Hello lovely peeps,
It's nearly weekend! For me 'weekend' means no work-outs as I do Pilates every day. I'm trying to eat healthily and don't snack or eat sweet things and abstain from alcohol. But on weekends I allow myself a glass (or two) of wine! Big smile!
So if we're talking about what made me smile this week, I must count wine as my biggest smile. Last weekend's activities were shown in Tuesday's blogpost. (In that photo I was drinking water, but I had wine in the evening. Sorry, no photo).
My postcard today features a conservatory:
It was sent to me by Erin in the USA. What you see is the West Conservatory at Longwood Gardens, a famous botanical garden in Philadelphia.
A tourist website writes this:
Longwood Gardens is one of the world’s premier horticultural display gardens.
Located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (about an hour outside of Philadelphia), Longwood Gardens showcases more than 10,000 species and varieties of plants spread out across more than 1,100 acres of gardens and elaborate horticultural displays.
This celebrated collection of indoor and outdoor gardens — over two-dozen in total — attracts visitors from around the globe to enjoy stunning botanical displays, fountain shows, glistening lakes, picturesque meadows and winding woodlands.
In 2024, Longwood Gardens expanded with Longwood Reimagined, a sweeping transformation of 17 acres of Longwood’s core conservatory area, creating several new attractions, a reimagined restaurant and a seamless connection between the lush gardens.
The horticultural haven also hosts hundreds of events annually, including gardening demonstrations, educational programs, children’s activities, concerts and musical theater.
The West Conservatory apparently is a new one. I found this information:
More like a floating crystal palace than a traditional conservatory, the brand-new West Conservatory is not a display garden like most of Longwood, but a Mediterranean-inspired landscape of water features and blooming perennials designed to grow over time.
The state-of-the-art conservatory is a living, breathing structure with geothermal heating and cooling, and computerized windows and vents that open and close in response to the seasons.
I like botanical gardens and this one, I'd love to visit.
The stamps are interesting too:
The two large ones in particular. The left of the two is marked Connecticut, and features a scene from the Appalachian Trail. I find that interesting as I am walking the Appalachian Trail virtually with Walking4fun. On the left you can see where I'm at. In Virginia. I still have 2685 km to do. I input my steps every day, and the program shows me where I have walked with photos of the trail. It is fun to do.
The right hand large stamp features a photo by Ansel Adams.
USPS writes:
Experience the wonder of the American West through the lens of one of America’s most iconic photographers, Ansel Adams (1902-1984). This pane of 16 stamps features some of Adams’ most famous images in his signature “straight photography” style, an approach defined by its precision and directness.
The first row of stamps, left to right, features “Half Dome, Merced River, Winter, Yosemite National Park, California” (1938); “Oak Tree, Sunset City, Sierra Foothills, California” (1962); “Thundercloud, Ellery Lake, High Sierra, Sierra Nevada, California” (1934); and “Denali and Wonder Lake, Denali National Park, Alaska” (1947).
The second row, left to right, features “The Golden Gate and Bridge from Baker Beach, San Francisco, California” (c.1953); “Road and Fog, Del Monte Forest, Pebble Beach, California” (1964); “Rock and Grass, Moraine Lake, Sequoia National Park, California” (1936); and “Leaves, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington” (c.1942).
The third row, left to right, features “Monument Valley, Arizona” (1958); “Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming” (1942); “Jeffrey Pine, Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park, California” (1940); and “Mirror Lake, Mount Watkins, Spring, Yosemite National Park, California” (1935).
The fourth row, left to right, features “Maroon Bells, near Aspen, Colorado” (1951); “Aspens, Dawn, Autumn, Dolores River Canyon, Colorado” (1937); “Road After Rain, Northern California” (1960); and “Dunes, Oceano, California” (1963).
As evidenced by the striking images in this collection, Adams devoted much of his career to the advancement of photography as a fine art. Derry Noyes, an art director with USPS, designed the stamps using existing photographs.
So the stamp on my postcard shows 'Dunes, Oceano, California (1963).
Beautiful photos!
Last month I showed you the jigsaw puzzle I was given for my birthday and I showed you the little bit I had done.
I will show you where I am now (Nearly finished):
The image is about Venice.There is a gondola, ice creams, wine, Merano glass, carnival masks and art of all types, as well as recognisable buildings.
Below is the complete picture from the box:
Enjoy your weekend.
Lisca
