This and That: A Blog

  " Welcome to The Numbers Game #112 . Today’s number is 234.To play along, go to your photos file folder and type the number  233 into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find that include that number and post a link to your blog in my  Numbers Game  blog of the day." I visit a lot more blogs than my comments seem to suggest.  If you use Wordpress I may be unable to leave a comment.  I used to have an account, and now some Wordpress blogs are set to make me sign in, and even though I no longer have an account Wordpress remembers my email and won't let me continue.  Sorry.  I had that happen with three blogs already today.  

 St. Vincent de Paul had some small boxes of ephemera a few weeks ago.  I love looking through those!   I found quite a few postal cards. Postal cards are government issue postcards with a printed stamp.  The first official postal card was issued by the Austro-Hungarian Empire on Oct. 1, 1869.  A year later Germany issued their first. Germany then quickly became known for publishing postcards, especially in the Golden Age  of postcard production, 1890s-1914.  A few months later the UK joined in, followed by many other countries.  The U.S. was late to the game, the first postal card being published in 1873. Region: Bavaria, Germany Freistaat Bayern (Free State of Bavaria) postal card issued c. 1919, shortly after Bavaria declared itself a Free State within the Weimar Republic.  It is overprinted after the fall of the Bavarian Socialist Republic.   Saargebiet (Saar Basin) The Saar Basin was administrated by the League of Nations ...

 So, it's Presidents' Day.  When I was in elementary school we had days off for Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays, whether they fell on a Monday or not.  February 12 for Washington, and February 22 for Lincoln, although Washington was born February 11, 1731 under the old Julian calendar.  In 1752 Britain and the colonies switched to the Gregorian calendar and his birthday was "moved" to the 12th.  The Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect in 1971, changing some, but not all, federal holidays to Mondays.  Lincoln's birthday was never a federal holiday, but was a state holiday in about a dozen states, including mine at the time, California.  It still is a state holiday in a few.  Some states treated it as a school holiday, but not an official state one.  Getting on to the garden, here is what was going on yesterday. Autumn crocus, not actually a crocus, grows its leaves in late winter/spring, they dry up completely before the blooms emerge ...

 It's C this week for Sunday Stamps .  My C s are Animals. C hameleon Ghana 1965 C himpanzee Liberia 1976 C hamois Romania 1976   Next up for next week is D .

  unsigned painting in my collection 

 Happy Valentine's Day!   Valentine's Day, as with many of our holidays, began in ancient times.  I'm not going to go back that far, just into the late 19th century.  Did you know that for much of the 19th and early 20th century Valentine's Day wasn't strictly a lover's holiday?   It was a general occasion for giving cards of greeting, light humor or teasing, and social compliments.  It was common for women to send them to women friends, and men to send them to men friends.  Neighbors and co-workers would exchange Valentines.  It was the polite thing to do.  Postmarked 1909, to Stanley from his "Pal-o." In the Victorian (1837-1901) and Edwardian (1901-1910) eras there were several categories of Valentine's Day cards.   Those for friendship were sentimental, often with flowers, doves, lace, and messages such as " With kind regards this St. Valentine's Day ."   c. 1908-1912 " Vinegar Valentines " were teasing, chee...

Skywatch Friday Some days lately have been absolutely lovely.  Wednesday was one of those days (it looks like today will be too, although there was a red sky at morning ).  These are some of the skies and sights on a country drive Wednesday afternoon.  It took me a bit to realize I could take photos along the way as I wasn't the one driving!  The rest are out my window, not leaning across at a stop sign! Roxy Ann Peak on the right. Mount McLoughlin's snow will become my water, after it percolates down through volcanic soils to emerge as springs.   A lovely view of the garbage transfer station!  Behind that, to the right is Upper Table Rock, to the left Lower Table Rock.  In the middle, further away, is the Sams Valley/Gold Hill Ridge system of the Siskiyous.  It includes Sams Valley Butte, Galls Creek Ridge, and the foothills  The Rogue River.  TouVelle State Recreation Site is on either side of the bridge. During summer's heavier w...