COVER N. 608 -  LATVIA 

Postmark: KC Dienvidkurzeme 01 LV-3416 08.07.2025

Posted on the 8th July; Received on the 14th July 2025

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Films and comics have slowly been making their way into stamps. So much so that it is not uncommon to find sets or individual dedicated to them.

In the past, I would think, stamps on these themes would be issued more as celebratory issues, marking the anniversary of this or that special film or director while nowadays, they are  just another promotion vehicle for this or that film, this or that comics character.

The last cover I received from Latvia, bears on it one such stamp. Liels paldies, Artūrs.

I have been out of cinema halls for so long that I can't remember when. There's no way... I just can't stand someone eating popcorn and slurping coke by my side while I try to watch a movie on a large screen, in the darkened atmosphere of a movie theatre.

Also, long gone are the days when my daughters would nag me to take them to watch the latest Disney of Pixar blockbuster....

As such, I'm in no way familiar with the current film universe...

So I have to confess my ignorance regarding Flow, a film which I read was jointly produced by Latvia, France and Belgium concerns, and which was directed by a rather young Latvian film director and animator named Gints Zilbalodis, who won an Oscar with it in 2024 as well as a whole lot of other prizes, what speaks for itself, regarding the quality of  his work.

Flow, I read in Wikipedia,  "features no dialogue and follows a cat trying to survive along with other animals in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world as the water level dramatically rises".

Of note is also the fact that the film, which took four years to complete, was created in open source software, another reminder of the power that is freely available today to anyone endowed with  creativity and the knowledge.

The 2,54€ stamp on the cover illustrated with Flow, the cat hero of Zilbalodis'  film, was issued on 27FEB2025

The postmark ahild from the Municipality of Dienvidkurzeme, on the southwest coast of the country.

POSTCARD N.185 - CHINA.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 8th June; received on the 9th July 2025.

Postcard image: Mount Everest under a stary sky - Shigatse, Tibet, China

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A very nice Postcrossing postcard with beautifull stamps 谢谢 Lili.

Postcrossing is really fun. Yes, I don't use it that much, because my efforts are more directed at my cover collection, but receiving a normal postcard illustrated with a picture of a far off place (or not that far, for that matter) with nice stamps on it is a very rewarding thing.

On the other hand, receiving a promotional postcard cut from a thin paper magazine or with an image of a product, or from a hotel or restaurant somewhere, as has happened to me before, is really not my cup of tea.

I like postcards for what they were initially intended to be: little windows into the world, its places, its peoples, its achievements, etc

And Lili's postcard sure fits the bill: Mount Everest by night, under a starry sky. Yes the photo could be better, that bloody lamppost to the left of the image is blowing all the highlights off , but your gaze is still directed at the centre of the image where the unmistakable shape of the Earth’s highest mountain summit is clearly recognizable. 

Strangely, this is not a place that would rank high on my list of places to visit. The images of all the garbage left by climbers and the horrific and stupid queues to attain the summit (not that I would ever try to do it, of course)  really make me think that people are getting stranger by the day.....

anyway, here it is:

Lili used two very beautiful stamps on the cover:

The 200 Chinese renminbi fēn shows Tiandu Peak over clouds, a 1810 m peak in the Huangshan mountains, a UNESCO World heritage Site, located  in the South of the Anhui Province of the People's Republic of China.

The  Stamp is part of an 8 x 200 renminbi fēn issued on 20OCT1997, on the occasion of UPU's 22nd Congress, held in Beijing.

The 3 Yuan stamp is the highest denomination stamp of a 9 stamp set (6 x 1,20; 2 x 1,1,50; 3 Yuan) issued on 15JUN2024, illustrated with views of the Qinling Mountains, a mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, whose highest peak (Mount Taibai) tops at 3,767 meters.

Sadly I could not trust google translator to clarify the postmark for me, since it gave me different options each time I pointed the camera at it :-).

 

COVER N. 607 -  UNITED KINGDOM - LUNDY

Postmark: Lundy Bristol Channel 03.07.2025

Posted on the 3rd July; Received on the 9th July 2025

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I open my letterbox to find a true oddity inside. Amazing cover. I had never heard about this tiny island with its own postal service. Un énorme Merci, Roland!

Lundy lies  in the Bristol channel, about 19 km away from the Devon coast. Today, the Island is owned by the National Trust, a private  heritage and conservation charity that aims to permanently preserve lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The island - about 5 km long and 0,8 km wide -  is almost completely devoid of any other means of transportation than your own legs (bicycles included) with the few  motorised  transportation means that exist being solely allocated to island management and function purposes.

The history of the private P.O. at Lundy goes back to 1927 when the General Post Office of UK withdrew Lundy from the list of its covered locations.

For a while and until November 1929, the then Island owner, Martin Coles Harman, kept on providing mail collection and distribution to the islanders free of charge, but on the 1st November of that year, Lundy own private post office stamps were introduced to help offset the cost of the service.

These initial stamps were denominated in the currency that Mr. Hartman also created - The Puffin, an homage to one of the island's most famous dwellers. Like the currency, the stamps only had two denominations: 1 Puffin and 1/2 Puffin.

The issuing of Lundy stamps continues to this day and by agreement with Royal Mail, it is not necessary anymore to affix the Lundy stamp on the back of the envelope, a rule that was in force up to 1962.

From then on, Lundy stamps had to be placed on the left side of the envelope, while the right side was reserved for GPO later Royal Mail stamps.

From 1974, Lundy was authorised to include the value of the Royal Mail postage on their stamps, what meant than letters could circulate with Lundy stamps only.

As far as I understand, (and please correct me if I am wrong, because I would really like to be sure about this), on the cover above, the ROW (Rest of the World) Lundy stamp includes both the local Lundy PO fee and the £3.20  Royal Mail postage fee.

The Puffin "ROW" stamp on the cover cancelled with a manual Lundy postmark, is part of the 2023 definitive issue (all stamps being identical except for colour and denomination) comprising 7 values (1st; 2nd; ROW; 20; 75; 100; 300 Puffins).

The Royal Mail  mechanical cancellation features a nice cachet with what is probably Lundy's most iconic building: the Old Light, Lundy's first lighthouse, built in 1820.

All in all a superb addition to  my collection. 

COVER N. 607 -  URUGUAY

Postmark: Correo Uruguaio Jefatura Dptal. (?) Admision 25.06.2025

Posted on the 25th June; Received on the 9th July 2025

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My friend the Flying Dutchman sends me a cover from Uruguay. Nice. As usual with Eric's mail they always come from where its least expected...and I love it! Hartelijk Dank, Eric!

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is one of those names that needs no introduction, at least to those of us who bear no grudge of the fact that as primates we share a common ancestor with apes (or believe that the earth is not a flat disk, for that matter...)

The ship in which he made the circum-navigation voyage that would prove instrumental in the development of his "theory of evolution by natural selection" is, for this fact, also famous and although the original can no longer be visited, since what's left of it seems to be buried in the mud, on river Roach in Essex, a true to size replica exists at Museo Nao Victoria, in Punta Arenas, Chile.

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop, launched on the 11th May 1820, its famous Journey around the world having taken place between 1831 and 1836.

Celebrating the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin birth, Correos de Chile issued a two stamp set (12 and 37 Pesos) on 31AUG2009. The higher value stamp, beautifully illustrated with the Beagle  sailing full sail not that far from land, can be seen on the cover.

The 50th anniversary of the first Europa/CEPT common issue, which occurred in 2006, was celebrated by many postal administrations around the world, many of them not even being members of CEPT, such as is the case of Uruguay.

The Uruguayan issue celebrating this fact comprised the two stamps on the cover (16 and 37 Pesos).

Issued on 11AUG2005, the two stamps were illustrated with  paintings by Uruguayan painter Carmelo Azardun, (1888-1968) and a facsimile of a Spanish Europa stamp issue: "Paisaje" (landscape) and the 1964  issue (16 Pesos); "Los nandues" (the Rheas - South American ostriches), and the 1962  issue(37 Pesos).

COVER N. 606 -  SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P.O. Colombo Mail 19.06.2025

Posted on the 19th June; Received on the 2nd July 2025

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Another interesting cover from Sri Lanka, this time supported in a pre-stamped envelope using a pre-stamped envelope. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi.

Sri Lanka, under its former designation, Ceylon, became independent on the 4th February 1948, although according to the provisions of the 1947 constitution, the role of Head of  State would fall on the Governor-General who represented none other than the British Crown, the former colonising power.

This status quo would be profoundly altered in 1972, when the country adopted a new constitution and a new designation, as Sri Lanka.

Under the new constitution the Head of the State would be an elected President, thus formally severing the dependency ties with the British crown, although the state would remain a member of the British Commonwealth.  

The formal session officialising the independence of Ceylon took plane on the 10th February 1948 when the new parliament was inaugurated by the Duke Of Glocester.

This important moment in time was celebrated by Sri Lanka Post with the 110 Rupee  single stamp souvenir sheet on the cover, illustrated with a painting depicting de formal inauguration session.

The pre-printed 50 Rupee stamp on the envelope is illustrated with aone of a pair of Elephant lamp dating from the 12th century AD, found in 1951 during archaeological excavations at the Deigama Kota Vehera stupa (a Budhist temple) site.

As usual with Ravi's letters, this one was also sent from Colombo's main Post Office.

COVER N. 605 -  NORWAY

Postmark: Posten Norge A79 25.06.2025

Posted on the 25th June; Received on the 8th July 2025

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Again, Roland surprises me with a great item for my growing collection and on top of it a new country to the list... Norway. Un grand Merci, cher ami!

I've said it before, but I have to state it again. This little unpretentious blog that I have been keeping for the last 4 years (tempus fugit...) has a life of own and I'm just its general keeper. All the interesting stuff (and I hope you  do not mind my saying so since I'm trapped in a clear conflict of interest, for mine are the words) that I post here (and again I'm not talking about my words, but about the covers and postcards and stamps that justify them),  be it a single stamp cover, or an oddball like today's post, comes from contributions of generous friends who always strive to ensure I am allowed into the realms of philatelic diversity and excellence.

How on earth would I ever get a cover such as this one, if not for the kindness and generosity of Roland... 

I started this blog during Covid times. I, like so many people, had too much time on my hands, so I revisited a long gone interest... philately....but these were the days of wonder... thanks to the internet I could now access an almost infinite reserve of literature, in the form of blogs and websites dedicated to this hobby and finding like minded people who would not mind sharing their knowledge and experience in the field was so much easier now....

So far it has been a great ride and the amount of knowledge I have amassed just from looking at the covers people have been sending me is enormous. I could not be more thankful nor happier for having decided to make a first blog post....

The Ecopolaris missions have been taking place for over 25 years now, as stated on GREA's (Groupe de Recherche en Écologie Arctique) website.  

During the current season a third consecutive Ecopolaris mission on the Varanger  peninsula, in the North of Norway, aimed at studying  the life habits of a bird I am also familiar with, for it is a common sight here in marshes and the coast, the common ringed plover.

The cover, graced with the logo of the Ecopolaris missions  is also embellished with the outstanding mission cachet  featuring a Common  ringed plover, faking a broken wing. This a  behaviour meant to draw the attention of any predator who sets eyes of the bird's nest, thus enticing it to follow the "wounded " bird  away from the sensitive procreation area, as can be read on the notes that accompanied the cover.

I suspect the flying .. (hhhhmmmm is it a grouse?) bird to be GREA's logo. 

Of note is the fact that the cover is signed by the four members of the mission  Olivier Gilg, Brigitte Sabard, Thomas Pagnon and Simitri Zver.

The "Europa 20g" stamp featuring a pig, is part of a two stamp set of the same tariff, issued on 11JUN2021 themed on domesticated animals (the companion stamp features a cow). 

This is also the second GREA cover I got from Roland, the first (Cover#288) being from a mission in Greenland.

COVER N. 604 -  SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P.O. Colombo Mail 19.06.2025

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

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Handicrafts... one of the most sincere and quintessential artistic expressions of any culture. Unique, specific to a people, a community, a society, a nation, a country and yet, sometimes, the forged by time result of cross-cultural influences, what makes any such piece even more interesting, for in a way it embodies the knowledge, the feelings, the essence of sometimes opposing cultures, the conqueror and the conquered, the master and the slave, the coloniser and the colonised....

Palmyrah weaving..... they do it in Sri Lanka, in India....

I was 6, my sister 10.... we too learned to weave palm leaves so as to create baskets and other stuff... we were in the South of Portugal, Faro, the Algarve province....

That's the beauty of culture.... it is permeable, borderless and a lot richer because of that!

Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi. Great cover!

The 10 x 15 Rupee stamp set on the cover, themed on Traditional Handicrafts of Sri Lanka was issued on 25JAN2022.

Each stamp showcases one of the country's most traditional handicrafts, these being, left to right, top to bottom:

Traditional painting on pottery and ceramics; Leather based crafts; stone carvings; Pottery; Embroidery; Ceramics; Talipot based crafts; Bamboo based crafts; Rattan based crafts and Palmyrah based crafts.

Postmark, as usual, from the central P.O. at Colombo.