Summer holidays

“Are we there yet?” Road trip to Portugal.

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On Saturday we got up early and set off on a road trip. That’s something VERY unusual for us these days. When we lived in England we had regular trips up to the Scottish Highlands (which we love) and across England to visit friends & family. Since moving to Gibraltar almost 6 years ago though, the longest road trip we’ve taken as a family is around 2 hours up the road to Cadiz. When we planned the trip, we did it thinking ‘what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained’ (I shall preface this statement with the fact that 5-10 minute car journeys with my family are rarely quiet, event-free occurrences). Even the prospect of sitting in a border queue to go 5 minutes up the road to Decathlon for some school PE trainers is a big deal for us. 

Over the years, we have become very Gibraltar-centric. The prospect of a long and arduous wait in a border queue across to Spain and back home again with our offspring in the back of the car doesn’t fill either of us with joy. As a consequence, we rarely venture over to Spain without a good reason like a party, to take visiting relatives over or to go on holiday. We have had a number of quick half-term breaks on the Costa del Sol since we arrived here (around an hour’s drive from home), and we have looked longingly at friends’ Facebook photos of skiing trips to Sierra Nevada and sunny get-always to the Algarve but we’re never brave enough to attempt it. That was until now. 

This year we decided it was time to bite the bullet and head off further afield. Armed with a packed lunch, wet wipes and a couple of movies downloaded onto the iPad we set off. An early start paid dividends as we sailed through the border with Spain. So taken aback was I at the lack of a queue I almost flashed our passports at the man selling Gibraltar Chronicles just before we crossed over! (Not my proudest moment and it didn’t go unnoticed nor without comment from Mr P). We zoomed past our favourite retail outlets at Los Barrios and out into the beautiful Andalusian countryside.

  
As you will notice from the photo, it was a bit cloudy and not at all Andalusian-like in the weather stakes but it didn’t matter. The roads were quiet, the only hold ups being a caravan with a puncture and a toll booth near Jerez where, as you can see, it got rather wet.

  
WET??? In southern Spain IN AUGUST??? It was more like driving on the A1 (in England) than the E5 heading towards Seville!

Having listened to friends talk of downloading movies to iPad to entertain children on long car journeys, I thought that may be the solution to potential boredom problems. As a childhood sufferer of car sickness, I should have known better. We held off on the movie for at least half an hour while we could still get good reception of BFBS Radio 2 and the BBC Radio 4 news from the mast in Gibraltar. When the crackle became unbearable it was time for the big treat; ‘Paddington’. Two out of three of the boys had not previously seen the film so I thought it was a perfect choice. It was, for about 20 minutes until the first cry of “I’ve got a tummy ache!”. We lasted another 10 minutes before a second child complained of feeling queasy. That’s when the iPad went away – permanently. How could I not have realised there would have been a problem with watching a film in a moving car? I certainly couldn’t do it even now. A plane or train is one thing (well alright 2 things), but a car? Hey-ho, I won’t attempt that again!

In just under 2 hours we were further from home than we have ever been before as a motoring family of 5. We crossed the impressive road bridge over the Guadalquivir River at Seville  (or Sevilla as it’s called in these parts).

 
 At Seville, we turned left off the motorway which required crossing 3 lanes of traffic to sit in the fast lane (a bit hairy at times) and wait for the turn off to Huelva and…

  
… the first road sign for Portugal! On we drove, (stopping only for an emergency toilet break), and just 3 1/2 hours after setting off we saw this wondrous sight:

  
… the bridge over the Guadiano river marking the border between Spain and Portugal. It seems a bizarre thing to say but you could tell you were in a different country immediately (apart from the language on the road signs!) the vegetation at the side of the road was different and the farms, etc seemed to be on a much smaller scale than the more industrialised developments we’d left behind. Just over an hour later, we were at our destination close to the fishing town of Portimão. 

  
I’m amazed at how relatively painless the journey was, I don’t think we were asked “are we there yet?” until we were close to Seville, which to my mind is pretty good going. Mind you, we must have been asked it close to 100 times between Seville and Portimão but hey, who’s counting? In the process of undertaking the journey, we exorcised our fear of driving relatively long distances with 3 kids in the car and were rewarded with blue skies and sunshine at the end of the day. Oh, and a fantastic view of the Atlantic Ocean!

É tudo por agora (that’s all for now) from the Algarve, thanks for stopping by! Please call back soon and I’ll be sharing some of our Portuguese experiences. 🙂

Home sweet home!

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Well, I’m pleased to say we made it home to Gibraltar. We had a brilliant few weeks in England and were sad to say goodbye. It’s good to be home though.

The hot weather has had a curious effect on the plants while we’ve been gone. Some have gone crazy like this bougainvillea, others, sadly have been burnt to a crisp. There’s a bit of work to do in the patio!

   
It’s hot hot hot, but check out that stunning sky! 

 
That’s all for now, I’ll be back again soon!

How it all began…

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As with many people, my love of all things crafty began as a child and was fostered by my Mum and Gran. Every summer, from the age of about 8, I would spend two weeks on holiday at my grandparent’s house. As my grandparents lived over 200 miles from my home, this time was very precious as we didn’t see a lot of them. My trip to visit them was a highlight in my year as I got thoroughly spoiled! Each year, shortly after arriving at their place, my Gran would take me shopping to buy something to do whilst staying there. The first year it was a kit of a set of coasters which I painted and gave to my Mum as a present on my return. Gran taught me to knit and crochet, but most of all to embroider. The little duckling shown above was one such summer holiday production completed from a kit when I was around 13 years old. It hangs now in my Mum and Dad’s spare room where my two eldest sleep when we come to visit. I have to say, if I attempted such a piece of work nowadays I doubt I’d be able to improve on it. I don’t think it’s too bad for a young teenager!  

 
My parents’ home is scattered with bits and bobs I’ve produced over the years. No matter what’s been going on in my life, school, university, work, marriage and being a parent,  I have always had a desire to create things. At times it’s had to take a back seat for a while, but invariably when I’m in the right mind set my creative juices start flowing again!

   
 
That’s almost all for now, sadly this is the last evening of our English adventure as it’s time to head home to Gibraltar tomorrow. We’ve had a fantastic time and packed an awful lot in. I’ll leave you with a few postcards from England….

   
Above & below, a pond a short walk from my parents’ home.


A few pictures from our trip south (including gorgeous home made hummus made by the children!)

   

Above & below; Manchester Museum including Stan the T-Rex skeleton.  

And finally, the wrens have all fledged and this is the empty nest they left behind in my Dad’s nesting box.   
 

Thanks for stopping by.

Raindrops on roses & whiskers on kittens 

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It wouldn’t be a traditional English summer without some rain, right? Well we’ve certainly had plenty in the last few days. I’m not complaining though, we were blessed with beautiful sunny, dry days at the start of our English summer holiday allowing picnics and trips out to the countryside, meanwhile back at home in Gibraltar it’s been sizzling hot. We have been so lucky to escape the heat for a few weeks. We took a train trip down South for a few days to catch up with old friends, and it was delightful. We met this gorgeous little kitten, who’s a recent addition to one of the families we visited.

  
This was him recovering after being chased around the house by five overexcited children! The rain didn’t dampen our trip at all though. We still got out for a short, wet, woodland walk.

   
Did I mention I love trees??!

 
One glorious side effect of rain is lush plants, so it’s not all bad!

  
The local wildlife enjoyed the wet weather too – much to the enjoyment of the youngest members of the party.

   
 
We had five train trips in total on our journey south a rare treat for one member of the family who loves trains but doesn’t get the chance to ride them often. I loved watching the English countryside whizzing by.

  
In amongst our days away I have managed to fit in a couple of trips to craft shops (hurrah!) and have some new supplies to take back to Gibraltar with me. I’m brimming with ideas, I just need to find the time to get busy!

  
I hope your summer plans aren’t being spoiled by the rain. Thanks for stopping by!

A history lesson

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We have been lucky enough to visit two National Trust properties this week; Quarry Bank Mill and Dunham Massey. They are both in Cheshire and less than an hours’ drive from Manchester. We were blessed with good English summer weather with just a few light showers of rain. 

   
At Quarry Bank Mill, we learned about how cotton production moved from a domestic setting to an industrial one. We also learned the origins of several common English words and phrases; ‘spinster’ – an unmarried woman would spin cotton into thread in order to make a living; ‘spinning a yarn’ – the practice of gossiping while spinning cotton; ‘ heirloom’ – a manual loom for weaving cotton (and the knowledge of how to use it), which would passed down from generation to generation, thereby guaranteeing an income in lean times.

 
The spinning wheel and hand loom would have been a common sight in homes at around the time Gibraltar was ceded to Britain (1713).

   
Quarry Bank Mill was built in 1784 when water power became widely used to run machinery. It uses the water of the River Bollin to run it’s machinery.

    
The machines were so noisy! Not all of them were running – it must have been deafening to work there.

  This giant waterwheel powers the machinery upstairs.

 
Quarry Bank Mill was built by Samuel Greg, a Unitarian, who along with his wife, Hannah, believed in providing a better standard of living for their indentured workers. Conditions at Quarry Bank were tough by today’s standards, although vastly better than in some of Manchester’s inner city mills.

   
A short walk from the mill is the Apprentice House (above). In this three storey building, sixty indentured children would live while working at the mill – yes sixty. They would come to Quarry Bank from workhouses (mainly in Liverpool) at the age of nine and sign up to spend the next nine years of their lives working six days a week in the mill.

 
This picture (above) is of the girls’ dormitory, forty girls would be locked in here at night, two to a bed. The children would rise at 5:30am and have a quick breakfast of porridge before beginning work at 6am. A thirteen hour working day would follow, with a 30 minute break for lunch (porridge again, with added vegetables). A great guide took us around the house, beginning with the school room, where children would learn the basics of reading and writing and on to the treatment room, where a doctor would use leeches and other delightful remedies to keep the workers healthy and productive.

   
The kitchen made use of the nearby allotment garden, where the boys would help grow crops to eat.

   
It was a great day out for the whole family, and helped my boys realise just how lucky they are to be born nowadays.

   
  The River Bollin  
  

Quarry Bank Mill is a beautiful and fascinating place to visit, I would highly recommend it.  
 
As I mentioned before, we also visited Dunham Massey. The property is a finalist in the Museum of the Year 2015 for it’s recreation of a World War One military hospital. The Stamford Military Hospital is re-enacted inside the main house with actors, the property also has beautiful gardens. We, however just took advantage of the beautiful estate parkland to give the children a chance to ‘run wild’ for a bit. In more than thirty years of visiting the park at Dunham, I can never remember being so up close and personal with the resident fallow deer. They are beautiful creatures and seemed incredibly tame this time.

   
 
Another treat for the boys was a great den built with storm fallen branches! You can’t beat a bit of stick collecting and tree climbing to while away an afternoon.

  
For more information on Quarry Bank Mill and Dunham Massey, please click on these links: Quarry Bank Mill, Dunham Massey

Daisy chains, buttercups & damsel flies

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We’ve had a great time today doing something I like to do every summer. We drove out into the stunning Cheshire countryside and visited the lovely Marbury Park. There’s wide open green spaces for a picnic and a kick about with a football and a beautiful woodland walk.
  

It’s so nice to be able to share some of the things I previously took for granted with my boys. We don’t get daisies in Gibraltar, nor do we get buttercups. They had never heard of a daisy chain before today – let alone seen one, and as for shining a buttercup under your chin to check whether you like butter? They had no idea such scientific tests were possible!

  

I have to warn you that I adore trees, and green leaves…. There are quite a few photos of trees coming up!

Our woodland walk took us through the mature Northwich Woodlands to the edge of Budworth Mere (below).

   
  

It was quite a nature trail we were on, seeing rabbits and squirrels (including a fast-moving white squirrel which I was too slow to get a photo of). By the water’s edge, on a stretch of greenery was a mass of damsel flies. Their blue bodies stood out brightly against the green leaves.

  
I took so many pictures of the beautiful things we saw, trying to store them away, so that I can remember them when we get back home to Gibraltar. The foxgloves were so pretty.

 
Now it’s time for my green tree appreciation bit… I just LOVE trees!

   
    
 
And I love ferns!

  
    
  

Get a load of those leaves with the sunlight shining through them!

  
  

On the edge of Marbury Park is the Trent and Mersey Canal. It was looking a little murky today but there were a couple of lovely narrow boats moored further along looking pretty.

  
  
Along with the delights of daisy chains and buttercups, my boys were introduced to the delights of ‘sticky willy’ on our woodland adventure today. I spent much of the walk adorned with bits of it stuck to my clothing – much to the delight of the smaller members of the party. I got a few weird looks from passers-by!

  
 After our walk, the best reward for small people with tired legs has to be ice cream. Where better to get one than an ice cream farm? 

 
A short drive from Marbury Park is the Great Budworth Ice Cream Farm. It tasted as good as it looks! We were even able to see the cows responsible for providing the cream and say thank you!
  
For more information about Marbury Country Park & the Great Budworth Ice Cream Farm, click on these links:

Northwich Woodlands
Great Budworth ice cream farm

The place where I grew up

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There’s nothing quite like coming home to the place where you spent your childhood. I’m very lucky that I spent all my formative years in one house, the same house where my parents still live today, on the outskirts of Manchester. Every year I come back here with my children to my parents’ home to catch up with old friends and most importantly family. Here I can enjoy being not just a wife and mother, but a daughter again. 

This year, we have left Daddy at work in Gibraltar and escaped the heat for three whole weeks of fun with the ‘Grandparents’. We’ve had a few lovely English summer days interspersed with just a couple of showers since we arrived. Mum and Dad’s back garden is looking glorious!

   
 
Oh, how I love British gardens! They are so lush and green compared to what we have in Gibraltar – I really miss this when I’m away. 

   
 
I can vouch for the home grown strawberries and lettuce – they have gone down very well at dinner time!

 
One of the highlights of our holiday so far for both myself and the boys has  been a trip to one of our local parks to ride on the miniature railway. 

   
The miniature trains are built and maintained by local enthusiasts and are just beautiful. The Urmston & District Model Engineering Society have been on the go since 1948 and the following year got permission from the council to build a miniature railway track at Abbotsfield Park in Urmston. 

 
The original, small track was extended in the late 1970s and early 1980s to form the large loop which pretty much runs around the perimeter of the park today. It’s one of the largest tracks of it’s kind in the country, and for the princely sum of 30p, one of the volunteers will take you for a spin!

  
I remember riding around the park many times as a child with my parents and it’s so nice to be able to do the same with my children. Back then, the thrill of flying around the park holding tight round my Dad’s waist was the highlight of it all, but as an adult I can’t fail to be impressed with the workmanship which has gone into creating the engines. They are so small, yet perfectly formed. The drivers stoke the tiny engines with little chunks of coal using shovels the size of dessert spoons!

 
Close to the park is a real hidden gem. It’s up a lane, off the main thoroughfare. Isn’t this little row of terraced cottages just gorgeous?!

  
Well, I’ll leave it here for now. I’ll be back with more of our holiday adventures soon.
For more information on the miniature railway, here’s their website: Urmston Miniature Railway