Tuesday 24 March 2020

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 24 March 2020 - T for libraries and a strange birthday

Hello lovely ladies,
How are you all bearing up with the different safety restrictions?  We can't leave the house, but we can join together at the T-Party! Elizabeth and Bleubeard are our hosts. All we need to do is post something with a beverage.

I'm going to start with my postcards as usual. Both cards come from the USA and both cards feature a library. The first is the Library of Congress. It doesn't actually say where it is! But I immediately went  onto the internet to find out more. It looks quite impressive. Sure enough it is in Washington DC. This is what I found:
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C

I also tried to find out what it looks like on the outside:
This building is called the Thomas Jefferson building, and the building behind it is also part of the library and is called the John Adams building.
Here is an image of the great hall interior.
The collections of the Library of Congress include more than 32 million catalogued books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 61 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, a Gutenberg Bible (originating from the Saint Blaise Abbey, Black Forest) (one of only three perfect vellum copies known to exist); over 1 million U.S. government publications; 1 million issues of world newspapers spanning the past three centuries; 33,000 bound newspaper volumes; 500,000 microfilm reels; over 6,000 titles in all, totaling more than 120,000 issues comic book titles; films; 5.3 million maps; 6 million works of sheet music; 3 million sound recordings; more than 14.7 million prints and photographic images including fine and popular art pieces and architectural drawings; the Betts Stradivarius; and the Cassavetti Stradivarius.

From a huge library to a small intimate one:

It is the library at the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt and it is a painting by Ruth Perkins Safford (American, 1897 - 1979).
This card has some nice stamps:
The forever stamp on the right is about Woodstock Music Festival and the one in the middle is from the Hotwheels series. You can't see it clearly as the other stamps are stuck on top of it. (shame really). But this is what it looks like:


 The U.S. Postal Service must have some car enthusiasts within its ranks, as it is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hot Wheels by introducing a set of 10 commemorative 50-cent Forever stamps that pay homage to some of the most iconic Hot Wheels castings over the years.
Do you remember Hot wheels? I do.... The track was orange, remember?

Ok then, what's happening here with us in Spain. Well, yesterday was my birthday. It was the strangest birthday I ever had and I shall not forget it in a hurry. The things we had planned (going away for a few days) of course can't go ahead, and we can't go out for a meal or a drink. I'm not allowed visitors etc. But I have never had so many phone calls, video calls, messages and the like. It was wonderful! Of course I had birthday cards to open in the morning.
I couldn't buy any birthday candles, so we improvised with an emergency candle in the cake. (Hubby joked that it was better than 69 little ones!)
This is also my qualifier for the T-Party: our coffees on the table. Mine is the short one and hubby likes his milky.
Of course we had a glass of wine with our meal:
Finally, I want to show you a photo from this morning when I went out to buy some bread:
This is the entrance of the cave next door which hubby is working on.
That is all my friends. I hope you are all safe and not panicking. It is a serious situation, but we are all in it together, the whole world is affected, and we will get through it.

Happy T-Day all!
Hugs,
Lisca

19 comments:

  1. Happy belated birthday Lisca. It sounds like a good birthday considering the times. It has certainly been a strange month. But better safe than sorry. And I do remember hot wheels. My brother had a set and we used to play with them. What a fun memory. Thanks for that.We aren't allowed to use reusable bags any more in case they carry the virus. It is so interesting all these thing we now look at differently. Have a great T day. Hugs-Erika

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  2. Strange times, isn't it...
    happy birthday!! It may have been very different than what you would normally have but oh how wonderful to have so many to be able to stay in touch and send good wishes thru cyberspace:) Stay well, and happy T day!
    PS my hubby collects Hot Wheels:):)

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  3. I love beautiful buildings! I have never been in the library of congress but I want to visit someday.
    My sons love hot wheels and have a lot of them. I never knew they had a hot wheels themed stamp.
    Happy belated birthday. I love your improvised birthday candle!
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  4. Happy belated birthday Lisca-I am loving that big candle too-perfect I enjoyed the photos and information about the Library of Congress-when I was growing up at home my Mom always planned history trips as we camped on our vacations. we did visit washington dc one year but we didn't get to this one-that would be amazing to see the inside.
    stay safe Lisca, I will be venturing out food shopping tomorrow (tuesday) Happy T hugs Kathy

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  5. That is some impressive library for sure!
    Wow, those stamps sure are great, too!
    Ohhh, happy belated birthday!!! Yes, reckon this was a special one....
    Oh, you have a mask! No such things available here anymore. I just hold my breath when someone is near.
    Let´s go through this - just imagine how bad this would be without internet!
    A happy T-day to you, hugs!

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    1. I'm using a mask that my hubby uses for work in dusty environments. He has a whole pack of them in his kit.

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  6. Lovely postcards and stamps. It will be a birthday you never forget. Happy T-Day!

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  7. Happy belated birthday Lisca, looks as if you had fun anyway! Much better to have one candle, our sons tell us a cake wouldn’t support that many candles for our birthdays any more!
    Love the postcards and the information, that’s a beautiful building too.
    It’s our GSs 4th birthday next month, they have had to cancel his birthday party and we of course can’t go as planned but as our son said, he will have others so not to worry, he was excited as he was having a man bring a snake, tarantula and other small animals, which he loves!
    Have a good week, Jan x

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  8. Happy belated birthday ~ great postcards and postage! Yes we had hot wheels too, in fact I still have a basket with some originals in my toy closet for small visitors and future grands. I went shopping two days ago and the seeing masks and gloves is so surreal. Will you post the group you exchange post cards with? I might like to join if it's a blog, it looks like fun. stay well!

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  9. Such beautiful postcards! I loved the Congress library, it looks so grand and spectacular 😊. Happy birthday wishes, the candle made me smile - such fun! Take care and sending Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x

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  10. Happy belated birthday, Lisca. It may have been unique and not at all what you planned, but it was safe and showed staying home could be fun.

    I have been to the LOC. You aren't allowed to check out anything, but the building you showed inside is spectacular. T Jefferson sold most of his personal library to the LOC to get it started.

    I'm amazed you got to shop with your own bag and I see that mask may have been helpful to you, even if it wasn't the type needed by health workers. Stay safe, enjoy your time away, celebrate your birthday all month, and take care. Thanks for sharing your birthday, your coffee, and your wine with us for T this Tuesday, dear.

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  11. Happy Birthday! 🎂💐🍷 Cards, phone calls, and video calls sounds like a fun way to celebrate. Looks like you and your Hubby had a wonderful celebration. I like the big candle, too, Stay well, stay safe, and Happy T Day

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  12. I love the way you put these two library postcards together, Lisca. There are similarities: same thing (library) and place (U.S); and contrasts. The library of Congress is very impressive. I didn't know about some of the rare articles housed there. My heart skipped a beat when I scrolled down to see the charming painting of Ben Franklin's library.

    I remember Hot Wheels. Our son loved them.

    Your outfit is cuter than a hazmat suit, if that's any consolation. I also wear thin rubber gloves when I go out to shop. You touch so many risky thhing when shopping: the shopping cart, if you use one (I try not to), door hndles, the products themselves, money or credit card. Yes we're all in it together. I'm more grateful for our T connection now than ever.

    Happy Birthday and Happy T-day! Eileen xx

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  13. Belated Happy Birthday Lisca! My GS will be 18 in April, he was planning on going out for his first alcoholic drink with friends! That library is some building, love the stamps - yes I do remember Hot Wheels! Take care while you have to shop(looks although you are) Happy T Day! Chrisx

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  14. Happy Belated Birthday! It sounds like you had a fun time even though your plans had to be cancelled. I hope y'all stay safe and well and can eat out soon :) Happy T Tuesday

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  15. Belated Happy Birthday wishes Lisca, it looks like you managed to have a good day in these difficult times. The candle on the cake looked memorable, yo as well.
    you won't forget blowing out the flame on that one.
    Stay safe and well.
    Yvonne xx
    The postcards and stamps looked lovely

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  16. Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had an enjoyable time in a different way this year.

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  17. Happy belated birthday! Sorry your celebration had to be different, but just now everything is different! Love the postcards. This is a difficult time but we will get through it. Good that your husband is there to keep you company. Stay safe and take care, hugs, Valerie

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  18. Happy belated Birthday Lisca !! That a great cake ! I also wish the situation were different, but for now, we must stay home and take care.
    I like very much your postcards and the stamps. Thanks so much for all the information, very interesting.
    Big hugsss and stay safe,
    Caty

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