A Postcard A Day - Friday 5 February 2021 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps,

Have you all had a good week? Yes, we have too. More about that later, but first I would like to show you my postcard for today. It comes from France and brings a smile to my face as it features a yummy flan. The French call it a 'flaune'. (recipe at the end after the funnies).

The stamps are nice too: the usual Marianne on the left and on the right 'L'ecuyere' (the horse rider).

It comes from a series released in 2008, called Circus through the ages.

It features the trapeze artist, the horse rider, the clown, the lion tamer, the white clown and the juggler. The two different clown types (Auguste and the white clown) probably need a bit more explanation:

The white clown, or clown blanc in French, is a sophisticated character, as opposed to the clumsy Auguste.The two types are also distinguished as the sad clown (blanc) and happy clown (Auguste).

The Auguste face base makeup color is a variation of pink, red, or tan rather than white. Features are exaggerated in size, and are typically red and black in color. The mouth is thickly outlined with white (called the muzzle) as are the eyes. Appropriate to the character, the Auguste can be dressed in either well-fitted garb or a costume that does not fit – oversize or too small, either is appropriate. Bold colors, large prints or patterns, and suspenders often characterize Auguste costumes.

The Auguste character-type is often an anarchist, a joker, or a fool. He is clever and has much lower status than the whiteface. Classically the whiteface character instructs the Auguste character to perform his bidding. The Auguste has a hard time performing a given task, which leads to funny situations. Sometimes the Auguste plays the role of an anarchist and purposefully has trouble following the whiteface's directions. Sometimes the Auguste is confused or is foolish and makes errors less deliberately. (Wikipedia)

That out of the way, I can tell you what my week was like:

Friday was a beautiful day. Hubby went up onto the roof and checked the solar panel as there is a storm forecast. And I went for a long walk in the afternoon with my bestie. We didn't come back until sunset! For the first time this year I have done more than 10000 steps!

Storm Justine has indeed started and in our location (at the narrow end of a valley) it howls and screams and it always freaks me out. I know our house is solidly built as we oversaw the build ourselves, but still it freaks me out. So what does one do? One knits socks by the fire!

On Sunday the storm was still raging and I didn't dare hang out the washing, so I hung it up by the fire. A very unusual occurrence here. We did church things and I knitted socks.

I woke up early on Monday for some reason (Well the wind is still noisy) and I saw the dawn. That doesn't happen very often. I then went to do some errands and hubby went to the plot to sort out his compost heap and burn cut-offs.

The gym has started again! Hey ho silver lining! Only 6 people allowed per session and the poor instructor has to clean each machine in between each person. But it was great to be moving again. We do half an hour of aerobics in the big hall and then some circuit training upstairs where the machines have been arranged with a large distance between them. So, I feel quite safe. They are doing what they can. We have to exercise with masks on, which is not so nice but hey... we are in the middle of a pandemic! I'm thankful that I can go at all.

The storm has died and on Wednesday it was misty all morning. We had taken our 'posh' car (as opposed to the 4x4 we use for the campo (fields)) to the garage to have a tow hook fitted. It needed to be a removable one by law. It was ready by Wednesday morning but the fog was so thick, I didn't dare drive in that weather. We had to wait until the afternoon to collect the car. (Me on the back of the scooter and then drive back in the car).

I had made a traditional Dutch pea soup for our Dutch friend in the village, and later in the evening we went to take it to their house. They are renovating so we could see the progress too. 

Yesterday we went to the wood place to get more wood. Hubby wanted to try out the new tow hook. In the evening I watched a film on Amazon Prime: Yesterday. It was entertaining. It was a feel good sort of film. It was full of Beatles music for me to sing along to. 

Jack Malik is a struggling singer-songwriter in an English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie. After a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed. Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, Jack becomes on overnight sensation with a little help from his agent. (Rotten Tomatoes)

That is it from me today. I hope you have had many smiles this week. If you have, please join me at Annie's at A Stitch In Time and at Virginia's at Rocking Your World Friday.

Have a lovely weekend and

Keep smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca

Read to the end (It's worth it):

On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. 

For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking.

How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

And God saw it was good.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said,

"Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh.

For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years?

That's a pretty long time to perform.

How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God, again saw it was good.

On the third day, God created the cow and said,

"You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family.

For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed it was good.

On the fourth day, God created humans and said,

"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But the human said, "Only twenty years?

Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back,

the ten the monkey gave back,

and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.

For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family.

For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information.

I'm doing it as a public service.

If you are looking for me I will be on the front porch.

That Is Too Funny.😂

Recipe for the flan on the postcard (translated from French):

Ingredients:

Shortcrust pastry

350 gr ricotta

3 eggs

1 tbsp flour

175 icing sugar

zest of one orange

- cover a mold with shortcrust pastry, then in a bowl, mix the eggs with the ricotta. Then mix in the flour, the sugar and the orange zest plus a pinch of salt. Pour the mix into the prepared baking tin and cook in a preheated oven (thermostat 475) until golden.