A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 21 April 2020 - T for a forest fairy and a slut, sorry: slutsk

Hello lovely people,

Here we are again at Elizabeth and Bluebeard's T-Party. I need a beverage or a drink related item to qualify, so what about this one?

I do hope you are all well and coping with whatever restrictions your government has issued. We in Spain are still on a strict lockdown, although I have heard that some factories have been able to re-open last week. 

Today, Tuesday, I'm having to go to the hospital in town for a mammogram. I phoned them up and they said my appointment can go ahead as planned. I'll let you know how that went. Normally my hubby would drive me, but only one person is allowed to travel by car, so I will have to drive myself. (Good practice as the roads are empty).

Let me show you a postcard from Belarus:

It is entitled Zazowka and is drawn by the artist Eugene Kot.

It's a beautiful drawing and I just had to find out more about it. Luckily the artist has a website and this is what I found:

Near the village of Guby in Vileyka district, in the forest lived demonic creature called Zazowka. She had the appearance of an unspeakably beautiful young girl with thick hair so long that she doesn’t need any clothes. Many lads are charmed by her. If she appears in front of some person he follows her as if charmed. She calls him by name in a sweet voice and laughs teasingly. Now appearing, now disappearing, she lures the man deep into the forest by the seductive movements of her slender body. Now and then as she moves she puts her hair aside to reveal the most intimate parts. On luring her chosen one to the heart of the forest she caresses him as no other woman does. Few men come back from the Zazowka, while some men perish from her insatiable love. Those who manage to come back to their wives later go to the forest again never to come back. Not everyone is entertained twice by the Zazowka. When she rejects them they commit suicide. These distraught men can be often found hanged in the forest.

There was a beautiful stamp on the card. It took me a while to figure out what the stamp is about as I can't read the Cyrillic alphabet. But it is about the town  Slutsk. 
Slutsk is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River 105 km (65 mi) south of Minsk. As of 2010 its population is of 61,400. (Wikipedia)

All the info below is from the website Belarus24.

Bottom right on the stamp: Museum of Local Lore,
In the middle of the last century the Slutsk Museum of Local Lore was opened. The exposition of the museum tells about the formation of the Slutsk Principality, the first gymnasium on the territory of the country, the life of the citizens, the Great Patriotic War and modern Slutsk. The museum’s collection numbers more than 31 thousand items, including archaeological finds, fragments of Slutsk belts, documents and many other things.

 top right:

Cathedral of St. Archangel Michael in Slutsk

According to various historical data, there were about 20 churches in Slutsk, and Slutsk churches were first mentioned in the year 1392  (St. Michael’s Church). It is also known as Church of the Archangel Gabriel, a "domestic" church, attached to St. Michael’s church, was situated next to the St. Michael’s temple in the churchyard. In wintertime, it was used as a warm temple, since St. Michael’s church itself was not heated at the time. After the revolution, the church was used for housekeeping needs and for living. Divine services were resumed only in 1941. After difficult-for -faith decades in the twentieth century, when the temple of Michael the Archangel remained the only in the city, the church was granted the status of a cathedral and became the center of the Slutsk deanery. The building of the St. Michael’s Church is protected by the state. This is a monument of architecture of the XVIII-XIX centuries of national significance.

Middle:

Monument to Sophia Slutskaya

Sophia Slutskaya is the last of the famous Olelkovich family. (She married a Radziwill. Read all about her here)

In 1984, the Belarusian Church canonized her, and at the end of the 20th century a monument to Sophia was installed in the square on the Bogdanovich Street. A bronze figure.

Sophia asks to stop and think to yourself for a moment. Behind the figure of Sophia you can see three-leafed arch that symbolizes the Christian church.

Top Left: 

Chapel of St. Barbara

In the eighteenth century the most beautiful Barbarian church was situated in this place. But it suffered a cruel fate: first there was a fire, after it was in a dilapidated state, then it was rebuilt in the style of folk architecture and baroque, but in 1812 it was ransacked by the French, and in Soviet times it was burnt down. In the old place in 1996, it was decided to build a small chapel in honor of St. Barbara.

I have not been able to find out what the building Bottom left is.

I have not received any postcards this week, but I have been occupying myself with all sorts of useless activities. One of them is my jigsaw puzzle. I find it relaxing to do. I'm doing this one:

And this is how far I got.

I also like this app on my iPad called Happy Colour. It is 'painting' by numbers and I like it a lot. I do one a day.

I had just finished the one top left and I clicked on it to show you. Up popped this empty one and it wanted me to start all over again. No thank you.

Hubby has been gardening in our plot and came home with our first broad bean!

The banana is there to show you the size. I have since used it to make banana overnight oats for our breakfast. Such is the destiny of a left over banana.

So that evening we had broad beans for supper:

One of the plus sides of this whole quarantaine thing is that churches are doing online services. This past Sunday we enjoyed watching three services of churches we had either belonged to or that our children are involved in.

Sorry, I'm in my dressing gown again. I'm afraid I shall have to get out of that habit soon. But before 12 noon, this is what I wear.
One last image:

It's our scrambled egg on toast breakfast. (Home made bread again). Feel free to join me for breakfast.

I shall leave it at that. I wish you all health and patience as this situation continues. Personally I don't know anyone who has got or has had the virus. What about you?

 I hope you are all safe and staying home. 

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home.

Hugs (virtual of course)

Lisca

PS Here is the link to the fish recipe for Kate Yetter.