1120 – From Damien in France. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707),
is considered one of the greatest military engineers of all time. In his life
he was responsible for the fortification of over 160 places in France. Mostly during the reign of Louis XIV, Vauban built
fortresses around the borders of France to protect her from invasion (mostly by
the British and the Spanish).
1121 – La Boule de Fort, from
Damien, shows a game that is part of the Angevin heritage. Some trace its
origin to the Loire boatmen who played in the holds of their curved barges.
Others say that it was born using former ball bearings from windmills.
1122 – also from Damien.
1123 – the French porcelain industry began in
Limoges at the end of the 18th century. Sadly the demand for porcelain is declining
and the industry is in recession.
1124 – From Damien, this chateau saw the death
of Richard the Lionheart in 1199, an event which is thought to have changed the
course of European history.
1125 – Susanne, my friend in Germany, has known
about my desire to have a Rosina Wachtmeister card and has been kind enough to
search one out for me. Not an easy task
since they are out of print.
When it landed on the mat I was so delighted. Thank you ever so much, Susanne. If you want to know more about Rosina
Wachtmeister she has appeared on my Rambles blog a couple of times.
Susanne is having trouble commenting on this blog. I'm not sure why but if anyone else is having trouble they can e-mail me at scriptorsenex at gmail dot com and I'll post the comment for them.
1126 – From Irène in France, a postcrossing card
(FR-333859).
Le Lavandou is a commune in the Var department
in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It derives its name either from the flower
lavender (lavanda in Provençal) that is prevalent in the area, or more
prosaicly from the local form of the Occitan name for lavoir, lavandor (for
lavador, a public place for washing clothes).
The (then) village is where the famous popular
song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square was written in the summer of 1939.
The words were by Eric Maschwitz and the music by Manning Sherwin, with its
title ‘stolen’ from a story by Michael Arlen. The song had its first
performance in a local bar, where the melody was played on piano by Manning
Sherwin with the help of the resident saxophonist. Maschwitz sang the words
while holding a glass of wine, but nobody seemed impressed.
In September 2000, the mayor passed an unusual bye-law making it illegal to die in the town. The mayor described his own bye-law
as "absurd ... to counter an absurd situation"; the "absurd
situation" was that with the town's cemetery already full, a court in Nice
had denied permission for a new cemetery because it would mar the beauty of the
selected site.
1127 – From EJ in the Netherlands.
As always EJ’s card included some interesting
stamps
I recall the stamp on the left from my stamp
collecting days as it was one of the first I saw that was not rectangular.
1128 – This delightful card from Renate in
Austria only took two days to get to me.
That’s quicker than second class internal mail. It is by English-born Canadian Impressionist Laura
Muntz Lyall (1860-1930) and entitled ‘An interesting story’.
1129 – A card from Danielle from Nebraska. It was Danielle who introduced me to postcrossing. Norman Rockwell’s ‘A Time for Greatness’
appeared in the July 14th 1964 issue of ‘Look’. There is no one of my generation who does not
recall where they were when the news of Kennedy’s assassination hit them in
November of that year.
My first 2013 Christmas stamp!
1130 - Heidi from Norway sent me this
postcrossing card (NO-84815) from my 'Favourites' wall'.
I love maps like this that show for what the
various parts of an area are noted.
1131 – Susanne from Germany sent this ‘Good
Morning Mr Postman’ picture from around 1900.
Not only did it arrive in this lovely envelope
but inside were four post-box stamps.
1132 – A postcrossing card from Mojca from
Slovenia (SI-87348). It shows an old map
of Slovenia’s third biggest city, Celja.
A lovely Slovenian stamp.
1133 – The family’s first Christmas card – from
Sini in Finland.
The picture is by Mauri Tapio Kunnas (born
February 11, 1950), a Finnish cartoonist and children's author. Kunnas matriculated in 1969 and graduated
from the University of Art and Design in Helsinkii as a graphic designer in
1975. He has worked as a political cartoonist in many Finnish newspapers. He is
currently living in Espoo with his wife Tarja, children Jenna (1983) and Noora
(1987) and their cat. Kunnas is most
famous for his numerous children's books, featuring anthropomorphic animals.
His most famous children's book series is called Koiramäki (Dog Hill), set in
historical Finland, featuring anthropomorphic dogs.
The church on the hill in this picture is St.
Olaf's Church, a late medieval fieldstone church in Tyrvää, Sastamala, Finland.
It was built around 1510–1516 and burned
down by a pyromaniac in 1997. The church
was rebuilt by local people and the interior paintings were created by painters
Kuutti Lavonen and Osmo Rauhala.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (or ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New for
Nothing’ as my first attempt at translation came up with!)
