Mail Adventures

10 June 2023

But Tulip Is Not the Only Flower

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

09 June 2023

Some More Tulips

After this post in January, I have received some more tulips from Laura (the UK), Bryon & Phillip (the USA) and Fabienne (France).

08 June 2023

This year there is not EUROPA stamp contest, because all the participant countries are issuing a stamp with the same design, dedicated to Peace - the highest value of humanity.

I thought it would be nice to get the stamp from as many countries as possible. So I arranged some swaps that are ongoing. I got these three stamps last week. And the day before yesterday, more Peace stamps arrived: from Austria (again), Germany, Latvia and Romania. But there are still a lot of missing countries in my collection-to-be.

If you wish to swap this stamp (or swap it for a postcard, envelope, etc.), just let me know!

07 June 2023

Alphabet 2023 | H is for Hanalei

Do you think Audrey Hepburn ever enjoyed a happy birthday riding a Harley around Hawaii?

Why not? Maybe she saw some Hawaiian geese and hibiscus in Hanalei... (or Honolulu, as the extra postmark suggests).

Another great piece of mail of Bryon's mail project Alphabet 2023!

06 June 2023

Medieval Matters

I sent a letter on this reused envelope, slightly decorated, to Laura (the UK). Of course, you cannot tell by the cover (the stamp is a hint), but all it contained were medieval matters.

So, the reply in the form of the postcard below was most appropriated!

King David, enthroned, with his musicians
The Vespasian Psalter
second quarter of the 8th century

05 June 2023

Peace Stamp Project

This year there is not EUROPA stamp contest, because all the participant countries are issuing a stamp with the same design, dedicated to Peace - the highest value of humanity.

I thought it would be nice to get the stamp from as many countries as possible. So I arranged some swaps that are ongoing. So far, I have got the stamps from Austria, Ireland and Switzerland.

But there are still a lot of missing countries in my collection-to-be.

If you wish to swap this stamp (or swap it for a postcard, envelope, etc.), just let me know!

04 June 2023

Sunday Stamps | Fishes of the Sea

For today's theme on Sunday Stamps, Fishes of the Sea, I have decided to upload these stamps from the USA. As you can see, I have got them on different combinations. Although dedicated to coral reefs, they feature also Fishes of the Sea. According with the stamps above, from left to right:

Elkhorn coral, shown with two French angelfish;
Staghorn coral, with bluestriped grunts;
Brain coral, with a spotted moray eel; and
Pillar coral, with a coney grouper and neon gobies.

In 2020, the theme chosen by EuroMed was Traditional Gastronomy in the Mediterranean. France participated with a stamp dedicated to the Bouillabaisse, a classic dish from Provence.

This stamp belongs to the series Fishing, issued by Royal Mail in 1981. See here the whole set.

And these belongs to the National Marine Sanctuaries issued by USPS in 2021. No fishing here!

03 June 2023

Alphabet 2023 | M Is for Melita

In Bryon's project Alphabet 2023, suddenly the M moved up in the line, and I got this postcard from Melita (Manitoba, Canada). As the sender wrote... It is hard to control de alphabet!

On the stamps: Monique Mercure, the Memorial Cup, and the Milky Way.

02 June 2023

Chain Postcard

A chain card (or chain postcard) is a postcard that travels to different people. Each of them sticks stamps about a previously agreed theme, erase the address (or cover it), and then sends it to the next person in the chain. Eventually, the card makes it back to the first sender.

I have never participated in an exchange like this. Mostly, because I usually don't have a wide range of stamps to choose from.

But my friend Heleen usually does. In her Instagram account you can see several examples.

Scheveningen
The Netherlands

She sent me this card that has travelled in 6 countries and 3 continents: Netherlands > USA > China > Taiwan > South Korea > Russia > Netherlands. And all this within half a year: from 27 February 2018 to 23 August 2018.

What a wonderful gift!

Biloxi (Mississippi) / Umpqua River (Oregon)
The United States

Chilung Tao / Wenkan Tui
Taiwan

Tarkhankut / Kherson
Russia

Nieuw-Haamstede
(The Netherlands)

Ulgi /Somaemuldo
South Korea

Yongshu Jiāo / Meiji Jiāo
China

01 June 2023

Black Mail

«—En un llibre vaig llegir una cosa que em va quedar gravada.

—Quina? va preguntar el director amb un somriure amable als llavis.

—Que correus és com les ungles i els cabells. Quan algú es mor continuen creixent. Igual que les cartes i les factures. Continuen arribant al destinatari encara que estigui enterrat. Oi que sí?»

Antonio Manzini, Pista negra

31 May 2023

And Lighthouses from Other Countries

Envelope made by Heleen (the Netherlands), from a page of a magazine. The back features the lighthouse at lake Neusiedlersee in Podersdorf, Austria. As Heleen wrote on the envelope: A lighthouse on a country not located at the sea.

Inside, among other nice things... More lighthouses! From three countrise:

Schiermonnikoog (The Netherlands) illustrated by Maarten Naarding;
the Chalk Cliffs of Normandie (France) illustrated by Lydia Lindo-Teding van Berkhout;
and the same depicted above, in Austria.