Postcards for the Weekend: December holidays

This 'Postcards for the Weekend' theme is 'December holidays'.
Nowadays here in the Netherlands many people send x-mas and new year's wishes via email, whatsapp or other social media. However, still (folded) cards are sent, fortunately, too.

And fortunately people from other countries are sending nice wishes, too. I am happy to have received some from abroad recently:

From Shufen from Malaysia:



I think it funny that the card shows a horse, because the Dutch word for horse ('paard') rhymes with the Dutch word for card ('kaart'), and this way it is a christmas paard-kaart.




Elena from Belarus created the following pretty card. As I love music, I am happy she chose this music notes background:



On the colourful envelope an also colourful December stamp:




Also Hana Ehagaki creates wonderful cards. From Japan she sent me this Happy New Year wish, brought to us by this ウォッチドッグ, watchdog:



On the back a special postmark and an other interesting stamp print:




In our half of the world we think the 1st of January marks the New Year. You can ask yourself if that is a logical day. In other parts of the world there are other first-day-of-the-new-year-days. And I think some of them more logical. Like the first day in spring, the day of the vernal equinox. Or, as the following postcard has been dedicated to, the new moon of the first lunar month.



The (Chinese) New Year of the Dog will start on 16 February 2018. So although not celebrated in December (thus not really matching this Postcards for the Weekend's theme), I post it today, because it is a New Year's card, and I received it last week, thanks to ChenHuei from Taiwan.
She had added a special and matching pictoral postmark:



And on the back side of the card she added this, er, cat, or dog?




Find more season's greeting-cards at and via Postcards for the Weekend!

Postcards for the weekend: December Holidays

This weekend's 'Postcards for the Weekend' theme is 'December Holidays'.

The reason of my crashed computer appeared to be an amount of dust in the desktop's ventilation system. So thanks to our vacuum cleaner I am able to scan and post postcards and stamps again!

The coming period I have some days off from work so I can spend my free time... writing cards! There is a delay in my outgoing season's greetings mail, despite of the fact that my computer didn't function during the past two weeks (by which I should have had more free time), and despite of the important message on the following card (thank you, John!).



The back side of the card shows matching stamps:



What else one can do in the December holidays? When there is snow, one could take a sleigh :



(Although made in Danmark and sent from Spain, I discovered the Fox speaks a nice season's wish in Dutch!.. Thank you, Eva, for the great card and matching stamps!)

One can buy some food and make some music:



Put on your best dress:



And while there still is no snow in the Netherlands, this pretty christmas penguin-in-snow was sent to me from Malaysia (thank you, Shufen):



On the back a nice stamp showing, among others, the Tapir, one of my all-time favourite animals, so it is always a great addition, even to a christmas card.



See more December Holidays postcards at and via this weekend's 'Postcards for the weekend'.

In: Season's greetings

In December we usually send and receive nice season's wishes from and to family and friends. Via snail mail, but it is little by little replaced by email and other electronic message ways.
Of course stubborn snail mailers (like me) will keep on sending tangible cards.

Also dear mail friends - people who I've never met 'in real' but who are so familiar thanks to the postal services and our persistence to keep on using these services - made me happy by sending kind and beautiful christmas and new year's wishes.



Above you can see the christmas tree John has sent to me. And I had to look twice to see that the baubles are special ones, very suitable to this blog: mailboxes! Pillar boxes to be exact.



Also the stamps are matching. Above a winter stamp, and below... Pillar boxes! On both the stamp and the postmark.



Eva sent me a beautiful, nostalgic scene. As a child I used to play with tiny farm animals like these, and also Eva has good memories to this scene.



On the back side Eva added a Spanish christmas stamp with glow-in-the-dark stars.



From Alvin I received this postcard with kind wishes from a snowy Utrecht.
A beautiful scene, however this year it can't be true, as this christmas there is no snow at all in our country. Even not any chance: with temperatures over 13 degrees Celsius it is the warmest christmas day ever in the Netherlands, or at least since people started to measure it in 1901!



On the back side Alvin added one of the present December stamps. I think it a nice serie.



Thank you very much, Eva, John and Alvin!

Finally there's a card which I received for a short period of time only:



This holidays/christmas/december themed 'chaincard' is traveling from Philippines via Hong Kong, Scotland and me in the Netherlands back to the sender in Philippines. So I'll forward this card to the first sender soon, and meanwhile my own card is traveling in the same countries, where similar season's stamps are / will be added!

Sunday stamps: December stamps

After 200 editions of Sunday Stamps hosted by Viridian, Viridian passes the baton on to Violet Sky, so fortunately the Sunday Stamps continue. This Sunday's theme is 'Christmas / Hannukah stamps'.

There are many Christmas / December stamps issued by the Dutch post, and I've received several beauties from overseas. However, this time I'll limit my contribution to one stamp I received from Spain (thank you, Eva!), and two I received from the United Kingdom (thank you, John!).

This Spanish one has been issued in 2013 and is multilingual: Gallego, Catalan, Basque and Castellano.



And these English two show what many people also in the Netherlands do: take a Christmas tree home, and send cards to family and friends (speaking for myself: I safe the christmas tree, but I do send cards, so I do not safe other trees...).

In: from the Netherlands

Prachtige collage, ontvangen van Lidia (let ook op de toepasselijke keuze van sokken en de bijpassende kleur van de envelop!). Zij heeft nog veel meer mooie collages op haar naam staan (zoals deze, en deze).
Ik sluit me bij deze goede wensen aan: voor iedereen een mooie kerst en alle goeds voor een heel mooi, gezond, gelukkig, creatief, postvol 2014!
En Lidia, heel erg bedankt!

'2014 already? Time flies!'
Beautiful collage postcard, received from Lidia (note the great choice of similar colours, of both the stockings and the envelope!). Lidia created a lot of great collages (among them also this one, and this).
I'm joining her in these good wishes: to all of you happy holidays and best wishes for a beautiful, healthy, happy, creative 2014, and may your mailbox be filled with many beautiful mail!
Many thanks to Lidia for this great card!

Sunday stamps: More Christmas / Holiday stamps

Ook deze zondag zijn kerstpostzegels het thema van Sunday stamps.
Er is trouwens reden voor een feestje: het is de 150e editie van Sunday stamps!

Van bovenstaande postzegel uit Litouwen weet ik niet zeker of het als kerstpostzegel uitgegeven is. Maar de sterren bij het winterlandschap doen vermoeden van wel.

Also this Sunday the theme of Sunday Stamps is 'Christmas or Holiday stamps'. There's a reason to celebrate: today is the 150th edition of Sunday Stamps! Congratulations, Viridian, and all contributors to the wonderful Sunday Stamps site!

I'm not sure if the stamp you see above has been issued for Christmas specificly. But the stars and the wintery scene make me think it has.



Heel bijzonder vind ik deze kerstpostzegel uit Sri Lanka.
Very special, to my opinion, is this Christmas stamp from Sri Lanka.



En hier nog meer Nederlandse kerst- oftewel decemberzegels. Deze zijn van het decemberzegelvel uit 2011.
And here some more Dutch Christmas aka December stamps. These are from the December stamp sheet issued in 2011.



Het postzegelvel uit 2008 vind ik erg mooi, maar helaas heb ik die totaal opgebruikt. Op deze website vind je hem nog. Net als het postzegelvel van dit jaar vormen de afzonderlijke zegels één geheel. En extra leuk is dat er ook postzegels op staan!

The stamp sheet of 2008 I like very much, but alas I cannot show it here as I've used all stamps of it!.. However, if you're interested, you still can find it on this website.
Similar to the 2013 December stamp sheet, also on the 2008 sheet all individual stamps together form one picture. Another nice detail is the fact that there are stamps shown on it, too!



Hierboven nog meer typische december-dingen, op het postzegelvel uit 2003.
En hieronder dat wat overbleef van mijn decembervel uit 2005...

Above some more typical December objects/situations, on the stamp sheet issued in 2003.
Below the remains of the December stamp sheet I used in 2005...



En hieronder het decemberzegelvel van vorig jaar. Sommige mensen vragen zich af waarom op de Nederlandse decemberzegels Noorse brei-ontwerpen staan (zie bijvoorbeeld een van de reacties onder deze blog). Maar ach, dat is natuurlijk ook typisch Nederlands, invloeden van buitenaf. Dat is iets van alle landen en alle tijden, en 't maakt de wereld kleiner èn kleurrijk!
En het was ook pas in 2013 dat er meer informatie bekend is geworden over traditionele Nederlandse (vissers)truien!

And below you see the December stamp sheet of last year, showing Norwegian knitting patterns. Some Dutch people wondered why Norwegian patterns were issued on Dutch stamps, but I think there have been influences from anywhere, everywhere, and it's of all times. That makes the world even more colourful, doesn't it? And not until this year, some more information about typical Dutch knitting patterns became available.

Sunday stamps: Christmas or Holiday stamps

Het thema van deze zondag op Sunday Stamps is 'Christmas or holidays' postzegels, al noemen we dat in Nederland Kerst- en Nieuwjaars-zegels en heten de 'onze' decemberzegels en geen vakantiezegels.

This Sunday's Sunday Stamps theme is 'Christmas or holiday stamps'. Which I would translate into Dutch as 'Christmas and New Year's stamps (as we call the postcards sent for this holiday 'Kerst- en Nieuwjaarskaarten', Christmas and New Year's cards). The Dutch stamps issued for Christmas cards usually are called 'decemberzegels' (December stamps).



Sinds 1987 brengt het Nederlandse postbedrijf (tegenwoordig: PostNL) decemberzegels uit, die goedkoper zijn dan gangbare zegels (ehm, dit jaar met € 0,55 alweer duurder dan de prijs van een gewone postzegel van nog geen vijf maanden geleden, terwijl de decemberzegel vorig jaar nog € 0,40 kostte).
Het leuke is dat er ieder jaar weer nieuwe ontwerpen zijn. Zo was er deze in 2001, met Europese kerst- en nieuwjaarstradities. De klok en druiven linksboven, bijvoorbeeld, horen bij oud-en-nieuw in Spanje, waar bij iedere klokslag van middernacht een druif gegeten wordt.
Hierboven de kerstzegels van dit jaar (hier enkele van vorig jaar). Ontworpen door de bekende illustrator Sieb Posthuma.

Since 1987 the Dutch mail company issues 'December stamps', in sheets of 20 stamps.
They are issued in November, and every year created by other designers, with various themes. For instance here you see the stamp sheet of 2001, showing European Christmas and New Year's traditions. For instance the stamp top left depicts the Spanish tradition to eat a grape every stroke of the clock at New Year's Eve.
The stamp sheet you see above is the 2013 sheet (here you can see some of the 2012 sheet). It was designed by the Dutch illustrator Sieb Posthuma.



Hierboven de ronde 'Forever' kerstpostzegel uit de Verenigde Staten. En hieronder drie prachtige kruissteekjes-ontwerpen van de Canadese post, zie ook hier.

Above the round 'Forever' Christmas stamp from the USA. And below you can see fine cross stitch designs by the Canadian Post, you can find them also here.



Een van de geborduurde onderwerpen is de posthoorn! Àls ik ooit eens tijd heb voor borduren, dan wordt dit natuurlijk de eerste om na te maken.

This one reminds of the post horn. Whenever I would have time to embroider, this will be the first one to make in real :-)



En een ander hoogtepunt in de kerstvakantie is Oud-en-Nieuw. Onderstaande nieuwjaarspostzegel uit Engeland heeft het als thema. De vuurwerk postzegel is verbonden met een postzegel van het Chinese Nieuwjaar, in dit geval die van de Chinese gemeenschap in Belfast. Zie voor meer postzegels uit deze serie deze website.

And an other highlight of the December month is of course New Year's Eve. Below you can see the firework stamp which I received from the United Kingdom, which is connected by the celebration of the Chinese New Year by, in this stamp, the Chinese community in Belfast. See for more information and more stamps from this serie this website.



Ook uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk komen onderstaande postzegels. De linker, met Bob Cratchit en Tiny Tim, is een uit een serie van vijf, uitgegeven ter gelegenheid van de 150e verjaardag van de publicatie van Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. Het complete vel is te zien op deze website, en de illustratie is er duidelijk een van Quentin Blake.
De rechter postzegel is van de hand van de jonge kunstenares Molly Robson.

The following stamps also are from the U.K. The one on the left shows Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim and is one from a serie of five stamps, issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' publication. The complete stamp sheet is shown on this website. The illustration obviously has been made by Quentin Blake.
The stamp on the right has been designed by the young artist Molly Robson.



Deze postzegels zaten vastgeplakt aan onderstaande kaart, die ik ontving van Scriptor. Een officiële kerstkaart, de oorspronkelijke kaart werd in 1888 door de mensen van het hoofdpostkantoor in Londen gestuurd naar hun collega's in het Paddington District Office.

I am thanking Scriptor very much for these stamps, as well as for the postcard these stamps were sticked to. The card shows the official Christmas card, sent in 1888 by the officers of the General Post Office in London to their colleagues at Paddington District Office.



Thank you very much, Postmuse, Wilma, Carolyn and John, for adding gorgeous stamps to your beautiful mail for me!

In: from the United Kingdom

Deze fraaie foto is gemaakt in Cheltenham door John Edwards. Je ziet een zogeheten 'George V' brievenbus met twee openingen, staand voor een viertal K6 telefooncellen (hier zie je een K2 telefooncel).

This beautiful picture has been made by John Edwards, and shows a dual aperture George V letter box, standing before four K6 telephone kiosks in Cheltenham (here you can see a K2 telephone kiosk)(and this is K3).



Thank you very much, Scriptor!