Hello lovely ladies, It's Friday again (well, nearly, as I am typing this on Thursday evening). Time to think back on the happy moments, the smiles and the silver lining of the week.
I always start with a postcard, because happy mail always makes me smile:
In the Russian versions of the story, Prince Ivan and his two older brothers shoot arrows in different directions to find brides. The other brothers' arrows land in the houses of the daughters of an aristocrat and a wealthy merchant, respectively. Ivan's arrow lands in the mouth of a frog in a swamp, who turns into a princess at night. The Frog Princess, named Vasilisa the Wise, is a beautiful, intelligent, friendly, skilled young woman, who was forced to spend 3 years in a frog's skin for disobeying Koschei. Her final test may be to dance at the king's banquet. The Frog Princess sheds her skin, and the prince then burns it, to her dismay. Had the prince been patient, the Frog Princess would have been freed but instead he loses her. He then sets out to find her again and meets with Baba Yaga, whom he impresses with his spirit, asking why she has not offered him hospitality. She tells him that Koschei is holding his bride captive and explains how to find the magic needle needed to rescue his bride. In another version, the prince's bride flies into Baba Yaga's hut as a bird. The prince catches her, she turns into a lizard, and he cannot hold on. Baba Yaga rebukes him and sends him to her sister, where he fails again. However, when he is sent to the third sister, he catches her and no transformations can break her free again.
In some versions of the story, the Frog Princess' transformation is a reward for her good nature. In one version, she is transformed by witches for their amusement. In yet another version, she is revealed to have been an enchanted princess all along.
We've had a good week, but nothing much has happened and I have very few collages:
On Wednesday we drove to Granada (a two hour journey there) for a scan. The hospital phoned up the week before saying hubby needed to come in for a scan. They gave all the instructions about preparation and nil-by-mouth etc. But when we got there it turned out to be a mistake. The scan is not due until July! They apologised profusely. We did go and say hello to the nurses, and then went for a coffee in the sun. And on the way back we stopped at our favorite restaurant and had a meal. A nice day out was had. (I photographed the dollies in the gift section. My friend Paula, who is originally from the Caribbean, bought several of those dollies for children in her family, when she came to see me.)