :)

until next time, stay well...

Beirut, Lebanon

well, the weather has gotten back to normal..though im not sure if this is normal either, having 15°C, when just last week it was -20°C...but at least we finally have some sun...and it is really nice to go and take a walk outside..and of course, mail has gotten back to normal, and my postman does come a bit more frequently...yippie :) And among all the great mail he had brought me, was also this card...which I thought had gotten lost...but in the end it managed to find its way to me, so im reallly happy, since it is a new country in my collection, and I really felt disappointed when i thought it was lost...

So, I would like to introduce Lebanon here, and its capital Beirut (must say it is the first time I see it written Beyrouth...)
And the person to blame for this is Herbert...he already sent me this great surprise from Transnistria (when I panicked about it :P) and he told me that also a card from Lebanon was on my way...but the card just wouldnt come, so to my great disappointment I had to accept it had gotten lost....but the postal routes definitely have something mysterious about them, so you just never know when something might appear....and leave you wondering, where it had been so far.

well, this gem of a card shows a sea side view at Ras Beirut, which is actually a luxurious residential neighborhood and is considered to be Beirut's most cosmopolitan and open-minded area.
this becomes esp. interesting when you have a country as Lebanon in question, for which you usually think are pretty confined since the majority of the population is Muslim...it is a pretty wrong way to judge something, but that is somewhat the stereotypical notion that comes to the mind....so it is nice to learn something new and have those stereotypes proven wrong, no?

i love it that the stamps are so colourful! and as you can see from the stamp, the card was sent on October 17...and I received it just a few days ago...so where has it been for 4 months, only the card knows...but it surely wont tell us :)

it was a bit of a challenge to locate the stamps though...the left one is from a set of 6 definitives issued in 2011 while the blue one was issued in 2009, with regards to the Francophone conference.

Herbert, thank you VERY VERY VERY much again for thinking of me during your trips!!

California, USA

Next is a card I received few days ago from dear Bryon...in honour of the freezing weather we had....cant help but keep laughing about it :))))

luckily our freezing weather is over, though not even close to as the one on the card...plus we dont have beaches here...ok, actually we do have a beach along the Vardar river, but Ill never understand what's their purpose since no sane person would put on a bathing suit and go there to sunbathe (swimming is forbidden either way...)
well, one can at least always dream...and enjoy..and hope for a nice upcoming summer...

ps. my Spanish is really not progressing at the moment, but hopefully ill get back on track...soon :)

hm, ok...is it my impression or the postal rate in the US has gone up? I received another card as well, with stamps over 1$...so I guess that's not such good news =/
But Bryon did manage to use three lovely stamps and as much as my memory serves me, all three rather new to me!
the ones on the right are both Forever stamps issued in 2011 in a set of 10, representing flags...the top one represents the flag of Pennsylvania while the bottom one, of Rhode Island.
the other stamp was issued in 1978 and portrays George M.Cohan, a late American entertainer.

Thank you Bryon!! Curious to when you find a Macedonian restaurant at last :)

Urdaneta, Philippines

Very cool card that arrived from the Philippines, showing a grain dealer at the Urdaneta Central Market (when one says dealer, it doesnt really have a nice connotation :D)

but the whole image and the colours on this card are just so nice! I just need to find out what grains we have here exactly!
Urdaneta is considered a 1st class city in the eastern part of the province of Pangasinan in Philippines.
Funny, but ive never heard before of a 1st class city (as if im on an airplane and can choose between first and economy class for example..). But from what I read, the cities in the Philippines are actually classified according to the average annual income based on the previous 3 calendar years and a first class city ha a PHP of 400 million or more

maths is not really my strong side, so all such BDP's, GDP's and similar stuff are not really my cup of tea...but still, this was an interesting thing to learn...

the stamp on the right was issued in 2011 in a set of 9 definitives representing marine life, while the other one is from a set of 40 birds' stamps issued in 2009.

Patagonia, Argentina

last card for today was sent by dear Viviana...for a really long time I wanted a card related to Patagonia, so I was really really happy when I found this one in my mailbox last year!

I dont know why Patagonia fascinates me so much...but it might be the relation of glaciers in South America...to me it is pretty fascinating!

The card here shows the Perito Moreno Glacier, in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of the Santa Cruz province and is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing.

Simply über-cool! Definitely a place i would LOVE to visit one day!

the top right stamp was issued in 2011 for the Year devoted to Decent Labour, Health and Safety for Workers. The other two were issued in 2010...the big, $5 one is from a set of 8 issued regarding the Football World in Cup South Africa 2010, while the smaller one at the right commemorates the national census.

thank you very much Viviana!

and thanks to all for reading :)

St. Laurent du Maroni, French Guiana

Good Monday to you all! Finally some nice sunny days here...and all of a sudden life feels better :)

well, work's been terribly busy lately....but even though tiring, interesting nevertheless....so im not complaining....just that as usual, im a terrible free-time manager...

anyways, let's see what do we have here for today...

I was lucky enough to reserve myself a seat in the French Guiana group...and...receive a card from there..yippie!!
What I especially love about this card, is the sky...though you do need to take a second look in order to notice it better since otherwise, the building remains in the focus...
But what building that exactly is, unfortunately I can't tell....all I know is that it is somewhere in St. Laurent du Maroni....which is a border town in north-west French Guiana and it is located on the Maroni River.
For a long time it has been the headquarters of an important association for the protection of the environment: "Le pou d'agouti", which strives for the protection of local and regional fauna and flora.

it is a pity that French Guiana does not issue its own stamps, but uses the French ones, being a French overseas department. Even the cancellations say 'France' though I guess there is something distinctive regarding the 'La Poste' number which indicates it comes from FG.
The small French stamps are rather familiar to you...but I really like this big one, issued last year for the Judo World Championship 2011. Thanks a lot to Luis for this card!

Switzerland

you know how Switzerland always has this association to green mountains, grazing cows, fresh milk and delicious chocolate :) Well, here is one not so far away from that...

Can't you just simply feel the breeze and the fresh mountain air?
The card says to show the long tradition of 'blowing horns and flag spinning' .
And this wooden horn is called...well, an Alphorh, of course :)
It consists of a natural wooden horn of conical bore, having a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece, used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland and elsewhere. Similar wooden horns were used for communication in most mountainous regions of Europe, from French Switzerland to the Carpathians.
The well-known "Ranz des Vaches" is a traditional Swiss melody often heard on the alphorn. The song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at cheese making time..sounds hillarious :P

and here it is, so you know what it is about...doesnt sound bad actually :) (ignore the children running around...)

again, a combination of a common and not such a common stamp...the rye stamps from 2008 are more well known..but this other larger stamp was issued in 2011 and is from a set of 3 UNESCO whs stamps, with this one showing Lavaux (or particularly the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces...)

D51 Steam locomotive, Japan

Here comes a great card I received as a surprise from dear Maggie who spent some time in Japan recently!

This train is in front of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, and its gift shop also sells cards with it, and right now I am the happy owner of one :)

This D51 class steam locomotive is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways, the Japanese National Railways and various manufacturers from 1936 to 1951. The name consists of a "D" for the four sets of driving wheels and the class number 51 for tender locomotives that the numbers 50 through 99 were assigned to under the 1928 locomotive classification rule. This one here particularly shows a D 51 231 model.

the stamp is from the Endangered fauna set of 5 stamps issued in 2011.

Thanks a lot to Maggie for pointing it out coz she knows I always have problems with locating the  Japanese stamps :D
And thanks so much again for the fantastic surprise!!