Christmas

Catalan Bay Polar Bear Swim 2016

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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 #63 Christmas Day 25.12.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Happy Christmas! The big day is here at last. I hope you are well and happy wherever you are reading this. I’m not sure how long I’ll last today – I was up with one super excited child until around 2am and the screams of “He’s been!” rang out at about 6:30am. I fear a post lunch nap may be in order!

Here’s my weekly look back at the past seven days…

Christmas lights 

Last Sunday evening I went out for a short drive with Eldest to take some photos of the Christmas lights around Gibraltar for my post on Wednesday. I do wonder what he thinks about his crazy mother and her wierd ways…. Still regardless of that, he was happy to tag along and put off bedtime slightly. I still love the magnificent lights at the Fire Station!

Christmas lights by Mother Nature

On Monday evening, we had this beautiful sunset. Anything we can do can be trumped by Mother Nature in a heartbeat – just stunning!

Lunch out

Tuesday lunchtime and I had a lovely meal out with a special young man plus my Mum & Dad. We had a really good meal at The Lounge in Queensway Quay and followed it with this rainbow of macarons to share – they were delicious!

Bye bye Bunny


Unexpectedly, on Wednesday morning, we lost the fluffiest member of the family. Bunny Postcard joined the family exactly 11 months ago to the day and fast became a well loved companion. She was our first non-goldfish pet and was so easy to have around. She could fairly munch her way through a fresh bag of spinach or kale and when given half the chance had a go at my IKEA seagrass storage boxes!

Bunny 🐰 will be sorely missed by us all but especially by the Little Postcards and her new friend Snowflake 🐇❄️️. As Mr Postcard said; “Prince and Bunny – 2016 has been a hard year, but they both had great hair”.

Churches at Christmas 


I have managed to go to three different churches so far this week. A succession of   Christmas services and school functions meant I got to spend three mornings getting well and truly into the Christmas spirit.

I had my first ever visit into St Joseph’s church for one of the services. I have walked past countless times without actually seeing the interior before. The roof above the altar is covered in this beautiful mural featuring saints traveling the rough seas of the Strait of Gibraltar with the Rock in the background.

Diamond Geezer!


Bunny left a big rabbit shaped hole in our family. We were all surprised by how much we missed her. Mr Postcard went Christmas shopping on Friday with Middle Postcard (who Bunny actually belonged to) and came home, not just with gifts but with this little chap.

This is Diamond. He’s the tiniest little fluff ball we ever did see. He’s a boy, so we’re not sure how that will work with Snowflake being a girl… hmm. We’ll have to be very careful. Hopefully they will become good friends – although not too good 😉. For now though, she’s acting a little bit aloof and pretending he’s not there! (Please leave entries for the caption competition in the comments 😝)

Happy Christmas!


I would like to wish you lovely people out there in cyberspace a really lovely peaceful Christmas. However you spend it, I hope it is a happy time for you.

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

A stroll around Gibraltar No. 16 : Christmas lights 2016

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Gibraltar does do Christmas lights well, so I thought I’d take you on a little nocturnal stroll with me to show you some of them. 

Back in November there was the now annual event of the Festival of Lights, when school choirs and dance groups put on a large extravaganza before the big Christmas light switch on. You can read all about 2015’s Festival of Light here.

As is the tradition, the area of John MacIntosh Square (also know locally as the Piazza) is the scene of the Festival of Light, and after the event, the square is given over to a small Christmas Fair complete with fairground rides for smaller children. This year, the area has been illuminated with these arches of fairy lights which are really quite stunning as you round the corner and see it.

The square is flanked on three sides by brightly lit buildings too: Gibtelecom

The City Hall:

And opposite the City Hall, is the Gibraltar Parliament Building.

Main Street, the main shopping area is of course lit up too. The lights extend from beyond Southport Gates and past the Governor’s residence, the Convent (which you can see with the Christmas tree above the porch).

The lights continue along past the shops.


Even the smaller streets off Main Street have Christmas lights too.

Away from the pedestrianised shopping areas, the traffic islands haven’t been immune to the Christmas light treatment too.

This one, even features a luminous Santa Claus, who just hours before this photo was taken was face down in the plants. It looked like he’d had a heavy night at a Christmas party! He’d been restored to his former position by the time I returned with my camera, so his blushes were spared.

Aside from the municipal illuminations, the residential estates have put on a fair show this year too. Here’s the offering at Beach View Terrace near Eastern Beach…

…the residents of South District have put on a show too…

…as have the Alameda Estate.

I think the collective prize for best effort has got to go to the residents of Catalan Bay. Several houses have made a big effort, both those facing the road …

…and facing the sea.

Even the gardeners at the Alameda Gardens have jazzed up their main entrance gates.

To my mind though, there is one stand out winner this year and that is the City Fire Station. They get an A* for effort and win this year’s Postcard from Gibraltar prize for Best Christmas Lights by a mile.

Sunday Sevens #62 18.12.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Well Christmas is literally round the corner and all the associated events are stacking up. This week I have had one Christmas party and a school nativity – which was incredibly cute. My parents arrived from England to spend Christmas with us just in time to see the school performance, so for once I Littlest wasn’t craning his neck to see just me in the audience.

Here’s this week’s rather rushed Sunday Sevens – there hasn’t been a great deal of spare time this week to put too much thought into it. I’m not sure whether next week, as the schools close it will improve matters for me or not! Still I have a few more child free days to attempt to get organised before the big day….

It’s up

It would appear that I am the meanest Mum on the planet for not allowing the Little Postcards to put up the Christmas tree in November or indeed the first week of December. But at last it is up. We got a real tree this year (unusual for us). As my parents are over visiting for Christmas it’s a bit more special this year and warranted a real tree I thought.

All change

There have been so many changes in Gibraltar since we arrived a little over 7 years ago. It’s even grown quite considerably as more land was reclaimed from the sea and several large buildings have sprung up along with three large government housing estates. This is the latest development near the centre of town and it’s huge. I wonder if the powers that be realised it would be so tall when they agreed to it?

It’s finished!


Just in time for the end of term, my top was finished in dressmaking class this week. I’m really pleased with it. It’s fully lined and will be very useful in the summertime.

Bunny vet trip


Snowflake, our newest furry companion, went to the vets for her second scan to check for baby bunnies along with her jabs. As we found her abandoned we had no idea as to her age, health or whether she was expecting the pitter patter of tiny paws.

We were relieved to find out that she isn’t in the family way and she’s perfectly healthy. Did you know that rabbits can give birth to a litter of 12 baby bunnies? Eek!

If you missed my post about how Snowflake came to join our family, you can see it here.

All posted!


This was my last Christmas card being posted. Phew what a relief! I sent around 60 and spent a small fortune on stamps but I like to do it still. It’s a weight off knowing that’s one pre-Christmas job ticked off the list!

Christmas Jumper Day


We all did our bit for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. On seeing me on Friday morning Littlest said “Ooh Mummy I love your sparkly pigeon jumper!”

Saturday night giggle


I must have walked past this shop dozens, if not hundreds of times since we’ve lived here and I never really read the sign properly. It caught my eye when I was out last night and it really made me chuckle. You can’t beat a bit of frish frut.

So there you have it, I had my last watercolour lesson of 2016 this week too, but as I only got part way through a painting which isn’t wonderful I shall save showing that one until it’s properly finished.

Where ever you are and whatever you are doing next week, I hope it isn’t too hectic for you. I’m just taking one day at a time and doing my best to remember which school function, special outfit, party, event I am supposed to be ready for at a time too – there’s so much going on! Take care and have a good week!

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

Sunday Sevens #61 11.12.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Morning all, I cannot believe we are on 11th December already! Can someone please have a word and get time to slow down a bit – there’s too much still to do…

It’s Sunday Sevens time again, here’s a little look back at my week:

Stormy skies

If you caught my last blog post on Wednesday about the weather we’ve been having lately (Nice weather for ducks…) you will know it’s been a bit stormy and wet of late in Gibraltar. I’m relieved to report that we are currently enjoying a dry spell, although it is very grey here most of the time at the minute. This was the scene on Monday between showers. I’m so glad I’ve been able to temporarily retire my wellies for a bit.

Christmas gift crochet

I can’t show you any more of this because it’s a gift, but I’m thrilled to say that I managed to finish a mermaid tail blanket for a friend in just over a week. She came with me to choose and buy the wool and we managed to have a lunch out too into the bargain – we had a great giggle. She asked me to make it for her daughter and I actually met my self imposed deadline… as for everything else I need to make for Christmas, well that’s not faring so well!

Zip’s in… thank goodness!

It’s in… It’s taken the best part of two dressmaking lessons to get this blighter of an invisible zip into this top. I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like zips. Perhaps I need to insert a few more before they come easy to me.

Christmas Parties get underway 

Christmas party season has arrived. I had my first party this week – a great night out with friends. I have learned something from the whole experience – dancing after eating a big bowl of Christmas Pudding and brandy sauce isn’t a good idea. I couldn’t sleep for ages when I got home!

Present making flurry


Holy moly, the time’s rushing away with me and I can’t seem to make any headway with all of my Christmas makes. This is a work-in-progress. I can’t divulge any more as, well err, it’s a gift. I just hope I can make the last posting date in time…

Happy bunnies

On Thursday this week, there was no school in Gibraltar as it was a religious holiday (Immaculate Conception) and then on Friday two of the Little Postcards enjoyed an in-service day. I put Littlest to work helping me build an indoor run for our newest addition Snowflake. I now know the reason why I bought that fire guard when it was on special offer at Morrisons three years ago…. Snowflake loved her new freedom.

How pretty is this?

I was thrilled to be given a beautiful Christmas card this week made by a very talented friend who can ‘do’ felting. This gorgeous card featuring snowdrops was made by her. She told me the whole process of how it was created and it sounds like an awful lot of hard work – but well worth it. Lots of layering of wool and soap and water and throwing! Then stitching on top of the whole piece of felt. I certainly appreciate all the hard work which went into making this gorgeous card and feel honoured to be one of the select few who received one. Thank you V x

 

Just one more thing… I don’t normally mention much about my kids for fear of exposing them to the big wide world before they’re ready but this little gem is just too good not to share.

On collecting Littlest from school the other day, I asked how his day was.”Good – we went to the desert” was his reply. “Which desert?” I asked. “The Sahara, we went on the school plane and we found dinosaur fossils and one came alive! It tried to eat me so I had to kill it.”

Who knew when I sent him off to school that morning that such excitement lay ahead? Hats off to the Gibraltar Education Department for not only having a school plane at their disposal but also safely getting Littlest and his classmates home from such an adventure in one piece and on time. Perhaps a warning note may be advisable next time? 😂

Thank you so much for stopping by, and for all the lovely comments I receive through the blog, on Instagram, on Facebook or wherever, it’s lovely to hear from you.

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog. If you would like to join in, pop over to see how to do it.

Convent Christmas Fair 2016

~ Making Stitches ~ 10 Comments

It may have been a pretty damp and grey day yesterday, but that didn’t put the crowds off coming along to the annual Convent Christmas Fair this year. For those not familiar with Gibraltar or the Convent, it’s the official residence of the Governor of Gibraltar (the Queen’s representative here), so naturally there are a few royal pictures about the place…

A quick stop at security, and we were in.

The Convent Christmas Fair Committee put an awful lot of work into putting the fair on each year. It costs £2 to get in and you are accosted pretty quickly to buy raffle tickets and tombola tickets for some wonderful prizes. All of the money which is raised at the event goes to support local charities.

Up the grand stairs and into the fair….

The first table I came to was Kate Davies’ beautiful stall showcasing some of her lovely fused glass work. I have been a fan of Kate’s work for a few years now and I have several of her pieces hanging around the house from windows. I’m looking forward to going up to Kate’s shed to see her at work soon, I’d love to know how she does it!

Next I headed into the very grand dining room which had been given over to a vast array of stalls featuring all sorts of different crafts and goodies.

Craft fair regular, Debbie Yeo was there with some of her beautiful things. Debbie can turn her hand to so many different crafts. She had paper crafts, hand sewn gifts and beautifully painted items for sale.

This painted glassware and candles on Debbie’s stall are just exquisite.

My next port of call was the ‘Beyoutifully Homemade’ stall made by Sally. The talented stitcher makes cushions (some featuring Star Wars characters & Pokemon balls), bags, lap quilts, memory items using your own children’s baby outfits and recycled denim projects. She had so many lovely things she had on offer.

Not only did I make a purchase, I also got some inspiration for something else to add to my  never ending ‘To make’ list! My next stop was the ballroom…

In this venue there were some very tasty treats on offer along with many stalls representing local charities. My attention was caught by small local business Just Because Macarons…. you can see why!

There were loads of very appealing flavours on offer… ooh which to choose?

Then it was time to choose the name of the knitted reindeer on the Cancer Relief stall (many apologies to Grainne [Santa’s little helper] I only took one photo and she looks a bit browned off in it! I promise she was smiling a split second before this was taken!!).

All of the things on this Christmas fundraising stall were made by patients who use the centre, their families and the centre’s many wonderful supporters. They have a craft club once a fortnight and the items made during the sessions were used to fill the stall. Among the lovely items on sale were doggie treats, human treats (including the most wonderful rocky road bites – I accidentally ate a few before the family came home – whoops) and handcrafted decorations and toys.

Alas, it was time to head home in time to pick the Little Postcards up from school. It was a brilliant fair again as always. I went early-ish so didn’t see it at it’s most busy. From previous experience I know it gets really packed when the schools finish for the day and the queue to visit Santa in his grotto can get quite long. I took Littlest Postcard last year and he was a little bit unsure, so I didn’t repeat the trip this year.

So what did I buy? Well sadly, quite a lot of it will be going into Christmas presents to people who may read this, so I can’t share too much…. But these mmm… I can’t wait to try one of these. I doubt very much they will stay in their packets much longer. Just need an excuse for giving the boys a treat…. Mint Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and Minion flavour macarons. (What do Minions taste like I wonder?)

And this lovely crayon roll made by Beyoutifully Homemade will be going in the post to a special little man we know.

So that’s it for another year. I hope you enjoyed this trip to the Convent Christmas Fair, I’m very pleased to say I have officially begun my Christmas shopping – well I had got a few bits and pieces already but it’s the big push now from here on in.

Jingle bells…jingle bells… I wonder whether the guard made it in to see Santa? 😉

If you would like to see last year’s post about the Convent Christmas Fair 2015, you can find it here.

Happy Christmas!

~ Making Stitches ~ 8 Comments

  
Hello and happy Christmas to you, I hope you are in a healthy and happy place as you read this. I have read so many profound and touching posts online recently pertaining to Christmas and I do not have the words to do this great season justice. I am also acutely aware that for many people this Christmas will not be the happy one which many of us will share because of illness, loss and difficult circumstances, please know that you are thought of and not forgotten amongst all the tinsel and frivolity. Instead of waffling on, I will just leave you with some images of Christmas for us here in Gibraltar. 
 Advent candles at St Andrew’s Church of Scotland. This vivid tree in a courtyard off the beaten track caught my eye.Every year we visit the ‘Crib’ (or Nativity as we call it at home) which is displayed under the Parliament building at the Piazza. It has twinkly stars, running water and moving figures and tells the story of Christmas.  

  I am so grateful for the fact I still get handmade Christmas cards home from school – they are so precious.
 Wishing peace, health and happiness to you this Christmas x  

Sunday sevens #10 20.12.15

~ Making Stitches ~ 14 Comments

Sunday sevens is a weekly blog series in association with Natalie at Threads & Bobbins.

‘Special’ Christmas card production line  
 Well if the technological option has let me down (or at least my operation of the technology) I’ll go back to what I can do!  Scrap the home produced printed versions and bring out the watercolours! I have to say it was so nice to be able to sit calmly one morning in amongst the chaos of end of term plays, parties and concerts and just play with my paints guilt free (because they were necessary!).

Christmas cards … Tick!  And for the other 50+ recipients on my Christmas card list, sadly it was shop bought ones this year. But they are all in the post now and sigh, it feels like a weight has been lifted! Aaahhhh!

A parcel for me!  I love it when crafty things arrive here and these little beauties took a rather circuitous route south to Gibraltar. I’d been hunting for some fabric to complete a WIP patchwork quilt for a young man in my life as well as fabric for other projects and on reading a Sunday sevens post from fellow blogger Nana Cathy some weeks ago about her trip to a wonderful looking fabric shop in Harrogate I browsed their website and found just what I was after. An inconvenient consequence of living so far away means that shipping costs can often be very expensive, so I arranged to have the parcel shipped to an office Mr Postcard often visits in London. Unfortunately his pre-Christmas trip to London got cancelled so the parcel sat on a desk in London going nowhere until a kind colleague visiting Gibraltar this week brought it for me in her hand luggage. Thank you Mariana from The Copper Kettle blog for bringing it over for me! Once Christmas has passed, I shall set to work on the quilt :-).

Another beautiful sunset 

 I rarely pass the Europa Point lighthouse in the evening but on Tuesday, our trip between football training and a piano lesson took us that way. Dusk was approaching and the lighthouse looked very atmospheric with a backdrop of misty clouds shrouding the hills of Morocco across the Straits. The photo I took unfortunately didn’t quite do it justice. The sunset which happened literally minutes later was a real beauty, I just wish I’d had the time to sit down and  fully appreciate the colours before dashing off to our next engagement.

Panic!  There has been a bit of baking going on in the Postcard kitchen this week. In amongst the chaos of end of term and the Christmas countdown I had a moment of sheer panic when I ran out of icing sugar at 9:45pm… Morrisons shuts at 10… The cakes needed to be at school for the cake stall at 9am the following day… Would I get there in time?!! Yes, yes I did- phew! A lie down in a darkened room was required!

Gibraltar gets ready for a winter party  

 Saturday (yesterday) saw the Winter Party come to Casemates Square in Gibraltar culminating in a Queen tribute act on stage. There was music and dancing, craft stalls and other entertainment on offer.  It showcases something Gibraltar is really good at – putting on events. Despite being such a small place, we have Calentita!, Summer Nights, National Week and the Gibraltar Music Festival in summer and the Gibraltar Literary Festival and Christmas Light switch on in autumn. There really is rarely a dull moment around here!

Wonky weather … nasturtiums in December!  

 
I’ve been reading and hearing about how mild the weather is at the moment in Britain. Well it’s been unseasonably mild here too. I think 22 degrees C was mentioned one day this week as a high. It does mean that it doesn’t feel very Christmassy, well we never get frost and snow, but it’s normally a good deal cooler than it is right now. One happy accident of the warmer temperatures we’re experiencing is that my pot of nasturtiums has bloomed for a third time, these blooms are coming from the seeds dropped by the second flush of flowers in late summer/ early autumn. They are haphazardly climbing up the back of the bench on our balcony.