Second on the second - A post from 2014

This time I have remembered a 2nd on the 2nd! This post is an old one from August 2014. I started blogging in March that year and my blogs were mainly about scrapbooking. This post was an exception and it is about almond trees and almonds. Have a read. You may find it interesting.

Almonds

Hi peeps! Thank you for reading my blog.  Today a little more about our life Spain. It's almond time! The trees are laden with almonds. It is the main crop in this area. There are fields and fields full of almond trees.  Apparently they don't need irrigation. As water is precious in this hot and dry climate, a lot of people grow almonds. There are many almond trees near our house.  The almonds flower in late winter (end Feb beginning of March), and then they slowly mature and round about now their skin bursts open (see photo), and they will fall.  I have collected quite a few in this state. The nut needs to dry for a few days and then I crack/bash the nut and I have a raw almond. I love them roasted in the oven and often just eat them as a snack. But I also love baking so I love using them in and on my cakes.  On an industrial level I don't quite know how it works but I do know that the almonds are exported. It's strange that we can't buy almonds locally. If I need almonds outside this season, I buy them in the supermarket like  everybody else. What we do buy locally are the shells. We use them as fuel for our stoves in winter. My husband and I buy a lorry load between 3 families in September. They get delivered in a friend's back yard and we spend a weekend bagging them up. (a standard bag being about 25 kilos).  Here is a photo of our stove. This particular one is a dual burner. One side burns almond shells and the other side is a wood burner. The wood burner is used most when we need the heating all day in the winter. The almond burner can be lit easily and quickly so is ideal for short periods. But if we have no wood we can burn it all day too. It kicks out a lot of heat, but has to be refilled regularly.  This is my story about almonds. Hope you found it interesting.  Thank you for stopping by, God bless and..... Keep scrapping!  Lisca

A Postcard A Day - 1 July 2016 Friday Smiles

Good Morning! It's Friday again, and here I am telling you what sort of week I have had.(I'll be linking up with Virginia at Rocking your World Friday)

I have had fun taking pictures for the 2016 Summertime Photo Scavengers Hunt organised by Rinda at the Gallo Organico website. Have a look at the site. She lists 21 (not difficult) things to photograph and it is fun to see what other people have made of it.

One of the photos below is going to be entered for the Scavenger Hunt. I will tell you which one when I get to it.

Last week we were invited by (British) friends in the village. We had fun making our own pizzas:

and then baking them in the outdoor oven:

They came out really well! As a surprise they had bought a bottle of Chianti, Italian wine. It was in one of those traditional basket bottles. 

Gosh, that takes me back! (I used to live in Italy in the 70s and 80s). Needless to say we had a great time.

The best thing of all was...

the jacuzzi! I loved it! 

This is the photo for the Scavenger Hunt. Number 9 is "Someone playing with, in, or around water". I think this qualifies.


My postcard this week is one I sent out recently to someone in Canada. 

It is a little girl in a flamenco pose dressed in traditional Andalucian style. Isn't she cute?

And finally something funny I came across:

It did make me smile!

I hope you have all had much to smile about. Why don't you share these things (like I am going to do) with Annie at 'A Stitch In Time'.

Have a great week you'all,
Keep smiling!
Lisca

Photography Scavenger Hunt

Good Morning!
I've decided to join a fun Photography Scavenger Hunt. Maria Ontivero has been doing it for several years now. She gives a lits of 21 subjects that you need to find and photograph before the end of September (well, the equinox). You can link up with a blog or follow on Facebook, or even load photos on a Flickr account.


So, without any further ado, here's this year's lists:
1. A "wild heart" - a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn't have to be a rock)
2. A footprint or pawprint
3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray
4. A book or magazine read during 2016
5. A porch or deck
6. A camper (caravan)
7. A family gathering
8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.
9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.
10. A bicycle
11. Fresh produce
12. A window
13. The moon
14. A buffet of food
15. A team logo
16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period
17. Twins
18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries 
19. A seasonal cocktail or beverage
20. Someone laughing
21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.
Alternatives - if you're having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
alternative 1: a lighthouse
alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)

#2 - A paw print. 
These are the paw prints of our cat Precious in the cement by the front door. We still haven't tiled that part.... (will we ever?)

#18 - a supermarket trolley with shopping.
 This is our trolley at Lidls in Baza. 

#7 - A family gathering.
This was of course my mum's 92nd birthday. Here she is with the birthday cake on our terrace. From left to right: me, my sister, my hubby and my brother in law.

#9 - Someone playing in or by water
. That someone is me in a jacuzzi! Friends of ours in the village have one in their garden. Great fun!

#14 - a buffet of food
Here in rural Spain they don't do many buffets. When there is a party or a fiesta, or any get-to-gether they make a paella. Paella is a traditional rice dish which can contain meat or seafood or both. The yellow color comes from the saffron (strands of a particular crocus flower). Here is my dear hubby (with hat) getting our portion at the village fiesta (the first weekend in June).

This is as far as I got with the photos. I don't want to do them all in one month, so I am spreading them out a bit and hope I will get the heart eventually. 

I am enjoying seeing other people's photos.

Greetings from Spain,
Lisca

WOYWW 369 - watercolors

Good morning deskers,

Here we are again snooping at each others desks. Please join us at What On Your Workdesk Wednesday with a photo of what you have been up to. Lunch Lady Jan has temporarily taken over from our head desker Julia. This is the link.

What have I been up to? This is what my desk looks like:

I've only got a small desk in our living room (my craft room is being tiled.) so not much space. But this week I have been looking at water color tutorials as I really want to have a go at using watercolors. I bought a box of cheap watercolors and brushes (probably not a good idea to buy cheap ones...) and I am in the process of making a tonal swatch.

 It's a Youtube video by esperoart (in English). I've also read a website called 'watercolor painting and projects' .They do several pages about basics for beginners

Last week I showed you the Flow magazine Special Edition about learning to draw. I'm going to use some watercolors there.

Tentatively...

Now that I have read the watercolor basics, I have learnt that it is better to buy good quality watercolor paint because I only need a few colors, as all other colors can be made with those (and they teach how to do that). So please, any of you who know about these things... any advice will be gladly received. Websites, brands, even an online course. Any advice is welcome. I have also noticed that Winsor & Newton have a cheap range called Cotman colors. Any good?

Before I go, here is the postcard that arrived yesterday from Bavaria in Germany. It's an antique dolls house (non specified):

I thought it was real cute. (For anyone interested in receiving and sending postcards, here is the link to Postcrossing.)

Happy WOYWW and have a great week all of you,
Greetings from sunny Spain,
Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday June 28th 2016 -T for cheesecake

Good Morning Tuesday gang!

I've been at it again! Yes, cake making I mean. This time a cheese cake. We were invited to a BBQ/gettogether and I offered to do the dessert.

The bottom part is short crust pastry (you can't see it because of the baking paper lining), then a cooked cheese layer (I use a sort of custard powder as well as fresh cheese from a tub), then the yogurt layer which I have let set with sheets of gelatin. 

Here is my DH cutting the cake. It was very yummy and many people asked for a little piece to take home.

I'm going to link up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard at 
T for Tuesday (that is the link). On Tuesdays we share something with a drink in it. In this photo there are still a few drinks on the table, so it qualifies...

And here is my postcard: 

It is one that I sent out a while ago. Before retiring my DH used to work at Cadbury's. Originally he was a catering chef in the factory restaurant, then when the restaurant was privatized, he worked 10 years in the factory, making chocolate bars. Our house was always full of chocolate! (We had a stash under the stairs). I can't remember how I got this card, but of course it reminded me of DH's years in the factory.

My craft room is still being tiled so I am not doing much crafting. I am itching to start doing the ATCs for July's exchange. I'm also working my way through several online watercolor tutorials. I want to start using watercolors in cardmaking and ATCs. (So watch this space!)

I'll leave it at that.
Have a great week all of you,
Happy T-day,
Blessings,
Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 24 June 2016 Friday Smiles

Good Morning Friday Gang!

How are you all? Keep smiling, as your glass is always half full (if not completely full!)

My week has not been very exciting. After driving mum and my cousin to the airport in Malaga we went shopping at Ikea (yes, that was exciting!) to counteract my acute sadness of saying goodbye to my mum. She is 92 and every goodbye could be the last one... 
We spent too much money, as you do...
I got this little sink & cabinet for the guest bathroom.

The rest of the week was spent tidying up and washing bedding and towels and all the things you do when guests have left.

Here is Spain the schools have broken up and so have all the clubs and associations. So this morning is my last gym for the summer. We will all receive a T-shirt with the name of our group on it and after gym we will go and have breakfast (coffee and a baghette) in a local bar. I have collected money for a present for the teacher and have made a card for us all to sign (and it will be something to put the money in).

Then next week we will all go out for dinner (usually we are about 15 or 16 ladies) Something to look forward to and to smile about.

The other thing I smiled about is my new towel rack! My mum was commenting that she could hardly see my new cooker as I had hung tea towels and oven cloth etc on the rail of my cooker. So when we were at Ikea the other day, we bought one of those racks that pull out. Graham fixed it to the side of a unit this morning and now I have my towel rack and I'm over the moon! (He says I'm easy to please).

Now for my daily postcard:

I happen to like turtles and I put that in my profile of Postcrossing, so I get lots of cards with turtles. Fab! This turtle has company. It was sent by Petra in Germany. She used some lovely stamps:

Flowers and baby squirrels. Cute factor 10.

Now to finish a smile factor:

For the non-Brits, H&S stands for Health and Safety. These health and safety regulations have become more and more ridiculous. I'm sure you have them in other countries in the world. They are almost impossible to comply with and there is so much paperwork involved too. This man has clearly had enough!

That's it from me this morning. I'm going to find a news channel on my computer (we don't have tv) to see what the result is of the Brexit Referendum. It will affect us even though we don't live in the UK. 

Wishing you a good week with lots of smiles,
and blessings.

Lisca

WOYWW 368

Good Morning fellow deskers! It's Wednesday again and it's the day we all share what's on our desk. LunchLadyJane is kindly hosting while our host Julia is recuperation from her op. But LLJ has herself had a difficult week, so big hugs coming your way LLJ together with a huge Thank You.

Here is what I've been doing:

I might have shown you my Flow magazine Special Edition about learning to draw. I have started tentatively with a pencil and I plan to start getting some paints out soon. Exciting!

Even more exciting are the 'far-away' ATCs that have finally arrived this week from the other side of the world:

They were definitely worth waiting for! From top left: Lynne Mizera, Sharon K with lovely envelope, and Kelly. the bottom two are LisaDa (left) and Bridget Larssen(R). Thank you girls! Each one of them is a work of art! 
Lynne had also made a beautiful home made card with "believe" on it but it wasn't on my desk just now when I made the photo (Where the b... is it?) The quote on Lisa's card reads:"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain." That is so true.

Bridget also enclosed a postcard I love Queensland:

Which reminds me to show you a Postcrossing postcard. This one arrived from Portugal earlier this week:

I love doors and windows, and this card shows a selection of windows in Lisbon.
The stamps are beautiful too:

The one on the right is about traditional ceramics and the one on the left shows snowboarding, which I am not sure they do in Portugal. Have they got high mountains in Portugal? Perhaps they do, after all we have a ski resort here in Granada.

That's it from me today. I apologise that I have not been able to get around many desks last week, as my mum was visiting and time with her is precious. Today I will do my best to visit many if not all of you.

Happy WOYWW,

Blessings,

Lisca