Sunday Sevens

Sunday Sevens #191 16.6.19

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Hello there! This week has been a rather busy one, the last week of full days for school children here in Gibraltar (read parents dashing around frantically to get as much done as possible) and I went home to see my Mum & Dad. Here goes this week’s Sunday Sevens – seven (or more) photos from the last seven days…

Leaving on a jet plane…

Last Sunday I caught a flight back home to Manchester to see my parents. Mum hasn’t been too well recently and was in hospital awaiting an operation the previous week. She was allowed home for 24 hours at the weekend, so I was able to have some time with her on Sunday before she headed back… it was lovely to see them both.

Birdy art work

Mum was in the Manchester Royal Infirmary, which is right next door to the Manchester Eye Hospital. My Dad took me on a detour to see these seagulls in the back of the main entrance of the Eye Hospital. There used to be a whole wall full of them but now these are the only ones left. My very talented little brother made them with a friend as a commission for the hospital. I’m glad I got to see some of them at least in situ!

Memories of last summer..

Did you see my post last year about the Bee in the City trail around Manchester? I didn’t see this Bee last year, s/he’s now living in the vestibule area of the Manchester Eye Hospital.

You had one job…

On one of our many trips back and to from hospital visiting hours, I spotted this sign on the entrance to a car wash. It really cracked me up. Not sure whether the car wash was operated by the Knights who say Ni?

Heading home

Mum had her op on Monday, I’m pleased to report it went well. She was allowed home on Tuesday. I was really grateful that I was able to be there and to spend some time with her, my Dad and brother. The staff at the MRI were wonderful and we’re so grateful for all their care and attention.

On Wednesday I flew home to Gibraltar early in the morning. As we climbed through the rain clouds above Manchester I spotted the shadow of our plane on the blanket of clouds below.

Last art lesson

I went to my last watercolour lesson this week. I’ve been going to my lessons, which I have greatly enjoyed for about 5 years now. I always finish for the summer once the children go on half days and have quite a few other things lined up for the autumn so I have decided to finish my lessons. I will still paint when I have the chance, but my formal lessons have come to an end. My slightly distracted attempt at a daisy on Thursday perhaps wasn’t a great example of 5 years of classes, but never mind!

Back in the crochet zone!

I don’t think I’ve picked up my crochet hook since the Easter school holidays. I’ve been very busy with all sorts going on and when I’ve had free time, I’ve not been in the right frame of mind to do it. Yesterday, for the first time I was in the mood, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting back into my Coastal Crochet CAL.

So that brings this week’s Sunday Sevens to a close. We’re off out for a Father’s Day meal with Mr Postcard now, and I wish all Dads out there a happy day (my own Dad included). I spoke to my Mum this morning and she’s sounding better and brighter every day. I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self very soon.

Have a lovely week!

Sunday Sevens was created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #190 9.2.19

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Hello there, happy Sunday! Here’s another week’s Sunday Sevens, seven (or more) photos from the last seven days…

Sunday afternoon park life

Last Sunday afternoon we found ourselves in Commonwealth Park, beautiful green oasis in the centre of a rather built up place. The Little Postcards hooked up by chance with some friends from school and ran about like mad things for an hour or so.

Flags of thanks

In last week’s Sunday Sevens you may have noticed I was doing a spot of sewing – on Monday I finished it off. It was a ‘Flag of Thanks’ which is heading to Salisbury to be displayed to raise awareness for homeless veterans. The flags will then be made into blankets for those homeless veterans.

The military in Gibraltar decided to get on board with the project but asked the wider community to get involved too. There were several workshops for people to attend and contribute to the flag collection from Gib. I wasn’t able to attend so made mine at home.

My flag was added to the collection and even got featured in a photo opportunity with the wives of the Commander of the British Forces in Gibraltar (left) Vicky Henry and of the Governor of Gibraltar (right) Lorraine Davies.

If you would like to find out more about the flags of thanks check out the Flags of Thanks website .

Another day, another park…

One of the Little Postcards had a school trip this week to the Alameda Gardens. It was a lovely spot to sit in the sunshine and wait for him to finish!

International Space Station fly-past

Its a bit of a grainy photo but that white dot is the International Space Station crossing the skies over Gibraltar on Tuesday night. I double checked flight radar and it definitely wasn’t a plane, but it was moving far too fast to be a star!! I heard earlier in the day that it would be passing over head and popped out onto the balcony on the off chance it may go past and struck lucky. It appeared between the wispy clouds.

Evening stroll

One evening I headed out with Eldest for a walk in the evening to Europa Point. As we were walking the call to prayer began at the mosque. It was beautiful hearing the melody on the breeze.

Farewell to another sub

Like last week, I have spent rather a lot of time at my laptop this week working on a project. Also like last week, I have looked up at just the right moment to see something interesting sail past. This week it was a black sailed yacht and a submarine leaving port!

50 years since the Frontier Closure

50 years ago yesterday, the border gates between Gibraltar and Spain were closed. This act by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco cut Gibraltar off from the mainland. Families were divided and telephone lines were cut. It was a terrible time for those living on both sides of the border. This week it was remembered by both communities. There’s a fantastic exhibition on at the moment to commemorate the events of 50 years ago which include the original gates.

That’s all for Sunday Sevens this week, I hope the next seven days are good for you.

Sunday Sevens was created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #189 2.6.19

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Hello there and welcome to the first Sunday Sevens of June! Wowzers, June already! That came around quickly…

Here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens, seven photos from the past seven days:

A morning stroll

One morning this week I found myself wandering around Upper Town. It was glorious up there, the views are amazing.

The sewing begins!

After weeks of pattern cutting, hole disguising and tweaking lining, sewing began in earnest this week at my dressmaking class. I think I’m going to like this top once it’s finished!

Walking on the runway

On Wednesday I had a meeting on the northern side of the runway and had a stroll across it in the sunshine to get there. It never ceases to amaze me that here in Gib, you can actually walk across the runway… I was stopped from crossing on the way back while we waited for a rather sleek private jet to take off before I could head home.

Empowering women

I attended a very inspiring event this week put on by Start Up Grind Gibraltar. It featured successful professional women talking about how they got to where they are and what needs to be done to help more women succeed. It was a great event, and reminded me to just go for it! (I’m not yet sure what ‘it’ is though!)

Bowling fun

On Thursday, the kids had the day off school for Ascension Day. They didn’t want to go to the beach or the park, so we went bowling instead. We will be hosting the Island Games in Gibraltar next month and as bowling is one of the sports on offer, our bowling alley has had a bit of a makeover. It got our seal of approval.

A mahoosive boat

This week I have spent rather a lot of time working at my laptop on the dining table and whilst looking for inspiration I’ve gazed out of the window and I have seen so many boats. There was a very striking yacht with black sails, another yacht which quickly wound in its sails to cope with strong winds, and then, yesterday, this huge container ship came past our window. Just check out how big it is compared to the dolphin safari boat which you can see to the right of the picture.

Sewing the Rock of Gibraltar

I spent a rather fun few hours yesterday doing a spot of sewing. I have been so busy with work stuff lately that crafty fun time has been very low on the agenda. I haven’t picked up my crochet hook in weeks – but that will change soon I hope! I had fun working on this Rock of Gibraltar for a project I’ll tell you about next week.

And that’s it from Sunday Sevens for another week. I’m afraid Postcard from Gibraltar has been rather neglected of late as I have had so much other stuff going on. I’m sure that things will get back to normal again once we head further into the summer (I hope).

Whatever you’re up to this week, I hope it’s a good one for you.

Sunday Sevens was created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #188 26.5.19

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Hello there, Sunday Sevens has made it back to a Sunday! It’s been another extremely busy week at this end, with a school sports day, an inservice day, and now we’re halfway through a bank holiday weekend. I had to put an extra page in my diary this week to allow for all the things we’ve had going on! I’ll be glad when summer comes and things quieten down a little – I hope!

Med Steps 5 weekend

Last weekend was Med Steps 5 weekend. In previous years the fundraising event ran just on the Saturday. This year though, there was a family event on the Sunday. Children were given a Med Steps passport to complete along the route and were awarded medals at the end.bThis brilliant event, as always, raised funds for the wonderful Cancer Relief Centre in Gibraltar.

One very big boat

Do you remember that in last week’s Sunday Sevens I told you about this big boat? Well this week it even had a helicopter on the top! And I hear it belongs to Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame.

Last rays of sunshine

I happened to step out onto the balcony just at the right time to spot the sun about to dip down behind the hills across the Bay from our house one evening. It’s at times like this that I’m so grateful for where we live.

Street art

This little chap has been all over social media in Gibraltar lately. The sloth has been painted onto some hoardings around building work and I happened to walk past him mid week for the first time. Moments later I spotted this lovely cat too just a bit further on!

Jacaranda galore

This year I’ve noticed just how many Jacaranda trees there are in Gibraltar. I have been trying to photograph one with it’s gorgeous blue/violet blossom for the past couple of weeks but normally the background has been blue sky which didn’t display the colour of the blossom well. I spotted this one on Main Street and the building behind it showed it off to great effect.

Polling Day

I’m sitting here in front of the TV this evening watching BBC coverage of the European elections whilst simultaneously watching the local coverage from the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation on my tablet. We, in Gibraltar went to the polls like the rest of the UK on Thursday. Gibraltar is eligible to vote as part of the South West region of Great Britain. Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly (76% of the Vote) for the Liberal Democrats – the party leader, Sir Vince Cable was in Gibraltar to campaign just a week or so ago on a pro-Remain ticket, there was even a Gibraltarian candidate standing as a Lib Dem MEP.

Beautiful botanical gardens!

We took a walk through the beautiful botanical gardens yesterday. No matter what the weather or the time of year, it’s always special here!

That’s all for Sunday Sevens for this week, thanks very much for stopping by.

Sunday Sevens was created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday/Tuesday Sevens #187 19.5.19

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Well for the last 186 Sunday Sevens I’ve always managed to publish them on a Sunday, but things rather got in the way of blogging last weekend, so here, for the first time on a Tuesday, is Sunday/Tuesday Sevens; seven photos from the previous week!

A Sunday choccy treat

Just before Easter I was given this beautiful box of very posh chocolates. I’m amazed I lasted this long before opening them… I fancied something sweet late on Sunday, and my word, they did the job… I only had a couple though. They need to be savoured!

Coffee by the Rock

First thing on Monday, I had to pop to Eroski (one of our supermarkets in Gibraltar). It was such a lovely morning I treated myself to a cafe con leche on the terrace before I started. It’s the perfect spot to see the planes coming and going, right next to the runway!

Hole? What hole?

So at my Dressmaking class I bought an off-cut of lace from my teacher to make my current project. The only issue being that it wasn’t a regular shape. She helped me place the pattern to make the most economical use of the fabric but there was a bit missing under the arm hole. So it was time to do a bit of a patch… and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. You would never know it was there!

Boats & a submarine!

One day last week I was parking my car down at the small boats marina and saw this amazingly large yacht which has not one, but two extra boats attached – you can never have too many boats in my book ;-). When I came to move my car later on, an American submarine was just parking up at the Quay side with the help of a couple of tug boats. It was a busy day!

Watercolour class

At my watercolour class last week I revisited a painting of a flamenco dancer I’d been working on previously which wasn’t quite right. Her arms were slightly wonky and her skirt needed a bit more adding to it. It’s looking better now!

Bug safari

This bug caught Littlest’s eye on the way home from school one afternoon. I was instructed to stop and take a photo so he could show his brothers what we saw.

Beautiful buildings

Gibraltar has so many beautiful old buildings and rather a lot of them lie empty and derelict. It’s such a shame, I love the look of this place which I believe has been a shop and a cinema in the past. I do hope someone takes it under their wing and brings it back to its former glory.

And that is the end of Sunday/Tuesday Sevens for another week. I’ll do my best to be back to normal next time, I can’t put my finger on exactly what caused the delay other than a rather busy few days. I hope you are having a good week wherever you are in the world reading this. Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Sevens was created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #186 12.5.19

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I completely forgot about Sunday Sevens this week, here’s a rather short and rushed one!

Sunset shot

I spotted this lovely sunset on Sunday evening last week.

Dressmaking class

This week I was going rather cross eyed while I tacked the lace I’m using to make a top to the lining using an identical coloured cotton. Most of the tacking is now done, hopefully I can get sewing soon!

Art class

I’ve lost my painting mojo a bit of late. This was the best of a bad lot this week at my watercolour class…

Visitors

We’ve had some family over to visit this week, which has been lovely. This was as we crossed the runway to pick them up from the airport.

Med Steps

What do you do when you have visitors to the Rock? Drag them up the Med Steps of course!! Shame we picked the hottest day of the year so far to do it… 26.9 degrees Celsius. It was rather warm up there!

Upper Rock wildlife

Whilst taking a breather on our trip up the Rock I heard some rustling in the leaves. First of all I thought it was a snake but then I spied legs! It was the biggest lizard I’ve seen during my time here in Gibraltar.

Convent Garden Party

One of my first ever blog posts was written after visiting this beautiful garden, the Convent garden. The Convent, which is where the Gibraltar Governor lives is a beautiful place, a real oasis in a rather built up place.

And that is a rather rushed Sunday Sevens 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 #186 5.5.19

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Here we are in May already. I’m not sure I’m ready for it! We’ve had a funny week this week with two bank holidays; Monday for workers’ Memorial Day and Wednesday for May Day, so our routine’s been a bit all over the place! Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens…

Bank holiday Monday

We started the week with a walk along the beach in Marbella. We made use of our time off on Monday to head across the border into Spain.

May Day

In Gibraltar May Day bank holiday happens on May 1st. There were a couple of events running. A Union rally in the Piazza and a pop concert in Casemates Square.

Upper Rock walk

I’ve not managed a trip up the Med Steps for a while, but I did manage a little jaunt to the Upper Rock this week. It’s so lovely to climb up out of the concrete jungle to nature again!

Crochet time

I have struggled to find time and inclination to pick up my crochet hook lately – there’s been too many other things to do. These extra bank holidays this week though afforded me some precious crochet time to crack on with the Changing Tides CAL from Eleonora at Coastal Crochet.

Sports…

I found myself at the Victoria Stadium twice this week for sports events for the Little Postcards. It never ceases to amaze me that they get to play matches, have school sports days and other events at Gibraltar’s national stadium with that amazing backdrop!

Grey afternoon

Things were a bit grey when I headed round the Eastside yesterday. It was very humid though… not sure I’m ready for the hot sweaty weather yet.

And that, I’m afraid is that. Sunday Sevens done for another week. I hope it’s been a good one for you, and that we week ahead is too. As always I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Sunday Sevens #185 28.4.19

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Hello there, Sunday’s come around again rather fast. We’re in the middle of another bank holiday weekend here in Gibraltar as its Worker’s Memorial Day tomorrow. We’re at the time of year when we have few 5 day weeks at school. It’s nice in a way but a bit ‘bitty’ in others as it’s hard to settle into a proper routine.

Anyway, here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:

Goodbye Blighty

Last Sunday (Easter Sunday) we left our lovely rental house in Padstow in Cornwall and headed to Exeter airport to fly home to Gibraltar. We flew to Malaga and then drove home from there. This was my last glimpse of Blighty for a while as we headed south over the English coast.

Easter Sunday sunset

And back at home in Gibraltar we were greeted with grey and wet weather, but then we got this lovely sunset! It’s good to be home!

Boating manouvres

The Little Postcards returned to school after Easter on Tuesday morning and I found myself down by the side of the harbour in Gibraltar and was mesmerized by the boats. This huge tanker was coming into port with the help of a little tug boat. The tugs are so powerful despite being so small!

Magestic morning arrival

This is a very impressive cruise ship which came in one morning with the golden morning sun shining on it. I watched it leave again later in the day with the sails unfurled. It was quite a sight.

Evening with friends

On Thursday evening I had a lovely catch up with friends in Queensway Quay. There’s no better tonic than a a good old giggle, and boy did we laugh. Just brilliant.

Same place, next day…

And just a few hours later I was back. This time with a friend from home (Manchester) who I haven’t seen for over 10 years, who happened to visit Gibraltar on a day trip from a holiday in Benalmadena. Another lovely catch-up. I’ve been very lucky this week!

Ladybird rescue

Yesterday we took a drive along the coast from Gib to Marbella and found ourselves in the midst of a ladybird bloom (if that’s the correct terminology). There were loads about and we found many of them struggling in a fountain. We fished about 50 out and left them to dry their wings out in the sunshine.

Beautiful bougainvillea

Where we were was also in the midst of the most beautiful bougainvillea. It was perfectly set off against the deep blue sky.

And that is where this week’s Sunday Sevens (or perhaps that should be Sunday Eights) comes to an end. I hope you’ve had a good week, and that the coming 7 days are kind to you.

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

Sunday Sevens #184 21.4.19

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Happy Easter! Here’s this week’s special Easter Sunday edition of Sunday Sevens. Last week I promised you a more interesting one than last week’s and here it is…

Leaving on a jet plane…

Last Sunday we drove to Malaga airport to catch a flight to the UK. We were treated to a view of Gibraltar away in the distance as we took off…

…can you see here through the misty haze? Our destination was Cornwall, Padstow to be precise, for an Easter break – bliss.

Pretty Padstow

Our home for the week. Our first day was wet and grey, but then the sun came out and we had fabulous weather – it was utterly glorious and very different to the grey weather Gibraltar was experiencing.

Tintagel

We met up with a dear friend on our holiday who lives near by in Devon. Many years ago, shortly after graduation, we all visited Tintagel for the day while staying with him and his family. It seemed fitting to repeat the trip, this time with the Little Postcards. You can no longer climb down to visit Merlin’s Cave due to health and safety issues, but with the gorgeous weather, it was definitely a magical day.

Prideaux Place

Padstow has its own stately home; Prideaux Place. The house didn’t open for the summer season until today, but we still managed to enjoy the beautiful grounds. It has featured in several TV shows and films and is really rather beautiful. I took lots of photos which will appear in a longer blog post very soon.

An Easter treasure hunt

The rental company we used to find our holiday home for the week left 3 treasure hunt sheets full of questions about the town for the Little Postcards to complete. The prize being chocolate Easter bunnies. One of the clues had us hunting around for an archway with a significant name. It took a bit of finding, but I wasn’t going to give up! We, or should I say, ‘they’ completed the quiz and treasure hunt and got their choccy treats.

Bike ride

We hired bikes and rode along the Camel trail from Padstow to Wadebridge. It’s on a former train line and gave us fabulous views of the Estuary, and rather tired legs. It was a lot of fun.

Ferry across the Camel

We caught the ferry yesterday from Padstow to Rock on the other side of the Camel Estuary. We had been watching the little yellow boat going back and fro from Padstow to Rock all week and decided to make the trip on our last day. The five minute long trip took us the huge sandy expanse across the water and to the small town of Rock. I wish I could think of a witty line about living on the Rock, but it escapes me!

And finally, happy Easter. However you are spending this weekend, I hope it’s a happy one for you. I spotted this lovely Easter wreath on a cottage door in Padstow yesterday.

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

Sunday Sevens #183 14.4.19

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I’m afraid it’s a very short Sunday Fives (rather than Sevens) this week. I’ve been super busy this week and unfortunately not had much time to stop, look around me, and take photos. The good news is that my work is now done, and I can have a break next week with the Little Postcards as they are off school for their Easter break, which is definitely something to be happy about.

Sunrise over the Rock

Well it’s not strictly sunrise, but it was the moment the sun appeared above the Rock on Tuesday morning. It was so calm and tranquil at the small boats marina.

Pattern alterations

It’s my least favourite part of Dressmaking on my course at the minute (pattern cutting). I love the sewing, but the patterns make my brain hurt! I’m not really very mathematical and it doesn’t come naturally to me. That said it’s getting easier each time I do it, and it’s beginning to make sense at last!

Sunny skies

We’ve had a few lovely sunny days this week. It makes the spirit soar when you see blue skies doesn’t it? Sadly I haven’t had time for a Med Steps trip, so had to make do with walking to and from meetings, appointments and classes this week!

Itchy hook

So if you are staring at a skein of yarn and are desperate to make something with it, but you don’t know what – does that mean you have an itchy hook? If so, I’ve got one of those…

Saturday sunset

And relax…. it’s been a long, and busy week which unfortunately left me with a migraine yesterday. As the sun went down, my focus came back long enough for me to take this pic, have some dinner and grab an early night.

I feel much better today…

That’s all for this week’s rather stunted Sunday Sevens, next week is a rest week for us all as the boys are off school and we’re planning some fun things, so I promise, next week’s edition with be far more interesting!

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