OFFICIAL Card - Germany

I don't know why, but it is always extra fun when a shaped card arrives in the mailbox. This great heart shaped card came from Ursula and shows views of the city of Heidelberg, Germany. She wrote about the city, her hobbies and the fact she loves dark chocolate.

Greetings from Lithuania - Direct Swap with Justina

Justina saw I post I made in the Postcrossing Forum seeking out the new "Greetings From..." cards by PostalLove. She liked them so much she was going to order and wanted to swap when her cards arrived. I was happy to wait and she contacted me to finalize a few weeks later. She wrote me about some of the facts on the front and also telling be her country will adopt the Euro soon they are enjoying the last few months of their "beautiful" currency. Thank you for the swap Justina!

Summer Meet-Ups

This summer I was lucky to be able to attend two different meet-ups. Lots of swapping, shopping and chatting!

This first was July 5th in downtown Toronto. We met at the gift shop in the Art Gallery. It was so nice to meet so many new people and reconnect with old friends. Literally, the lady to the right in the photo is someone I hung out with 35 odd years ago! I'll save that story for another day! We continued through many shops in Chinatown and ended off the day by signing over 300 postcards!

I am the third from the right in the back.

Two weeks later I went out to Ingersoll. Hard to believe this is our third meeting! There were many new people at this meeting as Lynda and I sent out many messages letting people in the area know about it. There too were lots of familiar faces. Can't remember how many cards we signed that day, my guess is somewhere in the 300 range again. Should point out that LyndaC designed the cards for both the meetings. Always does such a great job. After the meet-up a few of us drove to neighbouring London and did some card shopping. Such great finds that day too!

I am sitting down on the far left.

OFFICIAL Card - China

Minty is a new Postcrosser and this is one of the first cards she sent. Lucky me! The image shows a vintage view of Xitang, a historic town in China. Look familiar? Many of the final scenes of Mission Impossible III were filmed there. Coincidentally, I just watched the end of that movie a few weeks ago.

Greetings from Portugal - Direct Swap with Edite

Another swap I made through the Postcrossing Facebook page, this time with Edite from Lisbon. I was so happy that she had this card, getting that much closer to completing my collection. She took the time to write out some basic words and phrases in Portuguese for me. Thank you!

Direct Swap - Malta from Svetlana

Svetlana lives in Russia and was going to Malta on a family vacation in July. She was offering cards via the Postcrossing Facebook page. I had a card she was interested in and we agreed to the exchange. This arrived in late August and is simply wonderful. The image shows two women in front of a souvenir shop wearing the traditional faldetta. She wrote a bit about her trip and told me her husband was Canadian. He is a long way from home!

Random Act of Smiliness - J.J. from USA

Back in July I received this card from J.J. The stamps which I believe are part of a wedding series were being reissued and they were offering cancellations for collectors. The floral design is lovely, however I must say the very liner design of the cancellation doesn't quite match up for me. Either way, nice to be thought of. Thanks J.J.!

OFFICIAL Card - Germany

Patricia lives near Cologne and writes that her favourite snacks are Dutch Frites (yum) and pizza with spinach and broccoli (double yum). That is one of my favourite combos on pizza too!!!

OFFICIAL Card - Finland

Essi lives in Tampere, Finland and studies biology in Oulu. She sent this pretty snowy scene of birch trees. We have many birch here were I live, however sadly many were lost in the major ice storm we had last winter. She shared with me one the the greatest quotes I've heard in awhile "It's funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different." This comes from C.S. Lewis. Some days you need to read something like this to refocus your perspective. Thanks Essi!

OFFICIAL Card - Turkey

Gomze lives in Istanbul, Turkey and tells me it is a beautiful city. She likes reading and "wandering" historical places. Sounds fun! The view on the card shows Leander's Tower which sounds like it has a lot of history.

OFFICIAL Card - USA

Sandee lives in Rochester and sent this card showing an artist's drawing of the Minnesota State Fair. She wrote telling me she goes every year and at the time of mailing it was starting soon. Sounds very much like the The Ex or CNE in Toronto except that doesn't have Aretha Franklin! Would love to see that! The best part of Sandee's card was her sharing some of the "weird" food they serve on a stick. Even weirder, most of it sounded good! Enjoy!!!

OFFICIAL Card - Canada

This is such a beautiful card! Not something I think I might normally seek out, however her eyes just draw me in - love it! Wendy lives a smooth 40 kms away in Toronto and is here from China studying. On her card she shared with me that she had received a meet-up card earlier in the month that I had signed - small world!

Direct Swap - Wendy from Mexico

On the Facebook Postcrossing page one day I saw Wendy's offer of this great Mexico City subway map card. By the time I saw it, she had run out but agreed to be in touch when she had more. A short time later I heard from her and we exchanged details. Wendy tells me the Metro system is the main use of transportation in the city and at certain hours of the day it is chaotic. I can imagine it would be, it is huge! I flew into Mexico City once to transfer planes off season on my way to San Jose del Cabo. To this day I can remember that landing - the city went on forever!

 

USA from Michael

I was really excited when this card arrived as often images of places I have travelled to bring on all the memories of the trip. We visited Chicago three years ago and absolutely {loved} the city. So this card, coupled with the glittery letters that almost show up in the scan set me up for a great day! Flip the card over and see it is from my BFF Michael, and my smile grows even wider! He was there in July for a training conference. The stamp he chose for me is also one of my favourite book series for kids. Stella and Sam were very much loved and read in this house.

Direct Swap - San Marino from Darina

This is another successful swap I did via the Postcrossing Forum.  In July, Darina was travelling from Moscow to San Marino and was offering to swap. In particular she was looking for "Where's Waldo" cards. Lucky for me, my son had the postcard book and was willing to help me out. This card arrived shortly after showing the beautiful views of this tiny country. Thank for the swap Darina!

OFFICIAL Card - Czech Republic

Daniela lives in a small village called Lesni Albrechtice. After reading that article it sounds very small! The castle in the view is in Ostrava, about 80 km from where she lives. My son would love to try that cross bow!

Direct Swap - Silin from USA

I am totally living the saying "all good things must come to an end". At the end of June, just before my kids were out of school I got myself up to date with the blogging of all my received postcards. I had upwards of 40 odd scheduled posts and a completely clean desk - yeah me! While I have definitely been receiving cards over the summer I didn't even so much as scan one of them. Well, lets just say .....I am feeling it today! I am at the end of my scheduled posts and it is the last week of summer which is usually one of the craziest weeks here trying to cram in the last of all the fun! Add to that the fact I will be going back to work after 11 years and I guess I hadn't fully thought through my new back log. I can already see the pile growing!

My family and I recently went on a long overdue vacation. I arranged this swap with Silin via the Postcrossing Forum. I was super excited as we were travelling to Washington, D.C. the next day and thought it would be a fun and welcome addition to my subway map collection. We did ride the Metro a few times during the trip so even the kids were able to spot certain stops such as our hotel, The Zoo and Pentagon on the map.  The system while very efficient was so totally different than the Toronto system in almost every way. I don't think I could get use to the up lit, concrete look of the stations...ever. Great city, great time spent with my three BFF's and as always lots we didn't see to ensure maybe there will be a next time.

Lottery WIn - Sri Lanka

Gayan was offering cards to the first 10 people to comment on his Facebook post and I was one of the lucky 10. He sent this card showing leopards at Yala National Park in Sri Lanka. Ayubowan translates to "Hello/Goodbye" and more, kinds of reminds me of "Aloha".

OFFICIAL Card - Finland

Liesel sent me this card showing four native birds to Finland. Clockwise from top left - Parrot Crossbill, Golden Eagle, Siberian Jay or Kuukkeli and the Great Grey Owl. She went further to tell me about the Kuukkeli and the tales and myths about this magical mystery bird. Very enchanting!

Random Act of Smiliness - Nalini from Trinidad & Tobago

Nalini and I have swapped in the past. She was cleaning through some of her cards, had this one and thought of me. How thoughtful! The view shows an aerial view of Singapore's Chinatown. Great card - thanks Nalini!

Thank You Card - Annemieke from Netherlands

Annemieke has a friend who is moving to Vancouver. She was collecting cards for her as a send off gift. I sent a few and in return Annemieke sent me these two wonderful card cards showing the various species of Forest Birds and Birds of Prey and Owls. Thank you Annemieke for the thank you!

Greetings from Poland - Direct Swap with Monika

Monika replied to a post I made on Facebook looking for PostalLove cards. She did not have the current version of the Poland card but had the first edition. I didn't even know there were more than one version so was happy to swap for this retired "collectible". Now to hunt for the 2014 version, which might not be easy as it has been sold out for awhile. It will be hard enough to find people to swap with as the new countries are introduced if they get revised too I might be sunk! Thank you Monika for the swap!