COVER N. 674 - LITHUANIA

Postmark: Vilnius Premier Jour 21.11.2025  

Posted on the 21st November;  Received on the 6th January 2026

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And yet.... I still have another one...

Come to think of it, the Season seems to have been quite generous after all in terms of the number of  messages from friends who chose to do it the traditional way and I am so glad it was that way. I only regret not having been able to reply in kind,,, I promise I'll do it next year.

Labai ačiū, Leonardas! A very Happy New Year to you and yours!

Leonardas kindly sent me his Christmas wishes inside the official First Day Cover of Lietuvos paštas Christmas issue, dated of 21NOV2025.

And what an extraordinary set it is! At first sight one might think the images on the stamps are computer generated graphic images allusive to the Season... well indeed they are but they mimic something much more analogical: Karpiniai, Lithuanian paper-cut art.

Originated in the 16th century this form of popular art, carried out with a paper and a pair of scissors or a cutter,  was used as decoration for tables and other furniture at festive events such as weddings and also for the same purposes at home, in windows, shelves, tables, 

Today the tradition is very much still alive and has made its way into the art circuit with new interpretations of the old technique by contemporary artists.

Looking at the designs in the two stamps one can get a clear image of the intricate lacelike patterns that are created in Karpiniai and where symmetry is one of the rules not to be infringed.

The 2 € stamp features the image of two angels while he 2.10 € stamp is illustrated with a lovely Christmas tree.

The first day Postmark, applied in Vilnius, the Capital city, (which is unfortunately slightly marred by another faint date stamp) is also reminiscent of paper cuts, with a nice interpretation of snowflakes, the theme for the envelope decoration.

Leonardas card , which I find quite beautiful.

COVER N. 673 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 01.01.2026  

Posted on the 1st January;  Received on the 14th January 2026

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Just when I thought I had closed up all the 2025 Christmas and New year's season mail, my friend Mr. postman dropped another nice envelope fully in tune to the theme in my always expectant letterbox.

Now this couldn't have arrived at a better time, for I am stranded again at home in full rest mode, popping pills, courtesy of my leg....

Hopefully it will all turn out for the best in a week time, but it is again a week of procrastination of me finally being able to get on my feet and go to the post office to deal with long due mail that I have to answer.... anyway, that's life....

So, a huge බෝහම ස්තුති to my friend Ravi and may his wishes be also mine for you and yours, friend!

This is quite a special cover. I am sure it is not that easy to get a first day of the year regular cancel as the one on it. In fact I think that would be impossible in a lot of places since the first of January being a holiday, means that public services are closed, hence no way of asking for such a postmark at a post office counter.

This, in turn, is very illustrative of how a simple letter can be a window to the world and make you realise that the old ellipsoid rotates not around one's own navel but around its own axis so that what is an acquired fact for some of us is a surprise for others... and that is one of the beauties of diversity, a word that is being ever more frowned upon by the sweeping mouldy winds that are picking up intensity in places that seem to have forgotten that history should teach us something....

Ravi used the beautiful  2025 Christmas issue of Sri Lanka Post , dated of 09DEC2025, its two stamps (50 and 110 rupees) being illustrated with Nativity scenes with a decidedly Hindu artistic touch patent in the joyful and brilliant colours that dominate the scenes.

The very clear  postmark, as usual applied at Colombo’s Central Post Office, clearly displays 01-01 as the date of issue.... now, do any of you have regular postmarks with this date combination in your collection? Let me know in the comments.

Happy new year!

POSTCARD N.206- AUSTRIA

Postcard sent on the 31st December, received on the 9thJanuary 2026.

Postcard image: This card is heaven sent - Postamt Christkindl

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To round up all my Season's correspondence, I got another kind postcard full of the best possible wishes sent by Christkindl, this time from his postal office in Austria.

I have to thank Mario Paiva, of the ever interesting O Filatelista blog, whose post on Austria's Christkindl Post Office, was instrumental in my getting this interesting piece to my collection.

Two Christmas issues stamps were used on this postcard:

the 1.20€ stamp was issued on 14NOV2025 and its image depicts a stained glass pane at the Parish Church of Saint Leonard, illustrated with the Birth of Christ.

The 0.65 € stamp, illustrated with a wintery scene was issued on 11November 2010.

The very nice and clear pictorial postmark is illustrated with the image of the 3 Magi, presenting their offers to Baby Jesus.

 

POSTCARD N.205 -  CZECH REPUBLIC

Postcard sent on the 25th November; received on the 4th December 2025.

Postcard image: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

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The sort of image that would grace the postcards we used to have on top of the drawer close to the Nativity Scene, which I talked about a few postcards back .... Quintessential Christmas time: snow flakes,  conifers, warm festive lights...

Moc děkuji, Michal,  Um muito próspero Ano Novo para ti e para os teus também!

Miloš Zeman (1944 -) was the third president of the Czech Republic having been in office for ten years, between 2013 and 2023.

On the occasion of the start of his mandate Czech Post issued,  on 24APR2013, the code "A" (domestic) stamp with his effigy, Michal used on this postcard.

Vaclav Kral (1936 -2005) was a Czech car designer, who created several relevant  models for  Skoda and Tatra. His most famous model was the Metalex  Tatra MTX V8 of 1991, which held the Czech car speed record, having been clocked at 260 km/h in 1997.

This celebrated car, of which only four were built, due to a fire having consumed the plant where they were to be produced, is the subject of the second  "A" tariff  stamp used on the postcard, dedicated to Czech design, issued on 02OUT2019. The stamp bears a tiny legend: Český design Václav Král.

COVER N. 672 - UNITED KINGDOM

Postmark: Royal Mail Southampton Portsmouth & IOW 06.12.2025  

Posted on the 6th December;  Received in December 2025

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Staying on the Season's festive mail theme I was once again rewarded with a fantastic card created by my friend and artist Fraser May, something which has been a long standing tradition that sees me every December waiting for his friendly card always full of humour and good spirits.

Thanks again, Fraser. Always a pleasure to receive your cards.

Fraser used the 3.40 £ stamp of Royal Mail's  5 stamp 2025 Christmas issue, (st; 1st large; 2nd; 2nd large; 3.40 £) dated of 04NOV2025. Illustrated with the three Magi. The other stamps in the set also carry Nativity related illustrations, namely an angel, Mary and the baby Jesus,  three shepherds and Joseph, Mary and the donkey.

The mechanical post mark carries te message "Welcome president Steinmeir State Visit 2025", highlighting the visit to England, at the invitation of King Charles III, of Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the last such visit of a German head of state to the UK having occurred in 1998.

Now on to the star of the show, Fraser's great Card:

I guess it needs a little explanation for those not fluent in Portuguese habits: our  traditional Christmas supper is boiled dried cod with potatoes, turnips, carrots and onions, and yes, a bit of parsley wouldn't go amiss... :-).

COVER N. 673 - LIECHTENSTEIN

Postmark: Post von Christkind 9490 Vaduz 1.12 - 31.12.2025  

Posted in December;  Received in December 2025

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The festive Season would not end without me receiving another beautiful Christmas Letter, dispatched from the office that Chistkind, or as I say it, Menino Jesus, maintains at Lichtenstein.

Um grand Merci, Roland pour ce très beau pli. Happy new year!

The 1.90 Swiss Frank stamp is part of Lichtenstein's Post 2025 Christmas issue, comprising four stamps (100, 120, 190, 250 Swiss Frank) issued on 10NOV2025, illustrated with what looks like 19th or early 20th century vintage illustrations, themed on the Christmas Season.

According to Lichtenstein Post the stamps feature "lovingly designed motifs of historical greeting cards from the original holdings of the Liechtenstein National Archives".

The celebratory postmark features the image of a little angel writing a letter (?) over the legend Christkind.

COVER N. 671 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 21.10.2025  

Posted on the 21st October;  Received in November 2025

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I've written here about Season's greetings cards and how this time of the year transcends borders, cultures, creeds, and this is the good, the very good thing, I see in it, for it is a time of renewal, reaffirmation of wishes especially for those we relate the most to, but also to our friends.

Ravi sent me a beautiful card and  like the festive cards I got from other friends I really appreciated it. Again, I could not answer in kind for bones can be quite the killjoy, but all the wishes my friends so generously sent me I  am happy to return them in double to them.

So, බෝහම ස්තුති, Ravi! Very kind of you and I truly appreciated it.

Ravi sent me his card on a nice cover graced with three circular stamps whic are part of the 10x20 Rupee sheet entitled, "The wonders of the Universe", issued on 25SEP2025. 

From left to right the amazing photographs replicated in the stamps  show: the crab nebula; The famous Pillars of Creation, that is the Eagle nebula; and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Ravi had already sent me a cover with four other stamps of these set, which can be seen here. 

Somehow such amazing images go very well in hand with the Season and its deep meanings, in whichever way we relate to it.

Words of wisdom!