Letter from a dear mail friend

It has been a long time since I posted here. Most of my online time nowadays is captured by instagram.
Today I heard sad news: a dear mail pal, a mail friend to many people, has passed away last weekend. We so much will miss him!
And I realized I never had posted this piece of mail here, of which both John and I, and many (snail)mail lovers with us, thought it is an amazing and funny coincidence.
John started to blog in the early years. As blogger might be more accessible than instagram, I copy my instagram post from 2019 to this blog:

John brought a lot of humour, wisdom, thoughtfulness, post-related postcards (and in my case also cute critters on postcards and stamps) and mail art, into many mailboxes. He will be dearly missed, not only by his dear family who he loved so much, but also by me and many mail friends.
Thank you for all joyful mail you sent to me and to so many people.
May you rest in peace, dear John.

Sunday Stamps: 'U' is for uil and uurwerk

This Sunday is the last day of 2017, and the day of Sunday Stamps' letter 'U'. Which is pronounced in Dutch totally different from the English (and German, Spanish) 'U'.

Together with the letter 'i' it becomes 'ui', and the pronouncation of this combination becomes even more weird for non-native speakers.
By the way, the Dutch letters 'u' and 'ui' are words in themselves: 'u' means the formal 'you' (like Usted in Spanish, Sie in German and Vous in French). And an 'ui' is an onion.

I couldn't find stamps about onions, and I wouldn't know how to depict the word 'u', so I choose the words 'uil' and 'uurwerk' for today.

The Uil is a bird which you'll know as an owl.

I received this owl stamp from Taiwan:



And a postcard showing this stamp:



And one owl stamp from Hong Kong:



And I found a personalized stamp showing an owl on the website of Dutch photographer and postcard seller Arnold Voordewind. This owl stamp alas is not available anymore as a stamp, but the postcard is:




As said, this is the last day of the year 2017. Oh, how time flies, don't you think so, too?

The older Dutch word for 'horloge' (watch) / 'klok' (clock) is 'uurwerk', literally: 'hour work', almost like the English word 'clockwork'.
Nowadays we think the 'uurwerk' is the inside of the clock or watch.
John has sent me this beautiful stamp (I love technical things) showing such inside:



And I replied with this Russian stamp sheet which I happened to have found for his clock postcard project:



To prevent the stamp sheet from folding, I had put a folded card around it, showing a painting by Marius van Dokkum:



As you can see, at this moment it is time to watch the time. If you are living east from Europe the New Year already has started at the moment that I am posting this blog. And if you are living west from me, you'll have to have a little more patience. Here in the Netherlands there is only two hours left for the New Year to start. And it is celeberated with 'vuurwerk' (fireworks), which rhymes :-)
So I am happy to show this combination of stamps - and a matching postmark - of vuurwerk together with the uurwerk:




To all of you and your loved ones a Happy, Joyful New Year!
Looking forward to seeing all of you again in 2018!

And don't forget to check Sunday Stamps to find more stamps on the letter 'u'!

Sunday Stamps: "R" is for rolstoel, regen and regenboog

Today Sunday Stamps are dedicated to the letter 'R'.

While the Dutch word 'Rolstoel' refers to its function ('rolstoel' literally means 'roll(ing) chair'), the English word refers to its appearance: 'wiel stoel' or 'wheel chair'.

Rolstoelen are good solutions for people who have lost the ability to walk. However, this stamp shows that there still are thresholds to overcome, both literal and figurative (social, administrative, financial, psychological) obstacles, once you become dependent on this mobility equipment:



Despite of the obstacles, people manage to practice sports on high level, for instance wheelchair tennis. Dutch Post has dedicated at least two stamps on rolstoel tennis players.

In 2009 a stamp sheet was issued on the theme 'attention for sports talent'. One of the talented tennis players is Aniek van Koot. Three years after this stamp has been issued, she won silver medals on the London Paralympics, and in 2013 she won the US Open:



In 2012 Dutch PostNL issued a stamp sheet in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Dutch Olympic Committee / Dutch Sports Federation NOC*NSF. One of the stamps from this 10 stamps sheet shows Esther Vergeer, who has been the number one in rolstoeltennis for many years:



From Ukraine I received this pretty stamp, showing a woman in a rolstoel. So to see a robijn (ruby) is handed to her:



And you might have noted it in the previous stamp: there is a regenboog (rainbow)!
Regenbogen appear when there is sun (zon) and regen (rain) at the same time. This combination you can see on these stamps, issued in 2004 for the 150th anniversary of the KNMI, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute:



In case the legs and feet function but the hands function less, sometimes it is possible to use the feet for manual tasks. This foot painter also pictured a regenboog:




The regenboogvlag - rainbow flag - is know in many countries as a sign of diversity and tolerance.

Canadian Post issued this regenboogvlag stamp, to celebrate the fact that two people who love each other can marry, no matter if they are male or female:



Some regenboog you can also see in the trousers of the man. These two stamps have been issued in 2016 in honour of the Europride, which took place in Amserdam in that year:



I just now realize that there is an other word starting with an 'R' in Dutch and not in English: 'Roze'!
Roze means pink - and 'pink' has a false friend: the Dutch word 'pink' is the fifth / little finger in English! :-)

Find more stamps in words starting with the letter 'R' at today's Sunday stamps!

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!

Sunday Stamps: 'M' is for milieuvriendelijk and molen

For Sunday Stamps' letter 'M' I chose a long word, however, in English it is even longer. An important subject, to my opinion: milieuvriendelijk.
In English: enviromentally friendly (milieu = environment, friendly = vriendelijk).

While on one hand we, humans, are polluting our world by consumption, traveling, etcetera, on the other hand fortunately more and more people are aware of the fact that we should take care of our earth. To stop polluting, to recycle waste, to consume less and to not use up the earth's resources.
There still is a long way to go. And on this long way there are some bright spots. For instance the fact that several postal services from all-over the world have issued stamps to spread the awareness.

This chaincard arrived home with stamps from six countries! South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Australia and the Netherlands:



In Europe many environmentally friendly stamps have been issued last year, for the theme of the 2016 Europe Stamps was 'Think Green'. I've posted some of these here in April. And I was happy to receive some more since then, like this Europe 2016 stamp from Slovakia:



And these, from Belarus, Ukraine and Estonia (and you can see the other - of two - Dutch Think Green stamp),



The Irish 'Minecraft'-like stamp still fascinates me:



This stamp from Serbia is one of my favourite 'milieuvriendelijke' stamps. Alas I had it in hands just for one day, because I had to forward it to someone else, and the sender from Serbia didn't have any more of these. Fortunately I could scan it and show it to you:




On many of the Europe 2016 'Think Green' stamps you see a wind turbine. In Dutch we name them 'windmolen' (plural 'windmolens'), or windturbine. The older type of windmills we name 'windmolen', too, although most of the time the simple name 'molen' is used for them.

The Netherlands are well-known for its molens. But of course you know that molens can be find anywhere in the world, like these pretty stamps are proofing. I received them from John from the United Kingdom:



The one on the stamp on the left we tend to name 'watermolen' instead of simply 'molen'. But the front side of the card shows a lot more molens:




See what other stamp lovers have chosen for this Sunday's theme 'M', at and via Sunday Stamps!

Sunday Stamps: 'L' is for lezen, luchtballon and libelle

Today the Sunday Stamps' theme is the letter 'L'.

In Dutch, reading means 'lezen'. Conjugated: ik (I) lees, jij (you) leest, hij of zij (he or she) leest, wij/jullie/zij (we/you/we) lezen.

One can read a book:



Or read from a computer screen:



And how nice it is to read, laying warmly under a blanket:




The 'hot air balloon' in Dutch usually is 'air balloon' only: luchtballon. There are many stamps showing balloons. However, so far I only received this one, from Russia:



Dutch PostNL issued a serie of international stamp sheets on aviation in 2015. Most of them showed airplanes, a few helicopters and there was this stamp in honour of the Montgolfier brothers, the inventors of the luchtballon:



A luchtballon also appears on the selvage of this stamp sheet, in honour of the city of Roermond:




Finally I'd like to share some insect with you. This insect somehow makes us think of helicopters. The English word 'dragonfly' we literally would translate into 'draak vlieg', but we don't. Instead we name the insect 'libelle'. Some thinner species we name 'waterjuffer' (water-young-lady, damselflies), but the order, Odonata in English, in Dutch also is names libelle.

From the John I received this beautiful stamp:



And from Eva this beautiful shaped stamp arrived:




See more stamps on the letter 'L' at and via today's Sunday Stamps.

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!

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.

Postcards for the Weekend: Historic sites / buildings

This weekend's Postcards for the Weekend's' theme is 'Historic sites / Buildings'.

I always thought that water pumping windmills were a typical feature of the Netherlands, as much of the land (polder) has been made by water management. Until Johm sent me this postcard, showing the Hunsett Mill, a draingae mill at the River Ant in the English county of Norfolk. The present mill has been constructed in 1860, although there has been an earlier mill on the site since 1698.
This present mill was used for water pumping functions until approximately 1910.



In the Netherlands there are many mills. too. Some used to be used for grinding grain, others for sawing wood. And similar to the mill shown above, many mills have been used to keep the land dry.
The most wellknown is this serie of 19 windmills in Kinderdijk, built around 1740 and now a UNESCO world heritage site:



Although famous and attracting visitors worldwide, I never had visited Kinderdijk until a few years ago. And despite of the many tourists at that time, I thought it a relaxed, nice place.



See more interesting historic sites and buildings at and via this weekend's Postcards for the Weekend!

Sunday stamps: Fonts

This Sunday the theme of Sunday Stamps is 'fonts'.

From my early teens on I loved typography. As a volunteer to our school magazine I drew existing fonts in the margins of my exercise books and I tried to invent new fonts. We didn't have computers at that time, and rub-ons were to expensive for us as a scholar, so the other volunteers were happy with my drawn typography, and I was in my element.

On this blog I did show some stamps labeled 'typography' before. For today I like to share some newly received stamps.
In general I prefer to see (and to draw!) printed characters, especially sans serif fonts like 'good old' helvetica and the newer one calibri.
In contrary, the stamps I show today happen to appear handwritten:

From Greece, part of a four stamps set issued in 2016, themed 'Year of Greece in Russia':



From Hungary, one out of four stamps issued 'for youth 2013'. In that year author and poet Sándor Weöres was born 100 years ago. His work 'Bóbita' he wrote in 1955:



A curly one from the USA:



And here some printed letter types, the stamp text in serif, and a sans serif postmark:



Finally some numbers, designed by typographist and letter artist Walter Nikkels:



See more fonts and accompanying interesting information at and via today's Sunday Stamps blog.