Hebrew alfabet

I had this beautiful card long time in fave´s list ,but not anymore ,thanks to Elsu .


The Hebrew alfabet , is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two script forms in use. The original old Hebrew script is known as the paleo-Hebrew script (which has been largely preserved, in an altered form, in the Samaritan script), while the present "square" form of the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of the Aramaic script. Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the letters exist. There is also a cursive Hebrew script, which has also varied over time and place.
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, of which five have different forms when used at the end of a word. Hebrew is written from right to left. Originally, the alphabet was an abjad consisting only of consonants. Like other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, means were later devised to indicate vowels by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In rabbinic Hebrew, the letters א ה ו י are also used as matres lectionis to represent vowels. When used to write Yiddish, the writing system is a true alphabet (except for borrowed Hebrew words). In modern usage of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish (except that ע replaces ה) and to some extent modern Israeli Hebrew, vowels may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward full spelling with these letters acting as true vowels.
Before the adoption of the present script, Hebrew was written by the ancient Israelites, both Jews and Samaritans, using the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. During the 3rd century BC, Jews began to use a stylized form of the Aramaic alphabet,while the Samaritans continued to use a form of the paleo-Hebrew script, called the Samaritan script. The present "square script" Hebrew alphabet is a stylized version of the Aramaic alphabet which was adopted from that used by the Persian Empire (which in turn was adopted from the Arameans). After the fall of the Persian Empire, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Aramaic form. For a limited time thereafter, the use of the paleo-Hebrew script among Jews was retained only to write the Tetragrammaton, but soon that custom was also abandoned.

Tundra wolf

Wonderful postcard from Mikkeli postcrossing meeting .When I opened my mailbox then it was like ouwwwwww :) Thank you very much ,Mecu and all who signed this card .You made my day :) And what can make me happy than a wolf card :)


The Tundra wolf  (Canis lupus arctos) is a subspecies of Gray Wolf native to the tundra and forest zones in the European and Asian parts of Russia and Kamchatka. Outside Russia, its range includes the extreme north of Scandinavia.
It is a large subspecies, with adult males measuring 118-137 cm (46-54 in) in length, and females 112-136 cm (44-54 in). Tail length in males is 42-52 cm (17-20 in), in females it is 41-49 cm (16-19 in). Although often written to be larger than forest wolves, this is untrue, as heavier forest wolves have been recorded. Average weight for males is 40-49 kg (88-108 lb). Females average 36.6-41 kg (81-90 lbs). The highest weight recorded among 500 wolves caught in the Taymyr Peninsula and the Kanin Peninsula during 1951-1961 was from an old male killed on the Taymyr at the north of the Dudypta River weighing 52 kg (115 lb). The fur is very long, dense, fluffy and soft. The top hairs are 150-160 mm, the guard hairs 80-150 mm and the underfur 70 mm. The fur is usually light and grey in colour. The lower fur is lead-grey and the upper fur is reddish-grey. Its fur and size are so similar to that of large Canadian wolves that their pelts are often sold together.
The tundra wolf usually makes its den in river valleys and thickets in dry plateaus, and tends to form packs of 5-7 members. It feeds primarily on wild and domestic reindeer and snow sheep in their eastern range. It also preys on hares and arctic foxes. It rarely forms permanent territories, travelling 200-300 km annually to accompany reindeer migrations. Reindeer losses to tundra wolves can be considerable for the Nenets people, who rely on them for subsistence; in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 1708 reindeer were killed by tundra wolves in 1951, and 7048 others were scattered. In the decade between 1944-1954, tundra wolves killed 75,000 reindeer.

The Royal Warship Vasa

Vasa is one of the coolest things I have ever seen(beside a submarine :D,but this is a diffrent story  )

Vasa museum in Stockholm,Sweden is one of the coolest museums in Swede.It is a must when visiting Stockholm.

Vasa is a Swedish warship built 1626-1628. The ship foundered and sank after sailing less than a nautical mile (ca 2 km) into its maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. It fell into obscurity after most of its valuable bronze cannon were salvaged in the 17th century. After it was located again in the late 1950s in a busy shipping lane just outside the Stockholm harbor, it was salvaged with a largely intact hull in 1961. It was housed in a temporary museum called Wasavarvet ("The Wasa Shipyard") until 1987 and then moved to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. The ship is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions and has been seen by over 29 million visitors since 1961.
Vasa was built top-heavy and had insufficient ballast. Despite an obvious lack of stability in port, it was allowed to set sail and foundered only a few minutes after it first encountered a wind stronger than a breeze. The impulsive move to set sail was the result of a combination of factors: Swedish king Gustavou Adolphus, who was leading the army on the continent on the date of its maiden voyage, was impatient to see it join the Baltic fleet in the Thirty Years´ War; at the same time, the king's subordinates lacked the political courage to discuss the ship's structural problems frankly or to have the maiden voyage postponed. An inquiry was organized by the Swedish privy concil to find personal responsibility for the disaster, but in the end no one was punished for the fiasco.
During the 1961 recovery, thousands of artifacts and the remains of at least 15 people were found in and around the hull of the Vasa by marine archaeologists. Among the many items found were clothing, weapons, cannon, tools, coins, cutlery, food, drink and six of the ten sails. The artifacts and the ship itself have provided historians with invaluable insight into details of naval warfare, shipbuilding techniques and everyday life in early 17th-century Sweden. Vasa was intended to express the expansionist aspiratsions of Sweden and to glorify king Gustavus Adolphus. No expense was spared in decorating and equipping the Vasa, which was also one of the largest and most heavily armed warships of its time.

And everyone who likes "Pirates of Carribean " knows The Flying Dutchman ,I guess. The look of the fictional ship was inspired by the seventeenth century Dutch "fluyt" vessels and the Vasa.

12 Gifts for Santa Claus

It has been sooo long I posted somethig to this blog. :)

Far, far away in Lapland in the village of Korvatunturi where Santa Claus lives everybody are busy. It’s only 12 days to Christmas. Little Villi like for all the elves loves Christmas and making gifts above all.
But Villi is worried – what should he give as a gift to Santa Claus? It has to be something special.
Villi comes up with a great idea – “What if we surprise the Santa with a little gift every day until Christmas? Twelve surprises. That’s going to be fun.”    

This beautiful postcard is from Soinsi1 ,I met her in Hämeenlinna postcrossig meeting.It was really great ,and she sent me a card. I don´t know who did she know that thos book was one of my faves during my childhood.It is called "12 gifts for Santa Claus" by Mauri Kunnas .I recommed to read this book :)


Christmas is comig :) so a wonderful christmas song for you all too :)

Time to go to shopping

:)

San Juan islands

It is one of my fave cards .You know why?Because it has killer whales on it;)Thanks to Whitney:)

The San Juan Islands are a part of the San Juan Archipelago in the northwest corner of the continentalUnited States. The archipelago is split into two groups of islands based on national sovereignty. San Juan Islands are part of the U.S. state of Washington, while the Gulf Islands are part of the Canadian province ofBritish Columbia. There are over 450 islands in the entire archipelago at high tide, but fewer than one-sixth are permanently inhabited.

In the archipelago, fifteen islands are accessible by public ferry. Public ferries serve nine Gulf Islands and six San Juan Islands.

Today, the San Juan Islands are an important tourist destination, with sea kayaking and orca whale-watching by boat or air tours, two of the primary attractions. Part of the charm that attracts tourists and residents to the San Juan Islands is that each island seems to have a character of its own, both in terms of geography and of the lifestyle of the people who live there.

Politically, the bulk of the San Juan Islands make up San Juan County, Washington, though some of the furthest east of the islands are in the mainland counties of Whatcom and Skagit, including Lummi,Guemes, and Cypress Islands.

The majority of the San Juan Islands are quite hilly, the tallest mountain being Mount Constitution at almost exactly a half-mile (800 m) elevation (see Orcas Island), with some flat areas and valleys, often quite fertile, in between. The coastlines are a mixed bag of sandy and rocky beaches, shallow and deep harbors, placid and reef-studded bays. Gnarled, ochre-colored madrona trees (Arbutus) grace much of the shorelines while evergreen fir and pine forests cover large inland areas.

The San Juan Islands get less rainfall than Seattle, about 65 miles (105 km) to the south, due to the rain shadow of Olympic Mountains to the southwest. Summertime high temperatures are around 70 °F (21 °C) while average wintertime lows are in the high thirties and low forties. Snow is infrequent in winter except for the higher elevations, but the islands are subject to high winds at times—those from the northeast sometimes bring brief periods of freezing and Arctic-like windchills.

Beginning in about 1900 the San Juan Islands became infested with European rabbits, an exotic invasive species, as the result of the release of domestic rabbits on Smith Island. Rabbits from the San Juan Islands were used later for several introductions of European rabbits into other, usually midwestern, states.

Second beach,Washington coast

Early morning sunrise at Second beach on the Washington coast.It looks sooo beautiful.

A place what I really really want to visit .A swap card from Beachyblonde (Whitney).I was extremely happy when I received this swap envelope from Whitney.Soo many beautiful and amazing cards.

Second Beach, just east of LaPush, is popular with photographers and is reached by way of a 0.7 mile forested trail that leads to a 2-mile long sandy stretch of beach -- watch for the eagle nest above the tree line. Your soul will soar taking in the beauty surrounding you.

Pippi Långstrump

Pippi Longstocking (Swedish Pippi Långstrump) is a fictional character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, and adapted into multiple films and television series. Pippi was named by Lindgren's then nine-year-old daughter, Karin, who requested a get-well story from her mother one day when she was home sick from school.

Nine-year-old Pippi is unconventional, assertive, and has superhuman strength, being able to lift her horse one-handed without difficulty. She frequently mocks and dupes adults she encounters, an attitude likely to appeal to young readers; however, Pippi usually reserves her worst behavior for the most pompous and condescending of adults.

After an initial rejection from Bonnier Publishers in 1944, Lindgren's manuscript was accepted for publication by the Swedish publisher Rabén and Sjögren. The first three Pippi chapter books were published from 1945 to 1948, with an additional series of six books published in 1969–1975. Two final stories were printed in 1979 and 2000. The books have been translated into more than 50 languages.

Pippi claims her full name is Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking (Swedish: Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump). Her fiery red hair is worn in braids that are so tightly wound that they stick out sideways from her head.

Pippi lives in a small Swedish village, sharing the house she styles "Villa Villekulla" with her monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and her horse, Old Man, but no adults or relatives. She befriends the two children living next-door: Tommy and Annika Settergren. The three have many adventures. Mrs. Settergren often disapproves of Pippi's sometimes coarse manners and lack of education, but Mr. Settergren feels that Pippi would never put Tommy and Annika in danger, and that Pippi values her friendship with the pair above almost anything in her life. Pippi's two main possessions are a suitcase full of gold coins (which she used to buy her horse) and a large chest of drawers containing various small treasures.

Though lacking much formal education, Pippi is very intelligent in a common-sense fashion, has a well-honed sense of justice and fair play, and has learned from a wide variety of experiences. She will show respect (though still in her own unique style) for adults who treat her and other children fairly. Her attitude towards the worst of adults (from a child's viewpoint) is often that of a vapid, foolish and chatterbox of a child, with most of her targets not realizing just how sharp and crafty Pippi is until she's made fools of them. Pippi has an amazing talent for spinning tall tales, although she normally does not lie with malicious intent; rather, she tells truth in the form of humorously strange stories.

In several of the movies Pippi is shown to be a superb swimmer. She'll think nothing of taking a plunge while fully clothed in her short patchwork dress with oversized shoes and mismatched thigh-high stockings.

Pippi is the daughter of seafarer Ephraim Longstocking, captain of the sailing ship Hoptoad (Hoppetossa in Swedish), from whom Pippi inherited her common sense and incredible strength. Captain Longstocking is the only person known who can match Pippi in physical ability. He originally bought Villa Villekulla to give his daughter a more stable home life than that onboard the ship, although Pippi loves the seafaring life and is a better sailor and helmsman than most of her father's crew. Pippi retired to the Villa Villekulla after her father was believed lost at sea, determined in her belief that her father was still alive, had been made an island king, and would come to look for her there.

As it turned out, Captain Longstocking was washed ashore upon a South Sea island known as Kurrekurredutt Isle, where he was made the "fat white chief" by its native people. The Captain returned to Sweden to bring Pippi to his new home in the South Seas, but Pippi found herself attached to the Villa and her new friends Tommy and Annika, and decided to stay where she was, though she and the children sometimes took trips with her father aboard the Hoptoad, including a trip to Kurrekurredutt where she was confirmed as the "fat white chief's" daughter, Princess Pippilotta.

Lass uns freunde sein!

From Abendstern:)Danke!