A Postcard A Day - Friday 1 September 2023 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps,

Gosh today is September! Time flies! We are here again to share our smiles and silver linings in our lives. I am fortunate that I always have a lot to smile about. Although this week I got some news that made me sad. My lovely mum, who is 99 years old, is not so well and the doctor said it is heart failure and that it is serious. I have taken the first flight I could get and I'm  now with mum in Rotterdam. 

Let me show you my postcard for today. It comes from the Netherlands:

Jan Breughel the Elder & Peter Paul Rubens: The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man.

This painting is by two famous Flemish masters: Rubens and Brueghel. They made several versions of this type of painting, which were intended as showpieces that combined the best of both artists.

Although Brueghel was responsible for the composition, Rubens started the painting. Very sketchily, in thin paint, he painted Adam and Eve, the tree, the horse and the serpent. Then Brueghel took on the plants and animals, which he painted with encyclopaedic precision in finishing paint.

The painting can be found in the Mauritshuis in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The stamp is a bog standard Dutch stamp. I have not seen these stamps before as this stamp is only used within the Netherlands (Not for mail abroad):

So, what have I been up to? My lovely mum is not very well, and at a certain point I decided I wanted to be with her. So I booked a flight and on Tuesday I traveled first by bus to Malaga airport. Here I am on the bus at Granada:

I had a front seat.

Then a boring time hanging around at the airport and going through security (Long queues), more hanging around and walking around the shops, then a three hour flight to Rotterdam, where I arrived at ten pm. I didn't really fancy going on busses and underground at that time of night so I got a taxi and within half an hour I was with my mum, who was so pleased to see me.

The weather is gorgeous. It is really nice to be able to walk in the sun and not nearly faint with the high temperatures we have in Spain.

Mum lives in a beautiful area with lots of green and many little parks.

The buildings have been prettied up with geraniums or pelargoniums.

On my way to the pharmacy I walked past the building we used to live in. (photo above)

Outside was a large advert saying there were apartments to rent.

The white building is the pharmacy, which is only ten minutes walk. As the sun was shining it was a lovely walk. (Normally they would deliver her medication, but I fancied a walk).

Unfortunately my mum is not going to get better. So I'll try to spend as much time as I can with her.

That is it from me today. 

I will leave you with some funnies at the end.

Wishing you all a restful weekend,

Hugs,

Lisca