A Postcard A Day - Friday 21 August 2026 - Friday Smiles and Face Off

 Hello lovely peeps. 

Today I'm going to show you some faces for Face Off and also what made me smile this week. Of course a postcard in my mailbox is always worth a smile. 

This one was sent to me (through Postcrossing) from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada:

It shows a Cree Indian  in full regalia.

Wikipedia tells me:

The Cree are a North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations macro-communities.

. In Alberta, they comprise both Plains Cree and Woodland Cree communities, living across numerous reserves and urban areas governed largely under historic treaties like Treaty 6 and Treaty 8.

Digging deeper into AI I found the following info:

Origins: Algonquian-speaking peoples who moved west into Alberta during the 17th and 18th centuries through the fur trade.

Lifestyles: Southern groups adapted to the plains as bison hunters, while northern groups lived in the forests as expert canoe-men and trappers.

Below the photo of a Cree woman.

 

Language: Cree (Nêhiyawak) remains one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages

Women of Red River North heritage.

The stamp is one from the Far and Wide series of international stamps.

The Canada Stamp Store gives the following information:

The international rate stamp features a photograph of the Qarlinngua sea arch in Arctic Bay, Nunavut, by Canadian photographer Clare Kines.

Pronounced kar-ling-wah, the Qarlinngua sea arch is located approximately 85 kilometres southwest of the community of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, at the north end of Baffin Island.

The Inuktitut name means “like pants.”

Locals estimate that the formation is more than 50 metres high.

Wind and water erosion over many years likely contributed to the formation.

What have I been up to that made me smile? I was invited to my friend Antonia's daughter's 30th birthday. One of the daughters has a cave house a bit further along from where I live, so I could just walk there.

The view is the same as what I've got (Pretty good hey?) 

Anything festive here involves food and drink.

There was Antonia and her husband and me (with the orange top) below:

And Antonia's four daughters with husbands/partners and offspring.

The food was excellent. They had butchered and cooked a kid (small goat) and Antonia had made an amazing stew with that. 

That is all from me today. Of course, as per usual, I will post some funnies at the end.

Take care and

Keep Smiling!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 18 August 2026 -T for bombs, ice creams and enchanted forests

Hello lovely ladies,

Today I have a postcard from Japan and I will also show you where I went last Saturday.

But first the postcard:

I suppose everyone will recognise this building in Hiroshima. It is called the Atomic Bomb Dome. It is a UNESCO World heritage Site. 

The card was sent (through Postcrossing) by Naoko. She tells me she visited this monument with 'Second Son' last summer. And she had taken 'Eldest Son' when he was 12, because she wanted to teach them "about the reality of war."

Wikipedia writes:The building is a prominent structure that remained standing in the area around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, three days before the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and nine days before Japan surrendered, ending World War II. The ruin serves as a memorial to the over 140,000 people killed in the bombing. It is permanently kept in a state of preserved ruin as a reminder of the destructive effects of nuclear warfare.

The Product Exhibition Hall building was originally designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel. The design included a distinctive dome at the top of the building. It was completed in April 1915.

During the Second World War, at 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, the first atomic bomb ever used in war was dropped on Hiroshima.

 The centre of the blast occurred 150 m (490 ft) horizontally and 600 m (2,000 ft) vertically from the Dome. Everyone inside was instantly killed. Because the explosion was almost directly overhead, the building kept its shape. Its vertical columns resisted the blast's nearly vertical downward force, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The building's durability can also be attributed to its earthquake-resistant design; it has survived earthquakes before and since the bombing.

Although it's awful and doesn't bare thinking about, I find this interesting. It's history.. It happened and people need to see it. I'm going to Poland in September and I have bought tickets to see the Auschwitz concentration camp museum. Equally horrendous but I want to see it.

Lets look at some prettier things:

On the left is a monkey. 

Wikipedia writes:

In Japan, a

monkey

(saru) symbolizes a complex mix of divine protection, good luck, mischief, and human folly. Historically viewed as sacred mediators between gods and humans, they are celebrated in shrines, folklore, and art as guardians that ward off evil spirits and protect horses.

In the middle is a crane bird.

Again from good old Wikipedia:

 In Japan, the crane (tsuru) is a revered national treasure and a powerful symbol of good luck, longevity, peace, and fidelity. Often called the "bird of happiness," it stems from ancient folklore claiming the majestic creature lives for a thousand years.

The ice cream cone is a recent stamp (2026) and comes from a series of summer stamps:

I'm now drooling for an ice cream! You too?

Last Saturday we had an outing with a few friends to the Bosque Encantado de las Higueras., near Pozo Alcon.

An Andalusian tourist organisation writes: The Enchanted Forest of Higueras (=fig trees): a place of singular beauty, with trails along the Guadalentín River, crossing wooden walkways, springs everywhere—you'd never guess you were in the South—small pools for swimming, waterfalls, and magical corners. A circular route can be enjoyed near the Intensive Fishing Reserve, taking advantage of its microclimate in summer. 

Legends say this mysterious place is enchanted, and the fig trees, with their intertwined trunks that tangle to form caves of singular beauty, are proof of this, along with the riverside forest.

In this Enchanted Forest, an English writer found inspiration to write his work. 

The name of the writer is not mentioned. I did some digging and it is most probably Penelope Chetwode. Chetwode arrived here in 1961 and wrote an account called Un Carbonero en el Camino (A Charcoal burner on the Way).

More importantly, she was the author of the book Two Middle-aged Ladies in Andalusia, published in 1963. It describes her journey through rural Granada and Jaén on horseback, accompanied by her 12-year old mare, La Marquesa. Her route included Pozo Alcon.

 In this place, they say fairies and elves dwell;   if you look closely among the damp trunks, you might see them, and if you listen carefully, amidst the birdsong, you'll hear their music or their tiny feet treading among the dry leaves. Sunset and sunrise are the times when these fantastical beings are most often seen. 

And your wishes will be granted if you complete the entire route ( provided you treat the environment with respect and minimize your impact ). You must jump onto the pillar of the " Mother Fig Tree " to prove your courage and summon the fairies. Finally, you'll reach the waterfall cave, where branches sprout from the ground like bewitched hands yearning to emerge. Make a wish (just in case, even if you don't believe).

 

We had brought a picnic and settled ourselves at the picnic tables. With so many trees, it was easy to find a place in the shade and when the sun moved, we would just move the table.

It really was a 'magical' place although I thought the plastic fairy tale figures spoilt it a bit.

I'm the one in the middle in the photo below.

What else can I tell you. We had an earthquake the other day. Or should I say night, as it happened at 1 o'clock in the morning. I didn't feel it. I sleep rather soundly. 

Photo from a local newspaper. Debris had fallen on cars and damaged them. Nobody was hurt.

The epicentre was near Granada capital (I live in the country 100 km away) and some people I know have had some damage, like cracks in the wall etc.

I will be joining Elizabeth and Bluebeard at the T-Party and I need a drink. I found this:

The photo is dark and the drink not clearly visible so I opened the fridge to take out a drinks can or something. Then I thought I would take a photo of the fridge:

Most of the drinks are on the top shelf, the rest are in the door (milk, juices) and on the wine rack (I drink white wine and rosé) both of which are not visible in the photo.

That is all from me today. I will leave you with a photo of dearest Ronnie who is quietly snoring beside me. (Bless him).

Happy T-Day all!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 14 August 2026 - Friday Smiles (and Friday Face-Off)

 Hello lovely girls,

Today, as every Friday, I'm going to show you what made me smile this week. And of course, as every Friday, I start with a postcard. 

(I am a member of Postcrossing.com  It is a free online project that lets you send real postcards and receive them back from random people all over the world. Created in 2005, its core rule is simple: for every postcard you send to a stranger, you will receive one back from a different random stranger.)

It was sent to me from Japan, from a girl called Harka. It has the stamp on the illustration side of the postcard, but it's not a Maxi-card. To be a maxi-card, the stamp must be related to the image and it must be a first edition issued by the local postal service. 

Google Translate tells me that the 'cancellation stamp' reads: 'Cat Day'. 

The Meow Pun: The number two is "ni" in Japanese. Three twos (2/22) sound like ni-ni-ni, which mimics nyan-nyan-nyan (meow, meow, meow). 

The horse image on the card is by artist  Nishi Shuku (西淑)

Paperwhisper.com writes: Nishi Shuku is a Kyoto-based Japanese illustrator and painter known for her quiet, poetic, and story-filled world. Her work is widely featured across Japan in advertising, book covers, and packaging. Her serene depictions of forests and animals bring a gentle warmth and sense of wonder to viewers.

And hasn't she got a lovely smiley face for Friday Face-Off!

The written side of the card is interesting too:

I've blanked off my address, and the Apt 11 top left is our postmistress writing the number of my PO box on the card.

The stamps:

The stamps are pretty. The one on the left is about International Letter-Writing Week. The bird is the Java sparrow on a magnolia. The star balloon on the right just says Japan Post.

What a fun card! Thank you Harka.

What have I been doing here in Spain? Well, the weather has been changing. We've had cooler days and it has rained a couple of times:

This is so unusual that I took a picture.

Then the big event here in Spain was the solar eclipse! I had experienced one before (can't remember when) and remember it was very eery when night fell in the middle of the day. This time, where we live, it was near sun set at 19:35 and it finished after 8 pm.

 

I had my special glasses at the ready:

 Just as the eclipse was about to happen, it suddenly got cloudy and it started to rain!

But the clouds lifted and I had a good view of the phenomena. My friend took the following picture (my camera didn't capture anything useful):

Soon after that, night fell:

That is all for today. 

Ronnie says goodbye too:

(Another face for the Face-Off)

I will post some funnies at the end as per usual.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keep smiling,

Lisca