Via Airmail

Postcard Tour: Mary Washington's House

I've been sorting through old boxes of postcards that I bought or that friends sent to me, and I came across several from when I visited Fredericksburg, Virginia several years ago.  It seems fitting to share the Mary Washington House during his birth month.  She lived here during the last seventeen years of her life. 

It's a cozy little house, one I could be happy living in.  This was Mary's bedroom.

This is the dining room.  Can you imagine George and Martha dining here?

And this is the sitting room. 

Roaring Camp & Big Trees

My fourth official Postcrossing postcard.  I'm sure the excitement will wear off and then I won't have to share every "official" card (then again maybe it won't and perhaps all the better as this is supposed to be fun and exciting, though maybe I'll stop counting at least).

It came from California after traveling for four days, or 1,411 miles.  The card is "Roaring Camp & Big Trees" and the description reads:

The Sonora, Roaring Camp Railroad's Shay Engine #7, crosses Indian Creek Trestle, the tightest narrow-gauge passenger trestle in North America.

I bet it's a fun and scenic ride.  Someday I want to visit the Redwood Forest.

{US-1559008}

Postcrossing card #4

Neuss am Rhein Museum

I was very pleased to find this postcard in my mailbox.  It is from a German postcrosser in Neuss in Western Germany.  The older building in the back was built in the 13th century, the Old Town Gate.  Local history is displayed there.  The contemporary building in the front houses modern art.  It's a nice juxtaposition. 

The stamps on the back are just as pleasing.  I know the tulip, but am not sure what the other is.  The building is the Rathaus in Frankenberg.   Museums are one of my favorite places to visit when traveling, so I have a soft spot for postcards of museums.

Sunday Stamps: A Few Random Ones

Since joining Postcrossing I've been much more aware of the sorts of cards and letters I get in the mail.  I've been sorting through old bins and boxes and finding all sorts of treasures.  Old postcards from all over the US and Europe from friends who wanted to dash off a line to me or included one with a gift or letter.  I've started moving them into a nice plastic bin, which I will have to sort out at some point.

I've never been one to collect stamps, though I will often rip off pretty ones from packages or cards if I throw away the envelope and packaging.  Of course these have ended up all over the place--in desk drawers and baskets.  I guess this will give me an excuse to find a nice little box of some sort to keep them together.

I wanted to join in with Viridian's Sunday Stamps, but as I don't have a very large collection I can't always find one appropriate for the weekly theme, but this week it is an open theme, so I have a few cool stamps to share.

These are ten cent US stamps that look like they are celebrating the centennial (1874-1974) of the Universal Postal Union.   I'm sure I've not had them since the 1970s, so whoever stamped the envelope (and they may well have been something I removed from an envelope at work--I work in an academic library and we get mail from all over the world) chose some very attractive stamps that have been/or had been around a while.  I wonder if they are still in "circulation"?  I don't really know a lot about stamps and how it works--how long a certain stamp will be used and when they eventually get "retired", but I do love the look of these. 

They are all of artists and writers: Terboch, Chardin, Gainsborough, Goya, Raphael, Hokusai, Peto, Leotard.  Quite nice and worthy of being the first in a new and hopefully growing collection. 

You can click on the button to see more Sunday Stamps posts.

An Abundance of Cards, part 2

I have a bit of a hodgepodge of cards today, as these are from a variety of swaps on the Postcrossing forum.

I thought this one was quite striking and with such vivid colors.  The back caption reads;

Lightning strikes over Uluru.

This is a sandstone rock (Ayers Rock) formation located in the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia.   As it turns out Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, so I've received my first card without even trying.

This is a curious card.  I only know it is from a Russian book.  Unfortunately I don't know the name of the author or the title.  Perhaps if someone happens by who can read Cyrillic they can help me out?  I'm guessing it is a children's book.

Mystery solved: Thanks to Leo for confirming that this is indeed the cover of a (famous) children's book:  Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Another card from Russia came just a week too late for Valentine's Day.  The sender tells me that the words on the front read "With Love".  Very sweet card. 

And the last card is a steam locomotive from Taiwan.  The sender says this now only runs on the forest railway.

An Abundance of Cards, part 1

I seem to be accumulating a backlog of postcards.  This has apparently be a very good mail week for me, so I'll split my newest arrivals in half.

First, my third 'official' postcrossing card.  I've got five cards traveling, four that I've mailed have made it to their destinations, and I have now received three cards from fellow postcrossers.  This one came from someone living in a neighboring state.

This is Echo Lake and Mt. Evans.  According to the sender the road up Mt. Evans is the highest paved road in North America (elevation at peak 14,260').  Quite breathtaking.

{US-1549088}

Postcrossing card #3

I should have one more card en route.  Where will it come from?  And hopefully some of my cards will find their way into the recipient's mailboxes soon. 

As someone who loves books Hay-On-Wye is something of a dream destination.  I'm told the whole town is given over to books--new and secondhand and all subject matters.  Maybe someday I'll get there.

As a nice change of pace, the back has a stamp of Edward VIII rather than the traditional shot of the queen.  I'm hoping to get a card of Queen Elizabeth this year, however, since she is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee.

Traveling further across the pond and across the English Channel a card came from Thionville, France.

This is the Town Hall at dusk in Thionville (Moselle) located in northeastern France.  If you click on the link to the Wikipedia you can see a slightly different angle of the Town Hall.

And I have to share the stamps as they're so pretty.

And a map of Washington state for my collection.  Three states down, 47 more to go!

National Library of Belarus

The mail brought me only one postcard today, but it's one I like very much--a library!  Libraries are one of my very favorite places in which to spend time, so I am always curious what they look like in other places.  In this case it is the National Library of Belarus in Minsk. 

This building was completed in 2006, so it is fairly new, and it contains 22 floors.  Imagine.  All those books!

And the stamps on the flip side.  It looks like it took just over a week to arrive.

Zazzle Anyone?

Do you Zazzle? 

Since joining Postcrossing I've been on the look out for cool and unusual postcards.  Locally I have a limited selection, though I have found some good postcards in a variety of unexpected places.  When I first came across Zazzle online I wasn't quite sure what it was and dismissed it.  Then I realized that my sources in town would be limited and decided to give Zazzle a try.  I've received my first order and am not sure what I think.

I ordered a selection of cards--some to keep and some in hopes of swapping.  Some are definitely better than others. 

What I like?  The cards are pretty good stock, nice glossy images and in some cases nicely reproduced images that I'm pleased with.

What I don't like? 

They seem a bit smaller than my other standard postcards.  In some cases the image is not as good as it seemed on the computer screen.  And the most disappointing (though I did know when I ordered them what the backs would look like), there is no information on the backs of nearly all the cards, so you don't really know what you're looking at.  In some cases that's okay as it's obvious from the picture, but in others it won't make sense to the recipient.  Also, where a line is marked on the back to separate the section for the message from that of the address, they don't leave a lot of room for a long name or address.

I love this Marie Antoinette image, for example, but I was disappointed that the edges were slightly cropped off.  Maybe I was expecting something slightly larger, too.  I still love the card and will tack it to my bulletin board, but I will be more cautious when ordering cards from Zazzle in the future. 

They have quite a few UNESCO postcards, and I thought I might order a few, but now I am reconsidering as I fear they will not be as nice as original postcards and likely serious collectors won't be happy with them.

So my search continues for really good quality, attractive and unusual postcards to mail out to friends and fellow postcrossers

Via Airmail: The Netherlands

Isn't this a gorgeous photo?  A Postcrosser from The Netherlands asked to swap cards and being only too happy to oblige I've only just mailed off  my card a few days ago.  Her card arrived very quickly and brought with it birthday wishes, which made my day.  The photo shows the Thamer Church and the Amstel River in Uithoorn, which is about 20 km from Amsterdam.

I love the snowy scene on the stamp.  Although I'm ready for spring to arrive, the snow at dusk makes for a very pretty picture.

This is the first map postcard I've received from Europe, from Holland.   Can you spot the two little seals up on the west coast poking their heads out from the water?

And on the back I get to see one of the Postcrossing stamps that I've heard about.  I wonder which country has the most per capita Postcrossers?

Two Art Cards

I feel like an official Postcrosser now.  A few of my postcards have arrived at their destinations and yesterday I came home to not one but two official postcards from fellow postcrossers in Germany and Finland.  I really love this card.  It reminds me of the silhouettes you see in papercutting.  For more on the art form, take a look at the gorgeous work of this papercutting artist.

On the flip side is this stamp and logo of the artist perhaps?  The design is by Dutch artist Jan H. J. Willemsen.  As I am an avid reader and have asked for book suggestions or favorite books, the postcrosser who send the card kindly shared a couple with me: Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso  Falcones and Tonio by A.F. Th. van der Heijden.

{DE-1240855}

Postcrossing card #1

Isn't this a sweet image?  It is by Finnish artist Helja Liukko-Sundstrom who is a ceramist.  See more images of her work here.

And on the stamp on the flip side are sea creatures and fish.

{FI-1332328}

Postcrossing card #2

No mail tomorrow, so will have to be patient and hope for extra cards in my mailbox on Tuesday.