A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 17 January 2023 - T for Denmark and palm trees

 Hello lovely ladies, (and the occasional gent),

Days are flying by and it is Monday night already. Today's postcard is from a location that I myself have visited:

Stevns Klint, known as the Cliffs of Stevns in English, is a white chalk cliff located some 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Store Heddinge on the Danish island of Zealand. Stretching 17 km (11 mi) along the coast, it is of geological importance as one of the best exposed Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundaries in the world.

The lower strata from the cliff are from the Cretaceous and are composed of soft chalk, indicating a relatively deep marine depositional environment. The dark layer of fiskeler, mainly five to ten centimeters thick, clearly marks the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. The fiskeler is enriched in iridium, a fact used as an argument for the Alvarez hypothesis that the worldwide Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction was caused by the impact of an asteroid. Following the boundary is a layer of darker clay and chalk between 10 and 30 cm thick, corresponding to a period of low biological diversity on the sea floor immediately after the K-Pg Boundary. The layers can also be seen deep in the tunnels of Stevnsfortet, a cold-war fortress constructed in 1953. 

The upper layers of the cliff consist of bryozoa chalk and were deposited during the early Paleogene. The bryozoa chalkin the cliff is highly shock resistant to both conventional and nuclear weapons.

 Subject to frequent erosion, the cliff rises to a height of up to 40 m (130 ft). Because of its exceptional fossil record, Stevens Klint was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014.

In 2008 Cold War Museum Stevns Fortress opened to the public. It features a large exhibition of military equipment and a 1.5-hour guided tour in the large underground system of the fortress. 

Stevnsfort was a secret part of the defense of Denmark and NATO. The peninsula of Stevns would have been on the absolute frontline if war had broken out between the East and the West. This is why Stevnsfort was built, and for 40 years, the staff here was ready for war around the clock.

The underground system of the fortress features 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) of tunnels, living quarters and command centers, including a hospital and a chapel. There are also two ammunition depots for its two 15 centimetres (5.9 in) cannons. 

The tunnels are 18–20 metres (59–66 ft) below the surface, dug deep into the chalk of Stevns. The top-secret fortress was built in 1953 and remained operational until 2000.

It was really interesting to visit the Cold War Museum as my husband used to be in the military during the Cold War. He recognised weapons he had worked with.

Nearby is the Højerup old church. The church was built in Romanesque style in the year 1250.

The church was built by a sailor in distress who promised to build a chapel if he was saved.

The church is located on the 30 m. high cliff. It was consecrated in 1357 , but the sea undermined the cliff. In the 1600s the cliff started to chip away at the cemetery with the macabre result coffins and skeletons started sticking out of the cliff. In 1910 they gave up to use the church, it would take another 18 years before fate caught up to the building.

On 16 March 1928 at five o'clock in the morning there was a cliff collapses at Højerup. It took the choir from Højerup old Church into the fall.

  Quite soon after the crash, it was decided to reinforce the church against further slides. Today the towering church stands proudly at the extreme edge of the cliff, and it vanished choir has been replaced by an observation deck that provides a great view of the cliff and sea.

I was going to show you our photos from when we were there but I can't find them so all the photos here are from the Internet.

The stamp is very pretty. It is from a series of stamps about astronomy in Denmark.

As today is T for Tuesday, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, I shall add a photo of a drink. So here is my glass of white wine that I had the other day when I cooked a slice of salmon.

The following photos I took specially for Elizabeth, because she likes palm trees. This is my sisters garden from the first floor:

I was standing on the terrace outside my room.

The garden is being maintained by a gardener and my sister doesn’t know the names of the shrubs and trees that grow there.

But I think her garden is beautiful and mature.

She even has a hammock, but it was not warm enough to lie in it.

I think this remarkable round splaying shrub is also a palm tree, but a short one.

That is it from me today. Sorry if it was rather long. We’ll done if you got this far.

Bye for now,

Happy T-Day,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 13 January 2023 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely ladies, How are you all? 

Here I am again thinking about the smiles in my life. There have been many these few weeks. I am joining Annie at A Stitch In Time with her smiles.

I haven't got a postcard this time as they are on my PC but that doesn't matter for once.

Of course I have been to Holland to see my mum. 

I needed a document for my pension to prove I am alive, so I traveled to a council office that would do that for me at short notice:

I didn't have to wait long. And as you can see it is a pleasant, well organised place.

Here are a few photos of Rotterdam seen from public transport:

This is Monsieur Jacques, a statue that I remember from when I was young.

Ever since the life-size sculpture Monsieur Jacques by Oswald Wenckebach has stood on the Coolsingel many of Rotterdam’s inhabitants have taken it to their hearts. Monsieur Jacques is not a portrait of a real person but a representation of a self-satisfied middle-class man. Since 1959 he has stood on the same spot doing nothing but looking around him: his chest out, his nose held high, holding his hat behind his back.

And then I flew back to Spain from Rotterdam airport, which is smaller than Schiphol (Amsterdam), so it's easier to get to and it saves me a train ticket and an extra hour traveling. Smiles all round.

I stayed at my sister's in Marbella again. We did long walks along the beach.

My sister bought me a nice jumper and she wanted to see how I look in it:

I know I should crop these photos, but I'm using my MacBook and I haven't figured out how to do it yet.

Finally I am showing a sunset (from my bedroom window at my sister's):

but first the view in the day time (I might have shown this picture before):

And this is the sunset. Really beautiful!

That is it from me today.

I have some funnies at the end, but for now I will say have a nice weekend, and...

Keep smiling!

Hugs,

Lisca

Not a funny, but a beautiful way to hide a toilet:

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 10 January2023 - T for Finland and birthday cake

 Hello lovely girls! How are you all today? 

Oops, I-m late again, but I spent all evening traveling by bus from Marbella to Baza, where I arrived at 2 a.m.! I have been to the Netherlands to spend Christmas and New Year with my elderly mother (98).

I must admit I have not prepared a blog (no time). I haven't had time to transfer my photos to my computer so I will write about something that happened before I went to Holland.  But first let me share some postcards:

The first one is a map of Finland. It was sent to me by Satu. She lives in Hämeenlinna, which is sort of bottom left on the map. There are lots of forests, parks, lakes and golf courses and Satu goes for long walks in the forest with her young Jack Russel dog called Tappi. The card was written at the end of October and Satu writes that she is recovering from Covid and that she had been quite ill.

The stamp is really lovely. I real winter stamp with skates.

The second card is also a map card (I love those and I encourage people to send me one): 

It features the capital Helsinki. On the map of Finland above, you will find Helsinki in the south of the country if you follow the line of the ferry boat in your imagination. It seems to be heading for Helsinki.

The map of Helsinki was sent to me by Stephanie and she mentioned (Knowing that I am interested in lacemaking) that there is a lacemaking festival in a place called Rauma. I will have to look that up. (Sorry have no time now as I'm late as it is).

The stamp is the gorgeous swan that I have seen many times before but it is still one of the most beautiful stamps I've ever seen.

The week before I left for Holland has been fab, surrounded by caring friends, life felt ok.

 On the Sunday I had been invited by our friends for a Sunday lunch (see Tuesday 20th Dec's blog) and on Saturday in the afternoon I went to my friend's granddaughter's 5th birthday party at a cave restaurant. 

Blogger puts my photos in the wrong order, but above you see the little girl's grandad  and auntie playing 'Happy Birthday to you'.

She is a shy daddy's girl. And of course very tired when we finally got to the part of the birthday cake (the sun was setting).

Below is where my friend Antonia and I sat. Inside, as it was getting quite cool once the sun had gone.

You can see it is a cave restaurant as there is no straight wall in sight.

Of course as this is the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, I need a drink to be able to join. I am drinking a beer as you can see in the above photo.

Below is the cake before it got carried outside:

I will leave you with some Snoopy wisdom:

Wishing everybody a very happy T-Day!

Keep Smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 6 January 2023 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely ladies, 

Happy New Year!

This year is going to be interesting for me. I am single again. It's a strange notion. I am tentatively making plans... A train journey, a visit to Italy, perhaps buying a television.

Life is good and in spite of everything I have had many smiles this week. 

I'm still in Holland with my mum, but I have have some cards with me and I will show you a nice one today:

The Isle of Arran or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi).

 Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire. In the 2011 census it had a resident population of 4,629. Though culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. 

Often referred to as "Scotland in Miniature", the island is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault and has been described as a "geologist's paradise".

The stamp is impressive. I see a cyclist:

When I looked it up, I found it is part of a series, issued in 2022 commemorating the Commonwealth Games.The vivid images feature action illustrations of selected sports and para sports: Aquatics – Diving; Boxing; Para Table Tennis; Para Powerlifting; Gymnastics – Artistic; Cycling – Mountain Bike; Athletics; and Wheelchair Basketball 3x3

The stamps were issued on Thursday 28 July, the day the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games begins. The Games were held in the city and other locations across the West Midlands for the first time

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games features 19 sports and eight para sports, with 72 nations and territories coming together to compete in 280 medal events

The stamps were illustrated by artist Charis Tsevis. Royal Mail collaborated closely with Birmingham 2022 on all elements of the stamps and associated product range.

So, what have I been doing with myself...

On Tuesday I met up with a friend who lives in a different part of the Netherlands and we agreed we'd meet in the middle and we met in Utrecht, literally in the middle of the Netherlands.

We both came by train and met at the station, then we walked through a large shopping mall. 

But neither of us is really interested in shopping, so we found a nice place to have lunch. It was a pancake place. 

We started with lovely warm glühwein:

Lots of smiles as you can see.

This was my lunch:

Three pancakes with salmon. It was delicious. My friend had a bagel.

Then we walked through the old town and ended up at the music box museum. Which is great fun. We forgot to take many pictures.I only have this one of the street organ,

And this piece of music making furniture even has three violins:

The above photo is mine but here is an internet image where you can see better:

We enjoyed it. I had been before but I still enjoyed it.

That is it from me today. I'm going to link to Annie at A Stitch In Time and join in with Friday Smiles.

I am sorry that I don't have many funnies today. I have them all on my computer but as I'm not at home, you are getting what I have found tonight.

Have a lovely weekend,

Keep smiling,

Hugs,

Lisca