Summer Mail X | Sea Bath

 

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

The Mail Adventures of the Smelling Roses

On 14 May, Correos issued this stamp dedicated to the 70th anniversary of a Rose Garden in the Parque del Oeste (='West Park') in Madrid.

I bought a 7-stamps set like this one, the surprise was that it smelled like roses! So, I used the sheet to add some sweet scent to letters to Portugal, the UK and the USA:

And now, for the odd mail adventures: two of them were posted on 14 July, but got postmarks on 22 July. The third one was posted on 16 July in the same mailbox and postmarked the following day, 17 July. How do you explain that?

And still an extra mail adventure for the one I sent to the UK: it arrived open (meh!) but luckily nothing was lost in way. And it got two postmarks, from Correos (22 July) and Royal Mail (25 July).

Sunday Stamps | Iberia

Iberia is the flag carrier of Spain. It was founded in 1927, an this stamp from 2002 commemorates its 75th anniversary.

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more Aviation stamps.

Summer Mail IX | L'été s'anime

Postcard sent by Fabienne (France).

Women on Postcards | Q Is for Queen of Hearts

 

The Queen of Hearts on this card sent by Phillip (the USA), illustrated by John Tenniel. As you have noticed, Wonderland appears often on this blog...

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Guesthouse

Krumpmühle Gasthof in Ybbsitz. Postcard sent by Andreas (Austria).

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

Thursday Postcard Hunt
July theme: ARCHITECTURE

• Week 1 - Churches
• Week 2 - Houses
• Week 3 - Palaces
• Week 4 - Stations
• Week 5 - Shelters

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Self-Affirmation

Creo en mí = I believe in myself
I make the day brighter
My perspective is unique and important
Soy feliz = I am happy

Bryon (the USA) turned these self-affirmation Cheerios cards into a postcard. Maybe the best use for them?

USPS Postcrossing Stamps

On 26th May the USPS Postcrossing stamps were out in the world. Three weeks later I got this maxicard from Bryon (the USA), which bears not one but two stamps, along with the First Day Cancelation.

There are four different designs that make difficult to choose a favourite. You can read more about this issue, including an interview with Jackson Gibbs, the illustrator, on the Postcrossing blog.

I got another one on the back of a postcard:

Ciclocorreio

Pedro (Portugal) sent a sort of second part of this envelope. This time, it took eight days to arrive.

Sunday Stamps | Mekk Elek & Little Donkey

Stamps issued in 2024. The puppet film series Mekk Elek the Jack of All Trades was first broadcast on the Hungarian state television channel MTV in 1974 and the series ran until 1975. The protagonist is Elek Mekk, a goat who advertises himself as a handyman. His house is adorned with 13 trade signs, showing the jobs that he is skilled at. He then makes a mess of the jobs he is given one after another and sometimes even causes damage while doing them (Read more).

2024 & 2025 stamps. The puppet film series The Adventures of Mirr-Murr the Tomcat was completed in 1975. The puppet series, a sequel to The Adventures of Little Donkey (on the stamp). Read more.

The stamps arrived on this envelope sent by Micu (Hungary), and I thought they fit in today's Sunday Stamps theme: Children's Stories.

Summer Mail VIII | Come Sit by the Water

Regent's Canal near Camley Street (London, UK) in 1984,
when the gasometers were still there

Lago di Como, Italy

South Hampstead Pond, England. UK

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK) and Marina (Italy).

Women on Postcards | P Is for The Princess and the Pea

Illustration from the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen The Princess and the Pea, by Anton Lomaev.

Mazes and Labyrinths are a favorite subject, but I think it's not easy to find postcards that show them. This postcard was sent by Nata (Russia) via Postcrossing.

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Metro Art

This is the Universidad de Chile metro station. It features a 1200 square metre mural called Memoria visual de una nación (='Visual Memory of a Nation'), painted by Mario Toral. 

Wood engraved design by David Gentleman (1979) for the Northern Line platforms in Charing Cross tube stations,  depicting the construction of the original Eleanor Cross (1291-1294).

(See pictures here.)

Sent by Hernán (Chile) and Laura (UK).

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

Thursday Postcard Hunt
July theme: ARCHITECTURE

• Week 1 - Churches
• Week 2 - Houses
• Week 3 - Palaces
• Week 4 - Stations
• Week 5 - Shelters

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Summer Mail - VII | Three Octopuses

One octopus, two octopuses, three octopuses...

Letter sent by Phillip (the USA).

Beautiful

By David Sarmento

A friend sent me this postcard simply because, as he wrote, it is a beautiful illustration. I agree. And... is it not even more beautiful that he took the trouble to send it?