Quotes

 

2016: Shakespear

We have had quite a lot of 'wordy' stamps over recent times, I think there must be a fan of typography on Royal Mail's stamp design committee.

Our language would be a lot poorer without Shakespeare's invention of words and phrases

2015: Magna Carta 800th Anniversary

And society would be  less without the access to justice

although our present government is minded to dismantle our Human Rights Act, a lot of crazy things have happened since the issue of these stamps, and none of them good.

 Sunday Stamps theme this week is - More words than pictures - read them on See It On A Postcard

Spring Rises

 

1970: Stations of the Cross

Bit short of Easter stamps I haven't used before so it has to be the 'Descent from the Cross' by the Basque muralist Juan de Aranoa y Corredano (1901-1973) from his Stations of the Cross series.  These can be seen in the Amurrio Parish Church. He tended towards the melancholy in his paintings so obviously found the ideal subject.

1960: Flowers II

The flowers return after their winter sleep and yellow carpets of buttercups appear and dandelions, as is their mission,  pop up everywhere, an early flower so vital to pollinators

which are on the wing. The tortoiseshell is always welcome, the first to appear and the last to leave

I won't see the Hawthorne butterfly, no-one knows why they disappeared from the British Isles (in English they were known by a less romantic name of Black-veined white).  Happily the Orange Tip thrives but then they do like damp meadows. It is the true sign of spring being one of the first species to emerge that has not overwintered as an adult. The Swedes know it as the Aurora butterfly - goddess of the dawn.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Easter or Spring - celebrate at See It On A Postcard

Birds

 

1997: Bird Conservation

Room with a view for a White-tailed tropic bird, Bermuda is the farthest north it nests where the islanders call it - longtail

1959: Defintive

Travel way down to the bottom of the planet to meet the Brown Skua in Antarctica, the top avian predator;  watch out baby penguin

2003, 2004 and 2002: Birds of Portugal

Lets have a splash of colour. Here is the Western sub-alpine warbler, European bee-eater and a golden oriel. Love a brightly coloured bird

1969: Airmail - Taiga Bean Geese

but to make the heart lift then a skein of geese flying across the sky takes a lot of beating

1966: Protection of Birds

although at the moment am looking out for the arrival of the Swallows, reported in the south of the country so I'm on excitable high alert for these birds bringing the promise of long warm days ahead.

1977: Birds of Hortobagy National Park

Purple Heron in one of Europe's largest National Parks which offers many spectacular birding sights in the sky.  The sun sets

1960: Waterbirds

and the moon rises. The Black crowned night heron comes into its own at dusk and through the night 

1967: Birds of Prey

if lucky a barn owls cry might be heard in the still of the night.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Birds -  on the wing at See It On A Postcard

Fashion

2012: Great British Fashion

Tommy Nutter was at the heart of the swinging sixties, here is the suit he made for Ringo Star. Fun fact one of the backers for his shop in Saville Row was the singer Cilla Black. The other stamp shows an outfit created by Norman Hartnell in the 1950s. He was the Queens favourite designer and made both her ornate wedding and coronation dresses.

2013: Jane Austin

Going back in time and some Regency fashion which I always think is the prettiest of old time dress, this familiar style was popular from 1805 to 1820

1978: Paintings by Spanish Painters

although the charming portrait by Diego Velasquez of his daughter Francisca (b1619) playing the clavichord shows there is nothing new in fashion.

1978: Paintings -  Int Stamp Exhibiting Countries

Observing Thomas Gainsborough's paintings one can't help but notice, he liked a hat. Here is the actress Sarah Siddon painted in the winter of 1784/5 when she was playing what is considered one of her greatest roles - Lady Macbeth.  This painting can be seen in London's National Gallery but she was painted by many of the leading portrait painters of the day so other galleries are available.  Indeed one could have a Mrs Siddon day out in the city for she also has two statues, one at Paddington Green near the church of St Mary, where she is buried, and one in Westminster Abbey.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Fashion - find more at  See It On A Postcard