A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 14 August 2023 - T for Fiesta!! Olé!

 

Hello lovely girls,

How are you all? I'm feeling tired today. I've flopped onto the sofa with my legs up at the chaise longue part and my laptop on my lap (that's why they call it a laptop). 

My postcard this morning is a black and white image of an old door. I love doors and windows, so this is right up my street.

It comes from Germany and was sent by someone called Sascha. 

Now I personally know two Sashas: one an Italian and the other French. Both very much male. In Europe Sasha is a man's name. It is the (Russian) diminutive of Alexander. But I have heard of girls being named Sascha. Especially in the US. 

It's a bit like Andrea, which is the Italian equivalent of Andrew. In Italy I had several (male) friends called Andrea. Imagine my surprise when I came to England and one of my (female) colleagues was called Andrea. Perhaps it sounds feminine because it ends in the letter A.

Sascha lives in Siegerland. The door in the picture is a door to a Felsenkeller. Literally a rock cellar. It was used in the old days to keep supplies for the winter.

The stamps are lovely:

The flower is a Winterling, (Eranthis hyemalis) or winter aconite. On the right is a stamp from the series baby animals in the wild. This one is from 2017. It features baby wild boar. Cute. (Not so cute once grown up).

I have had a busy week. What with Pilates and Yoga in the day, my evenings have also been busy. Our village has had its yearly Feria. It's a week-long fiesta with lots of things going on and a lot of partying. I am not a party animal and in the 11 years that I have lived here, I had never been to the main venue. My friends John and Brenda convinced me that I should go with them one evening. I left it to the very last and joined them for the closing evening, which was Sunday evening. 

We went at 9:30 PM which is early enough to get a chair to sit on. Brenda led me through the fun fair part.

I love seeing the girls and ladies dressed in their traditional party dresses. Even little children were dressed in the 'Sevillana' dresses. I tried to photograph them discretely:

There was a lot of dancing going on eventually. The band was good. It finished at midnight on the dot. And then  on the stroke of 12, the fireworks started:

Also on that Sunday, I had been invited to lunch by my friend Dian, who is living in our cave house in the country for the duration of the summer. (because of the extreme high temperatures we have been having this summer, her house is so hot.) So I drove to Gor which is about 40 km up the motorway and she had prepared a lovely dinner. A whole ham cooked in the oven according to a Jamie Oliver recipe. 

Very delicious it was indeed.  She had made dauphinoise potatoes, the most decadent of side dishes. (potatoes with garlic, cream and Gruyère cheese, slow cooked in the oven.)

The dessert was a Nigella Lawson creation. The cream was whipped up with baileys. Very yummy! 

Unfortunately there is no drink in the picture (I had only the tiniest glass of Prosecco as I was driving). It's T for Tuesday and I need a drink to be able to join in the fun. Let me see what i can find. After all I have had a busy week.

I was sitting in my little patio on a rare evening when it had cooled down enough to be able to sit out. I had poured myself a G&T and had switched on my little party lights. My Danish friend Susanne can see the lights from her house and asked if i was in. Yes, I said, fancy a G&T? She did and promptly came over for a catch-up. She took this picture of me:

That is my qualifier for the T-party. Please join us at Elizabeth and Bluebeard's Altered Book Lover.

That is all from me this week,

Take care,

Hugs,

Lisca