What's the story, Morning Glory?

I love Morning Glory, a beautiful deep blue climbing plant, which I remember seeing growing everywhere when we were in Turkey more than 20 years ago ..and had to get the photos out ...

I've tried growing it myself but without any success, but having given my green-fingered friend Beth some seeds, she has managed year after year to produce some wonderful blooms!  And last year she gathered some of the seeds and gave me a packet which I've planted and also some seedlings she has grown, which look decidedly healthier than mine. I'm eagerly awaiting a brilliant show of colour in a couple of months time!

But if not, I'll have to make do with some Morning Glories on a couple of Japanese stamps I came across today .. they're going in my 2021 diary.See previous post of 30th March on how I made a 2021 dairy to put in all those dates cancelled from 2020.  You can find it on my  website, 

www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk  - blog.   You may like to make one too.    I'll be putting one of these stamps on one of next year's pages - and hoping to do that when the first flower appears.

Stamp Rainbows and rainbows on stamps

Children everywhere have been making rainbows tohelp cheer us up during this dreadful time of Coronavirus pandemic and I was inspired to make one too, using stamps.

 Yellow stamps, as always were the most difficult to find, but I eventually found just enough  from GB, France, USA and Japan to complete the yellow band of the rainbow. On a second rainbow I cheated slightly and used gold 1st class stamps!  This was an absorbing activity for a few  hours and while making my collage, I was contemplating the sad reality of how many lives have now been lost in so many of  countries where my stamps have come from.  The iconic US stamp featuring the Statue of Liberty, a proud symbol of New York, is a poignant reminder of how tragically large cities are the worst affected by the virus.  

Teddy Bear on a stamp - Keep Smiling!

We all love Teddy bears, or Teddies for short!  Originally named after the American President Theodore Roosevelt, who on a bear hunting expedition in 1902, refused to kill a bear which had been captured. He said the huntsmen's behaviour was "unsportsmanlike".  When the story became known, an enterprising toy maker produced toy bears, and asked permission to call them "Teddy Bears".
Unsurprisingly, teddy bears also feature on postage stamps of many countries, and the delightful one shown hear is part of a set of Greetings stamps,  issued here in  2000.
Known Smilers, they all feature smiling characters, such as the Mona Lisa, Laughing Policeman, and Cheshire cat, but this is my favourite and will be going in my 2021 diary to brighten up the week.

Cuckoo .. the best ever!

Eagerly waiting to see if this year will bring the Cuckoo back to nearby woodlands. It's years since I heard one loud and clear.  In fact, I have to say that it was back in 2006 when we were in France celebrating my late mum's 80th birthday and we heard what was from then on, always known as "the best ever cuckoo". 
With the Coronavirus Pandemic, less human activity outside, less traffic and pollution, some species of wildlife are more evident in our countryside and also in towns.  We've had a deer regularly visiting our garden, wild goats have been seen roaming the streets in Wales, our cat has brought in a newt and a slowworm, which happily I managed to rescue and re-release, so hopefully the Cuckoo may soon reappear.

I looked to see if I had any cuckoos on stamps, and surprisingly there aren't so many .. other birds are common to find, such as Robins, other garden birds, birds of prey and game birds, but I did track down these two issued in Czechoslovakia in 1972.  One of these will be going into my home made diary sometime in April, hopefully in a week or so ...