A Postcard a Day - Monday 30 Nov 2015 - Map Monday (Netherlands)

Good Morning! Happy Monday!

It's Map Monday and today I have a postcard from the Netherlands, which, as many of you know is my home country.

I was born in Rotterdam, which is middle left on the map. The three main cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague) have grown so much towards each other and Utrecht, that it has become a huge urban area they call Randstad, which means 'Edge city'.

Most towns on the map have a little picture depicting what they are famous for. Alkmaar is famous for its cheeses, and Volendam is a touris attraction with national costumes. In the North, under Leeuwarden you can see sail boats as this area (Friesland) has a lot of lakes and people sail a lot. East of Rotterdam you can see some windmills. That is called Kinderdijk (look it upon Google and marvel at the lovely windmills). West of Rotterdam are some fantastic beaches. Yes, the Netherlands is small, but a lovely country, well worth a visit (plug, plug, lol).

The stamps on this card are lovely. I had never seen them. The one on the right is the St Janskathedraal (Cathedral of St John) in 's-Hertogenbosch. A stamp from 2011. 

The cathedral church of St John is the height of gothic architecture in the Netherlands. It has an extensive and richly decorated interior, and serves as the cathedral for the bishopric of 's-Hertogenbosch. The cathedral has a total length of 115m (377ft), and a width of 62m (203ft).Its tower reaches 73m (240ft) high, the largest catholic church in the Netherlands.

St John Cathedral is a so-called 'kanjermonument' (whopper-monument, loosely translated) and as such receives financial support from the Dutch government.

The stamp on the left is depicting the city of Almere, which is a newly built city on newly claimed land. 

The Dutch put dykes around a stretch of water, then pump out the water and over the years let the ground dry and eventually build on it. 

Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands: the land on which Almere sits, the southern Flevopolder, was reclaimed from the IJselmeer 1959-1968. The first house was finished in 1976. Almere became a municipality in 1984. In 2014 it had 196,290 inhabitants.

That's it from me today. Enjoy your day,

See you tomorrow when I link up with T for Tuesday.

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Sunday 15 Nov 2015 Jaani Kirik in Estonia

Good Morning! Good Sunday!

I hope you are enjoying the weekend. 

As you know my hobby is Postcrossing (“send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person in the world!”) And as it is Sunday, I am showing you a postcard with a church on it.

 This one was sent to me by Saara in Estonia. It features the St Johns Church in Tartu. Saara writes "I have lived here all my life - 22 years. Next to this church there is a high school which I attended. It is one of the best schools in Estonia."

I found out from Wikipedia and Tripadvisor that this church is unique in Europe due to the large amount of individual figurines on its exterior.

The church was originally a Catholic church but it is now part of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran church.

Saara has used some really lovely stamps:

Bewick’s swan is named after the illustrator Thomas Bewick who died in 1828 and produced many fine drawings of this species during his lifetime. These graceful white birds are generally very similar in appearance to the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) but their bills feature a small, typically rounded patch of yellow, whereas in whooper swans the wedge-shaped patch of yellow extends below the nostril.

The flower is Leucanthemum vulgare, which between you and me is a common daisy. I needed a magnifying glass to be able to read this!

This stamps has an apple blossom (malus domestica) on it and the stamp was designed by Vello Lillemets. I could find out no more about it.

I've recently found a meme called InSPIREd Sunday where they share inspirational architecture. I will try and link in with this.

 That's it from me today,

See you tomorrow for Map Monday,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Saturday 3 Oct 2015

Good Morning! 

Happy weekend!

I am a happy bunny today as I have had some happy mail! My blogfriend in Australia, Bridget, has sent me a card with aboriginal art.

I think this is beautiful. It is a work of art. I can't stop looking at it. I'm going to find out a bit more about it, like what medium has she used. Paint? Nails? Stones? Beads?

To be honest, I don't know which way is up, but I like it this way. 

It's called 'Water Dreaming' (1998) by Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa. "Life-giving water is of great significance to artists in the arid country of the Central Desert. The painting explains a valuable soakage where water can always be found. Its significance is celebrated in song and painted design."

I found some info on Dinny Nolan: 

Born west of Mt. Allan near the present site of Yuendumu, Dinny Nolan worked as a stockman on many cattle stations in the Northern Territory. In the 1970’s he settled in Papunya.

He is a senior lawman and a recognized leader for Rainmaking and Water Dreaming ceremonies. Among one of the first men to put the traditional body paintings and sand drawings on canvas.

Dinny Nolan’s art is characterized by his predominant use of natural ochre colours, and the designs he utilizes are the same he paints on the bodies of men taking part in ceremonies.

When interviewed, Dinny said that he is a survivor of the Coniston massacre. (This was the last officially condoned massacre of Aboriginal people. About 70 Warlpiri men and women were murdered on Coniston Station in August 1928).

Bridget knew I like this sort of thing. She has sent me a card before with aboriginal art. (Not the same artist. This is by Loretta McDonald))

I loved it so much, I framed it and it is hanging on the wall behind me. Here I have taken it down to photograph it.

So thank you Bridget! You've made my day. If I can find the same frame again I'll hang them both next to each other.

The stamps on the card are absolutely stunning! Four different planets. Beautiful!

That's it from me today. I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when I have another postcard for you.

Enjoy your weekend,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Monday 28 Sept 2015 Map Monday Saskatchewan

Good Morning! Good Monday!

Have you all had a good weekend? I hope so. We have been entertaining our daughter and grandson, who have come over from England for 5 days. They have specifically come over to see the lunar eclipse and the ‘blood’ moon through our telescope. The weather forecast was not good, so they (my husband too) have travelled to a mountain top which is higher than 2000m hoping that they will be above the clouds. They haven’t come back as I write this. So I’ll let you know….

Now for my card: it’s Monday so I have a map card to show you.

It is the map of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, sent to me by Krista. 

I don’t know much about Saskatchewan other than that it is land locked and sits in the ‘middle’ of Canada. 

I did google it though and I found out that their national flower is the lily (Lilium Philadelphicum) and that the province had been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups (Nowadays called ‘first nations’). 

It was first explored by Europeans in 1690 and settled in 1774. It has prairie land in the south and rocks, forests and lakes in the north. The capital is Regina but the largest city is Saskatoon.

Now for the stamps:

The small stamp on the left shows HM Queen Elizabeth, as she still officially reigns over Canada.(Please someone correct me if I’m wrong in this). The large stamp on the right celebrates 200 years since the birth of Sir John A Macdonald. He was the first president of Canada and originally came from Scotland.

Krista (who sent me the card back in March) tells me she is a crafter too and she has decorated the card with washi tapes, a cup cake and two turtle stickers (I love turtles). So thank you Krista. I like it very much.

That's it from me today. See you tomorrow when I link up with 'T for Tuesday'.

Blessings,

Lisca

WOYWW 329 Happy mail and village bakery

Hi Peeps, It's Wednesday again! Comes round so fast! Today I can look over everyone's shoulder and look at their desk to see what the are up to (or not). The lovely Julia hosts this blog hop and here you can read all about it.

Now I'll let you look over my shoulder and look at the scene on my desk. 

This was late last night, as this morning there is nothing. I've packed my stuff as we are going to spend more than a week at 'home'. (not here on the building site). DD plus one grandson are coming to stay. So fun days ahead. The photo, blue bubble and Kraft paper are a lay out I'm making of said daughter and grandson.

Below is the happy mail I received from the USA.

A blog friend called Krisha wanted to get rid of some small stamps and didn't mind sending them across the 'pond'. Wow! She sent me about 26! plus a few die cuts and cardboard shapes. How cool is that! That is so kind of her. They are all small, perfect for ATCs and perhaps card making. I'm thrilled as I don't have many stamps. 

I've packed most things I need for the coming week. All I need to do now is pop round to the baker and get some bread. 
I took some photos earlier in the week as I always include some pictures of 'life in Spain'.

This is baker Pilar's daughter (can't remember her name) putting my bread in the bag. The basket in the foreground is the typical woven basket (locally made) they use here for everything. Mostly they are round and made from some sort of plant stalk.

I also asked for a square of pizza as DH likes that as a snack. There is a banner on the shelf saying that Pilar makes the best donuts in the world!

I tore myself away from all those lovely smells and took a picture of the outside. The power cable is hanging loose as they are working on the building next door. 'Pan' means 'bread'. And 'dulces' are 'sweet things'. Silnia is the name of the shop.

Lastly a photo I found on a FB page advertising cave houses for rent in our area. It is a beautiful photo and it is where I live. I never tire of this!

If you want to see what a cave house looks like, have a look at the photos. Here is the link to the Facebook page. 

That's it for today. Have a good week and see you soon.

Blessings,

Lisca