Tuesday 28 July 2015

A Postcard a day - 28 July 2015 - Samovar

Good morning,

If you're anything like me, the first thing you do after you get up is sleepily put the kettle on for tea or coffee. In 19th century Russia, this would be a samovar. A samovar is a metal urn, used especially by Russians for heating water for making tea. 

I got this card earlier this year from Liuba, who comes from a place called Tula (I looked it up on the map and found it south of Moscow). She writes that Tula is renowned for its samovars. The Russian equivalent of "coals to Newcastle" is "You don't take a samovar to Tula"

Isn't this a beautiful samovar! It's brass and dates from the late 19th/early 20th century

Liuba needed three stamps to send this card:
The stamps are from a series of images of kremlins. A kremlin is a fortified complex in a Russian city. Most historic cities have a fortress. This particular stamp shows the famous Moscow Kremlin.

I'll leave it at that as my kettle is boiling! I'm gasping for a cup of tea....

CU tomorrow with Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Lisca

10 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous urn, is it electric? I am thoroughly enjoying these geography and history lessons through our postcards. I'll be able to go into a quiz soon to answer questions hahaha. I went to my postbox today and for the first time there was no letter or postcard in there sniff sniff

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    Replies
    1. I don't think people had electricity in those days, although it had been invented/discovered.
      Whaat? No postcards? What's happening?
      Thank you for your Frillneck post card. I am definitely going to frame it!

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  2. that is a gorgeous piece-and a gorgeous postcard and stamps too! So nice to meet you here for T Day Lisca. PS- I am going to check your postcard link on the right:)

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  3. You certainly do have some fabulous Russian stamps featured on your blog.
    I was lucky enough to visit Russia with my mother some years ago.
    Your samovar post sparked lots of memories.
    Thank you for that and Happy T Day!

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  4. I have a percolator, an electric drip machine, 2 French presses (different sizes), a Chemex, a single cup pour-over unit... I can see now that I _need_ a samovar to add to this conglomeration of coffee-making equipment lol Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to have sitting on my countertop!

    I'm checking out the postcrossing link. Fascinating!

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  5. I'd never heard of samovar before, so I learned something totally new this week. It certainly is gorgeous, though. Very elegant, too.

    I've of course, heard of and seen photos of the Kremlin in Moscow but I had no idea that the word kremlin meant a fortress. I was super impressed and that's one reason I love Tuesday T so much. I always seem to learn something.

    Thanks for sharing this postcard and teaching me about the kremlins and samovar for T this Tuesday. Thanks, too, for joining us again.

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  6. The shape of this beautiful samovar reminds me of a Faberge egg and is every bit as elegant. Several years ago we had the pleasure of visiting St. Petersburg, but did not get to Moscow, so I enjoyed the image of the Kremlin on the postage stamps. Happy T day!

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  7. What a treasure of a postcard! Gorgeous samovar, and even the stamps are beautiful! happy T day!

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  8. What a very interesting post. The samovar is very beautiful. As is the postcard. Happy T Day :D

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  9. Hi Lisca! I love that photo of you - your location looks heavenly! Fun scrapbooking going on too. The notebooks I am making are Midori Traveler's Notebook style. The traditional Midori is done in leather and you can see them on Amazon. Some shops on Etsy make them, like Foxyfix who makes Foxydori's with beautiful died leathers. They use a strap system and people like to add beads and charms to the straps. I made that little black one on my desk from Coach leather that was upcycled, but now I'm making fabric Midori's and stitching in pockets and pen loops and things, so fun! Check out "Midori 101" on YouTube for a great explanation from The Reset Girl. Thanks for visiting! Sandy Leigh #42

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