The Not-Laughing Cow

Sent by Ângela (Portugal)

She saw this picture he took in the Algarve (Portugal) during her last holidays and she had the good idea of making a postcard for the project.

The funny thing is... I took a picture of this very cow myself last year! (Sorry: I can't show it here because my husband appears on it, and he doesn't like to be associated with cows).

Gruyère, 8

Does cows celebrate Christmas?

Sent by John (the UK)

As John wrote, we can't tell if this one is laughing or not...!

Sent by John (the UK)

Funky Cow

Sent by John (the UK)

Picture taken in Chester (the UK). I'm starting to worry because my friends think of me every time they see a cow (?). 

John make a postcard of this picture and sent it with these new (for me) cowstamps:

Stamps?

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands)

Obviously the postal office workers didn't confused the VQR with stamps, and they didn't put the postmark over them. 

White Gold

The cow of these box of or blanc (='white gold') is not exactly laughing...

Queso fresco & chipotle

Sent by Raphael'L (the USA)

I have received one of these new flavours! I wonder why they don't sell it here, what a pity.

How many flavours...? (2)

• Classic cream (with a 3/4 less fat version)
• Strawberries and cream
• Cinnamon cream
• Garden vegetable

And all these new varieties have 45 calories par wedge, but I do not know whether it is little or much...

I'm sure they have even more! And what if you want to eat a plain triangle of VQR?!?

Cowcover

Letter sent by Ângela (Portugal)

How many flavours...? (1)

Did you realise how many flavours (or flavors) they offer in the USA? It is amazing!

• Babybel original
• Babybel light
• Mozzarella, Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil
• Garlic & Herbs
• Queso Fresco & Chipotle (queso means 'cheese' in Spanish, so I find this flavour specially interesting).

Phlegmatic British Cow

Sent by John (the UK)

Postcard made of an advertising leaflet. 

Nice!

Sent by Ângela (Portugal)

This cowcover made me smile... What a intelligent way to use the back of the VQR labels! :)

(Happily my name is short. Otherwise Ângela had be obliged to eat a lot of cheese!)

Cowstamps from the UK

Not just in the Netherlands, also in the UK have a great variety of cowstamps!

Aberdeen Angus

Irish Molled

Red Poll

Welsh Black

Welsh Black Bull (well, not exactly a cow...)

Hereford Bull (idem)

Chillingham Wild Bull

(All these stamps sent by John).

Dutch cowstamps are neverending!

Cowstamps sent by Heleen (the Netherlands):

In this stamp (apparently not a cowstamp) you can see some cows far away in the meadow. At this point I wonder if there is a single stamp without cows in the Netherlands...

This belongs to a series about inventions. It shows the Melkrobot (Automatic Milking System or AMS), invented to get the cow's milk in an easier and faster ways. It is also called Voluntary Milking System; that means that the cows can decide her own milking time (!!). More information about this stamp (with a nice scketch).

Did you realise some European countries on the skin of the cow in the right? How amazing! And the stamp in the left is a Schotse hooglander, a kind of fee cow who control the vegetation by eating the unwanted green.

Land'Or

The portions of this brand (made in Tunisia) are really small: the whole box weights just 104 grams! (I can't show the triangles because... I ate all of them, sorry.)

From Belgium/France

Sent by Servane (Belgium)

Amazing handmade VQR! It reminds me this beloved Eric's work. Why the VQR makes a perfect pop icon?

I don't know if the postcard was made in Belgium or in France, but it was sent from France with a fantastic cowstamp (Sorry: bullstamp).

San Franciscow

Sent by Raphael'L (the USA)

Please, look at this collage closer because it contains a lot of wonderful details.

And it arrived inside a cowcover with a gorgeous (French?!?) cowstamp. I confess I had seen the stamp on a website and I was wondering if one day I would receive it. So this letter made my day!

Vacha'lauréat

These letters appear sometimes in the back of the cheese labels. When that happen, you find a card with questions inside the box. So, this is the game: you must answer the question with a word beginning with the letter you have got in your portion. And I guess that if you fail, you feel like eating another triangle...

The name of the game in French is Vacha'lauréat, a word game with the words vache ('cow') and baccalauréat that means: 'categories (game)' and also 'baccalaureate'. But in Belgium they use another name for the game: La course aux meuhs.

I have found/received so far cards in different languages and shapes. It is amazing to check the differences!

In Dutch: Koeien ('cows') Letters

In French (Belgium): La course aux Meuhs

In French (France): Vacha'lauréat

In German (Switzerland): Achtung, Fertig, Kuh!

In Portuguese: Viraletras

In Spanish: Vacaletras

As VQR can swim...

Sent by John (the UK)

As we discovered that the VQR can swim, I guess all cows can. This little one, for instance, arrived directly from England. Now she is on my fridge's door. I should watch her closely in order my fresh vegetables don't disappear quickly (maybe for this reason is she not laughing?).

Muito obrigada!

Sent by Ângela (Portugal)

This VQR from Portugal is different from this one (eaten in Portugal, not received by post) and that one (sent by Portugal, but Spanish).

Every VQR is different, and I love every one I get/eat/send. Of course.

What is my secret?

These bilingual cards were inside Canadian VQR boxes. I feel disappointed when I realised they contained just recipes, and not the VQR secret announced (if there is one VQR secret...).

Safe and Sound

Sent by Phyllis (USA)

The clerk who handled the cowmail, Phyllis' friend, was somewhat sceptical that the box would get through the customs. She even had to fill a custom declaration form - happily I could unstick it. But finally the box arrived safe and sound, after two weeks.

Sending the whole box could be too expensive. Of course it is ok to cut the front of the box and make a round postcard. 

Anyway, I am very happy when I receive the boxes naked like this one. And, mmm... I am not worried at all about the post office workers thinking I am somewhat crazy...