Canada - British Columbia

March 9, 2020

This gorgeous card came from Marty in Canada. He sent this great card with a cool note on the back.

He wrote,
" Becoming excited. I accepted a new job that begins in two weeks. I will be cooking for children who are vegan or gluten-free or have other food allergies. It is a little overwhelming as this is a lot of responsibility. I will be ready. I have been searching the internet & Facebook and cookbooks to gather ideas and recipes.

Marty

Canada - Art

January 31, 2020

Shelley sent this pretty card to me from Toronto. She wrote a friendly short note on the back too.

She wrote,

"Hi Helen,
Greetings from Toronto! We are enjoying some mild weather today and it reminds me of spring!
I can't wait to see the first tulips of the season,

Shelley"

The Tulip Fairy
From Flower Fairies of the Garden
By Cicely Mary Barker

Cute Christmassy stamps!

Canada - My Hometown!

June 18, 2018

This fabulous, super, wonderful card came to me from my home province of Alberta in Canada.  The sender very kindly wrote a friendly note and sent a card from my hometown!

Glenn wrote:

Hey Helen,
Hello from Airdrie, the small town just north of Calgary that's grown now to over 65,000. Thought I'd send you a little bit of Edmonton. It's the New Rogers Place. I guess when you com back this way, you'd see big changes in Edmonton. I know Calgary has sure grown in the last 25 years.

Take care 'eh.
Glenn

I really enjoyed getting this card, even though I haven't seen Rogers Place yet.

Rogers Place, located in the Ice District, is a multi-use indoor arena in
 Edmonton, Alberta. It is mainly used for ice hockey and other indoor
sports, but is also configurable as a venue for concerts or other events.

Some lovely Canadian stamps on offer too.  Of course, fitting in the hockey theme, there's a hockey stamp, also Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second and some Art (but not a Garfunkle).

Thanks Glenn, I always enjoy receiving cards from Canada, it doesn't happen all that often sad to say.

Canada

July 7, 2017

This card came from Canada. It was sent by people in a long term care home, and is a lovely card.

They wrote,

Hello! We are a long-term care home in London, Ontario.  London has a pop'n of 381,000.  We have lots of programs here, such as bingo, woodworking, musical entertainment, trivia, word games, Zumba, and so much more!  We've been getting a lot of rain lately, but hoping for warmer weather!

Your friends at Henley Place.

There's No Place Like Home

March 4, 2017

The topic for today's Blog Linky Party is Home.  That poses a difficult question for me.  Should I choose the country that I have been living in for almost 20 years (my Japanniversary is at the end of this month), or do I pick the country where I was born, and spent many of my formative years?

Home to me is still Canada.  I was born in Edmonton and raised there until I was four.  After that, my family began a nomadic existence for a few years as my father worked for oil companies all over the world.

When we came back to Canada I was not quite a teenager and from then on I wanted to go to the big city, Edmonton.  We lived about 75 miles outside the city, so a trip to Edmonton was always exciting, even if it was with my parents!

After university, I moved to Edmonton and even now, that is my hometown.  I have three cards to show you today.  The first one is a general view of Edmonton in summer.  Summer in Edmonton is glorious but very short!

Bird's Eye View of Downtown

I often took a bus to the downtown area to see movies or to go shopping.  It has changed a lot since I moved away, but I try to keep up with the changes!

This is the area of Edmonton that I used to live in, Old Strathcona. It was near the University of Alberta, and many of the buildings along this street are rather historic.  In the near left of the picture, you can see the Princess Theatre.  When I lived in Edmonton, I lived and worked in Old Strathcona and it was wonderful.  I saw many, many of my favourite films at the Princess.  I used to have a membership there and went once or twice or even more times a week if I had the money and they had films that I wanted to see.

One of the few times that I have ever done a swap for a postcard was when I saw that a person in Canada had sent out a postcard from my University.  I begged her to send me one and she graciously agreed.  Camrose is a small city outside Edmonton.  I wanted to go to a smaller university, where I wouldn't be lost in the crowd.  I think I made the right choice.

Old Main Building, Augustana Campus,
University of Alberta

Although the campus has changed greatly, Old Main remains in place.  It has been updated, but for me, this postcard shows my "home" where I went to University and started my journey to become me!


I hope that you have enjoyed my quick look at my hometown(s) and will visit the other members of the Blog Linky Party.  Thanks for visiting me today.

Canada

February 9, 2017

This card was sent by someone from my hometown.  How cool!

She wrote,

"Happy Birthday. 🎈🎈🎈

I am from Edmonton Canada and am Canadian.  I love Japan and want to go there someday if lucky."

It arrived a little late for my birthday, but early for Valentine's Day.  A nice card!

Canada

October 25, 2016

I always have a little smile when I receive a card from Canada.  They aren't all that common, at least not for me.  I receive the most cards from Germany, then Russia, followed by the Netherlands.  I didn't even receive a Canadian card in my first hundred cards I got.  So, when this cute little card popped into my mailbox I was very happy.

Emma wrote,
"Hello Helen,
I'm writing from Prince Edward Island.  Beautiful day here.  I'm catching up on chores.  Saw this in your favourites.  Take care,
Emma"

It's so cute!

And look at these stamps!  A Star Trek stamp!  So cool! I like the other two as well and am glad they aren't normal ones!  

Canada

July 19, 2016

I received this great card from Kim from Vancouver and it was a delight.  Not only was it sent by another Canadian, but she recommended a film to me that I haven't seen.  The funny thing is that I have seen an earlier film by the same director and loved it, so as soon as I can, I'll take her advice!

Kim wrote,

"Hello Helen!  Greetings to a fellow Canadian from Vancouver, BC!  I hope you're having a wonderful day!  My favourite Canadian movie is "Hard Core Logo" with Hugh Dillon and Callum Keith Rennie.  It's a fake documentary about a Canadian punk band (also fake) and I love it!  If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend!

All the best - Kim"

Here's the IMDb entry for Hard Core Logo.

The other interesting thing about this particular Postcrossing is that the card she sent me is from Squamish.  A couple of nights before I received this card, I had watched a film called Horns which was partially filmed in Squamish.  The coincidences were all very cool!

Located 5km south of Squamish, Shannon Falls is the third highest waterfall
(1,105ft/335m) in British Columbia.

Many of the Canadian postcards are pre-stamped so it was a bit of a treat to receive a "real" stamp on this one.  This is a wapiti or elk.

Thank you so much for the card Kim, it is always lovely to receive a postcard from "home"!

Canada - Tea

June 21, 2016

It's always a happy day for me when I receive a postcard from my own country.  I know how much sending a postcard is in Canada, and it is a lot more than it costs me to send a postcard here.  In Canada, there is no special rate for an international postcard, it costs the same as a letter, which is a lot if you ask my family!

However, Irene chose to join Postcrossing and sent me a great card for my Tea related collection AND was nice and chatty on the back so I'm very happy.

Irene wrote, "Hello, My name is Irene and I am now retired.  I worked in libraries, in television, on newspapers, in bookstores and with a literary festival.  Everything to do with language and writing and reading.
     My favourite movie is an oldie-black and white-Laura starring Gene Tierney.  I also enjoy watching Fred Astaire films.  Happy Postcrossing."

I love this cool stamp celebrating the year of the monkey.  I haven't seen it before.  My family usually emails me, so I don't get a lot of "mail" from them!

Thank you Irene!

Canada

January 12, 2016

I received this interesting and self-made card from Nadine in Montreal.  I  liked it, but had no idea what was in the picture.  I asked her about it and she very nicely replied and told me that it is a close up photograph of an ornament.  I had a few ideas but that wasn't one of them!

Nadine writes,"Hello, I am Nadine, living in Montreal, Canada.  I love to knit, crochet and play piano.  2 years ago I started to grow orchids.  My favourites are miniatures.  Best wishes for the New Year! Nadine"

The stamp has an interesting history  It commemorates the HMS Erebus, an ill fated ship that was lost in the Arctic in 1848.  It was finally found.  The story can be found on Wikipedia, here.

Canada

January 7, 2014

Dawn sent this card from Canada and says that she had a White Christmas in Ontario and it had been quite cold, cold enough to have Frost Quakes.  

She writes that she loves moose, and just spent the weekend in Algonquin Park.  

The Canadian moose is the undisputed king of the antler world.

I like the cute little stamp she used, and of course the Maple Leaf sticker!  I enjoy hearing about the weather so I appreciate her noting it for me.  

A Special Card

From South Africa, 1968

When I was a child, my father worked for various oil companies.  One of the companies was in South Africa.  He went there to work and my mother and sister and I followed him a few weeks later.  

Recently, I was in Canada and was going through old photos and I found this special card.  My father sent this card to us to let us know how he was and to say how much he missed us.  It was a lovely look at the early part of my parent's relationship.

Koeberg National Road Intersection, Devil's Peak, and
Table Mountain, Cape.

Canada

September 17, 2013

I saw this card on someone's Postcrossing wall a long time ago and loved it.  I hoped that I would receive one, but it seemed to be quite an old card.  I wasn't sure it was still available.  It is from a series of Canadian actors, so even though it isn't in my favourite black and white, I wanted it!  Imagine how happy I was when it popped up in my mailbox!

darkpunkangel was kind enough to send me this card.  She wrote a lovely message to me.  She started by saying, "Greetings from a fellow Canadian!"  One of her favourite Canadian movies of all time is called Bon Cop, Bad Cop.  She writes that it is about 2 cops, one from Toronto and one from Montreal, who are forced to join forces to solve some hockey related murders amongst rumours that a Canadian team is going to the States.

Actor Raymond Burr
(Television's Ironside, amongst other roles)

She hopes I like this postcard.

I loved this card. I was thrilled to receive it.  I watched a few episodes of Ironside in my youth.  

The stamp is a repeat of the front of the card basically, it is a printed on picture of Raymond Burr so I didn't scan it.  

Thank you so much darkpunkangel. I love it!!!