rats

I think, that of all the lunar new year animals, the rat is possibly the least likely to appear on a stamp at any other time.  For both of the Year of the Rat stamps (2008 and 2020) Canada has chosen to go with the 'mouse bride' or 'rat's wedding' story*.

This left one from 2008 is so colourful and fun. I love the purple, the parasol, the purse, and the little curl in the bride rat's tail. On the right is this year's version, with the bride rat being carried in her chair, or litter. Personally, I prefer the 2008 version.

*You can read an interesting version of the rat's wedding here

for Sunday Stamps - lunar new year animals

Gong Hei Fat Choy (one of many variations in spelling of Mandarin)

rural route

From 2000, some eccentric samples of rural mailboxes, illustrated by Marcel Cote. Some folk art at  the end of your driveway. I think these would put a smile on any mail carrier's face during their long drive from house to house.

for Sunday Stamps - rural, countryside

salt

View of Roberts Park from an original oil painting by a local artist David Starley.

Roberts Park is a 14 acres (5.7 ha) public urban park in Baildon, West Yorkshire.

Saltaire Village  is named after Sir Titus Salt who built a textile mill, known as Salts Mill and this village on the River Aire in 1853. Salt moved his entire business from Bradford to this site partly to provide better arrangements for his workers and partly to site his large textile mill by a canal and a railway.

birthdays

My mother would have been 103 yesterday. Not sure what she would say about today's world.

saltire

This is not a Royal Mail stamp - first clue, no Queen silhouette. You can buy these at tourist places where postcards are sold, and you can pop them into a Royal Mail post box. However, it may take weeks or months for your card to arrive (if at all).

The flag here is the St Andrew's Cross, also known as the Saltire. It is one of the oldest national flags still in use though it's origins are shrouded in myth and legend. In 1385 the Parliament of Scotland agreed that the white cross on a blue background should be worn as an identifying mark by Scottish soldiers (contrasting nicely with the red and white of the English St George's Cross), but it had been in use possibly as early as 832.  One of the legends goes that in that year, in East Lothian, there was a battle between the Scots and the Anglo-Saxons. Before the battle, King Angus of Scotland saw a vision of clouds in the shape of a diagonal cross. After winning the battle, the sign became the flag of Scotland, a white cross in a bright blue sky.

for Sunday Stamps - flags

octagonal

Ventes Rago lighthouse
stamp features the statistics you need to know: location, including co-ordinates
built in 1863, 11 metres tall with a light that can be seen for 3.5 kms
the lighthouse is no longer in use, but it is open to visitors.

another octagonal brick lighthouse on the Curonian Spit is the 18 metre tall Uostadvaris built in 1876. it has been deactivated since 1986.

for Sunday Stamps - lighthouses (or windmills)

fireproof hotel

Ford Hotel, Buffalo
750 Rooms, Modern and Fireproof
other Ford Hotels in
Rochester, Erie, Toronto, Montreal

water castle

A moated castle that was used for housing and a workshop for the dock workers. Now it is a commercial space with a tea office and gourmet restaurant on the first - ground - floor.

Happy New Year

Best Wishes to all of you who visit