A Postcard a Day - Friday 29 January 2021 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely ladies,

It's Friday again and it's time for the smiles, the silver lining and all things positive.

Our village is in lockdown again, meaning that we can't leave the village. It started Wednesday, so on Tuesday we went out for lunch and did a fairly large grocery shop in town, as we don't have big supermarkets in the village. We are well stocked up and that is a good feeling. We also have plenty of wood, but just as we got our fire wood order home, then the sun came out and it has been really warm these last few days (as in 23 degrees centigrade warm). That made me smile.

What else made me smile was this card:

It arrived yesterday from Germany. It was sent to me by Pia  in Frankfurt am Main. Thank you Pia, it made my day!

The title of the photo is: 'Still Crazy After All These Years', and the photographer is Jürgen D. Schmidt. 

There were some nice stamps too:

The one on the right reads 'I'll write again'. And the flower on the left is an aster, which doesn't need translation as is the same in most languages.

We did have a fruitful and active week in spite of the restrictions. Saturday the weather was awful. The storm was raging and made an enormous racket. The noise of the storm freaks me out and I was not very happy, so I tried to keep myself busy. 

Sunday always flies by with church services and other church activities. I finished the first sock for hubby. I'm doing a toe-up, magic loop sock with a fish lips kiss heel, so I can watch a film and not have to count or even think. It's the easiest sock method I have ever done and by the time of writing i have the second sock finished. A winner. Here is the link, if you're interested. It cost 1 dollar. Well worth it.

The storm has not yet blown over and at a certain point one of the doors slammed and all the glass shattered. Hubby put some card board in one side and some perspex he had lying about in the other bit. 

I missed Monday somehow, but believe me it was not very interesting. Stormy weather and staying indoors. I had found a Spanish website that caters for Scandinavians on the Costa Blanca, but they deliver all over Spain. I treated myself to some Dutch goodies and lo and behold the stuff arrived the next day! 

We also heard that our village had surpassed the half percent of corona cases (500 per 100.000 inhabitants) and had to go into lockdown again. So we jumped into action before the lockdown started, and went to our favorite restaurant and had lunch. I'm glad we went as it was practically empty (apart from a few lorry drivers). We need to support our local restaurants, do we not?

After the meal we went into town to do a supermarket shop. 

On Wednesday we went to our friends' house as he has a studio lamp. I need to make a photo on the topic of 'coffee' for our photo club this month. I made a 'still life' with a hessian coffee bean sack and an antique espresso maker and some coffee beans of course. I'll show the photo after it has been judged.

We stayed for dinner. The weather has improved and we have been able to sit outside most of the day.

Then yesterday, I woke up to thick fog! I wasn't happy about that as i had lots of washing hanging outside (It usually dries overnight), but at 10 am the sun came out in all its glory and it was to become a really hot day!

I tried to do some knitting, but it's no good when it's so hot.

That was my week. 

Will you join me at Annie's at A Stitch In Time for some more smiles? Or perhaps you'll join me at Virginia's at Rocking Your Week Friday.

Have a lovely weekend,

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca

In the old days most children learnt French from a text book whose first sentence was: 'Papa fume une pipe'. (I still remember it)

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 26 January 2021 - T for Tuesday

 

Good morning lovely ladies, 

How are you all? Coping with the restrictions and the lockdowns? We have to make the best of it and be very careful who we hang out with. Covid has reduced our life to seeing but  a few intimate friends and that is it. No new experiences, never meeting new and interesting people. So we 'hang out' virtually and I have made new friends this way. 

Today we are going to the T-Party, hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth. I will show you my drink-related images later. First my postcard of the day:

It is a card I received from Switzerland. It advertises a ski course on the slopes of the Rigi, a mountain near Luzern.

This is what it looks like today:

It is still a popular ski slope.

The names of the teachers sound Scandinavian to me and the name Christiania underneath brought back memories of Christiania when we were there a few years ago. (Christiania is a long established hippie colony in the middle of Kopenhagen). 

Then I looked at the date of the poster: 1906! Christiania was started in the nineteen seventies. So Where was this Christiania? I found out that Oslo, the capital of Norway, was called Christiania until 1925.

The stamps are stunning! Take a look at those!

Stamp with view of Geneva (on the left), is commemorating the 75th anniversary International Red Cross Society. I have not been able to find any information about the other stamps unfortunately.

I'd like to show you what I have been reading lately. I might have mentioned that I 'discovered' Tess Gerritsen. 

This suspense-filled tale finds detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles working together to figure why two nuns in a cloistered convent were brutally beaten and killed. Added into this stress is the murder of a Jane Doe, and individual issues for each of the two main characters.

I really enjoyed this book. It drew the two main characters very clearly with some of their private lives interwoven into the story. The plot was exciting and nail biting. I couldn't put it down and couldn't wait to read another book by the same author. 

The next one was this:

Detective Thomas Moore recognizes a pattern when a young woman is found gruesomely murdered in her home. The details of the crime are identical to that of another young woman he investigated a year ago. Even more troubling is the link to another assault over two years ago. However, the victim, Dr. Catherine Cordell, not only survived the attack but killed the man responsible. Are they dealing with a copycat or something else. Detective Thomas Moore asks detective Jane Rizzoli to help him as she is a woman, and the medical examiner Maura Isles does not feature  at all in this book.
This was a graphic story so be prepared for that, not only the murders but the ER trauma procedures. Despite that, it’s a well written police procedural and mystery along with the medical. The characters are well defined, flaws and all. Moral and ethical issues abound and are dealt with honestly, not always delivering clear cut resolutions. Again, I could not put this down and has cost me a sleepless night so to speak.

My choice of books was determined by their price. I always look on the Kindle store for books for no more than 99 cents. This was another one:

Had she survived because of fate, coincidence or just luck? If Nina Cormier's wedding had taken place, she would be dead. But after the bride was left at the altar, the church stood empty when the bomb went off. It wasn't until a stranger tried to run her car off the road, however, that she realized someone wanted her I dead. But who?

That's what Detective Sam Navarro needs to find out...fast. As a cop, he knows better than to become attached to the woman he's trying to protect. But as a man...

With a nightmare unfolding around them, Sam and Nina decipher the stunning truth. Now they're at the mercy of a brilliant madman who plays for keeps...

I didn't enjoy this one so much as the first two, as this felt more like a love story. I don't like romances. I don't mind a romantic element, but this romance almost took over the whole story.

After that I found this on my Kindle and couldn't remember why I had bought it, so I started reading:

It’s the summer of 1880, and once again the lovely and inquisitive businesswoman, Annie Fuller, is helping San Francisco lawyer and beau, Nate Dawson, with a troublesome case. Nate’s client, a female typesetter accused of murdering her boss, refuses to help in her own defense. Complicating matters, Nate’s sister Laura insists on getting involved in the potentially dangerous investigation, while Laura’s friend Seth Timmons, troubled Civil War veteran, finds himself a witness for the prosecution. Will Nate be able to win his first big case? Will Laura and Seth find some way of becoming friends? And finally, will Annie and Nate’s upcoming nuptials be derailed by their attempts to track down a killer?

Old friends and new readers alike will enjoy Deadly Proof, this fourth installment of the cozy Victorian San Francisco Mystery series that blends light romance, suspense, and a glimpse into the lives of late 19th century women who worked.

I did enjoy this as I learnt a lot about the printing business and life in the 19th century.

Then I started this:

Rabi'i Al-Madhoun tries to discuss the issue of coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. Through a Palestinian youth returning to Gaza after 38 years of forced alienation, and an Israeli girl sitting next to him on the plane on the way to Tel Aviv. Except for memories, this lady did not have any influence on the events, except for two emails. The author recounts all what he went through during his visit to Gaza from the treatment at the airport to the Beit Hanoun or Erez crossing, to show the suffering that the Palestinians endure at the crossings. He describes the conditions in the Gaza Strip and his memories, as a young man and a teenager, before leaving to study, and the stories of his relatives about the conditions of life in the Strip.
He tried to show neutrality among the Palestinian factions, but could not help but show his prejudice against Hamas as describing suicide attacks instead of martyrdom.

I didn't like this book so much.  Although beautifully written, it didn't seem to go anywhere,. I found all the names and the family relationships difficult to remember and get to grips with.

Other than reading, I have also been knitting socks. I have finally found a method/pattern that is so easy and doesn't need much counting or constant attention so I can knit while watching a film or documentary. It cost one dollar.

It is based on a cardboard foot pattern, once you've made that the sock fits perfectly. Here is the link, should you be interested. I made a pair of socks for dear hubby. Now I am ready to find some light coloured yarn to make a pair for myself.

That is pretty much it from me today. I will leave you with an image I found on the internet. I features strawberries (yes, strawberries) decorated with icing to look like tea cups! Aren't they pretty!

Wishing all of you a happy T-Day and 

Keep smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 22 January 2021 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies, Howe are you all? 

Today I look back on what made me smile this week. It's not all doom and gloom and in particular the people in the United States will be feeling a bit more positive now they have a new president. 

We have had a good week, where we have been able to spend time with friends. Although not hugging or even touching each other and keeping our physical distance is something I haven't got used to yet (and probably never will).

Another highlight was some more postcards in my postbox. I want to show you this one:

It comes from Finland and it shows the Petäjävesi Old Church. It is a wooden church located in Petäjävesi, Finland. It was built between 1763 and 1765, when Tavastia was still a part of Sweden. The bell tower was built in 1821. It was inscribed in 1994 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Here is a photo of it from Wikipedia:

The church is located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west of the centre of Petäjävesi. It went out of use in 1879 when a new church was built. The old church has retained its original appearance and its interior decoration exceptionally well. It is a popular church for weddings in the summer, and there is a church service on most Sundays.

The interior is amazing.

The postcard had a beautiful stamp on it. Finnish stamps are always very beautiful. This one shows Siringa vulgaris, or common lilac to you and me.

Friday was a busy day for me, and I also managed to make a layered cake with thin layers of sponge and patisserie creme in between. It turned out very lovely. 

Our friends invited us for a meal and before going home we took a picture.(And oops, we touched each other!)

On Sunday I accompanied hubbie to our plot of land. The weather was so gorgeous. Our house is behind my head on the bottom photo, so you see it is not far really.

On Monday morning hubby had to have blood tests done and as he had to be nil-by-mouth, we went to have breakfast afterwards.

On Tuesday we were given some salad onion plants to plant. Way too many for us and we asked around who else would like some.

Hubby planted 60 salad onion plants.

Then yesterday our other friends came to collect the plants and stayed for lunch.

That was my week. Quite eventful really, and the weather has been nice too. All in all a good week.

What has your week been like? Do join us and share your smiles at Annie's: A Stitch In Time and with Virginia at Rocking Your World Friday.

As always I am sharing some funnies I found on the Internet. (Only one last Trump joke). 

The very last one is especially for Kate. And some doggie funnies for Angela (and even a steam punk one).

Wishing everyone a very fine weekend and 

Keep Smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca

One of the funnies mentions ASDA. For those not familiar with the name: ASDA is the British Walmart.

And this last one is for Kate: