A Postcard A Day - Friday 8 Oct 2021 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

How are you all doing? Has it been a good week for you?  If not, think back on the good things there have been no doubt. Sometimes we are so focused on our problems that we hardly notice those little blessings along the way and acts of kindness by people. 

Come and join me at Annie's Friday Smiles with your silver linings.

Let me show you a postcard I rather liked:

It is the front page of Vogue magazine. On the back of the postcard it mentions that it is the edition of September 2006. The photograph was taken by the famous photographer Annie Leibovitz. A great photo and unusual fashion statement. I like it.

I looked at the prices (bottom left) US $4.50, Canada and foreign $5.50. That is a lot of money for a magazine that has hardly any sensible information in it (sorry, ever the scientist). I looked through one once and there were so many glossy adverts that I think the magazine should be free as they must earn so much through advertising. OK rant over. 

The card was sent by a Postcrosser from the Netherlands. The stamps are lovely:

The stamp on the left is from 2002 and is part of a series of December stamps:

December stamps are issued every winter at a reduced price so that people can send each other many good wishes. The 2002 design is by Experimental Jetset, Amsterdam. In the images people are connected to each other by the snow.

The second from the left stamp  features the closing of a newly built dike in 1929. It closed the Zuiderzee.

The Zuiderzee Works (Dutch: Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the Zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the North Sea, and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using polders. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture. The Zuiderzee is now called Ijsselmeer.

The American Society of Civil Engineers declared these works, together with the Delta Works in the South-West of the Netherlands, as among the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

It is something I am personally very proud of. (Being Dutch)

This is the complete series of stamps:

The other two stamps are from a series Mooi Nederland (Beautiful Netherlands) , a series that started in 2005 and continues to this day. 

This one features Vlissingen, a town in the south of the Netherlands. Vlissingen is known for its statue of Michiel de Ruyter, a naval hero .

Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (IPA: [miˈxil ˈaːdrijaːnˌsoːn də ˈrœytər]; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch Navy during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. He fought the English and French forces and scored several critical victories, with the Raid on the Medway being the most famous among them.

Often dubbed a Dutch folk hero, De Ruyter is one of a few select officers in the history of the Dutch navy to hold the title of the lieutenant admiral (Dutch: luitenant-admiraal). Reportedly beloved by his subordinates and seamen, De Ruyter was commonly nicknamed Bestevaêr (Middle Dutch for "grandfather") during his service, a nickname that is sometimes still used to refer to him in Dutch media.

The last stamp is from the same series:

It features the town of Groningen, in the north.

Groningen is nationally known as the "Metropolis of the North".^[53] The city is regarded as the main urban centre of the Northern part of the country, particularly in the fields of education, business,^[54] music and other arts.^[55] It is also known as "Martinistad", referring to the tower of the Martinitoren,^[16] which is named after Groningen's patron saint Martin of Tours.^[56] The large number its student population also contribute to a diverse cultural scene for a city of its size.^[16]

Since 2016 Groningen has been host of the International Cycling Film Festival—an annual film festival for bicycle related films. It takes place in the art house cinema of the old Roman Catholic Hospital.^[57]

 A major international chess festival and tournament ‘’Schaakfestival Groningen tournament’’ has been held in the city in most years, since 1946.

OK enough of that.

Let me show you what I have been up to this week. (Not much really).

Friday was the last day of our holiday and on the way back home we stopped in a town near the coast where a lot of British ex-pats live. There is an English restaurant that does excellent fish & chips. So we treated ourselves!

My friend Antonia has been looking after the hens and the cat, and when we got home there were three eggs waiting for us.  Saturday really was getting organized again and putting stuff away and working the washing machine.

On Sunday we went to a local church. We go there once a month. They have a communal meal on that day. They cook paella in a huge pan. People bring things to put in the paella. I had brought some seafood this time. You can see one of my friends cleaning out the pan outside the building.

Monday had me going back to the gym again. After that I went to the post office to collect my new laptop! We are very excited! Also that morning I went for a walk with my friend. We walked past the old restored station house. (there is no longer a railway line as they have turned it into a walking path). We noticed that the door to the building was open (it should be locked), so we phoned the mayoress who will have sent someone to lock it.

On Tuesday we woke up early (8 in the morning is early for us) to noise of machinery. They are digging up the road. One of our neighbours has water ingress into his cave house. They are trying to find out where the leak comes from as the neighbor is blaming the council.

We also went to our weekend home and had a lovely meal at our favorite restaurant. In this part of Spain one receives a complimentary liquor after a meal. The waitress told me they have a new one called Vodka chocolate. She asked me if it was nice. Yes, it was! (hubby gets an alcohol free tipple).

Wednesday saw more digging. You can see the trench just in front of our door. They are also renewing all the tubes while they are at it.

Our friend Andy cam to help us set up the new laptop. He has taken it home to download some software on it too.

That was it today. Of course I will post some funnies at the bottom. 

Here in Spain a lot of people will have a long weekend, as Tuesday is a day off  ('Spain Day') and many people will take Monday off if they can to enjoy an extra long weekend.  It is still warm and sunny here so the beaches will be busy.

Wishing everyone a very lovely weekend,

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca

I have read in the news that there are fuel shortages in the UK:

And I also read there is a shortage of lorry drivers in the UK:

Do you know the song by Lionel Ritchie?