In the Woods

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt looking at Scenery.. with animals

A handsome elk with its velvet antlers in summertime, when the living is easy

Illustrator - Jaana Aalto

 A wolf moon appears in January, when the days lengthen and the cold strengthens

 

Surprised! by Henri Rousseau (1891) 

A tiger stalks its prey in the warmth of a jungle as imagined by Henri Rousseau (he never left France). The first of his many jungle paintings it is also known as Tiger in a Tropical Storm. So warm but wet.  The rain and lightening are difficult to see on the card and better seen on this larger version.

Norwegian

 

1989: Norden - National Costumes (Design - Knut Løkke-Sørensen)

National Costumes of Norway - a woman's costume from Setesdal, in South Norway (known for its folk traditions) and a man's costume from Kautokeino (Sami/Laplander)

The Northern Lights. We are in a period of increased solar activity which is forecast to last until 2026 (I have managed to miss them all so far!) The Vikings believed the aurora was the light shining off the armour of the Valkyries who were  guiding fallen warriors to Valhalla, Odin's Hall. To the Sami they were a bad omen and thought to be the souls of the dead.

2014: Tourism - Oslo Viking Ship Museum (Design - Kristin Granli)

The Vikings, navigators nonpareil

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Norway, Northern Lights and National Costume - See It On A Postcard 

Darkness

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is in spooky mood for  Hallowe'en or Black

A familiar story, a lone car on a lonely road. Will they reach their destination?

All Directions (Photo - Sarah Montgomery)

The mist descends, something moves in the dark...

 

Abandon by Meg Cabot

How will the story end? Its a matter of love and death...

The card was issued for the first of  a trilogy by Meg Cabot which was inspired by the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.

 

Mushroom Mutitudes

 

2025: Mushrooms

A mushroom hunters delight, the Morel, excellent when cooked slowly.

From Malta, a cross thistle oyster mushroom or King Oyster, widely cultivated and native to the temperate humid areas of the Mediterranean.

2006: Mushrooms of Greenland II

Greenland Milk-cap Mushroom, I am assuming this species is edible to be included in the stamp issue, although many milk caps (Lactarius) are not.

 Definitely edible, a puffball, Calvatia cretacea, although in common with all puffballs  the interior has to be pure white otherwise it is past its edible stage. 

Sunday Stamps A-Z - M for Morel, Malta and Mushrooms - See It On A Postcard   

Golden Brown

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is in autumnal mood and looking for brown

The golden brown of bracken in the Langdale Valley when the green of summer has disappeared. 

The Lost Spells (Artist - Jackie Morris)

A night flying Lime Hawk Moth, their caterpillar feed on on the leaves of lime, silver birch and elm but the adults don't feed at all. On the wing from May to July but only on warm nights. By now the caterpillar will be cocooned and overwintering.

 Over 26 million bricks created the largest brick bridge in the world. The Göltzshtal Bridge, built between 1846-1851,  spans the deep valley of Göltzsch, and is 78m (255 ft) high and 574m long, part of the Leipzig to Nuremberg line in Germany.

Looking at Leopards

 

1976: African Animals

Somewhere in Liberia's dense forests this leopard prowls, its agility and  physiology are also perfect for climbing trees. The leopards in West Africa are geographically isolated, once abundant their numbers have dwindled and become fragmented.

1981: Birth Centenary of Kalman Kitteberger (explorer and zoologist)

The largest density of leopards in Africa are in Zambia and South Africa

2002: Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories (Illustrator - Izhar Cohen)

How did the leopard got its spots (and the Ethiopian dark skin)?  The short short answer is  here

2001 Children's Books

 

Introducing Leopold the Leopard who is woken by the rising sun, but is the only one awake, so he decides to climb a tree to visit the sun. He climbs to the top meeting lots of friends on the way, but not the sun, which has risen too high in the sky. This is the story of  'Leopold and the Sun' by Stephan Brulhart. The stamp was used on a cover for the 2002 Geneva Book Fair.

Sunday Stamps A-Z - L for Leopard, Liberia and little Leopold - leap now to See It On A Postcard 

Shades of Red

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in Autumn is looking for the colour Red

A maple leaf, renowned  for its vibrant autumn colours

 

A love heart sent anonymously in October 1906 to Mr H Noble, Engineer, on the merchant ship 'Manchester Importer', anchored in Salford Docks, Manchester. Much more romantic than

2015: Alice in Wonderland (Illustrator - Graham Baker-Smith)

 

the Queen of Hearts who has probably more in common with

 

a dragon.