Roundstone, Ireland

well, for my last card today Ive chosen this beautiful Irish card (Irish cards are almost always BEAUTIFUL!)

I love the sort of gloomy atmosphere on this one...and i think I have a particular thing developed for boats like this...not like for a postcard theme, but ive noticed, that whenever I see boats on the shore or in the water, i take pictures of them, and try to make some cool shots regarding the boats' arrangement compared to the surroundings or so...and if boats come in different colours, that is just a bonus!

well, about that story I mentioned above....well, some 10 days ago, there was a huge fire at the main post office in Skopje...and unfortunately, that is the post office where the Philatelic Bureau is also situated...or should I say, 'was'...there were no deaths fortunately, but the damage is huge..and the post office is not working at the moment...all the employees there have been reallocated to other post offices...however, I cant find out where the philately lady is and if she is working at all or she is taking a break...I dont know if and how many stamps have suffered the fire but practically, right now, i cant get any nice new stamps....I have to be satisfied with the general (boring) ones that are sold at the post offices...and that is quite annoying...but unfortunately, for the time being, i dont have much of a choice, and im running out of the nice stock of stamps I usually get at the philately *sigh*
you can read about it here  as well

as for the stamps on the card, we have a nice selection of flowers here...the one on the left is a definitive from a set of 5 definitives issued in 2005. representing an Irish orchid. Next to it is the 'dandelion' (i cant tell if this one was issued in 2004 or 2007). Next tp the dandelion is the 'thrift', from the set of 3 wild flowers' stamps issued in 2008. And the last stamp shows a large-flowered butterwort, as a part of 4 definitives issued in 2007.

thanks a lot to Monika for this lovely card!

And a nice evening/morning/afternoon too all :)

Lighthouses of Michigan, USA

Here is a great card showing just 6 out of the 100+ Michigan lighthouses (if we are to trust the back of the card :))

card sent by Bryon...and when I read his cards, I have a feeling that he is more in the 'air' than on the 'ground' :)))))
I have no idea which Michigan lighthouses are shown here...I tried making comparison with some Michigan lighthouses I have...but no success...though this means that it is a real challenge to actually collect all the Michigan lighthouses :) Who knows if all of them are even on a postcard?

I LOVE that photography stamp! It is just soo cool! It is a 15c stamp issued back in 1978.
As for the other two..they are a part of the fantastic Earthscapes series....more of which you can read about at the post on my stamps-blog (yeah, that was a brag for those who havent seen it :))
Which reminds me now I need to think of a post for the Sunday Stamps entry....uhmm, what to choose, what to choose...ill try not to go with a train :)

thank you thank you Bryon!

Nepal

Good day to all! :) well, it is not such a good one here...apart from my mood, it is absolutely freezing outside, and after the beautiful sunshine and 15 degrees few days ago, today it had to snow. But not the dreamy-kind of snow..it is the one which barely remains on the ground, yet roads get all frozen...so no biking today =/ and all this pile of mail will have to wait till Monday...argh!

On a brighter note, here comes a FANTASTIC card, which marks Nepal as a country where I have a written and stamped card received from (ok, not just one :P), plus it is a map card!! When Sissel said she'd be visiting Nepal among else, I hoped Ill find a card in my mailbox..but I certainly didnt expect it would be a map card.....I dont think ive even seen a map card from Nepal before! So I was so so so happy to find this one in my mailbox! Just LOVE it! Thank you Sissel for tracking this one down for me!

as it can be seen from the map, here you have the National Parks marked (and I could count, uhmm, 14?!) But dont take my word for it...the shades of green are barely distinguishable one from another (im not excusing myself :P). You have the settlements marked too (hmm, they seem very few in number), and you have the mountain peaks...among which you can see the very famous Mount Everest :)

There have been a few Macedonians too who have conquered this 8,848 metres high peak, where the first one was back in 1989, on 10 May, by Dimitar Ilievski, who was representing the former Yugoslavia back then. Unfortunately, he didnt make it on his way back...on the picture in the link you can see him with the two flags, one of Former Yugoslavia, one of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia (as it was known when it was a part of Yugoslavia).
It is really sad how some great achievements have to end....
a short documentary with some highlights from this expedition...in Macedonian though, but it does give you some idea about it

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and here are some fantastic stamps on the back of the card (makes me think again how much I suck with the stamps on my holiday cards :))
the stamp on the very right was issued in 2006 and represents the Golden Jubilee Year of the Nepal-Russia Diplomatic Relations.
the middle one was issued in 2009 and represents the Chhath Festival. while the one at the left is from 2002, from a set of two stamps, entitled "Let us not discriminate between Son and Daughter".  Hmm, well thats a good message, but makes me wonder if they really had such problems, so that they had to  even issue a stamp like that to promote the awareness about it...

thank you dear Sissel!!!

Turkmenistan

Well, first of all, Happy Easter to all celebrating today! Hope you are enjoying it, along with some nice meals too....this may especially count for those who have been fasting....so it is about time to indulge into something 'forbidden'. Here Easter is next week, so today is just another regular Sunday. And since ive ignored you this past week, ill make it up today with a few nice cards (well, they are always nice actually :))

well, first one comes from the favourites tag....Claus always has in stock some rare countries....i dont know how he gets them all, but it is amazing! And i was really thrilled when he tagged me for this one :)
Well, it was not sent from Turkmenistan, so dont be TOO jealous...but still, the card is just great! I mean, it was in my favourites after all :) And i love cards showing anything traditional!

Now, I couldnt really find some reliable information about the kind of traditional clothes featured on this card...like on what occasions it is worn and from which part of Turkmenistan it originates and such...so if anyone knows, please help. And also, if you have info about the vessel the lady is holding and also the carpet/rug in the background, that would also be very appreciated :)

Bicycles

Have I ever told you how much I love my bike and that it is my main means of transport from April till November, weather permitting?
Well, Ive obtained a number of bicycle cards over the time, and I thought it was about time to give them some attention...Im still not sure if Im gonna start a collection of bicycle cards....though it is very probable to happen...I mean, cards with bikes are just so charming!

the one above is from one of my fairies, and this is from the Bryon fairy :) It shows a lovely mountain bike and mine is just similar to this one....though due to problems with the gears, it is not suitable anymore for mountains or some tougher destinations, but it definitely does its job for my everyday needs....I should maybe start thinking of a new one (my neighbour has a fantastic mountain bike which i used for a few months last year while mine was at the repair service (read, at home, in the back of my yard, waiting for my dad to find the time to fix it).
However, for now, finances are focused on some other stuff, but in the future i will get down to getting a new bike maybe.

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this is a great official card I received, showing some retro bicycles. Ive always wanted to try out those old bikes with the HUUGE front wheel, and a totally small one. I really wonder how does it feel to be riding such a bike and esp. how easy/difficult it is to get on/off. The Kripper (the tricycle) also seems extra cool!
Im just not sure if the bicyclette is just the french term for a bike or there are some differences between a bicycle and a bicyclette? anyone?

sorry for the slightly sidelong scan...I noticed it once i had uploaded the cards, so honestly, i didnt feel like doing it all over again :)
I had this card in my favourites for a long time, and in the end got it twice within a very short period of time :) The first one was sent by dear Peggy for her awesome Choose a country RR, while the other one for the favourites' tag :) Peggy says that there are 18 million bikes in the Netherlands, and 17 million people!? With 15.000 km of cycling paths! And here comes my frustration....recently, there was this law adopted, for cycling...which says that, you must ride your bike on a cycling path, or if there is no cycling path, on the ride side of the road, next to the pavement...otherwise, you pay a fine of 25 euros! For the love of God!! First of all, there are BARELY any cycling paths! And the ones existing, are almost always occupied with parked cars, or construction works or people walking and also, bus stops are always at the cycling path with people waiting, or people getting off the bus which makes it a great opportunity to simply stumble upon someone getting off! And in the end, it will be me paying the fine! I just dont know what smart head says that we should be riding ON the street, next to the pavement, and how on Earth could they find it safe? Not to mention that again, with the buses, and cars parked just right there, it is impossible to have a normal ride.
i cant promise when my next update will be...I have a lot of other things to catch up with, but I hope to see you soon...'till then, stay well :)

Pottinger Street, Hong Kong

this lovely surprise arrived from dear Iris who thought of me during a Hong Kong PC meet-up held on 18 March this year.

Here you can see the Pottinget Street, or Stone step street, one of the oldest streets in the central district.
It is made of stone steps and is named after the 1st Governor of Hong Kong, inclining from Caine Road to Hollywood Road and down to Queen's Road Central (ok, that's what the back of the card says, I dont really know of what importance are those other streets...if any). The traditional stalls you can see here sell ribbons, bows and buttons and neighboured with the modern buildings, this is where the old and the new, charmingly mix.

Can you spot the tourists?
I love such scenes, and im pretty sure i would find something interesting to buy here, even if i dont really need it...too charming to resist it :)

the stamp was issued in 2011, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. thank you so much dear for thinking of me! <3

Pichi Richi Railway, Australia

A great train card sent by dear Heather!

the card shows the NM25 locomotive on one of the Pichi Richi Railway's heritage train journeys.
The NM25 is said to be one of two surviving Commonwealth Railways (CR) 4-8-0 locomotives used to operate the Port Augusta to Alice Springs railway, built by built by Thompsons of Castlemaine in 1925.
The Pichi Richi Railway is operating regular heritage train journeys on the oldest remaining section of the famous narrow-gauge old Ghan railway.

I wonder how many train journeys are out there that id love to take...zillions!

and Heather used three awesome stamps, issued this year in a set of 5 stamps portraying city traffic. The left one shows a train in Perth, the one in the middle shows a tram in Melbourne, while the one on the right shows a double decker train in Sydney.

Thanks a lot Heather!!!