Everybody, Everywhere, Was Writing Letters

«At Fillmore Gardens, there was a sole telephone in the basement. But everybody could write letters: weary mothers writing to faraway sons -and, now, faraway daughters-late at night after chores were done; young women scribbling on paper held to their knees while riding crowded city buses; soldiers waiting in camps and aboard ships. Everybody had stationery and pen and pencil, and everybody, everywhere, was writing letters.»

Liza Mundy, Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II

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Envelope made by Phillip (the USA), and the postcards inside.

Don't you love these vintage (or vintage-style) postcards with the message Greetings from? 

Even when they depict places... difficult to be reached!

My Northern Cardinal

This was my reply letter to Phillip's birds in winter. I have never seen one of these birds in person (sorry, ornithologists!). I just liked the idea of painting in bright red in the middle of the winter...

Birds in Winter

The 2018 Birds in Winter issue of USPS feature the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), the blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) and the red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus).

I have got them form Phillip (the USA), the male northern cardinal in the form of a folded card.

With a bonus: some bright birds as artistamps for me to use (I am not sure about the species, sorry.)

Women on Stamps | A for Asse

Geneviève Asse (born in 1923) is a French painter. She uses only one colour for her paintings: blue. The work reproduced on this stamp (issued on 10 November 2017) is a composition of 9 rectangles of oil-painted wallpapers and glued on a white suport, defined as an arrangement of Spaces and Lights (Espaces et Lumières).

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For this (four?) round of Sunday Stamps A-Z I am going to pick up the project of showing stamps dedicated to women. You can see here all the Women on Stamps featured on this blog.

Go to Sunday Stamps to enjoy more A-stamps.

Maps on Postcards

FRANCE: Valbonne
Sent by Heleen (France)

FINLAND
Sent by Rosabella

ISRAEL
Sent by Olga

MACEDONIA
Sent by Danijel

PHILIPPINES: Metro Manila
Sent by Maria

SCOTLAND
Sent by Laura (the UK)

UNITED STATES: Washington
Sent by John

The Channel Tunnel
Sent by Laura (the UK)

HitM | Christmas Edition

I am (constantly) a bit behind in uploading the received mail to the blog. 

So, today, some contributions to the Houses in the Mail project sent during last Christmas holidays.

A postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), to be added to the album of Inge Löök illustrations. It features two types of housing: an igloo and, in the background, a lighthouse. 

And more houses on the stamps!

An envelope sent by Phillip (the USA), with gingerbread houses. I still wonder how the postal machines could read the font of the address...!

  

On a separate envelope arrived this captivating postcard, also sent by Phillip. It makes me think of a magical world...

Lettering Postcards

This is an extract from the definition of Lexicographer, from Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of English Language (1755).

A, Amen, folio 79r
The Book of Kells is written in Latin. The letters J, K, U ans W were not used by the Romans; they were added in the middle ages. J was created form the letter I while U and W were developed from V. Q was used only before a U which was followed by a vowel. The letter Y was adopted from Greek.

Totally awesome... as mail usually is. And sometimes is also funny...

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK).

Postcard sent by John (the UK). This non-Alice postcard makes me think of the importance of un-birthdays in Alice's Adventures...

HitM | Home Is...

Postcard made by Eva (Germany) and sent for the Houses in the Mail project, when I moved in, back in November.

Delicious Postcards

One thing I love to learn about, through the Postcrossing postcards, is food from different countries!

On the back of this postcard, there is a useful recipe. It was sent by a Russian postcrosser who is living in Australia. How many countries on a piece of paper!

Traditional Japanese food:
Left up: Tempura (Fried seafood and vegetables);
Left down: Japanese Style Cakes;
Right up: Sushi Rice Balls topped with sliced raw fish;
Right down: Sashimi dish of slice raw fish.

There must be something of those inside the Japanese fridge that appears on this collage postcard made by my friend Laura (the UK)...

Christmas cookies from Germany (this arrived just before Christmas).

Stroopwafel from the Netherlands, sent by Miranda. I have tried them, so maybe I should add the label "places I have been to" to this post...

Not sure about what are they eating on this postcard that arrived from Taiwan, but I believe it is delicious as well...

Chinese New Year (Again)

I have received two really nice letters celebrating the Chinese New Year, both with matching stamps.

This handmade envelope and a collage, from Fabienne (France).

Matching envelope, postcards and stamps by Phillip (the USA). As I do not like to display the addresses on the blog (not even mine, which all of you already know), you cannot see how nice this envelope looks. But the one that Mr Wilson received can give you a very closer idea...

Me too, I sent postcards to Spain and the USA (no photo of the latter, sorry), and a letter to Canada, to some friends who might celebrate the Chinese New Year...

Sunday Stamps | Z for Zoo

The stamp above was issued in June 2014, in order to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Parc Zoologique de Paris (France), and its reopening after more than 2 years of works.  The species represented are a lemur, a jaguar, a flamingo and a giraffe.

Issued on 14 August 2015, to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of St. Petersburg's Zoo.

The stamp below was issued in 2013, also to celebrate the 100 years of Burger's Zoo in Arnhem (the Netherlands). Looking at the species pictured on the stamp, I discovered extra z: It is a zwartvoetpinguin (Spheniscus demersus, 'black-footed penguin'), from Zuid-Afrika (South Africa).

This stamp of a gewone zeehond (Phoca vitulina, 'harbour seal') had to be present on this post...

Thanks for coming along this round of Sunday Stamps A-Z. I hope you have enjoyed it!

HitM | Stamps

The following stamps were not, in the beginning, intended for the Houses in the Mail project. But they arrived at the right moment to be included.

Australia

Finland

The United Kingdom

Love

This year, I even sent three Valentines... That must be my record!
(And all three arrived on time.)

More Than Kisses

«More than kisses, letters mingle souls»

John Donne

Hearts on Stamps

France

The Netherlands

Singapore

Spain

This is the first charitable stamp issued by Correos.

South Africa

The USA