A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 30 June 2026 - T for white nights, sweeties, and paella

 Hello lovely peeps,

Are you thirsty? Then join me for a drink at the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. But before we indulge, let me show you a postcard...

It is a map card of Michigan in the USA. It was sent to me by Erik, who is an academic librarian in Tennessee but is originally from Michigan. I have never been to Michigan but I have been on holiday on the north coast of Lake Superior (still in Minnesota) and have visited Duluth.

Michigan has many Dutch settlers and immigrants. That is another reason why Michigan rings a bell for me.

The stamp is the weathervane forever stamp:

The cancellation stamp features love birds. Probably because this card was posted a couple of days after St Valentine's Day. 

What have I been doing? Well, on Saturday our village organised its yearly 'Noches Blancos' (White Nights').

The poster announces live music, tourist train, sports activities, caricaturist, bouncy castles, master classes etc.

The two main streets were closed to traffic and there were many bouncy castled and other attractions for the children. Most shops in the centre had a stall outside their shop, offered discounts etc. 

Local groups held demonstrations:

The streets were full of music and laughter. It was fun. I popped into the boutiques as they were offering discounts. But my bank card/account has been cloned (while I was in Madrid) and I had to freeze my account and now I'm waiting for a new card. So I can't buy anything. I lost a lot of money and I hope I will eventually get it back but it has to go through the process. I spent all morning yesterday going to the police and to the bank doing all the paperwork. There is nothing more I can do. So no more new clothes for me for a while.

A more positive thing is that I have visitors again in my flat upstairs. They are Flemish from Brughes in Belgium. They have bought a dilapidated house about 40 minutes from here and are spending their holiday doing it up. They brought me some goodies from Belgium. Chocolates were out of the question with this heat, but I received this:

The box on the top had raspberry flavoured jellos covered with a coating:

They are absolutely delicious!

Then there was a box of cookies, half covered with a chocolaty salted caramel coating:

And last but not least, a bag of sour boiled sweets, which I have not opened yet, but are destined for my car.

I remember these sour balls from my childhood.

Sunday I was invited to dinner after church by some friends. Church finished early and I didn't want to turn up at their house at 12:30 when dinner is at 14:00. So had an hour and a half to kill. I stopped at a nearby bar that had recently changed hands and I ordered a Tinto de Verano, which means red summer wine. It's a lady's drink and it is red wine with lemonade (I was driving).

Of course I got a tapa with that and in this case it was paella, a traditional rice dish. This one was very tasty indeed with lots of seafood and I was sorry I couldn't stay for a meal, (which I am tempted to do next week.)

My friends are from Ecuador and there is always something Ecuadorian on the menu. In this case there were fried bananas:

These bananas were savoury and crispy. Very nice.

She had also made a beef stew and a beetroot and carrot salad.

I took some photos and because I am never in the photo myself, someone else took this one:

This time I am in it.

That is all for today. I will link in with T For Tuesday hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard as my Tinto de Verano drink will qualify me for that.

Happy Tuesday and happy T-Day all!

Lisca

A Postcard A day - Friday 26 June 2026 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely peeps, 

I hope you have had a good week. If not, please take a moment to find the silver lining behind those dark clouds. My week has not been good for various reasons, but I still have lots to be thankful about.

As you know, I like receiving mail and I had to smile when this card arrived:

Because it is so hot here, the sight of of snow made me smile. The card comes from the Czeck Republic and was sent by Darina, who has two daughters (a 2 yr old and a 2 month old). They also have a dog, a retriever.  They live in Prague.

The writing under the image translates (according to Mr Google):

"Fight your vices, keep peace with your fellow men and let each new year make you a better man" Benjamin Franklin.

What has made me smile this week? 

Ronnie 'helping' me empty my suitcase.

But before I got to unpacking my suitcase, I had to get home from Madrid. Me and my friend traveled by bus (about a 6 hour journey). We got to the Madrid bus station and had lunch there:

We got on the bus at 14:30. It was a very comfortable and modern double decker bus:

I was happily reading my book when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later the bus pulled in at a motorway service station. One of the tires had a problem. So we all got off and we waited in the restaurant. I confess to have had several beers as it was very hot and we were thristy. My friend ordered some cheese as the area is famous for its Manchego cheese:

The roadside assistance crew arrived:

Took the broken tire away:

Then put another one on:

But with the nearly three hour delay, we missed our connection in Granada. The last bus had gone and my friend phoned her husband who was willing to collect us (a three hour round trip). Problem being that Granada now has emissions restrictions in place. That meant that he could not come into Granada with his (older) car. One of their children came to the rescue, picked us up and transported us to a pre-arranged place outside of town and we were homeward bound. I got home just before midnight!

Quite an adventure! 

Remember my cactus that was going to flower? (16th June)

Well They did indeed:

Of course after one day they look like this:

Everyone here is football (soccer) crazy. The World championships are being held in Canada. 

The Dutch national colour is orange, so there are a lot of Dutch supporters in Canada according to the press photos I found online.

I don't follow the games. I'm not interested but I do like to know that my country (Netherlands) is doing well. And Spain too of course as that is my adoptive country. 

I was going out with my girl friends on Saturday night when the Netherlands played Sweden. Before leaving the house I saw that the Dutch king and queen were watching the game in Canada:

The Dutch won comfortably! Hurray!

Here I am with my friends waiting for our food:

There was a tv in the corner of the restaurant, so I kept looking at the score. That is how I know the Netherlands won.

That is all from me today, apart from the funnies at the end.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keep smiling,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 23 June 2026 - T for a singing man and travels

 

Hello lovely peeps,

Are you thirsty? Good, I will feature a drink later on but first let me show you my postcard for today:

The postcard comes to me from the USA and features a sculpture: 'The Singing Man' by Ernst Barlach.

Wikipedia writes:

Ernst Heinrich Barlach (2 January 1870 – 24 October 1938) was a German expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer. Although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in the conflict made him change his position, and he is mostly known for his sculptures protesting against it. This created many conflicts during the rise of the Nazi Party, when most of his works were confiscated as degenerate art. Stylistically, his literary and artistic work would fall between the categories of twentieth-century Realism and Expressionism.

Below a self portrait from 1928:

The Avenger (1914):

The Magdeburger Ehrenmal  (Magdeburg commemorative sculpture) (1929), which created a large controversy about Barlach's anti-war position (Magdeburg Cathedral).

The stamp is a USA forever stamp:

Now back to Spain and a glimpse into my life here.

I've been to Madrid for a few days as I needed to renew my passport. My friend Antonia came with me just for the fun of it. Madrid is very easy to get around as it has an extensive underground (Metro) network.

Our lodgings were near a major train station, so lots of bars and restaurants nearby. 

The first evening I had octopus. My white wine is visible and that will be my 'ticket' to the T-Party hosted by Bluebeard and Elizabeth.

To renew my passport I had to go to the consulate attached to the Dutch embassy. It is situated in the iconic Torre Espacio (Space Tower):

The embassy is on the 36th floor and as you can imagine, the views were spectacular:

That days' lunch had paella for starters:

That evening we went to the Puerta del Sol square to see a singer we know (and follow) from the Internet. It was nice to meet her in person.

Her name is Maritza Barreñada and she is a Christian missionary. Her mission field is downtown Madrid. She's quite a character. 

Here is a link (if it works)

Then on Friday we traveled back home again on the bus. We had a quick lunch at the bus station as the bus left at 14:30

I had Gazpacho, (a cold liquid soup), grilled chicken and a glass of white wine. Hey, another drink for the T-Party!

The journey did not go to plan but I will write about that on Friday Smiles.

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca