Tuesday 4 December 2018

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 4 Dec 2018 - T for hopscotch, mince pies and sunshine





Good Morning! The image says 'Happy Tuesday!' It's not a postcard but it is one of those images that get sent to me on my phone by well meaning friends to say good morning or good evening. It has a beverage on it so I thought it would be appropriate for the T-party. Elizabeth and Bluebeard host this T-party and anyone is welcome with a post with a beverage (or two) in it.

My first postcard comes from Canada:


It is a beautiful photo of Prince Edward Island National Park in the evening sun. I didn't know where that was, and had to look it up. 


Prince Edward Island National Park is a National Park of Canada located in the province of Prince Edward Island. Situated along the island's north shore, fronting the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the park measures approximately 60 km (37 mi) in length and ranges from several hundred metres to several kilometres in width. Established in 1937, the park's mandate includes the protection of many broad sand beaches, sand dunes and both freshwater wetlands and saltmarshes. The park's protected beaches provide nesting habitat for the endangered piping plover; the park has been designated a Canadian Important Bird Area.
The Prince Edward Island National Park also includes Green Gables, which was the childhood inspiration for the Anne of Green Gables novels by author Lucy Maud Montgomery, as well as Dalvay-by-the-Sea, a Victorian era mansion currently operated as an inn.
In recent years, environmental and conservation groups have identified Prince Edward Island National Park as being the most endangered in the national park system, based on human impact. The park also experiences severe coastal erosion as a result of winter storms and its vulnerable shoreline.

My second postcard is a bit of nostalgia coming to me from Germany:
The mature ladies playing hopscotch! I love it! 
Did you play hopscotch as a child? What was it called?(in Holland we called it 'hinkelen'). Did you sing a rhyme with it? Can you remember that rhyme? Do children in your neighbourhood still play it?
Of course I had to look up a bit more information:

Hopscotch is a game we all know as it is played all over the world. Here in Spain, and in most south american countries it is known as Rayuela (In Cuba it is called Pon) .
Wikipedia: In GermanyAustria, and Switzerland the game is called Himmel und Hölle (Heaven and Hell) although there are also some other names used, depending on the region. The square below 1 or the 1 itself are called Erde (Earth) while the second to last square is the Hölle (Hell) and the last one is Himmel (Heaven). The first player throws a small stone into the first square and then jumps to the square and must kick the stone to the next square and so on, however, neither the stone nor the player may stop in Hell so they try to skip that square.
The popular rhyme is the following:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird,
You must not miss

A much older version of that rhyme is this:

One for sorrow,
Two for mirth
Three for a funeral,
Four for birth
Five for heaven
Six for hell
Seven for the devil, his own self





There are many variations The photo above is from Morecamb pier in England. (Jo will have seen it), the stones there use the older rhyme but don't mention 'hell', only 'heaven' and 'Earth'.

Here are the stamps on that German card
The face on the stamp belongs to the theologian Schleiermacher. I have noticed that I inadvertedly cropped off half the stamp... sorry.
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher November 21, 1768 – February 12, 1834) was a German theologianphilosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant Christianity. He also became influential in the evolution of higher criticism, and his work forms part of the foundation of the modern field of hermeneutics. Because of his profound effect on subsequent Christian thought, he is often called the "Father of Modern Liberal Theology" and is considered an early leader in liberal Christianity. The neo-orthodoxy movement of the twentieth century, typically (though not without challenge) seen to be spearheaded by Karl Barth, was in many ways an attempt to challenge his influence.

Yesterday was a gloriously sunny day. I immediately put my washing machine to work. I washed my fluffy long dressing gown, knowing that in this weather it would dry in a couple of hours. We don't have tumble dryers here. (I suppose they are for sale, but why should we buy one in a country with so much sun).
Anyway, I was leading up to the fact that we had lunch outside. Our drinks (water) are on the table too and the meal is courgettes provencale gratin (courgettes are zucchini).


On Saturday I went to our Spanish/English conversation group. We had decided to talk about Christmas traditions relating to food. We would all bring something typical. I made an attempt at mince pies (in the fore ground) . The mince meat turned out well. I had made it without suet as I can't get that here and I don't particularly like it. On the left is a plastic container of mini almond muffins. Made by the girl in red. They were delish. As you can imagine, we had lots of fun. One of the guys had raided his liquor cabinet at home and had brought all sorts of drinks for us to try.
Now for my last photo: One of the tea jars that I have. I bought this mix at the medieval market a couple of months ago. It is called Rooibos Kalahari. I can't remember what is in it, but it tastes spicy with some citrus in the background. We like it a lot and drink it weak without milk. 

That is it from me today. I thought I wouldn't have a beverage reference, and I ended up with several. Oh well..

Have a very happy T-Day,

Stay safe,

Lisca

12 comments:

  1. What a fun filled post! You do always enjoy it all and it shows. Fab postcards and stamps as usual. And oh my that courgette gratin takes me back to my French family-mmmm! I have made it a few times but somehow it's just not the same:)I remember hop scotch so well but we never had any sayings to go along with the game. When I do see one drawn on the sidewalk anywhere (which sadly is disappearing in my parts) I just have to jump about:) Happy T day!

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  2. i always enjoy your posts-loved the postcards and the stamps. I used to play hopscotch as a kid quite allot-but not familiar with the rhymes that went with it-your food party sounds like allot of fun. roobios is a wonderful tea. Happy T hugs kathy

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  3. Prince Edward Island is a beautiful place. I visited for a day as teenager but I don't think I visited the National Park. I played hopscotch as a child but I don't remember any rhymes. I know we didn't sing the ones you mentioned. I have never heard of those.
    Your Rooibos sounds interesting! I am going to have to look this this up to see what is in it but the citrus sounds delicious.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  4. I have never been to Canada, so this was quite interesting to me. I think I played hop-scotch as a child, but there were no rhymes. A cute card, though.

    Yes, lots of drink references to choose from today, dear Lisca. Thanks for sharing your coffee card, your water, your loose leaf tea, and your friend's alcohol with us for T this Tuesday.

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  5. Hi Lisca, happy T day! I love the postcards, and remember playing hopscotch in London very well, and the kids here at school used to enjoy it, too - especially taking chalk from the classroom to draw on the playground. And mince tarts, how delicious, I haven't made any in years. I hope you remember to visit me this week, you forgot me last week! Hugs, Valerie

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  6. A wonderful post as always.

    Two amazing postcards today with the great back stories and also the pic of Morecambe pier. I have been there but didn't but don't recall the stones--must go again to see those.

    Yummy mince pies, drinks and friends--nothing better for sure

    Have a very happy T Day

    Love Chrissie xx

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  7. i always love to read the information you give us with your postcards... always something new:)
    and actually we had another jump-game in our childhood, in german "gummitwist", but you can look it up in wikipedia under "chinese jump rope". we played it with a long elastic household band. we could do this for hours!! - ankles - knees - thighs... i´m not sure i could do the knee-stage today;)
    have a peaceful advent and happy t-day!

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  8. Super photos and postcards Lisca. We chalked up our own grids in the school playground and played hopscotch as well. The rhyme was one we used as kids. I don't recall having one square we had to miss out but we did rotate the numbers at the start of each game.
    Your mince pies looked delicious, I don't add suet to mine either.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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  9. Wonderful postcards and stamps as usual, Lisca. Beautiful postcard of Prince Edward Island Park. We played hopscotch a lot when I was a kid. That's what we called it in the US. In Mexico they have a similar game called Avión because the grid has sort of an airplane shape.

    I remember one rhyme:

    One two buckle my shoe.
    Three four close the door.
    Five six pick up sticks.
    Seven eight shut the gate.
    Nine ten start again.

    The Morecamb stone version is fabulous.

    Your party looks like it was a lot of fun. I love gatherings where everybody contributes something, so no one has to work so much.

    Happy T-day! Eileen xoxo

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  10. We played hopscotch, too. the grid was 1, 2, 3 blocks stacked one on top of the other, a double block 4 and 5 (so you could put both feet down. One inf the 4 block and the other in 5. 6 was a single block on top of the 4-5 and then another double block with 7 and 8. You tossed your stone and whatever number it landed on, you couldn't step on, on the way up and had to pick up your stone on the way back. You couldn't step on any lines or you would be out. At the top of the 7-8 block was a half circle and labeled home. I don't really remember what that was for. I don't think we sang a rhyme either just tossed the stone and hopped. I don't think many children here play outside as I did as a kid. So many of the kids have structured time for dance, sports. Your conversation group sounds like lots of fun especially the food and drink. Happy T Day!

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  11. I loved those postcards-especially the hopscotch! There was one in York museum the other week and I couldn't resist a go!We walk on the jetty at Morecambe regularly and I stil love to look at the rhymes and riddles as we pass them! It is only about 6 miles away from our caravan - our trips are almost always combined with a coffee at the Rotunda in the Midland Hotel! Your celebration looks good! Happy T Day,Chrisx

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  12. That's a great idea to look at holiday traditions in your English class Lisca. I haven't had a mince pie for probably 35 years, so long I can't remember what they taste like. :) If I didn't have a dryer I would never be able to do laundry, especially lately with all our rain and snow. It's so fascinating to see how various places in the world differ and yet are the same, isn't it? happy very late T day. My day was busy and I am only getting around to posts now. hugs-Erika

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