A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 9 September 2025 - T for a snake, a cookbook and a fish restaurant

 

Hello lovely ladies, How are you all? Tuesday has crept up at me this week and I really haven't got many photos to share with you. But I did receive some postcards, like this one below:

My friend Maggie sent it me. It features a snake necklace made by Cartier in Paris. It was commissioned by the actress María Félix in 1968. 

Maggie tells me they visited a Cartier jewellery exhibition at the V&A Museum in London. 

The publicity announcement that I found online reads: "A major exhibition featuring more than 350 objects, including precious jewels, historic gemstones, iconic watches and clocks, that chart the evolution of Cartier's legacy of art, design and craftsmanship since the turn of the 20th century."

An image (from the Internet) from a different angle on the snake necklace:

It's made of Platinum, white gold, yellow gold, diamonds, emeralds (eyes), enamel.

I had never heard of this actress. Who was she?

Good old Wikipedia writes: María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña: 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, her strong personality and taste for finesse garnered her the title of diva early in her career. She was known as La Doña, a name derived from her character in Doña Bárbara (1943), and María Bonita, thanks to the anthem composed exclusively for her as a wedding gift by her second husband, Agustín Lara. Her acting career consists of 47 films made in Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, and Argentina.

Félix favoured the taste and style of Maison Cartier in her passion for jewellery. Between 1959 and 1976, María Félix acquired iconic pieces: panther brooches and bracelets, coral pieces, necklaces made of interlocking shells, and a series of regal pieces with reptile motifs. She commissioned special pieces that dialogued with her strong personality. 

María Félix had a passion for reptiles. In 1968, she commissioned the imposing Snake necklace from Cartier. The articulated structure of this piece is made from platinum combined with white and yellow gold and diamonds. Densely set, these diamonds represent individual scales and shine in the light like the skin of a live serpent. The necklace drapes down the neckline with the snake’s head figuratively entwining with its tail.

I found a little video clip about her and her jewellery: You can find it here.

Fascinating. She must have earned lots of money to have so much jewellery.

What else can I tell you? My cookbook has arrived:

It's quite a thick, substantial book:

It's written by Nisha Vora, who I follow on YouTube. A lot of her recipes have Indian flavours or are inspired by the Indian cuisine. I love that.

I ordered a few other things too that came in a separate box:

As soon as I emptied the box it was occupied by Ronny. He loves boxes.

As this is Tuesday, I'm going to join Elizabeth and Bluebeard at the T-Party. I will need a drink for that. Well, last week I went out with my Danish friends (See Friday's blog) and eventually we ended up in a fish restaurant in Baza. 

These are my friends, but I'm showing you this photo because it shows the wine, my 'ticket' to the T-Party.

We had calamaris (squid):

And prawns (among other things):

The restaurant is a fishmonger by day, so all the seafood is super fresh. 

It was very delicious. 

That is all from me today.

Wishing you all a very happy T-Day!

Lisca