Sunday Stamps: E is for Envelope, Erwtjes and Embrace the Earth

Past Sunday's Sunday Stamps theme is/was the letter 'E'. As I was elsewhere, my contribution has a littlE dElay. But here they are:


Envelopes have been pictured on the 2008 Europa stamps (in the year two-thousand-Eight :-) )
For example on this Dutch Europa stamp:



And on the Russian Europa 2008 stamp a modern and classic version of an envelope:



Envelopes behind a modern communication medium (facilitating E-mail!) on the Europa stamp from Azerbeidjan:





Erwtjes, I think a funny Dutch word. It means 'tiny peas' (erwten is the normal plural form of the singular 'erwt'), and I was happily surprised when I saw erwtjes being honoured with a stamp from France:




The erwtjes came on a chaincard themed 'green'. And when thinking of 'green' I think of the Environment, and the need to protect it. So I also was happy to see this stamp on the card. Issued by Turkish Post, a beautiful symbolic way to show the importance of protecting the environment, to embrace the Earth.





See what other 'E' other stamp lovers had in mind on this Sunday at Violet's See it on a Postcard and follow the links in the comments.

Postcards for the Weekend: Books, authors

This weekend the theme of Postcards for the Weekend is 'Books / reading / authors'.

Two weeks ago I received this pretty postcard from Eva, showing the cover of one of the many books written by Jules Verne, published by Hetzel. She had bought it at the Maison de Jules Verne in Amiens, the house where this famous writer has been living during 18 years.



On the back a matching stamp, of an other French writer: Joseph Peyré:



Find more postcards about this theme at and via Postcards for the Weekend!

In: from Spain, France, Morocco

Today Sinterklaas aka Saint Nicolas arrived in Friesland, the northern part of the Netherlands, after a long trip by steam boat from Spain. And tomorrow he will visit Amsterdam, our capital.
However.. Already yesterday the Sint arrived in my mailbox! Not with his horse Amerigo, but accompanied by a lovely Donkey. And not from Spain, as he did today, but from France, via Morocco!

As proven by this wonderful tree stamp:




Thank you very much, Eva!

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: the colour Red

This Sunday Stamps theme is 'the colour red'.
I thought I only had a few, but viewing the stamp through 'red glasses' learned me that there is a lot! Among them this selection.


Post-related red is the mailbox, in many countries:

from Malaysia:



from Myanmar, on a Thai stamp:



from the United Kingdom:



An old one from the Netherlands (nowadays they are orange and have two grey legs):



More post-related red you can see on these Dutch stamps, issued for the introduction of the postal code in 1978:






Red in crafts:

A rooster in cross stitch, from Belarus:



From China:




Ladies in/and red:

The famous French one:



Red blood, Dutch stamp issued to promote blood donation:




Red animals:

Beetle from Korea:



Fish from Japan:



Horses, one in red from Germany:



and two red horses, from Argentina:



And from Taiwan:



See more red in stamps at Sunday Stamps and via the links mentioned there.

Sunday stamps: the colour red

This Sunday Stamps' theme is 'the colour red'.
You can see wonderful stamps containing a lot of red (including hearts - this Sunday is/was Valentine's day!) on Sunday Stamps and via the links under that post.

Here are a few stamps containing red from my received mail:

Red crossstitch Rooster from Belarus:



A red fish (and dark red postmark) from Japan:



Red background of a 2011 Dutch December stamp:



France has issued many stamps containing rouge (red), among them this one:



Red beetles from Korea:



Red firework on a stamp from the USA, issued for the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, a few years ago:



Some red with green:

A red mailbox / wallbox from the United Kingdom:



And finally some ripe red apples, one from China:



And one from the Netherlands:



Check Sunday Stamps and the links post to see more stamps-in-red!

In: from France

Some years ago I was in the south of Spain, and along the way I suddenly saw flamingoes in the wild. I was surprised, because until that day I always had thought these amazing birds were living in countries more southward.
Last week, also to my suprise, I learned that flamingoes even are living north from Spain, too. This postcard shows flamingoes in Sigeán, in the south of France.

The card came with more than one stamp.



Thank you very much, merci beaucoup, Val!

In: from the United Kingdom

Een prachtige zee met vuurtoren aan de Franse kust (Bretagne), verzonden vanaf de overkant, zuidkust van Engeland, door John.
Met op de achterkant een bijzondere postzegel: de gewone Elizabeth postzegel. Die had ik nog niet, en het is bijzonder dat John déze stuurt :-)

A beautiful sea with lighthouse at the French coast (Bretagne/Brittany), sent by John from the other side (South coast of England).
This card is also special because John added a regular stamp on the backside. A stamp I didn't have received so far, and adding a common stamp is unusual for John :-)
Thank you very much, John!

Out: to France

In Nederland zie ik maar zelden maximumkaarten.
Toch lukt het soms om een bij een kaart passende postzegel te vinden. De luchthaven Schiphol van buiten en, op de postzegel, van binnen. De postzegel plakte ik toch maar op de achterkant van de kaart. Of de post voor het derde element kan zorgen, de juiste poststempel, tja...

In the Netherlands I haven't seen maximum cards that often. However sometimes you can succeed finding an apt stamp to a postcard. Which in this case I put on the back side, and of course I doubt if the post would add the third element - an apt cancelling stamp.
The card shows Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam Airport) from the outside, the stamp offers an inside view of this airport.