Summer holidays

Sunday Sevens #41 24.7.16

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Garden DIY


Sunday last week was a bit of a washout. Two members of the Postcard family were struck down with a nasty bug. Our planned afternoon at the beach didn’t happen as a result. Determined that the day wouldn’t be a total waste of time, once people were well enough to be left for 20 minutes, I popped out to our patio and did a long awaited job. Our climbers were badly in need of something to climb up, so I got the drill out and successfully attached a trellis to the garden wall…. almost one week on, it’s still there!

An evening stroll


A walk at dusk on Tuesday evening was very welcome as the bug struck another Little Postcard and it had been a long, housebound day. We’re so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. It’s great to be able to just stop, look up and appreciate our surroundings.

Beach day


On Tuesday we had a lovely day at the beach as thankfully everyone was well enough to leave the house!  I’m ashamed to say it was our first visit this summer holiday. We have been quite busy with other things and I have to admit that although I enjoy it when I’m there, the prospect of loading up the car, unloading it all and carrying it down to the beach, then packing up at the end and taking half of the beach back home with us puts me off.

We met up with friends and it was great. I really need to make the effort more often. One of the Little Postcards looked like a prune by the end of the day after all the time he’d spent in the sea. I spent quite a while in the sea too with Littlest Postcard dodging the big waves. 

Evening shadows


I snuck into Westside park just as it was shutting for the evening. It was so quiet and peaceful, the complete opposite of what it’s like during the day. It was just what I needed after a busy day getting packed up ready for our trip to England to visit family. 

I was on a last minute dash to the supermarket but thought I’d take a moment before doing the shopping. I’m glad I did 🙂

Bunny mugshot


I’ve not shared any photos of Bunny Postcard for a long time so thought I would this week. I think he’s been struggling a bit with the summer heat, it’s been so hot – even on overcast days. He’s got a fan blowing into his night time cage and a run in the cool shady hall but I do feel sorry for him under all that fluff. The Little Postcards and I will miss him while we are away on our summer holidays over the next few weeks.

I love the smell of ozone in the morning 

On Friday we woke to beautiful clear blue skies which was a change from the murky overcast Saharan dust filled skies of the previous few days. A fresh wind was blowing and as I opened the front door to take the laundry out I could actually smell the sea. It’s such a lovely smell!

Night flight


We arrived at the first stop of our summer holiday destination in the early hours of yesterday morning. I’ve brought the Little Postcards to visit my parents in Manchester. We left Mr Postcard at work with Bunny to keep him company.  It was hard work flying solo with three children, especially at night, as I had two sleepers to deal with by the time I reached baggage reclaim! Still, we survived and I can relax now with Grandma and Grandad’s help!  

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins. If you fancy joining in with your blog, check out Natalie’s for more details.

Summer Craft Challenge 2016 part 2

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Day 8 : Saturday 16th July


I have a Dino tail 💙! I can’t show you any more of this make until it has been gifted and has arrived in its new home I’m afraid. I love the 3D quality of crochet, it’s just magic how yarn and a hook can create structures like this! 

Day 9 : Sunday 17th July


I hooked up my contribution to #jennysblanketofhugs organised by Kate at Just Pootling. Crocheters around the world are making up to three squares each which will be joined together into three blankets. With a colour palette of pinks, red and orange, they are made into any of the three patterns detailed on Just Pootling: plain, stripes or bobbles.

Two of the blankets will be gifted to two ladies, a mother and daughter who are going through a tough time at the moment. The third will be raffled or auctioned off to raise money for charity. It’s a very worthy cause.

Day 10 : Monday 18th July


Having watched a video on how to crochet bobbles on Just Pootling’s Instagram I realised that yesterday’s attempts at bobbles fell far short of the required roundness. They were unraveled and redone. I think they are a far superior version and am glad I discovered my mistake. I think they could become a favourite stitch and will appear in a future project :-).

Day 11 : Tuesday 19th July


A day trip to the beach meant lots of playing in the sea and chatting to friends and not much crafting, but I did manage one solitary #woollyheartforYarndale 🙂

Day 12 : Wednesday 20th July


I took a break from my crochet hook and had a bash at free-motion machine embroidery… and failed. I did a batik, quilted, fabric picture at school in sewing which used machine embroidery to embellish it (I was trying to impress with the number of different techniques – can’t you tell 😉) and I’ve always fancied having a go again. 

I tried and failed to find an attachment online to adapt my 10 year old Harmony 2039 New Home by Janome but my mind was boggled by all the options. I told my dressmaking teacher about it and she gave me the plastic plate (above right) to cover the teeth below the presser foot.

I clipped it into place (kind of) and set off. It wasn’t very free with the motion- I had to tug the fabric through and was convinced I’d end up breaking a needle (I didn’t amazingly). I did however chew up the underside of the plastic plate and got the threads tangled into lots of knots.

I asked for help from any experienced machine embroiderers on Instagram on Wednesday and was given lots of great advice about new presser feet and lowering the feed dog so I will give it another try when I get the machine out again. Isn’t the online crafting community lovely? Thank you to everyone who offered me help and advice!  🙂

Day 13 : Thursday 21st July


I’m not sure whether this counts as ‘craft’ or not, but I finished an alteration for my Mum. She asked me to shorten her new trousers, normally a simple job, but these trousers had zips at the bottom. I had to remove the zips, trim the length and then reinsert the zips in their new position.

I have to admit I was guided by my dressmaking teacher – it wasn’t an entirely solo affair, but considering that I only inserted my first zip just over six months ago, I’m pretty  pleased with how they turned out.

NOTE TO FRIENDS: I am not taking in alterations 😉 these trousers were good practice but I prefer frivolous crafting to the practical stuff! 

Day 14 : Friday 22nd July


I can’t show you what I made yesterday as it’s a surprise gift but I can show you my craft supplies all packed into my suitcase ready for our summer holidays. I flew to England last night to visit family along with the Little Postcards. Mr Postcard stayed behind to look after Bunny. He’ll join us later on when Bunny checks into his health farm retreat for his vacation.

I’ve got two crochet projects and a cross stitch picture to do while we’re away – do you think that’ll be enough?? 😉



Sunday Sevens #40 17.7.16 

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Hello, I do hope you’re having a good weekend. It’s Sunday Sevens time again. I’m afraid this week it’s a quick one as school holiday mode has kicked in and my brain has checked out! 

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Nat at Threads & Bobbins blog. It’s an opportunity for bloggers to link up and post seven photos from the last seven days, without the need for an in depth post. That suits me perfectly this week, and possibly for the next 7 until the Little Postcards return to school in September! Here goes… 

Sunday lunch with friends

Last weekend we had a special visitor over – an old University friend of ours. On Sunday we met up with some more mutual friends for a long lazy lunch. It was lovely, this ‘trifle’ dish was as tasty as it looks, although it did require me to fall off the diet wagon somewhat.

Another goodbye…

This week we waved goodbye to more friends who have left the Rock to return to live in the UK. It’s one negative about living here sadly. Of course the Internet is wonderful for keeping in touch, it’s so much easier to stay connected these days. Before they left, I was asked to paint a picture of Gibraltar for them to take with them. 

A birthday party

One of the Little Postcards will be celebrating his birthday during the long school summer holidays. As most of his friends will be away on holiday by then, we held an early birthday party to make sure it was more than just us in attendance. He’s currently fixated with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, although he’s never seen the film as it’s too old for him. This was my attempt at a Leonardo cake … Don’t look too closely though!

Our bridge adventure 

I’m afraid I need to share this photo again, on Wednesday I took the Little Postcards for our first visit to Windsor suspension bridge. It was stunning and a great outing for us all. If you missed my post on Wednesday all about it, the link is  here.

A night out!

After just six days of the holidays I was so in need of a little time out from my little darlings. On Thursday I had a lovely evening out and catch up with a good friend of mine. It was so good to be able to have a good chat – we hardly came up for air from start to finish! On the way home I took the scenic route and thought St Joseph’s church looked lovely lit up as I walked past.

Levanter

This week has seen the return of Gibraltar’s cloudy hat, the Levanter. It’s a common weather phenomenon here, especially during the summertime. It means that it’s not as sunny in town as it is in the north or the south of the Rock, but it can also mean very muggy, humid conditions. 

Summer Saturday


Yesterday mainly consisted of crochet, swimming and then a strawberry G&T to round the day off. It was a lovely chilled day (if you don’t include the sibling tension and fall-outs). 😉

Have a good week, and thank you for stopping by! 

Summer craft challenge 2016 part 1

Image shows fruit punch in a glass in the background with a small amount of light turquoise crochet in the foreground
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In my Sunday Sevens #39 10.7.16 post last weekend I mentioned that I’d set myself a craft challenge to do something crafty on every day of the school summer holidays. It’s for my benefit (to maintain a tiny bit of sanity restoring craft time) and for the benefit of those around me (hopefully I’ll be a slightly less grumpy Mum).

Last weekend we were staring down the barrel of 8 long weeks of school holiday. It’s my favourite time of year in that we no longer need to clock watch and get to so many activities. The flip side of the situation is that at times it can be like spinning plates trying to keep all 3 Little Postcards happy. All three have different ideas about how they would like to spend their holidays and the conflicting opinions can often lead to well, er conflict.

By promising myself a tiny window of crafting each day I have a little bit of sanctuary in among the warring factions and general chaos! Each day I have posted a daily #summercraftchallenge2016 photo on Instagram and I have even had fellow crafters saying they’ll join in too once their childrens’ schools break up for summer. If you are a crafter and fancy joining in please use the #summercraftchallenge2016 on your Instagram photos and we can all link together to share our creations.

Here’s my first seven days of the challenge:

Day 1 : Saturday 9th July

A visit from an old friend at the weekend gave us the perfect excuse to have a barbecue. Fruit punch and a new crochet project went hand in hand.

Day 2 : Sunday 10th July 

A shady spot at the Alameda Gardens park was lovely and cool on a very hot day.

Day 3 : Monday 11th July

This micro-second of bliss was shattered as I became the target of 3 water pistols…

Day 4 : Tuesday 12th July


A picnic lunch gave me the chance to make a few Attic 24 May Roses.

Day 4 : Wednesday 13th July

The first summer craft challenge project completed! A dinky wreath for our bedroom wall using my May Roses.  It measures just 13cm across.

Day 5 : Thursday 14th July


Al fresco crochet again, this time an amigurumi dinosaur which is for a soon-to-arrive little baby. Spot the deliberate mistake? A dropped stitch wasn’t noticed in the bright sun/sunglasses/camera combo. It was put right shortly before a water bomb hurled my way cut this crochet session short…

Day 7 : Friday 15th July


Learning from my previous poolside crochet mistakes I opted for an activity today which didn’t require too much concentration from me while I was supervising the Little Postcards in the pool. I hooked up quite a few little woolly hearts for this year’s Yarndale festival in Skipton recently and the ends needed darning in and buttons sewn on. These will be winging their way to my Instagram friend @bonnies_little_crafts who has set herself the challenge of creating and collecting 7000 wooly hearts to give to visitors to Yarndale this September. Check her out on Instagram and search the #woollyheartsforyarndale2016 tag if you fancy joining in, in a recent post she revealed that she has received more than 4,500 already!

So all in all, it’s not been a bad first seven days of the holiday. I wonder what next week holds in store… Thanks for stopping by 🙂

A stroll around Gibraltar No. 13 : Windsor Suspension Bridge 

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Hello there, the school summer holidays are well underway here in Gibraltar, so today I took the little Postcards for a trip to the Rock’s newest visitor attraction; the Windsor suspension bridge. Construction of the bridge took many months and those of us who live on the Rock were able to see this bridge appear up high above the town and we were guessing exactly what it was for.

At one stage, once the main frame of the bridge was in place but the section you actually walk on wasn’t complete, we wondered whether it would have a glass bottom so you could walk ‘in mid-air’! I have to say, if that had been the case, I’m not sure I would have been brave enough to attempt it. I’m not great up a ladder at the best of times…

Last month the completed bridge was officially opened by Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo and since then many local residents and tourists alike have benefitted from being able to walk across it and take in the view of the town below from a new angle. Having seen many of my friends’ Facebook photos of them and their loved ones taking a trip up there, I figured it was high time I had a go myself. As it’s school holiday time, that meant taking my three boys with me too.

We began our walk from the Pillars of Hercules statue and spotted a large Royal Caribbean cruise ship approaching Gibraltar. The little Postcards thought it would be fun to try and race it. Would it dock at the cruise terminal before we reached the bridge? It was moving quite fast…

We soon picked up our path when we saw this new sign post marking the way where a road had previously been closed. (Can you see the cruise ship closing in on us in the background?). After quite a steep climb for little legs, the downward stretch was very welcome.

It was at this point I noticed something I don’t think I’ve seen before in Gibraltar. You may remember from my post On a walk over Christmas, Gibraltar gave to me… I make mention of the rings which were used by the military to haul the cannons up to the top of the Rock. You see them embedded into walls and the Rock itself all over the Upper Rock. We found one right in the middle of the road!

Our first port of call on this walk was Rooke Battery. It’s named after Sir George Rooke who commanded the British Fleet when Gibraltar came under British rule. It was the site of a large gun and was later used as the base for one of the huge search lights used during World War II.

The view from Rooke Battery this morning was just beautiful looking across to Morocco over the Strait.

The path led us on downwards past a small picnic area. I’m afraid picnic areas in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve bemuse me slightly bearing in mind the local hairy residents aka Barbary Macaques can hear a picnic bag unzipping from miles away and descend to steal your lunch! Anyway, as I was saying, the path led us to the southern side of the magnificent new Windsor Suspension Bridge.

As you can see above, the bridge stretches over a 50m gorge and is suspended between two batteries. It’s 75 metres long and most exciting of all, it moves with the wind and movement of people on it. This was a particular highlight for the two smallest Postcards, who despite warnings not to, took great pleasure in trying to make it vibrate as they stomped across.

The view you get from the bridge is just stunning (I guess the glorious weather this morning probably helped a bit). Regular readers of this blog will know I am a frequent visitor to the Upper Rock and I always enjoy spying down on the town below from a great height. This ‘new’ section of old path which has only just reopened gives you a completely different perspective on the town below and I really enjoyed seeing it from a new angle.

Despite the fact the sun had just popped up over the top of the Rock when we were on the bridge, being on the western side at this time in the morning with the cool sea breezes blowing, it was a really cool place to be (in more ways than one). The little Postcards enjoyed seeing three navy ships in the Naval Dockyard below. After a game of Battleship earlier this week, they were thrilled to be able to see the ‘real thing’.

To put the 75metre length of the bridge into context a helpful sign nearby points out that this is equivalent to 7 1/2 double decker London buses parked end to end.

I’m no bridge expert, but it’s a beauty in my book!

Along side the new bridge and improved pathways are some disused military buildings nearby. I find these kinds of things fascinating. Having never known Gibraltar when there was a large military presence here, my mind plays overtime wondering what it was like back in the military’s heyday here. What were these rooms and pipes hidden within a deep gorge used for?

The bridge was such a hit with the smaller members of the family, we crossed it not once but three times before climbing up the steps on the other side and onto the pathway.

There was yet another picnic area, the perfect spot to risk opening the rucksack for a drink – which we managed without any of our ape friends joining us. The dappled shade from the olive trees above was very welcome.

The lush green vegetation of the Upper Rock which was evident back in spring when I was doing my Med Steps 5 training is now all crispy and brown. Such a shame that the lushness has been parched by the hot sun. The threat of fires in the area were very close to home yesterday as a large wildfire burned on the mountains above our neighbours in La Linea across the border and threatened homes and lives in the San Roque, Santa Margarita and Alcaidesa areas. Homes had to be evacuated and planes and helicopters were used to fight the fire. It must have been a very frightening experience for all those involved.

So did we make it to the bridge before the cruise shipped docked a the cruise terminal? The answer is yes (just)! Did you spot it in the background of this photo?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this trip up the Rock with us today 🙂

Sunday Sevens #39 10.7.16

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The chaos of the last week of term grew to a crescendo last week. I spent most of the week chasing my tail and despite copious lists of things which I needed to do I still managed to miss a meeting and missed a deadline for some forms to be handed in, which were sitting patiently waiting on the sideboard in plenty of time. 

You know that feeling when you are so full you can’t eat any more? My brain’s been a bit like that – there’s no room for anything else! Add to that three young voices all speaking to me at the same time and I’m afraid I’ve almost gone into involuntary shut down!!!

So against the backdrop of all this busyness  (some of which is my own doing, although most has been foisted upon me) I have decided to look for the few calm positive moments which have happened to me this week. By next week, we will be in full school holiday mode and clock watching will be a thing of the past, not to be thought about again until September – how wonderful is that? 🙂

Teachers

What to do about teacher gifts? I really don’t remember giving teachers presents when I left school at the end of summer term. Maybe I’d produce a drawing on a spare piece of sugar paper from the scraps drawer, but we certainly didn’t go out and buy anything. It seems to be the done thing to buy gifts these days though. Last year I made book bags for the three form teachers in my boys lives, but this year, despite embarking on starting a similar project weeks ago, I failed to achieve finished gifts in time. I wimped out and bought sweets and had a go a making cards instead. 

Do you remember the frangipani flowers I featured in last week’s Sunday Sevens? I had a go at painting them and made it into a card for a special teacher who has taught not one but two little Postcards. Ms D is a very special lady who was my eldest’s first teacher when we arrived to live in Gibraltar and played a very important role in making both, our son’s and our job of settling in here, so much easier. This year she has been middle Postcard’s class teacher and has done a stirling job getting him ready for middle school. Thank you Ms D for all you have done xxx

More frangipanis 


Remember I mentioned the pink ones last week? Well they started blooming on a branch low enough to photograph this week. They’re gorgeous aren’t they? They’re so perfect looking that they almost don’t look real.

A lovely way to start the day

A few years ago, a group of mums from school used to regularly meet for coffee after the morning school run. It was such fun. We’d share news and help each other where we could. It was a great tonic at the end or the middle of a hectic school week. Slowly in the ensuing months and years, some of the mums got jobs, some moved away from Gibraltar and others saw their children move up to middle school so our coffee mornings became very occasional. 

I’ve missed my morning catch up with the girls (now when we do meet up it tends to be in the evening over a glass of wine – not an unattractive option granted). I’ve also missed my pan tumaca though too. I make it at home every now and then but it’s so much nicer eating it alongside a large cappuccino ;-). 

On Wednesday morning I had a little bit of time to kill in town before an appointment so took I myself out for breakfast. I sat and read Cider with Rosie on my own like Billy-no-mates and I didn’t care, it was delicious!

A last free morning for painting

On Thursday morning I had a whole hour to myself before an appointment to take littlest Postcard to look around his new school. I selfishly took that time to crack out my paints and have a go at a few little pictures which can be used to decorate the front of some more homemade cards. It was great fun and just what I needed.   🙂

The end of an era 


Friday was an emotional day for me as all three of the little postcards said goodbye to their lovely teachers and we said a final goodbye to the first school we have been attached to since our first arrival in Gibraltar. The two eldest are of an age to move onto their next schools and as we have since moved house from our original apartment and into a different catchment area, littlest Postcard moves this summer too. I underestimated how sad I would feel at the end of this chapter in our lives. We have enjoyed our time at the school so much.  

Summer holidays start here…


This weekend we have enjoyed the visit of an old friend of the family, a university friend of both Mr Postcard and myself. This is his fourth visit to Gibraltar to see us but until yesterday he’d never been out into the Bay to see the dolphins before. 

We all headed out on one of the dolphin trips which operate out of Marina Bay and had a great view of many dolphins. There was a huge pod of mothers and babies which came very close to the boat. Some of the babies were very small and just a few days old. It was a wonderful trip and the perfect way to start our long summer break.

If you would like to see more about the dolphins who visit the Bay and Straits of Gibraltar, you might like my post about our last dolphin trip.

Summer craft challenge


I have decided to set myself a challenge this summer holiday; to do something crafty every day. Often during the long 8-week-long summer break from school, my crafty pursuits are shelved in order to keep up with three children at home full time. That, I have learned from experience, has an impact on my mood and general ability to cope with the demands I face. For that reason I have decided to challenge myself to maintain my crafty endeavours throughout the summer, both for my benefit and the benefit of those around me.

Last night I started a new mini project while drinking fruit punch and waiting for Mr Postcard to cook a delicious barbecue for us all. I shall keep you posted on its progress. I will be posting daily photos on my Instagram account with the tag : #summercraftchallenge2016. Please tag me if you fancy joining in.

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog post created by Natalie from Threads & Bobbins. For more information, pop along to her blog. (Did you notice that this week it was Sunday eights? I couldn’t resist putting in two photos from our dolphin trip)

Until next Sunday, I hope you have a great week, thank you for stopping by 🙂

Sister Sledge, treasure hunts & a praying mantis: August Bank Holiday fun

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Wow, wow, wow! I had a fantastic night on Saturday entertained on the Sunborn yacht hotel by the amazing Sister Sledge. I was well and truly star struck (my first ever single was Frankie back in 1985). They were great and put on a fantastic show.  

 
They sang loads of their old hits, except Frankie (what a disappointment) but apart from that it was a great night. Everyone was up dancing and there was a real party atmosphere. It was a fun musical prelude ahead of the great Gibraltar Music Festival which happens next weekend. For such a small community, we really are lucky with the amount of entertainment we get to experience here. 

Sunday, by comparison, was a rather quieter affair in the Postcard household, it was a dull humid day again which didn’t inspire us to venture far from home until evening. There was a bit of pottering on the patio in the afternoon, tidying up and cutting back some of the summer growth in the garden. While attending to an Oleander bush, my husband spotted this little fellow:

  
The praying mantis caused much excitement for the boys, especially our young bug enthusiast. Field notes were taken and research done.

   

Many of our patio plants are past their best now unfortunately but this sunflower, which has multiple flowers and buds up its stem just keeps going! I do love sunflowers, they are so cheery.
  
After dinner we decided to pay the Gibraltar Fair one last visit. It ran for nine days and Sunday was its last night. Could we entice one of our boys to have a go on one of the rides this time? (See this post for more on our previous trip to Gibraltar Fair)

  
The answer is ‘Yes we could!’ The youngest of the family not only had a trip round on a carousel, he also had a great time on a bouncy castle. Perhaps we are a family of doers rather than watchers after all? Watch this space!

I reckon the weather here in Gibraltar got the memo that it was a British bank holiday here too, because it was yet another grey and gloomy day on Bank Holiday Monday. I had rather hoped we could fit in a final trip to the beach before school starts next week but I wasn’t inspired by the clouds. What could we do to tire out three boys who need to start going to bed early again ahead of the fast approaching start of term? A treasure hunt! A friend of mine had mentioned geocaching to me once a while ago and I’d downloaded the app to my phone but didn’t do anything with it, until today. 

If you haven’t heard of geocaching before I’ll explain; (if you have heard of it, apologies for this bit!) the aim of the exercise is to try and find a cache. A cache can be just a piece of paper in a box or other container which is well hidden from view in sometimes quite obvious places. You use the app to find them, it tells you which direction to walk in and roughly how far you are from your destination using GPS and offers clues for where to look. When you find the cache, to mark your discovery you update the app to say you’ve found it and sign and date the piece of paper before hiding it back in it’s original hiding place. These caches are hidden all over the world by folks who presumably enjoy purting their puzzle and problem solving skills to the test.

There are quite a few of these caches dotted around Gibraltar so I decided to try the area around the Botanic Gardens as there are three nearby and if we failed in our mission, at least we could have a trip to the small zoo there.  

 
The gardens really are lovely, although the grey sky and murkiness in this photo don’t  show it off to it’s best advantage! We ambled through the gardens and paid a visit to the Alameda Wildlife Park or ‘zoo’ as we like to call it. It’s tucked away in a small corner of the gardens and offers a home to a small and eclectic collection of animals, many of which have been rescued from smugglers.

  
The pot-bellied pigs are big favourites for us, as are the tortoises.

   
Of course there a few of Gibraltar’s most famous residents, the Barbary Macaques.


Check out this little guinea pig – it’s got such a lot of hair! (Or perhaps that should be fur)

  
Back down through the gardens we headed over this gorgeous bridge over the sunken garden.

  

The garden is beautiful and a real green oasis in a rather built up environment- I do enjoy spending time here.

 
We were, of course, on a mission to find treasure or at the very least a bit of paper in a plastic box so we set off on our first mission. It was unsuccessful. Hunting around looking for something I had never seen before in grotty holes reminded me of the frustration I’m faced with daily as a mother of young boys who constantly lose toys (or bits of toys). I was not really enjoying this geocaching lark, so we gave up and went to the nearby shop and ate ice cream.

Reinvigorated and energized after a sugary treat we decided to push on and try to find a different cache. This was a short walk away and hidden in a wall. There are a lot of walls in Gibraltar and this particular one is over 100 metres long. After much rooting about in undergrowth and worried looks from passers-by I sat on a bench for a sip of water feeling defeated. That wasn’t the case for the rest of the team and the cache was discovered. There was much high-giving and congratulations. Feeling rather pleased with ourselves  we carried on and found a second one a short walk further along the road. 

I have to admit I’m intrigued by this geocaching business and would like to have another go soon. It’s interesting to see the names of the other people who have found them before you and signed the logs and also see where they have come from.  Have you had any experience of it? If so I’d love to hear from you. I haven’t included any pictures of the caches or where we found them as you may want to have a go at finding them yourself one day. That’s all for now, happy September to you all!

Night driving, cat’s eyes and street lamps

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Hello from Gibraltar! It’s taken us a few days to recover from our road trip back from Portugal. The return journey was slightly longer than it was meant to be. We set off in the early evening with the intention of getting the younger members of the family to sleep for at least some of the way. In preparation for the evening ahead we made a return trip to the fishing village of Alvor for a nice lunch (see my earlier post Trip to Alvor for more on this lovely place).   

After lunch had settled, the boys had one final dip in the pool with Daddy while I finished packing up all our things ready for the trip home. All this was done with the intention of wearing them out and filling their tummies so a sandwich in the car would suffice for tea. The first hiccup of the journey came as we pulled out of the car park at our resort, to see people waving and pointing at the car. Cue the realization that the pair of damp shorts Mr Postcard had left to dry on the roof were now flapping merrily in the breeze. Fortunately a small bit of the fabric had been caught in the corner of the driver door so the shorts were rescued amid much hilarity! On our second attempt, we bid farewell to our holiday home for the past week. 

  
These pretty flowers were growing very close to our holiday home front door, I admired them each time I walked past. I have no idea what they’re called but I’d love some for our patio back home. Right then, back to the trip; off we headed along the toll road to the Portuguese/Spanish border making good headway. As we crossed over the Guadalquivir River at Seville (see my earlier post Are we there yet? Road trip to Portugal for more on our route) we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

  
Once dusk was upon us, the flaw in our great nocturnal plan was revealed; Spanish A roads (at least the ones we were on) don’t have street lights, nor do they have cat’s eyes in the road. So unless you have someone else’s tail lights to follow, it makes night driving a good deal slower and more arduous than we had previously expected. It also means that approaches to road junctions aren’t as clear as we’d anticipated. Our inexperience and lack of Satnav led us to overshoot our turn-off at Jerez. By the time we’d got to the next available junction, we were almost at Cadiz! Miles out of our way and adding nearly an hour of winding pitch black single carriage way roads onto our journey, we took a detour via Chiclana and Tarifa!

Needless to say, we were all a little frazzled when we rocked up back in Gibraltar. One highlight though was that crossing the border back into Gibraltar at quarter to midnight on a Saturday night meant no frontier queue!

Since our return there has been much post holiday washing (I think I counted 7 loads on Sunday, the poor washing machine is groaning!), unpacking and settling back into life at home. We met up with friends for a picnic in the park yesterday which was nice for the boys and the mums to catch up. It was also lovely weather wise, it has changed for the better while we’ve been away. The levanter has gone (due to a change in the wind direction) and although it’s still hot and sunny, the sweaty humidity of the previous few weeks has gone making things a lot more pleasant.

We’re looking forward to a busy few weeks here in Gibraltar, with the cardboard boat race, Gibraltar Fair, the Gibraltar Music Festival and National Day all coming up soon. I hope you’ll join me again soon and I can tell you all about them. Thanks for stopping by and thank you for taking the time to like and comment on my posts, it’s lovely to hear from you. 

Why not check out my Facebook page : Postcard from Gibraltar, follow me on Twitter @postcardfromgib and find me on Instagram @postcardfromgibraltar 

A final postcard from Portugal 

~ Making Stitches ~ 3 Comments

  
Today’s the day we wave goodbye to Portugal and head back home to Gibraltar. We have had a brilliant week and were  lucky enough to meet up with friends which meant the children had buddies to play with on the beach and in the pool. 

  
We have had mixed weather for our stay, some days scorchingly hot, on a couple of others we’ve even had rain but that hasn’t affected our enjoyment of this beautiful stretch of Atlantic coastline.

  
The aforementioned friends have been coming to this part of the world for many years and were able to introduce us to some lovely things like the red berry laden, white sangria above. It’s made with a fizzy white wine, spirits and strawberries, cranberries & raspberries and is divine. It also requires the drinker to have an afternoon nap!

We were also introduced to these beauties:   

They are local sweets made with marzipan and filled with egg custard. They looked fab and tasted delicious, from someone who doesn’t normally like marzipan that’s a BIG deal.

We’ve had great meals out, like the one in this atmospheric taberna in Portimão. I was ever so brave and ate clams and baby octopus (another BIG deal for me).   

There has also been plenty of time to be crafty and I’ve been making great progress on one of my cross stitch WIPs. The stitching session below was powered by the most gorgeous homemade strawberry smoothie made by Mr Postcard and ably assisted by the smaller members of the family.

 
On one of our drives to explore the local area we witnessed the sight of a shepherd striding out into the road, bringing the traffic to a standstill. He had a few goats among his sheep as well as a couple of weary looking sheepdogs.

   
My floral appreciation has continued in the Algarve. I have been very disciplined and only chosen a couple of the many pictures I’ve taken for fear of boring you!

 
 

I thought this plasterwork on the side of this building looked stunning.

  
   
Goodbye Portugal, thank you for having us to stay. We’ve had a wonderful time and hope to see you again one day!

 
Thank you so much for stopping by. Until the next time…

A trip to Alvor

~ Making Stitches ~ 3 Comments

  
We are already halfway through our family holiday to the Algarve. We have been lucky enough to enjoy gloriously hot days interspersed with cloudy, cooler days giving us a respite from the heat. There have been lazy days on the beach and by the pool, but today we took a short drive west along the coast to the nearby fishing village of Alvor.

  
The sleepy village is situated on the estuary of the Alvor River and although it’s not particularly ‘touristy’ it had a fair few overseas visitors today. On our wander through the village, we stumbled upon the Church of the Divine Saviour. The beautiful egg yolk yellow and white of the paintwork looked lovely, it’s a shame I couldn’t photograph it against a brilliant blue sky. I’m not complaining though, it was nice and cool today!

  
  
Unfortunately we didn’t make it inside the 16th Century church this time, but we are hoping to return to Alvor before we leave the Algarve. Perhaps I’ll get another chance to explore inside.

  
The narrow streets are very picturesque with a mix of modern and older architecture. The photo below is of the municipal library.

  
The streets head downhill towards the waterfront and are lined with restaurants predominantly selling seafood (naturally!).

  
Outside each restaurant is a barbecue grill where the fish and meat is cooked.

  
We took our pick from the riverfront restaurants to find a suitable place to eat lunch. While we waited for our main courses to arrive, we munched our way through a basket of bread and this platter of octopus salad, carrots and olives in garlic and a small dish of tuna mayonnaise.

  
I followed that with a very tasty shrimp kebab – yum!

  
After a lovely lunch, I was ready for a nap, a bit like this dog! (I couldn’t resist taking a photo!)

  
The most bizarre sight of the day was this Portuguese cow on a surf board (yes cow, check out the udders!!!):

  
It was standing outside a shop selling gear relating to the Portugal national football team. I have no idea what the relevance is of the cow to the national football team, if you do, please let me know!

That’s all from me for now, thanks for stopping by, I’ll leave you with a view of the beautiful Alvor River estuary. I’ll be back soon with a final Postcard from Portugal.