Red in Nature

 

2026: Waterfalls

The Pistyll Rhaeadr (Spring of the Waterfall) in mid-Wales, it was reduced to a trickle in July when a drought was declared in Wales, nobody had seen the falls so low.  It started to rain in September so maybe it looks like this now.

2025: Mushrooms

Nice damp weather for the fungi, such as the Scarlet Elf Cup, it is said the wood elves drink morning dew from the cups. The Fly Algaric is home to fairies.

1992: Edible Berries

Autumn of course is a time for foraging for berries and fruits. The kinnikinnick, is an Algonquin name for 'smoking mixture'; they were only interested in the leaves of this shrubby plant but bears and small mammals prefer the berries.

2008: Wishes

Swimming into view, two fish in love

2003: Roses in Norway

The deep velvety red of a 'Grand Prix' rose, the flower of love

2009: Meteorology

Natures 'goodnight' extravaganza with reds and yellows and pink

An entry to Sunday Stamps theme - Red - See It On A Postcard 

Illustrated

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - Illustrations

1985: Theatre (Design - Paul Flora; Engraver - Wolfgang Seidel)

Opera buffa (Italian comic opera) usually in two acts often using the lower male voices. The basso buffo is a comic bass (or baritone) specialising in lighthearted, absurd or blustering characters. It demands comic timing and very fast singing with clear diction for the word play. The illustration shows a typical costume and a random owl.

One thing will not make an appearance is

Wood Engraving by Robin Dower

a Northumberland Small Pipe. It says on the back of the card that they can be heard playing at Wallington Clock Tower. The history behind this statement belongs to  Patricia Travelyn who was part of the family that owned the Wallington Hall estate before donating it to the National Trust. She regularly played the small pipes in the courtyard to entertain visitors to the Clock Tower Cafe. To honor her memory traditional music groups and pipers still gather at Wallington Hall in the summer months. If you want to see how it all works the Northumberland piper Kathryn Tickell explains here in a short video. I don't think I could manage all the co-ordination!

As it says on the card they are designed for playing indoors

Building A House, 1949. (Illustration by Richard Leacroft

but they will have to finish the house first. Helen and Richard Leacroft wrote and illustrated several architectural books for Puffin which included churches and even pyramids. These children's books were first published by Penguin in 1940 despite the challenges of severe paper rationing during World War II. The idea was a success as it expanded into all types of literature, at one time there was a Puffin Magazine and Puffin Club, with badges! The strapline is "There's nuffin like a puffin!"

World Food

 

2016: Food from Sweden

The 'Food from Sweden' booklet stamps feature food eaten in Sweden from other countries. These two stamps are of course from Italy and Japan.

The coil stamp from this issue has traditional Swedish food, crisp bread.cheese, hard boiled egg. potato, chives and herring. This would make an excellent picnic although I might need something more substantial than crisp bread. I happened on a blog whose main interest is all things philatelic concerning food and cuisine. It shows the maxi cards of this set, I lusted after these for a moment..

2002: Swedish Gastronomy

What we need now is a recipe book and Dr Charles Emil Hagdahl provided one called 'Cooking As a Science and Art' in 1879 which contained 3000 recipes. It also included how the housewife should handle servants and what he considered good qualities for a housewife.  Marit Huldt was an influential food writer using the pen name 'Hiram'. She wrote almost exclusively for the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, becoming their food editor in 1955 after winning a cooking competition and remained with the paper for 25 years. During her time there she illustrated her articles and recipes, introducing characters like Fru Bratton (Mrs Hurry) who would also appear in her cookbooks.

1975: Fruits

 No need of recipes here, just pick these off the trees. There is a warning with the one on the left, achras zapota known as Sapodilla among other names. These must never be eaten unripe not only would it be very bitter but astringent to tongue and throat. The black seeds come with a warning too as they have hooks on them which can damage the throat. All said they are sweet when ripe, one of their other names is Marmalade Plum so maybe that is a hint of their flavour, I've never eaten them (or seen them in UK shops) but they look very juicy and their large black oblong seeds are disposed of before eating. Lastly something very familiar and delicious, also best eaten ripe, peaches.

Sunday Stamps theme - Food - feast at See It On A Postcard 

Water and Air

 An entry to See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for Sculptures or Statues

Cormorant sculptures on Morecambe Promenade near the Stone Jetty. The real ones can make an appearance too but do not join their inanimate simulacra. The sculptures were part of the TERN Project which installed seabirds on sea-railings and roundabout representing the rich bird life of the Morecambe Bay.

On a much larger scale (9 meters) in Songkhla, Thailand is the head of the Naga, a mythical sea serpent whose three part triptych of head, middle, and tail are split across the city. The stream of water from the Naga's mouth spills out into the estuary of Songkhla Lake. The city's container port can be seen in the background.

Island Birds

 

1975: Jersey Island Birds (Designer - Jennifer Toombs)

Riding the waves of Jersey - the graceful Tern; a Storm Petrel just clear of the water 'pattering' with lowered feet; Brent Geese who winter on Jersey's milder coast ; Shag, perched on a rock with wings outstretched to dry after prolonged diving for fish.

1970: Birds Definites 

The ½c stamp identifies a House Wren but time has passed and it is now reclassified as a subspecies and recognised as the St Vincent Wren (Troglodytes musicus) endemic to the island.  4c The forest dwelling Rufous-throated Solitaire which I believe has a haunting melodic song and is "the dominant forest sound at dusk".

5c Scaly-naped Pigeon, widespread throughout the Caribbean 10c Mangrove Cuckoo, one can tell by the name where to find this bird $2.50  a flycatcher, the Yellow Bellied Elaenia.  South of St Vincent

1976: Flora and Fauna (Designer - Gordon Drummond)

is the southernmost of the Windward Islands - Grenada. Here we find the Bananaquit, named for its bright yellow underside and yes they also like eating ripe bananas. A 'quit' is a West Indian word used to describe tiny chirping birds.

1978: Birds of Grenada (Deign - Gordon Drummond)

I started with sea birds so I'll finish with one. The stamp identifies this as a Black Headed Gull, a bird of the Palearctic region. The knowledgeable  Birds on Stamps site identifies it as a Laughing Gull, which is indeed very similar, especially in summer plumage. The Laughing Gull is a subspecies and permanent resident of the West Indies and Caribbean islands.

An entry to Sunday Stamps theme of - Birds - See It On A Postcard

 

Echoes of History

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - in search of UNECO sites

The Grand Palace of Knossos was built around 1900 BC, rebuilt after an earthquake in about 1700 BC and finally destroyed around 1375-1400 BC.  It was the cultural and political centre of the Minoan civilization on Crete. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list of 'Minoan Palatial Centres' in 2005.

The card shows the watch room or guardhouse of the Palace, an entry area to the west wing complex. 

Roman Wall at Housesteads Mile Castle. (Northumberland)

 Hadrian's Wall stretches across the narrowest part of northern Britain, spanning 73 modern miles (80 Roman miles). Built on the orders of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD122 as the northernmost limit of the Roman Empire and to control border crossings. The guard posts or mile castles were about 55 square feet and garrisoned by 50 men. They were built at mile intervals, with larger forts for 1000 infantrymen occurring at intervals of 3 to 7 miles.

Inscribed by UNESCO in 1987 as a standalone site and then extended in 2005 and 2008 into the transnational 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire' (which includes the Antonine Wall in Scotland and the German Limes (Limes Germanicus) fortifications.

Invention

 

2007: Swedish Innovations (Illustrations - Sara Lund)

Two very useful inventions probably in your tool box. The always useful adjustable spanner,  A wall plug, usually referred to as a rawlplug in the UK, a brand name that became a generic term. The Swedes call them a Thorsmanpluggen, invented in Sweden in 1964 by Oswald Thorsman together with their colour coding, red being a medium size general purpose plug.

2007: World of Invention (Illustrations - Peter Till)

Bridge Building in Thomas Telford's imagination.                        Railway locomotion

Communications.                 Television

 E Mail, Internet and the World Wide Web.            Still to come - Space Tourism to the moon 

Sunday Stamps theme - Celebrating Inventions - See It On A Postcard