A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 10 August 2021 - T for tortoises, dolphins and a few drinks

 Hello lovely ladies,

This week has flown by and I'm finding myself on Monday night again. I have two postcards for you today, both with animals on them.

The first one is a tortoise that comes to me from Russia:

It features the greek tortoise (Testudo graeca). Wikipedia writes:

The Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca), also known commonly as the spur-thighed tortoise,^[1] is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. Testudo graeca is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoises (genera Testudo and Agrionemys). The other four species are Hermann's tortoise (T. hermanni), the Egyptian tortoise (T. kleinmanni), the marginated tortoise (T. marginata), and the Russian tortoise (A. horsfieldii). The Greek tortoise is a very long-lived animal, achieving a lifespan upwards of 125 years, with some unverified reports up to 200 years.

The postcard was sent to me by Elena, and she has also used a stamp with the same tortoise on it.  I have read that this particular tortoise is prevalent on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. 

Here is a photo from the Internet to give you an idea of size:

The stamp is part of an amazing cover from Russia, depicting a miniature sheet issued in 2017 with 4 different species of turtles: the european pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), the chinese softshell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis), the caspian turtle (Mauramys caspica) and the greek tortoise (Testudo graeca).

My second postcard features dolphins:

It looks like a vintage travel poster for the town of Akaroa. According to Margaret, who sent this card, Akaroa is two hours drive from Christchurch.

Akaroa is a town on the Banks Peninsula, southeast of Christchurch, New Zealand. Akaroa Beach is on the eastern shore of Akaroa Harbour, where rare Hector’s dolphins swim. The Akaroa Museum includes 3 heritage buildings and chronicles the town’s development, especially its 19th-century British and French colonial history. 

Hector’s dolphins are the smallest and rarest marine dolphins in the world. They have distinct black facial markings, short stocky bodies and a dorsal fin shaped like a Mickey Mouse ear.

There is a subspecies of Hector’s dolphin known as Maui’s dolphin that is critically endangered and estimated to have a population of only 55. They are found only in the shallow coastal waters along western shores of New Zealand’s North Island.

The stamps are really nice. The one on the right with the kiwi, I get. But the ice cream cone...? Is New Zealand known for its ice cream?

The kiwi stamp is a sort of 'forever stamp'.

There are different ones. Here are a few examples:

I love my Postcrossing hobby. Last weekend I wrote and sent ten postcards to different countries in the world (They are randomly chosen by the computer program from a pool of over 500,000 members). Here I am posting said ten postcards:

People tell me that reading my blog always makes them hungry as there is always a lot of food. Today, I'm going to make you thirsty as I am going to show you what we drank. And of course today is the day of the T-Party, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard, so I have several drinks to bring to the T-Party:

 

Above are two glasses of home made kombucha with raspberries as second fermentation.

Below is a good ol' cup of coffee with some cookies my friend made.

The other day I relaxed with a G&T. My sister had kindly left me her bottle of pink gin, so I used that. 

And last but not least (as we were on an animal theme earlier), look what i found on a flower pot on the patio. He (or she) is about an inch and a half long. I see these beetles every year and i don't know what they are exactly, but I'm happy to have him as a guest, as he doesn't bother me and perhaps eats other, smaller creepy crawlies.

That's all from me folks. 

I'll sign off and say:

Happy T-Day!

Stay safe,

Hugs,

Lisca