Month: May 2016

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with love from Greece (circa 2002)

With love from Greece

Best wishes from Greece. We’re enjoying sun and water every day. The landscapes are beautifull, the life is easy. We don’t need to worry about the weather because it’s always warm, so that we’re tanking energy for the next winter. Amicalement, Hervé & Family

A cheerful status update from French friends who are obviously making the most of the sunshine.

The post mark is very feint on this one; ‘ATHENS AIRPORT’ is just about legible, but unfortunately there are no clues as to the exact date or where else in Greece Hervé and Family might have visited.

The stamp is part of the definitive set celebrating Greek dancers, issued in 2002

Typical of many Greek Islands, the picture on the front features white buildings, blue roofs and sunny skies, but the printing on the reverse offers no indication of the exact location.

Many years ago, my in-laws arranged a French exchange for my husband in what transpired to be a futile bid to help him pass his O Level French exam.  Hervé, however, spoke reasonable English, and this enabled the friendship to flourish; although these days, I am the one that maintains it.  As young marrieds we stayed with Hervé and his wife in France and we continue to exchange news and greetings at Christmas.

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with love from Morzine, France (2016)

With love from Morzine

To Mum + Dad + Jas. Hope you guys are okay, season is passing by pretty quick. Love you all, See you soon Gus x

Post marked 24-02-16, the card carries a 20g stamp, which, as usual, features the symbolic Marianne. This particular Marianne design sparked considerable controversy when it was issued in 2013.

Morzine, featured on the front, is a very popular ski destination, particularly from the UK, as it is only an hour’s drive from Geneva airport.

The message is brief (I’ve seen longer Twitter posts!) and covers the important points.

Gus is our son, who spent the winter in Morzine improving his skiing. Obviously, during that time we were in regular electronic contact, hence the brevity of his message, but it was still exciting to receive this card, which required considerably more thought, time and effort to despatch than a text! We are very proud of Gus 🙂 

 

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with love from Ireland (1986)

With love from Ireland

Firstly, Belated congrats. Hope you’re both enjoying plenty of bliss! Well we’re now at the end of the Irish Tour 86. We’ve seen lots of Ireland like Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and back to Dun Laoghaire. Just about every place featured overleaf I’d say. As you’d expect we’ve dabbled a bit with the Guinness and checked out lots of cousins and generally speaking had a great time. Might see you if we come down for Sunderlands’ game at Portsmouth. Lots of love Gerard and the lads on hols!

An enthusiastic status update from the Emerald Isle where ‘Gerard and the lads’ obviously enjoyed themselves 🙂

Postmarked ‘DUN LAOGHAIRE 1.30pm 2 AUG 1986’ the card carries another, barely legible, postmark asking ‘are you on the VOTERS LIST…’

The 24p stamp features Cormac Chapel and is part of the Irish Architecture series issued between 1982 and 1990

Amazingly, this card was sent some ten years after we met on holiday as young teenagers! The card is addressed to both me and Simon and acknowledges our recent wedding; however, we did not meet up for Sunderland v Portsmouth. The good news is that I have now re-connected with Gerard and we have exchanged several emails. He (and his wife) still live 300 miles away, but we are thinking about planning a get together in conjunction with next season’s football fixtures 🙂 

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with love from Little Venice, London (2016)

With love from Waterside Cafe London

Mothers’ Day 2016 Hello Hilary, I’m meeting long lost Uni friends last seen 30 yrs ago – we’re all mothers but decided to do something for ourselves on mothers’ day this year. I’ve sniffed out some water that I’ve never found before in London – feel more at home on a barge than the city – there are even seagulls here! Sally x

Little Venice is a picturesque area of North London near Paddington station, where Sally and her friends are having a long overdue catch up.

Although this card was apparently written in London on mothers’ day (6th March 2016), the postmark, ’10-03-2016 Dorset & S.W. Hants’, indicates that it was posted several days later.

The card carries a first class stamp, which is purple instead of the usual red. The purple stamps are being issued for one year to commemorate the record breaking reign of HRH Queen Elizabeth II – on 9th September 2015 Queen Elizabeth became the longest reigning monarch in British history.

Sally and I met in the school playground about 20 years ago.  We became friends as a result of the friendships between our daughters and, although we no longer wait in the playground, we still see each other regularly; as do the girls 🙂