A Postacard a Day - Friday 30 Oct 2015 Friday Smiles

Good Morning Friday Smilers! I'm linking with Annie at Friday Smiles to share what has been good this week.

My blog is mainly about postcards so I will show you a card I received yesterday that made me very happy:

I love turtles. Here is one in his natural habitat (i.e. in the water). The card came from the Czech Republic and had lovely stamps on it:

The stamp on the left is shaped like a flag and the one on the right is a spa hotel (they call it a 'wellness' hotel).

The person sending the card is called Eliska (similar to my name) and she did lovely drawings on the back. This personal touch made my day!

Now, changing the subject entirely, I really enjoyed Zoe's 'questionnaire' last week and I thought I'd have a go too:

Location: craft room

Feeling: a bit frustrated. Have bought an external back up storage which I can't get to work!

Loving: my new haircut

Reading: A Year Of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (We are visiting friends in Denmark in January so I thought I'd read up on Denmark)

Drinking: pink grapefruit squash

Anticipating: Collecting my new computer tomorrow(!)

Listening to: Kitty purring

Watching: We don't have TV, and it's night time so there is no view from my window.

Planning: What to cook for dinner tomorrow (guinness beef pie) and what to bake on Saturday (probably something with apples)

Looking forward to: Spending Christmas with my mum in Holland before moving into the new flat we are building.

Creating: chaos, no not true, but I have no projects on the go. 

Need to finish: Backing up my computer before the new one arrives.

Wishing: I hadn't pigged out so much this summer.... I need to lose weight!

Main goal this week: Get the computer sorted.

Now before I go, here is something to make you giggle:

Have a great week, and keep smiling!

Lisca

WOYWW 334 - a bit of this and a bit of that

Good morning desk hoppers! It's already Wednesday and it's time to share what our desks look like. Come and join me at Julia's Stamping Ground

Last night I cleaned my desk, as in properly cleaned after taking everything off! Empty it was until I came back from embroidery group and left my work lying there. So this is what it still looks like this morning:

The embroidery is a huge table cloth I'm doing for my mum. 
Also on my desk, behind the embroidery is a print-out of a recipe for cinnamon bagels from Sally's Baking Addiction. 

My laptop is already on, as I've checked e-mails. The poor thing is on it's last legs (the laptop). I have no more memory left which causes problems. I tried a cloud storage, but our internet speed is so low after uploading for more than 24 hours I had done less than 5%. It would take me 20 days continuously uploading! So I have cancelled that. Can anyone recommend a reliable external back up?

Since the birthday card for my grandson I have not done any crafting. 
But I go to art classes on Wednesday evening and I've been doing some drawing:

As a beginner I only get to copy for now and this is what I did last week:

So I'm sorry there isn't much going on on my desk. Perhaps next week I'll have more to show.

Have a great week all of you,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - 27 Oct 2015 T for Medieval Market

Good Morning! 

Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm linking up with Elizabeth at alteredbooklover for T for Tuesday. Why don't you join us? All you need is something drink related (doesn't have to be tea...)

This post is photo heavy today. (No postcard today) There was a Medieval Market in our village this weekend and of course we walked along the stalls to have a look:

There were lots of craft stalls, and food stalls with chairs out (but it was a bit cold).

There was a really nice atmosphere.

There was a story teller/clown entertaining the local children.

It was the first few cold days of the season. We all had to get our jackets and cardigans out.

We lit the fire for the first time this weekend. We have an unusual stove: the right part is a wood burner, but the left part burns almond shells.

They cost 10 cents (Euro cents) a kilo and a sack of 25 kilo will last us two evenings. Here it is in action:

It kicks out some heat I can tell ya!

Saturday I stayed indoors and made this cherry/marzipan cake from a Dutch cook book I had bought last summer. I took it to our church house group where it was devoured in no time!

On Sunday we decided we would eat something exotic at the Medieval Market and we had something Arab, chicken rolled into a flatbread, with sauce and a bit of salad. Yummy. We had sweet tea with it and we were allowed to take the glasses home:

So this is my reference to T for Tuesday, these unusual tea glasses.

Have a lovely Tuesday and a great week,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Friday 23 Oct 2015 Friday smiles

Good Morning! And hello Friday Smilers!

I'm linking up with Annie at A Stitch in Time for Friday Smiles. A bloghop where we count our blessings and think of all the things that made us smile that week, and for a moment forgetting all our moans and sorrows.

I am smiling from ear to ear! I had breast cancer in 2011 and yesterday I had my six monthly check-up with the oncologist. I got the all-clear for another 6 months! Yippee! Hurray! Praise God!

So I will show you a happy looking postcard:

It came to me from Finland last month. Sent to me by Paula (57), who works nights, delivering newspapers with her husband. She has been doing that for 30 years.
The illustration on the card is by well known Finnish illustrator Rudolf Koivu (1890-1946). He was born in St Petersburg, Russia and died in Finland. He is known for his illustrations of fairy tales and children's books. (Have a look at Ellen Louwes' board on Pinterest.)
Paula put a lovely stamp on the card too. The famous swan by designer Klaus Haapaniemi.

I have another card by Rudolf Koivu in my collection:

 Very sweet....

Now for a final big smile:
Most of you know I am a retired nurse, and nurses have a particular sense of humor. I hope nobody is offended by a bare bottom...

(For whom English is not a first language: ICU stands for Intensive Care Unit. And if you read the letters out loud, you get 'I see you'!)

That's it from me,

Have a smiley Friday and a good week,

Blessings,

Lisca

WOYWW 333, Kitty story continued

Good morning everyone! 

This is WOYWW 333! What a great number. I know it's not a 'significant birthday', but 333 sounds great nevertheless.

If you don't know about Whats On Your Work desk Wednesday, now is the time to have a look and look at other people's desks to see what projects they are involved in and what they are up to (or not). Here is the link:
Julia at Stamping Ground.

Thanks for all your reactions about my kitty story last week. We tried to get a stray kitten to the vet to have her neutered, and one hour into the journey she managed to get out of the cat carrier and was roaming the back of our pick-up.
Here she is:

We call her Precious, because she was blown onto our terrace by a gale when she was little and was taken under the wings of another stray cat, and somehow she survived and she is precious.
Because she had a very small body and huge eyes she also reminded us of Gollum in Lord of the Rings (he always said: Precioussss).

Friday we took her to the vet again. This time the journey went without a hitch. When we got her back (still sleeping) the vet said: Do you want the good news or the bad news? Oh dear.... lets have the bad news first then.... Well, she is not a 'she' but a 'he'!
The good news is that he has been 'done' and the price is much lower for males! Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather! What a surprise. 
We still call her Precious. Ahem, 'him'. Will have to get used to that.

Now to my desk. 

Not much going on, because what was going on has been finished. I.e. a first birthday card.

The fork is still on my desk because I used it to make the little bow.

Here is the little person that the card will go to: My gorgeous grandson in Italy.

That's it from me today.

Have a good week all of you,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Tuesday 20 Oct 2015 T for women's conference

Good Morning! Happy Tuesday!

How have you all been? I've had an exciting weekend. I've been to a Christian women's conference in the south of the country. (In Mijas, adjacent to Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol). It was quite a trek on 3 different buses, but my friend and I got there in the end.

The title was 'Mas', which means 'more'. 
We had booked a hotel for two nights. It was a lovely hotel.

It was called hotel Las Rampas and was built around a large inner courtyard with ramps instead of stairs. 

There was a beautiful water feature.
Here I am on the left with my girl friends near our rooms.

Apologies for the bad quality of the photos. They are off my phone.

The conference was brilliant and the speakers were very good.

On Saturday, during the lunch break of the conference, three of us left the church and went to a local fish restaurant to have something to eat. My DH doesn't like seafood so I don't get to eat it that much. I jumped at the chance of some tasty morsels.
I had Calamares (empty plate) and Choc a la Plancha, which is what you see here.

There was lots of garlic, just as I like it! A real treat! As there is a glass of beer in the picture (the weather was warm so we all had beer) this post qualifies for T for Tuesday, hosted by Elizabeth at alteredbooklover. Please join us if you have a blogpost with something drink related in it.

Have a great week,

blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Monday 19 Oct 2015 Alabama

Good morning! Good Monday!

It's Map-Monday! Today I'm taking you (via a map) to Alabama. We're talking postcards here, in case you hadn't understood that. 

I got this card from Susan, who is from the UK originally but now lives in Birmingham (Vulcan Statue/Steel Mills on the map). There aren't any place names on the map, but we know now where Birmingham is. I've learnt that the state capital is Montgomery (marked with a star on the map). The card shows the state flag and the state bird (yellowhammer) as well as the state flower (the camellia).
On the back of the card there is some printed info: Area:50,708 sq miles. 
Population: 4,102,000 (1988). 
Nick name: The Cotton State. 
Motto: We Dare Defend Our Rights.
The state's name is derived from the Indian word, Alibamu, meaning: I clear the thicket.

The stamps are very interesting too:

Alan Shepard: First American in Space (Mercury Project) and First Spacecraft to orbit Mercury (Messenger Mission), and an American clock.

I'm old enough to remember the first American space launches, sitting in front of the TV joining in with the count down and then 'holding your breath' for hours during the journey to the moon. Everybody was in front of a tv screen. Not everybody had a tv in those days, but we visited neighbours and/or went to the local cinema to see the Palthe News on the big screen.  Exciting times!

That's it from me for today,
I'll be here tomorrow for T for Tuesday,
See you then,
Blessings,
Lisca

A Postcard a day - Friday 16 Oct 2015 Friday Smiles

Hi folks, good morning. Hello Friday Smilers!

My DH fancied liver and onions. I love liver & onions but am reluctant to cook it as the liver works as a filter to remove toxins from the body. Supermarket bought liver might contain goodness what sort of toxins.... But our butcher round the corner sells local meat and he slaughters on Wednesday so on Thursday the meat is very fresh. I asked for pork liver and I got a whole one! 

It's enormous and will feed us for four meals at least (I'm freezing most of it) with plenty left for our friend's dogs and a treat for our little kitty (Apparently it's not so good for cats so she can only have a little titbit once a week). Now what did that 2.5 kilo liver cost me? 1 (one)Euro!
Well our meal was lovely and we had it outside (yes, we still eat outside.... winter hasn't arrived here yet) with a cold beer in the blazing sun.

Now I don't think this qualifies for Friday Smiles as some people might not like liver and are pulling a face rather than smiling.

So what about this card then that I received two days ago from Russia.

This particular Russian, Aleksei and his family, wanted a 'Greetings from Spain' card (some people collect those). It is a series of cards from countries all over the world. They are made in Poland and I have ordered the Spanish cards obviously. Here it is:

We agreed to do an exchange. I sent this one and I got the colourful card above in return.
Aleksei put some really beautiful stamps on the card too:

The stamp on the left is the standard stamp for letters in Europe. The one on the right has a Penny Black on it (the rarest stamp) and it is too recent for me to find any info on it.
Aleksei lives with his family in Nizhny Novgorod, a city on the river Volga. Aleksei tells me that the FIFA World Cup (soccer) will be held in his city and that  construction of a new stadium and airport are in full swing.

Now if you haven't smiled yet, you will do it when you see this:

It appeared on Facebook. The translation goes: "It's in difficult times that you discover who your real friends are".

Have a relaxing weekend and a really good week with lots of smiles.

Blessings,

Lisca

WOYWW 332, aboriginal art, kitten and paella in the street.

Hi folks, Here we are again, peeping at each other's desks. I'll show you mine quickly and get it over with:

This was my desk last night. Not much going on. I bought another photo frame for the lovely card Bridget sent me recently. (I managed to get a matching frame.) Bridget had sent me a postcard of Aboriginal art which I loved so much I framed it! Then she sent me another one (the one on the left) 

and that is now duly framed too. Thanks Bridget!

The pile in the foreground are more postcards that I have received recently, which I use as  subjects to write my daily blog.

Look what's under my desk:

She is a little stray kitty that lives on our building plot ever since she was a tiny kitten. One of the other stray cats had taken her under her wing and she survived. The other cats have moved on but she has stayed. She lives on the roof terrace and we feed her daily. Yesterday we had an appointment with a charity that neuters cats. We enticed her into the travel 'catcot' thingy, and off we went. We have a pick-up utility truck with a cover over the back. Well, to cut a long story short, kitty managed to get out of the box somehow, when we stopped for a drink an hour into our journey (the flap wasn't secured properly it appears). There was no way we could safely get her back in. Feral cats won't let you handle them, so she might have bolted as soon as we lowered the tailgate and we would have lost her in the middle of nowhere. So we cancelled the appointment and turned back. We decided to keep her indoors and she really loves it. She has found this mat by the bed and has been sitting there contently all evening. She didn't seem to be stressed at all by her 'adventure' in the back of the truck.

What's happening here in Spain? Well this weekend there was a charity paella organised for a little boy called Santi to raise money for a special treatment for him in Madrid. People paid 3 Euros for a plate of paella.

 This is in the main square of our village. The paella (a rice dish) is cooked over a wood fire. The building in the back ground is the town hall.

 Here in the background is a small church. (there is a bigger one in the next street).

This is looking up the High Street. We live at the end of that street. 
See how people queue up to get their portion and the volunteers spooning up. I think there must have been a few thousand people. I don't know how much money they raised. But it certainly was well attended.

That's it from me today. If you are wondering what this is all about, visit Julia at Stamping Ground who leads us into all this desk snooping....

Have a good week all of you,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Tuesday 13 Oct 2015 T for Dutch apple pie (+ recipe)

Good Morning! Welcome T for Tuesday dwellers.

We've had a lovely weekend. It was an extra long weekend here in Spain. Monday was a national holiday! So people were visiting each other from afar and going for picnics etc.

I made a Dutch apple pie for our friends on Sunday afternoon. My mum taught me to make it.There is a little bit left, I was just about to have a cup of tea. Would you like a piece? Now, now, don't fight!

I posted a photo of it on Facebook this weekend and got several reactions. Mostly people wanting the recipe (Bridget, this is for you). 
The dough is made with runny butter and made into a dough. Then, rather than rolled out (it would be too sticky to roll), you push it into place with your hands, and work it up the sides of the mold.
Here is the recipe :

For those of you across the pond used to 'cups', I went to a conversion site and came up with the following:
300 gr = 1 and a quarter cup plain flour
125 gr = half a cup sugar
200 gr butter = 0.9 cup (nearly one)
100 gr = half cup raisins

I hope that helps.

Keeping in with the Dutch theme, the postcard for today is one that I am sending (not receiving) for a change.

I bought it in Holland when I was there last. It's on its way to someone who specifically asked for a card with a bike on it. 
As you might know, in the Netherlands everybody rides a bike and there are literally millions! These particular two boys on the card are not Dutch, but from the Chong Khneas village in Cambodia. I think it is a great photo, don't you?

I'm linking in with Elizabeth at Altered Book Lover for T for Tuesday. Come and say hello if you have anything drinkable to share.

Have a lovely day and see you hopefully tomorrow when I link up with WOYWW (What's On Your Work desk Wednesday).

Blessings,

Lisca

A postcard a Day - Monday 12 Oct 2015 Map Monday

Hi folks, it's Monday again. 

Here in Spain it is a  national holiday. A bit like a Bank Holiday in UK. It is National Spain Day. It celebrates Nuestra Senora del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar), the patron saint of Spain. We don't notice much here in the village but there are big parades in the capital that are televised. For most people here it is just an extra day off.

My map card today can't be anything other than a Spanish card:

It is a region of Spain called the Extremadura. 

Extremadura, is a western Spanish (autonomous) region bordering Portugal; it comprises the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz. It’s a remote area of mountains, forests, lakes and reserves, notably Monfragüe National Park and Cornalvo Natural Park, both sheltering diverse birdlife. The capital, Mérida, is known for its well-preserved Roman ruins, including aqueducts, theaters, a circus and a long bridge over the Guadiana River.

The stamp is interesting:

The text translates: 'Have a good look at me'. And it features some sort of bar code and a winking emoticon.The stamp is issued in a series to do with Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC), translated: information and communication technologies (ICT). I found out that the bar code shows a video about Realidad Aumentada (augmented reality).(But I don't know how to read it...)

Isn't that interesting. That's it for today,

See you tomorrow when I link up with T for Tuesday.

Blessings,

Lisca