A Postcard A Day / Tuesday 30 March 2021 / T for birthday bash, sea bass and bubbly

 

Hello lovely peeps,

It's Tuesday again and I have a lot to show you. I have some lovely postcards and stamps, there is news about my hubby's health and I had a birthday.

First off is this postcard from Japan. The info on the back reads Ogura Yuki, Bathing Women 1, 1938. From the collection of the national Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

It was sent to me by Yuko in Tokyo.

The stamps have food on them. Plums on one stamp and a meal plus drink on the other. This will be my first entry for the T-Party organized by Elizabeth and Bleubeard. 

The second card is also from Japan and it features this world famous drawing by Katushika Hokusai. It is called 'Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, under the wave off Kanagawa'.

This one is a postcard with the stamp printed on it

I noticed the difference in price of the postage of the two cards. This one was 70 (Yen I assume), and the previous one 115 Yen.

Well, what else can I say, I have had a very busy week. Of course Tuesday was my birthday. My 70th birthday. No big celebration, but hubby took me out for lunch.

In the afternoon my best friend came by and we lit the candles on a tiny cake that I had made.

Excuse my apron....

We opened a bottle of alcohol-free bubbly (hubby can't have alcohol at the moment). It was surprisingly good.

We finished it the next day. It went well with the pasta carbonara I made.

On Wednesday my new cooker was delivered. We use bottled gas (Butane) and the oven I had did not have a thermostat. There isn't much choice in cookers that run on bottled gas. But now I have one with a thermostat and I am 'over the moon'!

On Thursday we went into town to the local hospital to see the oncologist. It was busy as they were doing Covid vaccinations, so we had to use the overflow car park. That is next to the helicopter pad, so we could see  the 'beast' up close.

I was allowed to be with my husband which is good emotionally as well as practically (He doesn't speak Spanish, so I have to translate)

The news was better than we expected. It's stage 3, so it is not metastasized and he only needs a bit of preventative chemo therapy and no radio therapy. We came away with a pile of appointments and paperwork and a lighter heart.

As we were in town, hubby wanted to go to the ironmonger.

It's a shop we have been coming to for 15 years, and they have everything. We went there even before we spoke Spanish, explaining with hands and gestures what we needed, and they have always come up trumps.

They have bird cages and cow bells. They sell tools and toys and walking sticks. Everything by the meter or by weight. You can get 3 screws and 2 nails if you so wish. (Not packs of 24, which is no good if you only need three).

Then we went for coffee at this restaurant near the hospital. 

When we got there we realized it was lunch time and decided that we would have lunch there.

Hubby is discovering the alcohol free beers are not too bad at all.

On Saturday we had a Bible study at our friends' house as we are allowed to have six people together now. It was a 'bring and share' occasion. I made a cake in my new oven and it turned out beautifully.

This cake is called a 'ciambellone' (Italian for 'huge donut').

Someone else had brought these Spanish 'roscones fritos'.

There were lots of other goodies. Too much for 6 people to eat really.

On Sunday was my birthday treat as we went to a posh restaurant in town with our friends plus their son and his girlfriend (again, enjoying the rule of 6).

Everything was delicious, even the bread.

I had sea bass, but we all ordered something different and then shared with the dishes in the middle of the table. We do this a lot in our region. This week is Holy Week so there was only fish, but it was delicious.

My absolute favorite was the tuna tartar.

The green on the top is avocado and I never thought I would enjoy raw fish, but it was heavenly.

That is enough from me now. This has become quite long. Well done if you made it to the end.

Wishing everyone a happy T-Day,

and a very good week ahead.

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 26 March 2021 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely ladies, It's Friday again (Doesn't it come round quick!). Let's share some smiles and good moments of our week. I will be joining Annie at A Stitch In Time and Virginia at Rocking Your week Friday.

My smiles always start at my postbox. Every postcard I receive is a pleasure. This week I received this colourful postcard from China. I have no idea what it represents, but it looks fun.

The person who sent it is called Lin Lihuan, who lives in Foshan. She tells me Foshan is a beautiful city. Here is a montage of photos I found in Wikipedia.

The stamps are lovely. The creature on the left is a sticker. The other three are postage stamps.

She also used some food stickers.

It has been a good week this week. Here are the collages I made.

I watched Shaz's funeral on Friday morning via the link that Doug had provided. I agree that funerals are not a laughing matter, but i want to include this one in my smiles as I think it was a positive experience saying goodbye to her.

Saturday was a quiet day, and we didn't go anywhere. It was our daughter in law's birthday, so we had a video link to celebrate.

I love Sundays. Hubby usually makes scrambled eggs on toast (He does that really well) and then we watch two church services and sing our hearts out with the worship. 

In the afternoon I planted the geraniums I bought at the market in the pots we bought recently. In the photo you see the pot already hung on the (white) wall of the patio.

Monday is the day we  run errands and do shopping. Hubby needed a walk so we walked to the post office, after I'd been to the gym. Then sat down in a bar that has a lovely patio at the back and enjoyed the mild weather with a nice coffee.

Tuesday was my birthday and I enjoyed opening my cards at breakfast. My sister in law had sent me a present from the UK. She had knitted a beautiful shawl in mohair wool. Gorgeous. Also she probably didn't realize but it is my favorite colour.

Hubby took me out for lunch and in the afternoon my best friend popped in and we opened a bottle of bubbly. Parties are not allowed yet. I think the maximum is 6 people together..

We didn't go out on Wednesday, just relaxed after my birthday. I cooked pasta carbonara and we finished the bottle of bubbly, which was really nice in spite of being alcohol free.

Yesterday was a busy day. In the morning we drove into town for hubby's first visit to the oncologist. The results were better than we expected. His cancer is stage 3 which means it has not spread. So he only has to have chemo therapy. No radiotherapy needed. After the hospital we popped to the ironmonger for some bits and bobs hubby needed, and we came out at 2 pm.  We stopped at a restaurant for coffee but it was too late to have coffee, so we stopped for a meal in stead. After all we had reason to celebrate!

We had a potato salad as a first course and then meat in sauce with chips as a main.

In the evening we had some more excitement as my new cooker arrived at 7. So last night we connected it and then spent half an hour peeling all the protective plastic off. This one has an oven with a thermostat! Bliss! No more guess work when baking. There is only one brand that does gas ovens with a thermostat. I have one in the upstairs flat and I love it. Now I have splashed out and bought one for downstairs too. (A birthday present to myself)

That was my week. How was yours?

Of course I will give you some funnies at the end, but for now I am leaving you.

Stay safe, stay healthy and

Keep smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A day - Tuesday 23 march 2021 - T for Tuesday

 Hello lovely ladies! How are you all? Here things are much better. Hubby is recovering well from his operation. Getting stronger by the day.

Let's start with my postcard. I like maps, but this map card baffled me as it is all in Russian. It was sent to me by Sasha in Barnaul. He (or she, as in some countries Sasha is a girl's name) wrote that it was -22 degrees C. There is also a quote on the card, 'Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.' 

 The largest city on the map is the city of Barnaul. Barnaul is a city on the western banks of the Ob River in the Altai Krai region of Siberia, Russia.

To give you an idea where in Russia it is

I found some photos of the city of Barnaul on Wikipedia.

The stamps are absolutely gorgeous. The triangular one on the left is about lace making techniques, and of course I love the turtle  stamp. Emys Orbicularis is the common European pond turtle, or terrapin.

But the most fascinating one is the red stamp with the mythical horse. it represents 250 years of voluntary entry of the Altai people into the Russian state. The map below shows that the Altai Republic is just south of Barnaul.

The Altai people have a history of horse riding.

Reconstruction of the horse trappings found in one of the the 4th century BC Scythian-type Pazyryk burials. I think this is the  horse in the stamp.

I found some photos of Altai people in their traditional costume. 

The Altai mountains have geysers just like in Yellowstone Park.

Fascinating!

But enough armchair travel. This is T-Day and I'd like to visit Elizabeth and Bleubeard with a drink. I think it will be coffee this time.

We're having some beautiful days and we can sit outside for breakfast ,

And for coffee

As you can see hubby is doing fine. We went shopping in the village yesterday and went to a bar for coffee and a cream bun. (Elizabeth can you spot the fake carrousel horse in the background?)

Mine is a café cortado.

I'll leave you with this

According to a 19th century legend, the Truth and the Lie meet one day. The Lie says to the Truth: “It’s a marvellous day today”! The Truth looks up to the skies and sighs, for the day was really beautiful.

They spend a lot of time together, ultimately arriving beside a well. The Lie tells the Truth: “The water is very nice, let’s take a bath together!” The Truth, once again suspicious, tests the water and discovers that it indeed is very nice. They undress and start bathing. Suddenly, the Lie comes out of the water, puts on the clothes of the Truth and runs away. The furious Truth comes out of the well and runs everywhere to find the Lie and to get her clothes back. The World, seeing the Truth naked, turns its gaze away, with contempt and rage.

The poor Truth returns to the well and disappears forever, hiding therein, its shame. Since then, the Lie travels around the world, dressed as the Truth, satisfying the needs of society, because, the World, in any case, harbours no wish at all to meet the naked Truth.

The world famous painting- “The Truth coming out of the well” Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1896.

It's going to be a memorable day for me today. It's my birthday and I am 70 today! I must say, 70 sounds really old! (69 is not too bad, but 70 sounds ancient). I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough.

Signing off here.

Wishing everyone a very happy T-Day,

Hugs,

Lisca