Hello there! We are in the middle of yet another lovely bank holiday weekend here in Gibraltar, this time it’s to commemorate the Queen’s birthday. Here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens:
Birthday cake and sewing
It was my friend’s birthday this week and it coincided with our sewing class. I wasn’t expecting a generous slice of this gorgeous plate of chocolatey heaven when I turned up! As you can probably tell from the photo, it was divine. I was very careful not to drop any crumb on my dress I’m sewing!!
World Environment Day
World Environment Day was celebrated in Gibraltar on Tuesday in Commonwealth Park. Local school choirs performed on the bandstand and organisations and companies with an interest in the environment like the Alameda Wildlife & Conservation Park and the Nautilus Project had stalls to raise awareness about environmental concerns. It was a lovely afternoon in a beautiful setting.
Alameda Gardens
We are in the midst of a bit of home improvement Chez Postcard at present. The place is in utter chaos with stuff moved from it’s normal locations, floor tiles lifted, power tool noise and lots and lots of dust. I ran away one morning to escape the noise and mess and sat for half an hour in the tranquility of the Alameda Gardens. While I was there, these beautiful day lillies caught my eye. Aren’t they beautiful with their deep purple edges?
Sunny Catalan Bay
In another bid to escape the work at home I took a walk through Catalan Bay one lunchtime. It was beautifully sunny and quiet! It won’t be long before this place is full of deck chairs and sun umbrellas cheek by jowl on the beach. Until then, it’s such a peaceful place to be!
Cock a doodle doo to you too!
You can often hear cockerels crowing in the South District of Gibraltar, but until recently, I had never actually seen who was making all the noise! A couple of months ago on an early morning walk I came face to face with a rather impressive black cockerel, but he ran away too fast for me to catch him on camera. This week though, as I walked along Europa Road, I not only heard, but saw two cockerels crowing. They were oblivious to the traffic whizzing by them just a metre or so below them.
Sunny walk on the costa
Yesterday we took a drive along the coast to Puerto Banus near Marbella. It’s a rather swanky place full of designer shops, very (and I mean very) posh cars and mahooosive yatchs in the marina. I quite like going there to people watch and to see how the other half lives. Away from the razzmatazz there’s a lovely promenade where you can walk all the way to Marbella. We had a very pleasant walk there yesterday (not as far as Marbs though) the Little Postcards enjoyed jumping from rock to rock along the wall at the side of the path.
International Yarnbombing Day preparations
Did you know it’s International Yarnbombing Day tomorrow? Well it is, and I may be working on a little yarnbomb of my own… watch this space!
I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
Hmmm line…. what was I thinking when I came up with that theme for the weekly photo challenge? Apologies to everyone who’s been taking part!
This was a tough one. First I thought about the old lines of defence around Gibraltar. The above road sign gives a nod to what once was.
Then I thought about the lines on the Gibraltar airport runway (but they are more arrows than lines).
And then I thought about the line of brightly painted beach huts at our favourite English seaside town, Southwold in Suffolk, and thought that might do the job.
That was until I took a walk through Catalan Bay yesterday and snapped this…
Lines on the boardwalk and lines in the shadows. That’ll do it!
Hopefully, next week’s photo challenge will be a little easier, the theme next week is ‘Tiny’.
It’s been another lovely sunny week here in Gibraltar, it has ended as it began, with cloudless blue skies. I hope you have had a good week, where ever you are reading this. Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens…
Europa Point
Last Sunday afternoon, we took the Little Postcards to Europa Point to play on their scooters and kick a ball about. Unfortunately, a large section had been cordoned off to allow for the redevelopment of the cricket pitch in time for the Island Games, which Gibraltar will host next year. This means that the football court which they used to love kicking a ball about in has gone – a big loss in our family, and it was rather busy with tourists in the only other open space so football was rather curtailed. On a positive note, it was a beautiful afternoon and the wildflowers were looking lovely.
Bank holiday beach day
We were up bright and early on Bank Holiday Monday (not like us at all) and our early morning was rewarded with the beach almost to ourselves. We went along to our favourite beach of Sandy Bay and had a great time. I crocheted, the Little Postcards dug a huge hole which was constantly being filled with buckets of sea water (for some of the time by me – got to get beach body ready – as if!) and everyone had a whale of a time. By the time we left (around 2:30pm) the beach was getting a bit more crowded. We certainly had the best of the day.
Blooming lovely
I have been meaning to share a photo of my orchids for weeks. I have two plants which I had had for a few years and they are currently in bloom again. They seem to be the only house plant that I can look after – I’m rather good at over/under watering others but for some reason these two specimens are rather happy in my care.
Homemade granola
Always on the lookout for something relatively healthy that the whole family will eat, I tried my hand at homemade granola this week. I found the recipe in a magazine. It was very tasty, and we almost had some left by breakfast time…
Watercolour
For the past couple of weeks I have been working on a painting of nasturtiums at my watercolour class. It’s moving on apace. Still got a bit more to do though…
Catalan Bay
I had a lovely sunny morning walk on Thursday through Catalan Bay. It was lovely to see this boat being built/repaired. Apart from the workers getting the beach ready for the start of the bathing season this weekend, I had the place to myself. I will miss these quiet walks when the Little Postcards break up for summer.
Alameda Gardens Tranquility
On Friday morning I found myself walking through the beautiful Alameda Gardens. I do love this part very much. It was so tranquil listening to the water gurgling down the little waterfalls and watching the sunlight reflected off the ripples.
I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for Sunday Sevens. Until next time, I hope you have a good week.
This Sunday Sevens is being sent by a rather worn out Postcard from Gibraltar, the reason why will become apparent in the sixth photo!
Sunday sunset
We had a beaut of a sunset on Sunday evening. So colourful. I’ve not included a sunset in Sunday Sevens for a while, so thought I’d put this one in.
It’s starting to look like a dress!
At last at my dressmaking class I am seeing progress. My dress is looking like a dress! Now time to fiddle with the frill!
A farewell lunch
An arty friend of mine is leaving Gibraltar and returning home to the Netherlands. This week I met her for lunch along with another arty friend to say farewell. We had Indian Tapas. It tasted as good as it looks.
Sunny morning walk by the sea
On Wednesday morning I went for a bit of a walk, I went for a coastal option rather than climbing up the Rock like normal. It was beautiful as I walked through Catalan Bay.
Experimenting with backgrounds
My next watercolour painting will be of nasturtiums, and I’ve been experimenting with the background to set them off nicely. I want a traditional Gibraltar stone wall, but how do I do that without drawing atttention away from the flowers? We’ll see if I can pull it off or not!
Med Steps
So yesterday was the Med Steps Challenge. It was really, really hard work – but then it wouldn’t be a challenge if it was easy would it? Not got much to add to that, still feeling rather tired!
Royal wedding fever
Royal wedding fever hit Gibraltar yesterday. I missed most of it slogging up the Rock, but had a quick trip to Ocean Village later on and there was a lot of well dressed people hitting the cava. One or two looked like they had started at breakfast time and were pushing on through to the FA Cup final. I think there may be a few sore heads around this morning!
That’s all for Sunday Sevens this week, thanks for stopping by! I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
Happy Easter and welcome to this Easter Sunday edition of Sunday Sevens. Last week we were on the slopes, skiing in the Dolomites. (If you missed my Postcard from the Dolomites, you can find it here.) This week we started off back at home in Gibraltar but once the Little Postcards broke up from school for the Easter break midweek, we found ourselves heading back to the airport to fly to England.
Back in Gibraltar
Ah! Look at that sunshine breaking through the clouds. After the wettest March on record in Gibraltar, it was so lovely to see the sunshine at Catalan Bay on Sunday.
Back in training
Monday morning and I got my first chance to climb the Med Steps since 27th January! Bronchitis and then very wet and windy weather rather got in the way of my training for the Med Steps 5 in May.
I went up alone on Monday and managed it ten minutes slower than on my last attempt, partially due to my decline in fitness, and partially because of the copious amount of apes which were sitting in the way on the steps. There were lots of baby apes and some rather fearsome parents so I wanted to give them a wide berth!
I have a lot of training to do before May!
Happy birthday Grandma
My parents left Gibraltar mid week, but before heading back home, my Mum celebrated her birthday with us. It was lovely to be able to spend it with her as most years we are apart. We had a birthday meal out to celebrate the occasion, and this was my dessert – a panacotta which tasted as good as it looked!
On the road again…
Bright and early on Thursday morning we hit the road again, with children this time, bound for Malaga airport and a flight back to the UK for an Easter break…
Hello Jurassic Coast!
We flew to Bristol, then drove down to Devon, to Sidmouth to be precise so we could visit the Jurassic Coast. Living where we do, means that we don’t really ‘holiday’ in the UK. We visit at least once a year but the main purpose of the trip is to visit family and friends. This trip though, was mainly for sightseeing with a couple of visits to see friends.
Snow!
Before Friday, Littlest Postcard had never seen snow before. Driving between Lyme Regis and Sidmouth, the wet weather took a rather colder turn and the rain turned to sleet, then snow. Such excitement! It didn’t stick unfortunately as the ground was too wet, but it still counts I reckon!
Hello Exeter
Yesterday we travelled to Exeter to meet up with a couple of old friends from our university days. It was so lovely to catch up with them after many years. It was my first time in Exeter too (if you don’t count traveling through the station). It’s a beautiful city, very reminiscent of Norwich and a bit like York too. I would’ve liked to have explored a bit more than we did but time was against us.
However you are spending your Easter I hope you are having a happy time with your loved ones. Take care until next week. Here’s a few photos from this last month – as always, it’s been a busy one!
Hello there and happy Christmas! We’ve finally reached Christmas Eve and whether you’re ready or not there’s no escaping the fact that the big day day’s tomorrow. I think I may finally be ready, but there’s always something I forget to do…. what will it be this year?!
Here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens:
It’s Christmas!!!!
Gibraltar is looking as festive as ever, the town centre looks lovely all lit up. I haven’t taken too many photos of the lights this year, but you can see last year’s light show here.
If in doubt stick a sunset picture in!
We had a lot of cloudy evenings of late and although we have had a few glimpses of the sun going down between the clouds, a proper sunset as it were has been pretty rare lately. This lovely one was last Sunday night.
Favourite church ceiling
Oh how I love the interior of Sacred Hearth Church here in Gibraltar. It has got to be one of the prettiest church ceilings around. I was lucky enough to be able to attend a service here this week and had loads of time to admire the stars and stained glass windows as beautiful Christmas carols were sung.
Wintery watercolour
At my last watercolour lesson of 2017, we painted some suitably wintery pictures. I love how the snow just ‘appeared’ after sprinkling some salt onto the wet painting – just magic!
Southwold comes to Gibraltar
As I walked along Main Street this week with Eldest, he spotted something I’d walked past several times without noticing (in fact it could have been there for months). Our favourite place for holidays (Southwold, in Suffolk) is featured on the side of Marks and Spencer in Gibraltar! The pictures in the photo shoot must have been taken on Southwold Pier and on the beach near by. You can read all about Southwold Pier here.
Star Wars
We had a trip to the cinema this week as schools closed for Christmas, to see the new Star Wars film. I really enjoyed it, not as much as Force Awakens, but it was still really good in my opinion and a great start to our Christmas holiday as a family.
Beautiful day at Catalan Bay
Yesterday, the last Saturday before Christmas, we decided to avoid the shops at all costs. We figured that if we didn’t have all we need by now, it was probably too late anyway (time will tell if I did forget anything after all). We headed round to the eastern side of the Rock and had a wander about in Catalan Bay. It was beautiful there – not a queue or harassed shopper in sight.
I have decide to include a couple of extra Catalan Bay pictures as it was just so beautiful there and there may be some people reading this who are in need of a dose of blue sky…
That’s all from me for Sunday Sevens this week. Where ever you are reading this, I hope you have a lovely Christmas with plenty to eat and surrounded by your loved ones. To those of you who find this time of year difficult, I hope you find peace and know that you are in my thoughts.
Happy Christmas! x
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins.
Hello there, I do hope it’s been a good week for you. Thankfully this week has been a bit calmer than the one before for me, the Littlest Postcards had Thursday and Friday off school due to in-service days and a Roman Catholic holiday so that helped a lot with the rising chaos in the run up to Christmas.
Here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens…
Caleta Christmas Craft Fair
It was a beautiful day last Sunday as we headed to Catalan Bay and the Caleta Hotel (the white building on the left – for anyone unfamiliar with Gibraltar). The Hotel hosted a Christmas craft fair last weekend and we popped in on Sunday to visit a friend of ours who makes lovely jewelry with Swarovski crystals as well as painting and sewing.
Sea creatures
I was very fortunate this week to be asked to help on a school trip. The trip was to the seaside to hear the Nautilus Project speak about the sea creatures who occupy the waters around our Rock. It was fascinating and I learned all sorts of new things, like for example; starfish have an eye at the tip of each leg, which means these starfish (above) have 5 eyes each! Apart from the starfish which had a sixth leg (s/he has six).
Drafting patterns
My pattern drawing continued this week at my Dressmaking class and ladies and gentlemen, I have gone a-symmetrical! I am hoping to make a dress with only one shoulder in it. I was inspired by a lovely dress worn by Claudia Winkleman on Strictly a few weeks back. Not sure it will be up to Strictly standards when I’m finished with it, but it’s worth a try!
Charity crafty coffee morning
On Wednesday (my last child-free day this week), I popped into the Arts & Crafts Centre for their charity coffee morning in aid of GibSams (Gibraltar Samaritans). The charity has only been operational for a few months and offers a phone support line Monday – Friday evenings at the moment, although it’s hoped that will be able to expand to 7 days a week in due course.
It was lovely to be able to have a chat, eat delicious Christmas biscuits, pick up a few Christmas gifts and support a great cause at the same time!
Sadly, I forgot to take a photo at the coffee morning but as I returned to my car I caught this view of the Bay framed by the arch of the multistory carpark. I thought it looked rather picturesque even for a dull day.
Another Christmas crochet project started…
A bit last minute I know, but I’ve just started another Christmas present…. will I finish it in time for the last post? I hope so….
It’s up!
I have finally accepted the fact that Christmas is a lot closer than I would like it to be, and we put up the Christmas tree yesterday. I was going to dig out our old artificial one, but Mr Postcard surprised me when he returned from the shops with this chubby beauty. Isn’t it cute?
That’s all for this week’s Sunday Sevens, I wonder what next week will have in store for us?
I’m linking with Natalie at Threads & Bobbins who created the Sunday Sevens blog series.
Europa Point, Gibraltar
A couple of weeks ago I was very pleasantly surprised to be nominated for a Blue Sky Tag by Jane of the Candelo Blooms blog. Thank you Jane very much for thinking of me! The tag is a fun event which runs throughout June, and requires me to answer 11 questions about myself and Postcard from Gibraltar and then nominate 11 other bloggers for the same award.
It feels slightly self indulgent for me to spend all this time writing about me rather than talking about experiences or events I have visited which is my usual style of blog post, for that reason it’s taken me a while to complete this post. Here goes nothing…Commonwealth Park, Gibraltar
1. What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I love that it gives me an excuse to take loads of photos and ask questions. I’m a naturally nosy person and before having children I worked as a journalist so this gives me the excuse to be more than just someone’s mum!
I also love that it has brought me opportunities which otherwise wouldn’t have happened. I now contribute to an online publication and have become part of a craft group all brought about by my blogging.
2. What other hobbies and pastimes do you enjoy?
Oh my word I have so many hobbies! Regular readers to my blog will know that I love to crochet. I also attend weekly watercolour classes and dressmaking classes. I love taking phtotos, which is probably obvious if you read my blog regularly, and I have recently tried wet felting for the first time (a blog post will be appearing on that soon!) I know, I know, I really don’t need another hobby! 🤣
3. Given your time over, without any restrictions, what would be your ideal job? Why?
Well I did have a pretty perfect job for me, I was a journalist which meant I got to visit special places where the public wasn’t allowed and I got to meet so many interesting people and was able to tell their stories. Aside from the (at times) long working hours and unpredictable shifts it was a dream job.
If I could do anything at all though, I would love to be a craftsperson with a talent great enough to make a living from it. I’d love my own workshop (ideally in the countryside or at the end of a large garden) and be surrounded by my crafty things whatever they might be. As it is, I live in an apartment in the fifth most densely populated place in the world (or so I’m told) so it’s not likely – I’m very happy as I am though.
4. Which new country would you like to visit?
I have had a bit of a fascination with Australia since the magical day I was off sick from school and Neighbours came on the TV in the U.K. for the first time! Back then (when I was around 11 yrs old I think) I started saving 50p of my pocket money each week towards my dream holiday to Ramsay Street and the rest of Australia. I had a page cut out from a holiday brochure I’d snaffled from a travel agents with a 3 week tour of Oz including a trip to Melbourne and was saving up for that (it cost over £2000 back in the late 80s) needless to say I never saved enough!
Camp Bay, Gibraltar5. What is your favourite quotation?
I have to confess that I didn’t have a favourite quotation in my back pocket ready for this occasion, it took a bit of googling. This is the one which I think best sums up my view on life: “I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life” by Louise Hay. I have been lucky enough to have had a great life so far, a happy childhood, a great career until I had a much wanted family, however onwards and upwards…. who knows what lies ahead?
6. If you were an animal, what would you like to be and why?
This is a tricky question to answer, to be honest I am not a great animal lover. I abhor cruelty to animals but I’m just not a huge animal fan. Just the other evening as Mr Postcard and I were sitting on the balcony at dusk, enjoying the golden moment between the cool dusk breeze arriving and the mosquitos arriving we were watching the seagulls swirling around over our heads calling out to each other. Now I’m not saying I fancy being a seagull eating rubbish out of people’s bins and pooping on the people down below, but it would be fab to be able glide on the thermals and take in the views.
View of the Mediterranean Sea from the Med Steps 7. What is your favourite time of year and why?
Ooh, another tricky one. It rather depends on where I am. In Gibraltar it has to be spring, the days are often warm and sunny, very much like an English summer’s day but it’s not too hot and you can get stuff done without needing several showers to cool down.
In Britain, I love all the seasons and I miss them dreadfully living here in Gibraltar. I love winter for its cosiness, crunchy frost underfoot and Christmas. Spring is so full of promise with bulbs breaking through the soil and the bright acid green of the newly opened leaves on the trees.
Summer is just wonderful when it’s sunny and dry. I love woodland walks and picnics. And Autumn is magical for it’s colourful leaves, conkers and misty cobwebs. Sorry, that doesn’t really answer the question does it?
8. What is your favourite film?
I don’t really have a favourite film as such, I have had a few favourites over the years, The Sound of Music and Dirty Dancing featured heavily in my formative years. As an adult I have to admit to a James Bond addiction….
Gibraltar Airport
9. What are the 3 most important character attributes to you?
Honesty, I can’t be doing with having to second guess what people are really thinking. Kindness, there is no need to be mean and a little kindness helps the world go round, don’t you agree? Creativity, nothing fires my own creativity than having creative people to inspire me.
10. What is your favourite book and why?
My favourite book tends to be the one I am reading at the moment. I am a member of a book club and I love that it introduces me to different genres I wouldn’t normally choose for myself. I am slowly working my way through George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series at the moment, in-between my book club books. I am currently on Book 4, A Feast for Crows. I have watched the TV series up to the point where I am reading, but want to read the books before seeing the series.
Convent Garden, Gibraltar 11. What is your favourite garden and why?
I love pretty much all gardens. My favourite one here in Gibraltar has got to be the Governor’s gardens at his official residence, the Convent. It’s open to the public once a year for the annual Convent garden party and it’s lovely to take a stroll along the shady agapanthus lined paths and enjoy the beautiful trees. It’s a real oasis in a rather built up environment.
Now to my Blue Sky nominees….
I would like to nominate the following people for this Blue Sky Tag:
So to my nominees, I would like to ask you the following questions…
1. What do you most enjoy about blogging?
2. What made you start your blog and how long have you been doing it?
3. What most attracts you to a blog and what makes you keep reading it?
4. What other hobbies and pastimes do you enjoy?
5. Given your time over, without any restrictions, what would be your ideal job? Why?
6. Which new country would you like to visit?
7. What is playing in your headphones right now? Music, podcast, audio book?
8. What is your favourite book and why?
9. If you could go to any point in history to witness it for yourself, when and where would that be?
10. If you could eat anything for your next meal, what would it be?
11. I’m writing this while watching Glastonbury, what would your dream gig line-up be?
There is absolutely no pressure, if you don’t want to take part or don’t have time I won’t be offended! If you do though, please tag me to let me know, in case I miss it.
Living in a tiny place which is surrounded on sides by sea makes this week’s photo challenge a cinch. That said though, my first photos feature a rather choppy North Sea taken at one of our favourite places; Southwold in Suffolk.
Although most of my childhood holidays were spent on the west coast of the British Isles, the temperature and colour of the sea in Southwold are the same as what I was used to as a child. Rarely was it a pleasureable experience to go paddling in the sea, but you still do it when you’re a child!
Now for some waves a little closer to our current home…
Just look at that turquoise water!
Quick! Out of the way!!
Aah that’s better!
Catalan Bay Beach, Gibraltar
I’m linking with Nana Cathy and Wild Daffodil for this weekly photo challenge throughout 2017.
I have finally accepted the fact that Christmas is a lot closer than I would like it to be, and we put up the Christmas tree yesterday. I was going to dig out our old artificial one, but Mr Postcard surprised me when he returned from the shops with this chubby beauty. Isn’t it cute?
