After 14 February

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love."

Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Card sent by Laura (the UK).

Pure Love

Love is when the postal services love you so much that they allow you to send mail without stamps! Or maybe that is how it works in Wonderland.

(It was not intentional: the sender just forgot to add the stamps. The envelope, made of a big playing card, arrived safe and sound from the USA, and no further payment was required.)

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Cheekwood

Cheekwood is a historic estate on the western edge of Nashville, Tennessee that houses the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. Formerly the residence of Nashville's Cheek family. The Georgian-style mansion was opened as a botanical garden and art museum in 1960.

There is an old map on the postcard above, and a view of the façane below.

It looks very different in full colour!

Postcards sent by Phillip (the USA).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
February theme: MAPS

• Week 1 - Country
• Week 2 - City or Metro/Transportation
• Week 3 - With Pictorial Landmarks
• Week 4 - States/Provinces/Counties

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Early Valentine

This is the earliest Valentine's postcard I have ever got: it arrived on 22 February 2024!

Love from... Romance

Mail sent by Phillip (the USA), with matching stamps and a very nice pictorial postmark. And this is the second time I get mail from Romance, Arizona!

States Project | The Buckeye State

I did not know that the inhabitants of Ohio are also known as "Buckeyes". Actually, I did not know even what a buckeye is. And I thought I know a lot about this state!

Have you noticed that Ohio is the only state with a non-rectangular flag?

This is another States Project postcard sent by Bryon (the USA).

Sunday Stamps | Quartz

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps is Minerals. I found two stamps featuring quartz: one from France (1986) and one from Ukraine (2009). 

Golden News

There is  nothing like a little golden card bringing good news...

The Mail Monsters Never Sleep

The Mail Monsters battered this letter sent by Phillip (the USA). Fortunately, they were satisfied with the envelope and left alone the contents!

Also the stamp arrived safe and sound, luckily.

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Finland

Micu sent me this postcard in January (actually, from Hungary). I think it shows the museums network in Finland.

But, when I first became a postcrosser (in 2008), there were a lot of Finnish users. Some people complained because they got "too much" postcards from Finland. That was never a problem for me. Usually, postcards and stamps from Finland are very nice!

Along the years, I have received quite a few maps of the country...

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
February theme: MAPS

• Week 1 - Country
• Week 2 - City or Metro/Transportation
• Week 3 - With Pictorial Landmarks
• Week 4 - States/Provinces/Counties

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

States Project | The Empire State

A new postcard from Bryon's States Project, probably from one of the best known states of the USA. It is always nice to get a postcard featuring a (sort of) lighthouse.

About the project, all the postcards were sent in 2024. Not all have landed yet: 5 postcards left to arrive!

Frozen Columbus

Card sent by Phillip (the USA).

Te Rerenga Wairua

Te Rerenga Wairua (or Cape Reinga) is the northwestern most tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. According to Wikipedia:

In Māori, Te Rerenga Wairua means the leaping-off place of spirits. Reinga is the Māori word for underworld. Both refer to the Māori belief that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld.

I have received postcards featuring this beautiful place twice, but never from New Zealand. The postcard above was sent by postcroseer Paul from Germany, and the postcard below, by my friend Mélissa in Canada (many years ago).

And that is the keynote: the only other New Zealand lighthouse I have in my collection, was sent from Russia!

Sunday Stamps | Snakes

I have not get any snake stamp celebrating the Year of the Snake yes. So here you have some snakes previously uploaded to the blog:

Brasil, 2012

Taiwan, 2012

USA, 1996

USA, 2021

Go to Sunday Stamp to see more Snakes (or reptiles) on stamps.

Can you guess...?

... how many days I got mail in January?