A Postcard A Day - Friday 29 December 2023 - Friday Smiles (Last of the year 2023)

 Hello lovely ladies,

This is the last blogpost of the year 2023 (for me anyway). How are you all? Did you have a nice Christmas? I will tell you about my Christmas but first I'd like to show you the postcard for today:

I don't know whether this is a real train or a fantasy train. There is no information on the card actually. It looks real,but most steam engines I have seen had a name written on the side of it. This one hasn't. I love trains, so I am very happy with this card. 

It comes to me from Germany. It was sent to me by Michael, who lives near Leipzig in Saxony with his family and two cats.

The stamps are pretty:

The German stamps with the flowers. From left to right: Winterling (winter aconite), water lily, Kapuzinerkresse (Nasturtium).

Of course, without my Graham, Christmas will never be the same. Someone sent me this little poem which says it all really:

Now, my Christmas has been OK and a bit unusual. I spent Christmas Eve on my own, relaxing and listening to music, like a Rod Stuart Christmas show from Edinburgh:

I wore a Christmas jumper that I had bought some years back:

My visitors from The Netherlands arrived on Christmas Day after having travelled 3 days in the car. I had made a lovely minestrone soup so that whatever time they would arrive, there would be something. The weather is really nice during the daytime so we ate outside on the terrace:

I did a Christmas roast dinner, which I won't bore you with, but my friends had made a layered dessert with mangoes and cream, which they had brought over in a cool bag. It was absolutely delicious!

One of the things we did was visit the municipal Nativity Scene in Baza. Of course the children loved it (and so did the adults):

It was laid out in a large square in the main hall of the Municipal Museum:

I would call it a Napolitan nativity scene because that is where those large ones originate.

We slowly walked round it. There is so much to see:

A whole flock of sheep!

I think this is Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus.

And we all had a good laugh at one of the wise men:

On the back of an elephant, as part of his treasure, were a Playstation and a Barbie!

That's all for today. More photos on my Tuesday blog. I'll try and find some funnies and will show you at the end.

I wish everyone a 2024 in health and peace.

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day -Tuesday 26 December 2023 - T for Christmas!!

 Hello lovely girls,

Happy Christmas! I hope yesterday was a really lovely day for all of you. This post will be short but I have two cards to show you so I'll get on with it:

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This is my postcard. It is by the same illustrator as the 'Naughtie Aunties', Inge Löök. Perhaps these are the Aunties in disguise.... Anyway, a fun and festive card which comes to me from Germany. It even has a special Christmas stamp on it with "Frohe Weinachten" (Happy Christmas).

The second card I would like to show you is from our lovely Kathy (Ozark):

It is the first time in 20 years that she has not been able to make her own cards (nursing her husband) and this little beauty is a watercolor that the artist made into a card and sold on Etsy. Thank you so much Kathy.

The next photo is my Christmas wreath on my front door:

No, I did not make it myself. I'm not that clever. I had it made by the florist here in the village.

Now this is the T-Party, hosted by Bluebeard and Elizabeth, so I need a drink. Last week my friend and I went to Albox, a nearby town to do some Christmas shopping and we stopped for lunch. We wanted to have fish and chips at the English restaurant in town, but we found the kitchen closed because of a private party. So we went to another café and had an omelet. My drink was a cider:

It was a rather special cider and tasted really fruity:

It was a Kopparsberg (Swedish) fruit cider. Very yummy indeed.

That's it from me today. I told I would be brief. 

I'll leave you with a funny (or two)

It doesn't mention how many times.....

Happy T-Day,

and a Happy New Year to all!

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 22 December 2023 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps,

It's going to be a short one today as I am in bed with the mother of all colds! I'm bunged up (stuffy nose) and I certainly don't feel very well.

Let me show you a postcard:

It comes to me from Finland, from Dolores to be precise. She translates the saying on the card as: Believe in dreams. In them is a door to your life. Dolores tells me she is a home body and loves to read and watch tv. 

The stamp is beautiful. I don't think I've seen this one before:

Parnassius apollo (Apollo Butterfly) is a species of butterflies in the family swallowtail butterflies.

Wikipedia writes: Parnassius apollo has a wingspan of 62–86 millimetres (2.4–3.4 in) in males, of 65–95 millimetres (2.6–3.7 in) in females. These very large, beautiful and conspicuous white butterflies are decorated with five large black eyespots on the forewing and two bright red or sometimes orange eyespots on the hindwing.

This typically mountain species prefers hills and flowery alpine meadows and pastures of the continental European mountains, in Spain, Scandinavia and Central Europe, in the Balkans up to northern Greece and in the Alps between Italy and France.

I have been out today (Thursday) with my friend Dian, wearing a mask and having taken flu relief capsules, it was not so bad. We enjoyed doing some shopping in a town, Albox, 60 miles away, that has a large English ex-pat community and the plan was to go and have fish and chips for lunch (a once a year treat). It was not to be as the restaurant's kitchens were closed because of a party going on. Another restaurant we went to only served fish on Fridays, so we ended up having an omelette.

This week I have also travelled to Marbella to spend a few days with my sister. I think I got the cold from someone on the bus who was coughing and sneezing somewhere behind me. He or she did not sneeze and cough inside their elbow as you should do in public. I could tell by the sound. And so four days later: bang, I'm floored! I just hope I feel better when my visitors come on Christmas day.

I had a lovely relaxing time with my sister. We went to see the sunset (she lives very near the beach):

Sorry, not a very good photo as it was taken into the sun.

If you look at the horizon where the sun is, that landmass is southern Spain. A little to the left of that you can see a 'bump'. That is Gibraltar. And then further to the left, that 'bump' is North Africa.

I have some seasonal funnies for you at the end, but in the meantime, I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a really lovely and healthy New Year!

Hugs,

Lisca

PS I think I'm going to hurkle durkle this morning

Fabric scissors

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 19 December 2023 - T for Tuesday

Hello lovely peeps,

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", and only a few days to go! Are you ready? I'm certainly not! 

Instead of rushing around (I'll save that for later), I'm staying at my sister's for a few days. More about that later. Let me show you my postcard for today:

It comes from France, from a place that I have always wanted to visit: Carcassonne. Carcassonne is located in the south of France about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Toulouse. Wikipedia writes: The Cité de Carcassonne  is a medieval citadel located in the French city of Carcassonne, in the Aude department, Occitania region. It is situated on a hill on the right bank of the river Aude, in the south-eastern part of the city proper.

The citadel was restored at the end of the 19th century by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. In 1997, it was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites because of its exceptional testimony to the architecture and planning of a medieval fortress town

There is an interesting legend about Lady Carcas, the wife of the Saracen ruler. Have a look at it (It would make my blog too long to put it here).

The stamp is beautiful. 

I don't get much mail from France, so I haven't seen this one. It shows an image from Calvados. Calvados is a department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the Normandy coast. In 2019, it had a population of 694,905.

Now, what has happening in my neck of the woods? It has been cold in the evenings and I have been enjoying my lovely pellet burner and simply staying at home to watch tv. 

In the village the Christmas market is in full swing:

And with all the pretty lights it is very pleasant to walk along the Paseo.

This Sunday at church we had organized a 'bring and share' lunch after the service as next week everyone will be having busy family time. I cooked a quiche to bring along:

There were lots of lovely things on the table.

I wasn't able to stay for the desserts (on a different table) as I had a bus to catch. I went to Marbella to stay with my sister for a couple of days.

In the day time it is quite a bit warmer than where I am (at night it is just as cold). 

This is what I woke up to (seen from my bed):

Marbella bay can be seen in the distance.

On Monday we went for a walk along the boardwalk:

Here I am with my dear sister.

My brother-in-law has recently had an operation on his spine and his surgeon has told him to walk as much as he can tolerate. So we walked 4,5 km, which is 0,5 km more than he did yesterday. 

Then we had to go to the shopping mall. We let brother-in-law sit and have a coffee while my sister and I popped in and out of shops. She is looking for an iron with a reservoir.

Now today I am joining The T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. I need a drink reference. Usually I will be in a photo somewhere with a drink in my hand. Not this time. My drink references are a bit more obscure: The first one is Calvados, which apart from a department, is also a French apple brandy.

The second drink reference is seen in the photo with the quiche. Behind the quiche is a coffee frother. I love frothy milk on my coffee and this little gadget is probably the most used gadget I have in the kitchen.

Now to finish this post I have a 'funny' especially for Spyder, who mentioned the man who hung the blinds:

Happy T-Day all and a very happy Christmas!

Hugs,

Lisca