Christmas

Sunday Sevens #166 9.12.18

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Hello! Here’s Sunday Sevens again, a great week for us and full of sunshine. Here goes….

High pressure parking maneuvers

As we headed out on Sunday morning, I spied a submarine heading into port. HMS Astute to be precise. On our travels we went down to the waterside to see the sub up close.

If you’ve ever driven in Gibraltar you’ll know that parking can be a bit tricky at times, on hills, against rocky walls and just inches from the passing traffic. That said, I don’t fancy trying to park one of these… even with the help of a couple of tugs!

Dressmaking booboo

Arghh! As I started sewing this week a spied a terrible thing – a hole in one of my back panels which had already been attached to my collar! The hole must’ve been in the fabric when I bought it but as it was cut double I didn’t see it until too late. It had to be unpicked, then another panel cut and reattached. So glad I did it though, no one wants a jacket with a hole in!

Wanderers return

Last weekend we were a bit depleted in the Postcard household. Two members of the family were overseas on school/work trips. I’m pleased to say both came home safe and well.

Watercolour class

I’m making slow progress with my painting of the ceiling at Sacred Heart Church. That said I don’t want to rush at it a make a hash of it… baby steps!

Winter sun

We’ve had a belting week weatherwise. Mornings have been misty but by lunchtime we’ve had beautiful blue skies and sunshine – we’ve been so lucky!

#Elfy

So, we have an elf… up until this point we’d dodged this current fascination but this week, the pester power was too much and #Elfy arrived.

The tree’s up!

Not our personal one of course 😉 We walked past this huge one in Casemates Square last night and saw it lit up for the first time. It looked lovely.

So that’s it for this week’s Sunday Sevens, I hope it’s been a good week for you. Until next week, bye for now.

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

Sunday Sevens #165 2.12.18

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Hello and welcome to the first Sunday Sevens of December. The advent calendars are being munched and there’s no denying that Christmas is around the corner – so far, so good on the planning stages, but still there’s lots to do! I hope you’ve had a good week! Here’s what I’ve been up to…

Black Sunday rainbow

Last Sunday afternoon I took a trip into town to go shopping. The shops in Gibraltar are usually closed on a Sunday but as it had been Black Friday, the sales and opening hours continued into Sunday for one weekend. I was lucky and got a few things at a discount and we even had a rainbow to kick off our shopping trip. Casemates Square was the pot of gold!

Dressmaking class

I’m finally feeling like I’m getting somewhere with my jacket at last. After weeks of drafting a pattern and cutting out a gazillion pieces of fabric, lining and interfacing, I have done a bit of sewing. I have a collar attached to the outer bit and a nice pleat in the back of my lining.

Watercolour class

Wow I have spent hours sketching this ceiling out at my watercolour class, and finally put paint on it! Now that the colour’s gone on, I can see some wonky bits but I’ll try to sort that out later!

Convent Christmas Fair

The annual Convent Christmas Fair was on this week. I love going along and picking up some Christmas presents, especially unusual handmade gifts. I can’t show you what I bought, but I’m sharing a photo of a gorgeous fused glass Christmas card I got. It’s amazingly lightweight.

Like my super yacht?

How’s that for an impressive boat? I had to park my car out by the quayside this week and was rather bowled over by these huge boats which were moored here. That’s some serious money. I don’t really fancy one myself – but I wouldn’t say no to a trip on one ;-).

Now that’s magic!

It’s been a bit magical in Gibraltar this week! Hot on the heels of the Gibraltar International Literary Festival came the Gibraltar International Magic Festival. I took the Little Postcards along to watch and really enjoyed it. Some of the tricks were amazing.

Bon voyage!

It’s been rather quiet around these parts for the past 24 hours. Mr Postcard headed off on a work trip in the wee small hours of yesterday and then Eldest jetted off on a school trip around lunchtime too. Our household shrunk from 5 to 3 in a matter of hours. I’m used to Mr P going away for business but it felt weird waving Eldest off on his way… he’ll be back soon!

That’s it for this week’s Sunday Sevens, thank you for stopping by! As always I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Sunday Sevens #164 25.11.18

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Hello there, I hope this week’s been kind to you. It’s been a rather grey and soggy one here in Gibraltar, but that said, as I type the sun has broken through the clouds momentarily and is streaming through the window….. Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:

A wet Sunday afternoon

It was rather grim last Sunday, proper monsoon style Gibraltar rain hit. Thankfully I was prepared and had pre bought cinema tickets to take the 2 Littlest Postcards to see The Grinch. It was a decent film, as far as animated kids films go, and we had long enough at the end of the film to play air hockey while we waited for our lift home!

A murky Monday morning.

The weather wasn’t too much better on Monday to be honest. There have been no Med Steps trips for a few weeks and I’m getting itchy feet to go back up again. Sadly my free time hasn’t coincided with any decent enough weather to head up there. Hopefully I’ll get back up there soon.

Rainbow

We had a treat on the school run on Tuesday morning – a rainbow! That’s a lovely way to start the day.

Dressmaking class

At Dressmaking class this week, I actually made progress on my jacket. All the interfacing has been ironed on, and I actually sewed the collar! Baby steps…

More rain!

On Wednesday I had a meeting in town, it rained, again!

Sunset

We did see some sunshine on Friday teatime, as the sunset peaked out from behind the clouds!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Later on Friday we popped into town (it was dry!) to see the big Christmas light switch on. Rather than rain, there were water fountains, paper snow, smoke and lasers!

And Gibraltar has some new Christmas lights this year. Some even feature the castle and key emblem from the Gibraltar flag.

And that just about brings Sunday Sevens to a close for this week. I hear that next week, the weather should improve…. I’ve got everything crossed for that!

Have a great week, and thank you for stopping by! As always I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Sunday Sevens #116 31.12.17

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Well here we are on New Year’s Eve 2017. What a scary thought, another year older (not sure whether I’m much wiser though). A year when I was lucky enough to be offered new challenges and be able to take them. A year when my blog-friends have stuck with me despite not having much time for them in return. Thank you all.

I guess if you can get to the end of a year feeling thankful, it’s been a good one for you. I know it hasn’t been plain sailing for some of you, but I sincerely hope that 2018 brings better things your way.

Here’s my end of 2017 edition of Sunday Sevens:

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve afternoon was spent at the park at Europa Point, it was unusually quiet (unlike how it probably was on Christmas Day or Boxing Day with children testing out their new bikes and scooters). We spent over 2 hours playing football, swinging on swings and climbing (well I played the football – not sure the swings were built for my age group) in the hope that the fresh air would help aid excited Little Postcards doze off ahead of the arrival of Santa. We were there so long that the sun started to set. With tummies rumbling for dinner, we headed home…

Christmas Day

The fresh air worked – they did get to sleep eventually! I’m pleased to report that Santa came and everyone was pleased with their Christmas morning surprises. The best bit about Christmas for me, apart from being with loved ones has to be the food…

Boxing Day in Marbella

When I was a child we used to go for a Boxing Day walk in the north Cheshire countryside near to where I grew up. We’d have turkey butties and a thermos flask with coffee in (maybe with a tot of whiskey when I was old enough – to keep out the cold). We’d crunch through frozen puddles or squelch along muddy canal tow-paths. I fear we are raising Southern softies…. this is where we came to on Boxing Day, an hour or so’s drive from home.

Christmas crochet

I started this project just over a year ago as a Christmas present for last year, as you can see it’s still very much still in progress. Hopefully I’ll get it done by next Christmas!!

Blue skies

We had some mixed weather over the Christmas break, some rain and stormy winds (we tried and failed to fly kites it was too gusty), but we did get a couple of days with magnificent blue skies. There’s no filter on this photo – it really was that blue!

It’s begun…

My actual weight is a secret between me and my Fitbit, but crumbs I got an unpleasant surprise when I stood on the scales this week. Well perhaps it wasn’t that much of a surprise – you kind of know when you’ve over indulged and your profile is slightly more Michelin man than Olympic athlete.

So I have begun my new regime, I have to get fitter again – less than six months ago I climbed the Med Steps five times in less than 4 and a half hours, I feel like I would struggle to do it once, something’s got to give (and it’s not my waist band).

So here’s to 2018 and health and happiness and a slightly smaller waist! Happy New Year!

I’m linking with Natalie of Threads & Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Sunday Sevens #115 24.12.17

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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!!!!

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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

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

Sunday Sevens #114 17.12.17

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Hello there, can it really be true that we are only one week away from Christmas Eve? I’m not ready!!! It’s been quite a long week with loads going on and I’ve been on my own with the Little Postcards as Mr Postcard was traveling with work.

I feel as though I have been running about a lot and achieved very little, but hey-ho we all have weeks like that sometimes. The result of all this rushing about has left me with few interesting photos for this week’s Sunday Sevens – it won’t win any awards I’m afraid. Here goes…

Christmas carol service

Last Sunday night I was lucky enough to attend the annual Christmas carol service at St Andrew’s Church of Scotland. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment band played the accompaniment to the carols and it was just beautiful. There’s something about carol services which transport me right back to being little again with that sense of expectation that something exciting’s about to happen.

Here comes the rain

Sunday night also brought with it a storm with winds of 100 km per hour at Europa Point. We have been spoiled recently with some lovely (if cold) weather. That was all about to change.

Wet Monday morning

And so the rain came… it was wet.

Happy mail

In a brief moment of calm and tranquility I was lucky enough to crack open this delightful box of loveliness from Little Box of Crochet. I only had time to look at it mind you, it’s been put away for a quiet moment!

A crafty Christmas card

A very talented crafty friend of ours made this beautiful felted poinsettia card. Isn’t it beautiful?

Friday frenzy

So the last day for posting Christmassy things to the UK was Friday. Naturally I left all the wrapping to the last minute… it wasn’t much fun but I got it all done -eventually.

Sunny Saturday morning

The stormy start to the week gave way to a lovely sunny end to the week. This was the scene at our last kids’ football match before Christmas, yesterday morning. It was a bit nippy but a Costa coffee took the edge off and warmed my hands nicely :-).

That’s all from me this week, I hope it’s been a good one for you and you aren’t drowning under Christmas to-do lists!!

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

Sunday Sevens #113 10.12.17

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

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.

Sunday Sevens #112 3.12.17

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Hello and happy Sunday to you. Crikey, we’re on the third door of the advent calendar already!!!!

I say this every week, I know, but it has been a busy one this week. As you were short changed a couple of weeks ago with a Sunday Six, I’ve spoiled you with a Sunday Eights this week!

Sunday fun

Last Sunday afternoon we did something we haven’t done for ages… bowling. We had a good laugh, well those of us who don’t mind losing did! I am officially rubbish at bowling and got whooped by one of my off-spring.

A cheery crochet start to the week.

This Monday, amazingly I had nothing in the diary to do while the Little Postcards were at school – what luxury. I did feel a teensy bit guilty about not finding something household related to do, but it didn’t last long as I was able to sit down uninterrupted and do some work on my latest Little Box of Crochet project.

Here comes the rain.

I know it’s all my fault mentioning the rain last week… it arrived on Tuesday and came down like a monsoon on Wednesday. This lovely rainbow greeted us as we set off on the school run on Tuesday.

New sewing project

As I finished my blouse at last week’s Dressmaking lesson, it was time to begin drawing a pattern for my next project – a dress. I find this part of the process the hardest of all. I was pretty brain dead after 3 hours of calculations and drawing.

It’s finished at last!

At my watercolour class this week I finished my painting of town. It’s not perfect or completely accurate but I like it and it was fun to paint.

Convent Christmas craft fair

It was the annual Convent Christmas Fair on Thursday and it didn’t disappoint. One of the new stalls this year was by the education team at the Alameda Botanic Gardens. They had made these beautiful Christmas decorations out of reclaimed wood. The Convent Christmas Fair is a major fixture in the social calendar on the Rock, you can read about previous years’ fairs here and here.

A pretty Christmas pud

My lovely group of girlies went out for an early Christmas dinner on Friday night. A great evening was had by all (some even danced a bit). I had this pretty Christmas pud which was eyed enviously by my panacotta eating neighbour!

Another weekend, another sunny match

Can you feel the heat of the sun off this photo? 😉 It was so lovely and warm at yesterday morning’s football match, I had gone dressed in several layers of clothes because first thing in the morning we are down to single figures on the thermometer (I know that sounds positively tropical for those of you up North – but it felt cold to me!). I ended up having to strip off mid match! (Perhaps I should rephrase that – I took my coat & scarf off!!)

So, that’s it for this week. Another week closer to Christmas  – eek!

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

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Sunday Sevens #111 26.11.17

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Hello there, I hope you have had a good week. It’s been as busy as always Chez Postcard and I’m staring down the barrel of a frantic few weeks with all the pre-Christmas antics there are are for the Little Postcards. There’s actually one day next week where I need to be in 4 different places at the same time…. I may be calling on the services of Dr Who and his Tardis to get everything done!

Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens…

A sunny start to the week

There was an in-service day for some of the Little Postcards on Monday. I haven’t been feeling too great for the last couple of weeks and they behaved so well for me letting me have an easy day, that we did a late afternoon trip to the park at Europa Point for ice cream as a reward. (My fluey cold from the other week turned into bronchitis 😕). The weather was glorious, as you can see, with just the hint of a Levanter cloud forming on the top of the Rock.

It’s finished #1><

Ta-dah! It’s finished at last! I have actually completed a blouse in my Dressmaking class, with a collar, cuffs and buttons (although I was tempted with velcro when the button holes weren’t behaving as I wanted them to). It’s a bit ‘loud’ colourwise so I’m not sure when I’ll wear it… perhaps under a cardigan!

Cloud free skies!><

We had more beautiful cloud-free skies mid-week. We have been so lucky to have a warm, dry autumn here in Gibraltar so far. I’m dreading having to dig the waterproofs out when the rains come….

It’s finished #2><

It’s been quite the week for finishing things, I managed to finish my autumn crochet wreath – before the end of autumn (a miracle!). I’m thrilled with how it turned out, it looked great in the autumnal sunshine on our front door. The kit came in a Little Box of Crochet and the designer was Kate Eastwood of Just Pootling.

Not much watercolour progress…><

I guess I can’t finish everything at once, so I’m still working on my watercolour painting of town. I’m getting there slowly but surely.

A new project><<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Yesterday I treated myself to starting a new crochet project. I was very disciplined and waited until I’d finished my wreath before cracking open another little box of crochet…

Christmas is coming>

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The Gibraltar Christmas lights were turned on on Friday night and yesterday we took a trip into town to visit Gibraltar’s first ever Christmas market. There are artisan stalls set up in little wooden huts, you can even get mulled wine – it smelled lovely (I shall have to go back once I finish my antibiotics!).

I’m linking with Natalie (the proud Mummy of a beautiful new baby girl) from Threads & Bobbins for this weekly Sunday Sevens blog series.

Sunday Sevens #64 1.1.17

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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.