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

Quebec

This 2008 stamp was a joint issue between Canada and France to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's founding of Québec City. Here we see Champlain's ship being greeting by - perhaps - the Algonquins, or some other natives with the original Habitation in the background.

I only have the Canadian one, but found the French version online, which is exactly the same but includes an explanation and year of issue.

The stamp was engraved by Jorge Peral - a rarity in the 21st century - which rook five months to complete.

From the Haunted Canada series (2016) we have Montmorency Falls, at Île d'Orléans just outside Québec. 

Legend has it that the tortured spirit of Mathilde Robin can still be seen and heard where she plunged to her death in 1759 after her true love was killed in battle (it was in the middle of the Seven Years War). Their marriage never came to pass, and she put on her wedding dress and flung herself over the falls, where she and her betrothed had spent many happy nights watching the sunset. If you should see her spirit in the water, it is said that you should keep your distance as no-one save her beloved Louis should touch her gown and 'unimaginable harm should befall anyone else who comes near it'.

for other quirks on the letter Q, visit Sunday Stamps

street signs - Vieux-Quai

In the town of Carleton, in the Gaspe region of Quebec,

this Old Wharf Park has concerts, photo exhibits, picnic tables, 
an observation tower ...

there is some good bird watching too, and they chose to put a gannet on their street signs. Unfortunately, when I was there it was raining quite hard and the wind was whipping up the water on Chaleur Bay into a frenzy.

I drove along Parc du Vieux-Quai, 
saw none of the above, then continued on my way.

part 22 of my street signs series

signs, signs

pets

Individually, each stamp shows an animal at home, two of them cuddling up with the children. But put the stamps together in a pane of four and they become panes of glass, forming a window through which we view the complete scene, all the children and pets in one room.

This set was issued in October 2004 for Stamp Collecting Month

Designer Isabelle Toussaint prepared a set that served as a common background for each of the four stamp scenes, and photographer Marc Montplaisir shot each scene separately. The four best photographs were then pieced together to make a seamless composite image.

"Everything was very well planned, so the day of the shoot went extremely well," says Montplaisir. For each scene he shot multiple photos, while the camera remained stationary on a tripod. "The fish was easy - as it swam around the bowl, I just waited for a good pass," he says. "I was worried about the cats, because they sometimes have minds of their own, but they just lay there, watching. The rabbit was a bit nervous and tried to skitter away, but the floor was too slippery for him. The dog was a bit more difficult, because he was excited - he kept wiggling and lifting his head off the floor." (from the Canada Post Website - you can read the full story of the making of these stamps here. it's actually quite an interesting read!)

for Sunday Stamps letter P - pets

street signs - Upper Paradise

On Hamilton Mountain is the delightfully named 

Upper Paradise Road

unfortunately, it is not as paradisiacal as it sounds

it is a main thoroughfare and is a mix of commercial, retail and residential

at the furthest south end the homes become quite opulent

although for the most part the homes are more modest

and at the other end, where Upper Paradise begins

is the first house

with a lookout over the lower city

Upper Paradise Road got its name from its alignment with Paradise Road in the lower city, which got its name from  its end point at Cootes Paradise (a wetland in the Royal Botanical Gardens). 

21st in my continuing (very sporadic) series of street signs 

for signs signs

and Our World Tuesday

Inglis Falls

For Jo's Monday Walk, I'm taking you to a waterfall I visited in early September. It was late in the day and the setting sun was strongly not in my favour

The Mill is no longer at Inglis Falls in Owen Sound, having burned down in 1946

but the Sydenham River is still flowing, 

as you can see, there is a perfectly good walkway with a slightly higher than knee ledge with a good view over the waterfall,

but there's always a few who eschew the laws of sense and must step off the path

looking up over the horizon

looking down over the top of the falls (from the walkway)

some more people who couldn't resist the risk and climbed over the rocks beyond the viewing deck

now, had they just stayed on the boardwalk for a few more metres – maybe two metres at most –  they would have found a much better and less obstructed view. after taking his photos, he turned and left for the parking lot;  she climbed through the rails of the deck, opting out of using the accessible steps just to her left.

three years ago, when I was last up this way, the water flow was a little less...

which was no less fascinating to see

turning away from the view of the falls, and trying not to trip on the path, there is an enchanting – and at times amusing – array of tree roots climbing over and around the rocks of the Niagara Escarpment

observing outer space

The Palomar Mountain Observatory, with its art deco designed Hale Dome can be found near San Diego. Inside the dome is a 200" telescope that was first used by Edwin Hubble.

This 2003 stamp from Lithuania celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Poczobut Observatory of Vilnius.

It was the fourth observatory in Europe when it was built in 1753 on top of one of the Vilnius university buildings. By the 1960s there was too much light pollution and a new observatory was built about 70 kms north of Vilnius. The original building still does scientific research.

for Sunday Stamps for 'O'

noseying around

One of the participation activities at the Mum Show this year was to find the hidden red clown noses. Since the theme of the show was the circus, this made sense. And I was all up for the search. Then I thought, I'm crap at this. So I stopped for a coffee to keep up my stamina – and overheard a few others comparing notes and saying they could only find 8, or 9...  and I felt better. It took three trips around the greenhouse, looking high and low, specifically for red noses.

Some of them were definitely a challenge!

There were lots of old posters, carousel horses, other pieces of amusement rides, and games of chance where these noses could be 'hidden'. Some in plain view, some very well hidden

In the end, I got home and realized I was still missing two.

Sharing with Tuesday's Treasures

a circus treat

One of the best parts of the fall season around here, is the annual Mum Show.

Tens of thousands of mums, all on display at the Gage Park Greenhouse.

And this year there were many surprises – for we were at the circus!!

It was a miserable wet and windy day when I went, so this magnificent carousel had no riders.

But, inside it was comfortable, 

and there were more carousel horses, games of chance, posters, photos...

Some of the photos definitely looked like a freak show, and it was a little uncomfortable seeing what was on offer as entertainment.

a dancing bear, (but not a real dancing bear, that's cruel)

Of course, JUMBO was there!

and a lion tamer! 

somehow, exclamation marks seem appropriate

and, of course, more thousands of mums

a walk around the greenhouse for Jo's Monday Walk

and Our World Tuesday