Sunday Stamps; Rural, countryside - USA

Found these at the last minute when I ha nearly given up on matching the topic this week. 

Both are self explanatory I think.

USA - 26 August 1959

USA - 18 April 1960
Watershed panorama & farmland

For more rural scenes just visit Sunday Stamps - rural routes.

Sunday Stamps - Flags from the USA

I have a strip of stamps for Flags of Our Nation issued 6 August 2009 featuring the flags for the States of Kentucky through to Missouri in alphabetical order. Here are 3 of them.

The design of the Maryland flag comes from the yellow and black colours of the paternal arms and the red and white from the maternal side of the Calvert family.

The Massachusetts flag is a blue shield on a white field, The shield depicts an Algonquin Native American with a golden bow in one hand and a golden arrow in the other.

The Michigan flag is the only one I've seen. The shield shows a lake with a golden sun and a man with one hand raised in friendship. An Elk and a Moose support the shield, above which a Bald Eagle grasps an olive branch, with arrows in its talons.

I guess I have found myself a new project now to find out more about these and the rest of the State Flags.

If you are not flagging yet you can see more by following the links at See it on A Postcard

Sunday Stamps - Lighthouses: Norway

Every year I get Christmas post from Norway, a country in which I once worked for almost 10 years. In the last two years the stamps on the envelopes, first issued in 2015, have shown Norwegian lighthouses.

Norway 5 June 2015 - Kvitsøy

Norway 5 June 2015 - Slåtterøy

Kvitsøy is the oldest octagonal lighthouse in Norway dating from 1829. Slåtterøy dates from 1859.

For further enlightenment visit the links at Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps - Dogs and Horses: Great Britain

As the theme this week is something we may choose ourselves I just had to stay with reminders of what I see on my walks (6 days each week).

I talk to most of the dogs I meet ..

Welsh Springer Spaniel

.. but I must confess I've not seen one of these.

The Westie I saw on Saturday went by the name of Monty.

West Highland Terrier

(These were from a set about dogs issued 7 February 1972)

I also try to talk to some horses from a riding school when they are out in a field. They are not like those on a set of stamps issued on 5 July 1978.

However to 'match' the dogs I have chosen - 

Welsh Pony

Shetland Pony

To see choices made by others just visit the links at Sunday Stamps - P

Sunday Stamps - Christmas (Religious); USA

Two paintings fit the theme this week and both reside in museums in the USA.

USA - 13 October 2011

USA - 1 November 1968

Raphael's painting 'The Madonna of the Candelabra' now in the Walter's Art Museum in Baltimore, was painted in 1513.

The 'Angel Gabriel from the Annunciation' by Jan Van Eyck was painted in 1434/1436. His painting of the Annunciation resides in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

For more religious stamps please visit Gifts-of-Magi at Sunday Stamps.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

Sunday Stamps - Secular Christmas; Canada, Greece

A stamp I only received was a 2012 Christmas stamp from Greece.

Greece - 12 December 2012

I recognised the bauble straight away, but it took a while for me to realise that there was also a pin and a paper clip (?). 

No such problems with last year's Canadian stamp.

Canada - 2 November 2018

Warm and cosy - I'm sure you will agree provided there is no orange in the toe on Christmas Day.

For other Christmas stamps just follow the links at Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps - Places of Worship: Aden, Cyprus

Aden is now part of Yemen and is currently not a place to be. However in WWII it was a vital staging post for our Navy and  visited by my eldest brother when he was in the Fleet Air Arm.

I doubt that he would have taken much notice of - 

Aden - 1939

This is the Aldrus Mosque in Crater, Aden which was built originally in the 15th or early 16th century and rebuilt after being destroyed in 1859.

Although we have been to Cyprus we did not get to Famagusta in the north of the island to see the St Barnabas Monastery.

Cyprus - 17 September 1962

This is now an icon museum. It includes the tomb of St Barnabas discovered in 480 AD.

For other places of worship check out the stamps shown at Sunday Stamps.