COVER N. 600 -  BRASIL

Postmark: AC Central de São paulo SE/SPM 03.06.2025

Posted on the 3rd June; Received on the 20th June 2025

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And so we come to Cover (drum roll, pleasw...) 600! And to make it even more special, it speaks my language... 

Muito Obrigado, Luis! São sempre bem-vindas as suas cartas.

Stamps, left to right:

Brazil and Estonia have enjoyed mutual diplomatic relations since the 5th December 1921, when the Federal Republic of Brazil recognised the Republic of Estonia as an independent country.

Brazil would also re-acknowledge Estonia's independence in 1991, following its reinstatement, after the end of the Soviet occupation.

Brazil is also the only Latin-American country with an embassy in Estonia, a fact that goes back to 2011.  

Celebrating the 100 years of  diplomatic relations between the two countries, Correios do Brasil and Eesti Post issued on 10NOV2021 a single stamp  joint issue. the  Brazilian offering, with a face value of 4,95 Reais, was used on the cover.  

The stamps are identical in design, being illustrated with a photo of  Palácio Itamaraty,  the headquarters of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  one of the magnificent modernist government  buildings conceived by Architect Oscar Niemeyer for Brasilia,  and of the building of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn, authored by architects Mart Port, Raine Karp, Uno Tölpus, and Olga Kontšajeva.

The top left and bottom right corners of the stamps carry the colours of both countries flags: blue, green and yellow for Brazil and blue, black and white for Estonia.

The legend "Joint Issue Brazil-Estonia 100 years of Diplomatic Relations" is also inscribed at the centre of the stamp, in Portuguese for the Brazilian stamp and Estonian for the Estonian counterpart.

- The confederation of Equador was a  secessionist movement led by the Province of Pernambuco,  which emerged as a manifestation of opposition to the centralist and authoritarian policies of Brazil's first emperor, Pedro I, (IV of Portugal).

Short lived  - the uprising started in July 1824 and would last only until September - and  unsuccessful in its aims, the movement would be defeated by loyalist forces and 16 of its main instigators, including a priest, Frei Caneco, would be executed between October 1924 and April 1825.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the movement, Correios do Brasil issued on 02JUL2024 the single "1º Porte de Carta" stamp on the cover, illustrated with the flag of the would be Confederation, which carries the motto "Independência, União, Liberdade, Religião"(Independence, Union, Freedom, Religion)

As usual with Luis' covers the Postmark was applied at the Central Post Office of São Paulo. 

COVER N. 599 -  SRI LANKA

Postmark: Illegible 11.06.2025

Posted on the 11th June; Received on the 20th June 2025

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Come to think of it, when I had the pleasure of meeting Ravi here on my side of the turf, a couple of months ago, we did not talk much about stamps.

Still, I asked him about  the very curious Sri Lanka Post issue comprising no less than 18 stamps  dedicated to healing masks that he kindly and generously had sent me on a cover and a postcard, since I wanted to know that I had got the story behind those masks right. 

I also mentioned that for some unknown reason one of the stamps was missing from the postcard, since there were only 17 stamps on the cover and postcard.

Now, I'm sure that the first thing he did when he got back to Colombo was to mail me a cover with the missing stamp on it. And not only did he do that, but he also added what must be a rarity: a pair of stamps, with one suffering from a printing error, i.e., the omission of  the yellow legend that is present on the lower right corner in all the stamps of the series. What a treat, Bohomá Sthoothi, my friend!

Further to the two mask stamps on the top right corner, issued on , we have, left to right, top to bottom:

_ Sri Lanka holds the distinction of  having launched the first regular radio broadcasting service in Asia, from Colombo,  in 1924. The following year, what was then Radio Colombo and is now Radio Ceylon, was established, its regular broadcasting having begun in December 1925. 

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of  radio communication in Sri Lanka, the 15 rupee stamp on the top left corner of the cover was issued on 16DEC2024. the building on it being the original Radio Ceylon's facilities which still exist, albeit with a slightly modified facade, from what I could see in photographs I consulted on the internet.

- The National Hospital of Sri Lanka, located in Colombo,  opened its doors in 1864, during the office tenure of   Governor Henry George Ward. 

From its initial capacity of 200 beds, in one and a half centuries  the facility grew to the present 3,404 beds, which temporarily accommodate some of the more than 2 million patients that year after year benefit from the services its medical staff provide to the population.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary, Sri Lanka Post issued on 20MAR2015 a 10 rupee stamp illustrated with the still existing first building of the hospital, which is now called the Historical National Hospital and a typical staff group - doctor; nurse and helper -  talking to a hospitalised  patient.

- World Children's day is celebrated each year on the 20th November, the day when  the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

Celebrating World Children's Day 2024, Sri Lanka Post issued a 50 Rupee stamp on 01OCT2024, illustrated with a drawing with children playing together.

- Claiming to be the "largest and most prominent educational institution in Sri Lanka", the Royal College of Colombo was founded in 1835, following the Eton School model, as the Colombo Academy, by  Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton, the Governor, between 1831 and 1837, of what was then the colony of Ceylon.

In 1881, following the approval of Queen Victoria, the Academy would be renamed the Royal College of Colombo, thus becoming the only School outside England to be granted the use of the Royal epithet in  its designation.

On the occasion of the 175th anniversary of its establishment, Sri Lanka Post issued, on 16JUL2010, the celebratory stamp on the cover.

POSTCARD N.184 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 5th June; received on the 23rd June 2025.

Postcard image: Sunrise from Bluewell, West Virginia

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Sunrise and sunset, the quintessential time of the day for the quintessential postcard... every day that passes they are different and sometimes the guy behind the light console is really a master.... seems they have some great light effects experts in Bluewell, West Virginia, too...

Thanks a lot, Laura!

One can never get tired of watching a great sunset or sunrise, no matter what. Those days when all the sky goes red and orange and purple and yellow and all the shades in between of an outstanding palette of warm and cool colours are days to remember, especially if you have a camera with you.... I know it, I've shot many a sunset and a sunrise, and I never get tired of it!

No matter how many times we've seen it , this is an image that will enrapture, inspire awe, exhilarate and motivate many other positive sensations that will make you feel somehow connected to the ground below your feet and the sky up there on the horizon... cheesy as it might sound...

Piñatas originated in Iberia, although I can't remember ever being present at a party where someone would break the festively wrapped container with a bat so as to liberate the sweets inside (although I do have a recollection of seeing it on TV somewhere in Portugal, during some local festivities, where it is (was?) customary to break a clay jar with something inside...)

Following the Portuguese and Spanish colonisation, Piñatas were  imported into South America from where they made their way into the USA.

I don't know if Piñatas are traditional in the upper  States, but I think that at least in those States that share a border with Mexico, they made their way into the local usage.

On 08SEP2023 USPS issued a four stamp set (Forever USA) dedicated to this tradition. Two of the stamps can be seen on the postcards. 

The third stamp, also a "Forever USA" issue, began to circulate on 26APR2025 as part of a 10 stamp set dedicated to Dahlias, that beautiful garden flower  native from Mexico and which has become very popular amongst garden lovers as illustrated by this quote form Wikipedia: "There are now more than 57,000 registered cultivars".

The mechanical obliteration was applied at Charleston, the capital of the State of West Virginia.

COVER N. 598 - JAPAN

Postmark: Yokohama Kanagawa Japan 11.06.2025

Posted on the 11th June; Received on the 19th June 2025

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Summer is here... The season that I love the least and my wife loves the best...still it is nice to know that summer greetings is a theme strong enough to deserve its own set of stamps. Thank you so much Akira.

Hiking, seems to be the activity chosen to illustrate the season when sun shines the brightest and also the hottest.

I do like to hike. A lot. I said it here before: walking as a general displacement means was a habit I got from my father.

The earliest recollection I have of my walks with dad go back to a nebulous day in Lisbon, The year must have been 1964, for in 65 we all would go to the Algarve.

Aquila airways was a seaplane airline that operated the line Southampton /Lisbon / Funchal in the Island of Madeira, in the aftermath of the second world war.

In 1958 the company ceased its operation and for a number of years several (I do think it was more than  one, but I cannot say for certain) Short Solent seaplanes were left abandoned at Cabo Ruivo, Lisbon, and there they stood on dry dock until the 70s, when they were finally scrapped.

So my father would take me walking with him from our house in the Olivais to the Cabo Ruivo docks, by the Tagus, to go and see the giant seaplanes.

As the bird flies, this was just a two km walk, but dad and I were not birds, so I would guess thst no less than 3 km would have to be conquered, on the way in, followed by another three on the way out. Now that ends up being 6 km that the little lad of 4 that I was had to deal with before the well deserved glass of cold milk from the fridge upon arriving back at home .

Later in Faro, the Algarve, many were the days when my father would take me and my sister walking along the beach. We would start on the ocean side and return by the lagoon side... especially during winter, after storms, these walks would yield all sorts of treasures, ranging from bottles to beautiful fishing net spherical glass buoys...

But i digress...

and in reality, Summer seems to be the season when I hike the least, because of the weather... and it is getting worse with each year that passes..

As I write, 40 º + Centigrade will be hitting parts of  my small country for the whole week... Hike, anyone?

On 11JUN2025, Japan Post issued a 5 x 85 Yen self-adhesive stamp set themed on Summer Greeting. 

Further to the Trekking and eggplant stamps on te cover, the set includes stamps illustrated with other summer highlights: Ice tea, Coconut, Tomato.

The full issue comprises another 5 stamp set this time with a facial value of 110 Yen.

The first day postmark uses the Japanese date notation, that is 11th June of  year 7 of the Reiwa era (which began when Emperor Narhuito ascended the throne).

COVER N. 597 - FRANCE

Postmark: 58 - Corbigny - Nièvre 11.06.2025

Posted on the 11th June; Received on the 18th June 2025

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Another reminder that Freedom is only a right, not an axiom! 

Un grand Merci, Jean-Pierre, non seulement pour le pli, mais aussi pour tout ce qu'il y était dedans.

As a side but very happy note, this is the 100th cover I have received from my French friends since I began this blog. Je vous remercie énormément!

Thin as air, and yet

pregnant of thought

his gaze crossed 

the infamous pentagram.

Line by line of barbed wire,

rusty, infectious, infamous,

and yet his gaze crossed it

as if transparent, obnoxiously immaterial.

Same as the single wild flower

erupting at the base of the pole, 

for  spring always bloomed

 on both sides of the fence.

Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Fields of Death, les Camps de Mort, La Poste issued on 25APR2025 the stamp on the cover, illustrated with a self-explanatory image of a fence and the legend "1945 Libération des Camps 2025".

Lest we forget...

COVER N. 596 - CZECH REPUBLIC

Postmark: 95 Let-  A Born - Praha 1 12.06.2025

Posted on the 12th June; Received on the 18th June 2025

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A man is his moustache! At least that's what the nice first day postmark on the cover I got from  The Czech Republic, seems to state: and there's an element of truth in it, says I, who, for many years, proudly wore a moustache before letting the rest of my facial hair claim its territory, thus saving me the daily trouble of shaving...

Thanks a lot Ivan!

Adolf Born (1930 – 2016) was a Czech painter, caricaturist, filmmaker and  illustrator who devoted much of his talent to the illustration of children's books and who also designed at least two stamps for the Czech Postal Administration since  his was the hand and the talent behind  the Czech 1997 EUROPA/CEPT issue, illustrating the common theme "Tales and Legends". 

On 20JAN2019 the Czech Postal Operator issued a Tariff A (Domestic, Standard, up to 50g) stamp honouring his life and work the stamp featuring his portrait and some illustrations (a dog and a boy and a girl) which I presume were authored by Born for one of his children's books.

95 years past his birth date, on 12JUN2025, Czech Post issued the special commemorative cancellation on the cover, which features Born's signature over his distinctive moustache.

Postage was completed with a 12 Koruna stamp issued on 20JAN2011, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the birth of St. Agnes of Bohemia, who was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1989.

POSTCARD N.183 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 5th June; received on the 17th June 2025.

Postcard image: A T6 Texan (?) flies through Blimp Hangar B at what is now  the Blimp Hangar Museum in Tillamook, Oregon

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A very interesting and unusual postcrossing postcard from the United States of America with a classic BW photograph of a stunt which we are not likely to see being carried out in present days. Thank you so much, Liz. Truly appreciated it.

The two Blimp Hangars at Naval Air Station Tilamook  - Hangars A and B - were built and commissioned in 1942.

These would shelter the eight  K-Class airships of Squadron ZP-33, tasked with anti submarine patrols, therein based.

After the Second World War, in 1948, NAS Tilamook was decommissioned but the 192 feet tall (58,5 m),  296 feet (90 m) wide and 1,072 feet (326,7 m)  long with their beautiful wooden trellised construction hangars luckily escaped demolition.

Sadly, Hangar A was destroyed by a fire in 1992, but hangar B today houses the Tilamook Air Museum, or the Blimp Hangar Museum, as it is identified on the back of the postcard.

The photograph that illustrates the postcard was for certain taken after the hangars had been decommissioned, probably in the 1950s. The aircraft flying through the hangar seems to be a North American T-6 Texan, but I might be wrong since the photo is not very clear.

Liz used a round Self-adhesive "Forever Global" stamp illustrated with a beautiful  compass rose, issued on 24JAN2025

The machine applied cancellation hails from Boise, the Capital o the State of Idaho.