Sunday Stamps - (L) Laddle from Russia

For the letter L - Ladle

2004 - Russian Federation - Russian Silverware of the late 19th Century

This stamp was issued on 26 October 2004, along with 3 other designs. All were from the All Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied, and Folk Arts.

For more stamps with the letter "L", visit See It On A Postcard

Postcards for the weekend 85: Handicraft / artwork

RU-1303535, Sent from Barnaul
Travelled 5,394 km in 17 days

Matryoshka or the Russian nesting doll. I counted 11 dolls, how about you? According to Wikipedia, the largest set of matryoshka consisted of 51 wooden dolls.

I'm keeping this one short this weekend as I need to wake up early tomorrow for work.

Enjoy your weekend, folks!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 66: New year 2018

FI-3139697, Sent from Jamsa, Finland
Traveled 9,288 km in 10 days

So the Christmas festivities are almost over as we are ushering in 2018. I've been wrapping up 2017 with some cleaning. This makes me wonder ... what happens with all the Christmas decorations? It must be a lot of money, that could just end up in the bin. Modesty aside, my Christmas decorations are recycled. So my mini Christmas tree and other Christmas ornaments are to be kept in the storeroom. I'm proud to have used these items for the 3rd year this time! How about yours?

RU-5286150, Sent from Barnaul, Russia
Traveled 6,078 km in 32 days

In addition to physical cleaning of my living space, I've also been reflecting on the past years. As cliche as it is, I'm also one who makes New Year resolutions. I've been deeper and deeper into my thoughts; finding meaning in my 30 years of existence. Perhaps this time around, I'll pen down 12 items that I'd like to work on or improve in 2018! One item to represent and work on for each month of the new year ...

I'm sure that most of us are engaged in several happenings during this time of the year. Hence, I'm keeping our linky open until mid-week! I hope that compensates for my tardiness this weekend :)

Happy new year everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 50: Patterns & prints

Postcard sent to self, Sent from Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sent 16 Aug 2017, Traveled ~10,486 km in 7 days

Delft was the first of four cities I've been to during my very recent trip and first trip to the Netherlands. My Dutch mom brought us to the city center on a Saturday. There was a flea market and lots of delft blue in display in the open stalls on the alleys and roadsides. Delft blue is a renowned pottery from Netherlands, tracing its roots to Chinese porcelain craftsmanship. Original and collectible Delft Blue are the ones with patterns painted by hand.

UA-536831, Sent from Kiev, Ukraine
Sent 14 March 2013, Traveled 8,707 km in 27 days

At the back of this postcard was written: Traditional ceramics of Kosov. I did my research as nothing else was provided about these ceramics on the card. If I'm not wrong, these are traditional prints and patterns from the Hutsul folk artists of the Carpathian region. I love how some of the bowls are shaped like open petals of a flower.

RU-1007560, Sent from Ivanovo, Russia
Sent 29 May 2012, Traveled 8,0479 km in 240 days

The sender wrote that Ivanovo is the traditional textile capital of Russia. Take a close look at each roll of cloth, which one is your favorite?

For patterns and prints.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 32: Whimsical and/or magical

I've been up to my neck with work and I almost forgot it's Friday!

For this weekend's theme I've picked three postcards to share:

Friendship Gift Postcard, from Finland
Sent 7 June 2014, traveled 9,171 km

I'm very happy to come across this postcard from my collection again and read the message at the back from my Finnish pen friend, Tuija. She translated the text, "Sometimes it's good to catch one's breath and enjoy the day enjoying one's self, leaving everyday worries behind, take it easy and be happy about the good things in life."

RU-537449, from Russia,
Sent 21 Aug 2011, traveled 8,260 km in 25 days

It looks so magical with the planets and stars in the background. I can't figure out the pink wall that the cats are leaning on though, is it supposed to be a wall?

DE-6024930, from the north of Germany
Sent 1 March 2017, traveled 10,102 km in 13 days

This is one of my most recently received postcards. Because of the black hood and veil of this woman, I always think of Bellatrix Lestrange (from the famous Harry Potter series) every time I look at the postcard.

Have a relaxing weekend folks!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 26: Serenity

This post is quite early for this upcoming weekend. I am anticipating intermittent internet access. I will be in my home island for a delayed birthday celebration with my family.

FR-764739, Sent from Rennes, France
Traveled 11,043 km in 13 days

For the serenity theme this weekend, I've chosen first this card -- a woman with a tranquil countenance in her senior years,

RU-5218172, Sent from St. Petersburg, Russia
Traveled 8,974 km in 20 days

finding serenity in solitude; the liberty to be still, enjoy a good calming cup of tea, meditate, or slowly read a good book with lighted scented candles nearby, and

Sent by myself from Santorini, Greece

in renewing faith in each deep breath we take while witnessing the beauty of creation.

Have a great weekend everyone and I sincerely would like to express my gratitude to all bloggers and friends who have been very creative with the postcards shared for our themes this month of February.

Cheers,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 23: Happiness

For more than 20 weeks, we have seen creative twists with the theme interpretations. I would love to mention each and every notable ones I've seen. I'm afraid this post won't fit on this page at all though if I do so! In line with that observation, I decided to be more inclusive for the themes this month of February. I realized it might be quite challenging, but let's see what are the postcards the four chosen emotions will bring us. To start with -- HAPPINESS.

The Red Clover Fairy, Private Swap
Sent from Russia, Traveled for 20 days

Aside from being in the company of love ones and friends, I noticed that I'm very happy whenever I'm surrounded by nature. My job needs me to talk and listen with many different people most of the time. Nature does not ask that of me; listening to its sounds is voluntarily ... for the talking part, I guess I kind of do self-talk whenever I see something queer or fascinating. Overall, it's a rush of happiness whenever I see colorful birds, butterflies, dragonflies, beautiful blooms, huge and ancient trees whenever I go for nature walks. At some places, the foliage is the same as my last visit. Regardless, the great experience remains the same!

NL-1307269, Sent from The Netherlands
Traveled 10,333 in 60 days

For this theme of happiness, I'm sharing these three reproductions of Mary Cicely Barker postcards. It's impressive how happiness is reflected on the faces of each fairy on the postcards. And oh, that youthfulness! My partner told me that he often notices that I'm the happiest whenever we do something outdoors in nature. Well, it always give me the sense of adventure and freedom -- best cure for anxiety!

The Black Bryony Fairy, NL-2110239
Sent from The Netherlands, Traveled 10,348 km in 10 days

I hope these postcards are able to make you happy, too!

Cheers,

~maria

Sunday Stamps: City Views

On the left, issued on 24 April 2006 under the theme, Polish Cities. Czestochowa, a city name I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing properly. The city is famous as a place of pilgrimage. It houses the Black Madonna, credited for many miracles. The architecture too is evidently magnificent, at least for me -- judging from this stamp.

On the right, issued on 30 April 2013 under the theme, World Cultural Heritage of Russia, Historical center of Saint-Petersburg. This stamp features the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. It captures one of the two Rostral columns and the Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange. Both structures are significant examples of Greek Revival architecture.

The theme for Sunday Stamps this weekend is city views. Check out other entries at See It On A Postcard for views of other cities from around the world.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 5: Cats & Dogs

FI-1276051, Sender: Merja from Finland
Sent: 10 Dec 2011, Traveled 8,927 km in 23 days

Growing up at my grandparents who owned a small farm, I was surrounded by animals. Cats and dogs, most specially the cats are allowed inside the house. I'm not particularly fond of cats though. There's a horrible biting accident when I was 3 years old. Regardless, cats are still adorable creatures in my book. I have a scan of this postcard in my hard drive but the original card was left at home, back in the Philippines. If my memory serves me right, this cat is the pet of the Merja, the sender of the card. I love how it seems to be staring straight right back at the camera.

RU-647117, Sender: Olga from Russia
Sent: 25 Nov 2011, Traveled 5,560 km in 13 days

Given the proper circumstances, I'll have a pet dog. I want a large one with short hairs and standing ears. I haven't really decided on the color but caramel like the one on the right. 

From this weekend's theme, I learned that there are 3 types of domesticated animals: commensals, prey animals for food, and targeted animals for draft & nonfood resource. So I'm sure my cats & dogs here are both commensals. I'm excited to blog hop and see if we have postcards of domesticated animals falling to the next 2 categories. Happy sharing!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 4: Autumn in the old suitcase

RU-2118338, Sender: Alya from St. Petersburg, Russia
Sent 25 Oct 2013, Traveled 8, 648 km in 39 days

Anyone here who can survive without coffee? Raise your hand please.

I'm more of a tea person but lately I needed the stronger kick from caffeine. Three days this week, I've been consuming coffee. Still it seems that I'm still always sleepy! Is it probably because the pull of bed is stronger now that the temperature has been going down?

We don't really have fall season here in SE Asia. But then, we still enjoy cooler weather around this time of the year. I'm very curious of the feelings invoked to see the nature around you turn from green to hues of red, orange, and yellow.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Uncle Robert from Canada

Am I right to imagine that it's more beautiful around sunrise/sunset when the sun casts a cooler orange glow on everything? Please let me know your emotional experiences with the changing colors of your environment whenever the fall/autumn season approaches.

Before I end this post, I'd like to thank the patience of bloggers who come to join my Postcards for the weekend link up. First I was late, then there's the linky list closing earlier than it should. I'll work my best to get things sorted out. :)

Happy weekend everyone and see you all again next week with your chosen cards for our theme, "domesticated animals". I hope you're enjoying this party so far despite my shortcomings.

~maria

S is for Spas-Na-Krovi, Russia

From a city that also starts with "S", here is a postcard from St. Petersburg.

For letter "S" --

RU-2118338, Sender: Alya
Sent: 25 Oct 2013 from St. Petersburg, Russia
Received: 3 Dec 2013, Traveled 8,648 km in 39 days

Spas-Na-Krovi or Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood is a stunning church covered by mosaics in both the interior and the exterior. While reading the details at the back of the card, I was a bit puzzled by the detail "A. Parland". Thanks to Google, I was directed to a page for Alfred Parland, the lesser known architect of the church. Uncle Wiki says that this church is the life of A. Parland since it took a quarter century to finish and after that, he was responsible for maintaining the place.

If you would dedicate your life into a project, what would it be?

~maria

X is for X = Unknown Depths of Baikal

RU-1118184, Sender: Lena

For this letter, it is quite a stretch! I hope it's acceptable as X is for "unknown". 

Located in Southern Siberia, Russia, a lot is unknown in its depth of 5,300 feet. The lake being the deepets, is also the oldest lake in the world. It is roughly 25 to 30 years old!

It was listed as UNESCO WHS in 1996.

~maria

K is for Kamchatka Volcanoes, Russia

RU-215990, Sender: Kate
Sent: 5 Nov 2013 from Moscow, Russia
Received: 23 Nov 2013, Traveled 8,232 km in 18 days

This is a postcard I received before the Sochi 2014 Olympics. The scenery of snow covered Katchatka Volcano was perfect for the winter sport disciplines and the fierce competitions among countries held from 7 - 23 February 2014.

This volcano is just one in 160 of the volcanic belt along Kamchatka River and the surrounding valley. Twenty-nine of these volcanoes are active. Six sites were designated as UNESCO WHS in 1996. The description in the official UNESCO website describes the site:

The interplay of volcanism with active glaciers forms a dynamic landscape of great beauty. The sites contain high species diversity, including the world's greatest known variety of salmonoid fish and exceptional concentrations of sea otter, brown bear and Stellar's sea eagle.

It is a pretty relaxed Saturday for me today. I am dreaming of hiking in nature, and with that, it comes to mind a hike up to a volcano's crater I did back in Nov 2013. I thought it would be cool to share a souvenir. The photo was taken on top of Taal Volcano in Batangas, Philippines. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Checking out my photos from adventures back in the Philippines make me miss my homeland. Which reminds me, I have less than 1 month before I fly back! Yipee! I probably would look into inviting my whole family for a trip to Taal Volcano View Park when I get back :)

~maria 

Pet Dogs

The first stamp I found at the back of my postcards for Viridian's Sunday Stamps

theme today, 'pets' is a funny one. It's from the second part of a series called

Winter Tales. Designed by Claus Bigum and issued in 2011, the stamps show

Danish winter past times. This particular stamp shows a dog walker.

The second ones are mastiffs, one of the ancient breed of dogs. The two stamps

are issued by the Russian Federation on 15 March 2002. On the left is a bull mastiff,

said to be a cross breed between a mastiff and a bulldog. On the right, is a

Brazilian mastiff, also known as Fila Brasileiro.

~ maria

Landscape from Mongolia, Altai, and Tuva

RU-884382, Sender: Irina
Sent: 30 March 2012 from Tomsk, Russia
Received: 17 June 2012, Traveled 5,575 km in 79 days

Yesterday, the lowest temperature of the decade was recorded here in Manila at 19 degree Celsius. The weather forecast said that the cold spell will last until around first week of February. With this weather, I'll be posting frosty-inspired postcards for this month of the year.

This postcard showing a landscape from Mongolia, Altai, and Tuva is in the list of my cards which took the longest time to travel. It is from Irina, a travel agent in Russia, living near Tomsk. She said:

Tomsk is beautiful and really interesting city. It was found in 1604 and called "The Siberian Athens" because of many universities here. Altai is situated not so far from Tomsk (and Seversk, of course). I visited Altai last month. And I think it's really an interesting place with great nature.

I agree with Irina, this landscape from Altai with the Karakol Lake in the foreground is really majestic! This is also a beautiful postcard. The uploaded image here in blogger doesn't give enough justice to the card but when viewed with MS Picture Manager, it looks like it is a 3D image with that reflection of the mountains in the water.

For more blue images, visit Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally.

~ maria

Nourish The Heart

RU-2207232, Sender: Marya11
Sent: 24 Nov 2013 from St. Petersburg, Russia
Received: 2 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,648 km in 39 days

At first glance, this postcard very well reminds me of a Chinese proverb:

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.

A tree is nourished by minerals from the soil and vitamins from the sun, and refreshed by water and air. Such is the same for the human heart, nourished by past experiences and refreshed by new ones. As I bid goodbye to 2013 and welcome the new year, 2014 - I admit I didn't write down (yet) specific "new year resolutions". But I renewed my yearly promise that I will keep an open and cheerful heart, keen on taking in new rewarding experiences, relearning from wise and trusted people and friends, and learning from new acquaintances and even strangers.

Happy new year everyone! Wishing all of us a prosperous 2014!

~maria

Christmas Stamps 1

Surprise Postcard, Sender: Terry
Sent: 8 Dec 2012 from Sherwood, AR
Received: 8 Jan 2013, Traveled 13,552 km in 30 days

The theme for Viridian's Sunday Stamps today is holiday stamps.

First let me share a folded card I received last year from a dear

postcard swapping friend, Terry from the USA. The folded card

has a nice assortment of Christmas symbols presented in form

of stamps. A few popular Christmas symbols seem to be hiding...

When we do have the Christmas ball, there is no Christmas tree!

So check out those two Christmas tree stamps, one from Russia

and another one from the USA. Both trees radiantly depicted --

with the Russian Christmas tree, bright and lovely even out in 

the cold snow and the bright star atop the US tree, 

cheering up two kids and their dad.

Check out Viridian's page for more

holiday stamps!

~maria

Gzhel Porcelain

RU-2046225, Sender: Nataly
Sent: 29 Sep 2013 from Korolyov, Russia
Received: 5 Nov 2013, Traveled 8,247 km in 37 days

Today, I am back in my apartment from a 6-day vacation in Singapore and found 3 pretty cards on my study table. One of them features this lovely blue and white Gzhel porcelain teacup and saucer.

Nataly wrote, "This is an example of the Gzhel porcelain, the traditional Russia porcelain made in so-called Gzhel cluster, an area extending along railway line Moscow-Murom. The main factory of this trade is the Gzhel Porcelain Factory located in Rechitsy village, Moscow oblast. You can find Gzhel porcelain and ceramics in many Russian shops, but today the most of these Gzhel-like articles are not real Gzhel. As a rule they are imitations made in China. It is rather difficult to find a genuine Gzhel, and it is rather expensive."

This postcard easily became a favorite! I love the blue and gold royal decorations on white. Also the scallop design on the edge of the saucer and the design for the handle are lovely!

This is my first time to join Terri's Tea Cup Tuesday @ Artful Affirmations. Check out her page for really adorable tea cup posts.

~maria

Birds on stamps

The theme for this week for Sunday Stamps is birds.

It was tough deciding which birds to post. So I think to make this easier, I created two posts. One was dedicated for birds from the desserts that I got from my boss last month. There were 6 of them so I thought they deserve an entry of their own.

Twenty days ago, I posted Oriental Birds. This time, I'm featuring stamps with birds that are not from my part of the globe.

This is from the series Birds of the Garden from Belarus, released 16 June 2006. The bird is called hawfinch. It's from the same genus Fringilla as the chaffinch from my Friday post. I'm happy to have two finches perched on my blog this week.

From Switzerland, issued on 6 September 2007, Domestic Birds series. This bird with open wings is Tichodroma muraria or wallcreeper. I just love its crimson wings.

These two birds from Belgium were issued 21 January 2008 and 11 November 2011, respectively. The one on the left is the Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes).  I must say I have a strong liking with the one on the right, the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus), its erect ear-tufts make it interesting. If I'm a witch, like in Harry Potter, I'll pick this for my owl.

RU-717104, Sender: Olga
Sent: 28 Dec 2011 from Moscow, Russia
Received: 24 Jan 2012, Traveled 8,260 km in 27 days

Technically, this is a postcard but I am happy to share it for the theme, obviously for the reason that it's a collage of birds on stamps -- and really lovely ones! I really find it nice that for most stamps on the foreground, the birds are featured perched on a fruit-bearing plant or on a flower. On a closer look, these stamps are from 20 August 1981. The birds starting from 1 o'clock:

Stonechat (Saxicola torquata) - chat with black plumage and dark-orange breast

Rufous-backed Bunting (Emberiza jankovskii) - very rare "Little Brown Job" bird

Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) - passerine bird with elongated tail feathers

Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) - 

Siberian tit (Poecile cinctus) - also called grey-headed chickadee, another passerine bird 

I really had a great time researching about all these birds. I have a penchant for the freedom of flying but afraid of heights myself. At least I get to appreciate this freedom with these birds on stamps.

~maria

Round stamps plus more!

Working on the premise that usual shape for stamps is either square or rectangle,

I am sharing these two round stamps for the unusually -shaped stamps theme for Sunday Stamps.

The first stamp is from Portugal for the 2010 Campenato do Mundo de Futebol.

It was released on 31 May 2010.

The second stamp is an aromatic stamp from Russia

It's part of the series called the Gifts of Nature issued on 27 August 2003.

Other fruits on the series are pear, melon, wild strawberry, and apple.

On this second set, the first stamp is a cross with rounded edges from Finland.

It's from the theme Flora (Trees), with a birch bud printed on it.

It was issued 24 January 2011.

The hexagon stamp is from a set of 6, souvenir stamp called Bees of Taiwan.

Shown here is the Apis cerana or the eastern honey bee.

It was issued 12 July 2012.

~maria