A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 3 February 2026 - T for peacock angel, parcels and a rainbow

 Hello lovely girls, 

I'm back online! Yes, I have had no Internet since Sunday, but it came back on Wednesday (I'm writing this on Monday).

My postcard comes from Germany. It features a bookshop and a bicycle leaning against the window. It looks very Dutch I must admit. Could be Amsterdam...

But the stamps are very much German:

The stamp with the elephant who apparently is called Benjamin Blümchen (meaning: little flower), a somewhat clumsy elephant. It was issued in 2022.

Since 1977, 150 episodes of the children's radio drama series "Benjamin Blümchen" have been produced. Over the decades, 67 million audio recordings of the stories about the talking, somewhat clumsy elephant and his human friend, the boy Otto, have been sold.
"Benjamin Blümchen" is a creation of author Elfie Donnelly. An animated version began in 1987. The first film, a combination of live-action and computer animation, was released in 2019.

I found some interesting information about the peacock stamp.

Sematv.net writes about the Angel Peacock stamp:

In a significant milestone for the Yazidi community, the Yazidi symbol, known as the Tawusi Melek , has been officially recognized by the German postal system. As of January 1, 2025, the symbol will appear on postage stamps used for mail delivery across the country. This decision marks an important step in acknowledging the Yazidi faith and culture in Germany. Previously, the Yazidi post office in Wesel had already started using the symbol, and now this practice has been extended nationwide. According to official German data, the Yazidi population in the country reached 260,000 in 2023. However, Yazidi community leaders estimate the current number to be over 300,000, reflecting the growing presence of Yazidis in Germany.

AI gives this description of Yazidis:

The Yazidis are a distinct Kurdish ethnoreligious group indigenous to Northern Iraq, with a significant diaspora in Europe, particularly Germany. They have a unique, ancient faith. They are monotheists who believe in one God who created the world, entrusting it to seven angels, the leader of which is Tawûsî Melek (the Peacock Angel). They do not believe in a devil. Their faith is syncretic, blending elements of Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Christianity, and Judaism.

Apart from the postage stamps, the sender also put a cute sticker of three bears (a panda, a brown bear and a koala bear).

So what have I been up to? I've not been too well. I suffer from SAD syndrome, which means that a lack of (sun)light or natural light causes me to get depressed. The weather has been so awful, with rain and storms. The howling wind kept me awake at night and that didn't help. 

This is how I felt:

I've been here before and I know that going for a walk every day, and keeping up the excercises is crucial. Also socialising would take my mind off the tooth ache that I had (on to of everything else). I had to wait for a week to get an appointment with my dentist which is today (Tuesday).

Last week we went out for a drink after Intercambio (language practice):

We've had many internet outages, so much so that I have decided to get Starlink Internet:

Because of the storm and rain, it hasn't been possible to install it yet, but my friend Andy is going to have a go today (Tuesday).

On Friday we had our last session of the make-up course. Just a small group of ladies that want to learn how to apply make up. We had fun for six consecutive Fridays. And this last Friday we all went out for a drink:

There are plenty of drinks on the table to be able to join the T-Party hosted by Bluebeard and Elizabeth.

I had a parcel delivered the other day:

Inside was a pretty box:

Ronnie loved the empty box of course:

But inside the pretty box was my belated Christmas present (because my parcel went missing and had to be re-sent) from my friends in the Netherlands:

It had two bottles of French wine and three jars of paté. Thank you A & I!

The weather has been really bad with regular red and amber warnings. But we have had a bit of sunshine too and there were rainbows as there was still rain in the air:

Sorry I didn't have much interesting to say today.

But I'm wishing everyone a happoy T-Day,

Lisca