A Postcard from January 2024

February 1, 2024February 1, 2024 ~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

A view from my New Year’s Day morning run in the sunshine

Hello and welcome to this Postcard from January, a month of winter weather, creativity, the end of one chapter and significant birthday.

New Year News!

I started the year with a lovely delivery through my letter box – the latest issue of Simply Crochet Magazine – and it’s got me in it!!

There I am in the middle of the top row with my microphone in a special feature about crochet podcasts! It was a thrill to be asked and even more of a thrill to actually see the article! Thank you Simply Crochet!

A significant birthday

So, this month I hit a bit of a birthday milestone… and I was very lucky to spend some time with lovely friends and family.

I had a gorgeous meal out with my immediate family and had several friends call round to see me too. I was even lucky enough to have some time on my birthday with Eldest before he had to catch the train back down to London to restart his university studies.

I had a lovely chocolatey birthday cake but couldn’t resist making a calorie free crochet one too! (I’m going to write up the pattern for it soon in case anyone else fancies making one!).

I received two beautiful bouquets of flowers which you can see above and below. I feel very lucky to have such lovely people around me.

Winter weather

It’s been a busy month weather wise in this part of the world. There have been named storms, torrential rain, snow and ice!

One morning in mid January we woke to a blanket of snow. I think I was more excited about it than the boys were! I popped out for a few minutes during a quick break from work and took some photos in my back garden.

The place just looked magical…

Even the bug hotel got a dusting!

Immediately after the snow had thawed (it lasted less than a day) we had quite a cold snap again with morning school runs that were well below zero. I don’t mind the cold though, when you get skies like this…

Two new hats

January was the month I finished my latest two projects – the hats which featured in my last post. If you missed it, you can find it here. I haven’t had the chance to wear one yet outside as they weren’t completely finished when it was super cold. There is a football match this weekend which Youngest is playing in though, so that may well be the time for one of them to make a debut!

Looking back…

My phone likes to surprise me from time to time with a throwback photo from the past and this one popped up this week. They are a few of the crochet bits I made for my first ever craft stall 9 years ago this month over in Gibraltar. Nine years on from the crocheted Jammie Dodgers and I’m still crocheting sweet treats! There was a heavy Attic24 influence to it and quite a lot of heart themed items as it was just a two weeks before Valentine’s Day on 31st January 2015.

Looking forward…

At the end of January I said goodbye to the lovely colleagues I’ve been working with for the past eight months. I had a contract to cover a maternity leave and it whizzed by. I’m now on the lookout for my next job, but am quite looking forward to having a little rest too. It does mean I’ll have more time for crochet so hopefully I’ll be able to share a bit more with you in the coming weeks!

While I’m busy crocheting and applying for jobs, I’ll be chomping through this lovely lot! This fantastic hamper of goodies was sent to me as a farewell gift from my lovely colleagues! I will really miss them, they are the best.

That’s all for this time, thank you for stopping by! I’ll be back again soon with some crochet to share, but until then, look after yourself.

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #19 17.1.21

January 17, 2021January 16, 2021 ~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Hello there, sorry I didn’t get round to posting last weekend, there wasn’t the time! Here’s a double dose of Sunday Postcards for two weeks, although, please be warned – it’s not very exciting – life has suddenly become rather restricted!!

Here goes:

Snowy walk

Two weeks ago today, we still had some remnants of snow from our snow fall on New Year’s Eve. As the Little Postcards hadn’t been out much we headed out for a walk across some open land close to where we live. This is part of the Mersey valley which is about 15 mins walk from our home.

It’s land which I used to play on as a child. There was much den building, hide-and-seeking and adventuring which happened here many years ago. I love that I can share it with my children now.

The fishing lake was frozen – there were some ducks doing a spot of ice skating at one point!

A new project

Now my Christmas blanket is done, I started a new project on New Year’s Eve. I’m trying a bit of amigurumi this time as it’s been quite a while since I’ve done any. Plus I’m having a go at designing it myself. Watch this space… it may be an utter disaster!!

Cake anyone?

Last Friday I had a sweet tooth so dug out the cake cases and made chocolate fairy cakes. They were rather nice, even though I say so myself!

Saturday mist

Other than a short walk round the block we hadn’t all been out of the house since the previous Sunday so last Saturday morning before too many people were about, we headed out to our local playing fields and park for a misty walk.

It was very atmospheric. I do like a bit of mist (if I’m not trying to drive in it!!).

While out and about we took a different route to normal and spotted this chap for the first time. He’s super!

Au revoir Robert

I have unfortunate news about Robert the snowman… This was him on 28th December…

…and this was him last Saturday. I’m afraid by the start of this week, he was no more.

Podcast news

Over on Making Stitches, last Friday saw the release of the latest episode of the podcast. This one features Sara Huntington, Editor of Simply Crochet Magazine.

I was thrilled when Sara agreed to speak to me. She had a fascinating story to tell about how she got to her current job situation and is really worth a listen. You can hear the episode via this link.

Home schooling

I have to hold my hands up and say home schooling is hard work. I have really struggled with managing to keep up with what has needed to be done by the Little Postcards. We have kept up but it’s not been easy. In fact it’s been rather all consuming. However towards the end of this week, we got into enough of a rhythm that I was able to squeeze a bit of amigurumi in between the long multiplication. We are getting there!

Amongst the home schooling has been food tech. So one evening we had a rather tasty chilli cooked by Middle Postcard. I believe it’s carrot cake next… yum!

Birthday fun

It was my birthday this week, so I have joined the lockdown birthday club. Inside this beautifully wrapped parcel from my little brother was this gorgeous book:

I can’t wait to get started on some of the projects inside. He knows me so well! As do my Little Postcards who got me this…

I’ve been looking at this for a while, without telling anyone, so I was thrilled that they had chosen it for me. Well done boys!

Another lovely birthday surprise was the fact that my latest issue of Simply Crochet arrived on my birthday and it featured a write-up about Making Stitches!!

I am feeling very chuffed with everything that came my way!

Apart from that, it’s been a rather quiet week of trying to complete schooling tasks and keep on top of running a house. I have done lots of little bits of crochet in between and I’m almost finished. I’m looking forward to sharing what I have made with you very soon.

Wherever you are I hope you are ok. We had some positive news recently about people we know who slowly recovering from serious hospital-stay bouts of Covid and also some very sad news too. This truly is a very difficult time for everyone. I’m sending my very best wishes to you and hope that things are going ok for you even if it’s challenging.

Until next time, stay safe.

Lindsay x

Sunday Sevens #154 16.9.18

September 16, 2018 ~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

Sunday has come round remarkably quickly this week, I’m not sure I’m ready! I hope you’ve had a good week…

Back up the steps

Last Sunday I took the bull by the horns and headed back up the Med Steps for the first time since the Med Steps 5 in May. It had been too warm to attempt it before then, but Sunday felt a bit cooler, so I thought I’d have a go.

I was amazed at the progress being made at the building works for the Island Games (above) since my last visit.

I took quite a few breaks en route (including a stop off in one of the caves: above). And on my way back down, I spied the visiting submarine HMS Talent down below me in the harbour.

National Day

Monday was 10th September and around these parts that means it’s Gibraltar National Day. You can see more pictures in my last post for the Friday Photo Challenge.

Are you looking at me?

Wednesday morning saw me heading back up the Med Steps. On my way up, I came across a group of about 8 Barbary Patridges. They were so tame and very close to me, this one was giving me the once over though!

Murky night

Wednesday evening saw a sea mist come into the Bay and envelope all the ships out on the water. It was funny how the beams from their lights spread through the mist.

Watercolour class

Term restarted for my watercolour class, and I had a go at some poppies to get back into the groove. They were meant to be covered with splatters which was handy as they covered the area where I dropped my brush on the paper!!

I’m really looking forward to my dressmaking classes restarting next week!

Out and about

I had a nice walk on Friday morning with a few friends, it was calm and sunny and lovely to have a catch up. Unfortunately my walk was cut short this time with a minor crisis at home (which was resolved without incident) hopefully next time, I’ll get to walk further!

Birthday boy

We have a birthday coming up in the household soon and on Saturday we had a bit of a celebration. Pokémon cakes were the order of the day. Thank goodness for the stick-on pictures, they distracted from the wonky icing and burnt bits!!! They tasted ok thankfully!

That’s it for this week’s Sunday Sevens, a big thank you for everyone who’s taken the time to read it! I have had a bit of a spike in activity on my blog during the last 24 hours with lots of views from the UK, so hello to any new readers, it’s lovely to have you along. As always, I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Birthday cakes, bubbles & baby birds

July 24, 2015 ~ Making Stitches ~ 1 Comment

A special young man had a birthday recently, and as we are on holiday, I took the easy option and ordered some special cupcakes rather than baking myself. Aren’t they wonderful? On seeing them for the first time as we sang ‘Happy birthday to you’, his first word was ‘Wow!’

They tasted as good as they looked, with vanilla sponge and buttercream underneath the superhero icing toppers. They were made by a very talented lady who runs the Yummy Mummy Cake Company in Manchester. Check out the Yummy Mummy Cake Co webpage to see more of her amazing creations.

The weather hasn’t been quite as glorious this week, but that has not stopped us getting out into the garden. No matter what your age, you can’t beat blowing bubbles!

Another family making use of my parents’ back garden at the moment is a new family of wrens. We’ve been catching glimpses of Mummy and Daddy wren shooting in and out of the nesting box at great speed feeding the chicks over the last couple of weeks. We were lucky enough to get a brief look at the busy new parents at quite close quarters one evening. Please excuse the grainy pictures, but it was the best I could manage, as they don’t hang about for long!