A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 7 October 2025 - T for dogs, a swim and a little mishap

 Hello lovely peeps, 

Here we are again ready for the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard.  I have of course a drink for the party, and I will also tell you what I have been up to in southern Spain, but let me first show you a postcard:

It comes from Germany and shows a beautiful house from the 1920s. 

The Masters' Houses in Dessau are an architecturally significant ensemble of homes designed by Walter Gropius in 1925-26 for the Bauhaus masters and their families. Considered a prime example of "white modernism," they feature clean lines and functional design, with Gropius aiming to implement rational building principles and demonstrate a new way of living. The complex includes a director's house and three pairs of semi-detached houses and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, housing museums and the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

I love this sort of architecture! There are a few of these houses in Rotterdam (Netherlands) too and I visited one last year. It had all the original furniture in it as well. 

The stamps are fun. The two left ones are from the series of paper images with a 'sea' theme.

The large stamp features Das kleine Drache Kokosnuss.

"Das Spielzeug" writes: Since 2002, Coconut, the little fire dragon with the turquoise cap, and his best friends, Oskar the greedy dragon and Matilda the porcupine, have been taking children from preschool age on their exciting adventures. And they are varied! In the 34 volumes written by German author and illustrator Ingo Siegner (*1965), the three have not only explored their homeland, Dragon Island, but have also traveled the world, encountered Vikings, ventured back to the Stone Age, and met all sorts of fantasy creatures.

"The Little Dragon Coconut" now has his own stamp. It was presented on March 4th (2025) by Deutsche Post and Ingo Siegner, the character's creator, at the Berlin Museum of Communication

What have I been up to? Well, my friend Ineke came to see me (with her dog). I was slightly apprehensive how Ronnie (my cat) would react to the dog. Well he wasn't happy to start with but after 24 hours they were ok as long as each kept his distance.

Of course we went to the lovely turquoise lake as my friend likes swimming:

But her dog doesn't:

We then tried to find a place for lunch. We parked outside a restaurant, but it turned out it was full. So my friend backed out of the parking space and ended up in the ditch! (It had lots of grass so we didn't see it was a ditch). I went back to the restaurant and asked for help. Several men came out to help. They were all local and one of them went to get his tractor.

Within ten minutes he had pulled us out of the ditch. In the photo you can see the front wheels were off the ground so we couldn't drive out ourselves. Such kind people!

Now for a drink. Entry to the T-Party requires a beverage:

On Saturday we had Bible study and lunch at a friend's pool house. There are several drinks on the table. I'm holding a glass of wine as per usual, but the bottle is hidden behind the large water bottle.

One last glimpse of Ronnie:

That is all for now from me.

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 3 October 2025 - Friday Smiles

 We have arrived safely at the the end of this week and all of a sudden we are in October! How time flies!

Let me show you a postcard and tell you about the highlights of this week. First the postcard:

It comes from Japan, the west of Japan to be precise. It is a Maxi card featuring "Mother, Child and Midwife" from 1990. On the back is the following information: 'A 62 yen postage stamp will be issued on October 5, 1990 commemorating International Confederation of Midwives 22nd International Congress.'

Miha, who sent the card, says it was very hot for the time of year (she posted it on the 1st of September). She writes it is 36 degrees C and she doesn't remember a summer this hot.

The stamps on the back are very colourful:

My Google translate doesn't do Japanese so I'm only guessing at the subjects. It might have been the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada where Japan did quite well in gymnastics.

Where were we. Oh yes, I came back from my travels on Saturday and my friend K and A were waiting for me in Granada. We went for lunch at a Hotpot restaurant. They had eaten in a similar restaurant in Malaga and wanted me to have that experience.

They put two or three types of broth in the middle and then you order meat or veggies to cook in the broth. It's a sort of Chinese fondue

The above photo is from the Internet but we had two different types of broth.

And of course eating with chopsticks is tricky so the whole process takes ages. It was a laugh and the food was surprisingly tasty.

The meat had been sliced super thin and was really lovely. We also had meat balls and shrimp paste as well as vegetables and udon noodles. All in all a veritable feast!

The rest of the week was uneventful apart from the fact that my friend from the Netherlands came to stay on Sunday. She is staying a week, so next week  might have some photos of what we have been up to.

Ronnie the cat has missed me terribly and is very 'clingy' and at the same time a bit weary of my friend's dog (a very calm and sweet dog).

Ronnie lying by my legs while I watch tv:

That is all from me today. I will find some funnies and post them at the end.

Have a lovely weekend,

Lisca

A Postcard A day - Thursday 2 October 2025 - Second on the 2nd (A blogpost from years ago<)

 

Good morning lovely girls,

Today I'm joining Elizabeth and Bluebeard in Second on the 2nd where we post a blog that has been published in the past. Mine is from October 2015, roughly ten years ago. Here it is:

A Postcard a Day - Friday 30 Oct 2015 Friday Smiles

Good Morning Friday Smilers! I'm linking with Annie at Friday Smiles to share what has been good this week.

My blog is mainly about postcards so I will show you a card I received yesterday that made me very happy:

I love turtles. Here is one in his natural habitat (i.e. in the water). The card came from the Czech Republic and had lovely stamps on it:

The stamp on the left is shaped like a flag and the one on the right is a spa hotel (they call it a 'wellness' hotel).

The person sending the card is called Eliska (similar to my name) and she did lovely drawings on the back. This personal touch made my day!

Now, changing the subject entirely, I really enjoyed Zoe's 'questionnaire' last week and I thought I'd have a go too:

Location: craft room

Feeling: a bit frustrated. Have bought an external back up storage which I can't get to work!

Loving: my new haircut

Reading: A Year Of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (We are visiting friends in Denmark in January so I thought I'd read up on Denmark)

Drinking: pink grapefruit squash

Anticipating: Collecting my new computer tomorrow(!)

Listening to: Kitty purring

Watching: We don't have TV, and it's night time so there is no view from my window.

Planning: What to cook for dinner tomorrow (guinness beef pie) and what to bake on Saturday (probably something with apples)

Looking forward to: Spending Christmas with my mum in Holland before moving into the new flat we are building.

Creating: chaos, no not true, but I have no projects on the go. 

Need to finish: Backing up my computer before the new one arrives.

Wishing: I hadn't pigged out so much this summer.... I need to lose weight!

Main goal this week: Get the computer sorted.

Now before I go, here is something to make you giggle:

Have a great week, and keep smiling!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 3 September 2025 - T for Paradise Bookshop, rumba and paper art

 Hello lovely peeps, How are you all? I am back from my travels and it was wonderful to be reunited with my Ronnie (my cat). I missed him a lot.

My postcard today comes from China:

It was sent by surface mail so it has been in the post since June! The sender writes his/her name in Chinese characters so I have no idea how to say that.

The characters at the top of the Ex Libris card read "Old Paradise Bookshop" (courtesy of Google Translate).

The stamps are beautiful:

The two on the left represent the 2020 Shanghai Expo and The bird on the right is a stork or a crane. The red 'thing' looks like macramé. It is called Chinese knots.

"Chinese macramé" refers to Chinese knotting, a decorative Chinese folk art that uses a single length of cord to weave intricate, symbolic shapes. Popular since the Tang and Song dynasties, it is a form of macramé involving knotting techniques, not a different craft altogether. These knots are known for their aesthetic appeal and are often imbued with symbolic meaning, serving as good luck charms or talismans.  

I think it's very beautiful. I might have a go at that....

I wrote about my trip on Friday. I'll tell you some more. 

I attended a concert. I had bought a ticket as that was the only thing that was going on as far as I could see on the Internet. It was called 'A Rumba', so I assumed it was rumba music. Well it wasn't. It was a group of musicians and singers who were playing songs that were popular in the 60s and 70s. (Songs I didn't know) 

They were good and I enjoyed it. It was typical Spanish music, famenco-ish. The audience was full of older people.

Another thing I visited is the Origami museum. That was all about the history and origin of origami in the far east and also in Europe.

I was given a folded 'kiss' when I entered:

There were other rooms dedicated to art with paper:

Amazingly beautiful.

Zaragoza has many impressive churches, as you would expect of a Catholic country. The biggest was the basilica of Maria del Pilar (Mary of the Pillar):

Wikipedia writes: The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (Spanish: Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is a Catholic church in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Pillar, praised as "Mother of the Hispanic Peoples" by Pope John Paul II. It is reputed to be the first-ever church dedicated to Mary.

Local traditions take the history of this basilica to the spread of Christianity in Roman Spain attributing to an apparition to Saint James the Great, the apostle who is believed by tradition to have brought Christianity to the country. This is the only reported apparition of Mary to have occurred before her reputed Assumption.

The architecture is of Baroque style, and the present building was predominantly built between 1681 and 1872.

This last photo is from the Internet, the others are mine. Below another photo from the Internet that shows the beautiful roofs:

Today I will be joining Elizabeth and Bluebeard for the T-Party. Of course I will bring a drink to the party.

I have a photo of a lunch I had at a Japanese restaurant but my glass was still empty....

I thought I'd take a picture before other people entered.

Below are the sushi that I had:

Very nice it was too.

That is all from me today. 

Happy T-Day,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 26 September 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely girls, Let's see if Blogger behaves itself this time. Friday was a nightmare and I ended up having to write two parts.

Today I have a really beautiful postcard to show you. It's a Maxi card:

Maxi card means there is a stamp with the same image as the card on the picture side. In this case it features a sheepdog and a 'hunk' of a rancher.

Here is a close-up of the stamp:

The cancellation stamp is fun as it has the dog's paw print on it.

There is another stamp in the back as it has come by air mail from Australia and the stamp on the front was probably not enough postage:

The person that sent it to me (through Postcrossing) is called Sam. I don't know if Sam is a Samantha or  Samuel. 

It's a tiny but very cute little sticker.

Let me tell you what I've been up to since my last blogpost. After a very pleasant weekend in Granada, I went on a train journey. This is the railway station of Granada:

I had a ticket for a fast train. (Haha that reminds me of a song called 'My baby just wrote me a letter.' - Boxtops 1967).

In Spain these trains are called AVE. I had to go through security like at the airport and all luggage goes through a scanner.

Inside was modern and comfortable:

The journey was four and a half hours. That is very fast considering my destination was Zaragoza in the north.

I arrived in the evening, settled into my accommodation and the morning after, I got another train. A very slow local train to Canfranc, a railway station in the Pyrenees. 

I have always wanted to see this beautifully restored building.

It is now a very posh hotel, and only the lobby is open to non-guests.

There were old railway carriages in the station:

I assume they are still being used.

There are only a couple of trains a day, so to go back to Zaragoza I had to wait until 6 pm. So after I had some kunch, I went on a long walk. But boy was it cold!

Do you remember it was 42 degrees C in Granada, well here it was much colder! I had brought warmer clothes but it was still bitterly cold. 

I took a walk that was part of the Camino de Santiago and I found myself near the tunnel with France. 

The scenery is beautiful, very mountainous. I walked as far as the Fusilier's Tower :

(Sorry for the bad photo.) I climbed up, but the building was closed. But I did find a place to sit in the sun and out of the biting wind which was very pleasant.

I did catch my 6 pm train and after a well deserved G&T, I went to bed.

That is it from me today. The highlights of my week so far. 

There will be some funnies at the end for you to have a giggle.

Enjoy your weekend,

Lisca