The Lonely Monster

On my Postrossing profile, I state that I love gargoyles (I do!). Natalia sent me this postcard through Postcrossing. It depicts an old house (built in 1909) on one of the oldest streets in Kyiv (Ukraine): Velyka Zhytomyrska. According to the sender, it is the only gargoyle in the city!

(Although technically, it is not a gargoyle, because it does not thrown rain water clear of the building.)

250 Years of Delivering

Among the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the U. S. Postal Service last year, on 23th July they issued a sheet of stamps designed by American cartoonist Chris Ware. As described here:

The 20 interconnected stamps (printed in four rows of five) deliver a bird’s-eye view of a busy city, packed with perfectly drawn buildings, geometric trees and dozens of humans bustling about. In inimitable Chris Ware fashion, the progression of stamps also takes the viewer through all four seasons.

When I saw these online, they become instant favourites. And then I received them not once, but twice!

Postmark of the first day of issue:

Read more about this issue. The details are incredible.

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Bright Light

Work art by Patricia Hargrove. Sent by Rosemary (Canada).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
January theme: LIGHT

• Week 1 - Sunshine
• Week 2 - Reflections
• Week 3 - Snowy scenes
• Week 4 - Lights in windows
• Week 5 - Light, or bright, colours

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Women on Postcards | E is for Eva

The Women on Stamps postal project is always ongoing. We are going to to raise the ante... this is the postcard project for 2026: completing an alphabet of women on postcards. Not even trying to do it in the alphabetical order, and it will almost certainly take more than one year: there are always those tricky letters! I hope it will be fun.

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On my Postcrossing profile, I list a series of topics. One of them is Eve & Adam. So far, I have got only two postcards and two stamps related to it... And not through the Postcrossing site!

This postcard was sent by Violet (Canada) and it made my day.

Mail from Underland

Letter sent by Phillip (the USA), with SpongeBob stamps, and Christmas tree pictorial postmark (it arrived just before Christmas).

And another one with the First Day postmark!

Letter sent by Catherine (France).

Orca (Orcinus orca). Illustration by Pieter Folkens. Card sent by Bryon.

Mail Monsters Are the Worst

Sunday Stamps | Z Is for TrapeZist

This is Z post for A-Z Sunday Stamps. I am glad to have managed to complete the challenge with the stamps I have received trough the snail mail, all of which are related to women. (Please, let's forget that I cheated a bit with the difficult letters...). Women on Stamps is a long-term project by Mail Adventures. I hope you have enjoyed the stamps.

Sending Love

Collage on a letter sent by Laura (the UK).

Snail Mail Alert!

An entire letter was written on the back of these postcards, a paragraph on each one. There were posted around 1st October (World Postcard Day), in two batches on different days. The amazing part is that they arrived all together a month later. This time, the snails did their job!

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Stained-Glass Windows

Becket heals Eilward of Westoning. Window in the Cathedral of Canterbury. 

The Sanctuary and High Altar of St. Bartholomew-the-Great (Smithfield, London, UK).

The Chatter Suttons Hospital in Charterhouse (London).

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK). I love stained-glass windows!

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
January theme: LIGHT

• Week 1 - Sunshine
• Week 2 - Reflections
• Week 3 - Snowy scenes
• Week 4 - Lights in windows
• Week 5 - Light, or bright, colours

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

20 Years of Postcrossing (5)

Once, Twice... Thrice!

Sent by Phillip (the USA).

And How Many Stamps Can You Fit on a Bigger Envelope?

Seven? (Two more stamps inside!)

Nine? 

How Many Stamps Can You Fit on a Regular-Sized Envelope?

Four?

Five?

Seven?

Envelopes sent by alan (the UK), Bryon (the USA) and Rosemary (Canada). Oh, and thanks to Canada Post for that wonderful sharpie cancellation!

Sunday Stamps | Y Is for Youth

The European Youth Capital is a title awarded by the European Youth Forum to a European city annually, designed to empower young people, boost youth participation and strengthen European identity through projects focused on youth-related cultural, social, political and economic life and development. The European Youth Capital is an initiative by the European Youth Forum and is awarded for a period of one year.  

In 2014, Thessaloniki (Greece) was the chosen city. The current capital for the 2026 calendar year is Tromsø, Norway.

This is my Y-post for A-Z Sunday Stamps. Y is always a difficult letter!

Love Is in the Air

Sent by Phillip (the USA).

A New Year of Mail

I like that this postcard, among some important events we can look forward to this year, lists "Happy Mail"!

It experienced a small mail adventure. It was sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) well in advance, with my address clearly written on the white envelope and more postage than necessary.

But the postal machines got confused with this reverse, so they postmarked the non-stamps and delivered it... to the sender! Heleen sent it back it in a larger envelope.