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Two windmill cards arrived from the Netherlands on the same day last week. First, there is the mill network at Kinderdijk, the largest concentration of old style windmills in the Netherlands, and a UNESCO site since 1997:

The mills were used to pump water out of the surrounding area, reclaiming land where there was water. The name Kinderdijk means “Children’s dike” and it gets this name from a legend that after a great storm, someone went out onto the dike to see what could be saved from the flood. A wooden cradle was found floating, with a baby and a cat inside. The cat was constantly moving to keep the cradle from tipping and letting water in. This story is known in English as “The Cat and the Cradle.”

This card comes from Chantal, who read the blog and offered to send this card to help my collection. Thanks, Chantal!

The second windmill card comes from Nunspeet through a Postcrossing user:

I love windmills! I even love the new style of windmills, even though many people think they are an eyesore. Sometimes when I drive through the country I see them poke over the horizon, big white blades spinning lazily, and it makes me happy.

These new stamps make me happy, too:

I really like the red, black, and white designs of the December stamp series.