my REAL wall - October 28, 2009 - Let's start some mischief, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

Elena, me and your postcards have just strolled in back in from our break in Romania to a nice heap of more than 20 postcards and letters from you!

All the mail on my REAL wall today is new and what a great set this was too! Notable amongst the pile were the posts from Postmuse, who sent so many very cool envelopes and postcards that she has her own corner.

Awesome mail also came in from Dumpsterdiversanonymous, mhmedia and Jennlui

The status is a mailart call for some assistance with a little mischief. If you're interested in getting your mailart on my REAL wall and perhaps in a local newspaper in London, have a little read of my mailart call on my blog

Don't forget to click on the image to see the fully annotated flickr picture (hover over the image to see who sent what!)

Oh come on - it was 1 in the morning and I had another 6 hours in an empty airport - what else could I have done!

Me, Elena and your postcards spent a few days in Iasi, the Moldavian regional capital in Romania, where Elena went to university.

Most Romanians associate Iasi with the poet Eminescu and the home of Carpati, the country's cheapest and roughest cigarette brand back in the days of communist rule.

Most of you will probably remember it as the temporary home of your postcards today.

Jelmer, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

As you all know, there are 2 ways to be on my REAL wall. The most obvious one is to send me a REAL post, and the other is to photograph my REAL post on your REAL wall.

The latest REAL wall is one of yours and comes from Jelmer Lentrickx, a postcrossing member from the Netherlands.

Mine is the green one at the bottom left hand corner, which is from the BBC Poetry season.

In Jelmer's own words

the man that is a stranger
laughs and will forever laugh
a girl that pushes her own
pram along is older now
and weeps for her mother died
of heart attack and soon she
will have one herself and the
poet who knows only knows
and i just made a huge mistake
but think it's all way better that way

my REAL wall is currently on tour

After posting the last REAL wall, and hearing an announcement that the Royal Mail were striking for 2 days last week I really didn't hold out much hope of getting any post in the near future. However, Royal Mail turned around and done something very unexpected.

Yesterday I got home to find 11 items of post for me, and today another 9!!!

You guys are awesome!

I'm going to try and respond to as many of you as possible as I have a little time off next week.

In the meantime, I've posted all your contributions in the bin to show Hammersmith and Fulham council what sort of crazy mess they can expect if I really did throw all my stuff in the trash.

(Don't worry Okadascat, the bin has been thoroughly washed - your knitting is fine!)

my REAL wall - October 15, 2009 - Royal Mail strikes cripple my REAL wall, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

This past month has been horrible for my REAL wall. The Royal Mail have decided to strike over working practices or something like that, and as a result the mail that's supposed to be arriving from all of you is probably sitting in a mail warehouse somewhere waiting to be delivered.

The strike is made a little more complicated by the fact that it's not quite centralised too. Instead of the whole country's postal service agreeing to take a single day off, different postal regions are striking on different days, so I never really know what day I'm supposed to get mail at work or at home.

Over the last week I've received absolutely nothing at all.

However, the postmen in Elena's area seem to be striking on different days and she always gets a kick out of turning up at my house with mail when I haven't got anything at all.

Today's REAL wall then, only features new post that was sent to her as it's the only post that's actually come in this week, and a slightly older piece from Lorraine Kwan, who kindly pimped 2 of my photos last month.

my REAL wall - 12 October 2009 - Good Times, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

In the top left hand corner of the REAL wall is this weeks copy of The Hammersmith and Kensington Times, featuring my REAL wall on page 3, and the latest post that has come in from you all.

my REAL wall in the local paper, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

We made it into the paper! This screenshot comes from the online edition of this weeks Hammersmith and Kensington Times, where my REAL wall, yours truly and your postcards are the prominent headline on page 3.

Thanks for all your outstanding contributions and a new REAL wall featuring the paper to follow soon!

UPDATE - The online version of this story was the top story on the website for nearly a week. See the full online text here

my REAL wall - 06 October 2009 - News preview, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

Last night a photographer came over from the Hammersmith and Kensington Times local newspaper to take a shot of me and my REAL wall for a story that should be running in this weeks paper.

This came about after Postmuse suggested that I write to a newspaper about the councils ludicrous demand letter.

I sent the paper a brief story outline on Friday and on Monday the editor called me and said that they had a story and he would be sending his photographer round to my house in the evening, so I thought I'd dig out some of the cards that I've received and put them on the wall.

The photographer came over at 7:30, took a couple of shots and left. Here's a preview of what will be in the paper, minus me so you can see the wall in all it's glory with your postcards from past and present.

If you spot yours why not click through to the flickr site and add a note to claim it!

my REAL wall - 05 October 2009 - Favourites, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

I'm really pleased to welcome new viewers who have come in from the postcrossing blog today and for your eyes, I've dug up some of my favourite postcards that I've received since opening my REAL wall in February.

There are far too many cool ones to stick up but if yours hasn't made it on there, never fear, I put this together in a rush this morning, and probably just missed yours out.

Today Elena and me took a train to Coulsdon South where we put up a REAL wall on a signpost by an old church. Always nice to take the post out for a walk

I have a little problem in the office. I sit next to the window in my new office and even though the summer is dying away this year, I still get the sun good and harsh in my eyes and up my right side at about noon.

This year the sun has been so harsh that I am really brown on my right side and a good dark yellow on my left and I've taken to turning around like a kebab to keep the tan even.

Finally I resorted to putting up posters over the windows and today I finally snapped and decided to stick some of your postcards on the window instead cos the posters kept falling off.

That now seems to work. Thanks to all for saving my sight and skin.

Apologies for the poor photo I took this at work on my camera.

my REAL wall - 1 October 2009 - Pay your taxes!, originally uploaded by andytgeezer.

This week among the other post I received I got one from Hammersmith and Fulham council, demanding that I declare my REAL wall as a business and pay for waste disposal for my REAL wall at business rates.

Clearly the postman has reported that I'm getting a whole lot of mail delivered, and the council probably have spies out looking for that sort of thing I guess.

Anyway, as is normal for anything that appears in my postbox, the demand letter from the council is now up on my REAL wall for all of you to enjoy.

Think I might send them a mailart postcard collage in return, probably made up of rubbish in the style of Dumpsterdiversanonymous. See what they make of that.