Harbor of Refuge

 In the summer of 2021 I visited Delaware, and managed to find a postcard showing the Harbor of Refuge lighthouse so that I could mail it from there along with its matching stamp, issued by USPS earlier that year. 

Sent alongside the stamps of Navesink and Erie Harbor lighthouses.

Images from Mailadventures.

For links to more lighthouse stamps visit See it on a Poscard.

Sunday Stamps - Lighthouses

Today's Sunday Stamps theme is lighthouses - a popular subjects for stamps, and certainly the US with its extensive coastline, including the Great Lakes which have lighthouses too, has plenty to choose from.

The last set issued in the US featured five New England coastal lighthouses. Above is the commemorative panel from USPS, which is still available at their online store. The strips and sheets of stamps are no longer available, however there is a nice write up here. The stamps are also sold accompanying a set of notecards featuring the lighthouses.

I have sent a few of these stamps, and received at least one - this one is in a creative setting. And it also has the light-related energy-saving finger turing off the light switch on the machined cancellation. Many people noted that this frank looked more than little weird/creepy/odd.

The other stamp I want to highlight today was sent to me from Morocco by Eva.

This stamp celebrates the Cape Spartal lighthouse, which turns 150 this year. It is located on the southwest approach to the Straits of Gibraltar, and was built on request of the King of Morocco following a shipwreck where many sailors lost their lives.

And bonus - I received this nautically-themed envelope from Hester this week featuring a set of 4 stamps from 1972 celebrating Cape Hatteras National Seashore, a national park stretching along 70 miles of the coast of the Outer Banks. The top right stamp features the distinctive black and white lighthouse. The current lighthouse is the second to have been built on the Cape. In 1999, due to encroachment of the ocean and erosion, the entire lighthouse was moved 2900 feet (880 m) inland.

The lighthouses of North Carolina all have their own distinctive black and white design - this one's 'barber pole' design seems to be one of the most famous.

Misadventures in mailing - belated St Valentines Day card

Received in May and blogged in July...

I received this envelope from Pamela K, and initially thought it was for Jean & Jan's May envelope exchange. Inside was a great card.

And Pamela apologized for the post office, who sent this envelope that was part of the February exchange back to her.

It opens out into this.

Thanks for sending it on, Pamela! Hopefully my response doesn't have a misadventure.

Envelope 912

Envelope exchange from Carol

Carol sent me this clever envelope - great use of the lighthouse stamp.

She also let me know that the vertical Charley Harper calendar envelope I sent arrived just fine - thanks, USPS!