Flowers

 

2015: Flora and Fauna of Alderney (Design - Petula Stone)

The tiny island of Alderney (2000 acres)  packs a lot into a small space consisting of woodland, scrub, wetlands grassland, heath and of course sandy beaches.  They issued this as both mini sheet and stamps but how could I resist the famous Alderney blonde hedgehog featuring twice on the mini sheet with bluebells and buttercups. Hedgehogs are not native to the islands and it is thought they were brought to the island as pets and either escaped or were set free in the 1960s.  Because of the small number they are not genetically diverse and it appears that two had the genetic variation for blonde spines (a rare trait) and today 60% of the approx 600 hedgehogs are blonde. 

The flora on the stamps are the aromatic Alderney Sea Lavender only found on Alderney and Jersey in the British Isles, Dwarf Thistle and the Spotted rock rose which is the county flower.

2010: Flowers - Pansies (Design - A Christensen)

From the wild to the garden pansy.  I can never resist buying some to pot up, these are a favourite

 

2010 (self adhesives): Flowers (Design - N Tamas)

 but I do like a mix.

2006: Flowers

Hibiscus are best planted in the spring and we are now in meteorological spring however there has been snow this week!  Our ancestors were more wise and knew Spring started with the Vernal Equinox, this year the 19th March

Sunday Stamp's theme this week - Flowers - blooming  at See It On a Postcard

Dreaming Towers

A wonderfully moody photograph of Prague's skyline.  Is the sun going down or coming up? In my imagination it is rising with the quiet of the early morning mist in the distance.  I've just noticed the clock tower on the left reads 6 O'Clock, does that give any clues? The card came with greetings from the "proverbial Heart of Europe" and "The City of a Hundred Towers" although Petr informs me there are in fact 109 of them in his beloved home town of Prague.  I imagine the photographer was on top of one of those 109 taking this photograph for many of them are open to take in the view of the city.   

There were also towers on the the stamps he used but from other parts of the Czech Republic in their ongoing stamp series "Beauties of Our Country" and they are both attractive compositions of the essence of a place. 

On the left is the 2010 stamp of Klatovy famous for its "baroque pharmacy, catacombs and the Renaissance Town Hall Black Tower". The stamp shows a representation of a corner of the square with the Black Tower on the left which was built in 1547 as a watch tower to help defend the town and also give early warning of fires. Today one can climb the tower for a panoramic view of the town and the nearby mountains. The other building is the snappily titled Church of the Virgin's Immaculate Conception and St Ignatius.  The carnation which completes the trio is the symbol of the city and was first introduced by Baron Volšansky who brought it from the French city of Nancy when he returned home from the Napoleonic Wars. Thus began the love affair with the flower which is celebrated every year with a festival in June/July with hundreds of different types and colours of carnations which must be a perfect match with the baroque architecture.  Stamp Designer: Jan Maget /Engraver: Bohumil Sneider

On the right is the 2009 stamp of the  Cistercian Monastry at Vyssi Brod founded in 1259.  The Cistercians always seemed to build their monasteries in the most delightful places and this one is on the banks of the Vitava River. Stamp Design: Jan Kavan / Engraver: Vaclav Fajt

2007: Flowers

The other stamp on the card was a pretty little cyclamen.  Stamp Designer: A Khunova /Engraver: Bohumil Sneider

Happy Easter

I have a certain lack of Easter stamps but here is one I don't think I've shown on here before issued by the Czech Republic for Easter 2008 of the Pietà, Mary cradling the dead body of Christ.  The stamp portrays a detail from an altar cycle of Christ's life produced by an artist working in Prague in the middle of the 14th century, unknown by name, who is referred to as the Master of Vyšši, one of the treasures of Czech art.

Happily for this theme I received a Happy Easter postcard this week from Eeva with its Finland Red Cross prepaid charity stamp of a beautiful bowl of daffodils. They are in full bloom here, in gardens, by roadsides, in pots, and to top off a golden easter time have been joined by drifts of their later flowering wild ancestors in the woods.

As I have a lack of stamps here is the fun card it came on of Inge Löök's Aunties enjoying an action packed

and cosy time in a barn painting hen's eggs for Easter, they are possibly still warm. 

Like the card I wish you all Hyää Pääsiäistä - Happy Easter

An entry to Violet Sky's Sunday Stamps II theme of - Easter - more Easter related stamps here

 

Zodiac

I was sure I had some zodiac sign stamps with star constellations but it looks as though those must have been in my imaginary stamp collection.  In the real world I could find just two from a set  issued in 1998 by the Czech Republic.  Above is Gemini, the twins.  People born under this sign are smart, cheerful, quick witted and charming but can also be gossipy and fickle. Two famous Gemini are John F Kennedy and Queen Victoria.

Aries, the ram.  Energetic, honest, adventurous but can also be impulsive and impatient. Famous Gemini are Hans Christian Anderson and Jackie Chan.   As the latter was born in Hong Kong this gives me the opportunity to pad out my lack of western Zodiac stamps with the Chinese Zodiac

and the "Twelve Animals of the Lunar New Year Cycle" miniature sheet which Hong Kong issued in 1999. I then wondered what Lunar Year Sign  Jackie Chan (birthday 7 April 1954) was born in and discovered it was the Year of the Horse -

2014: Year of the Horse (Designed by Chrissy Lau)

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of -  Zodiac Signs  here

Dogs and A Cat

I was finding pets a bit thin on the ground for this week's Sunday Stamps theme and then a envelope plopped through my letterbox with three lovely stamps, one of which was this, issued for the Europa theme of Children's Books in 2010.  It shows the wired haired fox terrier Dášeňka from Karel Čapek's story of the adventures of a puppy as it grows called, well yes,  "The Life of a Puppy".  That made me think of other children's stories and it brought to my mind last year's Alderney issue commemorating the Life of Beatrix Potter,

and sure enough two of the six stamp set show Beatrix sitting by a Lakeland river thinking of stories to tell while her dog retrieves sticks.  It looks like a spaniel so it will no doubt be bounding into the water at some stage.  As the sun sets she settles down to draw her story characters while the cat snoozes in the basket.  I suspect her day was busier than portrayed because at this time she was running a working farm in the Lake District.   A neighboring Channel Island featured dogs on stamps last year but in this case it was a whole set

commemorating the Kennel Club of Jersey dogs.  This one portrayed has the usual type of extravagant name of show dogs,  'Jsy CH Tiroen Taylormade'.  As can be seen this particular stamp was the entry to the SEPAC (Small European Postal Administration Cooperation) 2013 theme of fauna which produced diverse interpretations from tigers to seagulls.

 

Lastly one of my favourite dogs, a Labrador Retriever.  For the Lunar New Year of the Dog in 2006 New Zealand post issued six dog breeds. The Labrador was portrayed as a Guide Dog and this stamp value was also in Braille.  There are two versions, a gummed one  and the one shown here which originated from a self adhesive stamp booklet (the booklet issue has no top white edge).

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of - Pets

Vertical Structures

2007: Lighthouses

On the southern headland of the island of Sylt in North Frisia on the North Sea coast where it is said witches dance on the dunes, the souls of shipwrecked sailors wander and the goblin Dikjendälmann may be seen sits the Hörnum lighthouse.  Active since 1907 the keeper's house is now used as a registrar's office, it is both a popular tourist destination and a place for weddings.  This beautiful area's lighthouse sits on top of a dune, by federal law protection is given to all historic lighthouses.

You can climb the 248 iron spiral stairs both day and night of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in North Carolina.  It is next to the visitors centre and Museum of the Sea so it sounds like a great day out.  Here is where the warm Gulf Streams collide with the cold Labrador current producing ocean storms gaining it the name "Graveyard of the Atlantic".  Built in 1868 the lighthouse came under National Park ownership in 1936 when it had been abandoned.  Coastal erosion meant that the lighthouse was in danger of falling into the sea so in the 1999  "Move of the Millennium" the whole things was relocated further inland. It is the tallest brick lighthouse in the USA coming in at 210 feet.  The stamp is 1 of 5 issued in 1990 as part of several topical booklets on Americana and this one was released to commemorate the US Coast Guard and US Lighthouse Service, portraying  lighthouses of the five major coastal regions. The stamps were designed by the artist Howard Koslow who has now produced all of the subsequent lighthouse stamps. I love his use of the geese flying past this one.

1998: Lighthouses

These are the only  lighthouse stamps I have but interestingly they manage to take in three continents and this one is no longer in the country that issued the stamp. Pelican Point lighthouse was built by the South African government in 1932 when it administrated the Walvis Bay Territory. The bay was called Walfischbucht in German meaning "Whale Bay" which in Dutch is Walvis Bay.  After Namibian independence in 1990 this lighthouse became part of the country.  It stands on the naturally protected harbour of the SW African coast (which is the only deep water port of the country) and continues to be active not only with light but also with a fog horn. Unlike the previous US lighthouse's position being eroded by the sea the spit that the Namibian lighthouse sits on is extending itself.

2007: Water Towers

Lastly something a similar shape to Lighthouses but actually a water tower. This stone water tower dates from 1530 and was part of the city of Pilsen's (Plzen̆ in Czech) first water system. One of the attractions of the city is a tour of the labyrinth of historical underground corridors, cellars and wells and it is possible to see  the water tower underground.  Nearby if something stronger than water is required is the Pilsner Urquell Brewery.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of -  Lighthouses or other public structures

  

Double Mucha

A postcard from the Czech Republic of Mucha's  famous Champagne Ruinart poster.  Alfons Maria Mucha (1860-1939) was born in the Moravia region, part of Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic.  I have always associated him with fin de siècle Paris and his wonderful Art Nouveau posters, but just looking briefly into his life I discover how wrong this impression was. He tried to deny his work was art nouveau and said his style was actually Czech art becoming frustrated that he was always associated with his commercial art. Returning to Prague in the 20th Century he produced many murals around the city.  My sender, Dajna, says that the art nouveau style makes some parts of Prague even more charming.

With Czechoslavakia's independence after World War 1 Mucha designed many postage stamps and banknotes for his country so how lovely that Dajna sent this card with

one of the stamps issued in May 2010 to celebrate Mucha's 150th birth anniversary.  This one is the actress Sarah Bernhardt 'Gismonda' poster. He had a 6 year contract from Bernhardt where he produced many other theatre posters for her.

Thank you Dajna for the beautiful stamp and card

Moravia

My sender, Marcela, helpfully translated the name of this cathedral, St Wenceslas Cathedral.  She also tells me that it is in the centre of the historic city of Olomouc where she studies.

This has been the site of a cathedral since 1131, the present façade was reconstructed  from 1883-1892 in a Neo-Gothic style. The chapel at the side is dedicated to St Anna.

A You Tube video tells me the cathedral has 24 bells (15 for music, 8 for peal and 1 for mass. Here is its peal (or change ringing), reminds me of Sunday mornings.


The card came with

one of the two October 2010 Historic Stoves set. This is an art deco ceramic cover of the heating body in the Château Nove Mesto nal Metuji, Bohemia created by the sculptor and ceramicist Helena Johnova in 1939.

Thank you Marcela

Lift Off

 One of the GB commemoratives "The Genius of Gerry Anderson" issued 11 Jan 2011

5-4-3-2-1, Lift Off.  The excitement mounts as the huge engines roar and the rocket starts to move, the supports falling away. Little has changed over the years, technology has improved but the basic way of heading into space has not change. Perhaps some day we might find the secret of anti-gravity as James Blish imagined in his Cities In Flight series but until then we need thundering engines to break free of earth.

 Mongolia 1963 Rocket Blasting Off

 Laika, the first animal in space. It was unknown what the impact of space flight would be on living things. So when Laika was trained and chosen to take flight on Sputnik 2,she was launched into space on 3 November 1957. Unlucky for Laika the Russians did not have the technology to re-enter at this time so her end was not as glorious as her flight unlike

 1961 Czechoslovakia "Gagarin's visit to Prague"

Yuri Gagarin who 4 years later on 12 April 1961 became the first man in space and went on a celebratory tour on his return. His worldwide fame meant that despite being involved in the development of designs for reusable aircraft the Soviet officials were not keen on him returning to space. Probably with good reason for the rockets were very crude and it must have been a hair-raising ride. Sadly he died in a routine training flight in 1968.

The 60s of course were at the hight of the cold war and the race for space was watched all over the world

 USA 1962 - "US Man in Space"

The Project Mercury program ran from 1959 to 1963 with the aim of putting a human in orbit round the world. The astronauts eventually chosen were named the Mercury 7 one of which was

Togo 1962 - Space Flight Commemoration

Alan Shepard, the second person, and the first American into space on 5 May 1961.  He piloted the Freedom 7 mission.  On return he was asked how he felt sitting on to of the rocket waiting for lift-off and he said that it was the fact that every part of the ship was built by the lowest bidder. It did not put Shepard off for he returned to space as commander of Apollo 14 ten years later.
 
These were the first faltering steps into space and we looked forward to more as John Kennedy made his speech with the famous words:
"We choose to go to the moon. We chose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..." 
 As I watched the Apollo missions and those grainy black and white photographs of the first steps on the moon it was if the journey into space had just begun and the planets were next.  It was not to be and those dreams of a generation were never fulfilled.  But tomorrow we may go to the stars.

"Apollo 11 launch from Cape Kennedy on 16 July 1969. This mission landed men on the moon for the first time." NASA photograph, City of Liverpool Museum postcard.

The Sunday Stamps meme is hosted by Viridian Postcard. whose suggested theme was Space and Rockets

Brno

My sender is very informative and tells me that this is the Green (Vegetable) Market in Brno in 1921.  What a great card, I love the historic feel and colouring.  The 17th century Parnas fountain is in the foreground. The market selling vegetables, fruit and flowers still takes place.

Brno is the second biggest city in the Czech Republic, founded in 1243 and  located in the South Moravian Region.  In the industrial revolution it became an industrial centre and was sometimes called the Moravian Manchester, where do they think these things up.

It came with the October 2008 issue of 'Historic Stoves' and a wonderfully clear cancel.

The title is - Rococo Stove, Archbishops Palace in Prague - a white glazed stove with relief decoration and gilt details. At first I could only find the 2009 issues of this series until I used the Czech Post site which has a great system, just put the value of the stamp and a date and they show you all those of that year. How easy is that.

They go into great detail about this stove but basically the 18th century "characteristic of rococo stoves are mainly asymmetry, details and playful decorations..."  It does look very ornate.

This card travelled 920 miles (1480k) from  a village near Brno. Thank you Jana.