Christmas Sheep

The Continental, by Scott Church (2012)

First (and almost last!) Christmas card received this season, sent by Phillip (the USA).

Sunday Stamps | Christmas

For today's Sunday Stamps, dedicated to Christmas, here you have a variety of old and new Christmas stamps I have got in 2024*:

Canada

Spain

The United Kingdom

The United States of America

*Most of them received in January 2024!

Ready for the Winter?

 

'A smurfy beginning is half the battle'

Sent by Melissa (the Netherlands).

'Happiness is when your soul
stops asking for it doesn't have
and starts enjoying the things it has'

Sent by Olga (Russia).

Sent by Phillip (the USA).

Hand Printed Christmas Cards

Card printed by Alan (the UK), from very old printing blocks.

Printed by Vicky (Spain).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Reading Rabbits

This advent calendar arrived in January. So, I decided to keep them and use it on the following Christmas season -Now! The rabbit on the oversized chair is reading the most appropriate title: Christmas Story.

The postcard was sent by Phillip (the USA). The following day, curiously, another reading rabbit sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) reached my mailbox!

Story Time, by Racey Helps

-----------------------------------------------

Thursday Postcard Hunt
December theme: SNOW

• Week 1 - Snow
• Week 2 - Animals in snow
• Week 3 - Keep warm
• Week 4 - Christmas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Happy Winter Time

Christmas collage on an envelope sent by Laura (the UK).

And one of the first holidays postmarks from the USA:

Christmas Bears

Bears sent by Bryon (the USA), Heleen (the Netherlands), Phillip (the USA) and Bruno (PC), for 2023 & 2024 Christmas.

Vote for the 2024 Sepac Stamp of the Year

This year marks 25 years since the Small European Postal Administrations Co-operation (Sepac) network was founded. The twelve member countries of Sepac comprise the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Vatican and Åland. 

Since 2007, the Sepac countries have each issued a stamp in a joint series every other year, and every year since 2013. Sepac stamps are recognisable by the special Sepac logo, which is incorporated in the design of these stamps. The common theme changes from year to year. The theme of the 2024 Sepac stamp series is Main Tourist Attractions.

You can vote for the most beautiful 2024 Sepac stamp. By casting your vote, you will automatically be entered into our prize draw to win exclusive stamp collections from SEPAC members. Voting closes on 31st January 2025. You can vote here.

Sunday Stamps | Shaker Design

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps is The Colour Red. I know mine is not the most obvious choice but...

... two mostly red stamps belonging to the set Shaker Design, issued by USPS last June, to coincide with the 25oth anniversary of the arrival of the first Shakers to America.

This designs combine the simplicity and the utility. The 12-stamps feature photographs by Michael Freeman. On the stamps above:

• silk neckerchiefs from South Union Shaker Village (Auburn, Kentucky);
• the tannery at the Shaker Village of Mount Lebanon (New Lebanon, New York).

On the stamps above, from left to right: 

• a heater stove (Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield);
• a spinning wheel from Fruitlands Museum (Harvard, Massachussets);
• a rocking chair from Canterbury Shaker Village (Canterbury, New Hampshire).

From left to right: 

• cheese baskets in the dairy (Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield);
• the “swallowtail” joints of a bentwood box (Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield); 
• staircases in the Trustees’ Office and Guest House at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill (Harrodsburg, Kentucky).

(This post has been updated on 15 December 2024.)

Truly Dutch

Vase of tulips & Canal Houses

Cheese Board & Tea Service with a Boerenbont motif

Carrier Pigeon with a Letter & Whipped Cream Cake

Lighthouse

A herring

A caravan

Heleen (the Netherlands) has sent this beautiful stamps. Here you can read a bit more about them.

St Albans

St Albans cathedral. The oldest part on the postcard above, and, below, the Shrine of Saint Alban (1308; restored 1993), with the watching loft (15th century) on the background.

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Winter Animals

Card sent by Sandrine (France).

Illustration by Ag Jatkowska

Card sent by Phillip (the USA).

-----------------------------------------------

Thursday Postcard Hunt
December theme: SNOW

• Week 1 - Snow
• Week 2 - Animals in snow
• Week 3 - Keep warm
• Week 4 - Christmas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

What Do You See Here?

 

This is a postcard from a restaurant, sent by Phillip (the USA). It seems a map to me.

Scaffolding

I have received many postcards showing the Canterbury Cathedral (and even visited it). But I was surprised to get this one, a view from the Christ Church Gate, with all that scaffolding. Could not they wait a bit to take the picture and issue the postcard? It is not like the building is going anywhere...

Drama

For those who enjoy a little postal drama & those who are expecting a reply from me: I have not received any piece of mail since November 6th.