Tarja's Card

This beautiful card brought me greetings from Tarja,

who lives in Oulu, Finland. She says that the picture shows

how their market place looks in the summertime, but "currently

there are less people and more snow!"

I think it is a beautiful market place and I would love to

stroll along the river and visit the vendors!

Thank you, Tarja, for showing me your beautiful

hometown!

A Card from Summer Moon

Summer Moon send me this picture of

the Yangtze River. I was surprised to find that

this great river has tall cliffs and forested

mountains along its way.

These two stamps brought Summer Moon's

card from the People's Republic of China

to San Antonio.

The unique thing about this
card and its stamp, is that one of
the stamps has the same picture
as the one on the postcard!

Thank you, Summer Moon, for sending me

this lovely card!

A Gift from Sisko

I received such a nice gift from Sisko, who lives in Ypaja, Finland. She sent me a beautiful garland of snowflakes! I hung them on the sidelight of my patio door, and they sparkle and shine in the bright Texas sunlight.

Sisko has been telling me that she was hoping for a White Christmas but the weather had been too warm. I hope that, by the time Christmas arrived, she had her White Christmas.

We did NOT have a White Christmas in San Antonio.

The temperature was near 80 degrees F. (27 degrees C.) The day after

Christmas, we set a record of 84 degrees F. (29 degrees C.)

We have been wearing short sleeved shirts! (I hope I converted those temperatures correctly!)

This is the card that came with the garland Sisko

sent to me. Every Christmas, when I hang up the garland,

I will be thinking of Sisko and what a sweet surprise

she sent to me.

Thank you so very much, Sisko!

Look! Another Inge Look Card from Tehri!

Tehri told me she would send me another

card with the two old ladies,

and here it is!

This time, the ladies are going for a ride

over the snow. Tehri says,

'I couldn't resist choosing this one for you. Seems

like the ladies have combined ski poles and a

kicksledge for maximum speed! :D They've

proven to be quite creative, don't you think?'

Thank you, Tehri, for another great card full

of laughs!

Hyvaa Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)

Tehri also put a really nice

Finnish Christmas stamp of the card!

A Handmade Card from Sinikka

My friend Sinikka, from Vaasa, Finland,

cross-stitched this pretty Christmas card for me.

I really like handmade cards like this one.

It makes the card very special.
Thank you, Sinikka, for taking the time

to create this card for me. It is beautiful

and I appreciate it very much!

A Card from Ulla

I received this Snow Angel from Ulla,

who lives in Harjavalta, Finland.

Isn't she beautiful?

Ulla also sent me a photo of herself, which I really like

because I can see who is sending and receiving

correspondence with me.

Thank you, Ulla, for the great card and the photo!

This beautiful Finnish Christmas stamp

brought Ulla's gift to me.

Amidst the Christmas Rush!

I have received some beautiful postcards during this

holiday season and I want to get them all up on my blog.

However, it will probably take some time, because I

also want to write to all those who have sent them!

I received this beautiful handmade card

from Tanya, who lives in Norman, Oklahoma.

I really love to get handmade cards--they are so

special! Tanya said she made this one from

wrapping paper, ribbon, and findings.

Thank you, Tanya, for an interesting, as well as

beautiful, card!

This great card comes to me from Arlene, who lives

in the Philippines. It is a beautiful Nativity

scene. Arlene says that is is 'belen' (Nativity scene)

and 'parols' (lanterns) which are traditional

decors in the Philippines.

I really like this card very much, Arlene.

Thank you for sending it to me.

Some Treasures from Yi

What a wonderful package I received from Yi!

It contained all the things you see in the picture below,

plus a wonderful letter.

I' will try to explain each of the items from the package.

Yi and her parents took a vacation trip to Yunnan Province

this summer. In Yunnan Province are different ethnic

groups of people. The items in Yi's package were purchased

there and these show a little of the Naxi people and their

culture.

There were two postcards of the giant pandas.
Of course, these are an endangered species and their
numbers are declining greatly. Scientists tried to hand-raise
one of the beautiful pandas and then release him into
the wild. However, since pandas are territorial animals,
the one released did not live very long. He did not know
how to adjust to the rules of the wild pandas and they
found his body in the forest.
Also, farmers have cut out so much bamboo to make
farmland, and this leaves their food source in crisis.
Hopefully, action will be taken to protect the beautiful
Giant Panda.


Another thing in Yi's package was a book of postcards.
The cards show different aspects and activities
of the Naxi people.

I love these pretty little bookmarks that were
in Yi's gift.
The first one shows a 'magic bird in charge of
coordinating the conflicts between people and the nature in
Naxi culture.' The hanging fish is a wooden cutting
decoration that people hang on the roofs of their
houses to express their best wishes for the future, the life.
The third one shows a stone lion. 'In China, many
stone lions are put in front of the house. People think
they can protect their lives.' The fourth one,
I think, is probably a temple bell.

Thank you so much, Yi, for the lovely package and for

telling me about the Naxi culture and Yunnan Province.

A Card from Jing

I received this nice card from

Jing, who lives in China.

She says it is very cold now, but it hasn't

snowed yet. She also said they will

have their Spring Festival in a few weeks.

That is their big holiday festival.

Jing, whose user name is Suray, is studying

environmental science (ecology) and will graduate

in June.

I hope you do well in your studies, Jing, and

I thank you for the nice card.

I love the stamps too!

These are the pretty stamps that came on Jing's card.

Die Schoene Donau (The Beautiful Danube)

"If you're lucky enough to live by the Donau,

you're lucky enough!"

This card shows a beautiful little Austrian village on the banks

of the Danube River. The village is called 'Spitz'. The word

means 'pointed' according to my trusty German-English

dictionary. Maybe it is because of the pretty mountains

surrounding it.

This card came as a 'thank you' from Earney, who lives

in Mautern.

Thank you, Earney, for this wonderful card. It brings back

many memories of walking along the Donau

in Ulm--especially the little inset in the lower

right hand corner!

Look at the beautiful stamps that brought Earney's

card. The first one is of Vorarlberg on the

Bodensee (Lake Constance) in Austria. It is a popular ski area

as well as other winter vacationing fun.

The motto of the town is 'Small but Nice'.

The second stamp is a Weihnachten stamp showing

the family around a table in front of the

Christmas tree. I love it!

A Night Out in Southern Brazil

The flag you see below is the flag of

Florianopolis on the coast of Southern Brazil.

Luis, who lives in Florianopolis, sent me the card

below--an ad card from Mar Marras, an Italian

restaurant in the city.

VEJA magazine calls Florianapolis the best place

to live in Brazil. Most of the city is on a large island,

and it also has a part on the continent as well as some

surrounding smaller islands.

Luis says that it is the home of 'churrasco', South American

barbecue.

Thank you, Luis, for the nice card.

The nine stamps that Luis put on his card,

(eight are shown here)

show a cornet and two banners

with the fleur-de-lis on them.

A Greeting from Germany

How about this for a wonderful greeting?

It says:

Joy

Luck Love

Health Strength Courage

Jordan writes:

'Hallo, Frau Jones,

Hoffe das sie diese Postcard noch

vor Weihnachten kriegen."

I told her that it did, indeed, arrive before

Christmas--ten days before!

Thank you, Jordan, for your great card!

I like the little stones greeting me!

Jordan put two delightful lighthouses on

her card. I am familiar with Hoernum, but

I am going to find out more about Amrum!

Alavus is in Finland

There is a small village in Finland which is

a very peaceful place to live.

They have only about 9500 inhabitants and it

has a beautiful lake nearby. In fact, there are

about 60 of them in the countryside around

Alavus.

I received this information on a beautiful

viewcard from Sari, who is one of those 9500

people in Alavus.

On the top row, you see the Kuula intersection of

the town; and then the Church of Alavus.

In the lower left is the Bell tower, a view of Lake Alvaus,

and then the chapel and a statue from the

Chapel of Memories and the Cemetery of War Heroes.

Thank you, Sari, for a great card.

This is a very pretty stamp that accompanied

my card from Sari. I'm not sure what the medallion

respresents, but because of the crown and

the two post horns at the bottom. I am guessing it

has to do with the Royal Postal Service.

Update: After I posted this entry into my blog, I received

an e-mail from Sari. She had seen it on my blog and told

me a little more about the card. Sari made the card herself.

She says she runs around with her camera taking

photos and then spend hours editing them with her computer.

Then she has them printed with a company called Ifolor.

I think this is amazing! Sari is a wonderful photographer

as well as a design artist. The colors as shown on my blog

seem distorted, but they are not like that on the postcard.

It probably has something to do with the scanner (or

the blogger!)

She also said the Huhtam statue has nothing to do with

the Chapel of Memories. The chapel is in the Cemetery of

War Heroes, but the Huhtam statue stands in a park

by the shore of Lake Alavus. The man was a great industrialist.

And, about the stamp, she said the horns are, indeed, post horns,

and the medallion is actually a hat cockade from the

postman's official uniform.

Thank you so much, Sari, for this update.

From the Czech Republic

These three stamps from the Czech

Republic brought me a postcard

from Brno today. As you can see, the

pictures are fishes, and there is also the

astrological sign for Pisces on the stamp.

Aren't they great?

Blanka, who is studying in Brno in

the Czech Republic,

sent me this very interesting card. There are twelves views withing the Czech Republic

and they are all Czech Heritage sites.

Brno, where Blanka is studying and working,

is on the bottom row, the next to last picture.

Thank you, Blanka, for some great views of your

country and it's heritage!

Istanbul, Turkey

I received a 'thank you' card from

Canan today. She is a student and lives

in Istanbul. She said she had a hard week

with school and her exams, but now she is

resting and enjoying a 3-week holiday.

Canan says that this card shows her favorite

street in Istanbul, although now there are

too many people on it.

She said this is an old picture but the same

trams are still working on this street.

Thank you, Canan, for a very interesting

card from Istanbul! I like it very much.

This is a really nice stamp that brought the card.

It seems to commemorate years of

transportation since it shows a truck, a train,

a ship, and a plane.

England's Lake District, home of Peter Rabbit

The Lake District (Cumbria) was the longtime home of

author and illustrator of children's literature such as

Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, and Johnny Town-mouse.

Johnny Town-mouse

Jemima Puddle-duck and

Peter Rabbit.

This view card of the village of Hawkshead, in the

Lake District of England (Cumbria), was sent to me

by Andrya. She says it is a beautiful part

of England and she lives about 40 minutes away

from it.

Andrya said that she and her husband went through Hawkshead

recently when they were going for a walk in Grizedale

Forest nearby.

When I looked this place up on the internet, I

found that this is Beatrix Potter country.

Ms. Potter married a local resident and lived nearby at

Hill Top Farm, near Sawrey. Many of the stories

she wrote and illustrated reflect this beautiful area

of England. In one of her stories about a mouse

from the country and a mouse from the town, she

based Johnny Town-mouse on the village doctor,

Dr. Parsons, who was a good friend of her husband.

Beatrix Potter was born in London, but she lived most

of her life in the Lake District.

These two nice stamps brought Andrya's card to me.

The first, of course, is a picture of the queen,

and the second looks like puppets from

a Punch and Judy show.

The Angel of Shavano

Can you see the Angel?

Sarah, from Delta, Colorado, sent me this card, which shows

the Angel of Shavano. The legend says that, because of her

mischievous pranks, the god, Jupiter, turned the young

goddess into an angel of ice "until some mishap

or tragedy of other people moves you to tears."

You can see the Angel, which is formed by snows

and ice accumulating in the valleys and between

the ridges.

Thank you, Sarah, for this card with a legend.

Another card from Luxor

Markku, my friend from Finland, sent

me another great card from Luxor, Egypt!

The picture shows two statues of the Pharoah,

Amenhotep III. These colossi stood before the mortuary

temple of this great Pharoah. The temple itself, is

no longer standing, but you can see the rectangular

area where it once stood.

Markku said he has been sitting on the banks of the Nile

in bright sunlight. I think that must be very

different from Kouvola, Finland in December!

Thank you, Markku, for another lovely and very interesting card!

These beautiful Egyptian stamps carried

my card from Egypt to Texas!

All the Pretty Little Horses!

Beth, from Atlanta, Georgia, sent me

this very unique card.

I think it is beautiful!

Beth says that unlike me, she has only lived in

metro-Atlanta. She would like to see lots

of places, but is unsure that she would

ever want to leave Georgia!

It is a beautiful state to call home, Beth.

I have always thought I would never be happy staying

in one place for years and years.

However, since Sam retired from the Air Force,

we have been in San Antonio for 30+ years.

But we still go travelling every chance we get!

Thank you, Beth, for the very nice card!

I love it!

From the Land of 1000 Mountains

I really love this card!

It is from the Tyrolean Alps and I enjoy

looking at each of the 14 views!

The card came to me from Gaby, who lives in

Osttirol in Austria.

Another thing I like about the card, is that Gaby

wrote it all in German! I was able to figure most

of it from what I remembered of the German I

learned in Ulm. However, I did have to resort to

my German-English dictionary for some of it!

Gaby said that she comes from Austria, specifically

from Osttirol. She says they have many mountains

there but only 100 people in her village.

Thank you, Gaby, for such a delightful card!

I love this beautiful Austrian stamp with the

airliner on it!

A View of Delft

Laurie sent me this very nice view card

of Delft in the Netherlands.

She says that she has lived in Delft for only one month.

Delft is near the Hague, the political capital of

the Netherlands and near to the

North Sea coast.

When I lived in Germany, we went to Delft

to visit the porcelain factory. We got lost and,

as we were driving, a lady stopped us and asked

if she could help us since we looked like we were lost.

When we told her we were looking for the porcelain

factory, she insisted on showing us the way--even

though it was not the way she was going!

She left us with a very good impression of

Delft and its citizens!

Thank you, Laurie, for the 'memory' card!

This 'world' stamp brought Laurie's

card to Texas!