A Postcard A Day Tuesday 30 January 2024 - T for bookshops, donkeys, cats and crocodiles

Hello lovely peeps,

It's time for the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. Before I show you the drink that qualifies me to join the party, I'd like to show you a postcard I received recently:

It comes from Warsaw in Poland and was sent to me by Dominika. She writes:"I discovered this bookshop last month and found it so lovely!".

I looked on Google Earth and 'walked' down the street (the address was on the back of the card) and found it :

I love book shops and I know that Iris also loves them, so I'm posting this with her in mind. (She might not see this as she is enjoying her Australian holiday).

The stamps were very nice:

The text in the left hand bottom corner translates as: "Diplomatic missions after regaining independence". It depicts the front of the Polish embassy in Ankara and the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland. The stamp was issued on the 28th of February 2022.

Here is a photo of the same building I found on the internet:

There is also a 'First Edition':

So, what has been happening here in Spain? On Tuesday I went for a walk with my friend Antonia, and we visited her daughter Isa in her new house in the country, not far from where we live.

She had a friend from Israel visiting with her four children.

We had a cup of tea and a chat. The house is not quite finished but she has put a few bits of furniture in so it can be used.

And of course we had to say hello to the donkeys (she has three):

On Wednesday my friends Kim and Andy visited (Photos on last Friday's blog).

On Thursday, the mechanic fitted the door to my washing machine which had been out of action since Christmas. Hurray! And we have been having glorious weather, warm and sunny, so I've been doing a lot of laundry.

My friend Dian had to go to take her kitty to the vet to be neutered on Friday. We went to Albox, a town about an hour down the road. We left early so we would be at the vet at 9 a.m.

Then we had coffee, went shopping etc, as you do. We didn't have lunch (although tempted) as Dian had invited me and some other friends, to her house for dinner that night.

 Dian going 'Ta-Da' .

She had cooked a delicious creamy orzo (small pasta shapes that looks like rice) with spinach and mushrooms. Yummy!

My friend Beth had brought her home-made pizza:

I had bought the wine (rosé), and Dian already had a dry Muscatel white wine (in the photo) open, so we drank that one first.

The bottle of wine can be my ticket to the T-Party.

Here is kitty (her name is Alice) looking at her wound:

On Saturday I spent all morning removing all my clothes etc from my dressing room as my friend Tam was going to make a hole in the wall to fit my new wall safe:

It was quite a big job as this part of my house is cave and the rock was very hard. But it's all done now.

On Saturday evening we usually get together with some Spanish people to practice our Spanish. There happened to be a lady from the council and she asked if she could photograph us to mention the group again on the council website:

Well, that was my week.

Happy T-Day to all the lovely ladies who visit. 

Hugs,

Lisca

PS, Anyone want to go to Australia?:

A Postcard A Day - Friday 26 January 2023 - Friday smiles

 Hello lovely peeps,

How are you all? Do you have something to smile about?  I have. My first smile is of course my postcard of the day:

These are Nalichniki - Russian traditional wooden window frames. There are 15 on the postcard. They are all in different places:

Kashira, Rostov, Taldom, Kalyazin, Yuryev-Polskiy.

Kashin, Gavrilov-Yam, Yegoryevsk, Lyubim, Klin.

Maloyaroslavets, Tuma, Uglich, Khorlovo, Gavrilov-Yam.

It was sent to me by Marina, who lives (according to the postmark) in Moscow. She writes that there is a lot of snow this winter and it is making the traffic very bad. They have a sausage dog and are looking forward to the arrival of their second dog, an Italian greyhound.

                                          

The stamps are the usual Russian stamps, but nevertheless pretty.

There is more to smile about. With a smile I remember my late dad, whose birthday it would have been today. Having been born in 1923, he would have been 101. 

Here he is many years ago:

And in his later years:

He died in 2010 and I remember him fondly (as I was 'daddy's girl').

What have I been up to this week?

My friends Kim and Andy came on Wednesday and we had lunch together.

Sorry for the messy table. I had made a roast dinner of turkey and roast potatoes. Very nice it was.

 

Andy often does little jobs for me and this time he hung up a jigsaw that I had framed not long ago.

I have all my jigsaw puzzles hanging on the wall of the stairwell:

I should have moved the clothes rack, but tomorrow I have to empty all my clothes from my dressing room so I'm leaving it there for the time being. 

As per usual, I have been able to find some funnies for you. They will come at the end.

For now I will say goodbye, and have a lovely weekend,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 23 January 2024 - T for stamps and chatter

 

Hello lovely peeps, 

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are all well.

I have a postcard to show you which might bring back memories for some of you (older ladies).

Dancing the rock 'n roll with those skirts and petticoats. I remember dressing like that just about.  But I was born in '51 so at the tail end of the petticoats, and as I grew up, it was mini skirts for me. The picture on the card has clearly been taken in a mediterranean country like Italy. It could be Venice, who knows...   

The stamps are beautiful:

The stamp on the left is very nice but I have not been able to find any info about it.

The words translate as Caritas Pantry. Could it be what we call a food bank or a soup kitchen?

The middle stamp is this one:

This one is all about 'Peace'. The text (pokój najwyzsza wartosc ludzkosci) translates as: "Peace, the highest value of humanity"

It was issued together with this stamp about the Ukraine. 

I have just realised that the above stamp is from Lithuania, not Poland. After more digging I found out that practically every European country has a 'Peace' stamp.

The EUROPA stamp theme for 2023 aims to promote Peace - the universal value for all humanity. This was chosen to show solidarity with the postal administration and population of Ukraine in the incredibly challenging circumstances. A contest was held to select a common design to be used by all participating countries. Read more about it here.

The third stamp is very cute:

A commemorative postage stamp to mark the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games has been unveiled here.

It prominently displays the Games mascots Krakusek the dragon and Sandra the salamander.

The mascots were designed by local children during a competition last year.

Legend has it a dragon lived under Kraków's Wawel Royal Castle, and the fire salamander can be found in the Małopolska region.

The Games slogan 'We are Unity' features in the background of the stamp.

European Olympic Committees President Spyros Capralos of Greece signed a large design of the postage stamp at its unveiling.

I haven't really much to report about my life here in Spain. On Tuesday my friend Kim and I went to have our nails done, while Kim's husband cooked our dinner and also put wheels under a chest of drawers, which was a bit of a struggle he told me later.

I went for a pink this time as it's a fun colour in the dark of the winter. I'm still feeling 'under the weather' with a back ache that is annoying, so I have decided not to do any gym or Pilates this week. I'm taking it easy.

Those of you who read my Friday posts will know that a technician came to take the washing machine door away to be repaired, and that I have bought a labelling machine that I'm trying to get to grips with. (I don't understand the instructions).

So far I've managed simple labels and have labeled quite a few of my herbs and spices.

On Thursday I really needed some groceries so I shopped locally. I ended up buying more than I thought I would and I ended up walking home with two heavy shopping bags. I shouldn't really have done that with a bad back, but done is done.

My friend Keren phoned me and we chatted for an hour. That really made me feel better. We also talked about visiting Lisbon in September. I'm excited about that.

Friday I had to go into town as I needed to collect the jigsaw puzzle I had framed and also the wall safe I had ordered:

The blue bits a packaging material. My friend Tam will make a hole in the wall this weekend, so I will have to take everything out of the dressing room!

I stopped for coffee at a bar as I often do when I'm in town:

And of course this can be my ticket to the T-Party, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. 

Saturday was a quiet day. My friend Dian came to visit, and I just stayed indoors. The whole village is partying as it is the fiesta of  San Sebastián, the patron saint. There has been lots going on all week. Fireworks and children's activities etc. They've closed down one street and built a huge marquee. Music is blaring, there are processions (on the Sunday I think) and I generally keep out of the way.

Sunday I went to church and stayed home the rest of the day. The weather is really nice and warm and I sat on the terrace in the sun with a drink. (Sorry to those who are having such awful weather. Here it is unseasonally warm and sunny).

Today, Monday, I stayed at home too. My back is feeling a bit better and I am intending to go to the gym tomorrow.

That was my week. Not very exciting and no photos. But then I didn't go anywhere.

Take care everyone,

Hugs,

Lisca
 

A Postcard A Day - Friday 19 January 2024 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely girls,

Here we are again to list our smiles and think back to the good things that happened this week.

But first I'd like to show you a postcard that arrived this week:

It is entitled "A Fairy Sideshow" by Myka Jelina.

Myka Jelina is a fantasy artist born in 1973 in Gastonia, in the Mountains of North Carolina but currently she’s living in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks. 

Her paintings are easily recognized by eclectic, glossy-eyed beauties poised in intricate scenes of gothic and classical adornment.

She sells a lot of coloring books too:

The card comes to me from Meathiel in Germany.

The stamp is really beautiful and shiny:

The Centennial of the Planetarium 2023 is a special year – the planetarium will be 100 years old. In 1923, a team from the Carl Zeiss company completed the first planetarium based on optical-mechanical light projection in Jena, Germany.

As the stamp is very shiny, it doesn't photograph well. I have found another image from the internet:

In 1923, ZEISS presented the world's first projection planetarium developed for the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The first public demonstration and hence the birth of the modern planetarium took place on this occasion. On 7 May 1925, the ZEISS Planetarium in the Deutsches Museum began regular operation.

Today, as modern high-tech domes, star theaters offer fascinating fulldome shows and are still a crowd puller after 100 years.

What is happening here in Spain? Not much really as I am feeling very tired. I'm usually a bundle of energy but this week I feel exhausted. I have always advised everybody to listen to your body, so that is what I am doing. I'm taking it easy this week and I'm not going to the gym or Pilates.

I have been doing nice things, all of which merit a great big smile. I ordered a labelling machine:

I'm really having fun with that although it is taking me a bit longer to get to grips with it as the instructions are in Italian. Luckily I understand Italian, but I would have preferred English.

The other good thing is that I managed to get a mechanic out to my house to look at the washing machine door. The handle broke the day before Christmas. He has taken the door away and will order a new handle and fix it.

I've also done a bit of baking. (One of my favorite pass times).

Yesterday I baked a kaki cake (persimmon cake):

And earlier in the week I made a pumpkin pie:

It turned out delicious. I made my own pumpkin spice mix from a recipe from Pioneer Woman. That is a blast from the past as I used to follow her website at the beginning, when she started. Apparently she has her own tv show now.

That is all I have to offer today. I will go and join the other ladies at Annie's A Stitch In Time.

Of course I will try to find you some funnies at the end.

Take care,

Hugs,

Lisca