walls

The Walls of Pskov Kremlin

One stamp of an ongoing series of contemporary art. This painting was done in 2011 by the 25 year old artist Sergey Troshin.

This is architecture that could definitely not be anywhere in Canada.

For Sunday Stamps -  of a country not your own.

luna

It was thought that anything like a lander might sink into the dust surface of the moon, but on the 31st of January, 1966, the Luna 9 was launched and 4 days later made its landing proving that the moon was capable of supporting the weight. This stamp shows the lander and its first panorama photograph of the surface of the moon.

for Sunday Stamps - science related

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

red and snow

Happy New Year in Russian

homelike hotels

P

I love these 'road trip Australia' series.
Here we have a sideways placed stamp for a platypus and a 'road trip' to see the penguins in Australia. For an extra P the penguins live on Phillip Island. The platypus lives in freshwater streams and rivers of eastern Australia from Queensland to Tasmania.
I never had the good fortune to see a platypus, but I have seen the penguins of Phillip Island, near Melbourne. There you can see the penguin parade as the precious little guys waddle back to land at sunset.

for the final Sunday Stamps of 2019.

banking

I haven't really thought about Canadian banks in other countries, but apparently RBC has been in the Caribbean for over 100 years and is in 17 different countries. In The Bahamas, only the Freeport Branch, Port Lucaya and Settlers Way ATM are available and only the Freeport Branch is open regular hours until further notice. I've tried to find where this bank on the 2008 stamp is located but haven't had much luck. Apparently, in 2017 there was a move to a (unpopular) digital platform, so it's possible this building no longer exists as a bank.

hockey forever

Today is Boxing Day ... and also the start of the World Juniors Hockey.

Canada won 6-4 over the USA

These 2017 stamps were issued as part of the History of Hockey series.
"These stamps celebrate the shared love of hockey, a game now rooted in the lore of both nations"

xmas tree

a small person carrying a small tree

O Christmas Tree

dancing around the Christmas tree

red

Merry Christmas in Latvian

gifts of the magi

The fun secular Christmas stamps seem to be more popular than the more serious religious ones. Above, illustrated by Michael Little, closes the gap a little, I think (my own unscientific survey).

In 1965, this stamp featuring the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh was issued.

And in 1964, the very first Christmas stamp,
showing a family looking out at the Christmas star.

Both of these early stamps were issued in 3 and 5 cent denominations with the 5 cent used for regular sealed letters and the 3 cent for unsealed Christmas cards.
for Sunday Stamps - Christmas, religious

Wishing Everyone A Happy Christmas

it's snowing

three little girls out for a stroll on ChristmasDay?

extra good boys & girls

artist: Norman Rockwell
Santa mapping out his route for Xmas Eve

Arctic Santa

Santa's Village in the Arctic
this is post number 700!

bringing home the tree

Findus helps chose the Christmas tree

packing up

from Germany
I worry about these presents if that Volkswagen actually moves!

snow

I think this young girl is fashionably well protected from the snow

Christmas trees

The evolution of Christmas trees from 1781 (bottom) to 1881 (top right) to 1981 (top left).
designed by Anita Kunz

The Christmas tree was introduced to French Canada by the wife of a German general working for the British. Baroness Riedesel put up the first Christmas tree in North America in their dining room on Christmas Eve 1781, at Sorel Quebec. Her husband had been sent to Canada to help put down the American Revolution, and on that Christmas they were hosting a party for British and German officers after spending two years in captivity in the US. Those decorations included fruit and the tree was lit with candles. Later, by 1881, the decorations included toys and gifts. By 1981, the tree had its own specially made ornaments. (and no lit candles!)

for Sunday Stamps - Christmas (secular)

haunted

The Landmark of Chicago Hospitality

The Congress Plaza Hotel may be the most haunted building in all of Chicago.

Among the ghostly many stories, there's the elevator that is known to stop at the 8th floor even if no-one has pushed the button. On the 12th floor one of the rooms has been permanently shuttered due to its frighteningly paranormal activity.

kremlin

a slightly wintry scene in Moscow

yonge university at night

 Here are views from above the Yonge-University line of the subway

a quiet place

different modes of transport - walking and cycling

the bluffs

at the east end of Toronto are the Scarboro Bluffs (should really be Scarborough, no idea why it was spelt 'wrong' in early to mid 1900s)

"The shore is extremely bold, and has the appearance of chalk cliffs,but I believe they are only white sand. They appeared so well that we talked of building a house there and calling it Scarborough"
Elizabeth Simcoe, diary 1793

wooden gem

Considered one of the most beautiful wooden churches from southern Poland.

A roof detail of Saints Philip and James Church in Sekowa.  Built around 1520 from larch wood, it was extended in the 13th C with a spire and veranda. During 1914-15 some of the wood from the altar was used for trenches and firewood. There was some reconstruction done in 1918 and again in 1948 after the second world war ended. 

for Sunday Stamps - places of worship

winter fun

friendship is ... a moment without worries
from Finland

Spanish Grill

Newest, Most modern. Only air conditioned hotel in Laredo.

views

16 Mile Creek                Dunn and LakeshoreRd

Oakville Centennial Building        Gairloch Gardens

yorkdale

the largest shopping mall in the world when it opened in 1964

61 stores in 1 million square feet

and Canada's first indoor mall

Several expansions later, it now has 270 stores in 1,845,725 square feet.

Good luck finding parking for your holiday shopping.

skyscrapers

and not a glass tower among them!

foxy

The red fox, with the great name of vulpes vulpes, can be found all across the Northern Hemisphere. They are known as "wise and cunning", or alternately, as "sly and sneaky". A mature fox can weigh anywhere from 3-14kg with a luxurious tail that is one third of its body size. I live in the downtown core of a medium sized city and for a couple of years we had a three-legged fox that wandered the streets. Last year there was a litter of three born somewhere nearby and it is exciting to see two of them (there were always two together and the third off by itself) still roaming around.

for Sunday Stamps - small animals