A Postcard A Day - Friday 2 February 2024 - Friday Smiles and Second on the 2nd

 Hello lovely peeps,

Today I'm combining two blog posts as it's Friday Smiles but also it coincides with Second on the 2nd hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, where we post an old blog from the past. Those who are here only for Second on the 2nd, just scroll down. But I think my Friday Smiles friends will smile at my old blogpost with the gorgeous kittens.

I'll start with the present and show you my postcard for today:

The river Danube. (Donau in German). Most people will remember the famous walz by Johann Strauss, The Blue Danube (or as I know it 'An der schönen blauen Donau' meaning 'by the beautiful blue Danube'). 

The online encyclopedia says this: The Danube is of great economic importance to the 10 countries that border it—Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany—all of which variously use the river for freight transport, the generation of hydroelectricity, industrial and residential water supplies, irrigation, and fishing. The movement of freight is the most important economic use of the Danube.

With its length of 2 850 km (1 770 mi), it is the second longest river of Europe after the Volga. 

You will find four capitals along the Danube:, Vienna capital of Austria, Bratislava capital of Slovakia, Budapest capital of Hungary and Belgrade capital of Serbia. 

The stamps are lovely:

The most interesting is the stamp with the ship. 

The text reads: "50 Years Gorch Fock". 

Wikipedia writes:

Gorch Fock is the name of two German sailing tall ships, three-mast barques, painted in white.

Oil painting on canvas by Gunnar Larsson, born September 29th 1907 in Varberg, Sweden; died in 1982.

 Both ships are named in honor of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and got killed at sea in the Battle of Jutland. The first, originally built as a school ship for the German Reichsmarine in 1933, 

was handed over to the USSR after World War II and renamed "Tovarishch". After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she sailed under the Ukrainian flag from 1992 to 1993. In 1995, she was transferred to Newcastle-upon-Tyne for repairs which, however, somehow never even began. In 1999, she was moved to Wilhelmshaven and finally acquired by private sponsors and transferred to her original home port Stralsund, Germany, where she was re-baptized Gorch Fock on November 29, 2003. She is a museum ship today, and although efforts are being made to reactivate her, it is doubtful whether she will ever sail again. 

My week has been OK, the highlight being my friends Kim and Andy coming to lunch: 

You can tell by our big smiles that we had a great time.

I made a lovely fish pie (another big smile), which I completely forgot to photograph. Now I encourage you all to visit Annie at A Stitch In Time for more smiles.

Now for my Second on the 2nd: It is a blogpost from nearly 10 years ago (March 2014):

SUNDAY 23 MARCH 2014

What I found on the top of the front door:

There is a little gap between our front door and the ceiling. The other night we found a kitten snoozing on top of the door. When we got up the next morning it was still there. My DH Graham thought it might be 'stuck', but it jumped off as soon as he approached.

 There are a lot of cats living outside our house (we live out in the sticks). They don’t belong to anyone although people in the neighborhood feed them occasionally. They (the cats) breed enthusiastically and there is a tom terrorizing the young females. I think this little one was fleeing an over amorous male.

 The next day we saw the same kitten, who had invited a friend, on top of the garage doors.  What a strange place to sit comfortably. I bet you’ll all come back to me now with stories of strange places that your cat chooses to sit/lie.

I'd love to scrap these photos and I'm waiting for the right color palette to come along at CSI that I follow (Color, Stories & Inspiration).

That's all for now.

Thanks for looking and... keep scrapping!

Well done if you've come this far! 

That's it from me today. I will add a few funnies at the end just to give you a few more smiles, but for now: 

Take care and keep smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca