a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
Can you spot the Cape gannet (sea bird) that looks a little different from the other seven, in the block of stamps below?
There was a flaw in the printing plate for this sheet of 5c stamps from 1974.
On one of the stamps, some of the gray and blue ink is missing.
These beautiful flowers are from the streets here on Capitol Hill— I believe these are butter cup, purple rock cress and tulip.
Here’s a northern flicker (it’s a woodpecker), sitting on the power cables in the alley behind my house.
Happy first day of spring.
Happy first day of autumn if you are in the southern hemisphere of our planet.
The camelia flower is from my front yard.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.
Here’s a Steller’s jay that visited my lawn this morning while it was still clear and sunny.
There was thunder, hail and lightning in the afternoon.
I took the G-line bus to Colman Dock (the ferry terminal) and the Waterfront late this afternoon, and walked up to Pike Place Market.
Just as I walked by St. Joseph Parish church here on Capitol Hill tonight just before 6 o’clock, a bald eagle landed on the bell tower.
It surveyed the surroundings from there for just a few minutes and then took off.
From Google Search Labs | AI Overview:
Washington state’s wintering bald eagle population, comprising resident breeders and seasonal migrants, is growing and is estimated to reach a steady state of around 6,000 birds.
Alaska boasts the largest bald eagle population in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 birds, surpassing all other states combined.
The daffodil (genus Narcissus) is the national flower of Wales and the symbol of cancer charities in many countries.
The appearance of wild flowers in spring is associated with festivals in many places.
-From Wikipedia
SEATTLE (AP) — A pod of orcas swam close to shore and amazed onlookers in Seattle on Sunday by treating the whale watchers to the rare sight of the apex predators hunting a bird.
The pod of Bigg’s killer whales visited Elliott Bay and were seemingly on a hunt underwater just off Seattle’s maritime industrial docks.
The pod exited the bay close to West Seattle, where people were waiting to catch sight of them.
-Manuel Valdes writing for The Associated Press
Happy Friday.
These 1970s stamps arrived as part of a complimentary packet of world stamps from my supplier of stamp albums and pages.
I might still start a thematic collection and animals. It would have to be a specific animal— or kind of animal— to narrow it down to a few thousand stamps!
Check them out— the lineup of proteas that adorned the third definitive issue of postage stamps in the Republic of South Africa.
The 6-pocket blank pages from Leuchtturm stamp album series allow me to select, arrange and annotate the stamps in almost any way.
Some philatelists prefer to use completely blank pages, and create individual slide-in pockets (mounts) for the stamps on the page, but for now, I think that is too much work for me.
Happy Friday and Happy belated Valentine’s Day (the day is done).
Here is what I am working on: a complete set of the 1977 Third Definitive Issue of South Africa. All the stamps in the series depict proteas*, and there will be a second and a third page as well.
*Protea is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: suikerbos). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family.
About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to Grahamstown, South Africa. [Wikipedia]
Happy Friday.
Welcome to today’s South African stamp project. 
I culled the set of stamps on this page from a thousand or so that I had removed from envelope paper clippings.
(A lot of work, done earlier this week: dunk them in water, carefully separate the stamp from the paper, dry on paper towel, and press under a stack of books).
My Scott stamp catalogue confirmed that these stamps are all worth hardly-anything.
One exception: there is a Standardised Mail stamp (the first one on the page), with the fine black text double-printed, that is listed for US$136. (I found no such stamp in the ones I had).
1988-1993 Fifth Definitive Issue (Succulents), South Africa
Issued Sept. 1, 1988
Perf. 14×14¼ |Design: Hein Botha |Phosphorized paper| Lithography |No Watermark
903 Standardised Mail (45c) (’93) Multicolored Stapelia grandiflora
782 1c Multicolored Huernia zebrina
783 2c Multicolored Euphorbia symmetrica
784 5c Multicolored Lithops dorotheae
785 7c Multicolored Gibbaeum nebrownii
786 10c Multicolored Didymaotus lapidiformis
787 16c Multicolored Vanheerdea divergens
809 18c (’89) Multicolored Faucaria tigrine
788 20c Multicolored Conophytum mundum
833 21c (’90) Multicolored Gasteria armstrongii
789 25c Multicolored Cheiridopsis peculiaris
790 30c Multicolored Tavaresia barklyi
791 35c Multicolored Dinteranthus wilmotianus
792 40c Multicolored Frithia pulchra
793 50c Multicolored Lapidaria margaretae
794 90c Multicolored Dioscorea elephantipes
795 R1 Multicolored Trichocaulon cactiforme
796 R2 Multicolored Crassula columnaris
832 R5 (’90) Multicolored Anacampseros albissima
Note: this set includes a 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c coil stamp, which is not listed above. Interestingly, of all the hundreds of mail pieces I had, none had a coil stamp on. (Coil stamps are sold in a long strip that is rolled into a coil).
[Source: Stampworld.com]
My friends and I went for a walk on Robberg beach this morning, and for a very pleasant swim in the Indian Ocean.
There was no rain today here in Plettenberg Bay, but it was still cloudy and mild, with a high of only 23 °C (74 °F).
I went for a walk on Central Beach late this afternoon.
It’s a 6-hour drive to Plettenberg Bay. We opted for the N1 national route through the Huguenot Tunnel to Swellendam, from where we took the N2 to Plettenberg Bay.
I could only take pictures of the first half of the drive, while I was the passenger and not the driver.
It’s time to leave the Cape Town area, and the Airbnb that I have been staying in. My friend and I are driving up the coast to Plettenberg Bay in the morning.
I am buying stamps from South Africa and southern Africa now that I am here, and saving a little money in the process. (Stamps from this part of the world are sent to the USA by express airmail or by international courier— which can be $40 or more for one shipment. Surface mail takes several months).
I love this 1951 definitive issue from Mozambique, part of a set of 24 stamps.
At the time, Mozambique was still a Portuguese colony, and the currency was the escudo.
The fishies are going to swim in freshwater when I get them home, so that I can separate them from the paper that they are pasted on.
Happy Friday, the last one for 2024!
These photos are from yesterday, from a little trip I made with my family to Pringle Bay.
Pringle Bay is a small, coastal village in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, in South Africa. It is situated at the foot of Hangklip, on the opposite side of False Bay from Cape Point. The town and surrounds are part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO Heritage Site. [Wikipedia]
