Summer Greetings from Shizuoka, Japan

Stamps from the annual Summer Greetings series from Japan Post. Soft-serve ice cream on the right and warabi mochi on the left. These are from a sheet of ten 85 yen stamps that all feature popular summer snack foods. The other sheet in the set has ten 110 yen stamps featuring fruit items that are popular in the summer, like the pineapple pictured in the first-day postmark.

Eureka Weather Station, Canada

It's been a while since I've received mail from Eureka: the Canadian weather station on Ellesmere Island. The postmark has been refreshed a little since then. And I guess Canada Post felt the stamp was too colourful for this cover so they decided to spoil it for me. Good job.

The Eureka research and weather station is quite far north, but not the most northern research station. That would be the Canadian military and research station of Alert which is about 400km north of Eureka, on the north tip of Ellesmere island. But Alert doesn't have a post office.

Summer Festivals in the Touhoku Region, Japan

The stamps on this cover from Shizuoka are from 1999 and feature two summer festivals held annually in Japan's Touhoku region. The Sendai Tanabata Festival is on the left and the Soma Nomaoi Festival is on the right. Sendai's Tanabata Festival is one of Japan's largest star festivals that celebrates the reuniting of two celestial lovers: Orihime and Hikoboshi. The city's streets are decorated with large paper ornaments (kazari) with long colourful streamers. Soma's Nomaoi Festival is an annual event in which hundreds of horseback riders dressed as samurai compete in traditional events and battles. It has been an annual tradition for over 1000 years.

80th Anniversary of the United Nations, Tunisia

A cover commemorating the 80th anniversary of the United Nations from the Ennasr district of Ariana, north of Tunis. The stamp was issued by La Poste Tunisienne in 2025.

A small collection of stamps from India

From Chakkarapalli, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A small assortment of stamps. Top right is a 2004 Olympic Games stamp. Top middle are a pair of stamps from 2011 commemorating the 10th presidential naval fleet review, with a MiG-29K on the right and the Presidents yacht on the left. Interesting combination. Far left is a 2026 commemorative the honors the shadow puppetry art known as Ravanchhaya. I like that one. And the final stamp honors those who dealt with controlling COVID in 2020.

Street Painters in France

On this cover from France are a pair of recent stamps. The 2026 stamp on the left features street painters, like the ones you would see in tourist areas in Paris. And the stamp on the right is from a 2025 booklet features images of the oceans. I believe the island on this stamp is part of the Glénan Islands.

Mailed in the envelope was this lovely old philatelic souvenir card from 1973. The first-day postmarked stamp commemorates the 46th annual National Philately Congress that was held in Toulouse that year. The image on the card is one of those silk prints that was popular or philatelic items back in the day. It's an image of the tower of the Toulouse capital buildings. Built in 1525, the structure has been the location of the city's tourist office since 1948.

Spanish Architecture

Here's a cover from Vigo on the north-east coast of Spain. On the left are a pair of stamps from a 2007 set showing Spanish architecture with the Market of Santa Caterina in Barcelona on the left and Terminal T4 at Barajas Airport in Madrid on the right. Top-right is a stamp from a 2002 showing Castillo de los Priores in Calatorao, Zaragoza. And below that is a 2002 stamp commemorating the founding of the city of Tudela in 1200.

Animal Illustrations by Kuwagata Keisai, Japan

The stamps on this cover from Osaka are from a 2019 set that features illustrations by ukiyo-e artist Kuwagata Keisai that are part of his 1797 "Abbreviated Drawing Styles for Birds and Animals" collection. On the right is an owl and on the left, a quail.

125th anniversary of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade, Serbia

On this cover from Sremski Karlovci, Serbia, is a set of four stamps from 2020 that commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade. Clockwise from top-right:

• The last bear of Jastrebac mountain, shot in 1885 by King Milan I Obrenović
• Jarandolite, a rare calcium borate mineral, found by geologist Dobrica Stojanović and described in 1992
• This one is a lable: a rare fungus, Myriostoma coliforme, commonly known as the saltshaker earthstar or pepper pot.
• A fossilized skull of an extinct crooked horned antelope
• Rtanjska metvica (a type of mint) that is critically endangered and endemic to Mt. Rtanj in Serbia

Artemis II Launch Cover

This is the Artemis II commemorative launch postmark that was (and I believe still is) available from the USPS. I got this one from the Cape Canaveral "Astronaut Blvd" post office and had it datestamped April 1: launch day. I previously received a cover with the Artemis II Mission Control postmark which also turned out well.

Algerian Traditional Dishes, FDC

On this cover are a pair of recent stamps from a set of four that feature traditional Algerian cusine. On the left is tikourbabine which is a stew combining semolina dumplings, vegetables and chickpeas in a spiced broth. And on the right is a tomato based soup and hand-made pasta dish known called chorba mkatfa.

Small Collection of stamps from Chile

A little group of individual stamps on this cover from Concepcion in central Chile. Clockwise from top-left: 

• a 2015 stamp commemorating the 120th anniversary of the State Defense Council, 
• a 2023 UPAEP stamp. The theme in 2023 was "philately and the postage stamp"
• a 2011 stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of the the Chilean National Congress
• a 2011 stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Chilean state-owned firearms and munitions manufacturer FAMAE. I was expecting more guns on that stamp. It wasn't instantly apparent from the imagery what it was about.