In: from the United Kingdom

Just this morning I realised that this postcard would have matched very well with the postcards shown in the recent Postcards for the Weekend. The weekend is over now, but during the working week nice things happen, which, at least in the Netherlands, don't happen in the weekends. For example this emptying of the mailbox, the daily pick-up of our sent mail.

Great photo, taken by John and made into a postcard, which I am very pleased to receive.

On the back pretty stamps:



Thank you very much, John!

Postcards for the Weekend: Mail / Postal

This weekend Postcards for the Weekend's theme is a dear one: mail / postal.

As mail lovers nowadays often correspondent with other mail lovers, it may be clear that mail related postcards are welcome objects to send and receive. This way I received (and have send) several great postcards, matching to the theme.
Here are a few of them:

An interesting postcard sent by Eva:



Mail transport (one way to do so) on a postcard from John:



Some good advice (at least for me, who is much behind in replying to many kind senders): send your mail in time (postcard sent in time by John):



A mail art postcard, created and sent by FinnBadger:



And a postcard, made of a photo I took years ago:



See more mail related / postal postcards at and via this weekend's Postcards for the Weekend!

Sunday Stamps: tall ships

This Sunday Stamps' theme is 'tall ships'.

For mail lovers of course this tall ship is a favourite one, as this ship was meant and used for mail transport:



The word 'tall ship' (in Dutch also in English) I heard for the very first time just two years ago, when the event Sail Amsterdam took place. I didn't have time to visit the event, but friends who did, told me they were impressed by the amazing tall ships, and they showed me beautiful photos. So hopefully I can take a look next time, in 2020 that will be.

This stamp sheet, Dutch PostNL issued in honour of the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam, shows one - tiny! - tall ship, see bottom right:



A similar old tall ship has been pictured on this recent stamp, part of a six stamps sheet connecting the Netherlands and Australia:



A tall ship (in Dutch also 'zeilreus', 'sail giant') is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing ship. I though it always has more than one mast. So I am not sure if the following, modern, vessel will belong to this Sunday's theme. At least she sails over the oceans, and is underways for a very long time, an amazing journey. On this stamp sheet, issued by PostNL in 2015, you can see the vessels and sailors in action:



See more stamps on this interesting theme at and via Sunday Stamps.

In: from the United Kingdom

It is still winter, here in the northern hemisphere. After a few days of plus 6 to 8 degrees Celsius I was hoping that my favourite season, spring, would be back again. Alas no, more coldness on its way. The weather forecast predicts frost in the coming days, and maybe snow.

Reflecting about the four seasons, I came across this postcard John had sent me last October, two days before an other kind of spring (off-spring?) would enter his life :-) .
I love trees, and this European oak in the autumn sunlight makes a nice picture.



On the back side John added two postal related stamps: the Falmouth packet ship which traveld in the 1820s and a Traveling Post office (1890s).

Thank you very much, John!

In: from the United Kingdom - of Mail and more Peter Rabbit

To do something 'post haste' means to do something quickly, I learned from John who sent this pretty postcard. Which gives a clue where this phrase comes from: the mail coach travelled faster than any other vehicle.



On the back of the postcard a matching illustration, and an other postage stamp from the Beatrix Potter stamps serie, showing Squirrel Nutkin:



Sent three weeks before the postcard above, but arriving a week later than the previous one, is the following postcard, showing the Port Sunlight Post Office. It has been built in 1891 and is part of the model village, built by Lord Lever / Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in their soap factory.



Jemima Puddle-Duck, also created by Beatrix Potter, more than a century ago, is the character on the stamp on the back of this card:



Inbetween the arrival of both cards, John as well as the Royal Mail and Dutch PostNL surprised me with a nice envelope (well, here I'm showing the two stamps only):



'Surprised' because the size of this envelope was far below the minimum sizes Royal Mail and PostNL prescribe, nevertheless the mail carriers did pick up and deliver the tiny envelope without complaining!



Thank you very much, John!

In: from the United Kingdom - of Mail, Transport and Peter Rabbit

Mail transport, a tram and the railway station, to my opinion always nice themes to see. And I was happy that John sent these in one postcard!

On the back side more vehicles:



Also related to mail is of course the mailbox, a famous one from the United Kingdom is the red pillar box:



The stamp on the back side of this card is a 'bridge' to a postcard John had sent me some time ago, namely an illustration by Beatrix Potter of a character from the tales of Peter Rabbit. This is Benjamin Bunny, Peter's cousin:



The card sent / received previously shows Peter Rabbit himself, plus a squirrel and Jemima Puddle-Duck:



Peter Rabbit also shows up on a stamp, accompanied by a stamp of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, the hedgehog:



Thank you very much, John!

Sunday Stamps: Horses

Two days ago my 'Horse' chaincard arrived back home. In an almost two months journey, via Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia my card gathered beautiful horse stamps.

And this Sunday Stamps theme happens to be 'Horses'! A good opportunity to share this chaincard with you:



The photos on the Dutch stamps top left have been made by Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas. These stamps are part of a ten stamps sheet named 'portraits'. On her website you can see more wonderful animal photos, and some background information about the horse on the left stamp, and about the white horse.

Of course I used stamps from this sheet also for the other chaincard participants. I scanned the other person's cards before forwarding to the next participant. And you can see some similar stamps and some different one:







Mail companies from many countries have issued horse stamps. Since a year I found myself collecting horse stamps. By 'collecting' I mean I keep them when found, even if they are folded, like this one from Germany:



In the past decennia Dutch Post has issued more stamps showing horses:

Former queen Beatrix and her late, sympathetic husband Claus riding a horse:


(their minor granddaughters were pictured without a head protection cap, too, by which they were not giving a good example to other horse riding kids)

A 'personalized stamp', created by Arnold Voordewind from natuurlijkefoto.nl and issued by PostNL, showing a Konik pony, the only type of horse living in the wild in the Netherlands:



A Dutch traditional character is Sinterklaas, aka Sint/Saint Nicolaas. On his white friendly horse Amerigo he even rides on roofs. You can see them often along with their companion Piet/Pete:



An other 'Sinterklaas' and Amerigo, pictured by late Dutch illustrator Max Velthuijs:



An other white horse, carrying Prince Siddhartha, is shown on this stamp from Sri Lanka:



Horses have inspired many artists and craftsmen:
A horse shaped flute from Latvia:



Stylised horses, also from Latvia:



A double headed, winged horse from Kazachstan:



A horse shown on an inkpot on a Ukrainian stamp:



Horses at work:

From Canada:



Horses helping delivering the mail, from the United Kingdom:




The chess horse stamps I've found I will keep for an other theme :-)

See more wonderful horses on stamps on this Sunday Stamps blog post and follow the linke mentioned there!

In: from the United Kingdom

"Rural postman in summer uniform delivering mail", year unknown, from the National Postal Museum collection (then located at King Edward Street). See the happy face of the boy while receiving his mail! As happy as I was, and still am, by receiving this great postcard from John.
Today it is like tropical weather, here in our usually 'cold frogland', with over 30 degrees Celsius. So this 'summer uniform' seems even too hot to wear today!

John added these beautiful stamps:



Thank you very much, John!

In: from the United Kingdom

One day before the Sunday Stamps was themed 'spineless invertebrates' I happened to receive this postcard from John. Being an insect postcard and not an insect postage stamp, I waited until now to post it here.

For the UK insect stamps which I showed on the Sunday Stamps blog post I am grateful to John.
Also on this postcard John has added interesting and beautiful stamps.

There isn't much "ict" on stamps yet, while many of us work almost daily with one or another form of information communication technoilogy. So the stamp on bottom, which shows the evolution from ancient hieroglyphics via a books library to IT is a very actual one!



Thank you very much, John!

Out: to Sri Lanka

I was happy to find these maxicards on the internet. The stamps have been issued in 1989 for the 150th anniversary of the Dutch Railways.



The card below shows a mail train!
I haven't seen trains like this anymore for the last decades. Probably mail is carried in common cargo trains without logo, or by road in vans. I think the latter, as I see many mail vans on the highway.



On all back sides there is a prominent 'R' printed at the place where the stamp has to be sticked.
It is clear to whom I have to send these cards!