The Rowan Tree

Ella, sent me this pretty card with a picture of a Rowan tree. Now,  the rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.  

The best-known species is the European Rowan Sorbus aucuparia, a small tree typically 4–12 m tall growing in a variety of habitats throughout northern Europe and in mountains in southern Europe and southwest Asia. Its berries are a favourite food for many birds and are a traditional wild-collected food in Britain and Scandinavia. It is one of the hardiest European trees, occurring to 71° north in Vardø in Arctic Norway, and has also become widely naturalised in northern North America.

Rowans are excellent small ornamental trees for parks, gardens and wildlife areas.  They are very attractive to fruit-eating birds, which is reflected in the old name "bird catcher".

The wood is dense and used for carving and turning and for tool handles and walking sticks. Rowan fruit are a traditional source of tannins for mordanting vegetable dyes. In Finland, it has been a traditional wood of choice for horse sled shafts and rake spikes.

The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine - Taipei

This card that Irene sent me shows guards at The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, which is a shrine in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan, dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China.

Built on Chingshan Mountain and overseeing the Keelung River in Taipei's Zhongshan District in 1969, the Martyrs Shrine recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing's Forbidden City. The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises. A changing of the honour guard from the various branches of the Republic of China Military, similar to the rituals at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, take place at the shrine.

The Martyrs' Shrine was the site of the funeral of Chiang Ching-kuo in 1988. On March 29 (Youth Day, commemorating the Huanghuagang Uprising) and September 3 (Armed Forces Day) of every year the President of the Republic of China leads the heads of the five Yuans (branches of government) to pay their respects to the martyrs by bowing and offering incense. Similar shrines are located in each locality in Taiwan, and similar ceremonies are led by county magistrates and city mayors.

Although the Martyrs Shrine is located in Taiwan, most of the soldiers were born on Mainland China. Taiwan was ruled by Japan throughout World War II, and about 200,000 Taiwanese who lived under Japanese rule served in the Japanese Imperial Army.

One Horse Power Rolls Royce!

Merja sent me this delightful card from Cyprus. She says, this is her on her "One HP Rolls Royce". Yes Dear, in these days of traffic jams everywhere, I think this is the right choice!

Johnston's Pier

Johnston's Pier in Singapore, was a jetty, landing-platform for the convenient arrival and departure of sea travellers. It once stood opposite Fullerton Square, and Hong Kong Bank Building at Battery Road and Collyer Quay. Built by the Municipal Commissioners, construction started in early 1854 and was completed on 13 March 1856. In its time many famous dignitaries, including British Royalty and other VIPs first set foot in Singapore on this pier. Johnston's Pier was named after Alexander Laurie Johnston (b. Dumfriesshire S Scotland - d. 19 February 1850, Bluehill. Kircudbright, Scotland), one of the earliest European settlers in Singapore. 

A platform made of iron and wood, extending from shore over water, and supported by piles and pillars, the wide platform of the pier reached out to the sea. These landing facilities included a 7-ton crane costing $900. Initially, only the arrival/departure pier-end was covered, and the increasing number of activity, made it necessary to be entirely sheltered. Two handsome, stylishy designed ornamental lamp-posts, with fluted columns, turn-over leaves, and four copper lanterns were ordered from England to add a bit of elegance to its entrance. Another red lamp used to hang at the end of the pier, warning ships as it entered the harbour. Thus Johnston's Pier was popularly known as Lampu Merah or "Red Lamp" in Malay; and also, Ang Teng (the Hokkien, Chinese dialect name) and Lampu Merah and, Ang Teng, also became the name for Clifford Pier.

By the 1930s, the pier was worn out and the government decided to build a new one and name it after Sir Clifford.

My friend Hing Yan sent me this card.

Parliament House in Helsinki

The Eduskunta is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011. The card on display shows the Parliament House.

Parliament House is the seat of the Parliament of Finland. It is located in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, in the district of Töölö. In 1923 a competition was held to choose a site for a new Parliament House. Arkadianmäki, a hill beside what is now Mannerheimintie, was chosen as the best site. The architectural competition which was held in 1924 was won by the firm of Borg–Sirén–Åberg with a proposal called Oratoribus (Latin for "for the speakers"). Johan Sigfrid Sirén (1889–1961), who was mainly responsible for preparing the proposal, was given the task of designing Parliament House. The building was constructed 1926–1931 and was officially inaugurated on March 7, 1931. Ever since then, and especially during the Winter War and Continuation War, it has been the scene of many key moments in the nation's political life.

Thank you Ella for this pretty card.

The Wild West

This is the sort of Scene that inspires poets, writers of Western stories and Movies of non other than the American Wild West.

Thank you Norbert for this pretty card.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Paris (for "Our Lady of Paris"), also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is an historic Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.

As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame is the parish that contains the cathedra, or official chair, of the archbishop of Paris, currently Archbishop André Vingt-Trois. The cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary which houses some of Catholicism's most important first-class relics including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, and one of the Holy Nails.

In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845. A project of further restoration and maintenance began in 1991.

Thank you Marie for this nice card.