COVER N. 686 - FRANCE

Postmark: Nouvel An Chinois Année du Cheval - Paris - 1er jour 06.02.2026

Posted on the 6th February;  Received on the 11th February 2026

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My second Year of the Horse cover. This time from France, where La Poste issued its customary very pretty Chinese New Year issue. Un grand Merci, Roland.

The Year of the Horse, or, more specifically, of the Fire Horse, something that occurs every 60 years, will begin on the coming 17th February.

I could go and look for what experts in te Chinese Zodiac expect the year to be, but the sceptic in me will always say that you cannot predict the future, and so you'd better learn from the past, so as not to commit the same mistakes, ever and ever again.

Simple as it might seem, this postulate, nevertheless,  does not seem catch up with human  societies at large, for we keep allowing ourselves to be represented in many cases by lunatics, liars, tormentors, dictators, with the results that we all know... and yet, just like the zodiac, it seems to be cyclic....

Will the circle be unbroken; by and by, Lord, by and by?

there's a better home a-waiting, in the sky, Lord, in the sky...

I wish it were that simple....but what I'd really want would be to everyone to have a better home a-waiting where we are, Lord, where we are!

I would also wish that La Poste would not insist in double cancelling the covers that devoted philatelists so laboriously and carefully prepare to send to their friends... talk about learning with errors from the past....

Will the circle be unbroken...?

POSTCARD N.210 -  JAPAN

Postcard sent on the 31st January; received on the 10th February 2026.

Postcard image: Tokyo Skytree Tower

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I have a confession to make: lately, Jeff's "My stamp Stuff" Blog has been making me feel a bit envious. Well, my skin hasn't turned deep green, yet, but I see a slight colour shift has been making its way onto my epidermis :-). I know it is not the best feeling one should allow to develop within oneself, further more we are all grown-ups, so we should know better, but to see all those magnificent pictorial postmarks he has been publishing accompanied by those not less than gorgeous Eki stamps.... how can one not feel envious about it? especially someone like me who everywhere I go and visit, tries to collect stamps from the tourist bureaus, museums, hotels and so on, on the pages of my travel journal...

So I was more than enthralled to open up my letterbox today to find one such postcard from Japan, courtesy of Jeff himself. This made it possible for my skin to start to regain its natural colour, so I think the worse of my envy bout is past now (unless he starts again to post those lovely postcards of his.......)

Tokyo Skytree tower is the third human made tallest structure in the world, rising 634 metres into the air at Sumida, one of Tokyo's 23 special wards or municipalities.

Construction of the Nikken Sekkei Ltd. designed radio and television broadcast tower  began in 2008 and it would be completed in 2012.

The 110 Yen stamp featuring a cyclist is part of a 10 x 110 Yen self-adhesive set included in a minisheet issued on the occasion of the 79th National Sports Festival of the Shiga Prefecture.

The back of the postcard features two post office stampmarks. The pictorial one, in sepia, was applied at Sumida, since it clearly features the Skytree tower, as well as what looks like the top of some structure which I could not identify.

Of note is the fact that the date is expressed according to the Japanese calendar, the numeral 8 standing for the eight year of the Reiwa era which started in 2019.

The black datestamp with the date expressed according to the Gregorain calendar originates from Mukojima, a neighbourhood of Sumida, so both stampmarks might have been applied at the same Post Office.

Further to these postmarks , the card features a large Eki blue stamp which I gather must be the official stamp of the Skytree tower. 

Again, Many thanks, Jeff. Truly appreciated.

COVER N. 685 - INDIA

Postmark: 100 Years of Electrification in  Indian Railways  380001 Ahmedabad 31.12.2025

Posted on the 19th January;  Received on the 6th February 2026

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A few days ago I posted a cover sent by my friend Ravidra Ratpanala on the 1st January this year. Well today I post one mailed on the very last day of 2025, this time from neighbouring India and exhibiting two lovely train stamps. आपका बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद, Piyush (I hope that Google got it right.....).

Passenger transportation in trains in India is a story that goes back to 1853, when the first  train dedicated to such an endevaour began to circulate on a 34 km stretch of  narrow gauge track between Bombay (Mumbai) and Thane.

From then on, India's railroad network would exponentially grow over the years to become what is now the 4th largest in the world, behind the USA, China and Russia.

In 1925, India would also commit to follow the worldwide trend in rail transport technology, by introducing the first electric train on a short 16 km commuter stretch between  Victoria Terminus in Bombay and Kurla, with an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) running on 1500 Volts DC electric traction fed by means of overhead electric transmission.

One hundred years have passed since that milestone and today the fastest train service in India, the Vande Bharat Express, like in many other countries around the globe, also runs on self propelling EMUs that were locally designed and built, operated in eighty services connecting cities less than 800 km apart, with a top speed of 180 km/h.

Celebrating the centenary of the electrification of Indian railways, India Post issued on 31DEC2015 the 2 x10 Rupees stamp set on the First day Cover Piyush sent me.

The two train compositions that magnificently illustrate the stamps are, (left) The First EMU train that operated in India in 1925 on its inaugural run on the 3rd February 1925 and, on the right, the current fastest train of India, the above mentioned Vande Bharat Express.

The FDC Postmark, issued at Ahmedabad , State of Gurajat, appropriately features an electric locomotive 

In order to complete postage, three 5 rupee stamps, canceled with the Ahmedabad regular day mark cancel dated of 19.01.2026 were glued on the back of the envelope.

The stamp features the portrait of Nationalist Netaji Subash Chandra Boise (1897 - 1945), and was issued in January 2016 as part of the year's issue of the definitive series "Makers of India".

COVER N. 684 - ROMANIA

Postmark: 601170 Onesti 1 26.01.2026

Posted on the 26th January;  Received on the 5th February 2026

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Another infrequent visiting country to my blog. And one whose stamp issues I find always quite interesting. Great. Mulțumesc mult, Nicolae.

Traditional pottery is one of the most widespread forms of handicrafts all over the world, due to its obvious  functional utility. And yet, it is also one of the most diverse forms of handicrafts, often being a showcase for traditional decorative art, with stable and time honoured patterns and drawings, much like tapestry, bus also with new and contemporary interpretations of traditions and designs.

Portugal also has its fair share of time honoured traditional pottery designs, very different from one another according to the regions wherein they are produced... but today it's Romania we talk about and judging from the stamps on this cover, the regional diversity of  traditional ceramic dishes decorations in Romania is also quite obvious.

Highlighting this fact Poșta Română issued in 2007 two sets of four stamps dedicated to Romanian Ceramics. On the cover we have a mix of stamps from these two sets, the top two (2,10 Lei and 70Bani) issued on 13APR2007, and the lower two (80 and 70 Bani) issued on 07JUN2007.

Following the same order, the dish in the 2.10 Lei stamp is typical of the Izei Valey, located in the Maramures Region, in the northwest of the country, which, by itself, justifies a visit, with its amazing wooden churches and monasteries and the uncommon, to say the least,  Merry Cemetery .

The 70 Bani stamp features a dish from the town of Vlădești, in the Vâlcea region, centre south of the country.

The 80 Bani stamp bears the image of a dish decorated with a pattern typical of the town Viștea, in the county of beautiful Brașov, Transilvania, in the centre of Romania.

the second 70 Bani stamp features a plate decorated in the style of the town of Oboga, in the Olt Region. in the South of the country.

Finally, the Large plate on the carrier sheet features a soup dish from Luncavița, in the Tulcea region, in the centre east, very close to the borders with Moldova and Ukaine.

The 10 Lei stamp dated of 28FEB1992, is part of a six stamp set (4; 5; 8; 10; 30; 45 Lei) themed on fish, features a Romanian Darter (Romanichthys valsanicolas), a critically endangered species, endemic to a very restricted area in southern Romania.

Postmark from the town of Onesti, in the Moldavia Region, centre east of the country.

COVER N. 683 - CHINA

Postmark: ? 07.11.2025

Posted on the 7th November 2025;  Received on the 5th February 2026

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An interesting pre-paid large and bulky envelope with some very beautiful bird stamps on it, and some generous gifts inside.

Thanks a lot Young. It has been a while sicne I got a letter from China, so this one was particularly welcome.

 

I would imagine that the pre-paid envelope was issued in celebration of the Chinese New Year 2024, since the printed 100 Yuan stamp depicts a dragon and the two characters in the illustration on the left side of the envelope seem to be setting some firecrackers off, one of the traditions associated with the commemorations of the new year.

The two stamps that were used in blocks of four, constitute a set issued on 20FEB1992 dedicated to "Storks"

The 20 Chinese renminbi fēn stamp depicts the illusive Black Stork, (Ciconia nigra)  which can be found in many countries and locations, Portugal included, although here it is quite a rare sight, while the 1.20 Yuan stamp bears the image of the white stork (Ciconia ciconia), a much more common sight, at least in my country.  Following years of very sharp decrease in numbers,  it became a protected species and is now a very familiar sight, so much so that it is not uncommon to see High Tension poles with more than a dozen or even more than twenty stork nests.

Also, as far as I know, Portugal, in particularly the area around Cape Sardão in the south coast, is the only place where white storks build nests on sea cliffs.

The postmark is very soft but I could make out the date, though not the place of issue.

COVER N. 682 - FRANCE

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique 06 Nice Marché aux Fleurs 27.01.2026

Posted on the 27th January;  Received on the 2nd Febreuary 2026

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Stamps can bring memories forth. I said it here before, I restate it again, thanks to a nice cover from France with a stamp that made me go and take a look at the photographs I took a bit over a year ago at Nice....

Un grand Merci Andrè. Aussi pour les fantastiques timbres aviation. Je les ai adoré!  

I much rather walk along any given coast or shore line in the winter than in the summer. In fact, in the summer I'd rather stay away from the coast, this being one of the most perennial points of contention with my dear wife, who, for nine out of the twelve months of the year, longs for the scorching hot days of the sunny season, since that is the only time when she will allow the ocean to caress her delicate body, while I barely exist by her side, turned into a lifeless lump of sweaty, nearly vegetative, matter...

That's why I was quite happy when we visited Nice, a little more than a year ago, in mid winter. And, just to set the record straight, so did she, since, barring our thermostatic differences, summer or winter, what we really like is to go and see what we have never seen before.

What could be more pleasurable than a late afternoon walk along La Promenade des Anglais, thus concluding a more than full day on the coast that took us to Cannes and Antibes with its Picasso Museum, taking advantage of the sunny and temperate embrace of the Mediterranean?

That's what the calm and inviting illustration on the stamp on the cover seemed to ask me, when I first looked at the envelope that I had just taken out of my letterbox.... ah those blue chairs.... we both sat on them for a while having a sandwich (an omelette sandwich, I remember quite vividly) while the calm waters played the looping minimal symphony of the beach stones rubbing their backs against each other...

The 2025 United Nations Conference on the Oceans, took place in Nice between 9 and 13 June, with the aim of « Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean ».

Not an easy task in a world that still seems to ignore the voice of science, and where a leader that should know much better, proclaims his unabated love for coal, while exerting the oil industry to "drill, baby drill", and exhibiting ferocious cold tempests as proof that global warming is a hoax....

On the occasion of the Conference La Poste issued, on 10JUL2025, the 2.10 € stamp on the cover illustrated with a nice artistic rendition of Nice's waterfront, with the typical blue chairs, a couple of seagulls and two frolicking dolphins in the distance. 

Postage was colpleted with two Marianne stamps. The 0,10 is part of the Marianne of Lamouche issue, and is dated of 01OCT2006, while the 0,05 is part of the Marianne de l’avenir set, issued on 13SEP2023.

Postmark of the Philatelic Bureau of the Post Office, located near the Flower Market, in downtown Nice.

COVER N. 681 -BRASIL

Postmark: A C Central de São Paulo SE/SPM 12.01.2026  

Posted on the 12th January;  Received on the 29th January 2026

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First Portuguese speaking Cover of the Year. Muito Obrigado, Luis. Um abraço!

Of note in this particular cover is the fact that two of the stamps have seen issues in both Portugal and Brazil. 

In fact the 2,80 Reais, issued on 30JUN2022, is a joint Portugal-Brazil Issue, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Brazil's Independence declared by a man who would enjoy the privilege of Being Emperor in Brazil, as D. Pedro I and King in Portugal, albeit briefly, for he would abdicate in favour of his daughter Maria,  as D. Pedro IV.

The stamp is illustrated with reproductions of two paintings. The upper one is dated of 1922 and was authored by Brazilian painter Georgina Moura Andrade de Albuquerque (1885-1962). It is now on display at the Museu Histórico Nacional, in Rio de Janeiro.

The other painting is a portrait of Pedro I, authored in1826 by Portuguese Painter, born in Cape Verde and deceased in Brazil, Simplício Rodrigues de Sá (1785-1839), which can be seen at the Museu Imperial of Petrópolis.

The 5,95  Reais stamp is the UPU 150th anniversary commemorative issue, dated of  09OCT2024, featuring the celebratory logo that was replicated in stamp issues worldwide.

The 0,10 Reais is proof that a stamp can have an interesting design irrespective of its face value. In fact I find the definitive  series to which it belongs, themed on musical instruments,   issued on 01JUL2002 and comprising10 values, quite attractive.

The postmark, as usual with Luis' letters was applied at the Central PO of São Paulo.

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