There Is a Hidden Cow in This Postcard

Sent by Anja (Germany). Her own pictures and design.

Great Women Working on Small Things

Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)

Esther Lederberg (1922-2006)

Postcards sent by Phillip (the USA), with two more women of science recreated by illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky. The stamps belong to the series Life Magnified, issued on 13 December 2023 (I got three of them on this envelope). And some more:

Freshwater Protozoans / Blue Button Organisms / Mold Spores

Red Blood Cells / Human Hair

Oak Leaf Surface / Red Blood Cells / Starling Bone Tissue

Macaw Parrot Feather / Moss Leaves / Human Hair

Arranged Diatoms

Flame Lily Pollen

Moth Wing Scales

Truth or Consequences (New Mexico)

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

One of the side effects of the Alphabet 2023 project (and from mail in general) is discovering places with really curious names. Like Eva, Good Hope, Independence, Jupiter, Romance... And one of the strangest: Truth or Consequences!

Bryon sent this postcard from Truth or Consequences (New Mexico). In the Wikipedia you can read about the weird reason of the name:

The city changed its name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences as the result of a radio show contest. In March 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the popular NBC Radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs officially changed its name on March 31, 1950, and the program was broadcast from there the following evening. Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event became known as Fiesta and eventually included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May.

Another postcard I got from New Mexico, sent by Sam (the USA):

Sunday Stamps | Botanic Garden

This is one of the five stamps issued in 2022 to celebrate the 9th European Botanic Garden Congress, held in Budapest. It shows the National Botanic Garden in Vácrátót.

I have just realised that I got far more flowers than trees on stamps!

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more Trees!

Postbox Saturday | Ráfales

In a village like Ráfales (Teruel, Spain), the post box has to be protected because of the freezing winters and scorching summers. 

I posted two postcards there last summer, and both reached their recipients.

Cooking on Postcards

It is quite usual to get mail depicting some kind of food and recipes (for instance, lately I have got these and these pieces of mail). But not so common to get postcards of someone actually cooking.

The postcard of the Blue Cats shows a normal scene in my life (if you replace cats with people). They are cooking olivier, a traditional Russian New Year's dish.

On the second postcard, honestly, I don't know what they are cooking. But is seems very special!

Postcards sent by Eduard (Russia) and Phillip (the USA).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Beauty, Gratitude, Faith, Hope & Love

Красота в глазах смотрящего

'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'

Gratitude is the memory of the heart
Jean Massieu

Sent by Daria (Russia), Laura (the UK) and Bryon (Canada).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

January theme: WORDS

• Week 1 - City, country name
• Week 2 - Book covers, movie posters
• Week 3 - Graffiti, thought bubbles
• Week 4 - Inspirational thought, funny sayings

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Randomly Thinking of You

I got the rest of these stamps. They still strike me as a random pile of strange things nicely arranged (a pink cat? a sticking-plaster?). I feel better now that I know that, what I thought to be a vulcano, is actually a birthday hat!

According with the USPS site, these are not just random illustrations:

Capturing the excitement and delight of receiving a card in the mail meant just for you, Thinking of You features five stamps in a pane of 20 and a host of die-cut, self-adhesive messages — perfect to accompany letters or cards sent to brighten someone’s day. Each stamp is designed in fun colors with different whimsical images, including flowers, balloons, cute animals, sweet treats and symbols of good luck. Words of encouragement and thoughtful affirmations surround the stamps on the pane. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps with original artwork by Ellen Surrey.

Typewriters Are the Very Best

Der schönste Moment beim Schreiben:

wenn sich die Dinge plötzlich fügen.

Susann Pásztor

('The best moment while writing:

when things suddenly fall into place.')

Even een paar vriendinnen gebeld

en dan zo'n hoge telefoonrekening?

('Just called a few friends

and then got such a high telephone bill?')

From Betinna (Austria) and Heleen (The Netherlands).

Winter Night

Collage on an envelope sent by Laura (the UK).

Sunday Stamps | USA Writers

Today's Sunday Stamps topic is Poets/Writers. I have realised that I have got a lot of stamps dedicated to American writers. I am uploading some of them, of writers from whom I have read at least one book (although, in some cases, it was long ago).

William Faulkner
1897-1962

Nella Larsen
1891-1964

Ursula K. Le Guin
1929-2018

Jack London
1876-1916

John Steinbeck
1902-1968

Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862

Tennessee Williams
1911-1983

Postbox Saturday | Arnes

Just a picture I love, taken last summer in Arnes. The post box of the village is next to the old cinema.

Reasons to Write

Here is a nice calendar of official and unofficial observances, in case you need some extra occasions to write. Taken from this post.

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Collage

By Annabel

I am not sure if this qualify for today's theme in Thursday Postcard Hunt. The collage in this postcard sent by Fabienne (France) looks like a decorated wall to me.

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

January theme: WORDS

• Week 1 - City, country name
• Week 2 - Book covers, movie posters
• Week 3 - Graffiti, thought bubbles
• Week 4 - Inspirational thought, funny sayings

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Mail Is a Sweet Matter

The Bath Sweet Shop

Postcard sent by Laura (the UK). Notice they sell also "Sugar Free Sweets".

Hand-made envelope sent by Fabienne (France).

Front and back of an envelope made by Phillip (the USA), from a bookshop brochure magazine cover. A lot of thinks here. Among them... doughnuts! And don't tell me the stamps don't seem sweets at first sight. They belong to this set.

Food Packaging Envelopes

Chocolate with milk wrapping paper. Sent to Phillip (the USA).

Coffee Wrapper. Sent to Heleen (the Netherlands).

Paper Food

Canadian Food

Have you tried all this food? Would you?

Pesto alla Genovese

Italian recipe. Postcard written between Italy & Spain, in-flight.

Postcard sent by Ashley (Canada)and  Bruno (PC).

Sunday Stamps | Ironbridge

This stamp belongs to the 2011 series A to Z Britain. Taken from here:

Ironbridge is a village on the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire. It lies in the civil parish of The Gorge, in the borough of Telford and Wrekin. Ironbridge developed beside, and takes its name from, the famous Iron Bridge, a 30 metre cast iron bridge that was built across the river there in 1779. The bridge was the first cast iron arch bridge in the world.

The bridge, the adjacent settlement of Ironbridge and the Ironbridge Gorge form the UNESCO Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.

I got recently the stamp on the back of a postcard sent by John (the UK), showing an older view of the same bridge:

The Iron Bridge, 1779
From an engraving by Michael Angelo Rooker, 1782

This is a post for Sunday Stamps. The theme today is Bridges.

Postbox Saturday | Burjassot

Carrer de Bautista Riera

Carrer de Blasco Ibáñez

Plaça de Sant Joan de Ribera

Idem