cat and a cradle

 the extra 10¢ above the .85¢ domestic rate from these whimsical cats goes to support the Canada Post Community Foundation which supports community projects for children.

although none of these children slept in an 18th century cradle like this one, maybe their great, great, grandparents did.

the cats were issued in 2017 

and the cradle is from 1983 as part of the historical artifacts series

sharing with Sunday Stamps for the letter C - cats, cradle, community, children

Linc

This  'A'  stamp was all ready for last week, but it seems Olympic fever took hold and it wasn't until late that I realized I never actually posted it.
But, no worries, for Mr Alexander is being honoured by Canada Post for Black History Month.

"I'm proud of being black, but my role in Canada is to serve all the people. I'm a Canadian. Period."

Lincoln Alexander, who died in 2012 at age 90, was a big man (6'3"), full of humour with a booming voice who seemed to be friends with everyone across all social groups and political parties.

Among his many accomplishments were some notable firsts: the first black Member of Parliament, the first black federal cabinet minister, and first black Lieutenant Governor. He was arguably the most popular and beloved Lieutenant Governor of Ontario - he was even voted as the greatest Hamiltonian of all time by a poll in the city he spent most of his life.  He had buildings, schools and even a highway named after him which he found particularly amusing as he never had a driver's license. The Lincoln Alexander Expressway is always called the Linc, just as he always wanted everyone to call him.

For Sunday Stamps, a combo A & B

issued February 2018

zamboni

There are seven Canadian teams in the National Hockey League and in 2014 stamps were issued with each team's logo on the Zamboni and centre ice.

The Zamboni is an ice resurfacer that was first manufactured in 1949 by a guy named Frank Zamboni. (Zamboni is the trademarked name for the ice resurfacer, but I'm sure, no matter what brand or make is used it is known as a 'Zamboni' - rather like facial tissues are always called Kleenex.)

The NHL requires two machines to resurface the ice between periods. The ice is resurfaced before the game, after warm-ups, between periods, during playoffs, and when the game is over. With two resurfacing machines, it takes three minutes to complete the rink, each making four full passes up the ice. With one, it takes between six and seven minutes with eight full passes up the length of the ice. Before the machine was invented, it used to take over an hour with several men using scrapers, towels, hoses, and squeegees.

sharing the letter Z with Sunday Stamps 

river on hilly lands

Although this stamp is  from China, the horses made me think of Mongolia. And sure enough, it turns out this river is in Inner Mongolia. 

Outer Mongolia is what we now know as simply Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of northern China. 

This is how to spell the full name in Mongol script 

 I was all set to use this stamp for R, but when I looked into finding the name, it turned out that this winding river is called Xilinguole, in the Xilinguole Grassland National Nature Reserve which covers an area of 10,786 square kilometers. The name Xilinguole means river on hilly lands in Mongolian. (though it looks pretty flat in this view)

find more X at Sunday Stamps

vines of wine

Weinanbau (or Weinbrau) is how you say viticulture in German. 
Viticulture is from the latin for 'vine'.
And here we have a stamp of a grape vine, 
in celebration of German wine making. 
In the shape of Germany!

This wine business has been going on for over two millennia as celebrated in this stamp of a woodcut from the 1309 textbook Rucelia commoda by Petrus de Crescentiis showing the steps in winemaking - planting, harvesting and aging.

for the letters V and W

UN

A Postcrosser in New York sent me a card with these United Nations stamps.

The only dated one is the one from Expo 67 which I will assume was issued in 1967. 

The flag series was from the 1980s. The air mail is possibly from the 1960s, judging by the price, and the Human Rights one is from 1989. Why it is written in German, I do not know. In English, it is about the 'right to effective judiciary' - Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

United Nations stamps have been issued since 1951 and have different themes than the regular stamps. You need to go to the UN building in New York, or Geneva or Vienna, to buy them and they must be mailed from  their own post office. This could be partly why they are not considered very collectable.

see more united stamps at Sunday Stamps

Christmas animals

Another Hélène L'Heureux  designed stamp, 

this year with illustrations by Christine Beauregard. 

For the domestic stamp we have a polar bear donning a bright, colourful scarf

a cardinal with sprigs of holly for the US bound cards

and a caribou whose antlers are festooned with Christmas lights takes your mail overseas.

sending warm wishes for a Merry Christmas

It has been a fun and enlightening year with Sunday Stamps.

In February, we will begin the alphabet all over again.

Tall Ships

a se-tenant stamp issued in 2000

in celebration of the new millennium where 150 Tall Ships from 22 countries sailed into Halifax Harbour - the only Canadian port - for the Race of the Century.

A late contribution for the letter S - se-tenant and ships, but then, these are not just any ships, they are Tall Ships, so also a post for the letter T. And what a tremendous spectacle this must have been.

The ships sailed from Southampton to Cadiz, Genoa, then back to Cadiz before crossing the Atlantic to Bermuda, Boston, and Halifax, then on to the final destination of Amsterdam.

and the bears will play

These bears are the creation of sculptor Leo Mol and can be found in 

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg.

playful cubs

these are but a tiny few I'm sharing for Jo's Monday Walk

polar bear and cub 

There are over 300 pieces of art in this sculpture garden dedicated to Leo Mol

rescued cub

It was his expressed wish that all his works of art be available to the public to enjoy, and he contributed his bronze sculptures, ceramic works and paintings to his adopted home of Winnipeg where he lived from 1949 until his death in 2009 at 94 years of age.

standing twin bears

cubs in a tree

cubs in a tree

standing twin bears

to bring a smile to your Monday morning

three Rs

Officially known as the Republic of Rwanda, this small country in the Great Lakes region of East Africa regained independence in 1962.


The best place to see zebras in Rwanda is in the only savannah park in the country - Akagera National Park 




It is one of only two countries – the other being Uganda – where mountain gorillas can be visited safely.

From 1922-1962 it was known as Ruanda Urundi. With independence came the return of Rwanda and Burundi.

This last stamp shows a colobus monkey which is the only monkey to be without an opposable thumb