Sunday Sevens

Sunday Sevens #202 22.9.19

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Back again, and just one week since the last one! How are you? I hope you had a good week!

Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:

Back to school

My Dressmaking classes restarted this week – it felt good to be back again and using my brain! New term means a new project – trousers. Pattern drawing began this week and I took in the fabric I bought in the UK to show my teacher – thankfully it got the seal of approval. It will be a while before I start sewing with it though, after I cut my paper pattern I need to make a trial run in cotton to make sure I have the pattern correct.

Sunny morning in town

Its been such a long time since I’ve met a friend for coffee, but I managed it this week. We had a really good chat catching up on news from both of us from over the summer and cooking up a plan for the future – it was fun.

Birthday cake baking

I certainly wouldn’t get a place on Bake-Off… one of the Little Postcards celebrated a birthday this week and carrot cake was the request. I only bake for birthdays and occasional charity cake sale so it’s not my speciality nor is my spice rack particularly up to date. Imagine my horror when I replaced the required spices with new ones (as the old ones were a few years out of date) and only discovered the unopened packet of ground ginger when I was clearing up afterwards.

My delight at being told, ooh Mummy this tastes so gingery was a relief! Shhh it’s our little secret!

Many shades of grey…

It was a very grey affair on Friday… just look at those grey skies against the grey of the Rock, road & the buildings!

Relay for life

I had the privilege to pop along to the annual Relay for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK which was taking place yesterday. I wasn’t taking part, just cheering along from the sidelines. This amazing event saw about 80 teams of people walking round the track at Victoria Stradium for 24 hours from 11am yesterday to 11 am this morning – that’s some going. It is a very emotional event as many people are walking in memory of loved ones and in support of friends and family who are going through cancer at the moment. What a special thing to witness.

That’s it from me for this week, I hope you have a good one! Until next time, bye for now…

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #201 15.9.19

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Ahh that feels better, back in the Sunday Sevens saddle! I hope you’re all well and have had a good week! This week for me has felt more like 2 to be honest with the Gibraltar Calling Music Festival last weekend and National Day on Tuesday. I have to admit that I’m rather looking forward to a ‘normal’ week with a ‘normal’ routine next week! Here goes…

Sunday at Gibraltar Calling

Last Sunday was day 2 of the Gibraltar Calling Music Festival. We got there early in time to see the day kicked off by King Calaway. Those of you away from Gibraltar may not have heard of them so I’ll explain who they are….

They’re a relatively new band based in the USA and are comprised of individuals from across the states as well as Europe, including the gentleman below. He’s called Simon Dumas and is from Gibraltar. Simon’s pretty well known here for being in a couple of local bands with his brothers Guy & Philip as well as being a radio presenter here whilst he was away studying music in Manchester.

Since he graduated he joined this band, King Calaway and they’re having quite a bit of success in the States. They are a bit ‘country’ and have performed with big stars like Garth Brooks and played at the Grand Ol’ Opry. This was their first performance in Gibraltar and it went down a storm!

They even performed one of the old Frontier’s songs (his last band before leaving here) along with his brothers.

I hope they don’t leave it too long to return!

Next up was Tom Walker …

Then I nipped over to the classic stage for a bit of David Essex’s set.

And then back in time for Rick Astley! Never gonna give you up….

The run away highlight of the day had to be Take That. Yes, that’s right – TAKE THAT!!!!!

Oh my word, they were terrific.

The fun didn’t stop there, Mel C from the Spice Girls came on to DJ. I’ve never heard a Spice Girls track (Who do you think you are) mixed with Nirvana‘s Smells like Teen Spirit before but I loved it!!

After that, a Queen tribute act came on but we headed home soon after they came on stage. Well it was after 1am and it was school the next day… 😳

National Day 2019

Two days later was Tuesday 10th September, Gibraltar National Day. The day when everyone wears red & white and has fun basically. We had aerobatic displays to watch…

Some people created the biggest tented city I’ve ever seen on Catalan Bay beach!

And in the evening we had a the obligatory National Day fireworks display.

Town centre Oasis

After all the excitement of the previous few days it was nice to take a moment to enjoy a bit of quiet in town while ferrying Little Postcards to after school activities!

Moody skies

Friday night saw moody skies brewing. Not far up the coast near Malaga there were terrible floods and some people lost their lives in the heavy downpours. We were extremely fortunate to escape that.

Gibraltar day still in evidence!

Even yesterday the place was still looking festive. Some shop keepers really go to town with their window displays – they look lovely.

And so here we are at the end of a rather long Sunday Sevens. I can pretty much guarantee that next week’s won’t be as exciting – but you never know what’s around the corner do you? Have a great week!

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #200 11.8.19

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Did you catch the title of this post? Sunday Sevens number 200 – eek how did that happen? Have I really been writing about what’s happened during my weeks for 200 weeks? If you have been with me from the start I reckon you deserve some kind of reward for your stamina! Thank you to everyone who’s been reading my posts for so long whether you’re a newbie to Postcard from Gibraltar or have been dipping in and out for years, I appreciate your company – thank you!

By the way, I had lots of fun walking around the town centre looking for ‘200’s for this photo collage (thank goodness Gibraltar’s dialing code is 200!!).

Here’s what we’ve been up to this week:

Beach day

Last Sunday and Monday were spent doing laundry from our trip to Portugal last week and putting our home back together after having contractors in to do some much needed jobs in our absence. Tuesday, though, was a beach day. It was lovely down at Sandy Bay. I stupidly thought that after a long summer of using factor 50 suncream I could throw caution to the wind and go down to factor 30. I was wrong. a bit of previously unexposed flesh couldn’t cope with it and I got a bit frazzled. That’ll teach me. I’m back on The factor 50.

Market day in La Linea

I’m on the hunt for some fabric to recover our dining room chairs. I have a design in my mind and headed to La Linda’s Wednesday market to try and buy some. Unfortunately the stall holders didn’t have what I wanted. We did have a nice lunch at Cafe Modelo in La Linea town centre (their chips are really rather nice) and had a bit of a walk about – it made a nice change,

Lovely sunset

On Wednesday evening we enjoyed a glorious sunset over the Bay. The photo doesn’t really do it justice.

Thursday swim

I took the Little Postcards to the Europa open air pool on Thursday, it was lovely. I didn’t take any photos in the pool but am always amazed at the waterfall above it.

Bougainvillea blooms

I have included this bougainvillea a few times in Sunday Sevens over the years. It always seems to be in bloom and was laden with flowers when we walk past it this week.

Squeezing the last bit out of the day

On Friday we stayed on the beach until the last rays of sunshine had disappeared over the Rock. The Little Postcards were having so much fun in the sea and burying each other in the sand. It seemed such a shame to leave.

Busy day in the Bay

I happened to look out of the window yesterday and thought it looked really rather busy out in the Bay. There were ferries heading back and to to Morocco and tankers bunkering in Gibraltar waters as well as huge container ships heading to Algeciras port. I think the only day it’s quiet out there is Christmas Day.

And that brings this week’s 200th Sunday Sevens to a close.

I forgot to include this last week… here’s a little compilation of my July highlights.

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Sevens #199 4.8.19

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Hello there! I hope you’re well and have had a good week. Last Saturday we packed up the car and headed off on a road trip to Portugal…. here’s some of what we got up to:

Olá Portugal!

We drove to the lovely seaside town of Alvor in the Algarve. We have visited this part of the world before and spent some time on day trips here before but really fancied being able to spend the evening enjoying the many bars & restaurants rather than just grabbing a quick lunch or ice cream before heading back to our accommodation. This time we rented an apartment in the fishing town and really enjoyed all it had to offer.

Alvor medieval fair

For most of our stay there was a Medieval fair going on at night. There were multiple food stalls, entertainment with ye olde worlde musicians and characters wandering about. There was even a medieval merry-go-round – it didn’t get many takers as far as we could see, the more modern one with hobby horses and fire engines next door was more of a pull for the little ones.

Down at the waterpark

We had a day at a water park on Tuesday – not something you’d normally catch us doing but we met up with old friends while we were away and one of their sons had his birthday last week so this was his choice. I was very brave and went on the ‘Disco River’ slide and screamed all the way down. Littlest asked me not to ride with him again after that…

Beach day

The Little Postcards had a great time last week, not only did we go water sliding, we had 4 trips to the beach. I have to admit, this one is rather spectacular don’t you agree?

Chocolate heaven!

Now do you remember those evening delights to enjoy in Alvor? This has got to be one of them. (I may be regretting some of the naughty things we ate now I’m home and reunited with my scales :-/ ) How about this for a build your own dessert? What a treat…. I went for chocolate centre, dark chocolate coating with Oreo and KitKat crumbly topping on mine ;-).

One last Portuguese sunset

And so our time in Alvor came to an end, a lovely holiday and some lovely memories.

Back home!

There she is! The Rock in which we stand, back home to Gibraltar, just in time for a plane to land and another to take off again!

Thanks for stopping by! Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

If you would like to see a bit more about Alvor, you can pop over to my post all about it from four years ago.

Sunday – no – Saturday Sevens – no – Fives #198 27.7.19

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Hello all, this week I’m ringing the changes, Sunday Sevens is making an appearance a day early… I shall explain why at the end!

Tortilla fail

Last Sunday I attempted to make a Spanish Tortilla or Torta de Patata as it’s know round these parts… I failed! It didn’t taste too bad with the burned bits cut off… my Gibraltarian friends will despair of me!

Blue skies in Blighty

I can’t take credit for this beautiful photo, it was sent to me by my Dad as he and my Mum took a walk along a canal tow-path in Cheshire. I have his permission to feature it in this week’s Sunday Saturday Sevens Fives. We have had some very humid weather in Gibraltar this week, but I know that it’s been sizzling in the UK, with temperatures higher than we’ve experienced.

Saharan dust sunset

This beautiful sunset caught my eye one evening this week – Wednesday I think. It was a stunner, thanks to the Saharan dust which is knocking about a lot at the moment.

Evening stroll by the sea

This week has been rather hectic in our apartment, we have got some contractors coming in to do some much needed work. As a consequence I have spent a lot of time over the past few days packing our things/junk and moving them into rooms which won’t be touched by the workers.

First world problems I know, but it’s been a bit crazy added to the fact I have 3 young men at home who were hoping to spend some time at the beach this week but were stuck indoors while I did jobs and Mr Postcard has been away with work. To try and make up for the fact we had been in a hot sweaty flat all day I took them out for a walk to Catalan Bay on Thursday evening and we stopped off for an ice cream after dinner. Not quite the beach day I’d promised them at the start of the week, but it will have to do!

Restful sleeping environment – not

And this, my friends is the view from my side of the bed. Most of the contents of the lounge are in our bedroom. The flat is in chaos and I’m a bit frazzled with it all, so I’ve decided to take a week off my phone and try to unwind a bit after a rather stressy week. That’s why this week’s Sunday Sevens is actually a Saturday Fives – and not the most uplifting one either – apologies for that!

I’ll be back again next Sunday, all being well, and between now and then I’m going offline – I’m not being rude – just reclaiming my sanity after a busy few days. See you on the other side x

Sunday Sevens #197 21.7.19

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Hello there! I hope you’ve had a good week! Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens, seven pictures from the last seven days….

Beautiful building

I had a meeting in this beautiful old building on Monday. I have walked past it countless times on my wanders around Gibraltar but never set foot inside before. Wow, what a stunning staircase!

Sunshine through the green!

I drove past this banana (I think) leaf on Tuesday and the sunlight shining through it caught my eye. When I walked past it later, I had to take a photo!

Marbella

We had a midweek trip to Marbella. The old town is just so pretty.

The breakfast of champions

We went out for breakfast on Thursday morning – what a treat! Never had new potatoes with my eggs Benedict before… it was delicious though!

Levanter galore!

It was a rather grey but humid day on Friday. We went to the beach… it was rather quiet! (I wonder why?!) The Little Postcards enjoyed themselves in spite of the weather.

Beautiful bougainvillea

I walk past this beautiful bougainvillea every so often and it almost all year round looks fab. We’ve had mixed results when we’ve tried to grow it – this one gets a gold star!

And that’s all from me for this week. I hope it’s been a good one for you.

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #196 14.7.19

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Well, last week I promised a Sunday Sevens full of sport. We have had a truly wonderful week here in Gibraltar with the NatWest International Island Games. 21 visiting teams from islands as diverse as St Helena and the Isle of Man, Menorca and Greenland competing in 14 sports.

I have had such a busy week and it’s getting late on this Sunday evening, so I shall just let the pictures speak for themselves this week. Here’s what we’ve been watching….

Sunday – 10 pin bowling

…and clay pigeon shooting.

Monday – Basketball

….and beach volleyball.

Tuesday – cycling time trials

…and athletics.

Thursday – more beach volleyball

…and swimming.

Friday – tennis

…and more athletics.

…phew, what an amazing week it’s been.

Well done to all the athletes, support teams, organisers and the 700 volunteers from our community here in Gibraltar for helping make this a truly fantastic event. I’m just sorry it’s ended so soon! What will we do next week?

I hope this week has been a good one for you, normal Sunday Sevens service will be resumed next week!

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #195 7.7.19

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First week of the school summer holidays over already! Just another 8 to go…

Saharan dust at sunset

The calm before the busy week ahead…. a Saharan dust sunset last Sunday evening.

We’re watching you!

On Monday we went to the beach – better start the holiday as we mean to go on… it was lovely! While we were there we were watching HMS Echo mapping the sea bed off the East coast of the Rock.

New pool

Gibraltar has a new /old pool. The former MOD Nuffield Pool was handed back to the Gibraltar Government a while back and was left empty and unused (which is a terrible waste). Anyway, a couple of weeks ago it was opened to the public for the first time (previously you had to have MOD connections to get in). It is utterly marvelous and I can see us making use of it a lot this summer – we went twice this week!

Gib in the news

On Thursday morning Gibraltar hit the news, a tanker containing Iranian oil and suspected of heading to Syria (in breach of EU sanctions) was seized by the Gibraltar Government with the help of the Royal Marines. We took a drive around to the Rock to see it, we spied it just off the South West coast beyond the lighthouse.

Another beach day

I’ve got this beach thing sorted I think! It takes me a few attempts to get into my stride with what to take etc. Now the Little Postcards are a bit older I can actually take the risk of looking at a book without fear of them getting into too much bother – this is a very nice development! Next week I think my crochet will have to come too…

Calentita time!

Calentita came to town on Friday night. The annual food festival takes over the main Casemates Square and Market Place (below) with food stalls, tables, musical acts and cookery demonstrations. We always get there early for a quick feed with the Little Postcards before it gets too busy later on.

Island Games

Last night, the NatWest International Island Games kicked off in Gibraltar at the new (not quite finished yet) Europa Point Sports Complex. Teams from 21 visiting islands from St Helena to Greenland, the Isle of Man to Sark arrived. Gibraltar will host them in a number of sports for the next week. Be prepared for a rather sports inspired Sunday Sevens next week!

And that brings this week’s rather busy Sunday Sevens to a close. I hope it’s been a good one for you. Until next time, bye for now!

Sunday Sevens – which features 7 photos from the last 7 days was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #194 30.6.19

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Greetings from a rather warm and sunny Gibraltar. All the schoole broke up for the summer break here on Friday, so we’re now officially ‘on holiday’ (well the young people are at least!). Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:

San Juan

It was the festival of San Juan along the Spanish coast from Gibraltar on Sunday evening last week. Mr Postcard popped over to have a walk and see some of the traditional fires which are lit on the beach. He took this photo (I was at home with the Little Postcards).

Tranquil evening light

I found myself in town at ‘golden hour’ as the sun was going down on Monday evening, it looked so tranquil looking out at the Upper Town from the multi-storey car park, and at odds with the crazy busy day I had had beforehand.

End of term at Dressmaking class

This week was the end of term for my dressmaking class, and I’m really pleased to say that I finished my top!! It’s been four years now that I’ve been attending Dorcas Hammond’s fashion academy and it’s such a highlight in my week. I shall miss it over the summertime. Here’s the finished article…

I’m watching you!

We have some rather large waspy type creatures in Gib in summertime. The Little Postcards get crazy when they arrive in our home with their long dangly legs. I haven’t been able to catch one in flight yet to take a photo. We did find one of them in their own home this week though.

One was spotted in our back patio and it headed to our bug house which is made of short lengths of bamboo in a box. I caught him watching me!

Beautiful sunny weather

We have enjoyed some beautiful sunny warm weather this week. It’s been a pleasure during calm shady moments, but rather hot and sweaty while trying to get things done. I do appreciate that our highest temperature so far has been around 30 degrees Celsius rather than the mid 40s like some of our European neighbours have experienced – that would be a whole lot hotter!

School’s out for summer!

So, here were are, mojito time – school has finished for another academic year – which is ever so slightly frightening as that means my boys are getting older. As of September I will have no children in first school and two in secondary, which is a bit mind-blowing.

Armed Forces Day

It was Armed Forces Day yesterday and that had significance for me this year as a few weeks back I made a ‘Flag of Thanks’ which will be currently being displayed in a church in Salisbury for Armed Forces Day, and which will eventually be added to other flags to make bedding for homeless veterans. (Look for #flagsofthanks on Instagram)

In Gibraltar, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment had a ceremony yesterday to mark a ceremonial changing of the Governor’s guard. It was quite a spectacle, and something for the unsuspecting tourists to enjoy.

That’s it for another week, I hope it’s a good one for you!

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

 

Sunday Sevens #192 23.6.19

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Hello there! It’s Sunday Sevens time again. Here we are on our last weekend before School breaks up for summer for 9 loooooong weeks! Not sure what state we’ll all be in by the time September comes around – I feel a another summer craft challenge coming on….

Bank holiday on the beach

It was a bank holiday here in Gibraltar on Monday in honour of the Queen’s birthday. We headed down to the beach for the first time this year, and so did everyone else by the looks of it!! I also indulged in a spot of alfresco crochet, a bit of bank holiday bobbling on the beach!

I managed a bit of bobbling on the bus home too!

Photo of the day!

This photo which I used for my #52fridayphotos photo challenge last week got noticed by an Instagram account which showcases nice photos of Gibraltar… and I won photo of the day this week! What a lovely surprise 😊.

More street art

A few weeks ago I shared a couple of photos of recent additions of street art ( a sloth & a ginger cat). This huge and rather lovely piece of art has appeared on hoardings around the old police station on Irish Town. Much better than a plain old hoarding don’t you think?!

Lunch with friends

I had a lovely afternoon with friends this week on Queensway Quay. It had been too long since our last meet up. We had a lovely chat.

Comedy in a cave.

The Mancunian comedian, Jason Manford, came to Gibraltar this week. He did four shows in St Michael’s Cave in the Upper Rock. We went along to his first show and had a really good giggle. It was fabulous, and the cave is a stunning venue for an event. The evening was rounded off with a lovely sunset as we emerged from the cave…

New old pool

Gibraltar has a new/old pool! The Nuffield Pool, which was owned by the MoD was handed back to the Gibraltar Government a couple of years ago and very sadly it was left unused. This summer it has been smartened up again and this time is open to the public – not just military personnel and their families. It opened on Friday – I’m looking forward to our first trip!

Sunset flight

Last night as we were sitting out on our balcony watching the world go by a plane took off from Gibraltar airport and flew by. What a lovely time to fly!

And there you have it, seven photos from the last seven days (who’s counting?!). Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.