A Postard A Day - Friday 9 August 2024 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies, 

It's Friday again and it's time to think about what made us smile in the past week. I have had lots to smile about but first let me show you  a postcard:

It made me smile as it reminded me of the pandemic and how we were not allowed to travel, (in my case, we were not even to leave the village!) and how it made us smile when we eventually were allowed out. It also makes me smile to think how fortunate we are to be able to travel again!

This card came to me from Germany and it has a fun stamp too:

It celebrates 50 years Playmobil.

On one of the philately websites I read:

Playmobil is celebrating a milestone anniversary at the place where it all began. The company launched at Spielwarenmesse in February 1974 with a knight, a Native American, and a construction worker. 

50 years later, the German company has exploded, featuring tons of playsets with different themes beyond those first three figures. More than 3.8 billion Playmobil figures have been produced in that time.

Throughout 2024, Playmobil will be celebrating its anniversary through the Join the Party campaign, which will feature special anniversary editions, offers for adults, new collaborations, and more.

One of the special editions is the exclusive golden knight. At 7.5 cm tall and with a friendly smile: The knight was one of the first PLAYMOBIL figures in 1974.

I remember my son playing with Playmobil when he was young. Lego had changed from simple building blocks to huge castles and ships and space craft to construct, which was more done by the daddies than the children. So in the seventies we bought Playmobil figures. Did you play with Playmobil?

What have I been up to? Well, I have done a crazy thng! I bought a very old 'banger' (car). My son recommended I get an old Fiat Panda as they are cheap to run and very easy and cheap to repair. Ideal to use in the countryside. Many people have one (or want one) so they are not cheap to buy secondhand. 

But I found one and here it is. This Panda is 42 years old! And still going strong and being used every day. I'm having trouble insuring it as my insurance company doesn't list it (it's too old). It's not urgent as I won't be driving it on the public road, but it would be nice if I could just drive to the petrol station in stead of having to use canisters.

Another thing that made me smile this week was this:

I had taken my car in to be assessed, so I was on foot in our nearby town of Baza. I am used to seeing sheep but not in town, so it really made me smile when I heard the bells.

They came out of a side track behind the trees and 500 m down the road they turned off again.

I also might to add that it was early, just after 8 in the morning, so there was hardly any traffic.

Here in my village we have a week of fiesta. Every year from 7 until 11 August there is an extensive program of entertainment, sports activities and cultural things. There is a fun fair and lots of stalls selling food and drink. People come from far and beyond, especially people who have an association with the village (grew up here, went to school here or grandma still lives here), People get together with relatives and old friends. 

There are concerts and all sorts of things.

A concert by a singer I really like.

Or a competition to decorate one's house.

And all this in the blistering heat:

I'm staying in as much as possible and I only go out first thing in the morning or late at night (when life kicks off). Problem with that is that I find it difficult to sleep in the afternoon (the Spanish siesta), so come midnight, when life gets interesting in the village, I want to go to bed...

Those were my smiles this week. I will give you some funnies to (hopefully) smile at right at the end.

Have a lovely weekend,

Keep smiling!

Lisca

Broc Lee: