Greek Cats

Great GREAT card from dear Ana!! I have received it a month ago and failed to let her know....so here is a huge T*H*A*N*K  Y*O*U here! *blush*. 

To be honest, I haven't even thought about postcards for more than a month...since I am on the break, and now it seems like it may even be a more permanent thing...I just think to myself 'wow, I never thought it may come to this'. Its a strange feeling, as I used to get so much joy from exchanging postcards. maybe its still early days to conclude anything, lets see..!

NI Multiples - French Cheese

And now for something completely yummy..!

Van Gogh - Blute-Fin Windmill

The Moulin de la Galette is a windmill and associated businesses situated near the top of the district of Montmartre in Paris. Since the 17th century the windmill has been known for more than just its milling capabilities. Nineteenth-century owners and millers, the Debray family, made a brown bread, galette, which became popular and thus the name of the windmill and its businesses, which have included a famous guinguette and restaurant.

Le Moulin de la Galette is the subject and title of several paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in 1886, as it was near his apartment in Montmartre. I have to admit I was surprised this is Van Gogh, but I loved it instantly! Thanks Mike :)

Mucha - The Times Of The Day

I have seen a few of these separately but had no idea they come under the same title: The Times of the Day (1899): The Morning awakening, Brightness of Day, Evening contemplation, Night's Rest.

Many thanks to Katerina, for the postrossing stamp too :)

Tomb Of Nefertari (detail), Egypt

Its been a while since I've received a postcard from Egypt...This is a detail from Tomb 66, one of the largest in the Valley of the Queens, covered with pictures of Nefertari, an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses the Great. This detail shows a winged uraeus cobra, which protects the queen's cartouche and a shen-sign with its wings. A special addition to my snakes collection, thanks to Mohammad :)

Ingushetia

The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. With its 3,000 square km, in terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the federal cities. It was established on June 4, 1992 after the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was split in two. 

Reading about its history, it has had some truly tough times, sad times...won't go into it right now...but this is a typical Ingush medieval castle; majority of towers and walls of such castles were destroyed by Russian army in 19th and 20th centuries. The mountainous terrain is teeming with these mystycal sites, which would be just awesome to visit!

Many thanks to Julia, I have learnt a lot from exploring this card. (though I couldn't find this particular abandoned place called Gadabursi). 

Life In The Fast Lane

Irish donkey, cute dog, a pub sign...I've had my eyes on this card for quite some time, and now its in my collection thanks to Anastasia :) Also a curious stamp, representing one of the five senses - when you touch it with a warm finger, it changes colour..!

White Streets Of Spain

Another great postcard and stamps from Ana, and there's a donkey! Muchas gracias bossita ;)

Angel Oak

What a fascinating tree! 20 meters high, 8 meters circumference; I am sure there are larger trees in those terms, but the shade area of 1600 square meters, can it be beaten? Its longest branch extends for 57 meters, just wow. Angel Oak is a Southern live oak located in Angel Oak Park on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina. The City of Charleston has owned the tree and surrounding park since 1991. Being by some estimates almost 500 years old, imagine what stories it could tell...Local folklore tells stories of ghosts of former slaves appearing as angels around the tree.

Many thanks to Susan :)) 

On The Sunny Side Of The Alps

Now this is perfect! A house on a hill surrounded by vineyards. Lately I've been facing the dark sides of human behaviour...and could use a break in a place like this. Its funny, this sunny card was written in late april and it was still snowing. Hvala Mirjam!

Peñíscola Street

Peñíscola is a municipality in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community in Spain,  located on the Costa del Azahar along the Mediterranean coast. Such a lovely street view with a girl and her grandpa on a bench, and what can I say about the stamps but...fantastic! O Ana, o Ana, srećo mojih dana :P

Ladies First!

...that is the title for it I've found on a single web-site depicting this card...I thought at the first glance this was a car, but is indeed a tandem motorcycle. 'The Parisian motorbike La Jumella in 1922, with trailing and leading arms suspensions , front and rear dampers.' Lovely photo, merci Eva :)

Peking Opera Dan

This beautiful lady is one of the five female characters (Dan) in Peking Opera, probably the Guimen Dan, or maybe a Daoma Dan? Many thanks to Nan :)

Chameleon Strikes A Pose

This card is even sparkly, which can't be seen on a photo so I haven't realised that until I've received it. Love the colours, and how cute  is the Garfield and Odie stamp?? Thanks a lot Cornelia :D

A Beach In Belize

By the looks of it its a self-printed card, but a nice one isn't it :) I don't know which beach it is but I'd sure like to pop over there for a bit of a proper relaxation. Lovely stamp! Thank you Karolyn :)

Brooklyn Bridge, New York

The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City and is one of the oldest bridges of either type in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. It has a main span of 486.3 m and was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed.

Interesting by-fact! Cable-stayed bridges date back to 1595, when first designs were found in Machinae Novae, a book by Croatian inventor Fausto Veranzio.

From my visit to NY last autumn, where I was more impressed by this bridge than anything else.

Philippine Freshwater Sea Snake

Also called Garman's sea snake or Lake snake (Hydrophis semperi), its a rare species of venomous sea snake found only in a single lake - Lake Taal - on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is noted for being one of two known species of sea snake (and the only one in its family) that is known to be found almost-exclusively in freshwater (the other one is Crocker's sea snake native to the Solomon Islands). Locally it is known as duhol.

At first you wonder where the head is! When I swapped for this card I still had no idea how unique this snake is. Many thanks to Isabel! 

Bohemian Waxwing

The Bohemian waxwing is...a bird i never heard of before! Looking up a Croatian name, never heard of that one either. Beautiful creature...It has a circumpolar distribution, breeding in northern regions of Eurasia and North America. Its breeding habitat is coniferous forests, usually near water. This waxwing is migratory with much of the breeding range abandoned as the birds move south for the winter. Alas this 'south' just about misses my country...which is a shame, because they can be very tame in winter, entering towns and gardens in search of food (rowan berries being a particular favourite, again not native here so that explains them not wanting to fly here!)

Cats On Chain Postcards

Chain postcards are a great way of giving 'life' to blank postcards you keep at home because you just love them too much to swap them :D These are two latest examples, thanks to Leon who organises chain postcard groups on facebook..:))

Many thanks also to Ana of Portugal and Thealren of Ireland, and Karina of France and Ewa of Poland. Esp. love all the flowers on the 2nd postcard :))

I'm Popeye the Quaker Man!

One of the cartoon characters that we fondly remember from our childhood...Won this postcard in a lottery because I remembered his darling's name is Olive Oyl. Love it! With his enthusiasm I leave for my days off :)

Thank you Judy!

 

Vietnamese Old Woman

I have received this wonderful card via lottery. What is the feeling you get when looking at this face? I see hard work, wisdom and calm. For some reason a word 'miserable' was typed on the back, but this is not the apt word, or at least it shouldn't be! Only kind words should supplement this photo. Thank you Ta Tan Dat :)

Ladakh Woman

A different postcard from India...from the very north where Ladakh ('land of high passes') extends from the Kuen Lun mountain range to the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir and its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet. 

A woman spinning wool, thanks a lot Piyali :)

Year Of The Monkey

The Monkey (猴) is the ninth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Monkey is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 申.

This will probably be the only YOTM card for me but its a great one isnt it? Complete with a mini-sheet. Thank you Midori Lee :)

 

UNESCO - San Antonio Missions, USA

The site encompasses a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along a stretch of the San Antonio River basin in southern Texas, as well as a ranch located 37 kilometres to the south. It includes architectural and archaeological structures, farmlands, residencies, churches and granaries, as well as water distribution systems. The complexes were built by Franciscan missionaries in the 18^th century and illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize, evangelize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain. 

Thanks goes to Arnold, also for the great stamps :)