Mail Adventures

11 April 2026

Spring & Tea & Letters

Collages of stickers on spring letters sent to Phillip (the USA) and Laura (the UK).

10 April 2026

Women on Postcards | S Is for Seagull

The Seagull
Portrait of Valentina Tereshkova, 1964.
By Soviet Amir Nuriakhmetovich Mazitov (1928-1992)

Валентина Терешкова ('Valentina Tereshkova', born 1937) is a Russian engineer, politician, and former Soviet cosmonaut.

Having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963, Tereshkova became the first woman in space; she remains the only woman to have flown into space solo, and, at 26 years of age, the youngest. Her call sign on this flight was Чайка, (Chaika, 'Seagull'). After her launch, she radioed down:

It is I, Seagull! Everything is fine. I see the horizon; it's a sky blue with a dark strip. How beautiful the Earth is ... everything is going well.

Eduard (Russia) sent the postcard with two matching stamps: a Russian stamp issued in 2013 that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first woman in space (It includes a seagull!). And a Soviet one issued 30 years before with the same motive: 20th anniversary of Tereshkova's Vostok 6 flight.

This postcard was sent on 25th December 2025, and arrived just this week. It took less time to reach the Moon!

09 April 2026

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Sowers

De Zaaier (='The Sower', 1888), by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) belonging to the Wheat Fields series. It was sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), about ten years ago.

Zaaier (='Sower'), 1921, by Bart van der Leck (1876-1958). Postcard sent by Micu (Hungary).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
April theme: COLOURS OF THE SPRING

Week 1 - Pink
Week 2 - Yellow
Week 3 - Green
Week 4 - Purple
Week 5 - Blue

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

08 April 2026

By Cycle Mail

This letter sent by Pedro from Portuga took nine days to arrive. Not bad, if you consider it came by bike...

The stamp belongs to the 2026 series As Bicicletas no Ciclismo (='Bicycles in Cycling').

He has recently sent more Portuguese bicycles. The stamps below are from the 2025 series As Bicicletas nas Profissões (='Bicycles in Professions'). Here you have the farmer's and the milkman's bikes:

07 April 2026

In a Most Restless State

« [...] by no letters appearing in the course of three or four days more, she was in a most restless, anxious state.»

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

06 April 2026

Women on Postcards | P Is for Priestess

Catedral Procession, by Alison Gardiner

More men than women on this card sent by Laura (the UK). But, don't the women stand out?

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

05 April 2026

Sunday Stamps | J Is for Jazz

Billie Holiday

USA, 1994

Bessie Smith

USA, 1994

Erroll Garner / Eubie Blake

USA, 1995

1920's - Jazz Flourishes

USA, 1998

Eleanor Collins

Canada, 2022

These are my J-stamps for Sunday Stamps.

04 April 2026

Happy Easter

Postcard sent by Eduard (Russia).

Stamps from Poland and Ukraine.

03 April 2026

Paz

Getting as many as possible of these Peace Stamps was my 2023 postal project. I did not expect to receive more of them, but a new one arrived on the back of a postcard sent by Pedro (Portugal).

02 April 2026

Thursday Postcard Hunt | It Is the Time of Roses

'It was the time of roses' (1914)
By David Murray (1849-1933)

'Rose', c. 1957
By Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK) and Bryon (the USA). Notice the matching stamp on the second one!

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
April theme: COLOURS OF THE SPRING

Week 1 - Pink
Week 2 - Yellow
Week 3 - Green
Week 4 - Purple
Week 5 - Blue

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

01 April 2026

Women on Postcards | Y Is for Years

I got this postcard for my birthday. I have no clue about the author or the title of the illustration. I like it though. The first thing I thought when I looked at it was that a birthday is like a mirror standing between the years lived and the years to come.

[Women on Postcards - 2026]