Tuesday 30 March 2021

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









12 comments:

  1. oh what a really wonderful birthday celebration!! I like it small and intimate and it looks like your festivities were spread out over one day as well:) Fantastic news about hubby's cancer!!He's looking really good and I wish him continued improving health. I didn't know that Freixenet made non alcoholic bubbly. The food all looks delicious so I'm glad I have had my dinner;)
    Great looking new cooker!
    And that is quite the store with everything isn't it?
    Lastly, wonderful postcards and stamps. Happy special birthday year to you, and a happy T day too!

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  2. Many happy returns Lisca. I will catch up with you in October - quite a milestone! You have had such lovely celebrations - we can't even go out for an outdoor meal at the moment due to restrictions but things are slowly looking better. I love all your Japanese stamps - so pretty and colourful. xx Jo

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  3. Such a happy-happy post, all the best wishes for your birthday! To another wonderful year!
    You two look sooo happy! Beautiful.
    And ohhh, carbonara!
    Good news on your Hubby, scary as it stays...

    Oh! This shop looks like one we have here, Hubby´s heaven (I get bored easily there, ...).
    You need one screw, you buy one screw! Oh, yes, first read, then write! It IS such a shop!!!

    Your food of six looks like fun (not a fish person, but in for the fun).

    Happy T-day!

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  4. So glad you were able to enjoy your birthday celebrations after all the stress you had lately. You're looking good, and happy. You had some nice trips out, the food looks wonderful. Glad to hear the good news that your Hubby's treatment will not be too hard. The Japanese postcards and stamps are beautiful, too. Have a good week, stay safe, hugs, Valerie

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  5. Lisca I'm so pleased to see Graham looking so healthy and happy, good news from the hospital too.
    What lovely meals you've been having out and a beautiful cake in your new oven, we cook by electric oven rather than bottled gas as it would mean losing a cupboard, we don't have enough storage as it is, we are used to it now though.
    Steve loves the Ferret shop as he calls it, so many things they sell, great to buy one screw as you say unlike the big shops where you have to buy the whole pack.
    Have a lovely Easter
    Jan S

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  6. That is fantastic news about your husband Lisca. That is like a big birthday gift itself. Graham is looking good too. And so much yummy food in today's post. It is making me hungry even though I just had my breakfast. It sounds like you had a fantastic birthday! I also enjoyed the Japanese postcards. The ladies in the bath is really an interesting piece. Hope your start of April goes well. hugs-Erika

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  7. Your birthday celebrations and outings look fun. You have been eating a lot of delicious looking food. Your cake looks beautifully golden. I am going to look up a recipe for this. I bet it is fun having an excuse to bake more with your new stove/oven.
    Your postcards this week are beautiful pieces of art and I really like the unusual stamps.
    What a great store to have nearby. Truly a one stop shop.
    So glad to hear that your hubby got encouraging news. I will be praying for you both to have the strength to make it through each day. Battling cancer is a difficult journey as you have already experienced.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  8. Happy belated birthday to you, and happy for y'all that you got good medical news and a plan for treatment for your husband. Much to celebrate! Happy T Tuesday!

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  9. Happy Birthday! Glad to hear your hubby is on the path to recovery.
    Happy T day!

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  10. Oh my, it looks like you had such amazing birthday celebrations - Happy Birthday wishes dear Lisca! So lovely to see your hubby looking so well and I'm glad to hear about his diagnosis, I can see why you have a lighter heart ❤️. All that food looks so delicious, I'm now so hungry and it's nearly time for bed here ...lol 😉. Take care and wishing you a Happy T Day! Hugs, Jo x

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  11. What a great birthday gift, that hubby got such a good prognosis. He looks so good, and so do you! Happy 70th! Great uplifting post. Have a lovely Easter.

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  12. Happy belated birthday. I am sorry I missed this post. It looks like life is going pretty well for you two and that is wonderful. I am very connected to Japan and this post touched me. I have an original print of the Wave that my grandmother gave to me. A few years ago I found a post of it that my Mr. M. made a frame for. I love the first card very much. I was able to go to Japan for 3 weeks back in 2009. Had I not been with Mr. M. I would have come home packed my bags and moved to Japan. Anyway, this is a lovely post.

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