A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 30 May 2023 - T for tigers, ceilings

 Hello lovely ladies, How are you all? I'm super busy at the moment, preparing for my road trip. But I have made time to write my blog as I love meeting you all at the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. All I need is a drink or drink reference in my blog. Well, that's easy and you will see my drink later. First of all I would like to show you my postcard for today:

What a beauty! A beautiful tiger! It comes from Russia. Yes, they have tigers in Russia. It is the Siberian tiger and they can be found in the extreme east of Russia:

The pink indicates the range of tigers in 1800 and the red is the modern day range. Wikipedia writes:

An initial census held in 2015 indicated that the Siberian tiger population had increased to 480–540 individuals in the Russian Far East, including 100 cubs. This was followed up by a more detailed census which revealed there was a total population of 562 wild Siberian tigers in Russia.

I scanned the stamp in Google translate and this is what I got:

This type of card is called a Maxi card as the stamp, which usually has the same image or theme as the card, is on the front of the card. And usually that is enough to post it, but the sender obviously didn't think this was enough and stuck stamps on the back too:

The stamp bottom left is an image of the Astrakhan Kremlin

Top right is a 2022 stamp with Matryoshka dolls. It's a triangular stamp from the series 'Decorative art in Russia'.

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by wood turning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress.

 The figures inside may be of any gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. 

Continuing with the stamps:

Top left are white cloud apples. Also known as Beliy Naliv, the White Cloud Apple is an extremely hardy Siberian variety prized for its early ripening, flavorful and juicy fruit. This medium sized, almost white apple is easy to grow and great for fresh eating and also makes delicious apple sauce.

The bottom left is not a postage stamp but a cute sticker.

The girl that sent it to me is Elena. She is a 2nd year student in college playing the flute. She writes, she was going to learn to play a piece by Henri Busser called Andalusia. There was a music competition she was learning pieces for and that competition was in April, so it has already been. I hope it all went well Elena!

What's been happening here in Spain? Well, I've had visitors from  the UK. My friend Keren and her hubby stayed with me for a week. Unfortunately the long awaited rain decided to fall all in that week!

We chanced upon a private visit to the Palacio de los Enriquez in Baza. It is a  type of urban palace or stately residence. It was ordered to be built by Don Enrique Enríquez , uncle of Fernando el Católico and brother of Queen Juana de Aragón, and by his wife Doña María de Luna, beginning the works in 1506 and extending its construction until the middle of the 16th century .

This is a photo from the internet as it was raining too hard to take any outside pictures. 

They have recently started to restore the building and it is not open to the public yet. But we have been able to see the beautiful ceilings:

Every room was different. Here is more detail:

Incredible. it's such a shame that this building has been left to ruin all these years. Antonia's children remember playing in the ruins.

A little glance out of the window:

We also went to Almería on the coast. I like Almería very much. It has a boulevard with a park along it full of tropical plants and trees. Really beautiful. We saw jacaranda trees:

And large trumpet vines:

They were going over, but there were a few flowers left.

With a hand for comparison:

We had lunch at a Moroccan restaurant overlooking the boulevard:

My friend's hubby is already sitting down, while I faf around taking pictures.

My friend had worked in Marocco for a while and could still remember to speak a bit of Arab. We drank delicious mint tea:

Of course I had to take a picture to show you all:

This is my qualifier for the T-Party.

And I decided to have a beef tagine:

Lift up the lid and this is what i got:

Very nice it was. The meat was slow cooked and was falling apart. really delicious. (It is hidden under the veggies).

That is it from me today. 

Happy T-Day all!

Hugs,

Lisca