a light repast

pancakes (blini) with caviar

I did not know that avocados grew in Madeira,  (ours all come from Mexico)

nor that watermelon has been in Japan since the 8thC, and is celebrated every July 27 

and some cheese for later

birds

 a magpie with her young in a nest from Australia

a cartoonish (but no less attractive) mandarin duck from Japan

guardian cat

 

CATURDAY

fast trains

 

a train belching some steam somewhere in Yorkshire

and another on the other side of the country.

The 'Cornishman' first ran in 1890 travelling from Paddington to Penzance in a little over 8 hours

Another train, travelling much faster and with less belch is the 'Bullet'

houses

Tchaikovsky Memorial House

Japan

tenement houses

some different styles of houses for Thursday Postcard Hunt

blue

 non threatening seashells...

MOPE means 'sea' in Russian

the typical Dutch song for your birthday is Lang zal je leven (long shall you live)

My first large letter card from Japan and it is BEAUTIFUL.  The sender really enjoyed her trip to this World Heritage area with some of Japan's most spectacular mountains and waterways as per a tourist website I found

cats on a boat

 

received from Japan

CATURDAY 

maple viewing

In spring, there is Hanami, "cherry blossom viewing"

 In autumn, there is Momiji-gari, "maple viewing"

this woman has found a time and place for maple viewing all to herself
 

5,000 km

 This has a distinct look of Dick Bruna's work

Japan has a "letter writing day" on the 23rd of each month to encourage people to write and send letters to friends and loved ones to counteract the trend of digital communication.  And to help the cause, there are numerous stamps dedicated to this.  I wish we could adopt this  (in light of our current postal situation in Canada, and the cries of "who gets mail anymore, anyway").

About 5,000 km away from Japan is Nepal and this black  francolin of the pheasant family.  It is considered 'of least concern'

 

Another country that is about 5,000 km from Japan is  Nauru.  Once occupied by Japan (during WWII), it is the 3rd smallest country in the world.  It's highest elevation is about 213' above sea level and there are no rivers, but judging by this stamp it might have magnificent sunrises (and presumably sunsets)

three N countries

far away lands

I fell in love with Norway while watching the 1994 Olympics 

I'm pretty sure I could miss out on this experience at Preiskestolen.  I would be happy to be on a boat cruising Lysefjord and looking UP at the 604 metre cliff.

However, I would not want to miss out seeing a Stave.  How would a 900 year old wood church smell, I wonder? 

I don't know what triggered my fascination with Japan, but it would be my top dream destination if I could choose anywhere in the world.  I would prefer to be with someone who was Japanese and could translate and explain...

It helps that I love the food - sushi, sashimi, ramen... not to mention  over 300 flavours of Kit Kat!

I wish I had a more modern card of this exclusive and expensive shopping street. Not sure I could afford much anyway, which would make me less interested. 

  I would maybe last an afternoon before wanting to escape.  I would be much more interested in the train journeys and the shrines and temples.

The Kumano Nachi Shrine and a waterfall! (Nachi-no-Otaki, the tallest in Japan)

Izumo Taisha Shrine

Hong Kong was never really on my radar as a place I'd want to visit, it was just a place I'd heard of.  Then, with all the attention during the time of the handover, it became more interesting.

 the stunning vistas from the harbour and the mountains.  The city is densely packed with people and skyscrapers, but also with parks and gardens (over 1,600 covering more than 40% of the land area!)

'the second coolest street in the world'

This is more interesting shopping

faces

 A Taoist man with his face painted for a temple parade in Taiwan

I can't quite tell what is behind this look...

truly the oddest Easter card I've received.  but just look at those cheeks!

and, these adorable wee ducklings

blossoms

sometimes, it seems like among our small group, I live in the area where spring arrives last... but, the cherry blossoms have opened this week! 

and a bit of wisteria

symmetry

 

This stamp has been shown before, but I like it, so here it is again.  It was designed by Yauheniya Biadonik who has designed various stamps, especially on culture and arts

 A deceptively simple Japanese forest

 

More conical trees in front of the horizontal schloss with an even number of vertical windows

some patterns for Sunday Stamps

 

 

leaves, flowers, stars

 

I know you've all seen the Canadian flag.  It is promoted shamelessly, endlessly, and is slapped on any and all products that are Canadian, as well as many, many stamps.  But, unlike the Americans, we are not a flag waving from your front porch kind of country.  That is changing as, in light of current ... issues, we are being encouraged to fly it proudly this weekend.  Flag makers have been furiously sewing like crazy to keep up!  This FDC shows the very first stamp of the flag that has its 60th anniversary on Feb 15th.  I like the 'simplicity' of this, though remember well having to learn how to get all those points right - which was challenging for a seven year old (but then getting the crosses correct on the Union Jack was equally challenging)

An even simpler design is the Japanese flag, which was adopted as a civil flag in 1858 and as a national flag in 1999. I like how this stamp includes the chrysanthemum imperial seal and the cherry blossoms.

Since 1972, New Zealand has discussed changing their flag, to get rid of the colonial Union Jack, but also to distinguish it from the similar Australian flag. (hint, NZ has red stars inside its white stars. It also only has 4 of these stars of the Southern Cross)

 

lines of a city

 

 and because this isn't all about subways