May 14th 2008 Edinburgh Scotland

Still in plaster and hopping around on my trusty crutches. The plaster cast comes off on May 26th and I can't wait. Pebble the kids rabbit has left his 'male' rabbit mark on it a couple of times, which I guess is lucky. On a quiet month the other highlights were Catherine my daughter turning 16, which was heralded with a personalized Edinburgh ghost tour with all her pals. I managed to hobble to the huge second hand book sale held at St Andrews and St George church in George Street Edinburgh. Being the first day, its inhabited by some serious collectors whose sense of courtesy, size of rucksacks and personal hygiene tested my crutches and nose in equal measure ! Bought a few Naval history books, and found (after a quick flick read from something I didn't buy) that our own famous British cruiser HMS Belfast traversed the canal zone in 1962. That will give me something to search for in the next few years. The other highlight this month is the humble Kinder Bueno, (for which a cup of tea is meaningless without) which I've now found in white chocolate. Found it sickly at first, but its growing on me.

The three views below are more or less finished, with the write ups on the reverse just awaiting final proof reading from my friend Bob Karrer in the states. To get the 'Maduro' style descriptions on the front of the card (to the uninitiated they are in English/Spanish) I'm engaging the help of another friend Miguel Munar from Panama (a pilot in the canal zone)

Actually gleaning information to include on the reverse of the card is one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby. Many years ago I travelled to Kew and the Public Records Office to research the ships log of HMS New Zealand (first view below) for a previous postcard. The ship took Admiral Jellicoe on a post WWI world tour of Empire, calling at exotic posts all around the globe. Every page told a story, from the amount of water distilled, coal bunkered, dignitaries entertained and pomp shown to the almost insignificant mention (more than once) of ratings drowned in 'swimming accidents' whilst in port. The canal journey was performed without Jellicoe (who had had earlier left the ship to travel across Canada by train, meeting up later in the West Indies), but from a personal point of view, thumbing through a book which was actually on the bridge of the view taken below, gave a feeling of history I still treasure.

Gordy Wagoner from the USS Glacier association (second view below) helped me out on her long and varied history, although was unable to identify the exact date of the transit below . Glacier is still in mothballs at the US Navies Marad ship yard to this day and Gordy and friends are in the process of raising funds to bring the ship to Bridgeport CT. as a floating museum.

Strange, but the Britannia view below is probably the most elusive of all the three new cards. Frustratingly she lies not more than 10 miles away from where I'm writing this (preserved as a floating museum in Leith docks), but trying to find when the transit below took place has been a dead end.

So, whilst all this goes on I'm still scanning ebay and old books for new projects. The carrier USS Intrepid wartime view is 'on the stocks' presently, and will appear here in due course. Thanks to ebay a new find was the heavy cruiser USS Newport News taken post WWII, which over time will get the same treatment.