A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 6 May 2025 - T for Korea, grandson and aperitifs

Hello lovely peeps,

I'm still on my travels. On Monday I flew from England to Rome in Italy, and from there I got a bus across the country to where my son lives.

But let's start with my postcard:

It comes from from Hyein in Korea. The food on the card is songpyeon. It is a traditional food made of rice powder.

What is songpyeon? I looked it up:

Songpyeon (송편) is a must-have Chuseok delicacy. These small half-moon shaped rice cakes (tteok, 떡) are stuffed with sweet fillings such as sweetened sesame seeds and traditionally steamed on a bed of pine needles. The name songpyeon stems from the use of pine needles, because “song” in “songpyeon” means pine tree.

The stamp is very beautiful. The dragon's head is a shiny material that reflects the light. Very pretty, but doesn't photograph very well.

It is a stamp from 2023: Chinese New Year 2024 - from the series Towards the Year of the Dragon:

Today of course is T-Day, and to be able to participate in the T-Party, hosted by Bluebeard and Elizabeth, I should share a drink. 

Today I'm traveling back to Spain, so this post has been written in advance. I've had a lovely time with my son in Italy. The occasion was my grandson's first communion. (yes, he has long hair)

Today is T for Tuesday and I need a drink:

Me and my daughter-in-law having an aperitif.

Here is a photo for Elizabeth, who likes palm trees:

They are my grandson, me, my sister and my son in Pescara, a city not far from where they live.

My grandson did his first communion. I'm not a Catholic, but  I know it's a big deal and they have a big party afterwards.

Here I am with my grandson, who is ten years old, in the church courtyard after the mass.

Then we went to a bar for pre-dinner drinks and later to a restaurant for a formal dinner. Photos of that on Friday. 

This is all I have time for.

Happy T-Day all!

Lisca

 

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 29 April 2025 - T for pearl earrings, penguins and bluebells.

Hello lovely peeps,

T-Day has arrived again! It's Tuesday and I am still traveling. More about that later.

Let me show you my postcard.

It's a gorgeous take on The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in 1665.

Girl with a Pearl Earring is Vermeer’s most famous painting. It is not a portrait, but a ‘tronie’ – a painting of an imaginary figure. Tronies depict a certain type or character; in this case a girl in exotic dress, wearing an oriental turban and an improbably large pearl in her ear.

Johannes Vermeer was the master of light. This is shown here in the softness of the girl’s face and the glimmers of light on her moist lips. And of course, the shining pearl.

The postcard is designed by Dina who is a Postcrosser from the Netherlands. In fact this card was sent to me at a meeting (in person, not online) of Postcrossers where they send postcards and they all sign the card with their name or Postcrossing name.

They all met on the 22 of March this year at De Gele Kameel (the Yellow Camel) which is a café which serves pancakes and soup and snacks. Here is a photo from the Internet:

I have never been to a meet-up, but have put my name down for one in Granada in September. (Watch this space).

The stamps are gorgeous:

There are the typical Dutch windmills and at the top you can see council flats in Maastricht, built in 1950 (architect Dingemans) as part of the re-building of the country after the war. It's part of a series of stamps about the reconstruction:

 The stamp website writes this:

The Maastricht Municipal Flat has been given a place on the new stamp sheet of PostNL. Het Nieuwe Instituut (National Archives for Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning), PostNL and designer Ariënne Boelens chose buildings with the following functions for this stamp sheet: infrastructure, home, office, factory and education. The depicted buildings can still be admired by the public and show real characteristics from the reconstruction period in form, appearance and functionality.

The flats have been restored and look like this now:

I've been traveling again. I was in the UK for the past week. I got the bus to Malaga and then got a flight to Bristol. I don't like flying. It's boring. Too much hanging around. I passed the time by having a large cider and some crisps.

I visited my eldest son:

He lives not far from Bath. We went to the cinema one afternoon.

We saw a film called The Penguin Lessons.

It is based on a true story and is set in Argentina in 1976, during a coup and political turmoil.

Based on the memoir and true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976, Tom (Coogan), expecting an easy ride, discovers a divided nation and a class of unteachable students. However, after he rescues a penguin from an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside-down.

I met friends while I was in the UK and one set of friends loves walking, so we had a walk through a park to see the bluebells, but there only ere a few dotted around, not a forest full of them as I had hoped.

Below another few, but they are not at all easy to spot (as they are so few).

Below is a flower called 

Red Campion

I have now arrived in Italy and have heard there has been a power outage in Spain, Portugal and part of France. What the heck is all that about?

Here in Italy, there doesn't seem to be a problem.

I'm calling it a day now. I've been traveling all day. I'm going to bed now. 

Happy T-Day all.

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 25 April 2025 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely girls. It's Friday and again I will share my smiles of the week with you.

A postcard in my mailbox always makes me smile:

The card comes to me from someone called Bonnie who lives in Richmond, Rhode Island. She lives on a farm with cows and chickens. She is a nurse and works as a nurse in a high school and she is very happy not to have to work nights and weekends.

The stamps are spectacular.

The stamp on the right reads: Freshwater Protozoans and pictures a microscopic view of freshwater protozoans. It's part of the Life Magnified set of 20 stamps:

The other stamp is a Forever stamp created by artist Camille Chew, celebrates the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Snake, which begins Jan. 29, 2025, and runs through Feb. 16, 2026.

The stamp features a dynamic and colorful depiction of a snake, symbolizing wisdom and elegance, key traits associated with those born under this sign in the Chinese zodiac. In traditional Lunar New Year fashion, the design incorporates elements of red and gold, colors that represent good fortune and prosperity.

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Snake is considered a “little dragon year” because it follows the Dragon in the zodiac cycle. People born during this time are believed to be wise, deep thinkers with a natural ability to excel in intellectual and creative fields.

Now, what has been happening here? I have been traveling (always worth a smile in my book):

The above photo was taken from the bus on the way to Granada.

Here I am on the bus to Malaga, where I took a flight to Bristol.

I'm staying with my son Phil and his family. It's great to see them all again.

My friend Keren and her hubby came round this morning and we went out for lunch and a walk.

As you can see the clouds were threatening, so our planned walk was cut short when it started to rain.

The restaurant is on a beautiful lake with lots of wildlife.

There were Canada geese and ducks and swans.

But also a great crested grebe.

One of my grandchildren has a Virtual Reality game. I asked him if I could have a go. They took a picture of me without me knowing:

It was fun. I found myself on a beach amongst giant coloured Easter eggs and I was trying to get passed them without falling in the water.  I could move about by moving my arms about. All the while  trying to keep my own feet on the mat as one is tempted to walk forward in real life. Very strange, but it was fun.

That is all from me. 

As per usual, there will be some funnies at the end. 

Wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend.

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 22 April 2025 - T for civil code and white wine.

 

Good morning lovely girls, and happy (B)Earthday Elizabeth!

How are you all? When you read this, I will be in the UK. I have written most of this on Sunday, as I would be traveling on Monday.

I have a postcard for you :

This postcard was sent to me by Peter who lives in Germany. It reads: Ja zum Leben, which means 'Yes to life'. And there's a couple of sweethearts over the rainbow looking at the stars and spotting the engagement ring. A lovely card. (I won't read too much into it).

Peter writes that he is a musician and plays the organ, the piano and the cymbals. He has once played the carillon (a set of bells in a tower, played with fists on a large keyboard).

Here are the stamps:

The large one celebrates “125 Years of the German Civil Code – BGB”

From the Federal Ministry of Finance's website I got the following information:

On January 1, 1900, the German Civil Code came into force, unifying civil law, which regulates the rights and obligations between equal citizens and other private law subjects. This ended the legal fragmentation in the German Empire of 1871, which had significantly hampered industry, trade, and transport.

Eduard Pape (Top left in the photo) was appointed President of the Commission for the Development of a General German Civil Code by Otto von Bismarck in 1874, but he died in 1888 so he never saw the work completed. 

Arnold Nieberding (Top right) was also an important collaborator and was responsible for the standardisation of German law. In a speech in 1896, according to Wikipedia, Nieberding described the legal situation in Germany as a "colorful muddle, .. for so long forgotten, citizens and families have determined their own legal relationships for themselves."

The German Civil Code was a product of its time, its language and regulatory techniques influenced by 19th-century jurisprudence. Following the system of Pandectal scholarship, it contains five books. The first book contains the General Part, which sets out provisions on personal law, general provisions on legal transactions, deadlines, and statutes of limitations. The second book governs the law of obligations. The third book contains property law. The fourth book contains family law, and the fifth book contains inheritance law.

Even 125 years after its entry into force, the Civil Code still contains the central provisions of civil law that determine the legal relationships between citizens, without most people being familiar with the individual provisions of the Civil Code.

The long validity of the law was only possible because, over the 125 years of its existence, it has been continuously developed by legislators and case law in order to adapt it to social and economic change, a feat that has been achieved time and again.

I know nothing about law, let alone the law in Germany, so I found this quite interesting.

But enough of that. On Saturday my friends and I had lunch  at my friend Janet's. She had cooked a lovely chicken oven dish. And we were drinking white wine.

It's T-Day today, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard, so the white wine is my drink offering.

Janet is very good at making desserts, and this time was no exception. She had made a lovely lemon and lime cheesecake on a base of ginger biscuits.

No calories at all of course! Haha!

And to finish it off here is a recent photo of Ronnie:

That's it for today,

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

PS My journey went well and I am now in England, but I had to wait for the family to get up so I could get the WIFI code.(Hence the late publishing time)