A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 12 January 2021 - T for embossed angels and crowing roosters

 Hello lovely ladies,

Happy New Year to all! 

(Sorry if I repeat myself for those who also read my Friday blog) Hubby and I have been to the Netherlands to visit my 96 yr old mother. It was against all recommendations and common sense, but I wanted to see her, and I am glad I went. We had a lovely time. Of course we couldn't go anywhere or see anyone, but I cooked lovely meals for/with her and we had quality time. We spent zoom time with other family members and the last few days we spent filling in forms online and getting a Covid test. The test is more expensive than the flight and we had to travel into Rotterdam city to have it done. Most European countries require a negative test to enter into the country and Spain is no exception. Of course we were negative, but it is still a strange experience to fly. The airports are empty, very eerie. Schiphol (Amsterdam airport) which is a large intercontinental airport, was empty. Rotterdam airport was closed all together. We had to travel to Amsterdam on an intercity train for more than an hour, which worried me, but the train was half empty (The train goes straight into the airport and is usually very full). 

Nobody questioned my motives for traveling, nobody checked our passports, they were only interested in the QR code that we obtained online after filling in all the documents and declarations. We both went: "Phew!" and went to collect our car at the car park. When I went to pay, the machine malfunctioned and I had to ring for the attendant to retrieve my card from the machine. Another "Phew!" 

We had vague ideas of perhaps staying in a hotel for the night and driving home the next day, as hubby has been ill with a bowel condition since before we left. I didn't want him to tire too much, it's a long drive. But there was snow forecast that night, so we decided to go straight home. We did it in four hours.

The first thing I did was check the mail. And what a lovely surprise:

It was mail from Linda Kunsman. She has sent me some beautiful vintage Christmas cards. This one is embossed. Even the sentiment is embossed. Isn't it beautiful? Thank you so much Linda. 

The card was posted in 1907:

I have just spent half an hour reading about the person on the stamp: Benjamin Franklin. He is probably well known in American circles, but I had not heard of him and assumed he had been a president. He was not. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States. Wikipedia says this:

Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSA FRSE (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was a British American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions.^[1] He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, Philadelphia's first fire department,^[2] and the University of Pennsylvania.

But I encourage you to read about him yourself, such an interesting man!

The other card is a funny one (although I don't see the joke) or is it perhaps a card with a feminist message?

This one has a 1949 cancelling stamp and was directed to someone in Bethlehem, PA (where Linda lives). 

I went to Google to see if the address still exists, and it does, there is a pharmacy where Mr Charles used to live.

Linda also sent me a print of some lovely art work she did as a Christmas card.

Absolutely beautiful Linda. Thank you so much! I will treasure these things.

The morning after we got home, we went to the health center and asked for an appointment with our doctor. He could see us an hour later, so we didn't bother walking all the way home, but went to have breakfast in the nearest bar:

Breakfast is toasted bread with tomatoes and olive oil (and salt). You can see the sugar bag on my plate. In our area they have sayings and quotes printed on them. It has helped me no end when I was learning Spanish. And I help hubby translate while we drink coffee.

The translation of this one is: 

If you want to go fast, walk alone.

If you want to travel far, go with company.

(African proverb)

Hubby has his with cheese on top.

These photos are also my ticket to the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. 

One last photo before I go. This was this afternoon:

It's still very cold, but as you can see, we are just short of the snow line, which is fine by me. I'm not really a lover of snow.

That is it from me. 

Happy T-Day to all,

Stay safe,

Lisca