Good day, and welcome to my blog.
I am visiting relatives so I have to be quick today. In our tour of the alphabet we are up to the letter P and I have some stamps from Portugal:
A still life with a guitar featured.
Visit SeeitonaPostcard for more participants.
I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl
Viridian
Hello and welcome to my entry for Sunday Stamps. I did not participate last week as I only had a stamp of a spider, which our hostess does not like.
Anyway, onto endangered species. I have shared this stamp before but it is very appropriate for today.
As I wrote a few years ago:
This is a pretty bird with a sad story behind it. This is the Azores bullfinch. Its species name is Pyrrhula murina, and it is endemic (meaning it is found only there) to the islands of the Azores, a small archipelago of islands in the North Atlantic that belong to Portugal.
Not only that, it is endemic to one island only, São Miguel Island.
Not only that, it is found only in the forests of the mountains in the eastern part of the island.
It likes the native laurel forests, and it is threatened by deforestation and the growth of non-native species.
In 2003, it was estimated that there were only 400 individuals left. However in 2008 it was estimated that there were 775 individuals left, so there is some hope.
Visit Seeitonapostcard to see who else is playing!
Viridian
Happy Postcrossing!
What is it? “It's a project that allows anyone to receive postcards (real ones, not electronic) from random places in the world.”
You send a postcard to an unknown person anywhere in the world. After they receive it and register it, your name goes in the queue for a random person to send a postcard to you. At the beginning, you may send up to 5 postcards at a time.
I was skeptical at first, and wondered if problems could arise – after all, you have to put in your real name and mailing address. Also I was doing this to help my 7 year old daughter with a second grade geography project. I wasn’t going to put HER name in the system!
I chose to send 4 postcards, to Finland, Australia, Germany, and Norway. This included a mom of a 2 year old, a student studying in Cologne, a woman genetics engineer. All sounded like such great interesting people! As they registered my postcards, I was free to then send more. I sent a few more postcards.
Then, a few postcards trickled in. The first was a boring card from Finland. Then one from Taiwan. Then a card from Austria with a reproduction of a painting of a beautiful Austrian princess. A scene from an Irish market town, signed by a mom with 3 children the same age as mine. Then, one from an 8 year boy in Poland, signed up and helped with his English by a neighbor. Well, my children thought this was the greatest thing! Children just like them, sending postcards! That’s when my daughter insisted she wanted her own Postcrossing account.
Since then I have exchanged with at least 3 school groups involved in Postcrossing as a school project, and one home-schooled family also involved in teaching geography this way. I have also exchanged with high school and college students, home-bound people, retirees, and people who love postcards and stamps. In 500 days I have sent 244 postcards, and received 229. I have sent or received cards from 47 countries.
Yesterday the mail delivered my biggest haul of Postcrossing postcards yet – 6!
1. Germany: From a young woman in the tourist industry.
2. Brazil: From a 13 year old boy in an English Language program, sending cards and writing in English as part of an assignment to improve his English. His card was a great photo of Rio de Janeiro.
3. Czech Republic: a man close to my age, very active in Postcrossing, from a small village near Pilsen, who sent a card of a beautiful rushing stream in a Czech nature preserve.
4. Thailand: Postcard of an elephant being trained to paint (!) from Ting.
5. Portugal: From Ana, close to my age and mom of 3 children.
6. Netherlands: from a high school student who loves music and plays the oboe.
Why do I write this entry today? Well, because I received 6 postcards in the mail… but also because I heard from A Postcard a Day that she drew my name in Postcrossing! How unusual is that? It is such a small world.
Viridian
