On the Water - Thematic Photography

I've decided to start my 'On the Water' theme with a few birds.

Ducks on the Clinton River at Rochester, Michigan

 

I think they were waiting to be fed by passers by. Meanwhile at Saltholme Nature Reserve near Middlesbrough in England no one would attempt to feed this water bird.

Coot at RSPB Saltholme

There is another nature reserve adjacent to the River Tees at Stockton.

Herons at Portrack Nature Reserve

The smaller birds round the island are plovers (also called peewits or lapwings) presumably there for a drink or what they could find in the mud.

At Fowey in Cornwall I found this steaming along.

Steamboat in Fowey Estuary

 My daughter was in that boat on a short trip round the harbour in 2008.

Finally we have a stand off.

Gem, Cody and Lily

But which one will get that floating ball.

Hope you liked my selection of water shots; more interesting to me than photos of big ships. But don't let that stop you sailing across to Carmi's Thematic-photographic-229

Gospel Singers - Sunday Stamps

A lot of black stamps look, well, ....black. I decided therefore not to show them. Instead I picked these:

USA - Gospel Singers 1998

I have to confess that I only knew of Mahalia Jackson before so I have learnt something new again today,

See what else black you can find at Viridian's Sunday-Stamps-104

A Scottish Soldier - Sepia Saturday

It seemed appropriate to me when I saw this week's prompt showing Scottish soldiers to tie this in to New Year celebrations.

Back in the late 1950s it was common for people to see the New Year in by watching "The White Heather Club" on TV with Andy Stewart and Jimmy Shand and his band. One of the songs for which Andy Stewart became famous was this (here with the 1st Scots Dragoon Guards)

Of course Andy always wore a kilt during The White Heather Club. Many Scottish regiments are famous for their kilts. Their pipe and drum bands give displays all over the world.

The British Army's 21 member Pipe and Drum Corps

 

 

1st Battalion Scots Guards (photo - J D Leopold)

Piping, drumming and highland sword dancing at the Pentagon - 2nd September 2009

One of the questions always asked is what does a Scotsman wear under his kilt.

Caricature of Scottish Soldiers wearing kilts on Continental Europe - c1815

 

The ladies in the picture are trying apparently to find out. It's said that a true Scotsman wears nothing under his kilt.

That seems to be a cue for Andy Stewart and a kilt montage.

You can read all about The White Heather Club and about Andy Stewart here but don't let that prevent you from visiting our host at Sepia-Saturday-158

2012 Favourites - Thematic Photography

I've taken Carmi's tip to show two or three or ten of my favourite photos of 2012. You will have seen some of these before.

March was the driest month of the year, just right for walks on a North Yorkshire beach.

Huntcliff, Saltburn beach - March 2012

 

Horses. dogs and people use the beach.

Sunday morning ride - Saltburn

Flower of the month in July was this;

Lily

Butterflies were in short supply during the very wet summer but we did attract one or two.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies on Buddleia flower

 

Meanwhile one of my grandsons had a successful surfing year.

Angus in action

In October there was this rather splendid fungus on a dead ash tree that I walk by several times a week.

Fungus on dead ash

No year would be complete without some photos of my daughter's dogs. Photographing black dogs is often a difficult task but here is one of the best.

Gem

She was part of this group on the same day in November.

Scout, Cody and Gem

As usual Scout has two balls in his mouth, one probably belongs to Gem. At 15, Cody is resting  with his ball within reach. They are all looking at what's going on down in the lake where there's -

Lily - searching for her ball.

 

That's my ten favourites for the year.

Happy New Year to all in 2013.

Don't forget to check out other people's favourites at Thematic-photographic-faves-of-year

Beginning or End - Sunday Stamps

I had several stamps lined up  to cover the beginning of something as I thought, erroneously, that this was the theme for this week's Sunday Stamps. Now I find the actual challenge is to find a stamp commemorating the end of something.

Nevertheless I am going to proceed with what I had in mind to see if I can get there in the end.

My favourite market stallholder seems to have bought up the collection of a man from the town of Hartlepool. Among a number of first day covers, I found this:

Philatelic Souvenir from Spain

 Inside the envelope was a hand written message on a card.

From this I have deduced that Mother and Dad had begun their holiday in Spain and as you can see the plane was new. Boeings 737s started commercial services in 1968; unfortunately the date on the postmark can't be seen but could have been in the early 1970s.

The postmark tells us the envelope was posted at Malgrat; Malgrat de Mar is situated in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

The two CEPT stamps with the Europa Bird were first issued in 1961.

The stamps on the bottom row show the Costa Brava and Lope de Vega, author, playwright and poet (1562-1635)

On the top row from left to right are:

• Torla in the province of Huesca, Aragon. Take a good look at the stamp and compare it with this picture ex wikipedia

Torla (by Gordito1869 - 1987 - CC BY 3.0)

• Nave Medieval - medieval ship.
• Betanzosica, Corunna - Emblem, church stamp issued 1967
• Catedral Sevilla - Seville Cathedral issued in 1965.

That's the last of the stamps I have to offer, Perhaps I should say that Seville Cathedral is a World Heritage Site. It also the burial site for Christopher Columbus so you could claim that his voyages came to an end here.

Don't forget to visit the usual crowd at Viridian's Sunday-stamps-103

Holiday Warmth - Thematic Photography

Carmi's 'warmth' theme had me struggling at first until I realised the answer was right in front of me.

Christmas Hearth

I'm sorry there is no 'cricket on the hearth' but if you are cold you could go closer to really feel the warmth.

Beware if you get up to festive hanky-panky in front of the fire as your reflection may show up in the background just like the pattern on the rug.

I really wanted to show some photos taken under a Cypriot sun but I was told that I would be censored if the ladies of the house were included. (Well I think censored was the word they used.) So I settled for the 'he-man' look instead.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday and have a Happy New Year, not forgetting to visit Carmi at thematic-photographic-227

Sunday Stamps at Christmas

The card I was expecting from Denmark, that I mentioned last week, arrived on time but did not contain a Christmas stamp. Nevertheless the envelope was quite festive as you can see.

Denmark 2012 - Hans Christian Andersen

The 2.00kroner stamp is one of four issued in June commemorating the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen; in this case - The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep.

Just to show that I have other Christmas stamps may I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas with these two from Monaco.

Monaco - 2003/2002

 

I hope you all have a great time; but also have the time to visit Viridian and others at Sunday-stamps-102.