give me a cuke

Suganuma Ryuko, whose family runs the best traditional sweet shop in Tono, sent this wowie postcard of the mischievous water imps known as kappa. Fond of cucumbers, kappa are much associated with Tono and other places in Iwate prefecture. The Legends of Tono, a remarkable collection of down-and-dirty local tales first published 100 years ago, contains several stories about kappa. The book is definitely worth a search.

piccadilly circus

Any postcard that features mass transit in any way is OK with me. This one came from a Kiwi postcrosser enjoying life in London.

really a tiger!

LRMB visitor Hester Wright created this wonderfully insouciant 'tiger' for the Year of the Tiger. Her message on the back read: "The cat said, 'I'm really a tiger!'" What a treat! Thanks a heap!

tinkle-tinkle

Tokyo friend Terada Motoko sent this lovely mid-summer greeting. The glass wind chimes on it are collaged pieces from Japanese handmade paper.

the dobber

Another baseball-themed card. This one was not altered but fun nonetheless.

cool it

Sandy S sent this card that she made. I think she got tired of my whining about the weather. Did I mention that it's hot and humid? Today we've got the three h's going. Add hazy to the mix.

fly away

In case I need to mention it, altering cards amuses me. I sent this one to mrpotani.

aurora borealis

The Finnish postcrosser who sent this card wrote that she loves the Northern Lights (me, too) but hasn't seen them in years because she lives in southern Finland, that Lapland is the place where they are common. Now, that was a surprise. I would have thought that anywhere in Finland was good viewing for the aurora borealis.

krazy k

This time an altered card on a baseball theme, specifically #38, often called Krazy K, who had a storm-tossed week.

tiger baby

This tiger cub is adorable. What a great photo! It comes courtesy of a French postcrosser who loves cats of all kinds. She has two of her own, volunteers at a shelter for homeless cats, and is now host family for seven kittens waiting for adoption.

handmade soba

A friend was telling me about her granddaughter making handmade pasta at chef camp this summer. That was impetus for turning a couple of pamphlets that have been hanging around for years into a card about one of my favorite foods in the world: soba. Nothing like chilled buckwheat noodles in summer or any season.

romantik

A German postcrosser turned a flyer from a recent exhibition he attended into a postcard.

altered garlic

A pamphlet from the main market in Budapest has been sitting around here for years. I knew one day I would use the garlic and pepper images in it and now I have. Both cards are large-format postcards. The one above is, I think, of Lake Michigan. I added Mt. Fuji and such because lots of people mistake the lake on first sight for an ocean. The Japanese text in the lower one comes from the 'obi' for a lovely book here about fave writer Miyazawa Kenji and his childhood friends.

airmail

A card all about the mail from a postcrosser in Japan.

so many stamps

snow 'n surf

I sent this altered card to Sandy, who had sent the original card, from the 1950's, to me. She got its cooling intent.

charleroi

This view of St. Christopher's Basilica in Charleroi is from a Belgian postcrosser. He lives in the French-speaking part of the country and is much concerned about the deepening tensions between the Flemish-speaking part of the country in the north and the French-speaking part in the south. It is a very real fear, he writes, that Belgium may "disappear in the medium term."

helsinki with daisies

I like the bright design of this card, too. Daisies do it! Clockwise from top left: Lutheran Church, Winter Garden, Sea Fortress, and Orthodox Cathedral. The card with explanation was from a Finnish postcrosser.

schollenen

Love this card from a Swiss postcrosser. Schollenen Gorge, a dramatic bit of Swiss scenery with sheer granite walls, is known too for its spectacular bridges and tunnels. The most famous is the Devil's Bridge. From what I am able to gather, this image was painted alongside the entrance to a tunnel over the bridge by Swiss painter Heinrich Danioth (1896-1963).

torachan

Kyoto friend Kamano Sachiko drew this impromptu thank you on the back of an envelope of things she recently sent. It is in reply for a tiger photo/card I sent her some weeks ago, which, she writes, made the house tiger happy. The tiger cub is waving a Hanshin Tigers pennant. Everyone in the family is a rabid fan of that baseball team.

more stamps than cards

one way

Only one way to go and that is up.

snow, wonderful snow

Just look at that snow!

idyll

A Swedish postcrosser sent this card showing a Carl Larsson painting called Idyll. Nice and all that but my idea of an idyll in this weather is more like the vintage card above.

bunny bergman

Sandy Sapienza altered a 1946 postcard of Ingrid Bergman with a rabbit that appears to have stepped out of the garden. I think she used the winter stamp to tweak me. It looks to me like a used stamp but I note there was no stamp on the address side of the card. Hmmm.

der tiger

Folio Deux sent this wonderful tiger, which she found in a grab bag of cards recently purchased. The postcard shows a wonderful 1912 painting called Der Tiger by Franz Marc (1880-1916). Thanks for thinking of LRMB!

when in doubt, go stamps

Two of these stamps (Russia and Finland) may be repeats but I like them.

circles

Sandy S. made this card. I particularly like the effect of the many multicolored circles.

zippo

PostMuse sent this card from a visit she made to the Zippo factory in Bradford, Pennsylvania. I've been there a couple of times. If you are in that part of the world, it's a place that should not be missed.

st. petersburg

A Russian postcrosser sent this romantic view of the Bank Bridge on the Griboyedov Canal in St. Petersburg. She lives in Moscow but she loves St. Petersburg.

sauna window

A Finnish postcrosser send this card, which shows a window in an old sauna building. She writes that she has a sauna at her summer cottage and in her city apartment. Lucky!

three from sandy

Three cards arrived all at once from Sandy S. This one she got on the way home from a trip to Virginia. It gives an interesting perspective on the bridge-tunnel.

She also sent this card she made from some stickers she found, urging me to reuse the sticker on another card. Now that's recycling!

The Shirley Plantation, in Charles City, Virginia, is the oldest plantation in the state. Direct descendants of the original owners still live in the house. Sandy wrote that the docent who gave them a tour was an excellent storyteller who brought the plantation history to life.

wrigley field

This card of Wrigley Field is doing double duty, here and at diamondposte. It was among the vintage cards recently sent me. What makes it special is the hope-springs-eternal message on the back. The card was written out and addressed but not stamped. Too late now.

isadora duncan by steichen

This classic photo by Edward Steichen, of Isadora Duncan standing at the portal of the Parthenon, makes a mighty fine postcard.

postcrossing is five!

Today is the 5th anniversary of Postcrossing. Congratulations and thanks to Paolo and his crew for keeping the happy mails coming and going! Join the fun at www.postcrossing.com.

one finnish, one german