Sunday Sevens #64 1.1.17

January 1, 2017January 1, 2017 ~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Happy New Year! Is it really only a week ago that we were celebrating Christmas? It feels like much longer!

Christmas Day Lunch

Mr Postcard reprised his role as Christmas Day chef and was so proud of his turkey, I was called into the kitchen to take a photo for Sunday Sevens! It was delicious.

We had a lovely day at home, joined by my parents. We were all very lucky and got lots of lovely things. Among my favourites were a new lens for my camera from Mr Postcard – watch out for loads more Postcard from Gibraltar sunsets… and some lovely fluffy yarn and an Amigurumi book from my little brother.

This year’s Christmas makes

I can share a few of my festive makes, now they have been gifted. I was asked by a friend to make a mermaid blanket for her daughter. I made a couple of ring cushions ahead of two weddings next year and the wreath was a request for my Mum.

Polar bear swim

Boxing Day for us was dominated by turkey leftovers and the Catalan Bay Polar Bear Swim. If you haven’t already, you can read all about it in my post here. I’m so glad I did it – I was wavering until about two hours before hand and I just thought what the heck, life’s short and one day I may look back and regret not doing it.

Crochet, rosé & Dirty Dancing

So in the space of a few days, we lost two people who played a big part in my formative years (and those of countless others) albeit via the silver screen and the radio airwaves. I think an awful lot of people from my generation really felt the loss of George Michael and Carrie Fisher this week. Sometimes only crochet, wine and Dirty Dancing on the telly will do… Thank you Channel 5 – I really needed that.

Legotastic

Despite all the new toys which appeared in this house over Christmas, the trusty box of Lego featured heavily over the last week. We have had vehicle races and competitions and all sorts of creative fun. The lounge floor was awash with those sharp little bricks but it was a small price to pay for fraternal harmony (for a few hours) and a break from TV and gadget screens.

Beach walk

We revisited Catalan Bay on Thursday afternoon to stretch our legs. It was somewhat quieter than it had been on Monday… and I resisted the temptation to jump into the crashing waves and stayed on the sand. 😉

Shopping in Spain

On Friday we took a drive up the Costa del Sol coast for a brief shopping trip and lunch. We were away from the Rock for less than 6 hours but we enjoyed our mini-mini break!

New Year’s Eve Med Stepping

Yesterday, I ventured up the Med Steps for the first time in weeks. What a change those weeks have meant for the vegetation and wildlife up there. There were loads of delicate white narcissi lining the paths and on the roof of this old army look out post. There was also a lot of these wild clematis type of plants…

It was so pretty up there. The beautiful flowers took my mind off the fact I was out of breath!

One last sunset of 2016

I know I have gone way over the normal seven photos for a Sunday Sevens post, but there has been such a lot going on this week. As Gibraltar was gearing up for a big night of celebrations (see photo below) we headed home for a quiet celebration. Here’s a couple of shots of the last sunset of 2016 as seen in Gibraltar – can you see a sliver of moon among the clouds?

This photo shows the lights in Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar from here we live. It’s slightly blurry (apologies for that) but it gives you a sense of just how close we are.

I do hope that you have a wonderful new year and that 2017 is a happy and healthy one for you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for all the lovely comments I’ve received over the past year, it’s so nice to know that there are actually people out there (apart from my Mum and Dad) who want to read what I have to write. Thank you!

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog.

Catalan Bay Polar Bear Swim 2016

December 26, 2016December 26, 2016 ~ Making Stitches ~ 6 Comments

At lunchtime today crowds of folk packed onto Catalan Bay beach in time for the annual Boxing Day Polar Bear Swim.

This is the first time we’ve ever been to experience the swim. We’ve watched Facebook photos pour in of friends and families we know taking part. Watching them brave the nippy December sea from the comfort of an armchair, mince pie in hand. This year though, we decided (or should that be I decided) we should be armchair spectators no more.

The beach car park was packed by the time we arrived and we ran the gauntlet with some rather maverick parking practices. With a bit of help from my Dad (thanks Dad) I was able to park up and we were ready to head to the sand.

There were already hundreds of folk in high spirits gathered at the southern end of the beach by the time we rocked up.

At first glance at the photos you may be forgiven for thinking it was an ordinary day at the beach, but notice the lack of normal beach paraphernalia like parasols and deck chairs and the large number of Santa suits and antlers…

There was even a herd (is that the correct term?) of polar bears… or maybe they were pandas…

As the time hit noon, the brave souls (me & Littlest included) headed into the sea. It’s amazing how brave you feel when you are part of a large crowd – I would never have considered attempting it alone! I’m even a bit of a wimp in the summertime – those shells and pebbles hurt your feet as you get in and I don’t like the idea of fish nibbling my feet – ugh!

In we went…

Deeper and deeper until Littlest decided it was too cold and wanted to get out. What a brave little soul he is though – much braver than his big brothers who enjoyed watching us from a safe (dry) distance.

Once safely deposited on the shore with his Grandma I went back in so I’d be able to say I actually went for a ‘swim’ rather than a paddle. It was brief, but it was a swim. Once on the beach and about to reach for my towel, Littlest decided it hadn’t been that cold after all so we had to go back in again for a final dip.

So there you have it, my previous hardy swimming claim to fame was that I went for a dip in an outdoor pool in Cheshire (in North West England) on Halloween. I’m not sure whether the Mediterranean Sea on an overcast Boxing Day was warmer or colder but I’m pretty sure that on childhood holidays on the West Coast of Scotland or North Wales I’ve experienced icier waves!

I’m really glad a did it, perhaps it will become a Postcard family Boxing Day tradition… I’ve got twelve months to work on the rest of them 😉.

Photo credits: Grandad Postcard & Eldest – thank you 😊

Sunday Sevens #11 27.12.15

December 27, 2015November 6, 2016 ~ Making Stitches ~ 6 Comments

School Christmas Mass As Gibraltar is a predominantly Roman Catholic place, the schools are attached to churches and at the end of each term a Mass is held. At the start of the week my two youngest went to the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned on Main Street for their annual Christmas Mass. It was lovely with the Year 2s acting out the Nativity with skipping shepherds, dancing angels and a miraculous baby doll in a wooden orange crate. The church was filled with the entire school and many parents and grandparents watching the proceedings along with one or two slightly bemused tourists who just wanted to come and look inside the church and got more than they bargained for!

Once I pop I just can’t stop! A DVD and a bowl of popcorn was just the bribery I needed to buy me enough time to get some secret wrapping done whilst locked in the bathroom! I used the excuse that I was cleaning it – thankfully they fell for it. When I was finished I came out and hoovered up what was left of the popcorn – I’m terrible when I start, I can’t stop. It’s just so moreish – I have to have the popcorn box taken off me at the cinema or it’s all gone by the end of the adverts and trailers!

Christmas Eve sunshine On Christmas Eve we were treated to the most glorious weather. I resisted all temptations to put a few loads of washing in (I still have the English mentality of making the most of the sun even after 6+ years!) and did the necessary Christmas Eve jobs instead. We met Mr Postcard for a lovely lunch out and sat in the sunshine for a few moments before having an unexpected nap – must be my age 😉 or maybe the pint of San Miguel at lunchtime…

Christmas Day sunset

At the end of a rather cloudy but really mild Christmas Day we were treated to a sliver of a sunset. What a calm serene view after all the chaos and build up to Christmas!

Goodbye Downton … sniff! I shall not give away any spoilers for anyone yet to see the climax of the Downton Abbey story and therefore this photo doesn’t feature the latest episode (mainly because I was too engrossed wanting to absorb every last bit of the final installment). It does however feature a very important part of my Downton experience, my Attic 24 cosy stripe blanket . As I sat down on Christmas Day evening with a glass of wine to watch the show I realised there was something missing – crochet! For the past three years that I have watched the show (I came to it late), I have always had a crochet hook in my hand at the same time. First there was my Attic 24 granny stripe blanket (see a tiny bit of it in the photo below) and then my current cosy stripe. I only managed one stripe this time as my concentration was taken by the tv but it was fittingly the shade of Claret which was drunk by the cast in one of their dinner scenes! Oh how I’ll miss the show, it was truly fantastic.

It wasn’t me! I left the wool and scissors for 10 minutes to hang some washing out on Boxing Day (I couldn’t ignore the laundry basket any longer)… All three were within a metre of it. Apparently it could have been a ghost or a vampire who did it. No one saw anything hmmmm….

Boxing Day crochet I may have failed to complete this WIP blanket in time for Christmas but I’m turning that negative into a positive – I’m now well ahead of schedule on this birthday gift!