old town

The Old Town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is an Unesco World Heritage Site

The Lunenburg Academy was built in 1895 and still used as a school until 2012.
It is also a National Historic Site.

Although tourism is now the main business in Lunenburg, it used to be shipbuilding, with its most famous, the Bluenose, having been built here in 1921 and the Bluenose II in 1963 and the Bounty, a reconstruction of HMS Bounty in 1961.



this 1982 stamp of the 1929 Bluenose stamp shows mostly the sails, but there is lots of wood underneath.



for Sunday Stamps - things made of wood

University Ave

westfield

Barcelona Lighthouse on Lake Erie   and    the McClurg Museum on the village green

Hawley Dam Falls

Grace Bedell, the young girl who encouraged Lincoln to grow a beard for his presidential campaign.

Jasper

1960's era postcard of Jasper the Bear welcoming you to Jasper. He was originally a cartoon character created by James Simpkins (from 1948 to 1975). He later became a mascot for Jasper National Park

safely heated

Glen Motor Court. Two De Luxe Motels - 33 Units. Private bath and Showers with plenty of hot water, overlooking beautiful Lake Seneca, one of the finest scenic views in America. One mile north of famous Watkins Glen on Route 14. Recommended by AAA and Finger Lakes Association. Open All Year - Swimming Facilities nearby. Scenic Dining Room on Premises. Safely Heated. Telephone 518 Watkins Glen N.Y. inquiries welcome. Owners Joseph and Helen Franzese, Watkins Glen, N.Y.

dartmoor ponies

steamers

cottage country where once thousands streamed is asking people to please stay home during this pandemic.

best foods

Developed by doctors at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children in 1931, Pablum was the first baby food that was already precooked and dried and ready to serve. It contains ground and precooked wheat, oatmeal, corn meal, bone meal, dried brewers yeast, and powdered alfalfa leaf, and fortified with iron.
This baby seems to like it.

photo of surprised baby by Ron Baxter Smith



From pablum, children may naturally progress to fries, or chips, as their next favourite food.
The McCain brothers started this company in New Brunswick where potatoes are the main crop. They are the world's largest producers of frozen potatoes.

photo by Rod Stears with Tourism and Parks New Brunswick




For Sunday Stamps - food

a university town

stare

a bit of a scary stare

tower

The Reinturm in Dusseldorf is a 789 foot tall telecommunications tower with a spectacular view from the observation deck or restaurant.

grizzly

colourful

mint

Where the money is made. Since 1976.

alpine flowers

Alpine Bellflowers, Crocus, and Pinks from the 1979 series 

for the Mountain Rescue Service in Czechoslovakia

engraved by Ladislav Jirka

designed by Karel Svolinsky

The stamps are a bit busy with so much detail, but they remind of a botanist's notebook drawings with natural looking handwriting.

for Sunday Stamps - flowers

tulpen

It was so sad to hear of the millions of tulips that had to be destroyed because of the coronavirus.
Here, in Southern Ontario, the tulips are just coming into bloom.

cobra

I have tried yoga several times. But I will never be as good as my - or any - cat.

IoW

The Six Wonders of Wight
The Cowes you cannot milk; the Freshwater you cannot drink;
The Newport that will not be bottled; the Needles you cannot thread;
The Brook that will not wet your feet; Ryde where you walk

Old Fort York

York Barracks, Lake Ontario, May 13, 1804, by Sempronius Stretton

National Archives of Canada

Fort York is a 43 acre National Historic Site built in 1793 and is the birthplace of urban Toronto.

calm

The province of New Brunswick has a population of around 776,800 people.
The only province to report no deaths from Covid-19.

six feet apart

Ojai Valley Inn, where patrons can play golf in the backyard course. And these golfers are at least social distancing, even from the golf bag!

mum

Being born in 1900, one can always be sure of one's age.
In these portraits the Queen Mum does manage to look stylish

This Madonna and Child, titled Our Lady of the Night, is a wood sculpture by Antonio Caruso who was inspired by the baby Jesus sleeping in his mother's arms. "Mary's tender embrace, as the child rests safely, reminds us how children feel protected by their mothers in the darkness of night."

Today is Mother's Day in Canada and the US which I understand was celebrated in Spain last Sunday.

For Ana in North Macedonia, it was March 8th. Maybe next year I will remember when Mothering Sunday is in time for a mother theme.

for Sunday Stamps - mothers, children

water

In keeping with social/physical distancing, these scenes are all void of actual people.

The Allegro is the newest train featured for the 150th year of railroads in Finland. I could not find which lake this is the train is bisecting.


It doesn't seem like the National Parks are closed but only gatherings of 10 or fewer are allowed.











These spots all look perfectly idyllic and quiet.

Ferdinand von Wright painted this double water scene of snow surrounding a still lake in Haminalahti where his family owned an estate. 

It won the most beautiful stamp competition in 2007.

for Sunday Stamps - water

may day

birds

The spotted dove is endemic to Southeast Asia and likes to be in urban areas. It is often poached as it is a popular caged bird, even though it does not sing. The bulbul on the other hand does sing, loudly, and prefers an evergreen or rainforest.

for Sunday Stamps - things that fly

blue ice

It takes about two to three years for the icebergs to drift the 1,800 nautical miles southbound from the Labrador Current to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland.
In April of 2017, a giant iceberg reached Ferryland where Michael Winsor captured this photo.
The top stamp is a painting by Mary Pratt from 1991.


for Sunday Stamps - the colour blue

Happy Easter

Poland always manages to produce some brightly coloured Easter stamps.
These are from 2011 and 2012

Have a safe and happy Easter everyone

fossils

From 1969, an ammonite and some elm leaves.
Ammonites first appeared some 240 million years ago.
The zelkova could go back as far as 2.5 - 5.3 million years ago.

for Sunday Stamps - geology

architecture

No one is travelling by train these days. And you would be nine years too late to travel to this station anyway as it was decommissioned in 2011 when the railway line closed. It was built in 1932 in the traditional style of small railway stations seen in Britain and is now the only suburban station left in Singapore. The station and railway tracks are near the nature reserve and were conserved over concerns that the dismantling of the building and the tracks might damage the natural environment of the reserve.

This 2013 stamp was one of four issued commemorating heritage railway stations.

for Sunday Stamps - architecture

spring

My apologies .... with everything that's been going on, I forgot to have this ready.

And spring has sprung, even if the weather has turned cold again. I saw my first green shoots this morning, which made me feel happy.

One must look for things of beauty in these trying times.
This stamp, from 1971, is part of the Maple in Four Seasons series.

"The rebirth of life after a winter hibernation is exemplified in the setting of a maple key in the fresh, delicate greens of spring"

designed by Alma Duncan

for Sunday Stamps - signs of spring

slainte

stay at home for your St Paddy's Day celebrations

celebrate

We have had Christmas stamps since 1964, but in 2017, there were finally stamps issued to celebrate other religious holidays. Diwali and Hanukka were the other two celebrations.

I have always been attracted to Islamic art and architecture, and love the Arabic script, which here translates as "have a blessed (or, happy) Eid". Turquoise is often seen on Persian and Turkish tiles that cover the walls of the mosques. The deep blue and yellow is also inspired by islamic architecture as is the geometric design.

In another type of celebration stamp, this gift has been wrapped up in paper for birthdays, weddings, Valentines, Christmas, and any other celebration you can think of for which you may want to mail a package. It was my birthday yesterday, but I didn't get any packaged gifts, wrapped or otherwise. (I did get a few postcards) Most places here have now closed, so plans have been cancelled. At the moment restaurants are still open so perhaps I will eat out with friends (since the grocery stores have been emptied out by panic buying hoarders)

Hoping that everyone is well. and getting through any self isolation with calm.

for Sunday Stamps - celebrations

a spring birthday

tulips

Ontario is not quite ready for tulips, but when the season comes in early May, Ottawa will be ready.  The Tulip Festival begins this year on May 8th and runs for 10 days. The stamps above celebrate the 50th anniversary of the festival while the one below shows a photograph by Malak Karsh who helped found the festival.

At the end of WWII, Queen Juliana of The Netherlands gifted 100,000 tulips to Ottawa as a thank you for providing refuge for her family and for helping to liberate her country. Every year since, 20,000 more tulips are sent over from The Netherlands as a symbol of friendship and appreciation.

for Sunday Stamps - flowers

Toronto

Today is the 186th anniversary of Toronto. 

Toronto's First Post Office was officially opened before the city became incorporated. After several decades of other uses, it is now again in use as a full post office (since 1983)

reading

Today is World Book Day in the UK. Any book will do, as will any reputable newspaper. Just Read!

130 years

The Forth Bridge opened on this day in 1890. 

Happy 130th birthday!