Finland on Land and Sea

Sent a postcard to Finland?  Here are two postman, one from the early 20th century and the other in modern uniform who may be delivering your card right now .  The stamp was issued in 2006 as the Postal Officials Union and the Postal Union merged in June 2005 to form the Postal and Logistics Union (P its 30,000 members celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Postal Union (PAU) with this stamp in 2006.

An even older anniversary took place in 2012, that of the 150th anniversary of the  VR Finnish Railways. The stamps shape is to give the effect of motion, I love the driver leaning out and looking ahead.  The steam locomotive is a VR Class Hr1, a passenger express of which 27 were built, a few of which still survive as heritage trains. Their nickname was Ukko-Pekka which translates as either  Grandpa Pekka or Old Man Pekka after Pehr Evind Svinhufvud,  the first head of state of an independent Finland.  Built of course to burn coal but due to a shortage in 1945 birch wood was used which meant a larger chimney was needed to extinguish the wood sparks so one was fitted temporarily.

From the land to the sea. These stamps were part of a Joint Nordic Publication theme of "Life at Sea" and all maritime Scandinavia celebrated the theme with different stamps. The stamp on the left shows the Finnish Border Guard Patrol Vessel 'Merikarhu'  which also helps the Institute of Marine Research to monitor the water in the Gulf of Finland. The the on the right is the Finnish lifeboat 'Jenny Wihuri' for those in peril on the sea.   If you were sailing past the  Åland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland,

these large buoys may be spotted. This was the third, and last, part of a series on buoys. The artist, Allan Palmer, has featured the buoys in winter when ice makes for difficult shipping. The stamps show cardinal buoys which are used in maritime pilotage to indicate possible hazards and the direction of safe water. As can be seen on the cover, Cardinal marks indicate the direction of safety by points of a compass relative to the type of mark, a ship is making safe passage on the stamps.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of - Finland

Playtime

Children's Day is on the 1st June and China celebrates this by giving their children a day off school just to have fun.  This is what they are doing on these stamps issued for the occasion.  The first is a child and a top in what looks like a jaunty nautical attire.  The middle one is eating candied haw-berries, which are called 'tanghulu'. These are sugar coated haw (hawthorn) berries on a skewer and are a popular winter treat. Their taste is described as a combination of sweet and sour. For a photo of this treat see here.   Lastly a child plays a traffic policeman directing his toy car.

Who does not love a toy windmill and this one looks the business. Next a child listens to caged cricket. Sometimes in China these short lived creatures have elaborate cages to amplify their sound. I'd prefer to listen to them lying in the long grass. Lastly an impressively large sword is being marched across the stamp.

A moment of concentration on embroidery. I think the next one is my favourite, it has so much detail on it. Has he taken off his shoes to jump in a puddle or is the wind in danger of blowing him up in the air?  Lastly a bucket and sand can provide many hours of entertainment.

The designer is Wan Weisheng (b 1932) who produced his first stamps featuring children in 1957 (which are his own favourite issue)  by just going out and watching them play. He went on to produce many other sets including the ones I show in 1963.  There are another 3 in the set but I don't possess them.

Wan Weisheng has produced many stamp sets and one  from the "whole country is red"   issue is famous for selling at a record price in 2009.  Today he has retired and spends his time painting but his stamp designs are so popular that a popular museum is dedicated to his career in stamps, postcards and first day covers. He says that "stamps connect the artist with people around the world"   And I would say with each other too. Happy Sunday Stamps.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of - Children's Toys and Games

In the Forest

This pretty handmade card came from Cynthia in Sabah and it seems to go just right with the fresh green leaves that are, at last, unfurling from the trees in England. Sabah has the three highest mountains in Malaysia and their jungles are tropical rainforests, just the place for the bird on the stamps that came with the card

2005 Birds of Malaysia definitives

The Green Winged Pigeon also known as the Common Emerald Dove.  These little birds feed on fallen fruit and seeds mostly foraging on the ground under tree cover. They are nomadic and follow the fruit season in the lowlands, mountains and forest.

possibly in places like this. Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Sabah whose surroundings are considered one of the most important biological sites in the world with 326 species of birds.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

"It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide", 

 So starts the 14th Century epic the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' telling the story of the turbulent period from AD220-280 when the Han dynasty struggled to unite the kingdom.  This epic, part legend part myth, by Luo Guanzhong is one of the most popular stories in China and even in the present day has inspired films, art and video games.

Its 120 chapters and thousands of characters starts with the government attempt to suppress a rebellion by the peasants called Yellow Turbans.  Personally I'd be with the peasants but this is a story of the perennial Chinese objective to keep the country together. We find Liu Bei who has fallen on hard times looking at a poster asking for brave men to join the government, he sighs. The man beside him Zhang Fei, a butcher, chastises him for not doing anything about it so the two go for a drink in a tavern and come across a bearded Guan Yu wearing a battle gown, I imagine lots of alcohol later they  

 swear an oath of eternal brotherhood in the peach orchard and set about trying to save the Han Dynasty (stamp left). The stamp (right) shows Diao Chen, one of the four beauties of ancient China pretending to commit suicide by throwing herself off the Fengyi Pavilion as part of a plot and intrigue.

 Next (left) our three heroes are fighting against the warlord Lu Bu and afterwards (right)  they drink wine and talk about heroes.  This set of stamps was issued in 1988 and were given the 'Best Stamps' award in 1989 and so no wonder in 1990 a second set appeared

The 20 fen stamp shows Cao Coa leading a night attack on Wuchao, a turning part of the unification war. Next the 30 fen shows General Zhao rescuing A Dou single handed.  A Dou actual name is Liu Shan but his childhood name is used because he is incompetent.  General Zhou is portrayed as just and virtuous with great loyalty and after his death was lauded as one of the Tiger Generals.

 Lui Bei makes three separate visits to the great strategist and chancellor Zhuge Liang's Thatch Cottage, this is portrayed as patience rewarded.  Lastly the 50 fen shows Zhang Fei with only 100 men holding off the army of 10,000 at Changban Bridge which he destroys so that Liu Bei and his people can escape.

The stamp designer is Chen Quansheng (b1950) who went on to produce a third issue in 1996 which I do not have.  He is an artist and also a visiting professor at the College of Art, his brushwork on figure painting is considered unique. He also produces landscape paintings and comic books as well as other Chinese stamps on subjects such as Confucius, the Art of War and the 2001 'Strange Tales'.

An entry to Virdian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of - Stamps from China or Taiwan.

Wither the Weather

2001: The Weather

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ”  John Ruskin

 As the seasons seem to be all mixed up at the moment here is a barometer view of the weather. I keep tapping my barometer and it seems to be in a rain to fair loop. This miniature sheet makes even the rain look cheery. There is another twist in that thermochromic ink has been used on the 27p stamp, the heat produced by rubbing with ones fingers changes the grey to sky blue.

The stamps and mini sheet were painted by Tony Meeuwissen whose varied portfolio can be seen here and they were designed by Howard Brown who says it is one of his favourite things to do.

The reason for the issue was the 150th anniversary of weather maps going on sale, I have been unable to find anything about that event however ten years later in 1861 the first public weather forecast was published in The Times newspaper.  The rest as they say is history.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps

Nestling Box

Post Box No LA12 54, Bardsea Post Office, The Yews, Bardsea

A late Spring so the hedges are looking bare but the blossom has arrived so things are looking up.  Post your letters here, carry on up the hill past the church and  turn left and down the hill and head for Roy's Ice Cream van and  his 29 flavours, two new for this year.  Gaze out over Morecambe Bay while you lick, the suns warm and alls well with the world. 

Earth View

1961: 2nd Manned Space Flight

Gherman Titov was the first person to take a photograph of Earth from space but I can't find any quotes from him about his experience of seeing this fragile blue planet floating in space but then he was suffering from space sickness for a great deal of his day in space. He did write on his photograph so maybe that is just as good.  Famously he did say or, I imagine, shout with the excitement of someone just one month short of his 25th birthday "I am eagle, I am eagle"

Crested Serpent Eagle (1996: Birds of Prey)

But lets gently swoop lower down upon Earth and

another Russian stamp which was issued for the UNESCO "Man and Biosphere Programme" in 1986. This is an intergovernmental program aiming to "set a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environment globally" which was launched early in the 1970s. How to create sustainable developmental solutions for biodiversity loss in the world is a great conundrum and UNESCO has introduced programmes to address this for the various types of eco-systems across the world.  One initiative is the concept of a world network of biosphere reserves with international protection, one of which is the German  

2004: Wattenmeer National Park

Wattenmeer or as we know it in English, the Wadden Sea. This is an intertidal zone and wetland of the southern North Sea, parts of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage list.  I live by an intertidal bay, it is an endlessly fascinating environment which changes from day to day yet remains the same mysterious and beautiful expanse. 

1989: Nature Conservation

Next journey north to the Arctic, I always like stamps with an attached label and even better this one has a map.  The theme is the preservation of the Arctic which since this stamp was issued has been put under more threat both to its pristine nature and its inhabitants

c1972 definitive

who find the ice melting beneath them. This atmospheric stamp shows polar bears making their way across the ice floes. The polar bear is the largest land carnivore

1987: Polar Bears

so I suppose its preferred snack,  the seal,  may not take the same view of ice melting as it escapes into the water

 1978: Antarctic Fauna

 Although this one is laughing because it lives at the other pole.  I'm sure I've got a stamp with one of the many varieties of beautiful seal species  living in the Arctic but it is appearing as elusive as one hiding from a polar bear.  The stamp shown is the Southern Elephant Seal, the larger, bigger nosed cousin of the Northern Elephant Seal. They nearly became extinct in the 19th Century through hunting and after a recovery numbers are declining again, it is thought because of reduced levels of food in the sea. Most of their breeding areas are protected by international treaty and are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.   

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of - Earth Day