A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 9 December 2025 - T for bears, succulents, sheep and socks

 Hello lovely girls! 

Would you believe I have a California flag for you:

It is stamped on the front, which sometimes happens with cards fro the USA. It was posted in October and I received it at the beginning of November. Yes, It has been lying on my desk for a while. 

It was sent to me by Marsha, who lives in California overlooking the Pacific. How cool is that! She writes that her garden harvest this summer had watermelons, lettuce, radishes and cherry tomatoes. 

Now the postcard image features the California State flag.

     On the Internet I found (AI): 

The California state flag, known as the "Bear Flag," features a white background with a red star in the upper left, a red stripe along the bottom, a grizzly bear walking left on green grass in the center, and the words "California Republic" above the bear, symbolizing strength and the state's history from the Bear Flag Revolt, with the bear based on the now-extinct California grizzly. 

Key Elements & Meanings:

Grizzly Bear: Represents strength and the native grizzly bear, which is now extinct in the state but remains a powerful symbol.

• Red Star: A nod to the Lone Star Flag of 1836, referencing California's brief period as an independent republic.
• "California Republic": Inscribed below the bear, identifying the short-lived republic formed during the Bear Flag Revolt.
• Red Stripe: A wide red band at the bottom, possibly from a petticoat, adding to the flag's distinctive look.

History:

• Origin: First raised at Sonoma in June 1846 during the Bear Flag Revolt by American settlers.
• Adoption: Officially adopted as the state flag in 1911, though the precise design wasn't finalized until 1953.
• Inspiration: The bear image is based on a painting by artist Charles Nahl, depicting the last known California grizzly. 

The stamp is the round forever stamp from 2017 with the sempervivum  on it. According to USPS: The stamp features a photograph of an Echeveria, a succulent native to the Americas. The art director was William J. Gicker. Greg Breeding designed the stamp using an existing photograph by Erika Kirkpatrick.

So, what has been happening in this corner of Spain? I showed you photos of our excursion to Orce on my Friday blog, but I kept this photo for today as I need a drink. On this photo the glass is empty but it's still a drink reference for the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard.

There were platters of cured ham and cheese on the tables to welcome us to the restaurant.

I go to the gym here in the village twice a week. It is called reconstructive gymnastics. It's a bit like Pilates, but not quite. We had fun taking pictures last week:

I'm sat right behind the teacher.

In our village the Christmas decorations went up last week. They were putting up this 'house':

This weekend it was all lit up:

Even the trees had lights in them:

This weekend I was invited to a Sinterklaas party. In the Netherlands Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) brings presents for the children on the 5th of December. My friend married a Dutchman and they like to keep some Dutch traditions.

I drove there at lunch time:

And ran into the shepherd who was also going home to lunch I guess.

My friends had set the table to eat outside, as it's still lovely and sunny during the day:

As you can imagine there were lots of children invited (and their parents of course).

After lunch (at 4:30) Sinterklaas finally arrived:

It was great fun! I received a pair of cashmere socks (amongst other things):

Today (Monday) is a national holiday in Spain. Everything, including the supermarkets, is closed. So I had a relaxed day at home pottering about in the house. 

I washed a lot of bed linen as it is still sunny (I don't have a tumble dryer):

The reason I had so much bed linen is that I had a family of 5 staying in the upstairs flat. (I am a member of HomeExchange, and my top flat proves very popular).

This is about it from me. A bit of a mixed bag this week. I'll be back in Blogland on Friday.

In the meantime, 

Happy T-Day!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 5 December 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely girls,

This evening, most Dutch families will be celebrating Sinterklaas. Traditionally children get their presents on this evening. How exciting. I will be celebrating with a Dutch friend (and his family) who live nearby. So I have been wrapping the presents and writing funny (often teasing) poems. I'm looking forward to it.

Let me show you my postcard for today:

It's another Maxicard. That is a card with a stamp with the same image. They are being sold (and stamped) as first editions and as such quite collectable. It features a pretty flower called Castilleja arctica. Below a photo from the Internet:

The Maxi-card was issued by the Society for Nature Protection in Russia.

The All-Russian Society for Nature Protection (VOOP) is one of the oldest working nature conservation organizations in the world. It was founded in 1924 on the initiative of A. Lunacharsky, N. Krupskaya and M. Pokrovsky as the All-Russian Order of the Red Banner of Labor Society for Nature Protection.

Here is a close-up:

One of the priority tasks of the organization is the protection of plants registered in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

Plants protected in Russia include such species as Castilleja arctica, Caucasian lily, thin-leaved peony, incised violet, yellow lady's slipper, Iris pseudacorus, golden root, and dolomite bellflower.

The postage stamps above provide images of a Castilleja arctica, a Caucasian lily, a thin-leaved peony, and an incised violet.

On he back of he card were he normal postage stamps:

The left hand stamp features a flower again. I've seen his rose a lot in our village, especially in the gipsy district.

The stamp on the right is a painting by M.A.Vrubel.

Wikipedia writes:

The Swan Princess  is a 1900 oil painting (oil on canvas) by the Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel. It is based on the opera The Tale of Tsar Sultan by Rimsky-Korsakov (which was based on the fairytale of the same name by Pushkin). Vrubel designed the decor and costumes for this opera. The part of the Swan Princess was performed by his wife, Ukrainian opera singer Nadiya Zabela-Vrubel.

On Tuesday I promised I'd show some photos of our outing to Orce. The tourist office blurb goes like ths:

A series of discoveries revealed that Europe's first inhabitants settled in a remote and rugged corner of Granada, Orce,  some 1.4 million years ago.

Thanks to its prehistoric significance and remarkable geological richness, the area of Orce was recognised in 2020 as a Unesco World Geopark. Additionally, the region boasts several museums dedicated to prehistory, including the Primeros Pobladores de Europa (First Settlers of Europe) museum in Orce. Here, visitors can marvel at the innovative stone tools used by our ancestors and the awe-inspiring bones of mammoths.

I've always wanted to visit Orce for that reason and sure enough, we visited the First Settlers Museum:

Here is an interesting article by the BBC explaining more.

 

Afterwards we walked through the village and saw these impressive trees:

They are Platanus, or Plane trees. This is what they look like with leaves on:

The guide told us they are more that a century old.

At the end of that street we visited the Palace of the Segura family.

I love that Spanish houses are built around a patio and this one is spectacular.,It was the family's summer residence.

Then we walked to the church of Santa Maria:

This church, built in the baroque style, has one main aisle, opening on to side chapels. The stone façade is in a fairly plain classic style.

It has a beautiful pebbled floor outside:

The main alter is quite a feature in the church and although some of it was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, much of the structure and decoration is original:

There is a new clock in the tower but the old one is on display in the church:

And there is also a bell:

The we walked to the citadel, which is right next door:

Here is a photo from the internet as we were standing too close to take a picture:

From one of the towers we could see the church we had just visited:

Inside the 'Keep' of the castle there was an exhibition of objects collected by I can't remember who, but it was very interesting. One of the things:

Here is my friend Kim having a laugh:

That's all from me. Yes, it's long enough, but now I'm going to make it even longer by posting some funnies at the end.

Enjoy your weekend peeps,

Lisca

 

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 2 December 2025 - T-Party post as well as Second on the 2nd.

 

Hello lovely peeps,

Here we are on Tuesday again. As it's T for Tuesday hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, I need to show you a drink:

On Saturday we, my friends Kim and Andy and I, joined a couch trip organized by our Town Hall. We went to a place called Orce, only 40 minutes from where we live, but I had never been there so it seemed a good idea. It was absolutely wonderful! I will post photos on my Friday blog, but as I need a drink for the T-Party, here is a photo of Kim and me clutching our wine glasses in Orce.

Below is a blog post I wrote on the 5th of December 2015: (I don't know if the link with Virginia works as it's old)

December 5th 2025,

I've had a good week. The weather here is still sunny every day although the temperatures are down at night, I can still sit outside in the sun and that makes me happy.

The highlight for me this week was yesterday when I joined a friend from church to make bread. Most people here have land although they live in the town or village. The land usually has a house on it that people use to relax or for holidays and of course when they work the land. My friend's name is Juanita, and in her place in the country she has an old fashioned oven (which is on my wishlist of things I would like) and with two more girls we made 20 loaves of bread.

Here she is building up a fire in the oven to heat it up for the next batch.

And here below she has just made some almond meringue type cup cakes. Very clever as the oven must not be too hot. They turned out perfect. I like a meringue with a bit of chewyness in the middle.

Our new bedroom is nearing completion and we hope to be able to sleep in there on Saturday. The electrician hasn't quite finished and my husband  needs to grout the tiles, and place the toilet.

Also this week my Tangle it! Journal has arrived! (I already wrote this on my Tuesday blog), but here it is:

Then on Wednesday morning my copy of the Flow Book for Paperlovers arrived too! I'm in seventh (paper) heaven!

 Can you read what it says? "More than 300 pages of paper goodies. *mini cards *postman paper doll * pop-up house * glitter postcards *wrapping paper *folding houses *coloring pages *craft paper *posters *stickers *and so much more!"

Here is their website and here is the link for the Youtube flipthrough. Do have a look.

Now for my postcard:

It's from my collection of WW2 motivational posters. During the Second World War people were encouraged in the US as well as in Britain, to make do and mend. There was no manufacturing, so new clothes were not available. 

When Kansas Wheat realized that women were sewing children's clothes out of their old sacks, they started to use sacks with pretty patterns.

Isn't that great! This is a photo from 1939. I found it on the internet. 

That's enough for today. I hope I have made you smile today. 

I'm also linking in with Virginia at Rocking your world Friday.

Have a good positive week,

Blessings,

Lisca