Land Safe, Grey Sheep!

Illustrated envelope sent to Phillip (the USA). It took the sheep 39 days to get there.

Reason on Both Sides

«In July 1847 Le Cernéen proclaimed, 'The Public complain of Post, and the Post complain of the Public, and there is reason on both sides.'»

Helen Morgan, Blue Mauritius: The Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Stamps

Keep Calm and...

Gemeinsam Gegen Corona'Together against Corona'

Great additions to my Keep Calm album!

By Irina Zeniuk
(I am afraid the Blue Cat did not understand the Stay Calm part...)

Postcards sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) and John (the UK).

How Much Coffee and Tea Are These Women Able to Drink?!?

Postcards sent by Phillip (the USA), Heleen (the Netherlands) and Laura (the UK).

Summer Sun

Picture by Una Spektore

Postcard sent by John (the UK).

Sunday Stamps | Axel Scheffler

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps is Illustrations. A good excuse (as if I needed one) to show these stamps featuring the characters of The Gruffalo, a  book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

A total of 10 stamps were were issued on 10 October 2019. You can see here the rest.

Also the Deutsche Post put into circulation a stamp on 1 March 2019, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the publication of the book (I had already written this post about).

Axel Scheffler designed the 2012 Christmas stamps for Royal Mail in 2012. 

I am sure I got more stamps from this set, but I am not able to find them now. You can see the stamps here, if you feel curious.

The World Need More Scientists

Emmy Noether

Physicist (1882 - 1935)

"My methods are really methods of working and thinking; 
this is why we have crept in everywhere anonymously."

Lise Meitner

Physicist (1878 - 1968)

"Life need not be easy,
provided only it was not empty."

Alice Ball

Chemist (1892 - 1916)

"Men dominated higher education in 1915,
and Alice Ball was admitted against the odds"
Miles Jackson, Univ. of Hawaii Professor and Dean Emeritus

Mary Agnes Chase

Botanist and suffragist (1869-1963)

"Grass made it possible for the human race to abandon
cave life and follow herds."

Katherine Johnson

Physicist and mathematician (1918-2020)

"[The other woman] didn't ask questions
or take the task any further. I asked questions;
I wanted to know why. They got used to me
asking questions and being the only woman there."

Postcards sent by Phillip (the USA). Works by Rachel Ignotofsky.

Astronauts

I drew an astronaut on a big envelope and sent it to Phillip (the USA). 

I have realised that I have sent a lot of astronauts to him...

And to other people. I was not aware that drawing astronauts was such a hobby for me...

HitM | Moving House

In 2018, when I moved from Morocco to Spain, I started the project Houses in the Mail. I received a bunch of nice contributions, and I sent a few houses, too. The mail still brings houses from time to time. Like this postcard showing a Moving House from 1962, sent by Heleen (the Netherlands). 

Two years ago, I wouldn't imagine that in 2020 I would spend so many time at home. A moving house would be a good thing right now...

Go on an Adventure

Card sent by Julia (the USA). Every card with the word adventure on it seems to be made for this blog...

Menu Envelope

I have been told that, in the New Normal, it is forbidden to share menus on restaurants. I have seen some restaurants around here use boards. In others, the waiter tells you the menu. 

Another solution is to offer disposable menus. I guess it is an expensive solution, especially if they are made of sturdy cardboard. But it also a good idea for mail art...

Moon Landing

This is Phobos, one of Mars' moons.
Last year the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the First Moon Landing with the issue of several stamps.

Early this year, I received some of them, on a letter sent by Phillip (the USA), on a thematic recycled envelope. (See on his blog.) 

The stamp on the middle shows the Sea of Tranquility, the site where the lunar module, Eagle, landed. 

And a French stamp features also one of the most ionic pictures of the event: the first steps on the Moon.

How many famous astronomers do you know?

Wang Zhenyi (1768-1797)

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979)

Vera Rubin (1928-2016)

The stamps on thes envelopes are very appropriate, as they belongs to the Spacious Skies part of the O Beautiful stamps:

Sunday Stamps | Twelve

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps is Numbers. Seeking for inspiration, I found this lovely 1977 stamp, from a 6-stamps set dedicated to The Twelve Days of Christmas. 

I hesitated about publishing a Christmas stamp in July. But... this is a crazy year, isn't it?

Freakshow

This illustration used to belong to a bottle of wine, before being added to this envelope along with perfectly matching stamps. 

I think it can be a good name for a wine. And, sometimes, it also can be applied to what otherwise we call The New Normal.

Sent by Phillip (the USA).

Orange Mail

Barbara McClintock (1902-1992), cytogeneticist
Illustration by Rachel Ignotofsky

Letter sent by Phillip (the USA).

"Expect a most agreeable letter,
for not being overburdened
by subject -having nothing 
at all to say- there shall be
no check to my genius from
beginning to end."
Jane Austen
letter from 21 January 1801

Postcard sent by Laura (the UK).

Around the World in Eighty Days

You might think that this letter would reach its destination in a blink of an eye. I mean, on board of the Intrepid balloon, or on those reliable little planes...

Actually, it was posted and postmarked on 11 April, and reached me on 29 June. Safe and sound.

Ode on a Grecian Urn

This stamp and postcard belong to the set dedicated to Romantic Poets, issued by Royal Mail on 7 April, the 250th birth anniversary of William Wordsworth. (More information about this issue.)

It happens to be my favourite stamp of the set, and I got it also in the form of a postcard. 

And for a radically different reference to the Ancient Greece world on a postcard...

How to bid at auction, 1955
Ronald Searle (1920-2011)

Thanks, John and Laura!