A Postcard A Day - Friday 30 March 2018 - Friday Smiles

Well, good morning and Good Friday to all!
Today is Good Friday, the biggest religious festival here in Spain. Yes, it is bigger than Christmas (where nothing much happens). Every city, town and village has its processions. Hardly any work has been done this week and the shops have been closed since Thursday. So today I am home enjoying the peace and quiet.
Remember my fridge with magnets?

This is one of them:

Holland is the country I was born and raised in. My mother still lives in Rotterdam (where we were all born). I decided I'd celebrate my birthday, 23rd of March,  with my mother. (Thank you Annie for your kind birthday wishes).
 I have come back from Holland on Wednesday evening. I had a lovely time with my mother (93). The weather was reasonable and i have been taking her where she wanted to go. (shopping, buying flowers, having her hearing aid serviced, buying some nice tops and visiting a friend). Mum can't walk very far, so I push her in the wheelchair.


One of the things we went to buy was a chair bicycle.

One morning I got up late to find mum exercizing in front of the open balcony doors:

I did lots of cooking for her. Things she wouldn't be able to cook herself. We cooked lots of portions so now the freezer is full of lovely meals. I also baked cakes, and for my birthday, I did a cheese cake:

It has a biscuit base and i also used grated coconut in the base and coconut flavoring in the White bit. I didn't use cheese as such. I used Philadelphia cream cheese and yogurt. It is a German récipe. I think Susi (Fröbelsternchen) gave it me.


My cousin brought me a lovely bunch of flowers:

The yellow thing you see next to the flowers, is my mum's talking clock. You hit the yellow part and a (female) voice tells you the time and the temperature. (Mum is practically blind)


Mum lives opposite the shopping centre and we went there every day. One day there were lots of stalls and this was one of them:

Spanish 'churros'! I didn't expect that. I had never seen them outside Spain. And, no, I didn't sample them...


And this was my birthday present:

I have been using it for several days now and I love it! It takes a bit of getting used to and I still don't know how to transfer photos from my camera to the iPad (the little box is a special camera cable). I naively thought that connecting the two with the little cable would be enough. Apparently it is not, so  I will have a read in my camera instructions to find the right settings and see.

So of course my postcard for today has to be Holland. These windmills are outside Rotterdam and I know them very well. There are 19 windmills more or less in formation. Very spectacular. We used to cycle there when we were young.
If that is outside Rotterdam, inside Rotterdam it is a different story. Because R'dam was bombed during the second world war, it is very modern. This is the new market hall, with lots of lovely deli counters and nice things.

That is it from me today. As it is Friday Smiles today and I am going to connect with Annie at A Stitch in Time and with Virginia at Rocking Your World Friday, here are some funnies:

(By the way, I have lived in Bristol for 23 years and I have been to the zoo several times and I have bought a ticket from this man too).

 Now that I have my own iPad, I don't think this is funny anymore.

"No cats have been harmed in the making of this photo"

I have just realized that, although they are funny, they are also slightly worrying, all three of them....

Wishing you all a very happy Easter weekend.

Keep smiling!

Lisca