The Resplendent Quetzal - an illusive bird but spotted on Guatemalan stamps and banknotes

Some of the stamps in  my late father's collection are the beautiful Guatemalan Quetzal bird stamps issued between 1881 - 7 .  These came to mind when planning a trip to Central America where we  visited Guatemala and hoped to catch sight of some of these beautiful birds, which are a symbol of the country, also appearing on the flag, and giving their name to the Guatemalan currency.


 The currency is also called the  Quetzal, and the bird appears  in flight on each note, as below.

Sadly we didn't see any real live Quetzals, but brought home some hand made beaded versions for the Christmas tree!

 Birds, including the Quetzal also appear on hand made textiles, produced throughout the country - more about  this to follow!
Historically, the  ancient Mayans used the feathers of the resplendent quetzal as decoration and these can be seen in some of the stone carvings in Mayan sites such as Tikal in Guatemala and Palenque in Mexico. It's always good to have a local guide who can point out these things,  as these ancient sculpted details, like the birds, are often very difficult to spot! On the right of this stone stella, if you look very carefully, you can see the tail feathers of the Qutezal which adorned the headress of Pakal, a Mayan emperor.

Historic and rare post boxes - and not just red ones!

Visiting the British Postal Museum earlier this year drew my attention to Post boxes.  So much so that I find myself noticing them everywhere I go and often reading about their unique or rare features.

In Ripley, North Yorkshire, I came across this delightful Green post box and  old post office sign.
There is also a George VI  red pillar  box nearby! Which do we prefer?
 



In Queen Street, Amble, Northumberland  I also found   a rare box, which doesn't display  the collection times! These are shown  instead in the window of the post office. There are apparently only two of these in the country. I don't know the location of the other one.   Spotting post boxes wasn't all I did while on  a week's holiday, but these little pieces of industrial history certainly add interest to any walk!   I did post some postcards in the rare box, but doubt very much if the postmark will reveal that fact!   You can read more about post boxes in my blog post of 18th May 2019.

The Grayhound - latest stamp collage original

Just completed this stamp collage inspired by the beautiful ship, The Grayhound, which visited the docks in Gloucester this year, and is now at sea.  I've used stamps, envelopes, and also created the rigging from thread, with some painting  too.  Prints in various sizes and cards will be available shortly. Please let me know if you are interested.

Although I boarded some of the other ships, unfortunately this time I was just a little too late to go on  The Grayhound, and watched her sail away down the River Severn on a working voyage with regular crew and some passengers.
She goes to many interesting destinations including the Portugal, Madeira, the  Azores, France, Spain and Ireland, collecting cargo en route, and also taking passengers.

The Grayhound is a Lugger built between 2010-12 and is a 5/6 replica of the original  18th century vessel. built in Cornwall.

You can read all about her on website
www.grayhoundluggersailing.co.uk