2018 Friday Photo Challenge

Friday photo challenge (week 22) Sunshine & May round-up

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Ah sunshine, it always makes me feel better about the world (unless it’s baking hot in the middle of summer!). This picture (above) was taken yesterday morning as I walked along the east side of Gibraltar, the sun was beaming down and reflected off the sea.

Camp Bay is a popular venue for sunny summer visits, but there isn’t much shade there… I was desperately trying to seek shade by the fence to the football court on my last visit – it wasn’t working…

The sun was peeping through the leaves and branches of the trees and bushes at the Alameda Botanic Gardens when I visited this morning. It was beautiful there – especially in the dappled shade.

Sunny days almost always have lovely sunsets… bye bye sunshine!

Sunset over the Mediterranean – photo taken on the beach close to Marbella

As it’s 1st June today, we are due a round up of the Friday Photo Challenges in May, so here goes…

Week 18 – Keyhole

People got really creative on Instagram for this photo challenge, no one more so than @randallpeck in Maryland, USA. His photo of trees silhouetted agains a sunset through a key hole is truly beautiful. @alisoninandalucia’s entry featured a beautifully ornate keyhole from a door at the Alcazaba in Jerez, Spain.

Week 19 – Sky high

Sandra at Wild Daffodil linked to her amazing trip to Japan for her sky high entry. Over on Instagram again Randall Peck took a fabulous photo, his take on it was ‘sky high to a snail’ and his picture featured the view looking up the stem of a dandelion clock towards a tree beyond, it was so creative. Jan from @isisjem used a photo taken from her plane window looking across the wing to the fluffy clouds below. It was taken en-route to where else but Gibraltar? Susan B from @bluejake235’s photo took the biscuit for me though, it featured the shadow of the hot air balloon she was travelling in across what looks like desert below (the balloon ride was taken from Wadi Rum in Jordan). She must have nerves of steel – I certainly couldn’t do that.

Week 20 – Challenge

Sandra (@sandracapano) has set herself quite a challenge, her entry for this week was the knitting pattern she is inventing – a mind boggling prospect to my mind. Meanwhile Alison (@alisoninandalucia) showed a series of photos from her challenge, ten years ago, to climb a mountain in Borneo. A jet-setting challenge has been set by Susan (@bluejake235), she is aiming to visit every European capital city – so far, she’s been to 75% of them!

Week 21 – Floral

@mrsscjohnson4 shared a lovely photo of herself and a friend on a visit to RHS Rosemoor, while @bluejake235 had a picture of a rather beautiful floral arrangement from the Funchal Flower Show in Madeira, and Alison @alisoninandalucia chose the stunning gardens at the Alhambra for her taken on Floral. @hookstitchsew on the other hand went for a rather lovely piece of floral fabric, which was about to be used to cover a box.

Thanks to all of you who have joined in again with the photo challenge this month, don’t forget, if you fancy joining in too, it’s not too late to have a go. If you are on Instagram, just tag your photo with #postcardfromgibfridayphoto or put the link to your blog post in the comments below.

2018 friday photo challenge

Friday photo challenge (week 21) Floral

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A week and a half ago, I published my latest ‘postcard from‘ and it featured the Carcassonne part of our trip to France last summer. We spent the rest of our holiday in Toulouse, a really beautiful green city in southern France. My favourite part has to be the floral footbridges linking the parks together for pedestrians in the city.

I had never seen anything like this before, and I loved them. There should definitely be more of these in the world!

This week’s Friday photo challenge theme is Floral. Next week, it’s challenge.

Friday photo challenge (week 20) Challenge

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This, my friends is the Med Steps. Tomorrow it’s the Med Steps 5 Challenge, when around 200 brave/crazy people will attempt to walk it 5 times all in the name of charity.

The walk/climb takes you from the south west side of the Rock of Gibraltar, along paths, through a tunnel and up many, many steps round the south edge and up the west side to the summit of the Rock. It’s quite a climb.

I will be one of those walkers tomorrow morning, all of us raising much needed funds for the wonderful Cancer Relief Centre here in Gibraltar. Wish us luck!

(For more info on the Med Steps, this post may help you, and my experience of last year’s Med Steps 5 Challenge can be found here).

Challenge is the theme for this week’s Friday photo challenge, next week, it’s floral.

Friday photo challenge (Week 19) Sky high

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It’s an old one you may have seen before, but I think it’s a good one. As are these…

You get such a good view of the Rock as you are circling it to land at Gibraltar airport and as you take off. ‘Sky high’ is this week’s theme for the Friday Photo Challenge.

Friday photo challenge (week 18) Keyhole & April roundup

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I do like an old door, especially when they still have their old bits attached. You don’t have to look too far when you are out and about in Gibraltar to see some old fashioned key holes. I love the fact that in quite a few cases, the later generations of owners have kept the old locks intact and just added their own modern equivalent alongside. Old and new sit so well together and hint at years gone by, as well as all the people who lived inside these doors and came and went over the years.

Looking around for keyholes to photograph reminded me of my post from a couple of years ago; A stroll around Gibraltar No 5: Doors

I spied the lock below just over the border in La Linea one day when I was visiting the market there. What kind of key must have been used to fit in that lock shaped like a seven?

This door has the most ancient key hole I’ve ever seen though…

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It was on the door of one of the ancient buildings in the Forum in Rome, which we visited last summer. The upside down ‘L’ shaped hole on the left hand door is, according to our tour guide, a genuine keyhole created by the ancient Romans and with the right shape of key, will still work today.

‘Keyhole’ has been the theme for this week’s photo challenge. Next week, we’re aiming for the stars with ‘sky high’.

Monthly roundup for April:

It would appear that the Postcard from Gibraltar Friday Photo Challenge hit a bit of a milestone at the end of April as it reached 200 posts on Instagram. Thank you so much for everyone who has joined in so far, it’s great to have you along for company. It’s not too late to tag along, just tag your photo with #postcardfromgibfridayphoto to join the gang!

Here’s the monthly round up for April, I haven’t included all the Instagram entries as that would just end up as a boring list, but please check out the tag yourself to see more:

Sweet:

Wild Daffodil took us on a trip to Japan for her take on sweet.

Over on Instagram Randall Peck joined in with the photo challenge – welcome Randall! He took a fab photo of a shop window filled with all sorts of sweet treats and featuring a reflection of himself taking the photo! For Sandra Capano, one of her entries for sweet was of a rather cute Gibraltar ape posing for a photo! Hookstitchsew featured some ‘sweet’ crocheted strawberries.

Clock:

Amazingly, two Instagrammers featured photos of the same clock for this challenge. The clock in question is the astronomical clock in the Old Town Square in Prague and both Alison in Andalucia and bluejake235 used it as their entries. Mrscjohnson4 offered a vast array of timepieces for her entry, including a rather cute clock with four kittens above it.

Transport:

Again Wild Daffodil took us back to Japan for this weekly photo, for a trip on a bullet train and also to her photo challenge from last year along with Nana Cathy, which featured a rather handsome rusty pick-up truck (which is rather Mater-esque for those of you who have watched Disney’s Cars). Jacqueline the yellow submarine was the transport of choice for bluejake235. Apparently her trip abord which took her 60 metres underneath the Red Sea in Israel was unforgettable.

Blue:

On Instagram, Susan B of bluejake235 included the most striking photograph of an Icelandic boat sculpture agains a stunning blue sky for her entry. Blue skies were the predominant theme on Instagram for this challenge. Isisjem featured a great shot of the wide blue yonder taken from an aeroplane window high above the clouds.

A beautiful blue iris features in Sandra at Wild Daffodil’s post.

Blue skies and beautiful blue embroideries are the stars of the show for Crafty Creek.

I wonder what interesting pictures will appear in May…..?

Friday photo challenge (week 17) Blue

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Blue is the theme for this week’s Friday photo challenge and you don’t get much bluer than that sky! Taken in March in San Vigilio in the Italian Dolomites. What a beautiful place!

Next week’s photo challenge is ‘keyhole’.

Friday photo challenge (week 16) Transport

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There should’ve been a midweek post this week or even last week all about our trip to London at Easter. Life has been a bit busy though, and it sits, half written in my drafts list. Maybe next week?

In the meantime, here are a few photos of some the transport related parts of our trip; overground train lines, the Tube and the Docklands Light Railway. Oh, and I love some of the Tube stations with their original Art Deco tiling.

Don’t know why, but this sign always made me smile as I walked past!

Maybe it’s just me being childish, apologies 🙈.

Next week’s challenge is ‘blue’ if you fancy joining in!

Friday photo challenge (week 15) Clock & March round-up

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This week’s Friday photo challenge features two clocks I saw last week on our Easter trip to England. The first being the clock of St Paul’s Cathedral in London as seen from the stone gallery around the circumference of the dome.

The second being the clock on the steeple of St John the Evangelist church in Burgess Hill in Sussex. We visited this church on a family history quest and found the war grave of Mr Postcard’s great great uncle who died aged 18 in World War 1. It was a beautifully maintained church and graveyard and a very special place for us all to visit.

Next week’s photo challenge prompt is: transport.

Last week I should have included a monthly round up for March but didn’t manage it owing to being on holiday, so here it is, one week late:

Cosy

Over on Instagram there was a plethora of cosy crocheted and knitted items, blankets, socks to name but two. A very cute sleeping cat showed up too, but poor old Alison in Andalucia (@alisoninandalucia) was struggling with a cold at the time and was staying cosy under a blanket with a hot lemon drink.

Best Friend

Sandra at Wild Daffodil told us the story of Maggie who loved shopping with her best friend!

On Instagram chocolate featured more than once, I had to admit it’s a good friend of mine, although I do pay a price for this friendship! Also a very special rescue cat by the name of Zac who is Susan’s (@BlueJake235) best friend. Janet Bryden posted a photo of herself and her husband and best friend as they are celebrating 40 years of marriage this year – congratulations to you both 🙂

Communication

Snail mail was a popular choice for communication over on Instagram, and I have to agree. You just can’t beat a letter through the post can you? My favourite photo for Communication has to be Sandra’s (@capanosandra) it showed her holding someone’s hand along with some rosary beads, prayer being the form of communication she had in mind. It is a very powerful photo.

Spring

I love Sandra’s take on the Spring Equinox over at Wild Daffodil.

On Instagram, there were spring flowers a plenty. Daffodils, crocus, bluebells and cherry blossom all feature. It wasn’t looking too spring-like up in Yorkshire for Saffy (@bumblebluebee07) though, icicles featured on her feed! Susan (@bluejake235) stole the show though with her spring lambs – aaah!

Rainbow

You really can’t beat a rainbow to lift the spirits! A couple of Instagrammers opted for woolly rainbows like me, there was variegated rainbow yarn knitted into a pair of jazzy cosy socks and an extremely cute crocheted rainbow bookmark by @hookstitchsew and as for ‘real’ rainbows – @bluejake235 took the biscuit with a beautiful rainbow snapped next to a waterfall in Iceland.

If you want to join in with the Friday photo challenge, it’s not too late. You can dip in and out as you wish. Just leave a link to your blog in the comments below or use the hashtag #postcardfromgibfridayphoto and then we can all see your pictures.

Friday photo challenge (week 14) Sweet

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This week’s Friday photo challenge is ‘sweet’. I have to admit to having a very sweet tooth. Sweet things are my downfall.

This beautiful cake was very sweet and was made to celebrate a family wedding we went to last year.

And now for something completely different, and very sweet…

…this was one of the yarnbombed bollards outside the Yarndale festival 2016. The bollards were created by the Thirsk Yarnbombers for the festival.

Next week’s photo challenge is : clock.

Normally on the first week of a new month I include a monthly round-up of everyone else’s photo challenge entries, but as I’ve been away on holiday recently I haven’t had the chance to do that. The March monthly round-up will happen next week instead.

Friday photo challenge (week 13) Rainbow

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This week’s photo challenge prompt is ‘rainbow’. I’m rather partial to a rainbow, in fact I love them, so this week’s challenge was rather easy… My first photo is a close-up of my first Sixty Million Trebles blanket.

Next up is one of my current WIPs, my rainbow ripple.

And then, there’s this… my next portable project – a rainbow Scheepjes Whirl by the name of Jumpin Jelly ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

And here’s a double rainbow which appeared outside our front door a while back…

I think this photo may have appeared in a Sunday Sevens once upon a time. In fact, as I was looking back through the Postcard from Gibraltar archives to find a photo of a ‘real’ rainbow I realised that almost exactly a year ago I wrote this post, which seems very apt to include today.

Fancy joining in the Friday photo challenge? You can do that on your blog or on Instagram:

Next week, our focus is ‘sweet’. Just make sure you tag me (@postcardfromgibraltar) or #postcardfromgibfridayphoto so I can see you on Instagram and leave a link to your post in the comments below this post. Happy snapping! 😊❤️🌈