Tuesday 9 February 2016

A Postcard a Day - 9 Feb 2016 T for cave houses and drinking tea from a saucer

Hi folks! Happy Tuesday! Hello Tuesday gang! 
(Yes, I am linking up with Elizabeth at T for Tuesday. Here is the link: Do stop by and you might also get a glimpse of Bluebeard.)

My postcard for today comes from Russia. Sent to me by Marina, who lives in Nizhny Novgorod.

Marina writes:"The painting depicts a rich merchant's wife drinking tea. Only in the 20th century tea became available not only to the richest, so it seems that she enjoys her drink (and drinks from the saucer)."

The painter is Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915). He painted this canvas, called 'Drinking Tea', in 1914. Oil on canvas. It is now in the Ulyanovsk Regional Art museum.

The flat we are building next to our cave house is nearing its completion. We will then move out of the cave, into the flat next door and start renovating our cave house. We have spoken to our builder and a few days ago he took us to his current project of cave houses so we could get some inspiration as to how we wanted our cave house renovated.
These are the two caves we visited (seen from the swimming pool). My photos are concentrated on details that i wanted to remember. One of them was the shower. I really liked that idea.
The toilet is behind the right hand wall and the shower behind the left wall.

Here is a detail of the floor. They cement the floor and then somehow make it shiny. Some little pebbles and some bricks in the cement give a really nice effect.
And these steps are lovely, simple but effective.

The pool was not in use (and very dirty) as they are still building. It is an infinity pool with a beautiful view. When switched on,  the water will run over the edge (which is not in the picture) onto a lower level and the pumped up again. 
We have no room for a pool, but it's nice to drool and dribble over all these nice things.

That's it from me today. Have a good week, and see you all next Tuesday,
Blessings,
Lisca

18 comments:

  1. Gosh what an amazing place ! I am in love with it!

    Happy T-Day!
    oxo
    Susi

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  2. Looks amazing....what fun to go around and find inspiration like that. I've ALWAYS wanted a polished concrete floor. They can do amazing designs in them. Hope you get that at the least! And good luck with the shifting around - bet you can't wait 'til all this building is OVER!!!

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  3. I didn't realize you had a cave house. How cool and interesting! And your post card gave me a memory of my grandfather. He died when I was quite young But I remember he poured his coffee out of his cup and sipped it off the saucer. This was because it was too hot in the cup for him. Happy T Day and can't wait to see more of your construction work.

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  4. It all looks sooooo amazing, what wonderful ideas! The tea painting is beautiful, too. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  5. that is such a beautiful picture of the tea painting-I can only imagine it in person! I would LOVE a cave house with that bathroom-so cool!! Good luck with your continued renovations, and a happy T day!

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  6. I wish I could see that lovely merchant's wife in person--her clothing and jewelry must be nearly regal!

    How fun it must be to redesign your cave house! I will look forward to some updates! Happy T Tuesday!

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  7. oh, i´m with you... that shower place is just gorgeous!
    have a great week and thanks for visiting!

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  8. One of the things I learned when I was making the Queens and Kings altered book for my friend was, tea was too expensive for most "commoners" until the 20th Century, when trade became common between the Orient and the rest of the world. Tea was an all afternoon event, celebrated by mainly the Queen (England), her court, and the few ladies she invited. I don't know about Russia, but I suspect it was primarily the same, where only the rich could afford this luxury.

    That's one fancy bath, and those stairs are awesome. I have a friend who has an infinity pool, and it looks like it goes on forever. It's certainly a sight to behold, but you definitely need room for it.

    Thanks for sharing your tea postcard and your plans for your new cave with us for T this Tuesday.


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  9. Love the Russian lady's clothes, and that china pattern. So pretty. I like the way the floor is finished in the house you saw. It sounds like an exciting project. Happy T Tuesday!

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  10. Oooooh your house plans are brilliant.
    What a magical and special place you are creating.
    The natural stonework and curves and colored tiles OH MY!
    It seems it will be a dream house ♥
    Your lovely Russian postcard takes me back to a tour of Russia I got to take with my mother years ago. We stopped in Novgorod and visited St Sophia's. Wished we had more time there.
    Thank you for your lovely comment on my T post today.
    Happy T Day to you Lisca oxo

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  11. gorgeous postcard...such a romance & softness to the image. Love the 'cave' photos...I am with you, the touches of mosaic on the floor and walls is beautiful! happy T day!

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  12. My mom has always told me that my great-grandpa who immigrated from Norway always drank his coffee from the saucer...it was nice to see that he wasn't just really eccentric. :) She said he also ate only with a knife. Hmmm...still haven't figured that one out.
    Happy T day!

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  13. The Russian postcard is superb and the cave reminded me of our own houses because we use tiles, shiny red cement and peebles a lot here. What a Magical place you have!happy T day!!

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  14. Love the postcard!! The ideas for your cave home are really nice. Too bad you don't have room for a pool it looks like it would be great when cleaned and running. Have a Happy T Day!

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  15. Wow - the cave home photos are beautiful - are they literally in the rock face or just to resemble the rock face?

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  16. These are some very interesting details of cave homes, and I like all of them!

    Had to smile at the royalty drinking from the saucer.

    Belated T-day wishes and thanks for visiting and the lovely comment.

    Happy Valentine's Day too

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  17. Well what do you know.... a cave house... how unique! Love all the details you showed us... Cannot wait to see what you do with yours... Happy belated Tday! Hugs! deb

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  18. How beautiful and detailed are those caves.

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