A Postcard A Day - Friday 12 November 2021 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely girls (and boys perhaps....who knows...),

Here I am again to think about the highlights of my week and to show you a postcard that I received not long ago. Of all the cards I receive, I try to find one that might put a smile on your face. This black and white photo card did that for me: It is Greta Garbo, a film star from the silent film era. Here she is dressed up as Mata Hari in 1932, photographed by C.S.Bull.

It made me smile as it is nearly C (do I dare mention the C word?) and she is all trussed up like a Christmas tree!

Great Garbo played the part of Mata Hari in the film about her life. 

Who was the real Marta Hari? 

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari , was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. 

Many people still believe she was innocent, and condemned only because the French Army needed a scapegoat. She was executed by firing squad in France.

The card was sent to me from Belarus, in an envelope. Here are the stamps:

The large stamp is about the Holocaust Museum in Minsk, Belarus and features a sculpture by Leonid Levin. 

It is called The Unbowed Man' statue at the Khatyn (Pronounced Ha-teen) Memorial and in Belarus it commemorates Yuzif Kaminsky, a survivor of Nazi atrocities, and his slain son Adam.

His Belarusian village Khatyn was destroyed in 1941.

Decades after the murder of the149 residents of this Belarussian village, the tragedy has taken on layers of meanings far removed from the attack itself. Occupying forces murdered all the inhabitants of 629 razed Belarusian villages, in addition to burning down another 5,454 villages and killing at least a portion of their residents.

In the Smithsonian Magazine i found an interesting article about how the 1943 Khatyn massacre became a symbol of Nazi atrocities.

Well, what have I done this week? I've had a very good week full of smiles.

Last Thursday was a non-descript day. One of our grandchildren had a 13th birthday and his daddy (our Richard) took him on a trip to Lisbon. Lucky boy!

I managed to get into the Diamond league in Duolingo, the Internet Spanish language course.

On Friday, my friend Antonia took me to see a pistachio plantation, our chickens had given us enough eggs to have fried eggs & peppers for supper.

Saturday was sunny so I did a wash. I also made toad-in-the-hole in my Remoska. Perfect! (Kate has one. Do you use it for this sort of thing?)

In the evening we had Intercambio, the Spanish/English conversation group. One of the girls wrote something on the blackboard as she was explaining something. Afterwards we went to the Pensionista Bar. It had opened that day under new management, so we went for a drink.

Sunday was church of course and on the first Sunday of the month they do an enormous paella (Traditional rice dish) after the service. That was very nice.

I had made a Dutch appeltaart to take to my sister on Monday. I managed to drop it on the worktop and it was in pieces! I was very upset. It also meant I had to bake something else.

That day we also went to see my friend Antonia's daughter Lidia. She is moving to Lisbon for a year and this was her goodbye meal. We were invited too, but we were already committed to the church do, so we came afterwards for coffee.

Monday we traveled to my sister who lives outside Marbella in southern Spain (Costa del Sol). The car journey took three and a half hours and we stopped for coffee on the way. It was lovely to see my sister again as we don't see each other very often.

Her garden is lovely. All tropical and sub tropical trees and plants, as they don't get frost. Our room was on the first floor with a large terrace. We watched the sunset from there.

On Wednesday we loaded the trailer with some furniture and stuff that my sister wanted to get rid of and we went to Fuengirola to the English supermarket Iceland and spent a lot of money. Then we drove on to Malaga to visit Ikea to spend even more. (I don't dare look at my bank balance). Then we drove home. Phew! We were really tired!

Yesterday our friends Kim and Andy came and I cooked a roast beef dinner. (I had bought the beef at the English shop the day before). Very nice it was.

Yesterday I also went to the health center and booked my booster vaccine for the 22nd of this month.  

That was my week. 

And now I bet you are looking forward to some funnies. I haven't had much time to look for good ones, but I hope some of these will make you smile.

Have a great weekend,

Stay healthy,

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca