Cathy Does Not Make Me Say “ACK”: Received from Belarus, China, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, & the U.S.

Another long stretch of Postcrossing (and Postcard United) to partially share! Do you have any favorites here?

Received from Germany via Postcrossing. I love it! I’ve been holding on to a similar one for a long time, not sure I should part with it. Now I can send it out into the world!

I love this Donald Duck postcard I received from a Postcrosser in the Netherlands via a tag thread. The postal system trail seems to have been long and winding: the card took nearly two months to reach me!

Cathy just arrived from Salem Corners, Minnesota, via a Postcrossing Forum trade, and I am more thrilled than even makes sense. Sure beats a “For Better or For Worse” postcard, right?

I always enjoy receiving a Doraemon postcard, and I really love this one that cam in from Suwon, South Korea via Postcard United.

More Doraemon! I got two of this card: one from Japan, one from Finland.

Received from the Netherlands in a Postcrossing Forum tag trade. Love it!

This beauty came to me from a Postcrosser in Germany

Received from the South of France

Received from Germany. I love this pair!

I love red pandas! This came in from a Postcrosser in India, via a tag trade.

This is what cats see when they act that certain way. Received from Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

From Mississippi, U.S.A., via Postcard United

I love this card from a Postcrosser in Singapore who writes, “Our food tend to be on the spicy & stronger flavour side. You might have tried dishes like chili crab & chicken rice.”

This is a fun one! The scan doesn’t do it justice.

From Minsk, Belarus, from a Postcrosser who said she was making a TikTok about writing this card. She also said she was currently reading Fannie Flagg’s book, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe.

From Shanghai China, a small shaped card featuring taro balls with herbs (sweet)

I like this chill trio who came to me from Hessen, Germany.

Received from Japan, via Postcard United

From Switzerland: “This is the Axen Road, an 11 km long road which was build into the steep cliffs in 1865. You can see a part of Lace Lucerne and the village Flüelen. Today, there is a modern Axen Road for car traffic. The old road on this card is now reserved for hikers and bikers.”

Received from Shanghai, China, via Postcrossing

The Russian Postcrosser who sent me this card tells me it’s from Karlsson-on-the-Roof. The character started as a book by Astrid Lindgren (also the writer of Pippi Longstocking), and became popular as an animated character in the Soviet Union.

Another card with holiday vibes, this one is from Belgium.

This is the Hamburg Maritime Museum, and I see it is absolutely the gigantic propeller that makes this (both the postcard and the setting).

Received from Lower Saxony, Germany

I pretty much just pasted 15 postcards and then hit “publish” — Received from Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, and Taiwan

Here are a fraction of the postcards I’ve received since my last post. Whether received via Postcrossing or Postcard United, the one thing they all have in common is that the sender scanned and uploaded their image, thus giving me something to copy and paste into this space once I’d registered them!

Do you have any favorites?

Received from Germany, & I absolutely love it. Love getting Peanuts postcards, and this is just about the best! Great close-up image of Lucy & Linus.

Looove this one from Mikkeli, Finland. It came with a Donald Duck (AKA Aku Ankka) stamp, too!

Oh, this one is so cool! Received from Taiwan, with lots of cool rubber stamps from the various members on the back. To be honest, though, what I miss on a Postcrossing Meetup card is always the message from the sender(s).

Not the 1st time I’ve received this card lately, but fortunately, I love it! Just in from Germany.

Also from Germany, also loving it!

A nice coastal view, received from Germany

What an interesting background! I love this otter postcard, received from Germany.

Astro Boy flew in from Belgium!

Received from Netherlands. The sender tells me that she wishes she could tell me the food there was amazing, but it’s not. She DOES stand up for their bread: “The bread is amazing, though. That’s what I really missed when I was abroad. Cakes and bread. The profiteroles on the front (of this card) are also really nice.”

Received from Wuxi City, China. Not really sure what’s going on here. What would you make with cherries & assorted nuts?

Received from Germany

From St. Petersburg, Russia I feel like this image keeps getting bigger, taking up more space every time I get back to it, which I guess might be considered funny in a horrifying way.

Far out! Received from Moscow, Russia

Received from Lutterbach, France

Received from Russia

Received from… W h e r e ?!?

Today I received via Postcrossing a card bearing the country code AX– one I certainly didn’t recall seeing before. Turns out it means Åland Islands — and again I ask, where?

This lovely dog reminds me of a dog owned by a neighbor of my grandmother. The pup kind of sang, something I just remembered as I started to write this caption! I would take her & her daughter on walks when I’d visit.

According to Postcrossing:

Åland Islands is a special territory in the continent of Europe with a population of 26,711 habitants. The capital of Åland Islands is Mariehamn.

Okay, Google:

The Åland Islands, or Åland, is an autonomous region of Finland. Comprising around 6,700 islands, this Swedish-speaking archipelago is in the Baltic Sea. The capital, Mariehamn, on the main island of Fasta Åland, is known for its beaches and streets lined with 19th-century wooden townhouses, handicraft shops and cafes. Västerhamn, the town’s western port, links Åland with Estonia, Sweden and mainland Finland. ― Google

Something squirrely in today’s mail: received from Finland

Disney Afternoon (or whenever you are reading this): Received from Austria, China, Finland, Japan, & the U.S.

At least one of the cards in today’s batch is from 2020! I mostly see 2018, though. Some great Disney cards to share this time, and I really like the art style on this first pair.

Donald came to me from Austria, and Mickey & Minnie from Finland. A whole lot of good Disney cards do seem to come from Finland, including Scrooge McDuck’s money bin here.

Another pair of Donald cards; the left is from Japan, and the right from Finland.

Disney parks cards! Both of these are from the U.S.

Also from the U.S. is this card with Walt and friends riding a little train; that was a staff greeting card from the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. The Tokyo Disney card is from, yes, Japan.

Two more postcards to go–Aladdin is from China, and Beauty & the Beast is from the U.S.

Stamp & sticker time:

Catch-Up Edition: Received from Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, The Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, South Korea, & the U.S.

It’s kind of false to call this a catch-up edition, because at this point, I don’t think I’ll ever be caught up. I thought this would be a good way to keep track of my postcards, but who has time? Anyhow, after a very long absence, here we go with SOME of the cards I’ve received over the last few months since my last post.

Could there be any postcard more wonderful than this Grandma Duck card that found its way to me from Lelystad, Netherlands?

I also love this postcard from Qingdao, China!

More Doraemon! This one from Poland.

from a friend in the U.S…

from Germany…

Also from Germany:

…and again.

…and again, again. This one below is from a guy who describes himself as a 30-year-old enthusiastic tobacco pipe smoker.

Received from Colorado, U.S.A. I had no idea Ikea sold postcards, did you? I don’t even know where I would start to look for them. The second I go in, the only thing I’m really looking for is the exit…

Here comes something tasty from Korea. The sender says, “nakjibogguem is a stir-fried octopus. It is made with chopped octopus and vegetables. Then make a marinade with red pepper sauce, soy sauce, garlic, salt, and sugar. Mix, marinade them and fry everything. It is pretty delicious with spicy taste. Hope you like it!”

I love this tasty dish of Chairman Mao’s Red Braised Pork from Shanghai, China:

From Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China:

Here’s a dish of food (“pyshenka with butter and piroshki (patty)) from Russia, and I it was dated 2015, about 4 years and 1 month before I received it. It turn out that the sender just apparently had the mid-20-teens on his mind: it was issued and mailed less than a month ago.

More Russian bread:

Received from Shanghai, China:

Received from China–must have been a Postcard Uniting meetup–lots of signatures!

From Hangzhou, China:

From South Korea:

From Shantou, China:

From Finland:

From Belarus:

More pink edibles from Belarus:

Something sweet from Russia:

From Poland:

Bulgaria:

Slovenia:

From the Philippines:

This one from Russia kinda freaks me out…

…if you think it’s not freaky yet, pair it with the message scrawled on the back:

Why are you so prickly, Hedgehog?
–That’s me just in case. You know who my neighbors are? Foxes, wolves, bears.
Happy Postcrossing!

E E E K !

 

Tastes Like Canned Soup: Sent to Australia, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, U.K., & the U.S.

I just got back from Malaysia, and it truly is a food paradise. Sad to say, I didn’t quite make it to every single thing on this postcard! It went off in a Postcrossing Forum food tag to Quzhou, Zhejiang, China.

The Hainanese Chicken postcard is also from Malaysia, but not procured during my trip. I got it some time ago when I ordered the wonderful book, The Food That Makes Us. A set of postcards came with the book! This card is on a trip to New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Another food tag, but this recipient in Sendai, Japan, isn’t getting anything nice at all. In brief: Andersen’s Split Pea Soup is a pretty popular brand on California supermarket shelves, so of course way back when I first passed the restaurant–a popular roadside stop in the city of Buellton–I wanted to try their homemade version. Well, do you know what it tasted like? CANNED SOUP!

Another card I bought in Malaysia; this one goes off in a “not my country” tag to Gunma, Japan.

This is a place I’ve been to, but not in a while; it’s the Hotel King Kamehameha in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and it’s off in a travel tag to Nairne, SA, Australia.

Here’s a card I bought at the airport as I was departing for my vacation. I’ve come across a whole lot of California map cards, but I think this is my favorite. It looks even better in person! This one goes out to a postcard pal in Hawaii.

This pair of shiba inus are headed for New Taipei City, Taiwan.

This card goes to an otter lover in Hamburg, Germany.

Another otter card for another otter lover, this one in Shenyang, Liaoning, China.

Honest John went off in a Disney tag to Ylivieska, Finland.

Postcrossing Forum has a number of “send me a card from my album of favorites” tags. I don’t dip in too often because, you know, what are the odds I’ll have a card the person has marked as wanting? Well, it’s happened twice recently (though the second Postcrosser has yet to respond to my tag)! This gator is being mailed to Faches-Thumesnil, France.

The lovely merpug is off — by request — to Itzehoe, Germany.

Here’s another requested card, this one on its way to Riverside, California.

Ready for a Peanuts Gallery? I’d better send off this 2018 postcard while it’s still topical! Copies go to Itami and Tokyo, Japan.

This is the moment when Lucy starts calling for iodine; it goes to a postpal in Peacehaven, East Sussex, U.K.

Lucy & Schroeder are off to Kyoto, Japan.

“My Favorite Peanuts” will go to Jinjiang City, Fujian, China.

The tiger, like one of my earlier cards shown here, is also headed for New Taipei City (but to a different recipient).

I pulled another name on Postcard United! The recipient in Hong Kong enjoys images of architecture, so I’m sending her an image of the grand main library in San Diego, California.

…and another Postcard United draw, this one going to Zheleznogorsk, Russia.

This third Postcard United draw goes to Hangzhou, China.

This last card makes 23 I’ve chronicled this time around, and its a postcard of Kliban Cats! I love them. This card goes to a fellow fan in Taipei, Taiwan.

Stamps! Stickers! Washi tape! Do you see the durian washi tape I picked up on the second leg of my eating vacation: Singapore? Here and there you’ll also see puffy Tom & Jerry stickers, a silly online purchase that was awaiting me when I returned home. Kliban cat stickers also show up a lot in this batch of outgoing cards. I love Kliban cats. Dunno if I’ve ever mentioned that before…

Do you have any favorites this time around? Please let me know about them!

Buffet Edition: Sent to Australia, China, Finland, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Taiwan, and the U.S.

I like Ritz crackers, and I like chocolate — so what can go wrong? THIS. My mistake: “fudge” does not mean chocolate. Yuck. One bite, and the rest went to work. Sending this box panel off to Tokyo, Japan, in a food package postcard tag.

More packaged foodstuffs, but this time something much better: the seasoned flour for Tom Yum chicken goes out in a food package postcard tag to Cedar Hill, Texas.

This is the restaurant in San Francisco where the food may not be the best, but free postcards? Yeah, I guess I love this place (even though I may well never decide to eat there again). Going off in a food tag to Rui’an, Zhejiang, China.

These messy cones are going to Foshan, Guangdong, China.

Let me show you the back side of that one right now. Never have I been so matchy-matchy.

 

The creme brulee with blowtorch goes to Gunma, Japan.

Brown foods go to Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. I should have paid more attention, not to send Chinese foods to China, but maybe the guy will love it. I told him I’ve eaten most of these things–and cooked with some of them–over the last month.

Moving away from food, while staying on topic: part of the joy of buffet (all of the joy of buffet?) is about choice. Postcrossing Forum has many tags where users can link to their available postcards, and others can choose the card they want. The redwoods were chosen by a Postcrosser in Nairne, SA, Australia.

This one was chosen by a Postcrosser in Saint Petersburg, Russia:

This one was requested by someone in Lübeck, Germany. I told her that I’m not convinced the trees are actually in Hawaii. This is one I received as a part of a disappointassortment. Look it up, you’ll find it, I’m sure.

By request to Omsk, Russia…

By request to Fiskars Village, Finland:

Franklin meets Linus, off by request to Taichung City, Taiwan.

“Have a great country day!” WOOOO! I never thought I’d get rid of this stinker! Off by request to its recipient in Cheboksary, Russia.

Moving off the buffet line to non-request tags: this one went out in a Disney tag to New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Another one to Taiwan, this one to a map lover in Taipei.

This, from my most recent quick shopping stop into the Charles M. Schulz Museum, goes off to Yokohama, Japan.

Moving along… I took another stop at Postcard United! a click on the “send a postcard” button, and I prepped this one for its trip to Johor, Malaysia.

Stamps, stickers, & washi tape time…

Toon & Animal Edition: Received from Belgium, China, Finland, Hong Kong, and Japan

I’m finally making it around to showing some of my incomings! I’ve got the front side of 12 this time, almost all received through Postcrossing Forum tags.

Charlie Brown is writing to his grandma! That makes me feel nostalgic. This card is from Aichi, Japan.

Snoopy picturing himself on the beach came from Finland. The sender tells me:

I love forests, and meadows. If I only had a good camera, I would photograph, but maybe one day. Have bought online lots of used Peanuts albums (from the 60s and 70s) together with Calvin & Hobbes. You don’t have to take literature too seriously, ha ha!

Another card from Finland: it’s always great to see the Beagle Boys!

It’s probably pretty obvious the Disney card came from Japan.

The Moomin card is another one from Finland, from a true fan of the characters, who writes: “if you have not read Moomin books, I sure recommend!! They are also for adults!” She is a retired teacher, so she should know! Moomin isn’t my jam, but I do know a retired guy who is into it, in a big way–so I will send this card on to him.

Badtz & Hana came to me from Saitama, Japan.

The next card came to me from Hong Kong, and it is labeled “Little Warlord–Mai Min Zhong, 1960s.” The sender writes, “this is a Hong Kong comic book cover. It has stopped publish many years ago sadly.”

Okay, on to the animals! I am a squirrel lover, & this one found its way to me from Germany. It had a squirrel stamp, which you can see at the end of this post. The sender writes,

I love squirrels, they are so cute. They are quite used to people in the park, around here, so you can watch them closely. Did you know there’s a mythological squirrel in the Edda? He’s called Ratatoskr, a messenger running up and down Yggdrasil. Quite benefiting their swiftness, I think!

I love this panda card! It, too, came to me from Germany.

I always enjoy seeing jelly fish, and these beauties came on another card from Hong Kong.

It’s a card from the U.S., from North Carolina. I was trying to decide whether the turtle was digging into sand or snow.

This great big shaped card is from Belgium, and I would love it–but I see that the dolphin is in a swimming pool, rather than in the wild. I’m hopeful for a future where we don’t see the need to do this.

Time for stamps, stickers, & washi tape! Lots of great stuff, including stamps from some cards whose front sides didn’t make the cut. What do you love here?

I Am Finding This Difficult: China, Finland, Germany, Japan, Russia, Thailand, and the United Kingdom

I’m finding I just can’t keep up on this blog. The point of it has been to keep up with postcards going in & out, and recalling a little bit of the ephemeral nature for posterior posterity.

IT’S EATING UP MY FREE TIME.

The scanning, & editing, then going back & matching everything back up–it’s a deep research project, with none of the intellectual or professional benefits. I am losing a whole lot of time I could be reading, for one thing.

I suppose I could put each card up on a blog draft as I go, but that even eats into the bits of time I steal to prepare a postcard to send. Something needs to give.

With that downer of a start, let’s dive into the joy: the cards I WAS able to assemble for a blog post today. I have added fewer details than usual–in the interest of saving time.

San Francisco went to Lubeck, Germany.

The bridge went to Saitama, Japan.

Elephant & Piggie went to Yonago, Tottori, Japan. This was part of a “sticker” tag, in which we were to cover the back sides of the cards in stickers. Since I take pride in putting messages on my cards, I squeezed one in, while still being very pleased with my sticker game. I guess it was silly of me to say I was let down when I received a card in this tag that was all stickers, no message.

My sticker game is strong, so sayeth me:

Krtek went to a Krtek lover… somewhere. He gave a link to all of his already-collected cards of The Mole, and I was surprised to see he apparently didn’t already have this one, which is from a pretty widely-distributed set of toon cards. How about you– have you received any cards from the set?

This otter goes to Isojoki, Finland…

I just bought a box of these “Women in Science” postcards. I went looking for the images online, so I would not have to scan them all. The postcard of paleontologist Mary Anning isn’t QUITE like this one from the original book…but it’s close enough. The card is going out to Rhede, Germany, in a regular Postcrossing draw.

I don’t know where this Playboy cover came from, and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get rid of it–but then I drew the address of the Postcrosser in Chelyabinsk, Russia, who requested cards featuring alcohol or pinups. HELP IS ON THE WAY, SIR!

Double-Snoopy time. One to Oita, Japan…

…and the other to Bangkok, Thailand. Wish I could travel with both cards!

A Postcrosser in Novosibirsk, Russia, actually requested this gray pomegranate. Another card I didn’t think I’d ever get rid of!

The Matisse image, “A Glimpse of Notre Dame in the Late Afternoon,” goes to an art lover in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China.

Flounder is off for Foshan, also in Guangdong, China.

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon is off in a Postcard United draw! They notified me that I had been gone from the site so long, they were about to switch me to “inactive.” Can’t have that! This card will go to a recipient in Edinburgh, U.K.

Time for more stamps, stickers, & washi tape!

 

Send help!