Tuesday 16 January 2018

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 16 Jan 2018 - T for carrotcake, books and energy tea


Hello peeps, It's Tuesday again! Well, I am writing this on Monday evening late. It's nearly midnight. We are at our weekend home, where we always go on Monday. This time I completely forgot to bring any of my postcards to show you. I have had a fair few this week. It will keep until next week.

What have I been up to? Well, I have been to a workshop that our local photo club had organized. It was about photographing food (in a studio setting).


The 'teacher' had a tableau set up with a black back ground and explained about light settings and camera settings. It went a bit over my head. Too professional.


Here she has made a composition of bread that someone had got at our baker's, and this is the resulting photo:

At the back there was a platter of cookies/biscuits for us to eat, here on the right:

These are the local goodies. The round thing with the hole in the middle is called 'rosco', eaten the whole year through, but particularly popular around epiphany, 6th January, Los Reyes or Three Kings. The cake on the left is my carrot cake tray bake. 


And this is said cake on a little platter serving as a teaching aid on how to photograph with a white back ground.

I am still under the weather and feeling constantly exhausted. I have bought a new herbal tea:

I haven't tried it yet, but it smells nice. It's green tea with citrus and a thing called guaraná (no idea what that is). It is supposed to give me a bit more energy....

Now I have my drink, I can join the T-party at Elizabeth and Bleubeard's. Please join us with a blog post that has a drink in it.

While I was ill during the Christmas holidays, I read lots of books. I would like to share some that I really enjoyed. I will put them at the end for those who are interested. I get my books on Kindle from Amazon. I only buy books at 99 cents or free books even. I am critical, even though I don't pay much and I choose carefully. I get offers every day but i only buy one occasionally when i think I am going to like it. The following books are the ones I particularly enjoyed.

Wishing everyone a happy T-Day,

Blessings,
Lisca


Jeremy Walsh’s parents assume he’s been abducted by the elderly man he met on a cross-country flight, but it’s the other way around. 

Two unlikely companions meet in midair: 13-year-old Jeremy, sent against his will by his career-absorbed father to spend the summer with his bipolar mother, and Harry, one-legged and afflicted with mid-stage Alzheimer’s, who escapes the confinement of home for what may be his last adventure. Their journey begins, trailed by Harry’s wife and Jeremy’s parents, who threaten to cut it short. It’s a race against time and circumstance.

"In Adrian Magnuson's Taking Flight a curmudgeon losing his memory and a snarky teen fleeing his parents find a common passion in bird watching. Endearing characters, delightful story and a poignant final scene give this book wings along with the beautifully depicted birds.” —Frances Wood, author of Brushed by Feathers: A Year of Birdwatching in the West


I can recommend this, even if (like me) you know nothing about bird watching. It is delightful and funny, and had me shedding a tear at some point. Harry reminded me of my dad, who also had Alzheimers. And I have a son, so I recognised Jeremy as a typical teenager.


In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.
I liked this one for the historical detail, and it was entertaining at the same time. I looked it up and the spy in the story is based on a real woman spy

This next one is a thriller, which kept me on the edge of my seat (so to speak, as I was ill in bed).
A small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper.
After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke’s steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn’t tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.
Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there’s more to Luke’s death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.

This was a rather good thriller and I had no idea where this was going. The plot was really good and I could not have guessed the outcome. An exciting read.

18 comments:

  1. Sorry to read you are still not well. I can certainly empathize. I love the look of your carrot cake and it made a great photo, too. I liked it even better than the bread display.

    I would love to read the Alice Network. I had read about Louise de Bettignies and the work she did in France during WWI.

    I hope that new herbal tea works for you and gives you more energy, too. Thanks for sharing your photography class, your energy tea, and your book reviews with us for T this Tuesday. please feel better soon, Lisca.

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  2. Sorry you are still feeling under the weather, I know how it is, my cough will not leave me and I, too, am always tired. Your tea sounds good. The photo course sounds a bit technical, but perhaps there will be some good tips just the same. Have fun reading. I have been reading and watching TV for weeks, too. Feel better soon. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  3. It must have been an interesting talk on the photography. I always struggle with technical stuff and lovely thogh her photos looked those plates of food looked a bit un-natural to me the way they were plated. I much preferred the look of your delicious carrot tray bake.
    Sorry to read you were still feeling not so good. I hope you get stronger as the days pass by .
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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  4. I think a food photography workshop would be really interesting. You must have learned some good tricks. All the food to photograph look good. :) And lots of good reading too. Glad to hear you are feeling better...happy T day. Hugs-Erika

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  5. The photography course looks great and I think your carrot cakes must have been the star photo opportunity as they look so delicious 😁. I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better and I hope you have your energy back soon with the help of your tea - Happy T Day wishes! J 😊

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  6. Looks like you enjoyed your workshop despite the technical stuff. That carrot cake looks divine! Hope the tea does give you more energy-no fun feeling so tired all the time. Interesting reads but I typically stick with non fiction. Enjoy your new tea and have a great day!

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  7. I agree with Yvonne and I thought the bread photo especially was too staged and not interesting It may work in a magazine. Photography can be quite involved-too much for me so I love my simple one lol
    pneumonia can take some time to heal completely-so don't push yourself.
    thank you for the book reviews I think I would like the one about the spies for sure Happy T Day Kathy

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  8. i´m sure you will take some benefit of the photo course anyway, even if you don´t want to become a pro. the cake and Cookies would be great just now.
    i know that guarana from the enegery Drinks my Kids sometimes have. i think this is more a substance to Keep you awake after a Long night...
    hope you feel better soon - and happy t-day!

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  9. I'm sorry you're not well, but I'm pleased you've offered these book suggestions. I'll check them out, thx! Happy T Tuesday

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  10. What an interesting workshop and I am now hungry -
    that tea sounds interesting and I hope it helps and you feel completely well soon. For me guarana is like dynamite. I buy energy drinks with guarana when I have to play night taxi for my daughter - its seeds contain about twice the concentration of caffeine found in coffee seeds.
    Thank you for your book reviews!
    HAPPY T-day

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  11. nice to get out and meet creative people hope your feeling better soon

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  12. I'm not good on technical so I only have a simple camera - I still get better shots with my phone camera as I can't always work out the settings on my camera - maybe I need to attend a workshop!! I hope you feel better soon but pleased that you can concentrate on your books to take your mind off it! Take care, Happy T day! Chrisx

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  13. The tea sounds nice, and tea is always comforting. The photography class would have been beyond me. I love the cloth the bread was photographed on. Very pretty. Your carrot cake looks scrumptious and I think I might check out the spy novel. that one sounds very interesting. Feel better and Happy T Day!

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  14. I need a photography class. That sounds so fun except I would want to eat all that yummy looking food.
    That tea looks so delicious. I love citrus and green tea.
    I just received The Alice Network for Christmas but I haven't read it yet. I am looking forward to it. Sounds like a great read!
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  15. Sending healing prayers your way my friend!!!! SOme of these "bugs" going round these days seem to last forever. Your photo class sounds very interesting and probably way above my head too. I'm and aim shoot kinda gal!!!.. The tea looks fantastic ♥ Guaraná is a South American herb that is high in caffeine and some other little ingredient that gives you energy and a sense of well being. I used to buy a drink that had it in it and loved it. The blue bottle it came it was very attractive too. Nice selection of books you shared I'll have to check into a couple of them .
    Feel Better!!!
    Carol

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  16. Sorry to be so late getting around, Lisca. We've had terrible & intermittant internet for a couple of days - often less than 1 megabyte download!

    The photography class looks like a lot of (tasty!) fun. Your carrot cake looks delicious. I hope you start feeling like yourself again very soon. I hate to hear that you're still dragging ;-(

    Thank you for the book recommendations. They all sound very good,

    Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen

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  17. Good for you attending classes. I wish I had taken the time to do those things while I wasn't working. Hindsight is always 20/20.

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