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

 

 

A Postcard A Day - Friday 12 December 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps! It's nearly Christmad! Sorry, typo, I mean Christmas of course but it is a bit mad isn't it. At least in the UK it is, I know. Here in Spain it is all a lot more relaxed. So I'm still smiling. Are you smiling too?

Let me show you my postcard:

It comes from Belarus and was sent by Ekaterina who lives in Minsk. It's all about Belarusian cuisine but I can't find anywhere what I'm looking at. Is it borscht soup? I got Google Translate out and it came up with this:

Does that make sense?...

The stamp is pretty:

It features a Hazel Hen. Wikipedia tells me this:

The hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia), sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern and central Europe, in dense, damp, mixed coniferous woodland, preferably with some spruce. The bird is sometimes referred to as "rabchick" (from рябчик) by early 20th century English speaking travellers to Russia.

Now what have I been up to? One of the highlights of the week was a walk I did with my friend Antonia. 

We did a newly set out route called Historical Irrigation Channels.

There are four different channels in Caniles and the Aguacía (photo above) is one of them.

Below you can see one channel:

Below is a close-up of the info panel:

The info in English reads: The municipality of Caniles preserves a valuable and complex network of irrigation channels of Andalusian origin, designed to make the most of available water resources and the survival of population and crops. The structures have been adapting efficiently to the terrain for centuries, continuing a true testament to local ecological knowledge.

We walked 7.5 km and hadn't finished the route, but it was getting dark so we left the last bit for another time.

It was a lovely walk and we met several people harvesting olives:

They spread nets on the floor and then hit the tree with a stick until the olives fall on the ground:

Most olive trees are ripe for harvest, but sometimes people harvest well into January:

Can you see the dark olives on the tree?

Those were some of my smiles this week. I hope to read about your smiles soon too.

I will give you some funnies at the end. For now I wish everyone a lovely weekend.

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 9 December 2025 - T for bears, succulents, sheep and socks

 Hello lovely girls! 

Would you believe I have a California flag for you:

It is stamped on the front, which sometimes happens with cards fro the USA. It was posted in October and I received it at the beginning of November. Yes, It has been lying on my desk for a while. 

It was sent to me by Marsha, who lives in California overlooking the Pacific. How cool is that! She writes that her garden harvest this summer had watermelons, lettuce, radishes and cherry tomatoes. 

Now the postcard image features the California State flag.

     On the Internet I found (AI): 

The California state flag, known as the "Bear Flag," features a white background with a red star in the upper left, a red stripe along the bottom, a grizzly bear walking left on green grass in the center, and the words "California Republic" above the bear, symbolizing strength and the state's history from the Bear Flag Revolt, with the bear based on the now-extinct California grizzly. 

Key Elements & Meanings:

Grizzly Bear: Represents strength and the native grizzly bear, which is now extinct in the state but remains a powerful symbol.

• Red Star: A nod to the Lone Star Flag of 1836, referencing California's brief period as an independent republic.
• "California Republic": Inscribed below the bear, identifying the short-lived republic formed during the Bear Flag Revolt.
• Red Stripe: A wide red band at the bottom, possibly from a petticoat, adding to the flag's distinctive look.

History:

• Origin: First raised at Sonoma in June 1846 during the Bear Flag Revolt by American settlers.
• Adoption: Officially adopted as the state flag in 1911, though the precise design wasn't finalized until 1953.
• Inspiration: The bear image is based on a painting by artist Charles Nahl, depicting the last known California grizzly. 

The stamp is the round forever stamp from 2017 with the sempervivum  on it. According to USPS: The stamp features a photograph of an Echeveria, a succulent native to the Americas. The art director was William J. Gicker. Greg Breeding designed the stamp using an existing photograph by Erika Kirkpatrick.

So, what has been happening in this corner of Spain? I showed you photos of our excursion to Orce on my Friday blog, but I kept this photo for today as I need a drink. On this photo the glass is empty but it's still a drink reference for the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard.

There were platters of cured ham and cheese on the tables to welcome us to the restaurant.

I go to the gym here in the village twice a week. It is called reconstructive gymnastics. It's a bit like Pilates, but not quite. We had fun taking pictures last week:

I'm sat right behind the teacher.

In our village the Christmas decorations went up last week. They were putting up this 'house':

This weekend it was all lit up:

Even the trees had lights in them:

This weekend I was invited to a Sinterklaas party. In the Netherlands Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) brings presents for the children on the 5th of December. My friend married a Dutchman and they like to keep some Dutch traditions.

I drove there at lunch time:

And ran into the shepherd who was also going home to lunch I guess.

My friends had set the table to eat outside, as it's still lovely and sunny during the day:

As you can imagine there were lots of children invited (and their parents of course).

After lunch (at 4:30) Sinterklaas finally arrived:

It was great fun! I received a pair of cashmere socks (amongst other things):

Today (Monday) is a national holiday in Spain. Everything, including the supermarkets, is closed. So I had a relaxed day at home pottering about in the house. 

I washed a lot of bed linen as it is still sunny (I don't have a tumble dryer):

The reason I had so much bed linen is that I had a family of 5 staying in the upstairs flat. (I am a member of HomeExchange, and my top flat proves very popular).

This is about it from me. A bit of a mixed bag this week. I'll be back in Blogland on Friday.

In the meantime, 

Happy T-Day!

Lisca