A POstcard A Day - Friday 8 August 2025 - Friday Smiles

 

Good morning lovely girls! Here I am to tell you about the smiles of the past week, but first there's a cute postcard:

It was sent by Veronica who lives in Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. Pilsen is famous for its Pilsner beer.

Wikipedia writes:

Pilsen is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about 78 kilometres (48 miles) west of Prague.

The city is known worldwide as the home of Pilsner beer, created by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll in the city in 1842;

today, the Pilsner Urquell Brewery is the largest brewery in the Czech Republic.

Pilsner Urquell is the world's first golden pilsner, the source of inspiration for all pilsner beers since 1842. It inspired a worldwide brewing revolution – over 70% of all beer drunk today is in the pilsner style lager.

The stamp is an interesting one:

Oh, sorry, that is a bit out of focus. Rather than take another picture, I found one on the Internet:

Wikipedia writes: Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central thinkers of the Enlightenment.

Wikipedia writes: Immanuel Kant's main philosophical focus was on transcendental idealism, which explores the relationship between experience and reason, and deontology, a moral philosophy centered on duty and the categorical imperative. He sought to reconcile empiricism and rationalism, arguing that knowledge is derived from both sensory experience and innate mental structures. His work also significantly impacted political philosophy, advocating for a world of constitutional republics and international cooperation. 

Heavens! That was a bit too highfaluting for me. Too many isms.I searched 'Kant simple' and got this: Kant's ethical theory is that morality is grounded in rationality and that any ethical principles must apply both universally and unconditionally. Kant emphasized rationality and autonomy, arguing that individuals must act without regard to personal desires or incentives.

What have I been doing? On Saturday, after our weekly Intercambio (language exchange) session, a few of us went to La Montija restauant in Baza.

They have a lovely outside seating area and one of their specialities is baked potato. I wrote about it on Tuesday.

Sunday is church and the rest of the week was generally relaxing.

I've been watching quite a bit of tv, and trying to rest after a very hectic July. 

I've started watching a tv program called Destination X, (BBC), a reality show where a group of people have to guess where they are based on clues they  earn through challenges or just through observation. It's a bit like the Traitors where  there is a lot of scheming and deviousness going on.

I'm also watching Sommerdal Murders on CH4.

They are doing season 6 but I've only just finished viewing season 1. 

Inspector Dan Sommerdal (on the right), his pathologist wife Marianne and their best friend Flemming (left).

The series is entirely filmed in Helsingør (Elsinore), Denmark, and the plot revolves around the fictionalized killings that take place in the town.

IMDb writes: "The Sommerdahl Murders" follows DCI Dan Sommerdahl as he investigates murders in the Danish coastal town of Helsingør, alongside his best friend, Detective Flemming Torp, and his wife, criminal technician Marianne. The series explores the complexities of their personal lives, as Dan and Marianne's marriage is strained, and Dan discovers Flemming is his romantic rival. The show balances murder mysteries with character-driven drama, including themes of betrayal and personal decline according to Nordic Watchlist. "

In my village we are celebrating the yearly Feria. 

It's an annual week-long festival 

of music, food, flowers, rides, sports events, fireworks, 

dancing. 

People come form far

 and wide and party all through the night.

This was the stage in front of the town hall the other 

night.

Tonight (Thursday) I'm going to see Maria del Tango, 

my favorite local singer:

That is all for today. Of course there will be some funnies at the end.

Have a lovely weekend!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 5 August 2025 - T for snow, stamps and breakfast

 Hello lovely peeps,

Is it as hot over yours as it is here? I hope not. We are having an exceptionally hot summer. I can really feel the global warming already.

Well, I have a postcard to cool you down:

It was sent to me by Scott, who lives in Oak Ridge,Tennessee. He posted this in an envelope and also wrote me a letter, in which he tells me that he is working as a secretary at the local Democratic Party. The postcard features the Arboretum of the University of Tennessee.

The stamps   on the envelope are stunning. There are six in total. The first four are these:

They are beautiful flowers. A stamp website explains more about these:

A new series of low denomination stamps will debut in 2024. Each stamp will showcase a different flower design: 1-cent fringed tulip, 2-cent daffodils, 3-cent peonies, 5-cent red tulips and 10-cent poppies and coneflowers. Photographer Harold Davis combines innovative technology with digital painting and photographic techniques to arrive at his unique floral designs.

Also on the same envelope are two more stamps:

On the left is John Lewis. I had to look this man up as I had never heard of him. The USPS website writes: A key figure in some of the most pivotal moments of the Civil Rights Movement, John Lewis was the face of the Nashville Student Movement, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, an original Freedom Rider, and one of the keynote speakers at the historic 1963 March on Washington. Even in the face of hatred and violence, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call “good trouble.”

Devoted to equality and justice for all Americans, Lewis spent more than 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he helped achieve in the 1960s. He was a staunch and unwavering believer in and advocate for nonviolent protests. The recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees, he was called a “saint” by Time magazine and “the conscience of the Congress” by his colleagues.

The lady on the right is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. CNN writes:

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be honored with a new postage stamp in 2023, the US Postal Service announced Monday.

Ginsburg, a longtime liberal member of the high court who died at age 87 in 2020, will be featured on a forever stamp that shows an oil painting of her “facing the viewer in her black judicial robe with an intricate white collar,” USPS said in a statement. Such collars came to be an iconic part of the late justice’s wardrobe.

“After beginning her career as an activist lawyer fighting gender discrimination, Justice Ginsburg became a respected jurist whose important majority opinions advancing equality and strong dissents on socially controversial rulings made her a passionate proponent of equal justice and an icon of American culture,” the statement said.

What an amazing woman! 

What have I been doing this week? Last week my eldest son came to visit with his wife and two boys (see Friday's blog) and I drove them back to the coast, before they got their flight on Sunday. On the way back I broke my journey (I don't really like driving long distances on my own) at an English restaurant for some fish & chips:

I substituted the chips for a salad. There is a nearly empty glass of alcohol free beer, which will be my 'ticket' for the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard.

On Saturday we got together for Intercambio where English speakers practice their Spanish and Spanish practice their English. A new couple have joined us since a few months. They come from Barcelona. Normally we would go for a drink after the session, but this time they had their daughter with them and they proposed to go to a nice restaurant and invited me along. 

The entrance had a beautiful flower bush with orange flowers. I think it's a trumpet vine, but not sure.

We had baked potatoes, for which this place is famous. But we also had some grilled meat but I didn't take photos. (I forgot).

I took a photo of my breakfast this morning:

You can see the envelope with the beautiful stamps lying next to my plate. I had toast with avocado and an egg.

That's it from me today. 

I sincerely hope they're not biting. Luckily we don't have a problem here. It's too dry. Mosquitos need water and it's too dry here.

Happy T-Day,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 1 August 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

Again, we have arrived at the end of the (working) week. It's Friday and time to relax!

Let me show you a fun postcard that arrived this week:

The image shown is made by a technique called quilling.

I know about quilling. I did a bit myself back in the day. 

The Internet says about quilling:

Quilling, also known as paper filigree, is an art form where strips of paper are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. These designs can be used to embellish a variety of items, from greeting cards and pictures to boxes and jewelry. It's a versatile craft with a long history, offering a wide range of creative possibilities. 

Has any of you done this?

And the subject is a tortoise! I love turtles and tortoises. 

World Postcard Day is on the first of October, so that is a bit early. It was written by Aga, who tells me she had ordered these postcards for the occasion of WPD but liked this one so much that she couldn't resist sending it early.

Why the first of October? If you look up World Postcard Day, this will appear:

In Austria-Hungary, Dr. Emanuel Herrmann (a professor of Economics from Vienna) wrote an article in the Neue Freie Presse pointing out that the time and effort involved in writing a letter was out of proportion to the size of the message sent. He suggested that a more practical and cheaper method should be implemented for shorter, more efficient communications.

His recommendations impressed the Austrian Post, who put them to practice on October 1st 1869, resulting in the Correspondenz-Karte, a light-brown 8.5x12cm rectangle with space for the address on the front, and room for a short message on the back. The postcard featured an imprinted 2 Kreuzer stamp on top right corner, costing half the price of a normal letter.

The postcard was born!

The stamps are gorgeous!

You can tell by the stamps that the card comes to me from Poland. Stamps from left to right:

A stamp with stylised mountains, the Carpathian Mountains. Google writes:

The Carpathian Mountains form a 1,500km-long range in Central and Eastern Europe. They stretch west to east in an arc from the Czech Republic to Romania. The Tatra range between Slovakia and Poland is a national park and has several peaks above 2,400 meters. More than half of the Carpathian range lies in Romania, where spruce forests are home to brown bears, wolves and lynxes. ― Google 

The next one is about archeological discoveries and the image is the Biskupin Archeological Museum.

Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of a late Bronze Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland that also serves as an archaeological open-air museum. Wikipedia

Underneath that stamp is a smaller one that reads (translated): European tree of the year. Common beech. Atropunicea. Wojslawice Arboretum, University of Wrocław.

The term "common beech atropunicea" refers to the Purple Beech, a cultivar of the European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) known for its distinctive purple foliage. It is also sometimes referred to as the Copper Beech. The "atropunicea" part of the name indicates the purple (atropurpurea) coloration of the leaves. 

The last stamp is the butterfly. 

It shows a Ornithoptera Priamus, a widespread species of birdwing butterfly found in the central and south Moluccas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, and north-east Australia.

Enough about stamps. What have I been up to here in Andalusia? Our eldest son came to visit me with his wife and two boys. They had planned a visit a few years back but Covid ruined that, and although they got paid back the money for their flights, somehow it never happened. But this time it did. They had booked a nice hotel on the coast to give their boys some time to horse around in the pool. Then I drove to Mojácar (120 km) to pick them up and they stayed three days here. Yesterday I drove them back. We all had a great time.

Here they all are on my terrace.

Here I've joined them in the photo.

Here we are about to embark on a night walk for charity.

There were lots of people and we are somewhere in this photo (at the back). It was a cancer charity.

And last but not least, my daughter in law with Ronnie the cat. 

That's it from me today. I'll put some funnies at the end for some giggles.

Have a lovely weekend,

Lisca