Celebrations

 Today is Candlemas - a day when it was traditional to take down Christmas decorations (mine were put away last weekend). The weather here has been hinting at spring, alternating between 30s and 50s (low single digits to low teens in Celsius), so it seems fitting that it is also Imbolc, the pagan festival celebrating the beginning of spring, coinciding with St Bridgid's Day on Feb 1st, a public holiday in Ireland. And last week was the Lunar New Year, saying goodbye to the Year of the Dragon and welcoming the Year of the Snake. The Snake is associated with mystery and elegance, intelligence and energy, renewal and transformation.

USPS continues its lovely series of Lunar New Year stamps. I am a bit disappointed that this one isn't in the form of a mask like the rest of the set, however it is a nice stamp, with bright red foil flowers. I received it on this fun exchange envelope - I love the little snake Jessica drew!

It is difficult to capture the foil elements in a photo. It is not obvious from USPS where the foil is (if Viridian posts today, perhaps she will show the full sheet).

In an amazing mail coincidence, I received this fantastic snake envelope (paint and collage) from Eric on the first day of the Year of the Snake.

Update: this envelope took a hint from the snake quality of transformation, and arrived in a different form to how it started its journey

For more snakes on stamps, explore the links at See it on a Postcard

Red

 Today's postcard hunt theme is the color red.

I received this card of Amsterdam's famous red light district via Postcrossing.

It is one of the best cards I have received, largely due to the message from the sender, who lives in Belgium:

    "I bought this card in Amsterdam. My sister lives there (she followed her love there). We. wanted to send a card to our nieces who were at camp with the youth movement. We found one in the style of van Gogh. And we searched for another one in the same style. We found this one (we were in a hurry). At home we realised by looking at it more closely, it was an adult card. We never sent it to camp!"

For more red postcards, explore the links at See it on a Postcard.

Alicia de Larrocha

 Today's Sunday Stamps topic is authors, poets and composers.

Eva sent me this great stamp featuring pianist and composer Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009). The blues of the background and the gold notes are much more impressive in person.

de Larrocha was born in Barcelona to a family of pianists, and began composing at the age of 7. She is recognized as one of the world's greatest ever pianists, and received  fourteen Grammy nominations, winning four times. You can read more about her many musical accomplishments on her Wikipedia page.

For links to more stamps on this subject, head over to See it on a Postcard.

Pink

 The postcard hunt theme today is pink.

Spring seems a long way off when the temperatures have been in the low single digits (Farenheit), and in the negative teens and twenties (Celsius).

To see more pink postcards, visit See it on a Postcard

Owls

 Today's theme is birds, and I received a wonderful owl-themed letter from Caroll, using one of the woodland animal stamps issued in 2023.

Caroll's letter was sent with this wonderful seal, which, impressively, traveled perfectly through the system.

For links to more bird-themed stamps, visit See it on a Postcard

Finale

 Well, if you've been following the package saga here's the latest from USPS

And PostNL has a nice positive message, even though they never did finish the calculation

Moving within the network

 The package is allegedly in Columbus, moving within the network. 

I usually take this to mean 'we have no idea where your package is'. It doesn't usually take more than two days to reach the local post office 🙂

Orange

 Today's postcard hunt theme is orange.

I love this card from Eva (sent in the before times - February 2020!)

And this Penguin Classics postcard,  received via postcrossing (also sent in the beforetimes, January 2020).

For links to more postcards with an orange theme, head over to See it on a Postcard.

Customs

 The package has arrived in Chicago, and has cleared customs!

PostNL is still calculating :)

Harbor of Refuge

 In the summer of 2021 I visited Delaware, and managed to find a postcard showing the Harbor of Refuge lighthouse so that I could mail it from there along with its matching stamp, issued by USPS earlier that year. 

Sent alongside the stamps of Navesink and Erie Harbor lighthouses.

Images from Mailadventures.

For links to more lighthouse stamps visit See it on a Poscard.

PostNL > USPS

 Eva mentioned that I should be able to track my package on USPS now that it has left the Netherlands.

Current PostNL information

Current USPS information

Although to be fair USPS was closed yesterday for President Jimmy Carter's funeral. 

The saga continues! 

Green

 Today's postcard hunt theme is green.

Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia looks like a fantastic place to visit.

For more green postcards, check out the links at See it on a Postcard

Calculating

The package crossed the border!

Not sure exactly what that means - probably means it left the Netherlands. I think some of it is slightly lost in translation.

I'll let you know the next time there's an update

PostNL apologizes

 Update on PostNL

In a surprise to no-one,  given the unrealistic timeline, the package was not delivered!

Gingerbread

 If you're in the path of storm Blair, keep yourself safe, and keep your mail for posting safe, too :)

Schultz

 Today's Sunday Stamps theme is illustrations, and I choose this great issue from USPS featuring the Peanuts characters created by Charles M. Schultz.  The stamps were issued in 2022 on the centenary of his birth. The words USA and Forever are faint grey, at the bottom of the stamps, which my scanner did not pick up. 

The stamps are arranged around an image of Schultz which is not a stamp. I did send it on some envelopes to receive the first day oof issue postmark, as seen on this image from Mail Adventures.

For links to more illustrations on stamps, head over to See it on a Postcard.

Blue

 Today's Thursday postcard hunt prompt is blue. Sea and sky in varying shades on this card from Vadehavet National Park in Denmark 

and on this one featuring a seagull in the German North Sea coast.

Optimistic start to 2025

 Happy new year, everyone! 

I love how PostNL believes this package is arriving in the US today 🤣

I am not sure I can match this level of optimism - perhaps 2025 can take a hint 😉