In: from France

I love comics-like illustrations, and I love lighthouses on postcards, so I was delighted to find this postcard in my mailbox, sent from France by Eva.
This is the bateau feu (French for lighthouse ship) Sandettié, named after the sand bank in the North Sea between France and the United Kingdom. A newer version, the Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic nowadays is used as a weather station.



Thank you very much, Eva!

Sunday Stamps: tall ships

This Sunday Stamps' theme is 'tall ships'.

For mail lovers of course this tall ship is a favourite one, as this ship was meant and used for mail transport:



The word 'tall ship' (in Dutch also in English) I heard for the very first time just two years ago, when the event Sail Amsterdam took place. I didn't have time to visit the event, but friends who did, told me they were impressed by the amazing tall ships, and they showed me beautiful photos. So hopefully I can take a look next time, in 2020 that will be.

This stamp sheet, Dutch PostNL issued in honour of the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam, shows one - tiny! - tall ship, see bottom right:



A similar old tall ship has been pictured on this recent stamp, part of a six stamps sheet connecting the Netherlands and Australia:



A tall ship (in Dutch also 'zeilreus', 'sail giant') is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing ship. I though it always has more than one mast. So I am not sure if the following, modern, vessel will belong to this Sunday's theme. At least she sails over the oceans, and is underways for a very long time, an amazing journey. On this stamp sheet, issued by PostNL in 2015, you can see the vessels and sailors in action:



See more stamps on this interesting theme at and via Sunday Stamps.

In: from the United Kingdom

I was wondering why John had sent me a postcard showing a boat, until I read the description on the back side. It is a Floating Post Office!
The photo was taken in 1934 at the Liverpool Docks (photographer unknown, alas), and now is in the British Postal Museum & Archive.



And I keep on learning thanks to stamps! The postcard was sent one day before Commonwealth Day, an unknown day to me until now. This year the day happened to be on the same date as in 1983 (I learned thanks to wikipedia).

Thank you very much, John!

In: from Greece

Binnen een week reisde deze post van Kreta naar Nederland.
Hierboven zie je heerlijk vers fruit op een markt in Chania.
En hieronder slechts een fractie van de duizenden, misschien wel miljoenen vlinders die rondfladderen in de Petaloudes Vallei van Vlinders op Rhodos. Deze vlindersoort is Euplagia quadripunctaria rhodosensis, een ondersoort van de vlinder die in het Nederlands 'Spaanse vlag' heet, in het Engels 'Jersey tijger' (en in het Duits 'Russische beer').

In less than a week this mail traveled from Crete, Greece, to the Netherlands! Above you can see delicious fresh fruit at the market of Chania.
Below you see just a small part of all thousands or millions of butterflies who are fluttering in the Petaloudes Valley of Butterflies on the isle of Rhodes.
The butterfly is called Euplagia quadripunctaria rhodosensis, a subspecies of the butterfly who in Dutch is called 'Spaanse vlag', which means 'Spanish flag', while the English name is 'Jersey tiger' and the German name 'Russian bear'.





Thank you very much, moltes gràcies, Eva!