A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 25 Mat 2021 - T for monks, authors, photographers and plants

Hello lovely ladies,

Here we are again on Tuesday. The week really flies by! 

As per usual I have a postcard to share, and as it is T for Tuesday today, I have a drink to bring to the party. Please join us with a beverage at Elizabeth and Bluebeard's Altered Book Lover.

Then I would like to show you some of my plants.

 But first here is my postcard for today. It features a room in the Moni Karakalou monastery (on Mount Athos in Greece) by photographer Zbigniew Kosc. It comes to me from the Netherlands and has a beautiful stamp (see below) and some Van Gogh washi tape (also see below). 

The holy island Mount Athos is an island with 20 monasteries. It is open to pilgrims, but only males. No women allowed. This is the Karakalou monastery:

The photographer is Polish, living in Amsterdam.

On the photographer's website I read this:

The monks' republic on Mount Athos is regarded as the center of Eastern Orthodox spirituality.

The first monastery on the holy mountain (Aghio Oros) was established by Constantinople just before the year 1000, and the small community of servants of God survived the second thousand years of Christianity better than the Orthodox metropolis on the Bosporus. This is not merely a result of its relative seclusion and inaccessibility; the primary reason is the monks' unshakable belief in their mission: to create a center for the Christian faith far removed from the noise and bustle of the world. 

Today, 20 monasteries are represented in the Assembly at Karyai, 17 of them being Greek, and one each Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian. Together with the non-voting monastic communities - the so-called Sketes, the smaller monastic communities or Kellia, and the hermits, they form a state dedicated to the service of God: a state loose in organization but strong in faith. For us today Athos is still synonymous with Eastern Orthodox art: icons, illuminated books, frescoes, and churches. In photographs of Zbigniew Kosc the other aspect of Athos is presented, that aspect which is of overriding importance to the monks and hermits: religion and spirituality.

The black and white photographs - taken in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989 - in themselves suggest this inward-looking life.

 Here are some more of his photos from Athos.

The postcard was sent to me by a lady called Marianne Witvliet from Holland. 

She tells me that she actually is the photographer of this beautiful stamp. It is the windmill in her little town of Nunspeet.

Marianne is an author and illustrator of children's books

 and writer of novels

And this is the jumbo washi tape she put on the card. All art by Vincent van Gogh. Beautiful. 

I must say this is one of my favorite cards. A fascinating black and white photo with a background story, an interesting person that sent me it, and the beautiful stamp that was actually photographed by the person that sent it! How cool is that!

What have I been doing this week? Not much, we've been home taking it easy. Well, not every day. We are now living downstairs, but we also have our living space upstairs. I had ordered so net curtains for the enormous windows. In summer the sun really blasts in the space as it is south facing.

A quick clean first:(Excuse my husband's attire: it was hot).

And then they are hanging. 

On Sunday we had a rainy day (that doesn't happen very often):

So a day indoors. I got the stepladder out and changed the bulb of the old lamp that hangs above the table. It was not strong enough and I wanted to change it.

I also took the opportunity (as you do) to clean the glass shade and the glass funnel (It used to be a gas lamp).

We did lots of little chores and at the end of the day I sat down with the first gin & tonic of the season.

We've been spending a lot of time on our little patio (we have all our meals there and often sit out there in the evening too). I have many plants and flowers in pots and hanging baskets. I would like to show you a few. 

This is a gooseberry bush and it is bearing fruit. Last year we had one berry. This year I have already counted 12.

Indoors I have mainly succulents. The plant that looks like dreadlocks is a rat tail cactus and it is doing really well. I water it once a week.

It's not a good picture as the lighting was all wrong. Here is a photo from the internet, just so you can see what it looks like:

Then outside I have this lovely Dipladenia. It is flowering and will flower for a long time.

I also have a fuchsia. It didn't do so well the first couple of years, but this year it has begun to flower:

I try to keep it out of the sun. It only gets sun in the morning. 

I have two jasmins (on either side of the window). They are 6 ft tall and flower one after the other. The smell is divine!

Every evening we get this loud buzzing visitor.  It's a Carpenter bee, and he/she is very friendly. I mean he doesn´t sting or act aggressive.

It has the most beautiful blue wings.

I have a large Cala, which is starting to flower again.

And there are some lilies in a pot. They are the type that you don't want to get too close to as the pollen stains your clothes. But they are beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my plants.

Last but not least, another photo from Sunday, when it rained. I did some sewing jobs. I am sewing some pockets in my house dresses, and repaired hubby's work clothes that always seem to split or tear somewhere.

That is all from me today. 

Wishing you all a very happy T-Day,

Stay safe,

Hugs,

Lisca