Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear is second only to Winnie the Pooh when it comes to famous British bears, with Rupert Bear coming third. Let the arguments commence!

I'm sure there are plenty of other Paddington Bear postcards but this is one issued as a PHQ stamp card by the Royal Mail in 2014, part of a classic Children's TV series.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Train spotters

Children seem to do the same things the world over.  This could be a scene from "The Railway Children " (by Edith Nesbit) but in fact it's an oil painting by Pavel Gavrilenko, a Belarussian artist. It was painted in 1957, just four years before he died.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Ballet

I never did want to be a ballerina when I grew up.  Even as a child I knew I would never manage to look like this, though if I'd seen this card, maybe I might have tried a little harder.

It is a card of a very beautiful stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in 1998 to honour classical ballet.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Lazy days of summer

I was being lazy in Ireland last week, which would cover August 10th, National Lazy Day in the USA.  However, even though I say it myself, I was being quite active climbing the Hill of Howth, just north of Dublin.

The card is one I bought while there but I sent it to myself in the end. Céad Míle Fáilte means "welcome", or literally "a hundred thousand welcomes".  It's a good many years since I was there, not since I left school in Dublin, but I must say I found everyone very welcoming.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her to see if she was lazy or not.

Alice

Alice in Wonderland, by George Dunlop Leslie, 1879.

Since it's Mother's Day tomorrow in many parts of the world, I thought this picture of a mother reading to her daughter might be appropriate.  This is, in fact Leslie's own daughter, Alice.

The picture hangs in the Royal Pavilion, in Brighton.  It is one of the 54 tiny pictures of women reading on the postcard I received last December.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

La Fête du Muguet

Muguet, or lily of the valley, is traditionally given in France to wish people good luck and happiness with the arrival of spring.

May Day has been known as La Fête du Muguet since the 16th century when King Charles IX of France declared that anyone could sell flowers - for that day only - without a licence.

That said, the card was sent to me from Finland and on the back are the names of the plant in various other languages:

Convallaria majalis (Latin)
Kielo (Finnish)
Liljekonvalje (Swedish)
Maiglöckchen (German)

This is for Beth, who hosts Postcard Friendship Friday at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Memories

Memory, like music, weaves its spell of happy thoughts around us.

This is for Beth, who hosts Postcard Friendship Friday at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.  Please visit her and join in.

Spring flowers

The daffodils are almost finished and we have tulips!  I always love this time of year, when the days become longer and the birds are building their nests.  I just wish they wouldn't drop their nest-building materials on my balcony.

And where else would this card be sent from but The Netherlands!  With my past experience, it could have come from anywhere but in fact it did indeed come from The Netherlands.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy. Please visit her and join in.

Easter chick

I don't believe this really is an Easter card, but I love it.  It comes from The Netherlands and on the back says it was drawn by "Ilse", a primary school pupil, for something called "Action Schoolyard".

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.  Do visit her and join in.

Ready for Spring

The weather is finally getting warmer and people are tending their gardens.  I no longer have a garden, so I tend my pots on my balcony.  I have to recycle and reuse my pots because space is limited.  I noticed today one lonely miniature daffodil emerging where I was expecting mint to grow. It must have been incomplete recycling.

The postcard was sent to me very recently from Germany.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.  Just click on the button to visit her and join in.

Art Nouveau

Two beautiful examples of the style of art known in English as Art Nouveau which flourished between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.  It is known by different names in different languages: Jugendstil in Germany for instance.  Curiously in France it was given the name Modern Style.

The top card is one of Alfons Mucha's famous posters while the lower one is a perfume label from Russia.  Both were sent from Germany.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

A nice cup of tea

When it's cold outside, as it is here at the moment, there is nothing like a hot cup of tea (with maybe a biscuit or two).  This pen and ink drawing of a Russian couple enjoying the warmth is by Anatoly Kudravcev.  He was born in the village of Shanevo and this image is one of several he has drawn of village life.  I suspect village life is the same the world over.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

The Green Umbrella

When I was a little girl my aunt used to send me a series of books all about AmeliarAnne.  One of them was "AmeliarAnne and the Green Umbrella".  I never much liked the books but for some reason this one stuck in my mind, well, the title did.

So when this Christmas postcard arrived I immediately thought of AmeliarAnne. I know the little girl is sheltering from the snow but I could do with an umbrella tonight because we are having a torrential downpour as I write this. Except that I have no intention of setting foot out of doors until it stops.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Angels

"I send an angel to you while you sleep, it's watching over you".  A Christmas card from Finland.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

A cat at Christmas

By the look of him, I don't believe this cat is thrilled with his reindeer outfit but I think he looks really cute.  I'm just wondering whether I could find one for my cat...

Although it was sent from russia, it appears to be a card from a Chinese online publisher.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Robin redbreast

I haven't yet had any Christmas postcards sent to me this year but here is the next best thing, a robin, one of the popular symbols of Christmas.

It was sent from Germany so now I can add Rotkelchen to my list of international robins-in-translation.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Rue de Rivoli, Paris

I've loved this card since I first saw it in someone's gallery on Postcrossing but only this week it arrived in my letterbox as a great surprise.

It shows cute little children crossing, "crocodile" fashion, the rue de Rivoli in Paris just opposite the Jardin des Tuileries and the Louvre. It brings back so many memories from the three years I lived in Paris.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by Beth Niquette on her blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Apples and Books

When I chose this card I felt it had an autumnal atmosphere, the apple harvest having been good this year and I'm looking forward to reading by the fireside.  On closer inspection however the apples at the bottom left, and possibly the books on the right, seem to be partially buried in snow.  Oh well, it did come from Russia.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by Beth Niquette on her blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Too early for snow

Our summer is ending - you could almost say it ended at the beginning of August this year - but I haven't started to think of winter, or I hadn't until this card arrived.  A taste of things to come.

It is an oil painting, "Snow Cloudlet", by Belarusian artist Anna Silivonchik and sent to me from Russia.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by Beth Niquette on her blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Hola!

Arrived today from Spain, exactly the sort of shop I'd love to explore.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by Beth Niquette on her blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.