A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 30 December 2025 - T for cats and Christmas

 Hello lovely peeps. Have you all had a peaceful Christmas? I will briefly tell you about mine but first I'd like to show you my postcard for today:

It is a sweet little boy and a cooked turkey. It could be Christmas, or it could be Thanksgiving. But I care to think it is Christmas as I spy some holly and berries.

The card comes to me from Siegburg in Germany.

The stamps are colourful:

The top one is froim the series: Occasions for writing. Here are two from that series:

The top one is entitled: Einladung (Invitation) and the second one Im Gedenken (In Remembrance).

The stamp with the train commemorates the 20th anniversary of German reunification. The edition references the song: "Sonderzug Pankow" or 'Special Train to Pankow'. 

The website berlin.museum-digital writes:

This song (3.01 minute long) by rock singer Udo Lindenberg, released as a single in 1983. It is based on the melody of the 1941 American classic "Chattanooga Choo Choo". The lyrics are addressed directly to the then Chairman of the State Council, Erich Honecker. Lindenberg accuses him of being a rocker at heart and secretly listening to West German radio. 

The reference to the Berlin district of Pankow in the title stems from the fact that Schönhausen Palace, located there, served as the residence of the President of the GDR from 1949 to 1960 and subsequently, until 1964, as the seat of the State Council. Until their joint relocation to the prestigious housing estate in Wandlitz, many members of the GDR government and high ranking officials from other agencies also lived in the nearby Majakowskiring. For many years, the East Berlin district of Pankow was synonymous in the West with the "Pankow Regime".

Today I'll be joining the T-Party again, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. For that I need a drink, so here is my drink:

I think that was my meal on Christmas Eve, pork shank with roast potatoes and veg. The drink is a nice rosé.

My Christmas was very quiet. No photos as I was on my own, but I had a nice meal (turkey) and watched the church service on tv (from Bradford cathedral). I opened presents that my sister had bought me. I had videocalls with several people including my son in Italy. The weather was absolutely awful, so I didn't go out either.

I had some fake candles (No real candles when there's a cat around).

And Ronnie of course had to sniff them out.

Nooo Ronnie, don't play with them!

Oh alright then, I'll just sniff.

If I'm not allowed to play with them, then

I don't really want to pose. Bye bye.

Happy New Year to all,

Lisca (and Ronnie the cat)

 

A Postcard A Day - Friday 26 December 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps, Happy Boxing Day to you!

I have lots of smiles for you today, beginning with a lovely postcard:

It was a postcard sent by my friends Maggie and Alister when you were staying in Colmar. It of course is a beautiful alter piece by Nicolas de Haguenau and his workshop.

 

The info on the back of the card reads this:

The French info on the card reads:

Issenheim Altarpiece, circa 1512-1516.

Saint Augustine and Guy de Guers, Saint Anthony, two offering bearers, Saint Jerome, Christ the Saviour, and twelve apostles.

Polychrome wood (linden) sculptures.

What an amazing work of art! All out of wood!

The stamp is also a work of art. I can't find any information about it on the Internet I'm afraid. And I don't recognise this painting (if that is what it is).

Enough of that. I still owe you he remaining photo of my Córdoba trip (see Tuesday):

This was a beautiful nativity scene at the Cajasol building:

The above gate is the Puerta del Puente. 

It wasn't very big. Everything was really miniture, like dolls houses.

They are existing streets in historic Cordoba.

Above is Mother Mary with the Christchild and the street is called Calleja de las Flores.

People that know Cordoba will recognise these streets.

These steps are called the Cuesta del Bailío.

They even had a miniture of the creator of the Nativity Scene:

How was your Christmas? My Christmas was wonderful. 

On Christmas Eve I invited my friend Dian to have mulled wine and mince pies and we put the world to right as they say.

On Christmas Day I was on my own and could get up when I wanted, wear what I wanted and eat what and when I wanted. 

My sister had left me some presents which I opened while having coffee. I did quite a lot of messaging on my phone and my son videocalled me from Italy. I cooked a turkey dinner and watched some tv. 

I'll leave it at that and find you some Christmas funnies to smile at.

 Happy Boxing Day,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 23 December 2025 - T for Christmas!!, and Cordoba (photo heavy!)

 

Hello my lovely ladies,

It's Chriiiist--maaass!! Well, nearly. 

So, I have a really christmassy postcard for you with what looks like angels on it.

It is a detail from a work by Fra Angelico called Engelreigen:

"Engelreigen" (Angel Dance/Choir of Angels) refers to specific depictions of angels in the works of the Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, notably found in the frescoes at the San Marco Convent in Florence, Italy, where his serene, spiritual art, especially scenes of angels and the Annunciation, earned him the nickname "Angelic Friar," showcasing his devotion and skill with colors like lapis lazuli for heavenly skies.

Wikipedia tells me that Fra Angelico was born around 1395 named Guido di Pietro in the Tuscan area of Mugello near Fiesole, not far from Florence. 

He changed his name to Fra Giovanni (Friar John) when he joined the Dominican order but was called Fra Giovanni Angelico ("Angelic Brother John") by his fellow monks.

The back of the postcard is beautifully decorated:

And the stamps are spectacular:

The above stamp celebrates the visit of Pope John Paul II to Kevelaer in 1987.

Below a stamp from 2015 featuring Mary with Baby Jesus:

The image is taken from a larger work:

2012, 500 Years Sixtine Madonna.

The third stamp celebrates the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the historic centres of  Wismar and Stralsund. The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Riga (also in the Hanseatic league, but situated in Latvia) was also made a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a different stamp. (See above).

Saturday I went on an excursion to Cordoba to visit the Madinat Al Zahra.  Wikipedia writes: Madinat sl Zahra, (or the radiant city) was a fortified palace-city on the western outskirts of Córdoba in present-day Spain. Its remains are a major archaeological site today. The city was built in the 10th century by Abd ar-Rahman III (912–961), a member of the Umayyad dynasty and the first caliph of Al-Andalus. It served as the capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba and its center of government.

It is quite a large complex to walk through.

Of course I had to photograph a palm tree for Elizabeth.

The weather was awful as you can see, but it didn't rain.

I was impressed with the structures that were there:

It was difficult to take pictures without people in it, but the above couple were in my group, so that was OK.

Further down there were more arches:

And the columns were heavily decorated:

These arches were made in the same style as the famous mosque in the center of Córdoba.

They (the arches) form part of the Parade Ground and were meant to impress.

And lastly an aerial photo:

Then we drove into Córdoba and had lunch in a restaurant:

I'm at the back in my red sweater.

In the afternoon we visited a Nativity Scene and we saw the Christmas light come on, but I will leave that until Friday as this post is long enough.

That leaves me with my best Christmas wishes (or Season greetings if you don't celebrate Christmas) for everyone.

Lisca