A Postcard A Day - Friday 16 July 2021 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

Another Friday Smiles blog. We have plenty to smile about. Have you? 

A card in my mailbox always makes me smile. Today I want to share a beautiful postcard from Florida, USA. It features an aerial view of Everglades National Park which reveals the distinctive profiles of hammocks. These mounds of dry land support an array of subtropical life.

The National Park website gives me this info: A hardwood hammock is a dense stand of broad-leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of only a few inches in elevation. Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other Everglades ecosystems. In the deeper sloughs and marshes, the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape.

Many tropical species such as mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) grow alongside the more familiar temperate species of live oak (Quercus virginiana), red maple (Acer rubum), and hackberry (Celtis laevigata). This diverse assemblage of plant life supports an equally diverse array of wildlife.

Because of their slight elevation, hammocks rarely flood. Acids from decaying plants dissolve the limestone around each tree island, creating a natural moat that protects the hammock plants from fire. Shaded from the sun by the tall trees, ferns and airplants thrive in the moisture-laden air of these hammocks.

The stamps on this card are beautiful. I am particularly interested in the large one with an image of nuclear physicist Chien.Shiung Wu.

Wikipedia writes this about her:

Chien-Shiung Wu ( May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process for separating uranium into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie. Her nicknames include the "First Lady of Physics", the "Chinese Madame Curie" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research"

I love to read about women who have accomplished great things in a time when women weren't allowed to do much. That makes me smile indeed.

What have I been up to this past week?

On Friday morning I went walking with my friend and her dog. We came past a herb processing plant. They grow lots of herbs around here: Lavender, Thyme, oregano, majoram and rosemary etc. The JBC was lifting herbs into a sort of burner (there was smoke) .

On Saturday morning we went walking again and we met this man and his donkey (with a sweet young lady). 

In the evening it started to rain, but that didn't last more than 10 minutes, so we could have our 'Intercambio' meeting in the park. (English speakers that want to practice Spanish, and Spanish speakers that want to practice English)

Sunday was very hot again (40 degrees) and we watched the church services. I also baked a cake in the evening as well as a courgette gratin as we were given a huge courgette.

On Monday hubby had rented a lorry plus driver to go and get some greenhouse frames that were for sale secondhand. It also had the netting to cover it.

On Tuesday we had lunch at our favorite restaurant. Outside the restaurant was a peach vendor. He also sold cherries. So we bought a kilo of each. He grows them locally.

I received a parcel from the USA with a vintage mini loom in it. I will tell you more about that in my Tuesday blog.

I'm getting ready for a visit from my sister and her husband. Here hubby is putting up a hand rail in the shower and also two towel rails in the bathroom. 

Then yesterday we went into Baza to collect this new residential permit for hubby. It is called a TIE and it is something all UK passport holders must have now that the UK is no longer in the EU. It is a handy little credit card size card, similar to a driving license. I asked if I could have one too, but I am not British, so the answer was 'no'. I have to still use the large green sheet of paper. Bummer!

We had come on the scooter, which is easy to park and lovely to ride in this heat. We stopped at a bar for a beer. This particular bar has very nice alcohol free beers, so we tend to stop there, as hubby can't have alcohol. We like a type of beer called 'tostada'.

That was my week. How was yours? Please join us at Annie's at A Stitch In Time and at Virginia at Rocking Your World Friday.

As usual, I have some funnies at the end.

Enjoy your weekend,

Take care,

Hugs,

Lisca