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!

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!

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!

Year of the Fire Horse [III]

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA), appropriately postmarked in Caballo, New Mexico! (Caballo means 'Horse' in Spanish).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Young Animal

Thursday Postcard Hunt
March theme: ANIMALS

• Week 1 - In the Wild
• Week 2 - On the Farm
• Week 3 - Pets
• Week 4 - Young

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Eduard (Russia) sent it by mail, but this is not a conventional postcard, and I am not even sure Чебурашка is a conventional animal (A bear cub? A hare with large ears? A monkey?). It was created by writer Eduard Uspensky in 1966 (I hope it does not mean he is not young any more!) as one of the main characters in the book Gena the Crocodile and His Friends and its sequels.

There are two versions: on the stamp, as he appeared in the cartoon Crocodile Gena in 1969, created with the direct participation of the film's production designer, Leonid Shvartsman. On the cardboard, as it was reimagined for the 2023 film.

Year of the Fire Horse [II]

Sent by Fabienne (France).

Year of the Fire Horse [I]

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA).

Women on Postcards | A Is for Aksinia

Aksinia and Grigory are the main characters of And Quiet Flows the Don or The Silent Don (Тихий Дон), a novel in four volumes by Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov, who on the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965.

The postcard was sent by Eduard, and includes stamps of the author of the Nobel and other Nobel laureates from Russia in literature.

Mikhail Sholokhov 
(1905-1984)

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
(1890-1960)

Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin
(1870-1953)

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

Reading Time

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

Printed Collage

Front and back of an envelope made by Lilli (Canada). She makes the collages, and then prints copies for envelopes or writing paper. A great idea!

Women on Postcards | V Is for Victoria

Postcard sent by Bryon (Canada), with matching stamps on the back, from the 2023 series Ferries of Canada. 

I received this one on the back of another postcard. Series completed!

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

Or Send Someone a Love Postcard

Postcards & stamps sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Postcard and stamps sent by Bryon (the USA). Notice the matching stamps and the pictorial cancellation:

And other ones, clearer:

Winter Collage

Front and back of a collage made by Fabienne (France). Perfect theme for these days!

In case you want to see better the snowy stamps from different countries that she used on the front part:

The snowflakes (all different, of course!);

And the stamps on the back, on the same topic: