Santa's Reply

Maybe you remember that last year I sent two letters to Santa. I want you to know that, in January, I received a very nice letter from him.

December Stamps

December usually means December stamps from the Netherlands. These are some of the 2024 designs, created by illustrator Marieke Ruts from Hellevoetsluis. They include ten festive scenes, each one with a robin, the bird that always inspires hope. You can see here all the illustrations.

They always look wonderful on envelopes, like these sent by Heleen:

Refreshing Postcards

Postcards are my main way of travelling these days, so the my preferred postcards to get through Postcrossing are tourist, traditional ones, But I always list a few more things I like on my Postcrossing profile, because some senders need more ideas, or cannot find tourist postcards in the places they live in. And one of these things is citrus fruits. I love oranges and lemons, and they never fail to cheer me up. So, from time to time, I receive some, like this postcard sent by Yesim (Germany).

Besides the postcard, the nice stamp and the friendly message, she took the time to decorate the back. How cool is it?

The same day, I received this postcard by Fleur (the UK). A lot of citrus and lighthouses and Christmas stamps on the back, too. Postcrossers trying to do their best really rock!

Sunday Stamps | Christmas in July

I do not really understand the celebration of Christmas in July, but this is the first stamp that came to my mind...

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more Christmas-in-July stamps.

Summer Mail - II

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA), with a watermelon label.

Some stamps do not seem stamps at all:

From Phillip (the USA), I have got the complete series! And the First Day cancellation.

Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams (1902– 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. 

These stamps commemorating his impact in art were issued in 2024.

I think I have got all of them by now. They look wonderful on letters!

Music City & Music Mail

The Tennessee postcard I uploaded the day before yesterday arrived together with this one sent by Phillip (the USA), celebrating the music city... with the most appropriate stamps:

Actually, it is not unusual to get musical mail. This postcard was sent by Pawel (Poland), is a poem for children to learn the alphabet in Kashubian language.

On this envelope send by Micu (Hungary), there is a stamp that celebrates Veszprém as a 2023 European Capital of Culture. 

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States Project | The Keystone State

Probably you have not noticed, but this the only postcard of this project that have the flag stamp above the Greetings from stamp!

A lot of interesting facts about this state, and important inventions. I especially enjoyed the reference to Punsxutawney. 

Bryon's States Project postcards and stamps.

States Project | The Tar Heel State

A new installment of Bryon's States Project brought the North Carolina postcard. I had to look up the origin of the nickname, the Tar Heel State.

I wonder if there is a rivalry between the states of North Carolina and Georgia, because of Pepsi/Coke.

Thursday Postcard Hunt | The Mt. Rushmore State

Is not the Mount Rushmore one of the most famous features of the whole country? Not strange that the state takes its nickname from it! It appears also on the stamp, of course.

The postcard got a very clear Happy Holidays pictorial postmark (upside down, but still!).

From May to December 2024, Bryon started a big postal project: sending me a postcard from the capital city on every USA state, with matching stamps: Greetings from America (2002), the state birds (1982) and the state flags (1976). Some postcards are waiting to be uploaded to the blog. See here all the States Project postcards.

By the way, I got last summer this beautiful postcard from Kristi, through the Postcrossing site:

The rushing waters of the Big Sioux River cascade gracefully over tons of smooth pink quartzite, creating the dramatic, enchanting falls that give the city of Sioux Fall (South Dakota) its name.

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
February theme: MAPS

• Week 1 - Country
• Week 2 - City or Metro/Transportation
• Week 3 - With Pictorial Landmarks
• Week 4 - States/Provinces/Counties

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

States Project | The Beaver State

The new destination of Bryon's States Project takes us to Oregon. Do you think there are more beavers than wine and cheese? 

As you can see, I am a bit delayed in uploading these postcards to the blog, and this one bears a Christmas postmark --on the front, for some reason.