A Postcard a Day - Friday 4 March - Friday Smiles

Good Morning Friday Smilers!

It reads: Happy Friday to you.

My postcard for today comes from Russia. To be precise from Nadya, who lives in Ekaterinburg.

It is an image of the German  figure Mecki and written underneath is: "He that seeks will find".

The stamps are interesting too:

The one on the right looks like it is featuring a blood donor session. The other ones are from the series of 'kremlins' or fortified castles. The bottom one is the Moscow Kremlin and the top one is Rostov.

My week has been very exciting as the flat is really taking shape. The kitchen is nearly finished. I was hoping the carpenter would finish today, but he has been making the drawers and putting up shelves and hiding the tube from the extractor fan. 

Most of the doors are in. Later on today he will come and finish and then I have to wait until the 15th when the granite worktop will be delivered. As you can see the little stepladder takes prime place there on the right. As I am 5 ft nothing I will need it for every wall cabinet! lol.

We had the kitchen made of the same wood as the ceiling so it matches. Now it's just waiting for the granite...

But still, I am smiling from ear to ear. Have you got anything to smile about? Then please share it at Annie's blog.

I found some funnies again for you:

I smiled when I read this.

And then this modern day parable (You might have come across this one already, but I want to share it with you in case you haven't):

Parable for today

An aeroplane was about to crash; there were five passengers on board but only four parachutes.

The first passenger Holly Madison said, "I have my own reality show and I am the smartest and prettiest woman at Playboy, so Americans don't want me to die." She took the first parachute and jumped out of the plane.

The second passenger John McCain said, "I'm a senator and a decorated war hero from an elite navy unit in the United States of America." He grabbed the second pack and jumped.

The third passenger, Donald Trump, said, "I am going to be the next president of the United States, I am the smartest man in our country and I will make America great again." So he grabbed the pack next to him and jumped out.

The fourth passenger, Billy Graham, said to the fifth passenger, a ten year old schoolgirl, "I have lived a full life and served my God the best I could. I will sacrifice my life and let you have the last parachute."

The little girl said, "That's okay, Mr Graham. There's a parachute left for you. The smartest man in America took my schoolbag."

I don't envy you guys in the States. Mr Trump comes across (here in Europe) as a bit of an idiot, hence the joke. Please don't be offended if you are one of his followers. I mean no harm.

That's it from me today. Happy Friday.

Have a fun weekend and a great week ahead.

Blessings,

Lisca

WOYWW 352 embroidery

Hi everyone! Here is my contribution to What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, headed by our chief 'desker' Julia Dunnit at Stamping Ground. 

There is nothing on my desk this morning, so no photo of that. But I will show you what I am doing at the moment. 

Last year I joined an embroidery circle in the village. Embroidery is something I had never done before (apart from cross stitch, but that doesn't count as embroidery according to the 'experts'). 

I started last year by buying some heavy bordeaux (wine) colored material for a table cloth. 

Then I chose a motif

 and yarn,  and I have been dutyfully embroidering every Tuesday evening for two hours. I've unpicked it about four times but now I am happy with the 'fill-ins'. This is the result so far:

I work on this table cloth when I am with the ladies. 

At home I am working on this linen hand towel. It's cross stitch so I don't dare bring it to the group.

This side is finished and I am in the process of finishing the other side. I would like it to go in my new bathroom, so I better hurry up!

Our new place is coming on steadily. My DH is working on the bathroom, but as this week is such glorious sunny weather, he has decided to tile the big terrace. So the bathroom is as yet unfinished. 

The kitchen is taking shape. The carpenter has delivered and put up the carcasses of the kitchen units. 

And today he will come and do the doors. (photos on this Friday's blog). We have ordered the granite worktop yesterday. So we're getting there!

That's it for today. 

Wishing you all a great week.

Happy WOYWW,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 1 March - T for Finnish coffee, new kitchen and some weird stuff

It seems I only blinked since New Year's Day and now it is March! Time flies! What's more... it's Tuesday!

Here is my postcard for today:

It's from Finland and features the famous Paula-girl. The Paula girl advertised the Paulig brand coffee and was always dressed in national costume. This photo/advert is from 1950. It was sent to me by Ritva, a lady the same age as me. She writes that the temperatures are 2 degrees C. Brrr!
She has used a beautiful stamp:

I'm going to link up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard at Altered booklover for our weekly gathering T for Tuesday. Please join us if you have anything to share with a drink in it.

My most exciting news is that the kitchen cabinets that the carpenter is making, have been put up (albeit without doors) but it gives me an idea of how my kitchen is going to look. The doors are going to be of solid wood but the cabinet carcasses not as you can see. (would be too heavy).

Tomorrow he is going to bring the doors, a few more shelves, the sink and the cooker hood. I can't wait! When that is done we can order the granite worktop. I hope that doesn't take too long...

I subscribe to a website called The Graphics Fairy to get daily free vintage images (that I can use in scrapbooking). This is what I got last week:

She is called the Sugar bowl girl and originally was a table place card with the name of the person sitting in that place written on the empty card.

Here is her male counter part:

He is a quirky teapot boy. (He looks quite distressed) Quirky? I call that weird!

That is it from me today. Happy T-day all of you.

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - 26 Feb 2016 - ice skating, battle of Waterloo, a crew cut and some funnies

Good Morning!

How has your week been? Lots of smiles? My week has been lovely. I'll tell you all about it. First off the postcard:

An ice skating scene from 1925! What fun! It comes to me from Belgium from someone called Filip. He uses a nice stamp too:

2015 was the 200 year anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. (Waterloo being in Belgium). The image is of the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley.
Here is some info (from Wikipedia) on that if you are interested. If not please fast-forward to the next paragraph.

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition: an Anglo-allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt .

Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilize armies. Wellington and Blücher's armies were cantoned close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them in the hope of destroying them before they could join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. Napoleon abdicated 4 days later, and on the 7 July coalition forces entered Paris.

 Our building work is progressing. The carpenter let me know that he will bring us the kitchen units on Monday or Tuesday. And the solar panel that my DH has erected is now working. Hurray! We have hot water in the bedroom toilet. The bathroom is not ready yet but will soon.

I have had my hair cut super short! 

I was fed up with having to blow dry my hair every time in a cold bathroom. 

The weather here is still very mild and sunny. (They say we are going to have snow this weekend... seeing is believing). But I spotted a few freesias that are flowering on my patio.

There are three: two red and a purple. Very nice surprise.

As usual I have collected a few funnies. I did quite like this one:

I am linking up with Annie at Friday Smiles and with Virginia at Rocking your World Friday. Please join us for the fun.

...One last one...

Have a great week, and keep smiling!

Blessings,

Lisca

WOYWW 351 - new material and lots of baking

Good Morning deskers! How are you all? Ready for a nosey bloghop? This is the bloghop where we all look at each other's desks to see what we are up to. 
(Want to know more? Goto Stamping Ground where Julia will explain it all).

This is part of my desk today.

It is the other side of my desk where my sewing machine is. I have bought some material recently and I have spread it out a bit for you to see. It is traditional Andalucian  curtain material that is used in caves for curtains  between rooms . (not all caves have doors to the rooms). I am going to use it to make a bag for my lace making cushion to replace the one that had been nibbled by mice. I really like the bright colors. I have a little bit of orange colored material I bought a few weeks back. I'll use that for the lining.The material is 2 m wide so I have enough left to do a cover for my sewing machine which is much needed as you can see. 

I've also been doing my jigsaw, which is now finished:

I love baking and I can't wait for my new kitchen to be ready so that I can use my new large oven to bake lots of nice things. This weekend I made a cake with fruits of the forest and cream. I had some cream which was nearing its use-by date so I found this recipe of a cake made with cream. 

It was nice but it didn't taste much different to a cake without cream (perhaps a bit heavier).
While I was at it I also made loads of muffins, also with the fruits of the forest. I had a whole pack of fruit in the freezer which I defrosted, so I had to use them up. (Well, that's my excuse...)

Has anyone heard of 'Farinata'? No, I hadn't either despite my years of living in Italy. It's a pizza without topping, made with chick pea flour (garbanzo flour). As I have a wheat intolerance, I'm experimenting with different flours to bake nice things. (I don't get to eat any of the cakes I make. I allow myself one bite to find out what it tastes like. That's it).
Here is the farinata I made. It was gorgeous:

 Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Sorry to have gone a bit off topic with my baking.... Is your mouth watering?

I'll leave it at that. Wishing you all happy WOYWW a good week ahead.

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - 23 Feb 2016 - T for coffee cups and almond blossom

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday to you!

I've come to share a cuppa with you. And perhaps a cupcake or two....
(The Spanish translated: 'today is Tuesday and I'm passing by to say hi')

This was our breakfast this morning. We go and eat at a restaurant every Tuesday, so our Tuesday breakfasts are kept light. Yummy strawberries with quark.

My drink is a naughty Chai tea. Naughty because i am on a diet and I shouldn't have Chai  as this particular brand is sweetened.
I will be linking up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard for T for Tuesday. Please join us with a drink, any drink.

I just wanted to share the fact that the almond trees are in bloom. Always so beautiful and a herald to the spring. Every February I marvel at the sight of so many trees and blossom. Our whole area is full of almond trees. Spain is the world's largest producer of almonds with California a close second. 
I did not take this photo, but I wanted to show you what our country side looked like last week.

Now for my card:

This one comes from Latvia. (Near Estonia and Lithuania). The info on the card reads: "Set of dishes for coffee. Painted with motivs of Latvian national songs. Author: Tamara Meija (1913-?), 'M.S. Kuznecovs' Porcelain, Faience and Ceramic Factory".
Beautiful, isn't it.
It was sent to me by Zane, who is a fellow crafter. (female) and an amateur photographer.

Well, I'm going to have my shower now and get dressed. The restaurant is out of town, about half an hours drive. On the way we will pass a large supermarket and we'll do the shopping. Then we will pass at our holiday home to check the mail and see if the electricity is back on. (there was no power last week). After the meal out, we'll drive home again and it will be time for my embroidery class. I'm not going to get home until 7 pm tonight. (So sorry if I am late commenting...)

Happy T-day and have a great week,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Friday 10 Feb 2016 Friday smile, postcard, blossom and ice

Good morning lovely people!

It's Friday again. Are you all feeling positive ? Are you all smiling? If you are not, please read on as I'm sure I can coax a little smile out of you.

My postcard today comes from Germany. It is a famous photo of the workmen with their lunch boxes apparently very high in the sky on a metal beam. 

 I get vertigo just looking at it!
The stamps are beautiful. I like it when people make an effort to find nice stamps.

The three flowers are from left to right: crocus, tagetes (marigold) and tulip. The other stamp is the city of Dresden, a view of the city and the river Elbe.

The weather has turned nasty here. All of a sudden it is cold. Last week we saw this:

Almond blossom.
Yesterday, after the frost we saw this:

It's not the same tree. This is an olive tree with ice on it. Luckily the harvest is over. I didn't take this picture, but it was taken not far from our house.

We have struggled to keep the two stoves going with the gales and we ended up buying new 'hats' for our chimney pipes, which did help. When there is a gale blowing we get a lot of smoke being driven into the house instead of out! Makes my eyes water. 

I have shared this already on Tuesday, but it is such positive news that I will mention it again: We have got compensation after our flight to Holland in December was delayed. A lot of money! After commission we got 569 Euros! So if anyone (in Europe) has had their flight delayed or has not been able to board due to overbooking, fill in the online form at flightright.com. They are very efficient and fast. Airlines have to compensate by law, and this company does the claim for you. All you have to do is fill out the details and wait. That is worth the commission I think. We are over the moon with the money. That paid for my new cooker, lol.

 I'm going to finish with a joke. Or did it really happen? Any woman who has been to the gynaecologist can imagine this situation. I wet myself when I read this:

I was due for an appointment with the gynaecologist later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor’s office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45 am. The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn’t have any time to spare. As most women do, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn’t going to be able to make the full effort.

So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pyjamas, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in that area to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.
I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I’m sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away.
I was a little surprised when the doctor said, “My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven’t we?” I didn’t respond.

After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal .. Some shopping, cleaning, cooking. After school when my 6 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, “Mommy, where’s my washcloth?”

I told her to get another one from the cupboard.

She replied, “No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it.”

Never going back to that doctor again……….. never..

(Linking up with Annie at A Stitch in Time for Friday Smiles)

Have a great week, you'all.

Blessings,

Lisca