Month: July 2018

Sunday Sevens #147 28.7.18

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Oh it’s been difficult to choose what to put into Sunday Sevens this week! We’ve had a rather busy time of it on our holiday, although it’s been busy in a very good way. Here’s a photo from each of the last seven days, there will be more posts to come though in the coming weeks with more pictures….

Hollyhocks galore

The flower of the moment in this part of the world (Suffolk/Norfolk) seems to be the hollyhock. They are everywhere and are truly beautiful – the epitome of an English country garden.

A woodland walk

Monday was a special day for one member of the Postcard family, celebrating a milestone birthday of 70 years. We went out as a big family group to visit Fairhaven water gardens on the Norfolk Broads before a big family dinner. It was such a beautiful, green, heavenly place and as the sun was rather hot, the dappled shade offered by all the trees was very welcome.

Aldeburgh

We took a drive along the Suffolk Coast on Tuesday, visiting Orford and Aldeburgh (above). The coastline is so beautiful here.

Messing about in canoes

Wednesday saw us repeating something we did on a visit six years ago. Back then, Littlest was too small to join in, so I stayed on dry land with him. This time, we all went canoeing on the Broads. My only previous experience was on a canal in Cheshire when I was a Venture Scout, that didn’t go too well (think hitting the canal bank with such force the sharp front end got embedded in the mud).

This time, though, it was wonderful – so peaceful and slow. There were literally hundred of beautiful dragonflies buzzing about, and I even got pecked by a swan!

A lovely day for a train ride

Thursday saw us heading north to the north Norfolk coastal town of Sheringham. Central to the town is the beautifully restored train station and the start of the North Norfolk Railway (also known as the Poppy Line). We had hoped for a trip on a steam train, but the sustained dry and hot weather made the steam engines a fire risk, and we had to make do with a Diesel engine. It was still a nice trip though…

Summer Storm

Whilst visiting Aldeburgh earlier this week, we were told that this part of the world hasn’t had any rain at all since May 4th. On Thursday night, that changed. A thunderstorm came in off the sea, and before the rain came, I went for a walk onto Southwold Common to watch the lightning. Seconds before this photo was taken, the sky was pretty dark. The sheet lightning lit up all the clouds with a pinky glow.

Wrestling at a summer fete!

Yesterday, we visited not one, but two summer fairs. The first one, in Worstead, will get a bigger mention in a future post, the second one, was at Gorleston in Norfolk. The Gorleston Clifftop Gala is an annual event, with fair rides, stalls by community groups (backwoodsmanship & a local rugby team’s stalls were enjoyed by the Little Postcards) and live music. We attended specifically to see a member of the family perform on stage with his band. Our attention was drawn to something I’ve never seen before in real life…. wrestling! It was quite a sight!

So that’s this week’s Sunday Sevens, I hope you have had a great week.

I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (week 3)

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This week has been a rather crochet filled one, against some lovely backdrops of seaside and fun filled holiday times…

Day 15 (Saturday 21st July)

Sloe gin and slow crochet was the order of the day on Saturday. We stopped off on the way back from visiting family at a lovely country pub with a beer garden – one of the joys of being in holiday!

Day 16 (Sunday 22nd July)

For weeks before we came to Southwold, Mr Postcard and I were dreaming of visiting the Red Lion Pub on South Green for an early evening drink and sitting out on the green as the sun went down. We managed that on Sunday.

Day 17 (Monday 23rd July)

I’m loving the colour changes on this Scheepjes Whirl yarn. I’m having to frog quite a bit of this pattern, I need to pay attention and at times my mind can wander and before I know it I’ve got a couple of rows wrong… whoops!

Day 18 (Tuesday 24th July)

So on Tuesday, I fancied starting something different, so over breakfast, I cracked open my latest Little Box of Crochet, which I’d been saving for my holiday. It came out with us for the day to Orford…

And then to the pebble beach at Aldeburgh…

… it’s one of those projects that once you start it’s hard to stop… just one more row…

Day 19 (Wednesday 25th July)

A spot of sunset crochet was in order on Wednesday. It was only the second day of this project but it was working up quickly.

Day 20 (Thursday 26th July)

My crochet took a trip to the seaside at Sheringham on the north Norfolk Coast.

Day 21 (Friday 27th July)

Where better to work on a seaside themed crochet project than on the pier at Southwold?

And guess what? It’s finished!

The perfect backdrop for my Coastal Crochet designed Little Box of Crochet project, Southwold beach… where will my Summer Craft Challenge take me next week?

2018 Friday photo challenge (week 30) Seaside

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Hmmm Seaside… looks like I planned this week’s Friday photo rather well… this week we’ve been to Aldeburgh’s pebble beach.

Sunny Southwold:

And sandy Sheringham beach…

The home of naughty seagulls who try to steal your chips! The postcard which came with my latest crochet project from Little Box of Crochet is very appropriate:

Sunday Sevens #146 22.7.18

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Greetings from sunny Suffolk, here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens:

Bird family update

A few weeks ago I told you about the couple of collared doves who appeared to be making a nest in the eves above our apartment. Well it looks like they didn’t fancy the location and have gone elsewhere. They have popped back a few times though to say hi, and some sparrows moved in and took their nest making material away to build their own elsewhere.

BBC camera crew

Early this week at sunrise and sunset, a film crew from the BBC who are responsible for making amazing nature documentaries like Blue Planet did some filming from a helicopter of the Bay and Rock of Gibraltar. Can you spot the tiny speck above the tree? That was the helicopter…

Scorchio

I was passing through Sandy Bay on Wednesday morning and by Jove it was hot! It was so hot by 9:45, that I have no idea how people coped on the beach later on!!

Sea mist at sunset

On Wednesday we had a rather unusual sunset as the wispy sea mist rolled into the Bay. It was the last evening of filming for the BBC crew, so it will be interesting to see whether the mistiness makes it into the programme.

First lizard this summer

Lizards (or geckos) are a common sight on our kitchen windows on hot summer nights. They lurk about waiting for moths to fly up to the window and pounce. It’s quite interesting to watch. On Thursday night, I saw my first gecko of the summer.

Holiday time

On Friday we flew to England to visit one half of the Postcard family, and ended up in one of our favourite places, Southwold. Look, they even put the bunting up ready for our arrival! How thoughtful of them!

An evening stroll across the marshes

After spending a bit of time with the family, we headed back to Southwold in time for an early evening walk across the marshes. I love it here, it’s so beautiful and quiet.

Thanks for stopping by! I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (Week 2)

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Week 2 of my Summer Craft Challenge has come to an end already! It began in Gibraltar and ended with a plane journey to England to visit family. Here’s what I got up to this week:

Day 8 Saturday 14th July

At last Donovan the lamb has all four limbs! Ready to be sewn together.

Day 9 Sunday 15th July

Finally, he’s finished and waiting for that little baby girl to be born! He looks lovely, and I just love his floral bottom :-).

Here he is, sitting up!

Another Little Box of Crochet project completed!

I was on a bit of a roll on Sunday, and even managed a couple of rows of my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket too! I’m playing catch up though, as it has been on the back burner for the last few weeks.

Day 10 Monday 16th July

Not much time for crafting on Monday – it was a busy day! Just long enough to manage a row on my Stash Busting Blanket.

Day 11 Tuesday 17th July

Tuesday was rather hectic too, so I only had time for a late night row on my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket in front of Newsnight, before heading to bed.

Day 12 Wednesday 18th July

On Wednesday I was utterly determined to get a bit of crochet done during daylight hours, so I snuck in a cheeky row after breakfast before getting my jobs of the day done. Amazingly, later on, I managed a bit more too!

Day 13 Thursday 19th July

So, not wishing to come over all superstitious, but on day 13 of the challenge I had a bit of a day. Think washing machine breaking down, a house full of builders, lots and lots of dust and then the hot water boiler went. I hid in the corner for a bit and pretended it wasn’t happening!

I wanted to start something portable which can be taken out and about with me as my two blankety projects are getting a bit big to lug about. So here it is, I’m having a go at following a chart by mypicot.com and I’m using my Jumpin Jelly Scheepjes Whirl which has been waiting patiently for the right project to come along.

Day 14 Friday 20th July

We headed off on our holidays yesterday so a spot of in-flight hooky was in order.

Thanks for stopping by, I wonder what next week will bring…

2018 Friday Photo Challenge (Week 29) Button

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I’m rather partial to a pretty button. I put together the above picture from a selection of buttons at home. But that looked a bit boring, so here’s a selection of other types of buttons I have seen on my travels today….

Today, we caught a plane (with lots of buttons on it) to England.

And here’s a late edit…

… a rather lovely old fashioned button for a door bell.

Next week’s challenge is ‘seaside’.

Sunday Sevens #145 15.7.18

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That week went fast! First week of the school holidays over already, and we got through unscathed! It’s been a week of sporting activities for the children and lazy beach trips, and a fair bit of eating… the diet starts tomorrow 😉

Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens …

Things didn’t go to plan

Last Sunday, we did something we don’t normally do, we took a drive out into Spain to go for lunch. Unfortunately our trip got slightly scuppered by long tailbacks on the motorway very soon after joining it. We took the executive decision to cut our trip short, not fancying spending longer than necessary in a hot car with children in the back. Fortunately for us, the next motorway exit was in sight, so we turned round and came back to Gibraltar for lunch. If we hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been able to gorge myself on this lovely chocolatey dessert….

Getting nowhere fast

More traffic problems happened on Monday, this time in Gibraltar. After almost 9 years living here you would have thought by now I’d learn to avoid the roads around the airport when there are planes due to land! (For those unfamiliar with Gibraltar: the main road to the border with Spain cuts across the airport runway, so when a plane’s due to land or takeoff, that road has to be closed and it has an impact on traffic nearby bringing it to a standstill).

A summer stroll

Bearing in mind my recent traffic problems, I opted for walking for much of the rest of the week! You certainly get to see and experience a lot more, even if you are a bit sweaty when you get to your destination!

Got enough toppings on that?!

So, at the end of that walk (above) there was this lovely pizza waiting for my lunch! It was super tasty but I had to opt for a knife and fork to eat it with all those toppings!!

Stargazing

I’m rather pleased with my lillies from last year, I think they’re call stargazer lillies. They have come back again, and flowered this week and are even better than last year!

School holiday sports programme

We are very lucky here in Gibraltar to have a comprehensive summer sports and leisure programme set up for school children during the summer holidays. There are all sorts of things from summer training for different sports, art and design classes and even history walks around the town. It gives the 8 week-long summer holiday a bit of structure and in many cases is free, or requires a small fee to be paid.

Sanctuary

One of the few benefits of visiting the beach on a windy day, is that the chiringuito was empty! We popped to the beach at Sandy Bay on Friday morning not realising quite how windy it was going to be. After half an hour of being sand blasted, we headed to the beach bar/cafe for refuge and coffee. Normally packed out with beach goers seeking shade and refreshment, we almost had the place to ourselves!we’ve enjoyed a couple of beach days this week, it would be rude not to seeing as we have so many beaches nearby! (You can read all about Gibraltar’s beaches here.)

Thanks for stopping by to read my Sunday Sevens, I’ve noticed I have a few new people following my blog lately, thank you for that! I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series, and I’ll be back again next week!

Summer craft challenge 2018 (week 1)

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School’s out for summer! As I stare down the barrel of another 8 week-long summer break from school, yet again, I thought there was only one way I would survive it with my sanity intact; to craft every day.

As in the past two previous years, I have set myself the challenge to do something crafty each day (even if it’s just 10 minutes). Each day I will put a crafty photo up on my Instagram account and at the end of each week (probably on Saturdays), I’ll publish a post about my crafty week. It’ll be as much to encourage me to keep at it as much as it is to share my crafty summer and it’s worked before (twice).

Here goes…

Day 1 (Saturday 7th July)

Life has been rather hectic in the past couple of weeks and my ability to take a few moments out for crochet or anything else crafty has been severely restricted. So now I intend to put that right, and I started with a bit of a catch up on my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket from the Coastal Crochet CAL by the lovely Eleonora. I’m about 3 weeks behind… but I’m catching up!

Day 2 (Sunday 8th July)

On Sunday we took a drive into Spain and I brought my crochet with me in case there was a long queue getting back into Gib. As you can see there wasn’t, as it happens, but at least I was prepared just in case!

Day 3 Monday 9th July

I know I really should finish some of my existing projects, but I happen to know that a little baby girl is due to be born very soon, and I thought she might like to have her own Little Donovan Lamb. This Little Box of Crochet has been waiting patiently since it arrived back in March.

Day 4 Tuesday 10th July

One Donovan head completed!

Day 5 Wednesday 11th July

And now he has a body.

Day 6 Thursday 12th July

Much of the day was spent at the beach and as this is a gift for a new born, I didn’t want to take it out with me. The busy day out and about only allowed time for a little bit of arm-making!

Day 7 Friday 13th July

And now he has arms! One comment on Instagram, when I posted this, was that it looks like he’s sunken in a field of clover – I like that image.

So there you have it, one week done already, I can hardly believe it’s gone so quickly! Seven left to go on this Summer Craft Challenge.

2018 Friday photo challenge (Week 28) Favourite

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Favourite… that’s a bit of a loose prompt. Favourite what? Well this photo seems to be a bit of a favourite over on Instagram – it’s had more likes than any other on my account. It dates back to April last year.

My favourite photo taken in Gibraltar has to be this one, taken after walking up through the mist and low cloud on the Med Steps.

My favourite pass time has to be crochet…

And my favourite finished blanket so far has to be this rainbow granny square one…

Next week’s photo challenge is button.

Monthly meet-up July : Sculpture

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July’s prompt for the monthly blogger’s meet-up arranged by Sandra at Wild Daffodil is sculpture.

Last summer we saw many, many sculptures on our travels, especially in Rome, but this one stuck with me most of all. It was a fountain in Toulouse, in southern France, and was erected to commemorate the 210 victims of a flood in 1875. It was beautiful and poignant.

The fountain can be found in Place Olivier in Toulouse.