A Postcard A Day - Friday 21 January 2022 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

Here we are again on Friday. This week has just flown by!

Here is my postcard for this Friday:

It was sent to me by Anna. She asks if this card will put me in a good mood. I don't know about that, but it certainly makes me hungry for pancakes. We used to cook pancakes for breakfast every Saturday, but have lost that habit and now we hardly ever make pancakes.

The stamps are the usual Russian stamps, but i don't mind as they are quite pretty.

 Our week has been a quiet one with a couple of highlights. Here we go:

I made a nice fish pie on Friday. It was delicious. We can't get smoked fish here (I always used mixed smoked and unsmoked for my fish pie) but instead I added some shrimps. 

The weather is lovely in the day and on Saturday we ate on the terrace again (like most days).

In the evening we went to Intercambio (conversation group) and I decided to bring hot drinks and cake. I had a two liter flask with a tap and had filled that with boiling water. But when I took it out of the bag, the bottom fell off and everything fell to the floor in thousands of pieces (plus the hot water). So no hot drinks. I was annoyed as I had only used the flask a couple of times. I don't know why the bottom should come off so easily...

I have no photos from Sunday, but it was a usual Sunday: church in the morning and Hubby going worship leading in the evening (I stayed home). 

On Monday I went to the gym again and I made myself an Oat-so-simple in the microwave. After the gym, I went to my friend Antonia for chat and prayer and stopped by the post office as I had a pile of cards to post. When I got there the postmistress told me there was a parcel for me, so I signed for that and then went home. Totally forgot that I had cards to post! Silly me!

Tuesday was the day that our friends came to see us. They asked me to meet them in the market so I could help them doing some shopping. They then wanted to go to the health center so she could book her booster vaccination (with my help). All that done, we went to the post office to check their post box. What a shame I didn't know this or I'd have brought those cards that needed posting!

My friend had brought me some parsnips from her garden. They are huge! We love them what ever their size as parsnips are not for sale here (the Spanish don't eat parsnips).

I made a lovely cabbage and bacon pie (did all the prep this morning before they came) and we ate outside.

Gym again on Wednesday, and from the gym I immediately went to the post office to post those blasted cards. There were lots of children in the park doing games and activities.

Thursday is my 'day off'. I try to keep that free of appointments because I spend the day in my craft room. Hubby goes and lights the wood burner as soon as we get up, so it's nice and toasty by the time I go up. I worked on my recipe book and made several basic pages. After lunch I like to sit outside and I work on my jigsaw, while listening to some music. I also do some crossword puzzles, write in my prayer diary and generally relax, as I don't 'have to' do anything.

We got a phone call from the surgeon this morning. He wants to see hubby tomorrow (Friday) at lunch time. We had asked our GP to chase up the results of the scan, so this must be it.

That was my week. 

As per usual I will be visiting and linking with Annie at A Stitch In Time for some smiles. And I will post some funnies (mostly cat funnies) at the end.

Wishing you a week full of smiles,

Stay safe,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 18 January 2022 - T for Jack Pine, a golden lamb and Gouda

 Hello lovely ladies,

I have another postcard to share with you today. And as it's T-Day, the day we join Elizabeth and Bluebeard for the T-Party with a beverage, I will show you a drink (or two).

But first my postcard:

It is a painting by A.J.Casson (Canadian, 1898-1992) and it is called: Jack Pine and Poplar, 1948. 

Wikipedia writes:

Alfred Joseph Casson, OC RCA (May 17, 1898 – February 20, 1992) was a member of the Canadian group of artists known as the Group of Seven. He joined the group in 1926 at the invitation of Franklin Carmichael. Casson is best known for his depictions in his signature limited palette of southern Ontario, and for being the youngest member of the Group of Seven.

I had never heard of him, but what I have seen of his work, I like it.

This is him:

The tiny 'Permanent' stamps are all Canadian beauty spots

The top-left stamp shows Cathedral Grove in British Columbia’s MacMillan Provincial Park,

then top-right  the red sandstone cliffs of Covehead Harbour in Prince Edward Island National Park. And below the natural archway of Perce Rock in Quebec’s parc national de l’ Ile-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Perce.

Last week Kate Yetter showed us one of her beautiful watercolor paintings:

She had painted it from a photo:

I immediately wrote her an enthusiastic comment about this shop. But the comment somehow disappeared, so I hope Kate read it before it disappeared. If she didn't then she will be very surprised that I am featuring this.

The reason is, it is a Dutch shop and I thought it looked familiar, so I googled it and it turns out it is a shop in Gouda, not far from where I used to live in east Rotterdam!

The house was built n 1725 and is called: 't Vergulde Lam, and the address is Lage Gouwe 14, Gouda, Nederland. 

The name means: the gilded lamb and in fact it has a gold colored lamb on its gable:

I went to Google Earth and typed in the address. Then I had fun 'walking' around the area. This is a screenshot I took. The shop is on the left:

This is the advert in the paper when the house was turned into a shop and was opened in 1881:

Translation:

Thee, coffee and chocolate. Own import of Chinese tea, from 70 cents and more, powder tea from 55 cents and higher and all sorts of Chinese fantasy packaging in boxes and tins; also flower tea 25 and 60 cents per package.

The coffee is being roasted following the German method, 40, 45, 50 and 60 cents per quarter kilo.

Chocolate of all types and prices. Samples and price lists will be sent upon request.

The brothers Kamphuizen.

Kate, I hope you like it, and when I go to Holland, I will visit it and send you photos.

Now for some beverages. The first one was my coffee on Friday. I had made cinnamon swirls the week before and I had kept some in the freezer. It was our treat on Friday.

Then later that Friday, I made a fish pie:

And I fancied a glas of white wine with that. You can also see a bottle of water in the back ground.

That is all for today. I hope to see you all at Elizabeth and Bluebeard in the course of Tuesday.

Stay safe,

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 14 January 2022 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies,

Here we are again on Friday. The week just flies by! Today we look back to see what made us smile this week. I will show you a postcard, because mail in my mailbox always makes me smile.

A lovely reproduction of a photo from 1907 "Girl reading a letter". It was sent to me by Natasja from the Netherlands. (I can't read the postmark so I don't know from where in the Netherlands.)

She sends me beautiful stamps with Queen Máxima on them. 

Queen Máxima is a very popular queen and she is not just a pretty face. She is some whizz kid in high finance and is very active internationally in her field.

This week has been good.  Let me show you my collages so you can see what we have been up to:

You can tell by the photos that we are still having nice weather, especially during the day, when the sun shines it's warm enough to sit outside.

Hubby went to the olive processing plant in the village (there are two actually). The harvest is in and there is a mountain of 'pips' which we buy to burn in our stove. We pay 3 or 2,50 euros a sack, depending on how big the sack is. They don't weigh the sacks, just eye-ball them.

I found a nest on a leaf of one of my plants (the plant has red leaves) and I was told it is the nest of the paper wasp. I have written about it on Tuesday

On Sunday we usually go to our little evangelical church in town. We are back to meeting in person (but strictly with masks). But in the evening Hubby plays guitar at an outreach gathering in an old dilapidated farm. The people that go there are ex- homeless or ex-druggies and often with psychiatric problems. One of the leaders is schizophrenic (very well controlled I must say. I've never known him to behave strangely) and he talks to people in the waiting room of the hospital and invites them to the meetings. I always make sure there is a nice cake. Our Dutch friend and his daughter are also involved. And the men love to see children (there are two or three).

When I walked to the gym the other day, I noticed that they were pulling down an appartement building next to the school. There were 8 apartments. They used to house teachers that lived far away. But nowadays all the teachers have cars and for the last 10 at least, the building has housed head offices of several charities. I have no idea what will be built in its place.

Tuesday the weather turned. There was mist hanging over the mountains in the morning, and it remained much colder the rest of the day. I made a hearty beef stew in my Instant Pot.

Our friends K & A came for coffee, but I forgot to take any pictures!

I like doing Future Learn courses (because they are free) and this time I'm doing a course that talks about the Qu'ran compared to the Jewish Bible (Old Testament) and the Christian Bible (New Testament) and it's organized by the University of Nottingham. I was also interested in a course about Japanese washi paper used in old books. But I can only cope with one course at a time. If you have never done a Future Learn course, check it out. The courses are free (although you don't get a qualification if you choose the free option).

In the evening I got a phone call from a courier that they were delivering  a large item. Yoohoo! It was my dishwasher! I had ordered one last week and I hadn't expected it so soon. There is no place for it in the kitchen, so we put it in the cave kitchen next door. That is not far to walk with the dishes. And I would only use it when we've had people over for a meal and I had mountains of dishes. 

When we were in Granada on the 3rd, we spent a bit of money . My mum had given us some Christmas money and because the microwave had blown up just before Christmas, we bought another one. It's an all singing and dancing one that has convection, grill and microwave. It got delivered on Wednesday. We also unpacked the new dishwasher. I haven't used it yet as I don't understand the instructions. I need to use Bluetooth (?). I have to find a manual in English. Hubby will install it tomorrow.

Thursday is a day I usually keep free and I try to spend the day in my craft room. There is a wood burner stove and a large window for much light. This Thursday I played Classic FM on the radio and I had a wonderful time 'playing' with my craft supplies (so-say tidying...) and I did a bit on my jigsaw puzzle and I started a recipe scrapbook. I got as far as the title page. Great fun. So dinner was: potato wedges in the oven and some sausages in the grill, and veg in the steamer. Easy peasy. On Thursdays I don't cook anything complicated.

That was my week. You can see it was not bad at all. In fact I feel very blessed that I have a play room and the supplies to play with. Also I am a lucky girl that we have been able to buy two luxury items like a dishwasher and a fancy microwave oven. And I am healthy enough at my age to be able to enjoy the gym three times a week.  I certainly count my blessings.

That's it from me my friends.

There will be some funnies of course. I think many will be cat related.

Take care all of you,

and Keep Smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca

"Shooters with short barrels and low muzzle velocity, please engage target at close range."

I had imagined the gate Of Heaven to be a tad grander...