COVER N. 603 -  SPAIN

Postmark: Correos CTA Valencia  Correos la Compañia de todos 30.06.2025

Posted on the 25th June; Received on the 2nd July 2025

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There's something unique in receiving a letter with several stamps on its face. The more so when you look at the overall image and you understand that the stamps were carefully arranged on the cover so that in the company of the address lines, they perform more than a simple  functional duty, that is to say, act as postage, their primary intent. 

In fact, a well arranged cover face turns the humble envelope into a unpretentious and yet  highly pleasant artistic form of expression. The more so when on top of it the address is written in a clear and elegant handwriting, something that is light years away from my horrible personal scribbles....

And that's what I got from Eva the other day. Muchíssimas Gracias, Eva. Lovely cover!

Inside the cover, was the best part, though: a hand written letter, (as well as a quite funny little zine that Eva authored.

It is so rare these days of electronic communication to receive a letter, to give our eyes the immensely rewarding pleasure of going through line after line of hand written news, wishes, longings, recommendations, comments, or just plain cheap talk.... I thoroughly enjoyed it. And again the clear and elegant handwriting.... oh, if only I had something like that..... :-)

On to the stamps:

- Eva tells me that the large souvenir sheet is one of the stamps she likes the most, and I can understand why. Again, the image echoes a time when it was not that unusual to have a couple of letters lying around, just opened and read and left besides an impromptu vase of flowers on the shelf were we keep the everyday necessities of life, like the door or the car keys, small change from our emptied pockets, bills to pay, or a note affixed to the wall with some scotch tape with something important and needing attention (in truth, the urgency of the note would be well past, but it would stay there on the wall until a new urgent matter that needs not be forgotten and dealt with would take its place....)

Letters, envelopes, stamps, notes, flowers, what could be more human, more “everydayish”?...

The Europa/CEPT stamps theme of 2008 was "writing letters". The souvenir sheet with the 0,60€ stamp on it is the Spanish issue, dated of 23APR2008.

- Luis Garcia Berlanga (1921-2010) was a Spanish Filmmaker. I have to confess that I was not in any way familiar with his work, but I came upon  a statue of his on the internet and immediately a bell rang. "Wait, I've seen this statue before.... in Sos del Rey... or haven't I?"

Yes I have.  and I am sure I have proof of it on my photo archives, but couldn't find it now. I'll put it here if and when I come across it again.

The 0,70€ stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Berlanga, illustrated with his image was issued on 12JUN2021.

- The Alcudia archaeological site, is located in the vicinity of the town of Elche, in the Province of Alicante, in the South of Spain. It is notorious for having been the place where the famous "Dama de de Elche" sculpture, a very beautiful and detailed woman's bust sculpture dating from the 4th century BC was found.

The 0,57€ stamp with a picture of a painted ceramic pot found at the site is part of a three stamp set (0,29; 057; 0,78 €) dedicated to archaeology, issued on 06JUN2008.

- On the back of the cover, Eva included a franking label issued in 1998, still denominated in Pesetas , honouring poet and dramaturgist Frederico Garcia Lorca,  one of the most famous  victims of the horrendous Spanish civil war period.

The mechanical postmark hails from Valencia, the capital of the homonymous province, the third most populous city of Spain.

COVER N. 602 -  FRANCE

Postmark: Camille Flammarion 1842-1925  1er Jour  13 Marseille  06.06.2025

Received on the 27th June 2025

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"Flammarion?... of course I'm familiar with the name"... a publishing house, mostly because J'ai Lu editions were part of the Flammarion universe and these were not that expensive, so in the days when books were to be read in paper (I'm still largely in that era, anyway...) I did read quite a number of the French classics I had to go through at university, among others,  in the pocket book configuration proposed by the J'ai Lu collection.

"No, not the publishing house... The astronomer, Camille Flammarion..."

"No, I have to confess my ignorance. Never have I heard about him..."

"Ah but you're not that off the mark. Camille, the astronomer  became known by the general public due to the efforts of his brother, Ernest, who founded the publishing house that bears their family name to divulge his brother's works. Quite successfully, it seems, for Camille's  Astronomie Populaire, published in 1879 was a true best-seller, with 100,000 copies having been sold by 1900... quite a feat for the time".

Nicolas Camille Flammarion was born in 1842 and passed away in 1925, that is to say, a century ago.

(Now, writing this boggles, awes, surprises, discomforts me - I really can't find the right word -  somewhat.

 I remember the time when  a century to me was just a step before infinity... now I look back and write about last century, which was already 25 years ago, as if it was yesterday..... just to think that I've already lived well past half a century....

 Better forget my sudden mid-age crisis and get on with the text....)

Camille was quite an interesting fellow, for although being a mathematician and a astronomer, he would also be deeply interested in spiritism, something very fashionable in the late 19th century, while also theorising about extraterrestrial life and reincarnation and authoring some science-fiction works.

Celebrating the centenary (oh... that word again...) of Camille Flammarion's demise, La Poste issued an amazingly beautiful in-taglio printed stamp with a face value of 2,10 €, that I got on a First Day Cover - 06JUN2025 - courtesy of Eric. Un grand merci, Mon ami!

The stamp, designed and engraved by Louis Genty, features the effigy of Camille Flammarion with a section of a star map in the background, showing part of the Taurus and Leo (?) constellations.

The equally attractive first day postmark, issued at Marseille, was also conceived by the same artist and it shows Flammarion at work with a telescope.

As it is usual for the French postal services to show little respect for first day or commemorative covers, by doubly obliterating the stamps with a mechanical postmark on top of the celebratory one, Eric went through the trouble of sending me this cover inside  cover #601 (see the double obliteration there???), so that I could get it in all its glory. 

It would really be a shame to have such a beautiful piece of philatelic art spoiled by a totally unjustifiable double obliteration and I am really grateful to Eric for his care and attention.

COVER N. 601 -  FRANCE

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique 69 Lyon Bellecour 23.06.2025

Posted on the 23rd June; Received on the 27th June 2025

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The camera travels from the door  into the end of the room, turning to give and overall view of the room largely occupied with a couple of desks. 

Slowly it zooms, in plongée mode, on to one of the desks, closing in on the man frantically eye-browsing through the printout of the exams and continuing to narrow the field of view until the lines that say Triglycerids and Glycemia  fill the screen…

"UFFFFF... no problem there, all within normal range... " 

The man smiles, exhales deeply and  grabs the large kraft paper envelope which he takes to the nose, inhaling the sweet fragrance reminiscent  of rose and raspberry that oozes out of the mostly red and white piece of paper glued onto the brownish envelope.

Pierre Hermé, it says on top of it...

a bed of rose petals and on it no less that 5 heart-shaped stamps ....

The man types "Pierre Hermé" on the Google window on his screen, then hits the "Pâttiseries Signatures" option.

There it is.... the pastry that fills  all the stamps on the lovely miniature sheet....

Ladies and Gentlemen , I give you 

The Ispahan:

Two disks of rose macaroon cookie, stuffed with rose petal cream, raspberries and letchis, topped with a few rose petals and raspberries for decoration...

The man salivates as he careful examines again the souvenir sheet....

He goes downstairs to the kitchen ...; the camera follows him.

From  the cupboard he takes a large glass jar, half full of small white meringue  sweets.  

As if  driven by the discomfort of an hidden but just resuscitated abstinence syndrome, he hurriedly unscrews the lid of the jar and sticks his hand as deep as possible into the mass of  small sugar and egg-white  sweets, grabbing one or two and taking it out again, reminiscent of those coin operated mechanical arms that lure kids at fair grounds and shopping malls into spending their weekly allowances in the vain hope of managing to grab another stuffed toy for the collection...

He puts the sweet into his mouth... he rolls his eyes as  the sugar dissolves slowly against his tongue and oral cavity....

" it's not rose, nor is it raspberry, much less letchi... but it'll have to do....."

On 27JAN2025, La Poste issued its customary annual heart shaped issue in atecipation of Saint Valentine's day,  with which the French Postal Operator promotes French higher end iconic  brands.

This year's the showcased brand is Pierre Hermé, a pastry brand that takes the name of its creator, an influential pastry chef  that has spread his sweet pastries all over Paris and quite a few places around the world, through his large network of shops.

As usual, the issue comprises two stamps: 1,39 €, lettre verte 20 g (the one in the souvenir sheet) illustrated with the Ispahan and  2,78 €, Lettre verte 100g, illustrated with another of Hermé's well known products: a macaroon.

The stamps are cancelled with the postmark of  Lyon's Bureau Philatélique and as usual a totally unnecessary mechanical obliteration is also present on the cover, although the operators were at least careful enough to feed the cover upside down into the machine, so that the postmark would not mar the top of the  cover where the stamps would presumably be.... something that did not work that well in this particular case....

Anyway

Un grand Merci, Eric, for all your care and attention, about which I'll talk a propos my next post...

 My National Covers

Every now and then I have the opportunity to add what I call a "National Cover" to my collection.

These are nothing fancy. In fact they are but covers that I print  at home with the flag and coat of arms of a specific country and which I then either send to a fellow collector who is willing to help or give to friends or family or take my own self whenever travelling abroad, in the hope that these might find a way to a local post office to get a stamp and a postmark.

I will be adding these to a new "My National Covers" section in this blog.

If you don't see your country here and are willing to help me add your own country's national cover to my collection, please email me at pnsoares1@gmail.com. 

You'll get a cover from Portugal (if you want I'll be happy to print a Portuguese National Cover just like the ones I print for myself, although in a somewhat larger envelope) and a printed envelope with the relevant symbols printed, so that you can then return it to me.

Thanks a lot.

Note: Whenever possible I will try to transcribe the flag and coat of arms information from the relevant national site. Failing that I'll transcribe from Wikipedia.

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Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka / ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය 

The Flag

The National Flag of Sri Lanka represents the country and her heritage as rallying device that integrates the minorities with the majority race.

Sri Lanka National Flag is an improvisation of the civil standard of the last king of Sri Lanka, Sri Wickrama Rajasingha.

The civil standard had a passant royal lion with a sword in it’s right fore paw at the center, and a bo-leaf on each of the four corners on a plain border.

When Sri Lanka gained her independence from Great Britain on February 04, 1948, it was the lion flag of the last king of Sri Lanka was hoisted once again.

The first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka, D.S.Senanayake, appointed a committee to advice the government on the design of a new national flag. The design approved by the committee in February 1950 retained the symbol of the lion with the sword and the bo-leaves from the civil standard of the last king of Sri Lanka, with the inclusion of two vertical stripes green and orange in color.

The significance of each symbol of the national flag is as follows:

The lion in the flag represents the Sinhala race.

The sword of the lion represents the sovereignty of the country.

Curly hair on the lion’s head indicates religious observance, wisdom and meditation.

The beard denotes purity of words.

The handle of the sword highlights the elements of water, fire, air and earth.

The nose indicates intelligence.

The two front paws purport to purity in handling wealth.

The vertical stripe of orange represent the minority Tamil race and the green vertical stripe the minority Muslim race.

The four virtues of kindness: KINDNESS, FRIENDLINESS, HAPPINESS, EQUANIMITY are also represented in the flag.

The border round the flag, which is yellow in color, represents other minor races.

The bo-leaves at the four corners of the flag represent Buddhism and it’s influence on the nation. They also stand for the four virtues - Kindness, Friendliness, Happiness and Equanimity.

The maroon colored portion of the flag manifests the other minor religions.

The national flag was hoisted for the first time on March 3, 1950.

Source: National Flag

The Emblem

The national emblem of Sri Lanka is used by the State of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan government in connection with the administration and government of the country. The current emblem has been in use since 1972 and created under the ideas and guidance of Nissanka Wijeyeratne. At the time, he was Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Chairman of the National Emblem and Flag Design Committee. The designer of the emblem was Venerable Mapalagama Wipulasara Maha Thera, and the artwork was by S. M. Seneviratne.

The emblem features a gold lion passant, holding a sword in its right fore paw (the same lion from the flag of Sri Lanka) in the centre on a maroon background surrounded by golden petals of a Blue Lotus the national flower of the country. This is placed on top of a traditional grain vase that sprouts sheaves of rice grains that circle the border reflecting prosperity.

The crest is the Dharmachakra, symbolizing the country’s foremost place for Buddhism and just rule. Traditional Sinhalese heraldic symbols for the sun and the moon form the supporters. Sun and Moon, and Lion depicting

Source: Sri Lanka Emblem

The Stamp

200 Rupee stamp issued on 23NOV2007 as part of a three stamp set (50; 100; 200 Rupees) illustrated with monocromatic versions of the National Emblem.

My Thanks to my friend Ravindra Ratnapala for helping me add Sri Lanka to my National Covers collection.

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.