Friday 10 April 2020

A Postcard A Day - Friday 10 April 2020 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely ladies!
Here we are on day 26 (for us here in Spain) of a strict lockdown. We are coping with it well, also because the weather is cooperating and it is not conducive to going out:

It's foggy, misty and dreary, and most days wet too. 
Luckily I am still receiving mail. And the postcard I received this week comes from Malaysia. It features Christ Church in Malacca. According to the blurb on the card Malacca was founded by Parameswara in 1396, who named his sultanate after the 'melaka' tree. Melaka has provided the stage on which the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English played their roles in shaping history.

The card was sent to me by Annie, who stuck some really nice washi tape on the address side. And when I messaged her to thank her she sent me this message back:
Greetings from Malaysia.
We have also just entered our 4th week of total lockdown here (although the government refuses to use the term lockdown).
Sigh, hopefully everything will improve & we can get back to everyday life soon.
Take care, stay safe & healthy.
The stamp is very beautiful, as you can see. I had to use a strong magnifying glass to read what it reads: Jambatan Tamaparuli.

Tamparuli town is famous for its long hanging suspension bridge called Jambatan Tamparuli. The word Jambatan is from the Malay language, it means bridge.
Some interesting info about this bridge:

Tamparuli is famous for its Wednesday farmers market called Tamu for many decades. Local farmers and farmers from nearby districts come to Tamparuli to sell their handicrafts, fresh produce, fruits and vegetables etc. The Tamu is well known and attracts many people from all walks of life to visit the town.

The Jambatan Tamaparuli was built across the Tuaran River so that people can get to the town by foot safely. Locals can also use the Low Bridge to cross. 
The Low bridge was built for cars and lorries. There is no barrier on either side of the Low bridge, you walk along the edge of the Low bridge along with the moving cars and lorries passing by you. If you are not careful, you may fall in the river.
The Low bridge floods during monsoon seasons. The bridge basically disappears under the water and is no longer visible. It is too dangerous for cars to drive on it. People usually park their cars and use the Jambatan Tamparuli to cross the river to get to town during this time.

How's my week been? It's been a good week, productive in many ways. I do my gym every day and cook  and bake nice things.
We've been having horrible weather so i have had to dry my washing indoors (a rare occurrence in this country). I have baked bread, and a Dutch treat called 'gevulde speculaas', which is spekulaas with a filling of almond paste. (Mine looks a bit of a mess, but it is delicious)

Hubby loves it (so do I). Our little grandsons in the UK had been baking too and they sent me the picture you can see in the collage..
 Saturday saw more bread making, as this bacon and cheese bread was a success. Hubby worked on his plot and made a cubby hole to hide his tools (we have no shed as yet). And we had coffee with the speculaas. 
On Sunday we watched the church service online and we treated ourselves to a bottle of wine at dinner. The weather is still pants and the wood stove is lit most mornings.
Monday still dreary weather and I did dreary indoor jobs like sewing the crotch of hubby's work trousers. It's something my sewing machine can't handle, so armed with a good thimble, I got the job done. Hubby discovered our first fava bean!

On Wednesday morning very early (as in 3am) I tried to photograph the full moon, but the weather was too bad. I did a bit more on my jigsaw.
Yesterday I noticed that the cala plant has started to flower! I made more bread. White this time. In the afternoon, my d-i-l Filipa, who has a blog Gourmet mum, did a live cookalong with her two eldest boys. We ended up with oat and choc chip cookies. Very nice indeed.
That was my week. It was a good week and I hope you have had a good one too. I'm popping over to Annie at A Stitch in Time and Virginia at Rocking Your Week Friday to see how their week has been and what were their smiles.
To those who celebrate it: Happy Easter!
Have a lovely weekend:
Hugs,
Lisca

Of course there are some funnies at the end:



















10 comments:

  1. Morning Lisca, I can't believe you are still having bad weather, ours down here has cheered a little although today is cloudy but we have had the sun.
    I love your sock dryer, very cute.
    That bridge looks pretty scary but the photos are lovely.
    You've certainly had a busy and productive week baking, I made some scones, not my finest hour, pastry is my thing but I will get them right one of these days! Steve still eats them though, no waste in this house.
    Have a Happy Easter, stay safe, Jan x

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  2. Hi Lisca, the weather where you are looks strange. We used to go to Spain for Easter and the it always seemed much nicer than what you're getting at the moment. Great photographs, looks like you've found plenty to do. Those funnies just crack me up, I don't know where you get them but they are brilliant. Have a lovely Easter weekend, Angela xXx

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  3. I laughed a lot this morning. Something unusual for me, since I can't seem to stay online for very long at a time. I enjoyed reading about the bridge in the postcard and loved seeing your week in scrapbook form. I also enjoyed seeing Graham practicing his piano. He looked comfy at least.

    As for the funnies, I liked the dog stuck to the fridge and be minor. Cute. Glad you are staying safe. Looks like the numbers may be going down in your country. I'm not going out at all. I'm making do with what I have, but I wish I knew how to make bread (not that I have any yeast) because I have none.

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  4. Forgot to wish you a very happy Easter.

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  5. It's good to see you're really making the best of every day. Sadly the weather has been really sunny here and it's probably going to be one of the best bank holiday weekends ever....of course this means the idiots and travelling and flocking together even though they should be on lock down. For us it's bliss because we have been enjoying lots of time together in our garden....been out there all morning today hense why I'm late visiting today.
    Love your funnies.
    Happy Easter to you both.
    Hugs,
    Annie x

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  6. Hi Lisca. I see we have both been baking and moon-gazing. It will be nice when the weather cheers up a bit. I am not too desperate to break out of confinement; In fact I am quite enjoying this time of forced incarceration, but I would like enough sun to make me want to sit outside for some of the time. I am trying to limit my bread baking because we eat too much of it! Your spekulaas look very yummy. I expect I will bake something sweet and tasty for Easter, though again, I do less of that sort of baking now because of my diabetes. Chris is happy with savoury, but I like the sweet things.
    You always find lots of funnies to make me smile, so keep them coming. Kate x

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  7. Hi! Love your updates ~ I enjoyed your postcard and research. Your collages are a terrific way to give activity reports colorfully ~ I Need to take the time to figure out how to do that!. I just started to follow your blog instead of just finding you posts. I enjoyed your funnies too and passed a few on to my sisters. Easter Blessings to you!

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  8. Oh your weather doesn't seem to have improved which is rubbish, but I'm glad you've got lots of things to do, the jigsaw looks brilliant and all that making, the break looks delicious, but your traditional recipe is the one that got me (and hubby) intrigued as we love almonds.

    I'm glad you are managing your gym and hubby is still doing piano lessons, it's amazing what we can do when we set our minds to it.

    Have a brilliant weekend and a beautiful and blessed Easter


    Much love

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  9. I think many of us are doing so much more baking and cooking. It is enjoyable but I just hope I don't gain 20 pounds. Smile. Have a wonderful Easter weekend Lisca. Hugs-Erika

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  10. Ewww! Sunny here!
    No lockdown here - we even are allowed baskets in the supermarkets!
    Hmmmm... fresh fruit. That we do not have, tastes awful. But... I would never ever be able to cross that bridge!
    Heights scare me- for a reason it seems!

    Isn´t "Spekulatius" for Christmas? I´d prefer the bacon-cheese bread :-)

    Oh, my, are those two funnies scream or puke?
    And the parrot one!!! LOL!

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