A Postcard A Day - Friday 4 September 2020 - Friday Smiles

 

Good morning lovely ladies! It's Friday again (already. Doesn't the week fly by).

This Friday blog post is all about sharing smiles and about postcards of course.

First off is my postcard for today. It comes from Russia, from Moscow to be precise. It features three Russian beauties. They must be princesses as they look bored and spoilt . They are drinking a hot drink from a samovar, and eating snacks and fruit.

The postage stamp is a pretty classic, and the doggie stamp is not a postage stamp, but I think it's very cute

So what have the smiles been in my week?

Definitely my walks with my friend Antonia. We go walking every Friday and Monday morning. The last couple of weeks we have been going to the sierra, the hills that we see from our window.

This was the UK Bank Holiday weekend, and we should have been in the UK, camping with the family. Above you can see a photo with five of our grandchildren.

Saturday was a big day. We were invited to a small wedding. I had the honour of being 'stand-in' mum to Andres, who's parents couldn't be there.

It was a great wedding, and the food was lovely.

On Sunday hubby had to sort out the coffee grinder part of the coffee maker, which had become a bit clogged up. It's all working fine now.

Another walk on Monday:

The trees are magnificent. The Atlas Cedars (cedrus atlantica) are impressive. They have started to grow little cones.

The encinas (quercus ilex), below, are indigenous here. 

Quercus ilex, the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly. It is a member of the Cerris section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer.

They are protected now as so many were felled during both world wars. Again, they are quite majestic:

I love them. They dot the landscape, often just one or two. They are evergreen and grow quite old and large. I wish they could speak.

Locals from the village of Zarza de Montánchez in Caceres have always known and loved La Terrona , perhaps the oldest and biggest holm oak in Spain. It took a bolt of lightning to bring it to the attention of the outside world. The lightning split the tree in two and almost killed it. Biologists came to the rescue and discovered that the tree is perhaps the oldest and biggest holm oak in the country: it's 16.5m tall, with a girth of 7.8m and is 800 years old. The village's ex-mayor claims they used to be an even bigger one: La Governadora, but it was burnt after also being hit by lightning 27 years ago. Although the biologists may have saved the venerable old tree from a natural death, its newly-found fame has brought new dangers, as unscrupulous tourists are causing serious damage. The Spanish postal service paid tribute to the Terrona in February 2004.

Then on Tuesday hubby and I went to the sierra again, in the car, to collect pine cones to light the fire with. Also little pieces of wood that we use for kindling. We collected six large bags from different locations.

I found an old tin (that must have come out of the campervan as it is an English tin) and I decided I'd better open it and use it. But there was no ring pull! I haven't used a tin opener for years, so it was a bit fiddly. 

Our combi microwave decided to go on strike after we'd accidentally slammed its door a bit too hard. I found an electrician willing to have a look at it and he came on Wednesday.  He took the appliance away with him and I haven't heard anything yet. I must say, it is very awkward cooking without the back-up of my microwave/oven/grill. I use the combi settings quite a lot, especially for jacket potatoes. 

I have since ordered a new oven, and it has arrived yesterday. It has a steam option. Hmm, interesting.

That is it from me this week.Time to visit Annie at A Stitch In Time and Virginia at Rocking Your World Friday.

Of course I will finish with some funnies. (There is a doggie one for Angela)

Take care everyone,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Tuesday 19 April 2016 T for cakes and books and snails having tea

Hello lovely friends, Happy Tuesday to you!

I have some nice postcards for you today. I received so many this week, that I don't know which ones to show you. Here is one:

It came to me from Germany. I put in my profile what sort of cards I like and the theme 'books' is amongst them. Anything to do with books as I am a bookworm. This painting is by Frank Dicey and is called "The Novel, A Lady in a Garden Reading a Book". (1880)
The second one is this:

Again, this comes from Germany and again the theme is books. The text reads:'If you have a garden and a library, then you have everything you need.' I totally agree. There were some garden inspired stamps too:

I have been busy these days uploading all my postcards (1200 odd) onto Flickr. With our slow internet connection it took almost a minute per card but over a whole week I have now done it. Here is the link.
I'm now in the process of putting them (the card images) into appropriate folders. Little by little.

I'm linking up today as usual on a Tuesday with Elizabeth at Altered Booklover. She holds T for Tuesday where we all share something drink related. So here comes postcard number three. It is one that I am sending to Germany. (it's all German today, isn't it):

It's called "He just invited her for tea...." oil on canvas, bu Anna Silivonchik. I love it. I buy my cards online from Russia and they have some really talented artists.

Every Sunday I make a cake of some sort to share at our local church house group:

The base is cake and the top layers are made with greek yoghurt and whipped cream (and gelatine leaves). The coloured layer has instant coffee added to it. So come join us for a herbal tea and a piece of mocca yoghurt cake. Oh, coffee is your drink? Well that can be arranged....

Now I'm off to the hospital for a mammogram, ultrasound and x-ray. All in different departments so I have to queue up three times. This means I'll probably be hanging around all morning. Then my DH is taking me out to lunch so I will be late in commenting today. Will you wait up for me?

I wish everyone a great Tuesday, and I hope to see you all next week,
Blessings,
Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 15 April 2016 - A Giggle a Day Keeps the Blues Away

Good Morning lovely friends,

You are visiting my page! Thank you, it means a lot to me.

Today is Friday (as if you didn't know) and today we think of all the smiles we have had this week.

My big smiles have come from the building work. We have nearly finished building a flat at the top of our house. We moved in after Easter. This is the view from the living room/kitchen:

Last weekend the railings were erected on the terrace. You can see them in the above photo. Next thing will be a sun shade. In the summer it is too hot to sit outside without shade. So next month my DH will erect a frame and put some 'green stuff' over it to keep the sun at bay.

On the right hand side I had a 'bar' made on top of the railing so we can put our drink there or even a plate when BBQ-ing.

There is a ventilation shaft that goes through all four floors of the building and ends here on the roof. We have bought a little 'house' to make it look a bit nicer as it is right next to the terrace:

The bit of building you are looking at here is the garage and the terrace by the garage. That is partly covered. 

Now for my card. This one arrived this week from Switzerland:

It was sent to me by René. It's an image from a time when flying was expensive and for many people just a dream.
The stamp is quite nice too:

75 Years Swiss Merchant Fleet. (I didn't know Switzerland had a merchant fleet, being a land-locked country).

Now let's see if I can find something funny for you to chuckle about:

I got this photo from my friend Anne. She goes to Glastonbury every year. She found this sign in a cafe on the High Street. (and has given me permission to show it you). 

How's my diet going? Not very well. I'm stuck on 61 kg, have been for two weeks. But hey, my flip flops stil fit!

I'm linking up with Annie at Friday Smiles. Do join us if you can and tell us what made you smile.
Later today I will also link up (if I don't forget... apparently I forgot last week) with Virginia  at Rocking Your World Friday.

Have a fab Friday all of you and don't for get to smile!
Lisca

A Postcard A Dat - Friday 8 April 2016 - Friday Smiles

Good Morning! It's Friday again!
For those nine to five people: It's nearly weekend!
I'm retired, and I like Fridays because I get to smile even more joining Friday Smiles at A Stitch In Time.

My card this morning arrived earlier this week from China. It had been raining and the postman throws the mail over the gate onto the patio, so it was a bit wet.... I dried it and pressed it and here it is for you to see:

It is a painting by Vincent van Gogh called Wheat Field with a Reaper (1889). When I looked closely I saw that the reaper was a bunny and that the scene only vaguely looked like the original! That made me smile.
The stamps are beautiful:

I had lots to smile about this week. Since the soggy reaping rabbit, DH has put our new postbox up by our front door! The red one! (I have shown this already)

Also this week my desk has been built. The carpenter came Monday to put it in.

I am super happy! This is where i am sitting at this very moment. You can see the socket hanging from the wall. The desk came exactly onto the socket, so DH ripped it out and will put a new socket (or two)  on the wall.

It's spring and many people have started spring cleaning:

This made me smile because I've been known to do that!

And the next photo is not a funny really but I wanted to share it with you nonetheless:

I do try to shop locally and I know many of you do too.

That is it from me today. 
Wishing you a lovely week with many smiles!
Blessings,
Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 1 April 2016

Good Morning folks. It's the first of April, but I'm not going to play a joke on you. 

Instead let's share some smiles!

Lots of nice things happened this week. On Monday we took our campervan to a repair place on the coast where we were staying. Easter Monday is a normal working day here in Spain, so it was open. Our water pump was not doing its job and we had another one fitted. (No photos as water pumps and repair shops are boring).

We were back home on Tuesday and went to eat lunch at our usual restaurant.

The photo is an older one taken before I had my hair cut. But it's just to show you the inside of the restaurant. We chose to eat in the bar rather than the dining area.

Wednesday DH connected the water in my new kitchen and we prepared to move on Thursday. I unplugged the fridge, and on Thursday morning I moved the contents in two coolboxes and one of our younger neighbours came to help move yesterday. The fridge and sofa have been moved and yesterday I cooked my first meal in the new kitchen: roast chicken and roast potatoes with veg.

The new kitchen is operational. I am still in the process of allocating cupboard space to different things. DH hung up those Ikea bars and hooks. So handy. Here is another photo. I apologise for the bad quality.

Anyway, I am a very happy bunny!
Now for the postcard:

Pussycats! It's a watercolor by artist Alena Dergileva, a Moscow artist, who generally paints the streets of Moscow. The painting is called: "Old Zaraysk. Meeting". Zaraysk is a town 150 km from Moscow. It has some old buildings. 

This could well be the house on the painting....

The stamps are really beautiful:

I always try to find out more about the pretty stamps. The bottom one is from the series arts and crafts, but I don't know what it represents. The top one is from the series Culture of Russian People - National Head dress - Middle of XIX Century, Yaroslavl Province.

I will finish with a funny:

 Read it out loud and... laugh out loud! Got it!

Have a great week everyone, wishing you lots of smiles. I'm linking up with Annie at A Stitch in Time who leads our Friday Smiles. And then later I will link up with Virginia who does Rocking Your World Friday.

Blessings,

Lisca