Sunday Stamps: 'O' is for olijf, otter and origami olifant

Today the O is on turn for Sunday Stamps.

That means:

Olijf (plural: olijven), on a joint issue, Greece - China (click to enlarge):




An otter:





And an origami olifant - or in fact: two origami olifanten:



See what kind of stamps on the 'O' other stamp lovers have chosen for today at and via Sunday stamps!

In: from Germany

Do you remember the little Mole ('Molletje' in Dutch, 'Krtek' in Czech, the language of origin)?
I used to watch him and his friends on tv when I was a child. And fortunately this clever, environment-friendly critter is back, be it on DVD, YouTube, and on postcards nowadays :-)

This postcard and the surprising additional card I received from Margit from Germany.



On the envelope she added this pretty se-tenant stamp, and German Post added a pretty music postmark:



Thank you very much, vielen Dank, Margit!

In: from France

I love comics-like illustrations, and I love lighthouses on postcards, so I was delighted to find this postcard in my mailbox, sent from France by Eva.
This is the bateau feu (French for lighthouse ship) Sandettié, named after the sand bank in the North Sea between France and the United Kingdom. A newer version, the Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic nowadays is used as a weather station.



Thank you very much, Eva!

Sunday Stamps: 'N' is for neus, neushoorn and nijlpaard

The first Sunday of the month November, Sunday Stamps is dedicated to the letter 'N'.

A peculiar stamp I received from Ireland is one, showing a neus (nose in English).
It is part of a serie about the five traditional human senses.



And thinking of neuzen (neus plural), we think of neushoorns (rhinoceros in English).
Dutch Post has issued two stamp sheets in honour of the annniversaries of two Zoo's.

These neushoorns live in the city of Arnhem, in Burgers Zoo, where the little one has been born:



And this neushoorn lives in Blijdorp, the Zoo of Rotterdam:



Speaking of the letter 'N', in the same zoo there is this nijlpaard. Literally 'Nile horse', which is more or less the same as the English word 'hippopotamos', which is from Latin language, meaning 'horse of the river'.



It is hard to explain in words how you have to pronounce the diphthongs 'eu' and 'ij'. I think there is no equivalent in English for these. While during hearing and speaking the distinction is important, because of the different meanings, for instance of the words 'kijken' (to look) and 'keuken' (kitchen). Google.translate gives a good pronounciation of 'neus' (click on the loudspeaker under the translation), and I tried to combine some words with 'ij' (click on the loudspeaker). From a previous post you might remember the 'ei' has the same sound as 'ij' :-)

See more stamps on the letter 'N' at and via today's Sunday Stamps!

Postcards for the Weekend: Anything you wish

This weekend's Postcard for the Weekend theme is 'Anything you wish'.

The following postcard I've held in my hands for just one day, and it caused a big smile on my face.
It had been traveling for some time already, as you see (great postmarks, don't you think so?). Being a so-called 'chaincard' it was in transit: the owner was someone else, so after its arrival I added matching stamps to the back of the card, and forwarded it to the next receiver, so that the card finally will come home at the first sender's place.



I had to read the text twice, three times, before I caught the essence, and then the big smile of recognition appeared and this postcard turned into one of my favourites. The wish, (un)spoken, is actual in the present stage in my life. For example, at the moment that this card arrived, my kids had autumn holidays, and I was supposed to have a few days off from work, too. But despite of my 'vacation', I wasn't 'off' really. No time to sit on the couch when coming home from work, because all daily tasks have to be done first.

I think illustrator Fiep Westendorp has shown this problem - many multitasking moms/workers will know - well in some of her cartoons, which she made in the 50-ies and 60-ies of the previous century for the newspaper Parool.
For example this postcard, one of my favourite Fiep drawings, too:




See the choices by other mail lovers at and via Maria's blogpost of this weekend!

In: from the United Kingdom

Last Sunday I posted some 'molens', (wind)mills. Some weeks earlier I received this beautiful windmill card from John. It is named the Argos Hill Windmill and is located near Rotherfield.

On the back John added great stamps, showing Ladybird (children's) books. The now London-based Ladybird publishing company traces its origins to 1867.



As far as I know there is not a Dutch equivalent of Ladybird Books. I remember several Dutch publishing houses, but none of them is specialized in children's books, and they are not as widespread / monopolist in our country as were/are Penguin, Puffin and Ladybird books in the UK. Except for the 'Gouden Boekjes', but as far as I know the 'Little Golden Books' have their origins in the USA.
I read these Little Golden Books in a translated version in my childhood (Among them this one).
The first publisher of the Dutch Golden Booklets, 'Bezige Bij', also published books for grown-ups. The logo, however, matches more or less with the Ladybird logo: 'Bezige Bij' means 'Busy Bee' :-)

Thank you very much, John!

In: from Romania

With Nora, who is from Singapore and lives in Germany, I've joined a few chaincard projects. To my surprise she was in Romania and sent me this pretty postcard.
On the back nice postmarks, and a stamp showing cactus - the first cactus stamp I've ever had in hands!



Thank you very much, Nora!