First holiday postmark

 I received a holiday postmark yesterday, a jolly snowman

Christmas Magic

 It is pretty much a rule for letters and postcards traveling between me and Eva (in Spain) that if items are mailed on the same day, they will arrive separately, having undertaken different journeys at some point. Just another one of the unexplained mail adventures. 

Eva wrote: What are the odds that two pieces of mail sent together arrive together? If that happens the magic of Christmas is real!

Well, this pair of Christmas postcards did indeed travel the whole way together, and. are the first to arrive for the season.

Do you believe in the magic of Christmas?

Discontinued

 Why is USPS showing a stamp on their website that is no longer available, instead of one of the 2024 stamps?

November 31

 From USPS' Postal Bulletin:

Happy November 31 to all who celebrate!

The Tempest

 Sunday Stamps on Monday...

This week's theme is Fatherly Figures. I chose a stamp from Royal Mail that features a line from the Shakespeare play The Tempest, thought to be one of the last he penned. This stamp was part of a set issued in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death.

The main character is Prospero, a father. And Shakespeare was a father himself, and can be considered a father of English writing.

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

Barns

 In the US, barns are commonly associated with rural life. Here is one on a presorted rate stamp, and a few on postcard rate stamps.

For links to more stamps with the theme of 'the countryside', head over to See it on a Postcard. 

Movement

 Today's Sunday Stamps theme is movement, and I have this first class stamp from Finland issued in 2008 showing a downhill skier. Impossible to appreciate in a flat image, this is a lenticular stamp that shows a different image when you tilt it.

For links to more stamps on today's stamps, visit See it on a Postcard.