christmas in sweden

In Sweden (as well as other countries) the pig is a symbol of good luck.  It had its heyday in the 19th century and a pigs head was common fare for Christmas dinner. This card is illustrated by Jenny Nystrom (1854-1946) who became Sweden's most prolific painter and illustrator.

A few months after Jenny Nystrom died, Sven Nordqvist was born.  He also went on to illustrate children's books; his most well known being Pettson and Findus.

time in the city

 Perhaps the most famous clock tower

A vintage timepiece (c1934) as a shop sign for Möbel Hansson, an antique store in Stockholm

 

 

 

 

 

a clock in the medieval Old Quarter of Torun Poland

but, the pièce de résistance

is this astronomical clock in Prague, 

the oldest clock still in operation (since 1410)

on the farm

New Zealand is well known for its sheep population, but that is slowly shrinking, and as of 2022, the population is 25.3 million which puts it at the lowest sheep to people ratio (5:1) since 1850 when they began keeping records

There are nine chickens that Findus is friends with on the farm. Their names are Prillan, Mathilda, Fia, Doris, Majros, Soffi-Moffi, Henrietta, Stina-Fina and Henni

southwestern scania

  Soderslatt = south plain    

Sweden agricultural district

finicky

I have missed you all! Apologies for last week.

My computer finally crashed and it took a little while getting a new one and even longer getting it up and running with transferred files.  It has been picked up today (Saturday) and I am still trying to figure it all out... the changes are at once small and great. some things have not been improved and I much prefer the old  version. but all those coders must keep on creating, I guess.

Also, I lost many of my photos in the process so have to start over with inputting my stamps and postcards.

I have chosen lacemaking as my theme this week, which is about as finicky a craft as I can think of. This example from 1976 shows the perfect posture of the artisan and the perfect mess of the bobbins she uses to create her masterpiece.

I also have this set from 1987

for Sunday Stamps - your choice