Used stamps from Greenland

It has been a few years since I last purchased stamps from Greenland. They used to come from their philatelic office in Tasiilaq and one of the nice things about that was getting Greenland stamps on the package. Unfortunately their philatelic services are now based in Denmark. So no more Greenland  stamps and postmarks on orders.

My recent order of stamps from Greenland came in a plain cardboard envelope, actually mailed from Germany. No stamps on the cover. But knowing that collectors appreciate getting Greenlandic stamps on their envelopes they included this little packet of used stamps with my order and the card inside explained why they were included. 

It's a nice gesture. But not the same. I would rather have my orders mailed to me from Greenland, even if it takes a little longer. 

Ernest J Gains FDC, USA

Ernest James Gains was a famous American author whose work focused mainly on the lives of impoverished African-Americans living on the plantations of southern Louisiana. He grew up living in the old slave quarters of a plantation and in later life he moved back to the same property and built a home there. He had the old church he attended as a child moved to the property for preservation. The church is pictured on the postmark.

Nakashibetsu, Japan

From the town of Nakashibetsu in the Hokkaido prefecture. Stamps on the left are from a set of 1964 Olympic Games stamps that were issued in 1963. The 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo during October of that year were the first games to be held in Asia. And on the right is a 1993 Year of the Rooster lottery stamp. I don't know about the one in the middle. It's not giving me a lot of clues.

Big cover from Algeria

Lots of stamps on this one. Berries in the middle from 2021. To the right of those, a 2018 "Nelson Mandela" PAN African Postal Union joint issue and 2019 "Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Palestine". "Nation Innovation Day" from 2022 on the bottom and to the left, "Expo 2020 Dubai" issued in 2022.

Estonia, Preserve the Polar Regions

Postmarked at Kaubamaja which is a department store in Tallinn. The stamp sheet issued in 2009 was part of a joint issue between several countries to raise awareness about receding ice levels in the polar regions and glaciers of the world.

Carnaval de Québec

From Québec City in the Canadian province of Quebec. Every year they host a large winter carnival. This year it was held from February 3rd to the 12th although I read somewhere they had to delay the start because of cold weather. At the bottom of the postmark is the carnival's mascott Bonhomme, as in bonhomme de neige (snowman). The castle like structure at the top of the postmark is the hotel Château Frontenac. 

This is a stamp from 2004 that was part of a set featuring tourist attractions in Canada. When I think of Quebec's winter carnival, it's that snowman mascot that comes to mind. And the cold weather.

ISS EVA Postmark, Houston Texas

I had this datestamped with January 20th, 2023 which was the first ISS Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) of 2023. During their 7+ hour spacewalk astronauts Koichi Wakata and Nicole Mann installed solar array mounting brackets. 

Football FDC from Russia

A nice Russian FDC with recent football stamps on it, postmarked in Moscow on 20 January 2023. I don't know if there is an underlying theme (other than "sports") or reason behind this particular stamp issue. There was an ice skating stamp issued a week before this one that had a similar design. I like the Hyatt Regency envelope. It has good weight to it. This particular envelope was from the Hyatt Regency in Yekaterinburg.

Pinrang, Indonesia

Sent from Indonesia's Pinrang Regency, the souvenir sheet from 2001 commemorates Pos Indonessia's participation in "PhilaNippon 2001": the international stamp exhibition held in Tokyo in 2001. In the sheet's background is Japan's Mount Fuji on the left and Indonesia's Jaya Peak on the right

The Discovery of Amsterdam Island, TAAF

From the TAAF research station Martin-de-Vives on Amsterdam Island. Lots of handstamps on this one, front and back. The 2022 stamp commemorates the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Amsterdam Island.

TAAF Mineral Stamps from the Crozet Islands

Mineral stamps from the Alfred Faure research station in the French Sub-antarctic Archipelago known as the Crozet Islands. Always a pleasure to received covers from TAAF that were not sent by myself. Stamps from left to right, Amethyst, Chalcedony and Serpentine from 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively.

On the same day I received this second cover which I had prepared myself. Again, Serpentine on the right, but this time in raw form. The stamp on the left commemorates the 350th anniversary of the discovery of the Crozet Islands. It was handstamped by Kevin Duvent, Alfred Faure communication officer and postmaster, and biologist Robin Dardel.

Ghent, Belgium

Cloud stamps cut from a 2022 sheet. Cumulonimbus capillatus, half way to a thunder storm, on the left. And Cumulus congestus, a nice rain cloud, on the right. The postmark was applied at the large Belgium Post mail processing facility (Gent X) in Ghent.