'Lättähattu' train, Finland

The Finnish Post issued a set of gorgeous train stamps earlier this year. I've already managed to get them all in my collection. This blue train is possibly one of my favourites, and I was really happy to receive it on a matching postcard.



The Dm6 and Dm7 were diesel multiple units built by Valmet in the 1950s and 1960s for VR (the state-owned railway company in Finland). They are known by their nickname lättähattu (Finnish for "flat hat", the first widespread youth culture movement in Finland).

At the beginning of the 1950s it became clear that VR needed multiple units to compete with buses in short-distance traffic. In 1952, seven Dm6:s were ordered from Valmet, and eight more the next year. After testing the Dm6:s and having noted that the new DMU:s worked well in Finnish conditions, VR ordered more units. In total, 197 Dm7 class multiple units were built with some modifications (a larger wheel size, for instance).

Three Dm7:s (numbers 4145–4147) were transformed into goods transport vehicles. They were withdrawn in 1981. All Dm6:s have been withdrawn from service. 20 Dm7:s are preserved by Finnish museum railway associations. No 4020 is at the Finnish Railway Museum.

autumn in Austria

Ha! The weather reports were wrong, thank goodness, and it didn't snow here. It has actually been reasonably warm - I haven't had to use my hotwater bottle too many times yet :p I haven't been to West Park to take photos yet, I really need to go at some point.. Meanwhile, here's a pretty autumnal postcard to look at. :)


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I have no idea of the exact location of the place on this card, all I know is that it's supposedly a random location somewhere in Austria. ..and such a beautiful place it is, too! I love the colours here, the contrast of the oranges and yellows with the blue of the lake and the mountains (?).



The stamp is a Europa stamp from 2009, that year's theme being 'astronomy'.

City Park, Skopje, Macedonia

Autumn's here again. *sigh* I'm not too excited, even if I do like the colourful leaves in trees. It's just that it's also a lot colder again and I don't like having to freeze all the time. We've had a pretty weird autumn here so far, though - last week it was super warm, some days were actually warmer than in the Caribbean I think, but then this weekend it might snow! :( Anyway, with autumn here again at least it's more appropriate to post about this lovely card here - it didn't seem right earlier this year. :p Dear Ana sent me this beautiful card earlier this year.



This is the City Park in Skopje. Ana tells me it is one of the most frequented destinations in Skopje during nice sunny weekends in the summer, I wonder how popular it is in autumn? It certainly looks lovely! ..and reminds me a bit of West Park, my favourite park in Wolverhampton. It's such a lovely oasis amongst all the houses and urban areas, a bit of nature in this area which otherwise isn't exactly the prettiest place in England. I should visit there again soon, to relax a bit and to take photos again. ;)



The adorable cat stamp was issued in 2007 and the Darwin stamp in 2009. I'm too lazy to check but wasn't 2009 a special year when it comes to Darwin, I mean I remember a set of Darwin stamps being issued in the UK then as well?!

Batsford Arboretum, England

This card arrived earlier this week from the not so far away Gloucestershire :) I'm a bit sad that the UK to UK tag in the British Isles community on the postcrossing forum isn't more active as I really like it and it's always nice to received postcards from the UK.



Batsford Arboretum is a 55-acre (220,000 m2) arboretum and botanical garden near Batsford in Gloucestershire, England, about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. It is owned and run by the Batsford Foundation and is open to the public daily throughout most of the year.

The arboretum sits on the Cotswold scarp and contains around 2,900 trees, with a large collection of Japanese maples, magnolias and pines. It maintains the national collection of Prunus (sato-sakura Group) — Japanese Flowering Cherry — under the NCCPG National Plant Collection scheme run by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens. Annie, who sent me this card, tells me that there is also a Falconry Centre there. It all looks so beautiful, I'd love to visit the place one day. There's more information about the place here.



The stamp is from a miniature sheet of 4 stamps issued earlier this year, regarding the tv series 'Thunderbirds'. The stamp is brilliant, but the scan really doesn't do it justice. It's one of these lenticular stamps where by tilting the stamp you can see a launch sequences from the show. Apparently these are also the first motion stamps ever issued by the Royal Mail.

Richmond, Tasmania, Australia

One more autumn card for today, this one comes from Australia (where it's actually spring at the moment unless I'm very much mistaken).



Richmond is a town about 25 km north-east of Hobart, in the Coal River region, between the Midland Highway and Tasman Highway. At the 2006 census, Richmond had a population of 880. Richmond's most famous landmark is the Richmond Bridge, built in 1823 by convicts using hand carts, around the time of the town's first settlement. It is Australia's oldest bridge still in use. Yeah, you can see Australia is not a very old country - something built in 1823 would not be considered very old over here. ;)

The Summer Garden, St Petersburg, Russia

Another autumn card, this one arrived about a year ago from the "Autumn tag" on the postcrossing forum.



Can you believe the place here is actually called the Summer Garden?! Well, it is. A Summer Garden in autumn. :D The Summer Garden occupies an island between the Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in St Petersburg and shares its name with the adjacent Summer Palace of Peter the Great. The park, first conceived by Peter in 1704, was laid out by foreign garden planners between 1712 and 1725 in a Dutch Baroque style. Three years later, the walks were lined with a hundred allegorical marble sculptures, executed by Francesco Penso, Pietro Baratta, Marino Gropelli, Alvise Tagliapietra, and other Venetian sculptors. In the late 20th century, 90 surviving statues were moved indoors, while modern replicas took their place in the park.



Nice stamps on the card, too, both issued in 2009. The one on the left is Russia's contribution to the Europa series, last year's theme being Astronomy. The second stamp commemorates the 75th Anniversary of the Birth of U.A. Gagarin (1934-1968), first Astronaut in the World.

Lapland, Finland

Autumn is here so I thought I'd post some autumn-related postcards here. They will all be older cards that I've received; I like posting an occasional older card anyway as I have a lot of great ones in my collection.


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This card arrived in March this year. A very nice official from Finland - I love receiving official postcrossing cards from Finland and wouldn't mind it happening more often. I've become quite interested in Lapland recently so any cards related to that are a particularly nice treat.

There's nothing about the exact location of the place shown on this card, it's just a random stream somewhere in Lapland on a frosty morning. It reminds me of the photos my parents have shown me from their trips in Lapland. I used to say I wouldn't want to go to Lapland myself but now I think I wouldn't mind anymore if I ever got the chance.. which is pretty unlikely now unfortunately.



This card is particularly nice thanks to the stamp and cancellations. The card was actually mailed in Finland, but it's sent from an event in Turku organised by the local stamp club, and Åland's Post was there too, hence the special stamp and cancellations. I think this stamp was probably printed specifically for this event ("Spring in Turku") as it shows the Turku Castle. In any case it's SUCH a treat!

Lapland, Finland

This very beautiful card came from my postcard pal Paula in Finland. We've been swapping cards for quite a while now, and I can honestly say her postcards are always amazing and I'm always really excited to get them, they are amongst my favourite things in the mail I receive. :)



I don't know what place this postcard is supposed to show, I just know it's somewhere in Lapland. I've never been to Lapland but it does look very beautiful, they have some truly gorgeous sceneries over there. The autumn colours are particularly wonderful I think.



The stamp is from a set of 5 stamps called "Jumping for joy", issued earlier this year.