A Postcard A Day - Friday 16 July 2021 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

Another Friday Smiles blog. We have plenty to smile about. Have you? 

A card in my mailbox always makes me smile. Today I want to share a beautiful postcard from Florida, USA. It features an aerial view of Everglades National Park which reveals the distinctive profiles of hammocks. These mounds of dry land support an array of subtropical life.

The National Park website gives me this info: A hardwood hammock is a dense stand of broad-leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of only a few inches in elevation. Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other Everglades ecosystems. In the deeper sloughs and marshes, the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape.

Many tropical species such as mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) grow alongside the more familiar temperate species of live oak (Quercus virginiana), red maple (Acer rubum), and hackberry (Celtis laevigata). This diverse assemblage of plant life supports an equally diverse array of wildlife.

Because of their slight elevation, hammocks rarely flood. Acids from decaying plants dissolve the limestone around each tree island, creating a natural moat that protects the hammock plants from fire. Shaded from the sun by the tall trees, ferns and airplants thrive in the moisture-laden air of these hammocks.

The stamps on this card are beautiful. I am particularly interested in the large one with an image of nuclear physicist Chien.Shiung Wu.

Wikipedia writes this about her:

Chien-Shiung Wu ( May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process for separating uranium into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie. Her nicknames include the "First Lady of Physics", the "Chinese Madame Curie" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research"

I love to read about women who have accomplished great things in a time when women weren't allowed to do much. That makes me smile indeed.

What have I been up to this past week?

On Friday morning I went walking with my friend and her dog. We came past a herb processing plant. They grow lots of herbs around here: Lavender, Thyme, oregano, majoram and rosemary etc. The JBC was lifting herbs into a sort of burner (there was smoke) .

On Saturday morning we went walking again and we met this man and his donkey (with a sweet young lady). 

In the evening it started to rain, but that didn't last more than 10 minutes, so we could have our 'Intercambio' meeting in the park. (English speakers that want to practice Spanish, and Spanish speakers that want to practice English)

Sunday was very hot again (40 degrees) and we watched the church services. I also baked a cake in the evening as well as a courgette gratin as we were given a huge courgette.

On Monday hubby had rented a lorry plus driver to go and get some greenhouse frames that were for sale secondhand. It also had the netting to cover it.

On Tuesday we had lunch at our favorite restaurant. Outside the restaurant was a peach vendor. He also sold cherries. So we bought a kilo of each. He grows them locally.

I received a parcel from the USA with a vintage mini loom in it. I will tell you more about that in my Tuesday blog.

I'm getting ready for a visit from my sister and her husband. Here hubby is putting up a hand rail in the shower and also two towel rails in the bathroom. 

Then yesterday we went into Baza to collect this new residential permit for hubby. It is called a TIE and it is something all UK passport holders must have now that the UK is no longer in the EU. It is a handy little credit card size card, similar to a driving license. I asked if I could have one too, but I am not British, so the answer was 'no'. I have to still use the large green sheet of paper. Bummer!

We had come on the scooter, which is easy to park and lovely to ride in this heat. We stopped at a bar for a beer. This particular bar has very nice alcohol free beers, so we tend to stop there, as hubby can't have alcohol. We like a type of beer called 'tostada'.

That was my week. How was yours? Please join us at Annie's at A Stitch In Time and at Virginia at Rocking Your World Friday.

As usual, I have some funnies at the end.

Enjoy your weekend,

Take care,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 13 July 2021 - T for windows, donkeys and kombucha

Hello lovely ladies,

Here I am again. I have three postcards for you this time as I have got so many to get through. The theme this time is 'windows'.

I am fascinated by windows and doors and I write that in my profile, so I get all sorts from all over the world. This first one comes to me from the Czech Republic. 

Of course it doesn't say where this particular house is, but it is just an interesting photo. We had shutters like that in Italy, so it could be Italy...

The stamp is beautiful and has several birds.

Emberiza Calandra, (corn bunting), emberiza citrinella (matchstick bunting), emberiza schoeniklus (reed bunting), emberiza hortulana (ortolan bunting).

The second postcard is a German house. To be precise, it is a house on an island called Baltrum .

Baltrum is a barrier island off the coast of East Frisia, in Germany. It is located in-between the chain of the seven inhabited East Frisian Islands. Baltrum is the smallest island in this chain by area and inhabitants. They call it the Sleeping Beauty of the North Sea.

It looks very beautiful.

Below you can see it on the map. Baltrum is the fourth island from the left.

The stamp is the usual one with the metro station Marienplatz in Munich.

My third card comes from Russia. It is sent to me by Sacha, who tells me it is minus 1 degree C (30F) on the 22nd of March.

On the side are the words: The Autumntime. The card has all chinese characters on the back. It's an interesting house. I wouldn't like to live on the top floor, as it doesn't look like the kind of house that has an elevator.

The stamps are very pretty. 

As it is T for Tuesday, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, I will show you one (or more) drinks. It really should be champagne as it is the 8th anniversary of the T-Party. 

I have started making kombucha again. I managed to get a scoby off a friend (scoby is the culture needed to ferment). I ferment sweet tea, when that is ready after about two weeks, I put them in sealable bottles for a second fermentation with raspberries.

This is my second batch. We started drinking the first batch.

That was at supper a few days ago. We had a sandwich with a bit of salad and a melon.

I still go walking three or four mornings a week at 8 in the morning (Yes, I know that is early but it is sooo hot here)

On Saturday we came across a man and his donkey (not unusual here, they still use donkeys for work or carrying stuff)

When he got closer we saw that he had decorated the animal in traditional trimmings (don't know what they are called)

The young lady let me take pictures.

And the donkey didn't care less.

Hubby came back with a bowl of apricots the other day. The were quite ripe, so I decided to make pie filling. 

Then I baked a cake with the recipe of a Dutch appeltaart. (Only in stead of apples, I put apricot puree in) The pastry is butter, sugar and some flour. Very rich.

Yesterday I made another cake as my herman is like a sourdough. I have to use it every ten days.

I had been juicing lots of oranges, so I have been able to grate the zest. I made an orange pecan cake, with an icing made with orange juice and icing sugar. 

In the photo I had just tried it to see if it was OK before giving a quarter to a friend. I don't follow recipes for my Herman cakes. I just add what I think it needs. Anyway, it is delicious and I have already given quite a bit away. Most people are happy to receive is chunk of cake.

That is it from me today. 

Have a lovely week and

Happy T-Day!

Take care,

Lisca

 

 

A Postcard A Day - Friday 9 July 2021 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely ladies! Here I am again with some smiles. Whatever life throws at us, we continue to make lemonade if you get my meaning. Actually, with this heatwave, lemonade is literally what we want.

I have a very unusual card to show you. It is the Ladybird Cinderella story. I used to read this to my son (who is now in his mid forties). 

The unusual bit about this postcard is, is that it is made of wood (Plywood?). Take a look yourself:

It was sent to me by someone called Michelle who lives on the island of Guernsey. This is one of the islands in the British Channel, near the coast of France. For those who don't know where Guernsey is:

Here is a satellite photo:

The island on the left is Guernsey. My husband was born on the island and lived there as a child, as his mother (my mother in law) is a Guernsey woman. People from Guernsey are called Sarnians. The ancient Romans named the island Sarnia. (No, not Narnia).

The stamps are beautiful. (Thank you Michelle). The one on the right even says: 'Happy Postcrossing'! 

 

The one in the middle is a green finch and the stamp on the left is a black and white photo of the British royal couple. It is from a series of stamps  50 Years Royal Couple.

I've had a good week, although it has been very hot. Monday my friend needed to get certain patio chairs and I accompanied her on a trip to Granada (one hour and a half by car) to try and find what she had in mind.

The trip was successful and we rewarded ourselves with coffee and cake. The pastry we had is a Granada speciality called Pionono (I misspelt it on my collage). It is named after Pope Pio the ninth (In Spanish Pio Nono). I wrote about it in my previous blog post.

Saturday was a quiet day and we didn't do much as it was so hot.

Sunday was even hotter (42 degree C or 107 F). We watched our usual two church services. One of them had a virtual communion. So I poured out two little glasses of Port by ways of wine and a Dutch dry biscuit (Knappertje) was the bread. It was very beautiful.

The gym has shut for the summer (too hot) and my friend and I go walking on the days that we would have gone to the gym. On the way are about ten exercise contraptions, so at 8 am we start with those. Her husband and dog come along too. We usually walk about 4,5 km.

Because it is so hot that we keep all the doors and windows shut, we forgot to shade the plants out on the patio. Some of them got severe sunburn. (Hubby's gooseberry)

Tuesday evening we went to see a friend in the village who has just started with chickens. We wanted to see hers as hubby is also making a chicken coop.

Wednesday morning we went walking again. I showed my friend where the capers grow and showed her the magnificent flower. Isn't it beautiful?

I'm also making Kombucha again. I do a second fermentation with raspberries (defrosted). I have tried many fruits but this is our favorite.

Yesterday we went to see the oncologist again. For 5 or 6 weeks in a row, hubby's platelets were too low to have chemotherapy. Again, today, his platelets had not gone up. As the chemo was really preventative, the docs have decided to stop the chemo as it seems to be doing more harm than good. He will be referred to a hematologist to check if there is some underlying problem with the blood and of course they will keep a close eye on him with tests and scans, but for now life can go back to a bit of normality. No wonder he is smiling!

The other smile is the fact that we have now ordered our chickens. Five chickens, all different. We start with those and see which ones we like best. They will take about two weeks to arrive. I'll keep you posted on that.

I will post some funnies at the end so you can be smiling too.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend (Bear a thought for us as temperatures are going to hit 40 again this weekend!)

Hugs,

Lisca