A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 23 October 2018 - T for turtles, milk and a bit of wisdom....

Hello lovely people,

It's time for the T-Party! More of that in a minute.

First off is some postcards: this one was sent to me from the USA. It is a turtle, my favorite animal. (together with the tortoises). I don't know what fascinates me about them. Perhaps it is the fact that the get to become so old or perhaps it is the fact they look so pre-historic. I like all the different patterns on their shells and I like the fact they carry their house with them and can retreat inside. Sometimes I'd like to do that too.

 These stamps are from this card or the next one. I can't remember now. They feature bioluminescent life. Very intereting...

 The next card comes from North Carolina. (obviously). As you know I love map cards. This one has the additional information of the flag, the seal, the state flower (Dogwood), the state bird (Cardinal) and the state animal (Grey Squirrel). 

Because it is T for Tuesday, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard at Altered Book Lover, I decided to find out if there was such a thing as a state drink. And sure enough there is:

North Carolina's state beverage is....Milk! Although many may expect North Carolina's official state drink to be sweet tea, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation in 1987 that made milk the official state beverage.

As I use my own name on this blog, not many of you will now that my online name is Olddutch.  The name is apt as I am Dutch and not so young any more. It really comes from a restaurant that I could see out of our window when I was small. The restaurant was called Olddutch.

We used to live on the top floor of the block of flats on the right and I would look upon the restaurant. After the war there was no housing (Rotterdam was bombed almost completely) and people were told to take in lodgers. The flats on the right are really duplos. The downstairs people had the ground floor and the floor above that as bedrooms and bathroom. Above that was a similar set-up, so the top floor (which had a balcony) was the bedroom floor of the flat below. My mum had an improvised kitchen in the bathroom. Planks were put over the bath and that did as a kitchen. Luckily the toilet was separate. We all (mum, dad and me and my sister) lived in those few rooms. Every time my mum wanted to go out, she had to carry us plus a pram down three steep flights of stairs. How is that for logistics when the children are so small you can't leave one downstairs to go get the other one! No wonder my mum had a breakdown when my sister was a baby, and she had just suffered two mis carriages...

The restaurant still exists. This is what it looks like today:

 Sunday I went to our provincial capital city, Granada. I went with the photo club of our village to celebrate a 25th anniversary of the photoclub in Granada. The poster in the middle features a photo taken by the guy who stands behind it. His name is Antonio and he is a police man in our village. We are very proud that of all the clubs in the province, a photo from our club was chosen for the poster, which is all over Granada and the province.

Because of this anniversary, Granada is doing lots of events and exhibitions to do with photography. There are 6 totally different exhibitions that we visited on Sunday. Then of course there was a wonderful lunch with all the gang (all the representatives of all the clubs in the province). Our village is well represented as you can see in the above picture. A good time was had by all.

I will leave you with some wise words that I came across and that rang true with me.

Happy T-Day all!
Hugs,
Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 19 October 2018 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely ladies!, Are you sitting comfortably? What's more: are you smiling? I hope you are because I am going to link up with Annie at A Stitch In Time with her blog Friday Smiles.

My mailbox was happy this week (and I too of course) as it received several postcards. I will show you two today.

The first one comes from Belgium and features a 19th century painting by C.C.Stanfield. It is the Belgian town of Dinant. Dinant is in the French speaking part of Belgium (Wallonia) in the south of the country. We have driven through Dinant several times (which is a nightmare). But the town itself is well worth a visit if you ever are in the area. 

The bridge on the painting is no more. Neither is that building on the right, but the church in the middle is still there.

In place of the old bridge is the main Charles de Gaulle Bridge. You might remember he was president of France. I seem to remember the bridge was named after him because he was the first soldier to be wounded on the bridge in the battle of Dinant (WWI). De Gaulle was a lieutenant then.

  Fun fact – Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, is from Dinant. That’s why the entire main bridge is lined with saxophones in this post’s first photo! Each saxophone is meant to represent an EU country. The giant, life-sized saxophones aren’t just on the bridge – they’re also located all around the city. A really awesome tribute to Adolphe Sax!

And here is the stamp:

 My next card comes from Germany (Yes, I know it says Greece on the card). It was sent by Mascha. She had read that I love doors and windows and she had found this card when she was on holiday in Greece.

And the stamp is a floral one. You might recognise the flower as being St John's Wort.

I'm sorry the scan seems to be out of focus.

Upwards and onwards. While on the theme of the door, I'd like to share a few photos of a door in Alfaro (see Tuesday's blog). This first one was inside the church of Michael the Archangel.

 Look at this amazing ironwork. Strangely they have also added a piddly little bolt with a small padlock. (For such a huge door? I ask you!)

 This door was a private house in a normal street. The house was new(ish) and I am sure the door is modern, made in the old style. Nice quality piece. There are some very clever carpenters around.

That is it from me today. As usual I shall leave you with some funnies I have picked up from the internet. They made me smile. The last one should have the notice added:"No animals were harmed in the making of this photo"

Have a great weekend,

Keep smiling,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 16 October 2018 - T for storks, cathedral and postcards

Hello lovely girls, oh my, it's Tuesday again! Time for the T-Party. Elizabeth and Bluebeard invite anyone to the T-Party with a blogpost that has a beverage in it. 

Let me confess: I have forgotten my beverage. I'm not sure Elizabeth will let me in. But she is a nice person, so I'm sure if I smile sweetly she will let me stay...

Let me start with my postcards. I haven't received any this week, but I have sent two the other day.

This first one is winging its way to China, to a young lady called Sun. Sun likes all things fantasy, so I have sent her a fantasy image. No, don't ask me. I don't know who or what the image represents, but she is wearing a dodo on her head so it must be very fantasmagorical!

The second one is going to the USA. This lady has made it known that she is a lover of art, so I am sending her a painting by a Spanish artist Salvador Dali. His work is very unique and sometimes disturbing, but always downright weird! I love it though. Always have. I remember queueing up for a Dali exhibition in my home town when I was 12 years old. My parents deemed me too young to go but after much 'convincing' I was allowed to go and my dad came with me. 

I forgot what this one is called.

I'd like to share some photos from our recent trip. Also art but of a different kind. Traveling through Spain, we stopped in a town called Alfaro. Alfaro is a town and municipality in La Rioja, (Wow! Here is my beverage reference! Elizabeth, does this count?) northern Spain. Its population in January 2009 was 9,883 inhabitants, and its area is 194.23 km². It is known for the annual return and nesting of the 'Storks of Alfaro.' According to the tourist blurb there are 600 odd storks nesting on the buildings in Alfaro. Most storks nest on the church of Michael the archangel. Here you can see some of the nests:

Unfortunately all the nests were empty. The storks had already migrated to warmer climes. They are fascinating birds. Did you know they mate for life?

We went inside the church and I must say it was most impressive.

Outside the church, the square was busy with children playing and mums chatting away. It was 7 pm in the evening. A lovely atmosphere.

Here are a few more of the interior:

I will leave you with an interesting 'factoid' about the smell of books.

That was my post for today. I hope Elizabeth will forgive me for having a squeued (I have no idea how to spell this) beverage reference.

Have a good week all of you. Toodeloo, see you soon,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 12 October 2018 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely girls, it's nearly weekend. I hope you have had a great week with lots to smile about. 

My week has been fine. I'm glad to be home after being away for a month. And also glad to be back in the sun and the warm weather. 

Imagine my surprise when on Tuesday the temperatures began to plummet, and when we were at our favorite restaurant having lunch (yes, big smile) it started to rain very hard and noisily. When we looked outside, there was hail!

My visit to the bathroom scales did not result in a smile and we have decided to go on a diet as from Monday. Many years ago we used to do Slimming World and we liked that, so I have spent a few afternoons looking through recipes and making a menu for the week, including snacks. We want to do this until Christmas and see what happens.

Today I will make a (long) shopping list.  I am not too keen on fat free stuff and diet things with artificial sweeteners, so it's going to be tricky. Perhaps just as well living out in the sticks means that there is not much choice in fat free/diet products. 

Let me show you a postcard! This postcard comes from Sao Paolo in Brazil. Most countries organise 'meetups' for Postcrossing members. At these meetings the members write as many postcards as they possibly can to randomly chosen members in the world. Everyone on their table then signs the card. This card is such a card. They had a postcard specially made  for the meeting and I was really pleased to be fortunate enough to receive one.

The stamp was also very pretty:

About the 200 year anniversary of the independence of Brazil. The image is of 

Dom João VI, the seventeenth king of Portugal He established his court in Rio de Janeiro after the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal.

Although Dom João VI (1769-1826) never ruled over an independent Brazil, historians call him the "Founder of the [Brazilian] Nationality." When he arrived in Brazil in 1808, he opened the colony's ports to free trade with friendly nations, a move that signaled Brazil's first independent encounter with the rest of the world.

It's interesting to learn about the history of other countries, isn't it.

Of course I am going to link up with Annie at A Stitch In Time with my smiles. Did you see her post on the 28th of September? We (my hubby and I) went to see Annie on our way to Somerset. It was lovely to finally meet her.

We were treated to coffee and cake that she had made herself. We saw her beautiful work room, I also met Millie and we inspected the new campervan. (it's a beauty!)

Annie really made me smile when she said I didn't sound Dutch at all!

Here in Spain we are celebrating Spain Day, so today is a national holiday and everyone has a long weekend. I know this is not the case for my friends in the UK and USA but nevertheless, I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

I'll finish with some funnies I found on the internet. 

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 9 October 2018 - T for Tuesday - T for black & white, cow sheds and sisters.

Well hello! Long time no see! We're back! We arrived home on Sunday evening after being on the road for exactly a month. I have not been able to blog during that time as Blogger and iPhones don't see eye to eye. I could post something with difficulty but only without photos. Well, that's no fun, so I left it at that.

Today is the 9th of October and it's my 'little' sister's birthday. (Happy birthday Ank) and today is also Tuesday, so I'm joining Elisabeth and Bluebeard for T For Tuesday. Anyone can join the T-Party, just include a beverage in your post. My beverage is a glass of wine as you will see later.

First of all a postcard. I have put my Postcrossing hobby on hold during my trip  but here is a card that I received before I left:

It was sent to me from Germany. (I have put in my profile that I like black and white photography as well as 'pin-ups'. So I was very happy with Marilyn with her stylish bikini.
The stamps were just as interesting:

Nelson Mandela also in black and white.

Now for some photos of our trip. The fist night we stopped near Cuenca. Cuenca is a quaint little town and none of the hotels had parking so we stayed outside town in a rural hotel called La Antigua Vaqueria (The Old Cowshed):

The hotel had a pleasant patio (inner courtyard):

But there was no wifi in the rooms. The only place with wifi was in one corner of the patio, so here I am posing with hubby's laptop:

In the evening we went to (the only) bar/restaurant in the village for something to eat.

It is here that I join the T Party with my glass of wine. 

I had grilled squid. Very nice it was too.

The dessert was a sort of bread pudding in cream. It was utterly delicious:

Cuenca is famous for its 'Hanging Houses'. Here is an image from Wikipedia:

We drove to Cuenca the next morning but couldn't find any of the old things. After a couple of hours driving around we gave up as we had a lot of traveling to do that day. 
We stopped here though (still in Cuenca) along the river:

Lovely rock formations! And the love of my life, my rock, is also in the picture.

That is it from me today,

Happy T-Day everyone, and have a good week!

Lisca