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

A Postcard A Day - Friday 19 December 2025 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely peeps,

My postcard today has a Christmassy feel to it. It is a Maxi-card from Australia:

It features Mother Mary and Baby Jesus. It is a Maxi-card as it has the postage stamp on the front of the card. The first day of release of a new stamp comes with all sorts of special editions. In this case, there is a postcard of the same image as the newly released postage stamp.

Below a close-up of the stamp:

The stamp dates from 2022.

Collectables.auspost.com.au writes: This year’s religious stamps feature illustrations by Gavin Ryan, which pay homage to the use of stained glass as an architectural art form in churches and other public buildings. This year is the United Nations International Year of Glass. The Christmas 2022 minisheet illustration presents a Gothic-style church facade, with the stamps comprising two stylised stained-glass windows, with scenes that feature the Archangel Gabriel and the Madonna and Child

Here is the image (from the Internet) of the archangel Gabriel:

The maxi-card was sent to me by a group of Ranger Guides. (I can't read the name).

What have I been up to? Apart from spending time with my sister who came to see me, I have been getting my house ready for Christmas. 

On Tuesday my friends Kim and Andy came for lunch and I had a marinated pork rib ready for them. I took a photo of the meat before cooking and when the meal was ready, I forgot to take pictures. Well, it was delicious. It was too cold to use the BBQ, so I cooked it in the oven.

The weather has turned really cold. I woke up the other morning to see snow on the top of the mountain:

I went to Pilates this morning and after that I had a lovely massage (I treat myself every now and then).

Tonight (Thursday) I'm looking forward to talking to my sister-in-law via FaceTime and

tomorrow (Friday) my Dutch friend is coming to see me, and I will be busy getting the top flat ready and lighting the fire as I have two couples coming to stay the weekend via HomeExchange.

That's all from me this Friday . Lots to smile about. What about you? Has your week been smile-worthy?

I will put some funnies at the bottom for you to giggle about. Enjoy your pre-Christmas time and don't get too stressed. 

Keep smiling!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 16 December 2025 - T for Croatia and Christmas decorations

 Hello lovely girls! 

I have a postcard for you and some photos of my decorations and of my sister who came to stay for a few days.

Here is my postcard for today:

It comes to me from Croatia and features a typical courtyard entrance to a house in a historic town. (It doesn't say where). It reminds me of the place I used to live in Italy (which is in effect just across the water) and my son lives in a house like this.

Croatia is a beautiful country. Both my cousins go there every year with their caravan and stay for a few months. They have been doing this for more than 40 years and have many friends there.

Wikipedia tells us this:

Croatia is a republic and a parliamentary democracy. It is a member of the European Union, the Eurozone, the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the World Trade Organization, and a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. An active participant in United Nations peacekeeping, Croatia contributed troops to the International Security Assistance Force and was elected to fill a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council in the 2008–2009 term for the first time.

Croatia is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy.^[9] Service, industrial sectors, and agriculture dominate the economy. Tourism is a significant source of revenue for the country, with nearly 20 million tourist arrivals as of 2019.^[10][11][12] Since the 2000s, the Croatian government has heavily invested in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Croatia has also positioned itself as a regional energy leader in the early 2020s and is contributing to the diversification of Europe's energy supply via its floating liquefied natural gas import terminal off Krk island, LNG Hrvatska.^[13] Croatia provides social security, universal health care, and tuition fee-free primary and secondary education while supporting culture through public institutions and corporate investments in media and publishing.

The stamp shows one of the beautiful parts of the coastline:

It features Telascica, described as 'Rolling bay & islets designated as a nature park with vineyards, beaches & pine & oak forests.' You can read more about this here. 

Here is Spain, I'm getting ready for Christmas. Others have been showing off their decorations. Well, I haven't got that many, but I will show you what I have got:

I have a little Christmas tree with some presents underneath that my sister brought me.

These beautiful handmade Temari balls that a friend gifted me a few years ago.

I have an elf on the shelf. (actually my glass cabinet).

And I have a star with lighting in it. 

Then I have some tinsel around the house. I will get a Christmas table cloth too, but i don't want it to get dirty before it's Christmas. 

And last but not least, I had my nails done in a festive fashion:

My sister came to see me on Saturday. It would have been my late husband's birthday on Sunday, so she came to help me make that day extra special.

Here we went for breakfast (I should have photographed our coffees for the T-Party, but I forgot).

It was very cold. My sister lives in Marbella, Costa del Sol, where they have mild winters, so she was 'freezing'. 

I lent her some fluffy house clothes:

There were 'Severe Weather' warnings and it rained heavily all weekend. We did have a little window where it stopped raining and we went for a walk just to get some fresh air.

We walked along the dis-used railway called the Via Verde, until the iron bridge (that Eiffel designed).

Now, because it's the T-Party I need a drink (reference), but I forgot, so here is a photo of the aubergines and melasses we ordered on Saturday night. On the edge you see half a cup. That will have to do I'm afraid.

That is it from me. I will leave you with a photo of my cat Ronnie, who is asleep on my lap while I'm trying to type:

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca