Tuesday 17 April 2018

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 17 April 2018 - T for steak, St George and a patio

Hello lovely people, it is Tuesday again. The day I share something with a drink in it. We are all invited by Elizabeth and Bluebeard to join the T-party and link up at her blog Altered Book Lover.
Lets start with my postcard. It comes from Ethiopia, a place called Lalibela. Lalibela is a town in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia. It's known for its distinctive rock-cut churches dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, which are pilgrimage sites for Coptic Christians. Carved out of rock, the subterranean monoliths include huge Bete Medhane Alem, and cross-shaped Bete Giyorgis. Many are joined by tunnels and trenches, and some have carved bas-reliefs and colored frescoes inside.


They are a UNESCO World Heritage site. On the card you can see the Bete Giyorgis (St Georges church) church from the top. Here are some images (from the internet) of the same church from different angels:
I find this utterly fascinating!

One of our neighbors are a couple from Denmark. They keep the house as a holiday home and stay there at least three times a year. They were here last week. We get on well with them and we always make a point of going out for a meal somewhere. Last week we went to this restaurant in the neighboring village of Hijate.

We had been there many years ago and had good memories.We sat at a table near the fireplace (it’s still a bit cold here). The waiter recommended the steak. We decided to share a large one between four of us and have some side dishes as well. I know in America eating steak is not unusual, but for us this was a real treat. Look at it. It is a sight to behold!

The steak was cooked on the fire, after being asked how we wanted it


Here are our Danish friends (with an empty glass!)

Ah, here is a glass with something in it! My hubby is on the left and one of our friends on the right drinking Coca Cola as he was driving.

Here is our steak being cooked.


And it was served sliced

In the back ground is a dish of roasted mushrooms, and the green veg on the slate with the chips are roasted green peppers.
My husband had a pizza.

Now for something different:
Hubby is doing the finishing touches to the build of the house. We have a strange triangular plot. I've taken the photo from the third floor so you can see the tiny patio that goes with the ground floor flat. Hubby found some tiles the same as the first floor terrace and has finished tiling it. Looking down it looks really nice. you can only see half of it as the other half is under the eves. It will be a shady place to sit in and i have already bought some jasmin plants to go on that white outside wall.
The photo below is nearly the same but here you can just see the wall our the owners of the neighboring piece of land have built on the corner. At first they had built a straight wall. No problem. But then some months later, while we were on holiday, they built the round bit (why?). It became very difficult to get our car round the corner. And car plus trailer is nigh impossible. We have talked to them but they don't want to take it down. We have gone to the council as it encroaches on the road, and they have served an order to take it down, but the family in question have ignored this so far.  It has been going on for several years now.  If we had the money we would take them to court! But it would cost too much, and it's not worth the hassle. In the meantime we have bought a smaller car. But still...
So, that is it from me today. I wish you all a great T-Day, and a very lovely rest of the week.

Bye for now,

Lisca

15 comments:

  1. I have never seen such a structure as this church- and yes, it is fascinating! I know steaks are big here- but not for me- I'm very happy to take the veggies. Wow- what a shame about the bad mannered neighbors. I wonder too what the reason is for the rounded part-weird... hope it all works out for you in the end. Happy T day!

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  2. I was really impressed with the Ethiopian Church. I have never seen any structure like that before. It was so unique and worthy of being a World Heritage Site. Stunning!

    I am sure I would have found a way to call attention to your neighbors. Here in the States we have tv stations that will help you get the justice you deserve. They show the offense on TV, talk to the people (like your council) and put the offenders in such a spotlight they have to respond. They do follow up articles, too. Not sure if you have any outlet like that, but it's worth a try.

    I've never known anyone who shared steaks before. I am not sure any four people could agree on the rareness of the steak. Here in the states, you pay extra for sharing, unless all order a full meal and share that way. But it looks like you had fun, and I would gladly have veggies instead. It was fun to see your outing and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it, your wine, the postcard, the tiles, and your nasty neighbor with us for T this Tuesday.

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  3. Those old churches are very fascinating, I've never seen them before. You went to a lovely place to eat, and that steak looks divine, yummy! Sorry you are having problems with your neighbours, things like that can be very unpleasant. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  4. hope you get matters resolved with your neighbours..my husband would love that steak

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  5. this church is so unique, i´ve never seen something similar! good you shared it, i probably will never see it in Person.
    if i could choose i would take a quarter of the Steak and two or three slices of the Pizza;) everything Looks delicious.
    have a great week:)

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  6. Great postcard and the churches are fascinating! Your week with friends sounds wonderful and wow, that's one big steak 😁. Thanks for sharing the delicious meal and wishing you a happy T Day! J 😊 x

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  7. Aaahhh neighbors.... I could go on and on about mine but i won't..lol I'am sorry you are having that trouble Lisca.. The work your hubby did to the patio is awesome.. How great that he was able to find matching tiles.. And that church! So amazing! Amazing that it is down in a hole! and the shape of it .. fascinating! Happy T day!! Hugs! deb

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  8. Those old churches look really interesting, something I would never of seen if you hadn't shared the super photos.
    Your meal sounds good and that steak was huge.
    the work on you house looks great, but it is a real shame that you are having to cope with troublesome neighbors.
    Happy T day wishes Lisca.
    Yvonne xx

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  9. There are only 2-3 of the World Heritage sites within reach of me, but I'd love to see more. The program is impressive.

    That is one gorgeous steak! And the pizza looks delicious, too.

    It's a shame that neighbor has to be so deliberately difficult. I'm wondering if the council couldn't take it down and bill them.

    I like the tile job. It's lined up perfectly! Happy T Tuesday :)

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  10. Great postcard and the church is unique! Your week with friends sounds fantastic fabulous looking steak, but I am a neo-vegetarian since the beginning of the year! But the veggies look good as well! What a shame about the bad mannered neighbors. I am sorry - annoying! Ihope it all works out for you in the end. Happy T day!
    oxo Susi

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  11. I love that quote, Lisca. I also like it the "other" way. "You're never too young for a tea party." It makes me think of the tea parties we had as kids and the beautiful set of miniature china I had our tea parties.

    That's a huge steak and I think it was an excellent idea to share it with some lovely side dishes. We have steak maybe once a month, but not huge ones like that!

    The lower patio tile looks wonderful. I tiled a small landing once but everything was square. I don't think I could have done all that angle cutting. It's so nice to have a (handy) man around the house ;-)

    That's too bad about the neighbors encroaching on the road. That type of thing happens here a lot too and there's really nothing you can do about it. If you tried, it would be expensive and could also be very risky.

    Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen

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  12. Those churches are pretty impressive. I love steak and grilled over a fire, mmmm, I can almost smell it. Looks like a really nice restaurant. Your hubby did a great job with the tiling. It looks like a very nice outdoor space. Too bad some neighbors have to be so crappy and inconsiderate of others.

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  13. Those postcards of the church are beautiful! I love how the two different angles show the various colors. Your steak looks amazing! I am American but we don't eat steak often and when we do it is a real treat for us as well. I love the look of the mushrooms and green veggies on the side. My kind of meal! And your hubby's pizza look yummy, too.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  14. That's an interesting way to cook a steak. It looks yummy. I am here in the US and I haven't had a steak for a long time. I have seen this area of Ethiopia on tv and it is cool to be reminded from your postcard. Those churches really are old, aren't they? And pretty amazing. Hope it was a happy T day as I m late for T. Hugs-Erika

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  15. oh, delicious looking meal with friends, and so cool to have it cooked over the fire as you watch! that doesn't happen much in the U.S. unless it's someone's backyard barbecue...love your patio tiles, but how troublesome to have neighbors who don't cooperate and clearly don't care about your access! hope it gets worked out somehow...happy T day! love the church photos by the way...♥

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