A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 29 December 2020 - T for black and white, pianos and toasters

 

Hello lovely ladies,

I hope you have all had a good Christmas. It has been very different this year. In many countries there have been restrictions as how many people could get together.  Also in most countries there was a no-travel advice. But it was advice and not law, so me, being a little rebel, decided to travel as I really wanted to be with my mum, who would have been totally alone this Christmas as my cousin (who would have visited) went away too.

More about that later. First I would like to show you my postcard for today:

It comes to me from China, from Sichuan Province, home town of the panda. It was sent by someone called Danbo.

And here are the stamps:

Curiously enough these stamps were issued on the first of January 2018. The newspaper China Daily writes this:

Stamps for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. CHINA DAILY
Beijing offered a special New Year gift for philatelists and sports fans on Sunday with the launch of the first set of commemorative stamps for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The inaugural set of the stamps comprises two pieces featuring the emblems of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games on a white background, which designers interpreted as a symbol of the purity of ice and snow.
Each of the stamps has a face value of 1.2 yuan (about 18 cents) and is printed with anti-counterfeit watermarks and the words "Beijing 2022".
The unveiling of the stamps also initiated a licensing program, which authorized the State-owned China Post Group to design and release a series of stamps on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, including the mascots, venues and sporting events, in the next few years.
"The release of Beijing 2022-themed stamps wraps up our preparation in 2017 for the gala event on a high note," Han Zirong, secretary-general of the Beijing 2022 organizing committee, said during the launch.

So, here I am in the Netherlands again. My mother is 96 and every time I visit could be the last time. So I am taking this risk. But as you could have seen in my Friday blog, the journey went well, the airport was almost deserted and al is well (so far). 
The day after we arrived a parcel was delivered. 

It was something hubby had ordered before we left.

It is a roll up practice keyboard. He has been playing it every day since it arrived. Although it has speakers, hubby uses his earphones and practices his inversions.

Mum has a small kitchen and a small oven, so Christmas dinner had to be cooked in stages. I cooked roast pork the day before and on Christmas day I did the roast potatoes. Here is hubby putting some honey on the roast parsnips:

Eventually this was the result:

A nice glass of red wine, brought over from Spain, is my qualifier for Elizabeth and Bluebeard's T-Party.

There were lots of telephone calls to loved ones abroad:

The weather was awful (and stil is), but the first day we were there we had to go food shopping.

The supermarket is just to the left of the car park, so we brought the trolley into the flat.

Half an hour and a bottle of desinfectant later, everything had been put away.

I did some baking and made these cute Christmas trees, covered with chocolate.

We shared one with our coffee:

I started some sock knitting. Toe up with magic loop needles and     Turkish casting on. I have now got to where the heel begins so I have started the second one, leaving the first sock on other needles.

Hubby has been feeling off colour for a month now, he has 'irritable bowel' type symptoms. We have to wait until we get back home to go to see our doctor. But as there are so many celiacs in his family, we thought we'd try a glutenfree diet to see if it makes any difference. So we bought some products today. I'll keep you posted.

Now this is a bread toaster. It doesn't look very special, but it is. It is the toaster mum and dad got given as a wedding present in 1950 and it still works perfectly! How amazing is that! (They didn't have inbuilt obsolescence in those days).

I think I will leave it at that.

I wish you all a very happy and better and above all healthy New Year! 

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 22 December 2020 - T for airports, lizards and coffee

 

Hello lovely ladies, better late than never!

 We have been travelling all day yesterday and today we are in the Netherlands, visiting my mother who is 96 and living on her own. She has a nice apartment with a

large guest room. We have to be in quarentine for 10 days, so we quickly popped to the supermarket and did the shopping for ten days. 

Now, let me show you my postcard for today. It is a postcard sent to me from the USA back in October. It's an image from a poster from he British Empire 1926-1933. 

On the back of the card is not much information. It just says: Unknown artist: November - Virgin Scrub.

The stamps are beautiful, aren't they. There is a Halloween ghost and the beatiful Navajo jewelry, an agricultural scene and what looks like apples.

Today is Tuesday, so I'm linking up with Bluebeard and Elizabeth at Alteredbooklover. There is a weekly T-Party, and my qualifier for this week is the following drink:

This is my coffee at the airport yesterday. There were only two places/cafes open in the whole airport. 

As you can see, the place is deserted. Eerie.

Anyway, everything went well. Our fellow passengers were considerate and everyone adhered to the Covid rules and kept their distance  in the queue and at boarding. On the aircraft there were lots of empty seats. Only families were allowed to sit together.

Rotterdam airport was closed so we had to travel to Amsterdam. We then caught a train at the airport to Rotterdam, then transfer to another train, then to a tram. We arrived at 7pm. All is well.

That is all from me. Sorry I'm late but we've had a busy day sorting out certain things for mum.

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas, even though it might be different than what you expected. 

Stay safe,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 18 December 2020 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely ladies,

How are you all this morning? I must confess I am rather busy with preparations for our coming trip to Holland. There is lots to do and pack and buy and forms to fill in etc. The Netherlands is in lockdown and there are no shops open except grocery shops. We are going to have to stay in doors (quarantine) for 10 days, but I'm going to stay at my mum's so that was the whole idea. She won't be on her own this Christmas.

Let me show you my postcard for today. It comes from Finland but shows the national costume of the island of Muhu in Estonia.  It is a card from 1973, when Estonia was still a Sovjet republic. The artist is V. Tolli

 The island of Muhu is one of three islands off the coast of Estonia and has an area of 198 km2 (76 sq mi). On the map Muhu is coloured red.

The traditional costume of the island is very pretty:

What I like best are the socks

In present times there is a little cottage industry going with these hand knitted socks.  They also do gloves:

I love those. 

I am going to do some knitting when I am in Holland. I've packed some wool and some needles and I plan to make some socks (nothing as elaborate as these). I like to knit with round needles (magic loop). I did one pair many years ago and I have found those needles again, so they are coming with me to Holland. I might have to go online for a pattern or a tutorial as I have forgotten how to do the heel. I work from the toe up and cast on in the Turkish method. (Watch this space).

And here are the stamps.

The left hand stamp (lily of the valley) is from a series of wild flowers:

 The flowers in this series are: the common hepatica, the lily of the valley, the wild pansy, the harebell, the meadow buttercup, the red clover, the ox-eye daisy and the wood cranesbill. They are designed by Paula Salviander.

Now let me show you what I have been up to this week.  Friday didn't bode well as we overslept and the weather wasn't very good, but I did some baking and in the evening we were invited at our friends' house to help them eat the pizzas. Their youngest son who is a student, is at home as his course is postponed or cancelled or something. He has been able to get himself a job in a pizza factory locally. Hurray! Good boy! To celebrate he brought 6 pizzas home. We came to help them eat them. They are our best friends and they live two streets away, but we only see them once a month.

Did you spot the nativity scene (top right)?

I saw it outside a house on my way to the post office.

I started a new book. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge. Has anyone read that?

My hubby has had some tummy bug. He decided to not eat at all on Sunday (only drink water).

And it was his birthday on Monday. Luckily he was feeling much better.My cousin's birthday card was really funny (with the fire men as there were so many candles)

On Tuesday we sorted out the craft room, which was in quite a state. It is now tidy and clean. As I said before, I found my knitting needles. I always find something when I tidy up.

On Wednesday my friend and I went on a long walk. I did something like 13000 steps. 

We spotted an abandoned mill. The door was open so we went in. All the equipment is still there. What a shame that it's not being restored.

Here is another picture:

At the top of the next picture you can see that there is a large hole in the roof:

And today (I'm writing this on Thursday night) we went into town to get some last minute things. We have a little cast iron parlor stove  in the craft room (visible in Tuesday's collage), and it's grill on the inside was broken. The bit you rest the logs on. So we went to a shop near us that sells woodburners, chimneys and chimineas and BBQs. They had a replacement.

That was my week. Plenty of highlights and lots of smiles. Do join us at Annie's to share the things you smiled about. And I also join Victoria for Rocking Your Week Friday.

And as per usual I will add some funnies at the end.

Have a lovely weekend,

Hugs,

Lisca