COVER N. 665 - POLAND

Postmark: Gdansk 50 ZA 24.11.2025

Posted on the 24th November;  Received in December 2025

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Dziękuję bardzo, Roman, for this nice cover featuring half a minisheet dedicated to uncommon pets.

As I said, the main  stamps are part of a 4 x 4,90 + 4 se-tenant vignette sheet issued on 21JUN2025, dedicated to uncommon pets.

The top stamp and vignette depict  the Chihuahua, a dog breed named after the Mexican province from where it originated.

The bottom stamp and vignette depict a Chameleon, a type of reptile which still thrives in Portugal, in the Algarve, our southernmost province, where I vividly remember coming across them when I was a little lad.

Postage was completed with a 20 grosz definitive stamp of the flowers and fruits series,  issued on 06JUL2016, bearing the image of a Saffron plant, Crocus sp, one of my favourite flowers.

Postmark from the city of Gdansk.

COVER N. 664 - AUSTRIA

Postmark: Briefmarkenschau St. Gabriel Frohe Weihynachten 9462 Bad St. Leonard Im Lavanttal 14.11.2025 /   Briefmarkenschau St. Gabriel 900 Jahre Leonardkirsche 9462 Bad St. Leonard Im Lavanttal 1411.2025

Posted on the 7th November;  Received in November 2025

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A very interesting cover with two beautiful pictorial postmarks applied at  a Philatelic exhibition that took place in the spa town of Bad St. Leonard im Levanttal on the 14th November. Danke sehr, Herman.

The postmark on the left is illustrated with St. Leonard's Parish church while the one on the right features the Church's Patron - St. Leonard - as depicted in stained glass in the church. On the occasion, a third celebratory pictorial postmark was also available, featuring a Christmas tree. 

The 1 € stamp with a harp was issued on 10SEP2025 as the year's addition to the on going musical instruments series.

The Gloriette that tops Schönbrunn Palace majestic gardens was built in 1775. Celebrating its 250 years, Austria Post issued the 1.2 € stamp on the cover that bears its photograph.

The 1.2 € stamp illustrated with a Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), a widespread species that resides all year in central Europe, was issued on 15MAR2025 as part of the on-going Birdlife series. 

I have also to thank Herman for the very nice stamps that he included in his letter.

COVER N. 663 - SOUTH KOREA

Postmark: SEOUL C.P.O Korea 07.11.2025

Posted on the 7th November;  Received in November 2025

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The second cover I got from Kang in  South Korea in the the same month. Unfortunately it too shows signs of having been through some unkind weather, but luckily, again, the stamps are only slightly wrinkled. Thanks a lot Kang.

The two 430 Won stamps  constitute a set issued on  01OCT2025, with panoramic views of the city of Mokpo, in the Southwestern tip of the Korean penisula.

The Postmark hails from Seoul, the Capital fo South Korea.

COVERS N. 662 - FINLAND

Postmark: Lempääla 37500 Posti Finland 10.11.2025 

Posted on the 11th November; Received in Novmber 2025

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Quite a floral and springful cover from Finland, Paljon kiitoksia, Jorma.

The 0,60 € stamp illustrated with a branch of a Silver Birch (Betula pendula)  is part of a three stamp (0.60; 2.5; 3.5  issue dated of 01JAN2002, dedicated to trees. the companion stamps in the set depict a Norway Spruce (Picea abies) - 2.5€ and a Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris), 3.5€.

The three species in the set are the most common trees in Finnish forests,  and the face values of the stamps mirror the extent of the densities of their populations.   Silver birch, although being the less dominant of the three, was voted Finland's National Tree in 1988.

The 1st class stamp illustrated with a "De Ruiter" cultivated rose. De Ruiter being a Dutch rose breeder.  The stamp is part of a two stamp set (1st class; 0.30 €) themed on flowers, issued on 14JAN2004.

Postmark from Lempääla on the southeast of Finland.

POSTCARD N.200 - SPAIN

 Postcard sent on the 10th November; received in November 2025.

Postcard image: Se Busca Persona Capacitada para Manter Conexiones

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200! I couldn't have hit a round number in my postcard letterbox with a more interesting addition.

Art is uplifting in  nature, even when it makes you wonder... or better yet, for it makes you wonder, think, cogitate, and, most of all, question.

and nowhere is this more apparent as when we confront the world in its bare minimum,  That's why black and white photography has been such a perennial and irrevocable foundation of fine art.

Words, on the other hand, like little construction blocks, also have the inherent power of generating buildings of  meaning. The good builders among us, users of words, know where to fit them best, where to lay them upon the mortar of ingenuity, where to force them into impossible spaces, knowing that applied this or that way, they often bloom into disparate even conflicting constructions... words, as such, are the pigment in the watercolour of semantics... but, then again, there's always the possibility of using but Payne's grey over the white of the cotton sheet!

Moltes gràcies, Eva. I really liked this one!

Polysemy at its best, both in words and in image. "Seeking qualified individual to maintain connections" reads the legend. Pity the outrageous quality of the scan... sorry!

"Stamp Day"  reads the legend on the 1,85 stamp issued on 11APR2003, although I could not find evidence of this being an annually celebrated event (there were also, at least,  Stamp day stamps issued in 2001 and 2002, albeit in March...).

Further to the legend, the stamps carries the coat of arms of the Academia Hispánica de Filatelia, (Hispanic Philately Academy) which in 2006 would be renamed the Real Academia Hispánica de Filatelia (Royal Hispanic Philately Academy).

The mechanical postmark hails from the city of  Valencia, the Capital of the Autonomous Community of the same name, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

 

COVERS N. 661 - NORWAY

Postmark: Skiensentrum 3701 Skien 07.11.2025 

Posted on the 7th November; Received in Novmber 2025

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Another nice cover from Norway with Fauna stamps on it. What's not to like? Tusen takk, Sven.

The 8.5 and the 25 Krone stamps are part of the "Wildlife in Norway" series, the former, featuring the beautiful Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), having been issued on 29MAR2006 and the latter, showcasing the Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), on 02JAN2009.

The 10 Krone stamp featuring a Fourline Nudibranch (Polycera quadrilineata) was issued on 29MAR2006 in the recurrent Marine Life series.

COVER N. 660 - FRANCE

Postmark: Métiers d'Art Horloger 1er Jour Paris la Poste 06.11.2025

Posted on the 6th November;  Received in November 2025

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The lovely Métiers D'Art series had the 2025 issue dedicated to the magicians who trap time in microscopic pulleys and cog-wheels: The Watchmakers. Un grand Merci, Roland!

The beautiful in-taglio printed stamp bears the image of the hands of a watchmaker at work, with several tools of the trade on the desk. Images of the tools and little parts that are used to build a watch also feature in the selvage, as can be seen in the cover.

The 2,10 €  stamp, issued on 06NOV2025 is part of a annual series started in 2016 dedicated to Métiers d'Art (Artistic Crafts).

The First day Postmark was applied in Paris.