Sunday Sevens #2

October 18, 2015 ~ Making Stitches ~ 10 Comments

Apologies if this is a little samey as last week’s post but I fear, dear reader, that my love of routine will be a theme with my Sunday Sevens posts. My weeks are a little predictable with kids and school and everything that goes on around here. Predictability is good though in my opinion, as without routine, I may lose my marbles!

1 Watercolour class

This week we continued our theme of practicing painting flowers, I only finished a couple of small pictures this week and both were of alliums. I normally like to paint more precisely when doing flowers but was persuaded to be a bit more experimental this week letting the colours run and leaving negative space for the stems rather than painting them in. I’m not sure about the background colour on this one, and the flower heads aren’t exactly spherical as they should be but it was fun to be a bit freer and experiment a bit.

2 Dressmaking class

Do you see that? It’s a zip and I inserted it! I’m so chuffed with it. It almost looks professional. I have now officially finished my sample top of a skirt with darts, facing and a hook and eye. I also did this sample zip, which means…. I have now got to start on the real thing and in theory make a proper skirt that I could wear (chews fingernails in nervous anticipation). It was so straight forward cutting and making up the samples, but when my teacher told me to go ahead and cut the material for my skirt I lost all my confidence. I’ll keep you posted on my progress…

3 Powercut

Wednesday morning meant most of Gibraltar woke to a very gloomy wet day and no electricity. Power cuts seem to be a regular fixture these days unfortunately. Gibraltar generates all its own power by burning oil at a handful of power stations. Over the past few years old age and a large fire in one have restricted the capacity the electricity board has for generating electricity. Political wrangling has delayed the building of a new gas-powered power station. Gibraltar is in the Med, it has a lot of sunshine, it is surrounded on almost all sides by the sea, it is also close to the Atlantic Ocean and all the wind that it cares to send this way. Why then, do we not harness these amazing natural resources and generate our electricity this way? Surely Gibraltar could be a world leader in green energy with all these resources, but instead we burn oil and are planning to burn gas as our next method of generating power. But what do I know?

In the meantime we are left with rather annoying and at times, rather long power cuts. This one lasted five hours. Thank goodness Marks & Spencer had a back-up generator so my morning coffee could be replaced with a croissant and fizzy energy drink. Walking along Main Street that morning was like being on the set of a zombie movie as people trudged slowly and miserably to work and school with bleary eyes. Obviously it wasn’t just me suffering from a lack of caffeine!

4 A sunny autumn walk up the Rock

If you have seen my last post you will know that I had a rather lovely walk up the Mediterranean Steps this week. It was stunning, hot and I’m still aching a bit but I really enjoyed having a bit of time to myself and being able to take in all the tranquility and beauty the Upper Rock Nature Reserve has to offer.

5 Knitting

My knitting has continued and developed from last week, from green to rust and cream intarsia. This was my first attempt at the method. For those of you who have no idea what I’m on about, it’s a method you can use when changing colours several times in the one row. Instead of stretching the yarn you are not using across the back of the work and reintroducing it later (which can make your finished piece look bumpy and out of shape) you use several smaller balls of wool with a separate length of yarn for each part of the pattern. Have I lost you yet?! Anyway, it means lots of little bits of dangly wool which can get very easily tangled, especially when you are interrupted many times in the process. Not sure it’s something I’ll attempt again in a hurry, but it’s a lot neater than the alternative.

6 New School

Back in September two new schools opened their doors to pupils for the first time in Gibraltar, St Bernard’s First & Middle Schools. Yesterday they had an open day when the public was able to go in and have a snoop about. They are really amazing. This photo is of the atrium of the Middle School, the class rooms lead off each floor to the sides and to the front the library and art room have the most amazing views out across town and into the bay. The glass roof above opens and closes to allow for natural ventilation. The schools have been built in the old St Bernard’s Hospital building which has lain empty for several years since it moved to new premises down beside Morrisons. I was pleased to see that some of the original features were kept during the renovation work like archways, the staircases and a lot of the facade of the building. What an inspiring place to be able to go to school!

7 Sunday morning relaxation

Mr Postcard has gone on football duty this morning so I have a few minutes peace and quiet to myself. Happy Sunday everyone!

Art on a Thursday evening

September 3, 2015 ~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

This evening saw the official opening of the Gibraltar Fine Arts Association’s National Celebrations Exhibition 2015, a showcase of Gibraltarian artistic talent (and there is a LOT of talent round these parts!). Organised by the Fine Arts Association and Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates Square (below), this is the second exhibition of its kind and is a great way to see many interpretations of the Rock and it’s people. It kicks off the beginning of a week of celebrations of the Gibraltarian national identity and the right to self determination ending with National Day next Thursday, 10th September.

The competition was open to all artists from those already well established on the local art scene to others perhaps starting out on their careers. There was a good turn out on the exhibition’s opening night in the atmospheric Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery with representatives from the worlds of business, politics and of course the arts.

When opening the exhibition officially, the Minister for Culture, Steven Linares quoted a visiting artist from Almeria who had been astonished at the wealth of talent in a relatively small area. He stated that when an art gallery had been opened in Almeria, where there is a population of over one million, just 15 or 16 artists had exhibited their work there, yet in Gibraltar (with a population of just 30,000) there are over fifty good quality artists.

The theme for the contest was ‘Our Gibraltar’, the result being that the vast majority of the work showed images of the Rock and its people. There were dramatic paintings of the Rock in all it’s splendor, views of the beaches, seascapes, architectural images and views of the town centre.

The exhibition included work in oils, watercolour, pencil, ink and collage, there was even one picture which had been created on an iPad! The competition was won by Leslie Gaduzo with his view of Waterport Road. He can be seen here with some of the other winners, the sponsors, organisers and the Gibraltar Minister for Culture.

If you should find yourself in Casemates Square between now and 15th September I’d really recommend a visit. I’ll leave you with my personal favorite; Alameda Gardens Phone Box by Linda Alcantara.

Summer hours

June 30, 2015July 21, 2015 ~ Making Stitches ~ 1 Comment

When we first arrived in Gibraltar, we were introduced to the phenomenon that is ‘half days’ or ‘summer hours’. This means that for the last 3 to 4 weeks of the school summer term and the first couple of weeks of the autumn term, school finishes between 11:45am and 12:45pm depending on the age of the child. Yes, that’s right 11:45am – the school day still starts at 9am, so for the very youngest students (Nursery & Reception) they have a school day lasting just 2 3/4 hours!

I completely get why this happens – it gets too darn hot in the summer time and despite the fact this is a nation well accustomed to the hot sunny weather, the school buildings are without air conditioning. You do get to a point when an open window and electric fan don’t quite cut the mustard in the midday heat. It’s not really conducive to a comfortable learning environment.

On the flip side, if you are in a family where both parents work, or you are on your own and work, how on earth do you deal with childcare? It’s an annual headache for several of my friends who resort to flying grandparents in to take a few weeks hands-on child caring duty or face paying additional childcare costs to have their little darlings looked after while they finish their working day. In fact the half day situation, paired with an 8-week-long summer break from school, is the primary reason why many of us stay-at-home mums stay-at-home in the first place. There is only so much flexi time an employer is willing to flex in order to cater for such prolonged child caring time.

Fortunately for me and my family I don’t work (well, I don’t do paid work). This means that the 2 3/4 hours I have between 9am and school pick up time are incredibly precious. It serves as an annual reminder that this is my last chance to get jobs done unhindered and uninterrupted. It’s a last opportunity to fit in a trip to the hairdressers or get some jobs done in the house, to nip out to the gym in a last desperate attempt to get a body which won’t frighten young children on the beach or just to sit down and have a cuppa in peace.

For me, today that meant a flying trip to the supermarket and then my watercolour class. I’ve been learning to paint with watercolours since October last year. My teacher, Deborah M Lawson is a very talented and very patient lady. Myself and my fellow students agree that our Tuesday morning classes not only produce sometimes surprisingly good results but are also a form of therapy, giving us the chance to calm down and zone out of whatever is going on in the rest of our lives. At times, Deborah’s lounge (where she holds her classes) echoes to the sounds of our hoots of laughter and other times you could hear a pin drop as we try to get our heads round a new technique she’s encouraging us to experiment with. Today, we did a study on trees to varying degrees of success…

These are just first attempts I hasten to add! There’s quite a bit of work still to be done. Sadly I have just two watercolour lessons left before we break for the summer, I’ll miss by weekly dose of colour-filled therapy!

So after my art class a quick dash got me to school in time for the 11:45 pick up and an afternoon of fun lay ahead. I’m not 100% sure how we filled it, there were computer games, a piano lesson and a trip to the pool. It’s now after 11pm and I’ve just got back from my twice-weekly trip to the local recycling bins (the glamour!). I think it may be time to hit the hay before it’s time to start all over again!

Please excuse the grainy quality of this image but this is the view from our local recycling bins, I had to share it. It makes the trip worthwhile!

Hello from Gibraltar…

June 25, 2015July 21, 2015 ~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

After months of procrastinating I’ve finally done it – I’m dipping my toe into the sea of blogging! I’m a Mum of three and live with my family on the (usually) sunny rock of Gibraltar. In my spare time I love crafts, painting, gardening and the great outdoors. We moved here a few years ago and we are now lucky enough to have a small patio which I adore. We left a well-loved back garden behind in England when we came over and found the transition to apartment life challenging. After several years of having to content ourselves with a few pots on a baking hot balcony, we now have an equally hot patio. It’s not as green as England, but we’re working on it. Here’s a few photos I took earlier this week, it’s looking rather floriferous between the toys and washing!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first blog post. That’s all for now, hasta pronto!