Welcome to my blog, where I take pleasure in words and pictures, be they my own or those of others. I'm a creative individual, and the crafty side I explore on my 'other blog', Picking Up The Threads, which I hope you'll visit too. I'm sure you understand that I have sole copyright of my original work and any of my contributions, so please ask if you want to use them. A polite request is rarely refused. So, as they used to say on the BBC's 'Listen With Mother' radio programme, many years ago: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin."

Sunday 25 August 2013

A Sable in a Cedar


This stamp from the Soviet Era doesn't commemorate any event, and compared with some of the other Russian stamps issued during 1984 it's quite ordinary. It depicts a sable, which is a species of marten, inhabiting forest environments. I bet my Mum didn't know that when she paid her 35 Kopecks and stuck it on (rather wonkily) to a postcard she was sending to my father back home in England. It may be humble sepia-toned drawing on a basic postage-paid stamp, but it's linked to a magical memory for my mother.

In 1984 she expressed a wish to visit Moscow, my father expressed a desire to stay at home. At this time they had been married for forty-two years and were well used to each other's ways. My Dad gave his blessing for Mum to take herself off on a six-day holiday, whilst he enjoyed some quiet at home. She and a widowed friend had three days there and three days in St. Petersburg. Here's the card she sent home, clever lady, providing me with a subject for the blog. She had a wonderful time, one of the highlights of which was getting lost in Moscow.





















These sable skins show why the the fur has been so widely prize since the Middle Ages. Apparently it's unique in that it doesn't have a grain, and whichever way you brush it, it looks the same. Personally I prefer to see it on the living animal.


Viridian at Sunday Stamps has asked for examples with wild animals on, and this was the only one in my very small collection.
The sable is a rather lovely animal, and wouldn't you be wild if you thought someone was hunting you for your fur?

11 comments:

  1. The sable's pose looks almost human, as though he's watching out for hunters.

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  2. I like that kind of ordinary stamp best.

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  3. I tried to count the furs but gave up - sickening. The one on the stamp is very alert.

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  4. It's a beautiful animal and I too prefer the fur on the animal. Thank you for joining us this week!

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  5. It's hard to relate the sable on the stamp in its natural environment with the furs.

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  6. I can say that you get easily lost in Moscow indeed!

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  7. I cannot imagine any human putting this close to their bodies! or even hanging in a wardrobe!!Its animal hair..& much more suitable on a Sable.

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  8. Great to have the story of the postcard to accompany the stamp.

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  9. A lovely impression of a sable, much nicer to see up a tree than being made into a fur. I visited Russia in the winter and their preference is definitely for fur coats, although not sable, which for some reason sticks in my mind as a plot device in the Gorky Park novel.

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  10. Yes, like you I prefer to see it on the living animal. Last time when I was in SWL a friend of mine had a fur coat, it was pretty, looked like a rabbit, she said this is a fake. I could not wear a real fur coat into the city, I would be hassled all the way. I was glad about that. Your mum was a adventurous lady.

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  11. I always love the look of real fur, although I agree it's nicer on the animal itself.

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