Roundup of Postcrossing arrivals and thank-you notes

It's been a busy end of the summer for the Essex Road postal carriers, with a lot of outgoing and incoming Postcrossing cards. Here's the latest roundup on some cards and notes I've received:

Shown above is a postcard from Denmark that features a 1998 Göran Stenberg photograph of a sleepy girl at a pageant. The note on the back, from Lars, states:

Hi Chris,
here is a card from Saint Lucia's Day, which is celebrated in Scandinavia on 13th of December. Usually girls dress up as the saint and sing songs. In Denmark it has not a very long tradition, it was imported from Sweden in 1944.

Another card that I received is from China, and it's shown at right. The sender writes writes: "Hello, Chris. Greetings from China. My name is Yuri. I like travelling. Every year I go on a trip with my dear friend. My wish is that I can go out and travel every where. At last, happy postcrossing."

Here are some other notes from recent Postcrossing arrivals:

From Liisa in Finland: "Hi Chris. You have a honour to get my very first postcrossing card. This was an idea which I got in the middle of my working day and that is why I send you a postcard which I had with me. Sorry theme is not 'autumn.' Here in Northern Finland we have almost autumn. I love walking in autumn forest, picking berries and mushrooms."

From Jouni in Finland: "Dear Chris, Greetings from Finland! Bear has been an important gesture in our local fairytales and stories."

From Hanna in Germany: "I hope this postcard finds you well! My name is Hanna and since it says in your profile that you like (old) books I picked this postcard for you. I, too, like books and I enjoy decorating my postcards with tape and stickers. We are waiting for a thunderstorm here! Best wishes and happy postcrossing."

From Yuri in Israel: "Greetings from Ashdod, Naval port-city, placed on Israel's Mediterranean coast. Our city also known as 'sea gate to country' because very high naval traffic via port system. We have long sandy beaches, old lighthouse and crusader fort on sea shore."

Thank-you messages

And here are some nice emails of thanks from folks who have received my Postcrossing cards:

• Natasha from Russia wrote: "Thank you very much for the wonderful postcard! I also want peace and harmony on Earth! I looked to your blog."
• Melita from Germany wrote: "Greetings from Germany. Thank you so much for your amazing card. I love it!!! The moment when I open my mail box is so exciting, I love it to find snail mail and postcards in it. It makes me so happy. Postcrossing is awesome."

• Michalina from Poland wrote: "Thank you for the wonderful card! It's nice to hear that there are also people who like reptiles! I also love turtles and breed turtles at home."
• Akemi from Japan wrote: "Thank you for the postcard. I saw alpacas and llamas in zoo. Have a nice day."
• Clarisse from Martinique wrote: "I love your card! I don't know anything about baseball unfortunately, it's not really common in France. Have a great day!"
• Katja from Germany wrote: "Thank you for the nice postcard. I like your handwriting and I agree that too many people don't bother with cooking any more. I cook every day for my family and nobody is obese. It is cheaper to cook at home but it takes a lot of time too. When we visited our daughter in Nebraska in April this year I was allowed to cook a German meal in the family's kitchen and I think they liked it. The American supermarkets are really a paradise for me."
• Sajal from the United Kingdom wrote: "Thank you so much for the gorgeous postcard! I absolutely love it. What a beautiful painting. I must research some of this artist's other work. Congratulations to your daughter for her performance in the Shakespeare play. ... A Midsummer Night's Dream & the classic Romeo & Juliet are my favourites. Thanks once again for bringing a smile to my face."
• Alexsandr from Russia wrote: "Thank you for your message and postcard. I like a pic on the front of the postcard and a stamp for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. When I was a child this movie impressed me so much. Postcrossing is interesting for all ages. I am glad for your daughter. To play a role is difficult task."
• Nora from Ireland wrote: "Greetings from Galway city on the west coast of Ireland — along The Wild Atlantic Way. Thank you so much for the beautiful and truly wonderful postcard. It brightened up my letterbox today and I really appreciate it. The stamps used on the postcard are great too."
• Mia from Belgium wrote: "Thank you very very much for the beautiful interesting card and stamps that you have send to me. I love it! I have consulted Google to read some more about Dover, Pennsylvania. I wish you all the best and your mailbox brings you smiles and pretty little touches from around the world. Many warm greetings from Belgium."
• Hannalore from Germany wrote: "Warm greetings from Germany to you, your family and your 5 silly cats! Thank you very much for the wonderful drawing card, for the many beautiful stamps and for your interesting message too. I like it very much."