blue and red

Peonies on a plate from Japan

 

Peonies, and Chrysanthemums, on a Chinese satin jacket (Qing Dynasty)

embroidery from Ukraine

folk dolls from Ukraine

some crafts and textiles for our lsdy art theme of Thursday Postcard Hunt

salut

back to France

for the Paralympics

and, just in time, I received the latest Marianne (2023) 

This is Marianne of the future designed by Olivier Balez and engraved by Pierre Bara

a large brood

 

following mama

albert hall

 

Opened 1871 and dedicated to Prince Albert, who by then had been dead for 10 years. It is a grade I listed building, which means it's a building of 'exceptional interest'. At one time it held up to 9,000 people but safety rules now limit it to around 5.400. Although I have never been, nor have I seen it on tv, I generally associate the Albert Hall with the Proms, an eight week daily festival of mostly classical music. Each night has a different theme.  Tonight's prom is Doctor Who Prom!

(if you're watching it, Joy, I want to know what you thought)

icon

I have many of these Machin stamps (this is but a tiny sampling). I love all the colours - it's like looking at paint swatches.

and, this, with the lovely cancellation and a more casual hat instead of a crown, but still with the necklace.

some colours for Sunday Stamps

green

 she is just casually observing you...

CATURDAY

a sleeping volcano

iconic

two views of Mt Hood

puppies and horses

'Puppy', a massive floral sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, stands in front of the Bilbao Guggenheim.  A West Highland terrier, he is 40' tall and gets a makeover twice a year with fresh flowers.

The Kelpies in Falkirk, Scotland. Kelpies are mythological beasts and these ones were created by Andy Scott in 2013. Their names are Duke and Baron.  They are 100' tall and, yes, you can go inside.

some sculptures for Thursday Postcard Hunt

magic by the lake

The Edgewater Beach Hotel, with a private beach, opened 1916, demolished 1971.  On the far right are the pink hued apartments (still standing) which complemented the yellow hued hotel.

temple of transportation

 

Chicago Union Station, located in the West Loop neighbourhood.  Built in 1925, it is the size of nearly 10 city blocks.

50 years

The Toronto Zoo is celebrating its 50th anniversary.  I have yet to visit.  Not sure why.  Just never got around to it, though I have thought about going several times.  Mostly, it is now the cost - $40 admission + $15 for parking. Plus the gas to get there.

I picked up these cards at a postcard show.  It hasn't been known as the 'Metro" zoo for 25 years.

numbers

 

Dahlias are one of the flowers that follow the fibonacci sequence*

as do the feathers on a peacock 

and let's not forget 

pineapples and pine cones

some patterns for Sunday Stamps

*fibonacci sequence - numbers starting with zero and one, is a steadily increasing series where each number is equal to the sum of the preceding two numbers

let's go to the ex

 

Opening today until Labour Day, September 2.  When it opened 145 years ago, admission was 25 cents (around $10 in today's money) now, admission is nearly $30 (adult)

wall art

 mosaics in Spaintiles in Portugalmurals in Canada

some public art for Thursday Postcard Hunt

athens

 looking up to the Acropolis

sometimes, it feels like the world is burning

glorious twelfth

 red grouse

'it is peculiar to the British area and is most plentiful in the Highlands of Scotland'

 

1964

I realize that with the previous Olympic countries, I neglected to include any African stamps.  Here are two for the 1964 Tokyo Games in which neither country actually participated. Dahomey and Togo only competed in their first Games in 1972 at Munich.

I was struck by the similarity in design, and sure enough, both of these stamps were designed by the Latvian-Israeli Shamir brothers, Gabriel and Maxim

eiffel tower

 Caturday

Are we ready to say au revoir to Paris and the Olympics?  Were any of you glued to the tv coverage for hours on end watching sports you had almost forgotten even existed?  I was.  And am ready to move on.  We had around a dozen sports channels on tv, plus the US channel (NBC) and the main Canadian channel (CBC) which had 22 hours of nonstop Olympics.  The only break was one hour of national news, one half hour of local news, and one half hour of ...  Coronation Street.  This is non-negotiable.  They took it off the air once, and only once. (I forget if it was for the hockey, or Olympics, but they had so, so many complaints)

Anyway, tomorrow will be our last Olympic themed Sunday Stamps before we return to regular programming.

triomphe

 L'arc de triomphe de l'Étoile

although this vintage card obviously doesn't show it, the symbol for the Paralympics is displayed on the monument.  For the first time, the host city didn't wait until the Olympics were over to install the Agitos.

paintings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

here are a couple of hand painted cards, received through Postcrossing

and one by an artist I was unfamiliar with

Le marche aux fleurs by Michel Delacroix, a French painter who I am pleased to report is 91 years old and living in Paris

souvenirs

 

youth

 Oh, to be young and fearless...

I have been enjoying watching the skate boarders, especially those oh-so-young 'uns!   and the mountain biking with those views! (that the cyclists certainly did not have time to take in)

jasper

the bear, first appeared in 1962

he has since been updated

but the statue survived the fire

monuments

 Minsk is a city of monuments and sculptures

In Tallinn there is a memorial to the Russian warship Russalka that sank (in 1893) somewhere in the direction this angel is facing.  Estonia was part of Russia at the time, though this was the first statue in the country made by an Estonian.  

The sculptor's housekeeper was the model for the angel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here in Canada, overlooking the Niagara River, is a tall monument to Sir Isaac Brock who died in the Battle of Queenston Heights during the War of 1812 (the only war fought in the country)

 some monuments to history