A Postcard A Day - Friday 31 October 2025 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely ladies,

Although Annie no longer posts her Friday Smiles, I like to continue the theme because I think it's important we remember good times, concentrate on the smiles and think positive. 

Here is another postcard that made me smile:

It's the naughty Aunties, causing havoc again with their antics. They always made me smile. They are the creation of Finnish illustrator Inge Löök.

The card was sent to me from Germany from a lady called Elisabeth (like me). She writes that Elisabeth means 'wellbeing'. She also writes that she loves doing Patchwork.

The stamps are beautiful:

The two stamps on the right are the post/mail inspired stamps. If you look carefully you can see the water lily is made of envelopes and the fish and his environment is made of stamps. Clever.

Charlie Chaplin of course is in a league of his own. On this occasion, it's a stamp with an extra charge which goes to charity (Welfare Services).

There is another stamp:

On the left is a stamp featuring Grethe Weiser, who turns out to have been an actress.

I had never heard of her so I Googled her:

Wikipedia says: Born in Hanover, in 1903, she spent her childhood in Dresden. She escaped from her dominant and sometimes violent father by marrying a Jewish confectionery manufacturer in 1920. Her only child, a son, was born in 1922. Quite quickly she established herself in the cabaret scene in Berlin, especially after her husband became a leaseholder of a nightclub on the Kurfürstendamm. Her film debut came soon after in 1927.

Weiser had a lifelong relationship with Hermann Schwerin, a UFA film producer, which began in 1934, but the couple were not married until 1958. Her previous marriage had been dissolved in 1934. Weiser avoided becoming a member of the Nazi Party. She managed to finance and arrange for her previous husband and her son to survive the Nazi years in Switzerland, as well as at the same time continue her career in Germany.

She died in 1970, after a road traffic accident, aged 67.

This is her in Berlin in 1932. Isn't that reminding you of Liza Minelli in the film Cabaret? Who knows if the writers of the film were inspired by Grethe...

Now, what have I been doing? Well, my car has been repaired. I wrote in my previous post that I had found the wheel rim that I had lost, at a junk yard:

There's a body repair shop a few minutes walk from my house. The guy there, José, promised to put it on for me and glue the rear one as well as it was kept in place by sticky tape.

He told me later it wasn't an easy job, but it's done!

Done!! Finally! Now I only need to take my car to the car-wash and I will be very happy.

My friends Kim and Andy came for lunch on Tuesday (as they do every Tuesday) and we cooked leg of lamb. 

I cooked bulgur and vegetables as side dished. 

I will look for some funnies to add at the end, but here is a photo of Ronnie, stretched out on the couch (he makes me smile:

In the meantime, keep smiling!

Have a great weekend,

Lisca

Mamma bird protecting her brood from the storm.

Yep, I still got one of those!

 

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 28 October 2025 - T for chestnuts and wine, a pizza and the breakers yard.

 Hello lovely girls! How are you all? The sun is shining and I am healthy, so I am fine.

I have a lovely postcard to show you today. I thought I was receiving my first postcard from Algeria. But no, it is advertising Algeria, but sent to me by Bettina in Switzerland:

It's a travel poster created by Léon Georges Carré (1878-1942) in 1921. It advises people interested in traveling to Algeria, to get in touch with the Algerian government office in Paris. 

The poster is entitled Hivernage Tourisme.

Hivernage was the practice in the French Army of withdrawing sub-Saharan African colonial troops from colder theatres to overwinter in warmer climates. With respect to modern-day tourism it probably means that tourists from colder Northern countries come to spend the winter (or part of the winter) in warmer climes.

The stamp is also quite pretty:

It is created by Micha Rindisbacher and features a gletcher. 

It is part of a set of four

Post CH writes: This stamp set launched in 2024 focuses on the most beautiful and best known Swiss attractions. In 2025, the themed journey will once again stop at four tourist hotspots. The first of them is the federal city of Bern with its mediaeval old town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.(top left) Another UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Aletsch Arena, a skiing and hiking area offering breathtaking views of the largest glacier in the Alps. (Bottom left) Just as spectacular are the views from the Aescher-Wildkirchli mountain inn, set into the rock face in Alpstein in the Appenzell region. (Top right) The fourth design shows Valle Verzasca in Ticino, with its turquoise water, picturesque villages and impressive stone bridges.(Bottom right)

What's been happening here in Spain? I saw some chestnuts for sale locally. And I fancied chestnuts, so I bought a bag. When I got them home, I realized I couldn't eat them all on my own, so I messaged my friends J & B to come and help me eat them. They arrived with a bottle of red wine:

I don't drink red wine very often but this one was delicious.

I soaked and scored the chestnuts before my friends arrived as that is the worst job. Then I popped them in the air fryer when they arrived. I think they only took 20 minutes:

Very nice they were.

 

Then on Saturday I went to eat pizza locally with David and Patricia:

We had two different ones which we shared between us. I like a Pizza Hawaii and I hope my Italian son will forgive me (The Italians don't like that as it's not Italian. Pineapple on pizza! What has the world come to!)

My glass of white wine was nearly empty when I remembered to take a picture. It is after all T for Tuesday hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard and I need a beverage....

When I was in Jerez the other day enjoying a little holiday, the wheel rim came off my car. It had been loose and I had it stuck back on. Obviously it didn't hold as it fell off somewhere. 

This morning I went to the breakers yard (junk yard) to get another one. That was an experience. There is one nearby, but I'd never been there.

It's a huge place.

This is the department I had to go to.

Unbelievable! Anyway, of course they had what I was looking for and tomorrow a local mechanic is going to sort out both wheels.

I've been preparing the top flat this morning as I'm having Homeexchange visitors later today, and I took this picture out of the window. The sun is shining, but we really could do with some rain.

That is it from me this morning.

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 24 October 2025 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely peeps,

Happy Friday! And I'm looking back on my week (weekend in this case) to show you the things that made me smile.

For many people it's Halloween season. I don't 'do' Halloween but I have an orange  image for you:

California poppies are beautiful. They remind me of Tenerife (Canary Isles), where they grow in abundance. They are an imported and sometime invasive species there so not welcome everywhere, but I enjoyed their bright colour.

It is not easy to read because of the cancellation. It reads: Eschscholzia californica: Chamisso, the German naturalistn who found the California poppy on San Francisco's sand dunes in 1816 and named it for his expedition's surgeon, Eschscholz, could not have guessed that a century later it would be the state flower of California. Well chosen too, for in its superb beauty and abundance within the state ithas no peers.

The stamp is the run-of-the-mill round stamp but it's a gerbera and as such my favorite. The colour is spot-on too!

What's been happening here? Well, on Saturday I went on a sourdough workshop in a village 40 min drive from here. My daughter was supposed to come too, but she fell ill and had to cancel her flights.

It was led by a young Belgian couple (Pieter and Ine) in their garden. He had prepared several 'stations' on a large table.

We were 12 people, 5 Belgians, 3 Dutch (me included), and a family of 4 from India who lived in Madrid.

After the introductions and the mixing of the dough, we were treated to some home made snacks.

Sourdough takes a long time, so in between stages, Pieter would show us around the farm and we helped him to harvest some almonds.

Lunch was sourdough pizza, all different toppings, made by Ine, seen here (above) in the picture.

She also made these amazing salads. One of them is made with pickled veggies and the other with fermented vegetables. This was advertising their fermenting workshop in February I think.

In between all the 'doings' with the bread, we went for a walk along the (dry) riverbed and collected black berries. Because of the climate these are small and dryish. Perfect for using in the cinnamon rolls we (collectively) made with some of the dough. The berries were used in stead of raisins.

Cut up into slices.

On the oven tray.

In the meantime, we had put our breads in the baskets.

And Pieter was busying himself with the oven.

The exciting moment: the breads are being put into the oven.

Meanwhile the cinnamon rolls had risen and one of the children was allowed to eggwash them.

I think they're done!

Oh yess! They were absolutely amazing!

I forgot to take any pictures of the bread coming out of the oven as I had to leave early. So I grabbed my bread and left.

Our Intercambio group were meeting in Baza, our nearby town, to go to a concert.

It was all about the cultural history of Andalusia (Muslim, Christian and Jewish).

Here is a Youtube link to here what they sound like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blmtolw_bGI&list=RDblmtolw_bGI&start_radio=1

And another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO3A54JMCzY&list=RDp0CmTR4Al9M&index=3

It was a beautiful concert. We all enjoyed it very much.

That's about it from today I think. Ronnie is sitting next to me on the table:

If only cats could smile..... (They wouldn't, just to be awkward).

Time to say goodbye .

Lisca