Spring Flowers

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - Spring flowers

Sigriswil, Thunersee mit Niesen, Switzerland

The coming of spring in the Bernese Alps,  snowy flowers and peaks; a view of Lake Thun and Niesen, a draw for the artist and photographer. The mountain (7,749 ft; 2362m) may be dwarfed by the Eiger and Jungfrau but they don't have a funicular that can take one to the top and the longest staircase in the world, all 11,674 steps of it.

Furness Abbey, Cumbria

At sea level the daffodils are in bloom in the ruins of a 12th Century Cistercian  Abbey in the Valley of the Deadly Nightshade, once a remote place now on the outskirts of my town.

Hold April by Jesse Stuart

Hold on to April; never let her pass!/Another year before she comes again/To bring us wind as clean as polished glass/And apple blossoms in soft, silver rain./Hold April when there's music in the air,/When life is resurrected like a dream,/When wild birds sing up flights of windy stair/And bees love alder blossoms by the steam./Hold April's face close yours and look afar,/Hold April in your arms in dear romance;/While holding her look to the sun and star/And with her in her faerie dreamland dance./ Do not let April go but hold her tight,/ Month of external beauty and delight.

Military Siege

 

1993: 350th Anniversary of the Siege of Castle Cornet (Design - Clive Abbott)

Scenes from the English Civil War. Castle Cornet was a Royalist stronghold however the population of Guernsey were for the Parliamentarians, they called on the Lieutenant Governor to surrender but he fired on them.  The population were not equipped to storm the castle as they discovered after one abortive attempt. The defensive batteries around St Peters Port originally built to protect Guernsey from the French directed their fire at Castle Cornet.  The guns on the castle fired back. Today archaeological excavations regularly find musket and canon balls fired from the castle.  Cornet was supplied by ships throughout the Civil War which were sent by the Lieutenant General of Jersey.  I liked the story portrayed on the 28p stamp of the three local officials who were tricked aboard one of the enemy ships thinking it was one of their own but the captain had switched sides. Imprisoned for 43 days they managed to escape by making a hole in the wooden floor to the room below where they found a supply of flax which they made into ropes and escaped.

The FDC shows the three shields of Castle Cornet's commanders, Osborn was disliked by both the population and his own side however on surrender Burgess, the last Governor, and his men, were allowed to march out bearing arms and leave the island at the end of the siege in recognition of their humane treatment of prisoners. Here is the story from the FDC insert...

taking us to the present day...

 Sunday Stamps theme - Military - See It On A Postcard

Famous Women

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in search of famous women..

Bridget Riley, part of the zeitgeist of the 1960s, born in 1931 and still painting. Her mesmerising optical illusions in black and white were part of the Op Art movement. She became the first female winner of the International paintings prize at the 1968 Venice Biennale. 

Her long fascination with Seurat's 'Bathers at  Asnieres' and a visit to Egypt in 1979 where she experienced its light and contrast  of colours  together with the use of colour in Egyptian hieroglyphs inspired her to use colour in her paintings which she found less predictable than black and white.

The photo is one of series taken by Ida Kar in 1963, who was known for her many black and white portraits of artists and writers.

Maggie Gripenberg (1881-1976) well wrapped up  the against the coastal breeze and although seen here painting she was a dancer, choreographer and teacher. A pioneer of modern dance she also introduced eurhythmics to Finland.

Lighthouses

 

1996: Lighthouses (Artist - David Swinton)

Point of Ayre, on the west coast, the oldest operational lighthouse on the Isle of Man, designed and built by Robert Stevenson the grandfather of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

(36) Calf of Man Lighthouse, an island south of the Isle of Man and a nature reserve. (42) Maughold Head is on the easternmost part of the Isle of Man and the nearest to England 30 miles from St Bees Head.

(20) The lighthouse on the Langness peninsula is automated on this, the most south easterly peninsula of the island; the cottages are now holiday lets. (30) Chicken Rock Lighthouse, where stormy weather once meant that lighthouse keepers were cut off from their Christmas Dinner, no turkey for them in 1960 and indeed no relief boat until the New Year  (41) Douglas Head Lighthouse, another one designed by Robert Stevenson.

The Great Lighthouse Extravaganza a tour by enthusiasts of some of the Isle of Man's lighthouses, including Chicken Rock with views from all angles.

Sunday Stamps theme - Lighthouses - follow the light to  See It On A Postcard

Reading

See It On A Postcard's  Thursday Postcard Hunt is concentrating on reading or handwork..

Girl Reading - Harold Knight (1931)

Reading, a pastime for all seasons. Winter or

The Beach at Trouville - Claude Monet (1870)

 

Summer.  In terms of comfort I'd plump for the well appointed chaise longue

Cool Views

 

1991: Mountain Lakes

The Alpine Lakes of (80) Melchsee in Central Switzerland and (50) Moesola by the San Bernardino Pass near the Swiss/Italian border.  Postbuses travel over the pass several times a day when it opens from June to October, the helpful advice from the postbus website is get off at the Ospizio stop for Lake Moesola. The site has a scenic shot of a bus travelling the route, although not on one of its many hairpin bends.

2013: Christmas (Design - Magnus Rakeng)

A snowy view and no doubt an excellent house from which

1996: 100th Anniversary of the Modern Olympic Games

to go skiing,

2004: Europa - Holidays

with a few friends.

For Sunday Stamps theme - Cold Vacation Locations - visit See It On A Postcard

Relax its a blast

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for women relaxing

Hula hooping, stairs optional, but what better way to make an entrance.

Nana Téte de Fleurs by Niki de Saint Phille (1971)

Dancing.  The feminist artist Niki de Saint Phille (1930-2002) produced a lot of large scale Nana papier mache sculptures mostly representing the modern women enjoying herself. Nana (French slang for girl) also appeared in two dimensional media, in this instance on wallpaper.  In the early 1970s one of the oldest wallpaper manufacturers in Europe, Marburger Tapetenfabrik, approached a diverse group of international artists to reflect the times. They wanted the wallpaper to be ornamental not just as a background for other objects. They got their wish from Niki de Saint Phille.  The series was called XArt Walls.