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!

Sunday Stamps: 'I' is for Iran, Ierland and insecten

The Sunday Stamps theme of Sunday 1st October is the letter 'i'.

A pretty stamp which includes a country which starts with the letter 'I' is this one:



The stamp is from Iran, from the year 1395 (2016), and has been dedicated to NowRuz. It shows, besides Iran, also other countries / regions in which the New Year starts at the vernal equinox. I think it a nice idea - and logical - that the new year starts at exactly the same time as does spring.



From the Iranian stamp to stamps from an other country starting with the letter 'I'. That is, not in the native language itself, but in Dutch we name Éire 'Ierland' (pronounced differently from the English 'Ireland').



And of course the word 'insect', or 'insekt' (plural: insecten or insekten), starts with an 'i'. In Dutch the accent (emphasis) is on the second syllable, inSECT, while as far as I know in English the accent is on the first syllable, INsect.



See more stamps on the letter 'i' at and via Sunday Stamps!

Postcards for the weekend: sunrise, sunset

This weekend the 'Postcards for the weekend' theme is sunrise, sunset.

I think no photo can capture the sunrise / sunset as we see - and feel! - it in real. Anyhow, postcard makers do their best to approach reality as much as possible. Whether they use photoshop or not, I think sunrise and sunset make pretty postcard pictures.



The postcard above shows the lighthouse of Ameland, an island in the Wadden Sea. The postcard below I received from Ibiza, one of the Balearic islands.



See more beautiful postcards on this theme at and via Postcards of the weekend!

In: from Spain

Spain has a variety of landscapes. And as I've traveled only in the south east of the country, I am happy that my friends travel to other parts, too. Eva made me happy by sending, among others, these postcards.
Tabarca, a pretty island, accessible via the city Santa Pola, close to Alicante, I've visited during my stays in south east Spain. Great to see this island again, this time from a 'bird eye's' on a postcard!

Meadows with pigs are new to me. These Iberian fellows are more fortunate than their Dutch cousins, who in contrary are kept in small cages, many of them never seeing daylight. I hope one day Dutch farmers (and of course the pennywise, paying consumers) will follow the good example of the Spanish farmers.





On the back sides two well=known people, stamped by fresh new postmarks.



Thank you very much, moltes gràcies, Eva!

In: from Sri Lanka

It's always a pleasure to send train and lighthouse postcards and cars and lighthouses on stamps to Ravindra in Sri Lanka. And also a pleasure to receive the beautiful views of his country in return.





And of sea life in the ocean around Sri Lanka (do you spot Dory?!):



The postcards arrived with beautiful stamps on the back:











In the past year we exchanged much more postcards, among them these also:













Thank you very much, Ravindra!

In: from Morocco

Recently I received this Sheep postcard from Eva. I scanned it last week, but was busy doing other things after that.
So I planned to post it the coming weekend, when I suddenly saw that Eva blogged about sheep (more or less) today! Apparently today is a good day to publish Sheep postcards, and I am happy to show you this wonderful picture, taken in Poland by photographer majeczka (Maria Wachala).
Wish I was there in that peaceful quiet landscape, instead of here in too busy times!..

Eva has sent me an other great sheep postcard, which I will keep for (and cherish) myself. Alas lack of time keeps me from my wish to publish all mail I am receiving (and sending). I learned that turning all received and sent mail into digital blog posts takes a lot of my time and will restrain me from sending out snail mail. And that analogue action of course (snail mail lovers will understand) has some priority :-)

Sunday stamps: Geology and Landscapes

This Sunday Stamps' theme is Geology.

I choose the 'Bos atlas' stamp sheet, issued in 2012. The Bos atlas is a Dutch world atlas, named after Pieter Roelf Bos, the teacher who started this atlas in 1877.

It is not only a map / geographic atlas, but it also learns about culture, landscape, economy and geology of the different regions. So it's not only about what's above the ground but also what's in and under.

On the stamp sheet you can see very early publications and more recent editions (bottom left the 54th edition). And it's interesting to see how everything has been changing all over the years. Some for the better, some for the worse.



When reading 'geology' I'm thinking of minerals, stones. And thinking of my dear late grandmother, who collected minerals. After her passing away, many years ago already, I got some of the minerals which I cherish.

I've been looking for more Dutch stamps on geology but they seem to be rare. Maybe because our country has more to do with agriculture. However, many years ago in the south-east of the Netherlands, mining industry flourished, and on the internet I found this stamp of a mine worker obtaining coal.

Fortunately Viridian also included 'Landscapes' in the theme of today, and below you can see some Dutch landscapes. Mainly cultivated...

In: from Sri Lanka

Ontvangen van Ravindra uit Sri Lanka, als antwoord op kaarten die ik hem van trams en vuurtorens stuurde.
Received from Ravindra, as a reply to some postcards of trams and lighthouses I've send to Sri Lanka.



De rots die deel uitmaakt van het Sigiriya complex.
Sigiriya Rock.



Een meer dan 1500 jaar oud Boeddha-beeld, in Avakuna.
This Avakuna Buddha statue is more than 1500 years old.

En mooie postzegels met verschillende thema's (het lijkt wel of de postzegelkosten ook in Sri Lanka binnen een jaar fors toenemen..).
And beautiful postage stamps showing various themes (it looks like the postage rates in Sri Lanka are increasing fast, similar to the Netherlands..).







Thank you very much, Ravindra!

In: from Sri Lanka

Ontvangen van Ravindra uit Sri Lanka.
Received from Sri Lanka, thank you very much, Ravindra!

In: from Sri Lanka, out: to Sri Lanka

Ontvangen uit Sri Lanka, deze mooie kaart met theeplukkende dames in een prachtig landschap. En zie de kleurrijke postzegels op de achterkant.
Ik ontving deze van Ravindra uit Sri Lanka, als bedankkaart voor deze tram (een van de historische trams van de museumtramlijn).

Received from Sri Lanka, this beautiful postcard showing tea-plucking ladies in an amazing landscape. And see the colourful stamps on the backside.
Sent by Ravindra as a reply to this tram, which you also can see here.



Ook ik heb iets met treinen en trams. Op mijn beurt vond ik dan ook deze kaart in het Haarlemmermeerstation (beginpunt van genoemde museumtramlijn), met meer historische trams: een Leidse (naar Oegstgeest), een tram uit Rotterdam en een uit Amsterdam.

Also I like trains and trams a lot, and to send in return I found this other card of historical trams, in the Haarlemeermeerstation, the starting point of the Museum Tram Line. From left to right: a tram to Oegstgeest (from Leiden, the Netherlands), a tram from Rotterdam and a tram to Amsterdam central station.
More 'museumtram' pictures I discovered here.