Postcards for the Weekend: Winter scenes

This weekend's Connections to the World theme is 'Winter scenes'.
At the moment it is cloudy, here in the Netherlands. Sometimes rainy, and when going outside one could think it to be not only winter, but also autumn or spring. In the start of last December there were some days full of snow, and the weather forecast says it might be snowing next week, or not.
At least there are postcards who show snow. And thanks to 'Postcards for the Weekend' I was triggered to share them with you.

The postcard above I received from Margit from Germany, a cute one of Little Mole, or Krtek, and his woodland friends.



Although I dislike the cold and slipperiness of snow, sleighing is fun. This postcard is an illustration by Fiep Westendorp.

The postcard below I had made out of a photo I took some winters ago, from footsteps of our feathered friends on the pathway next to our home.



And this is a regular postcard, showing a winter scene in the province of Drenthe:



I used it for a chaincard, and after a journey via the USA, Indonesia (without melting!) and Russia the card returned home safely, the backside filled with snowmen:




See more winter scenes at and via Postcards for the Weekend!

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!

Postcards for the Weekend: Water

This weekend's theme for Postcards for the Weekend is 'Water in any form'.

A good opportunity to share this postcard, which Eva had sent me from Cádiz. I love bridges on postcards, and there where are bridges, most of the time there's water, of course.
And this multiview card shows a lot of water, in a variety of colours!



How nice to see stamps from the same city:



There is also water on maps. For example around the Wadden isle Texel (postcard sent to Eva),



The stamp I added shows more water around a kind of isle (in fact: a continent, Australia), water on a map:



Salt water from the sea on an illustration by Fiep Westendorp:



Fresh water from the air on this illustration of Kikker (Frog) by Max Velthuijs:



Check Postcards for the Weekend to find more postcards on the theme 'water'!

Postcards for the weekend: Happiness

This Postcards for the Weekend's theme is 'Happiness'!

One of the things that make me happy is nice mail. And it always is good to see the postman being happy by delivering mail, too:



Also this smurf is very happy, only he cannot bring the edges of his mouth upwards because he has to play the posthorn:



Nice mail brings happiness, both to the sender and receiver:





Happiness is for everyone, for the young and for the old.

Dutch illustrator Fiep Westendorp drew people of all ages, but she became most famous by her children's illustrations. This one of a child and cat, warmly packed against the cold, sharing happiness in the winter snow:



Finnish illustrator Inge Löök is famous for her illustrations of two very happy old ladies. Here the cheerful ladies are enjoying a nice day in the spring sun, with a drink and a play:



Enjoy more happy postcards at and via Maria's Postcards for the Weekend!

Postcards for the weekend: Books, reading, authors

This weekend the theme of Postcards for the Weekend is a favourite of mine, too: Books, reading, authors!
Also a favourite theme of many postcard lovers, and a lot of postcards have been issued on this theme. See for instance the website of Dutch postcrosser Willemijn, who posted hundreds of postcards on her 'Lezende vrouwen' ('Reading women') site between 2006 and 2012.

The first postcard I like to share here is this illustration by Fiep Westendorp. She became famous by her book illustrations of Jip & Janneke, the children's books by Annie M.G. Schmidt. But Fiep has drawn many other great pictures, among them cartoons about women's lives (in the 50'ies-60'ies and still actual!), and illustrations like this one:



A reading man is shown on this painting. I've sent this card to John in the UK, but alas I forgot to note who the painter and painted are:



From Eva I received this cartoon: 'Compre un libro. Y luego léalo!', in other words: 'Buy a book, and then read it!'
Who of you still has unread books on his/her shelf? (I have..)



To my opinion books preferably should be bought in real bookstores, not online. In order to keep sceneries like this alive:



Painting by Dutch painter Willy Belinfante-Sauerbier (1922-2014). She has made more paintings of reading people and bookstores.


And here a few books I received from Eva, that is, the covers on postcards, not the books itself :-) They are from a serie of Puffin Books postcards:





See more postcards on reading, books and authors at this weekend's Postcards for the Weekend.

Sunday Stamps: Pets

This Sunday Stamps' theme is 'pets'.
Searching in my stamps, there appeared to be a few stamps on this theme. Mostly cats and dogs, and three rodents.
The Dutch post company also offers the possibility to create your own personalized stamp sheet. At some higher costs you can have your own design printed. The stamps then can be used as a real postage stamp.

The stamp above was part of a serie of three, named 'Ten for your best friends' and showing cats, a dog and rabbits. Alas the last I've used, with no copy, but fortunately you can see it here.



This is the December stamps sheet of 2003. The stamp in the middle on top is showing a cat and dog, peacefully together.



Jip and Janneke, Annie M.G. Schmidt's creation, drawn by Fiep Westendorp, have two pets: the dog Takkie, and the cat Siepie, who you see here.



Nijntje, in English known as Miffy, has been created in 1955 by the Dutch illustrator Dick Bruna.
It's funny to see that this rabbit has a pet: the little she-dog Snuffie.



An other pet, or rather the main character in the stories created by the Dutch illustrator/writer Marten Toonder, is Tom Poes, a cat. He is a close friend of the gentleman Ollie B. Bommel, a bear who has a dog, named Joost. Not as a pet, but, as you can see on the left, as his butler.



An other famous pet is Tom, the cat from the couple Tom and Jerry. While we would think the predator always wins, in these stories it's always the rodent who survives, more than well.



Talking about rodents, a Dutch supermarket company has a hamster in it's advertisement campaigns. In 2012 the Dutch post company issued a stamp because of the 125th anniversary of this supermarket. And the hamster is part of it! That is, his gold coloured shadow, while jumping happpily on three of the stamps.



Finally the personalized stamp of Snuitje, one of the two guinea pigs (cavias) who live in my place. On this picture she's less than 2 months old. Since they're in our house, I (1) prefer vegetarian pets (so our herbivores will have nothing to fear), and (2) I am wondering why we, humans, are keeping pets, animals, as a kind of prisoner at all. I imagine that our pets would prefer to live with a large, large family somewhere in the wild, instead of being dependent of our care and time. But it is as it is, and both Snuitje and her roommate Cato seem to be happy with us.

Out: to Spain

"Tien geboden voor ouders", illustratie voor het Parool van 20 oktober 1960, door Fiep Westendorp (1916-2004), een van mijn favoriete Nederlandse illustratoren.
Haar tekeningen voor de toenmalige vrouwenpagina van het Parool zijn ruim 50 jaar later nog steeds actueel.

"Ten commandments for parents", illustration published in the Dutch / Amsterdam newspaper 'Het Parool', 20th October 1960, by Fiep Westendorp (1916-2004), one of my favourite Dutch illustrators. Her illustrations about women and children still are modern, more than 50 years after creating them!
Fiep Westendorp is also well-known by the Jip and Janneke illustrations.

Verstuurd naar Spanje, met gulden-postzegels (ik had in de loop van jaren een eigen voorraad opgebouwd die ik toch maar eens moest versturen, maar je blijkt ze ook nog te kunnen kopen!).
Links de binnenkant van het schip van de Domkerk in Utrecht. Rechts de oudste vuurtoren van Nederland, de Brandaris, op het waddeneiland Terschelling.

Send to Spain, with old postage stamps: gulden (florin, guilder) instead of euro.
The one on the left shows the inside of the Dom church in the city of Utrecht; the one on the right the oldest lighthouse of the Netherlands, the Brandaris on the Wadden island Terschelling.