Richard from Guangzhou (South China) sent me this view of Jigong Hill at Xinyang.

Beauties on an Outing  (Detail).
Came from Rosiel (Taiwan)... 

... with the incredible seal she made on the occasion of Year of the Rabbit.

Beauties on an Outing .
Attributed to Li Kung-lin (1049-1106), Sung Dynasty .
Handscroll, ink and colors on silk, 33.4 x 112.6 cm

This work is based on the archaic verse "Beauties on an Outing" by Tu Fu (711-770), who described therein the opulent beauty of the noble ladies of Ch'in, Han, and Kuo (the latter being the elder sister of the famous Yang Kuei-fei). Nine figures are shown here on an excursion on horseback in early spring. The plump ladies and muscular horses as well as the clothing, hairstyles, and coloring all suggest the style of T'ang (618-907) culture and painting. A late Northern Sung (960-1126) copy of a T'ang rendition of this subject is similar in composition to this one. Later connoisseurs, perhaps because Li Kung-lin was said to specialize in figures and horses, attributed it as a copy done by him. Actually, this work was completed probably some time after the Southern Sung period (1127-1279).

Amazing card from Anu (Helsinki, Finland). I adore retro
advertising. And the bicycles, of course*

Finnish stamps are always special!

I was really pleasantly surprised when I opened the envelope from Nina. Five (!) incredible cards with Frida! Thank you my dear Nina, you made me happy :)

Self-portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress, 1926.

Self-portrait with Necklace, 1933.

Frida, c.1943. Photo: Courtesy Guillermo Monroy.

Frida in a white dress.

The Suicide of Dorothy Hale, 1939.

Wiki says:
Dorothy Hale (1905-1938) was an American socialite and aspiring actress who committed suicide by jumping off a building in New York City. Hale was considered a remarkably beautiful woman with less remarkable talents who was introduced to high-society and luxury living. Her husband's death, followed by several unsuccessful relationships, left her financially dependent on her wealthy friends. Artist Frida Kahlo created a famous painting based on the incident titled The Suicide of Dorothy Hale.

Today I received a letter from Felice and it simply fascinated me. It is imbued with the romance and special charm.

"My burning passion
And my deep desire
Like a slow waltz
Will make us dizzy"

A reproduction of the vintage postcard.

Five amazing stamps!!!

Nice retro styled postcard from Irina (Moskow, Russia). Kremlin, Tsarskaya Square.

Stamps are gorgeous!

This postcard came from Natalya (Minsk, Belarus). It is dedicated to the Belarusian folk tradition of Kolyada (Christmas carol), which is celebrated from the end of December to mid January. Our cultures are very close, so here, in Ukraine, we have the same tradition. We sing "kolyadky" during the all Christmas holidays.

The monument of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań (Poland). Sent be Ewa from Torun.

Wiki says:
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (1798-1855) was a Polish or Polish-Lithuanian poet of the Romantic period. He was also a publisher and political writer, one of the founding thinkers of a Romantic movement called Polish messianism. He is one of Poland's Three Bards – a national poet of Poland and one of the greatest Slavic language poets alongside Alexander Pushkin. He has also been described as a transformation poet and Slavonic bard. He was the most prominent creator of Romantic drama in Poland compared both at home and in Western Europe to Byron and Goethe. He is known primarily as the author of the poetic novel Dziady and national epic Pan Tadeusz, which is considered the last great epic of Polish-Lithuanian noble culture. Mickiewicz's other influential works include Konrad Wallenrod and Grażyna. All served as inspiration during regional rebellions and as foundations for the concept of Poland as "the Christ of Nations". Mickiewicz was active in the struggle to achieve independence for his homeland, then part of the Russian Empire. Having spent five years in internal exile in central Russia for political activities, he left the Empire in 1829 and spent the rest of his life in exile, settling first in Rome, later in Paris, where he became professor of Slavic literature at the Collège de France. He died, probably of cholera, at Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, where he had gone to help organize Polish forces to fight against Russia in the Crimean War. His remains were later moved to Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland.

This winter view postcard arrived from Pia (Finland).

One more postcard from Netherlands. It came from Christa who lives in the city Roosendaal.

A women from Nuremberg (Germany) sent me this vintage postcard with a photo by Anni Kunze.

This postcard from Daniel depicts two span-, 280 ft. long Dummerston Bridge, built by Celeb B. Lamson in 1872. It is Vermont's longest covered bridge and historically one of the most important of its in United States. This bridge carries East-West Road over the West River.

A photo with the monument of wooden architecture in Tomsk (Russia). Came as a postcard from Natalia.

Ryazan Kremlin