A Postcard A day - Friday 19 June 2026 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely girls,

Here we are again looking back on our week and remembering the smiles and the silver linings. But before I tell you about my week, let me show you a postcard:

This postcard makes me smile. As most of you know, I love turtles and tortoises.

The postcard, as you can see, comes from South Carolina in the USA. It was sent to me by Ella, who lives in North Charleston, 40 minutes from the beach.

The stamp is the Christmas Forever stamp with the red poinsettia. 

There is another stamp (or sticker?) on the card and I have no idea if it means anything...

Perhaps it's just a bit of fun!

What have I been doing? Well, Sunday is church of course. Here is a photo of me taken outside the church building:

I had asked someone to take my picture so I could show my sister the pants I had bought at the mall in Lorca (see Tuesday's blog post).

Then on Monday I went to the gym:

We do a sort of Pilates with a group of older ladies. In stead of a mat, we all have a chair to either sit on or keep beside us for balance when we are standing up (which is most of the time).

On Wednesday, together with my friend Antonia, I got on the bus to Madrid.  We left at 8 and arrived in Madrid at 3pm. That was a long bus trip.

Through HomeExchange we have a studio flat near the main railway station, so, very central.

I’m writing this on my tablet and I don’t seem to be able to add any photos, so watch this space.

The reason for this trip is the renewal of my passport for which I need to go to the Dutch embassy. My appointment was today (Thursday) at 13:00 hrs. 

When you are reading this, I will be on the bus back home.

Of course I have some funnies for you at the end.

Enjoy your weekend,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 16 June 2026 - T for an old friend, a ginger cat and a birthday

Hello lovely peeps. There has been lots going on this week, and yes, I did remember to take some photos this week. But more of that later. Let me show you my postcard:

My friend Maggie sent it to me from one of her travels. This time she is in the Sultanate of Oman.

This is the resort she was staying in:

Here is a photo I found on the Internet:

For those who can't remember where Oman is:

She sent the card in an envelope, which I can't find at this very moment, so no stamps to show you.

I've never been to Oman, but friends who have been tell me it is very interesting.

Wikipedia writes this:

Oman is the oldest independent state in the Arab world, and has been continuously ruled by the Al Bu Said dynasty since 1744. Beginning in the 17th century, Oman became a regional power with an empire that competed with the Portuguese Empire and British Empire for influence in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence and control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to what later became Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar. In the 20th century, Oman came under the influence of the British Empire while de jure remaining sovereign.

And if you want to read more click on this link.

OK, what has been happening in my little corner of the world? My friend Antonia had a birthday, which she celebrated on Sunday. 

There was food (photo above)

and a birthday cake:

And candles to blow:

On Saturday I met up with my friend Paula (from the UK), who was visiting family in Murcia. That was rather too far to travel for me so we decided to meet half way in a shopping mall outside Lorca. It was just over an hour's drive from here, so I met her (and Paula's husband and his niece and her husband) and we all had a coffee and a catch up.

I had never been to that mall and I enjoyed discovering new shops and even buying a few things.

We had lunch there too as the mall was quite big and had a special 'food section' upstairs with several places to choose from.

I had a large Cesar salad, which is always a safe option as I don't like fast food. My drink is an alcohol free beer (I was driving), but only the top of the bottle is visible.

I got back home at 5 pm and found the village in fiesta mode. It was celebrating Saint Antony of Padua.  There were activities for children in the park:

And apart from the religious procession, there was a drummer band:

Now something else....can you figure out what you are looking at here in my window box?

I'll give you a different view:

It's Ronnie having a snooze.

And after a big yawn, he poses:

While I was out there, I noticed one of my cacti is about to flower:

The flower will only be there for one day so I hope I see it before I go to Madrid on Wednesday.

I also spotted some mini lemons on my lemon tree:

That's it from me today. I'm linking up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard for the T-Party. There are several drink references in my blogpost today.

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

 

A Postcard A day - Friday 12 May 2026 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely girls,

Have you had a good week? I will tell you about mine after I show you this funny postcard I received a while ago:

It comes to me from Petra who lives in Bremerhaven, northern Germany. She writes that she is a pediatric nurse. 

The stamp is the standard German stamp for a postcard in Europe:

My week has been better than last week. I have spent time with my friends and I've been to church, to Pilates and have been to town to do the shopping. During all of this I forgot to take pictures.

I had my nails done again. This time a turquoisy colour with metallic detail called 'cat's eyes'.

And on Wednesday my friends, who always come to me to have lunch, invited me to have pizza in their garden. They have a fancy pizza oven and they are both good cooks. 

We had two pizzas between the three of us. The first one (photo above) was a plain cheese pizza and was a bit mis-shapen. It tasted wonderful!

But the second one, with all the toppings, was perfect!

Pizza dough that takes 24 hours to prove, then a bit of topping.

Popped into a preheated oven, it only takes a minute!

I had to drive, so I couldn't have wine. I had a non-alcoholic beer and my friend did not have wine either out of sympathy for me, which I think is the sigh of true friendship.

Here is another true friend:

The one and only Ronnie!

Of course I have some funnies for you at the end. 

Have a great weekend,

Keep smiling!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 9 July 2026 - T for church, air conditioning and Ronnie

 Hello lovely girls,

I have another postcard for you. It came from the bottom of the pile as I didn't find it very interesting. 

It is unusual in that it is a so-called Maxi-card. The stamp is on the front of the card and it is meant for collectors. 

The theme of this card is the Austrian Day of Catholicism which took place on the 9th of September 1983. 

The church in the picture is the St Stephen's church in Vienna.

I have recently been in Vienna and here is the photo I took of that church:

It has a beautiful coloured roof.

The stage was there because of the Eurovision Song Contest that was being held in Vienna. Two big occasions, but completely different in ethos.

The back of the postcard gives some information about the event in 1983:

Google translates this as:

The stamps are pretty:

The one on the right is a Christmas stamp featuring a detail from the Adoration of the Kings by Jan Breughel the older. Here is the entire painting:

The blue stamp shows a slipcase chain with pocket watch - 

It comes from a series of stamps about Traditional costumes 

Montafon is a valley in the western part of Austria. 

Some trivia about Montafon: (from Wikipedia):

Ernest Hemingway spent two winters in Montafon: 1924/25 and 1925/26.  The Snows of the Kilimanjaro (1936) and several other novels and short stories were written in, or they contain material about, the Montafon and the Silvretta glaciers.

The famous German novelist and poet Erich Kästner also repeatedly visited the valley, as did the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl. The noted opera singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf spent her last years in Schruns, where she died on 2 August 2006.

What have I been doing here in Spain. Well I mentioned last time that I had installed airconditioning in the top flat for my visitors. I thought that I might get one for myself too, so the other day a guy came to install it:

The outdoor unit (seen in the above photo) is enormous. Two men worked for several hours to sort everything out.

The indoor unit is quite discreet above the door:

And this is what the outside looks like:

I am really thankful that I can have air conditioning. It is quite a luxury.

As today I will join Elizabeth and Bluebeard's T-Party, I need a drink. This is my dinner a few days ago:

It was a piece of salmon with lots of spices that I cooked in the air fryer together with some wild rice and peas. My drink is a nice rosé.

This evening I've been to the hairdresser and I had my hair cut.

I'll leave you with some photos of Ronnie:

And a close-up:

That is all from me today,

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca