A Postcard A Day - Friday 5 July 2024 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

How are you all? I have very little to report other than that I have kept a low profile because I was so tired after coming back from my traveling. But I do have a postcard:

It was sent to me by my friend Keren when she was staying in the Lake District earlier in the year. The postcard depicts the cover of the book which shows a montage of Arthur Ransome's own illustrations from the book. 

Wikipedia writes: We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea is the seventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1937. In this book, the Swallows (John, Susan, Titty and Roger Walker) are the only recurring characters. They are staying with their Mother and baby sister Bridget in a new location, Pin Mill on the River Orwell upstream from the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich and are in Suffolk to meet their Father, Navy Commander Ted Walker who is returning overland from a posting in Hong Kong (then a British possession) to take up a new posting at Shotley. 

Ransome sailed his own boat, the Nancy Blackett, across to Flushing by the same route as part of his research for the book. The navigational detail and the geography are both correct for the period when the story is set, unlike other books in the series.

I never read these books as a child. I think I would have liked them as I did read Enid Blyton and I liked the Famous Five. Did any of you read these books as a child?

The stamps are the normal English stamps, but I like the fact that the large stamp is one of king Charles. I still haven't seen many of those.

So, what have I been up to?  Not much really. I've been trying to follow a diet. I used to do Slimming World and got on well with that. I realise it has changed over the years and I have been going online to make sure I'm doing it right. And of course I had to buy lots of new products (Low fat stuff) and start using sweeteners, which I don't really like doing, but it will only be for a few months (hopefully). I will weigh myself on Sunday and will see if there is any difference.

Most of my plants are a bit worse for ware because of the heat, but my dipladenia is going great guns:

There is a sign on my way to the shops that always makes me giggle when I pass it:

I always think it says: don't pee on the grass. But the translation is 'Don't step on the grass'. That makes me giggle.

The other night we had the yearly Noche en Blanco, which means white night. It is a night time art festival in a city. Most towns will have one. In our village it was focused on fun and sport. Every type of sport practiced in the village did something on the streets:

weight lifting

Zumba

Spinning, and much more.

Shops had little stalls outside their shops:

And many food shops offered tasting:

The boutiques offered bargains and there were many bounce castles for the little ones:

Needless to say the centre was closed to traffic.

A good time was had by all, as they say.

Those were my smiles for this week. And of course I will have some funnies at the end.

Have a lovely weekend,

Keep smiling,

Lisca