A Postcard A Day - Friday 11 September - Friday Smiles and Face Off

 Hello lovely peeps,

Today I have another postcard, and something about my life here in Spain, and also some more book reviews. Then at the end there will be some funnies. So, a very full blogpost today.

My postcard today comes from Finland:

It is illustrated by Inge Löök and features the famous 'Aunties'. It was sent by Tiina.

As today is about smiles, I hope this made you smile.

The stamp is cute:

It was released as part of a series of Friendship stamps in 2022 for Valentine's Day:

This postcard came to me through Postcrossing and Tiina writes this:

Another thing that made me smile is this:

It is my lovely Ronnie sleeping in a most awkward position. Upright against the back of the settee. It looks very uncomfortable, but he slept like that for a long while.

So here as promised three more book reviews:

The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.

I started reading this because I will be visiting Auschwitz later this month. I enjoyed it very much. It wasn't until later I saw that the reviews are not so good.They say it was simplistically written or that it was historically incorrect. I didn't think it was simplistically written and Heather Morris spent three years talking to the protagonist, whose story it is, so I suppose she just wrote about his memories rather than a historically correct account. He (the protagonist) is called Lale and he is a prisoner. He has been assigned the job of tattooist in the concentration camp. He has to tattoo every newcomer with a number. With his job come a few perks, which he uses to help other people. He meets the love of his life Gita there and they promise each other that they will survive this.  At the end of the book there is an author's note which tells me they did survive and get married.

I loved it, although the circumstances are sad. Lale is such a positive soul and I was rooting for him.

I gave it 5 stars.

Then I have just finished Caro Ramsey's Absolution. I really struggled with that one. It is a Scottish police procedural thriller. But the DCI wasn't very likeable. He was a barely functioning alcoholic with a psychological obsession which surfaced every now and then. Then there seemed to be two convoluted plots going on at the same time and I 'lost the plot' many times. I was glad I finished the book as I didn't enjoy it.

I gave it two stars.

The third book, simply called Frankie, is by Graham Norton. The Brits among you will know Graham Norton as a camp Irish talk show host, presenter (Euro songfestival), columnist, author and what not else. I had never read any of his books but I came across this and thought I'd give it a go. It was a very pleasant surprised. 

Frankie is an elderly, but very independent, Irish lady who broke her ankle. Her best friend Nor hires a young male carer called Damian. Frankie doesn't want his help but when she finds out they both come from the same area in Ireland she relents and she eventually tells him her life story. She has had an interesting life and moved in the 'art scene' in Ireland, New York and London.(The more intimate episodes from her life are shared with her friend Nor.)  The story was witty but also profound and it moved me.(you might need a tissue) Once I had started this book, I didn't want to stop reading. In hindsight I would have loved the audio version of this book as I saw it is narrated by Graham Norton himself (with his Irish lilt).

Again a 5 star rating.

Another thing that makes me smile is the fact that it is raining here! It hasn't rained for months! And it is pouring with rain. Heavy drops making a lot of noise on my patio. Flashes of lightning too as it is a thunder storm.

There are faces for Face Off on the postcard and on the stamps. And there are funnies for Friday Smiles at the end.

Happy days!

That is all from me today,

Enjoy your weekend,

Lisca

And this one is not a funny but I liked what the restaurant owner wrote (and it made me smile):

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 8 September 2026 - T for Germany, rosé and 3 book reviews

 Hello lovely girls,

I have a map card for you this Tuesday and as Elizabeth and Bluebeard are having a T-Party, I want to secure my invite with a few drinks. And if I feel like it, I will do some book reviews. I have read 16 books this summer, (19 if May counts as 'summer') so I will probably do just two or three at a time.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin:

I received this map card recently. It was sent to me through Postcrossing by Andreas who is a biologist in Chemnitz in Germany.

Wikipedia writes:

Chemnitz, known as Karl-Marx-Stadt from 1953 to 1990, is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of the former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden. 

Below the statue of Karl Marx:

Chemnitz had an opera theatre and was the European Capital of Culture of 2025.

Below the old and the new town hall:

The stamps are colourful. 

The middle stamp is from a series of popular holiday destinations.

It features mountains and marmots.

The other two are from the series 'World of Letters'. The series which began December 2021, replaced definitive series “Flowers” after a 16-year run.

Folded paper is the theme that runs through the series. On the left there is a paper fish and on the right a 'message in a bottle'.

What can I tell you about me? When I was traveling home on the bus not long ago, my rucksack fell off the luggage rack and my tablet  now  has a cracked screen. Thank goodness it still works, but I will take it to a repair shop to see if I can get a new screen.

(My face is just about visible in the screen as I take the picture.)

As today Elizabeth and Bluebeard are hosting the T-Party, I need some drinks:

Here I'm enjoying some salmon with wild rice and peas. My drink is a lovely rosé called Peñascal.

This is last night's salad, with air fried chicken breast and fresh lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Very simple really. All that washed down with the same  rosé. (Peñascal)

These are air fried cod fillets with roasted tomatoes and brown rice. Again with some Peñascal. I'm using a can as I forgot to put a new bottle in the fridge. Rosé needs to be cold.

Let me tell you what I have been reading this summer. I have counted 19 books (if May counts as summer).

I will mention three books today. Two of these I picked up reluctantly because the subject matter didn't quite 'float my boat'. But I'm so glad I did read them!

First one:

Robert Goddard is my favourite author and I have read nearly all his books, but I hadn't read this one as it is about WWI which didn't attract me. But it came up as a special offer on Audible, so I got it.

The book starts with this sentence: ’This is the day and this the place where a dream turns a corner and a secret is told.’ Well, I couldn't resist that and I had to read it.

Goodreads describes it like this:

Six months after her husband's sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off for a holiday in Paris with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin... Their journey starts with an unscheduled stop at the imposing Thiepval Memorial to the dead of the Battle of the Somme near Amiens. Amongst those commemorated is Leonora's father. The date of his death is recorded as April, 30th, 1916. But Leonora wasn't born until March 14th, 1917. Penelope at once supposes a simple wartime illegitimacy as the clue to her mother's unhappy childhood and the family's sundered connections with her aristocratic heritage, about which she has always known so little. But nothing could have prepared her, or the reader, for the extraordinary story that is about to unfold.

It is indeed a beautifully told, tragic story set in WWI. It's a love story (in the broadest sense) and a murder mystery, about the battle on the Somme and about PTSD. It spans four generations so it keeps you on your toes. And towards the end of the story, I wasn't quite sure which was courage and which was cowardice, or indeed the difference between right and wrong which in a war is often so vague. It really made me think.

It was one of those stories that drew you in and kept you there, feeling almost part of the family  and like Penelope, made you desperately wanting to know the truth.

 In spite of my reservations, I loved it and gave it my (maximum) of 5 stars.

Isaac and the Egg was the most beautiful and surprising book I have read in a very long time. It's about grief and loss and that doesn't sound like an attractive subject for a book. I have spent the last 20 years of my working life professionally dealing with death and dying so I was hesitant to pick this up. 

Well, I'm glad I did, as it was delightful! Isaac the protagonist has lost his wife and is not coping at all. At the start of the book he is about to jump off a bridge. He has had enough. Then he sees something shimmering in the grass. Upon inspection it seems to be a large pulsating egg. Eventually he takes this egg home.

The egg turns out to be 'salient' and as Isaac descends into mental desperation and in the end has a breakdown, the egg is a comfort to him somehow. He talks to the egg and can get suff off his mind.

Slowly the reader discovers what has happened .

It is a feel-good book that at times is laugh-out-loud funny but there are moments you need a tissue.  It is sad but at the same time filled with hope and love. 

I listened to this book on Audible and the narrator is excellent (Johnny Flynn). I believe he brought the book to life. I don't think I would have enjoyed it so much if I had just read it as a book.

Again I gave it 5 stars.

Last but not least:

This book was recommended to me by my friend Keren. We have the same taste in books so I immediately got this (on Audible as well) and enjoyed it very much.

The story is set in two time lines. One in 'today' and one in WWII Paris. 

Paris was becoming a dangerous place and the bookshop owner sends his wife away to relatives in the country for her own safety. He stays in Nazi-occupied Paris and keeps the book shop, now also frequented by Germans. He tries to help local people where he can. I'm not saying anymore as I don't want to spoil it.

The story line in modern times involves a young American woman, Juliette, who is visiting Paris where her grandmother was born. She has inherited a painting from her grandma which shows a little square in an old part of Paris. Of course she finds where this square is and the story unfolds.

The book is very moving at times and sometimes sad. 

I know from my parents what suffering the Nazis caused, so what happened to the bookshop owner comes as no surprise. 

There is a quote in the book which could also refer to our present times:

“What havoc could be inflicted on the world by one man with a lust for power!”

I gave it 4,5 stars.

That is all from me today.

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 4 September 2026 - Friday Smiles and Friday Faces

 Hello lovely peeps,

Happy Friday to you! I have a lovely postcard to share with a special stamp. And it has a face on it so I will also joining Face Off. 

I have just come back from a trip to Italy, so I will show you some more some photos from my trip. Then last but not least there will be ten funnies at the end.

Let me show you this postcard:

It's a so-called Maxi-card and comes all the way from Australia. It is a First Day Issue of the stamp and it is sold with a postcard of the same theme. The stamp is stuck on the front of the card for the occasion. Many countries issue them (but not the USA for some reason). 

The picture on the card (and on the stamp) features the produce sold at Adelaide Central Market.

Looking on the Internet, this is what the market looks like on the outside:

And on the inside:

I personally would prefer an outdoor market with stalls, but I suppose it depends on the climate. What is the climate like in Adelaide? I have no idea.

The card was sent to me (via Postcrossing) by Sharon. She put a sticker on the card telling me about where she lives:

Well, what have I been up to?

I have been staying with my son in Italy (in Abruzzo). 

In his little town there is a Sunday market.

It snakes around all the little streets. I bought some nice outfits although I only went to look for a cardigan!

 But this part is the vegetable market, next to the church.

My son and daughter-in-law are buying yellow peaches.

We also went to the beach a few times at a beach near Ortona:

We went early as it is so hot. The 'free' part of the beach is cleaned and raked by a guy on a tractor. He always makes a heart shape when he's finished. I like that.

My son and family rent a parasol and recliners for a whole season. They have done this for years. Theirs is in the fourth row from the water (the last row with the large parasols).

On the right (not visible in the above photo) are the rocks:

Me and my grandson on the rocks. I'm sorry, but I don't look very good in a bathing suit. This one has a little skirt but I still look awful.

On another day we went for a stroll in the mountains:

The village is called Pennapiedimonte and it is a 5 minute drive from my son's house.

I love the mountains more than the coast.

Below me and my boy:

Their house has a lovely large terrace:

Where we have our meals and generally spend a lot of time. It wraps around the side of the house too.

The views are beautiful:

The mountain is called the Maiella and has two ski areas, which are more visible in winter.

I will finish with a lovely sunset from the terrace:

The mountain in the far background is called the Gran Sasso (The big stone).

That is all for now. I think there are several faces for the Friday Face Off and for Friday Smiles, there will be some funnies at the end.

Have a lovely weekend,

Lisca