June So Far... In Postcards

Finally my two-week long (forced) vacation has begun! I thought if I didn't start writing my blog at the very moment, the perfect time to do it would never come. So here it is!

First off, I feel the need to brag about something insignificant yet so long waited that it's value has doubled. Today we moved the furniture in our bedroom to make some space and fixed a couple of shelves on the wall for my and only my personal clutter. In fact, there's never been clutter in our house, but I didn't have a desk, drawers or shelves to keep all my things together nicely organised (which is catastrophic for me), so my postcards, crafting supplies, books and sentimental rubbish was placed wherever it fit, in other words, all over the house. It's funny how I would find forgotten wrapping paper stuffed behind the winter clothes in the wardrobe or pieces of cardboard "stored" in the same box with cat litter...  Needless to say, I am thrilled and excited, but most of all surprised to see I can even fit a small desk into our already tiny bedroom and convert it into a mini daytime studio! I will definitely update on how the desk shopping is coming along, since it feels like early Christmas for me :)

And now on to the mail-related matters. It took me a month to learn photo editing basics, and I must assure you it was very much needed. I had tons of photos scattered between folders on my computer, most of them smartphone quality. I photographed many great envelopes I had received in the past with a real camera and that's pretty much the only parameter of the camera that I can give you... That, and that it weighs a kilo or two. Arh, let's face it, the only thing I suck at more than at photography, is cooking and "housewifing". Anyway, what I meant to say was that when I got the idea of starting a blog, it didn't occur to me that it was going to be extremely time-consuming and even more so if the person doing it was as detail-crazy as me. I guess once I get into the routine and have written the retrospective posts about all the great mail stuff that must not remain unwitnessed by the world, it will become easier, quicker and less frustrating.

Today I will show you the postcards I have received so far this month. I have been a postcrosser for almost four years, I sometimes participate in tags and round robins in the PC forum, I exchange postcards privately, I also had an account on the short-lived Walltype project website, I'm on a constant lookout for interesting postcard swaps on Swap-bot... Well, you get the picture of a typical New Age Postcard addict :)) Paper plus internet equals an amazing dynamic that I had been looking for since childhood, when penpaling was like a disco party for an introverted individual, except that you could find the courage to go up to somebody make and acquaintance. As of today, I have received 358 written and stamped postcards (actually, I thought it was more), some of them make me drool every time I go through the collection, some of them are butt-ugly (I am sorry if it was you who sent me a church in the middle of a field), some of them are nearly illegible and others are like masterworks of calligraphy. Most of them also come with nice stamps, which isn't the case for most of my outgoing mail. Pretty and varied stamps are almost extinct in crisis-stricken post offices in Spain. However, even the cheesiest and least artistically valuable postcards are very dear to me. They all smell of paper, glue and ink, and that's the greatest side effect of sending "naked" postcards!

So here's the first postcard dose of June.

From The Netherlands via Postcrossing

So cheerful!

From Japan via Postcrossing

From Russia via Postcrossing

This postcard is actually curious. It's an ad-card advertising touristic trips to Norway. You can see the amazing Preikestolen here. I've only visited Oslo in Norway, and I'm dying to see the Northern part and more of the nature.

From Israel via Swap-bot

("My Favorite Time of the Day" swap)

From U.S.A. via Postcrossing

The sender included most random facts and personal details, like that his three chihuahuas together weighed 16 lbs or  that 1692 nineteen people were hanged in his town... Hilarious! This postcard really made my day.

From Canada via Postcrossing

This great "Where is Waldo?" posctard came from Newfoundland. Oh, how like its rounded corners and the puzzle!

From Germany via Postcrossing

Gorgeous!

From The Netherlands via Postcrossing

This was one of my favorites on the site. How kind of this postcrosser to send me the card!

From Japan via Postcrossing Forum

(Japan & Other Countries RR Group)

From Russia via private swap

A hypsometric map print of the Russian Empire in 1912.

From Russia via Postcrossing

Isn't it just the most "summery" and mouthwatering postcard ever?

From Jordan via Swap-Bot

("One Person From Each Country" postcard swap)

My first postcard from Jordan!

From U.S.A via Swap-Bot

(Serial PC Swappers - Week #114: Birds)

From Sweden via Postcrossing

Yeeeeeaaaah ABBA!!! Although Agnetha Fältskog looks (?) rather pregnant and Frida Lyngstad seems to have puffy hangover circles around her eyes, ABBA still is the perfect representative of the '70s.

From Taiwan via Postcrossing

Ten different countries in two weeks! Let's see what the final score of the month will be! 

Thanks for stopping by!