Simplicity is the theme for today’s #52Fridayphotos from Alison in Andalucia and this just happened… even the most complicated work is simple if you have the help of a good teacher. Eleonora from Coastal Crochet launched her latest crochet-along (aka CAL) this morning, and along with Part One, she published a very helpful step-by-step YouTube video, so it’s super simple.
Whoops, it looks like I may have just accidentally started another new project!
Way back in January, when I already had several different crochet projects on the go, I spotted that one of my favourite bloggers was starting a new CAL (Crochet-Along). That blogger was Eleonora at Coastal Crochet. In my experience up to this point CALs usually involve purchasing a wool pack to accompany the project (which is absolutely fine) but the thing that made me want to join was that this was completely open to interpretation. You could use any coloured yarn from your stash, which meant I could start right away! So I did.
Another great attraction for me was that Eleonora released the pattern for just a couple of rows twice a week, so it was really easy to keep up with, and if I fell a few weeks behind, I soon caught up! At no point did I feel overwhelmed.
I decided early on that as the name was ‘seaside’ related it had to have marine inspired colours to begin with;
But I also wanted it somehow to have a connection to Gibraltar. But how? The western side of the Rock is its best known angle but that’s a bit complicated, so I opted for the eastern side. But Catalan Bay has so many colours that I couldn’t envisage how to include them all.
Then it hit me, Sandy Bay! It has one long developement across the whole of the Bay, with white apartments, terracotta roofing and yellow sun canopies!
The blanket became my companion and came away with us on holiday…
I soon found myself chosing colours to reflect the surroundings in Sandy Bay; beach umbrellas and paddle boards, the houses and the spring flowers growing on the Rock behind.
Above the houses are the old water catchments, which in spring are green and covered with wild flowers…
I chose yarn colours to reflect the yellow and pink flowers, then the greys and dark greens of the rocky face and shrubs above.
Last of all, it was time for the sky, and well, Gibraltar can often be found wearing its cloudy Levanter hat, so that had to feature too!
Before I knew it, I was completing the last few rows and it was almost time for the border. But first, there was the messy/boring job of weaving in all my endy bits… this was about a third of them!!
Then time for the border…
So, are you ready for the big reveal?
Can you see it? That’s my Dad humouring my silliness and holding it up for me on Sandy Bay beach!
Thanks Dad!
For the border I used grey (for the Rock), dark green for the shrubs on the Rock and blue with white wiggles which could represent the cloudy sky or the waves.
I’m really happy with it now it’s all finished and a bit sorry this lovely project has come to an end. A lovely community of crocheters from around the globe came together on Instagram and in Blogland, all united by this project – thank you Eleonora for taking us all along for the Seaside Stashbusting Blanket ride!
Sunday again, I was supposed to post midweek all about the Music Festival last weekend but unfortunately time got the better of me, perhaps I’ll manage it this week…. here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:
And relax…
It’s been quite a week for me this week, we have had visitors over – which has been lovely (and I couldn’t have managed without their help), I’ve been doing a bit of extra work too this week and it’s been a bit non-stop at times. It has made realise that there’s no way I could work full-time. I take my hat off to all those parents out there who hold down a full-time job as well has looking after children.
Pattern making
There wasn’t a lot of sewing going on at my dressmaking class this week but my jacket pattern is moving on apace.
Under a cloud…
The hot and sweaty Levanter weather conditions have continued for most of this week. As you can see, up above the thick cloud (which sits above Gibraltar at the minute) there’s some lovely blue sky. Everyone’s complaining about the humidity at the moment, I hope it comes to an end soon.
A lovely lunch
As I alluded to before, we have special visitors over at the minute, my parents are here for a visit. That gave us the perfect excuse to go out to lunch while the Little Postcards are at school. It’s amazing being able to hold uninterrupted conversations!!
Whoops!
I’m on the final push for my Coastal Crochet CAL. The Seaside Stash Busting Blanket has seen a bit of action this week, but as you can see, I got it a bit wrong…. it took me 4 rows to realise that I’d made a mistake – whoops! Thankfully it’s sorted now!
The end of summer…
It looks like summer beach season is over… I was at Sandy Bay on Friday and although there were quite a few people on the beach and in the sea, work was underway removing the net from the family end of the beach. It doesn’t feel like autumn yet, that’s for sure!
A new arrival in Gibraltar
There’s much excitement in our household about the arrival of a new eatery in Gibraltar. When we visited Sidmouth and Lyme Regis on our Easter trip to the south coast of England, we first encountered the delights of the Cornish Bakery. Then, on our trip to Southwold in Suffolk, we discovered a branch had just opened there too. Imagine our surprise when this signage appeared in Casemates Square… is this an anti-diet conspiracy??!! Is the Cornish Bakery stalking the Postcard family? Methinks a few pasties may be consumed…
Thanks for stopping by to visit this week, that’s all for this Sunday Sevens. As always, I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
Another week gone already, I can hardly believe it. The summer holidays are whizzing by, and we have just 2 weeks left here in Gibraltar. Here’s what I’ve been getting up to this week in my craft challenge….
Day 36 (Saturday 11th August)
I enjoyed doing my Jennie Maizels sketchbook club picture so much last week, that I thought I’d have another go on Saturday and give some Southwold Beachhuts the Jennie Maizels treatment. This time, though, I couldn’t leave them black and white, I just had to colour them in.
Day 37 (Sunday 12th August)
Done! Now, I wonder what I should draw next?
Monday
A trip to Commonwealth Park which running some errands in town meant a few moments of Crochet calm on a bench in the dappled shade. The perfect excuse to crack open another Little Box of Crochet!
Later on, in the evening, I got reacquainted with an old friend…
Day 39 (Tuesday 14th August)
A few more rows were completed on my Coastal Crochet CAL after dark on Tuesday.
Day 40 (Wednesday 15th August)
It was International Granny Square Day on Wednesday, so I had to join in!
Day 41 (Thursday 16th August)
We spent most of the day at the beach on Thursday so my crochet came too!
Day 42 (Friday 17th August)
I’ve been working on my Sandy Bay Seaside Stash Busting Blanket a bit this week, as I had a lot to catch up on. On Friday I spent quite a bit of time on it and am working on making a crochet version of the Rock of Gibraltar (hence the grey & green rows). I think I’ve done about 17 rows this week. Here it is in all its glory:
That’s it for this week. The end of week 6 means we are three quarters of the way through the long school summer break already! Thanks for stopping by!
Hello, and welcome to this week’s Sunday Sevens, a little later than usual, but I still made it on Sunday! It’s been a busy day with lots of boring jobs to do. You don’t want to hear about that, so without further ado, here’s this week’s series of seven (or perhaps slightly more) photos from the last seven days.
Bank holiday getaway
Last weekend was a bumper long weekend for us here in Gibraltar. We had Monday off work and school for Worker’s Memorial Day and then Tuesday too for May Day (as it was 1st of May). We have the first of May off here rather than waiting for the first Monday in May as is the tradition in the UK. To all of my readers in the UK, I hope you are being blessed with some of the gorgeous Bank Holiday weather I have seen on the telly over these past couple of days.
We headed out of Gibraltar for a few days and went along the coast to Estepona. The above picture was of the queue of traffic trying to leave Gibraltar last Sunday, the photo below was taken on a tranquil evening stroll at the end of the day, along the coast in Spain.
A hole in one!
This mini golf course was the site of the greatest golfing moment ever seen in Andalucia. Forget Valderrama and the European Open, this is where I scored a hole in one! It took hours of practice too ;-).
Heading home
Our long weekend came to an end on Tuesday and it was time to head home and back to reality, but not before another round of crazy golf and the chance to admire some of the beautiful blooms on show in the hotel gardens. Isn’t this one a beauty?
Seaside blanket makes it to the beach!
I took my hook and yarn away with me on our short break and managed to catch up on the rows I had fallen behind on with the Coastal Crochet Seaside Stash-busting Crochet Along. I really enjoyed working on it while I was away from all the usual distractions of being at home. I even took it down onto the beach at Estepona with me for a photo shoot. And that shot made it into Eleonora’s weekly round-up of the CAL on Instagram. It’s slap bang in the middle – that made my day!
May Day Celebrations
We headed back into Gibraltar in time to catch the end of the May Day celebrations in Casemates Square. There was a political rally (which we missed) followed by a number of local bands and dance schools performing on the stage for the crowds. As you can see, we were blessed with some beautiful weather.
Say what you see…
Apologies in advance for the toilet humour, but one day this week I found myself sitting at the bus stop (our car is rather unwell and has been into the garage this week) and I spotted a sign for parking which I have passed countless times and not really looked at before. It’s funny that you can suddenly see something for the first time, years after looking at it. It made me chuckle anyway…
Gibraltar International Comic Con
The second Gibraltar International Comic Con came to the Rock this weekend. We went along yesterday and hung out with stars of Star Wars (there was a real life Ewok there), three Game of Thrones actors (yes, I know – how cool is that??) and Star Trek amongst other shows. One of the things which I really enjoyed seeing was the art work. These amazing comic-style illustrations were drawn by a local artist (@liam_p_art on Instagram).
And that brings this week’s Sunday Sevens to a close. Thanks very much for stopping by! I’m linking with Natalie at Threads & Bobbins for this weekly blog series. I’ll leave you with a few photos from April including Gibraltar and our trip to London & the Jurassic Coast.
Hello there, welcome to the latest Sunday Sevens, a week which began in bright sunshine and ended with grey cloudy skies….
Don’t go into the water!
There were reports in the media last week that lots of Portuguese Man-o-war were being washed up on Gibrataltar’s beaches. Not wishing to miss out on seeing them, I headed down to Camp Bay with the Little Postcards last Sunday to see if we could see any. We weren’t disappointed. I had never seen them before and found them rather mesmerising with their bright blue colour and tentacles drifting below the waves.
We kept our distance though, as they can be very dangerous, even lethal in some cases. I thought it best to show the children what they looked like in case they should ever encounter them again. Now they will know to avoid them in future.
I’ve got a beach!
This week I managed to keep up with the Coastal Crochet CAL (Crochet along) and now have the beginnings of a beach on my Seaside Stash-busting Blanket. It was very nautical for a while there, but now I have wet sand, seaweed and pebbles.
3 times round
I can’t quite believe I am writing this, but although I didn’t plan it, I managed three times round the Med Steps this week. I had intended to do twice round but something Mr Postcard said as he went to work (along the lines of “two not three?”) planted the seed and once I’d completed number 2, thought, why not? I went for it. It was very difficult. This photo was taken at the bottom of the final set of steps. I was sitting on the bottom step at the time! I’ve got less than a month to go now before the Med Steps 5 Challenge, so there’s no time to waste!
Princess line seams
This week’s dressmaking class was all about the princess line seams. Boring photo I’m afraid.
Double daffs
I went crazy and splashed out £2 on a bunch of daffodils for myself this week. They had beautiful double heads and made me smile.
More stepping
The beautiful sunny weather we had at the start of the week had disappeared by Friday. I headed back up the steps. It was very blustery up there and just a little bit scary as I turned the corner onto the east side. It was blowing me backwards as if I wasn’t allowed to go up. Once I was properly round onto the eastern side, it was much more sheltered and not a problem at all.
Seeing as I can’t show you blue skies on this one, I took a few pictures of the beautiful wild flowers up there, including the Gibraltar national flower (the Gibraltar Candytuft: bottom right) which is in flower in a few sheltered spots now.
Gib Rocks
There is a phenomenon sweeping Gibraltar at the moment, especially for families with young children, called Gib Rocks. It started just a few short weeks ago, and the idea is to paint rocks and stones with bright colours, a message or a picture, then hide them somewhere in Gibraltar for someone else to find. It was sparked by one Gibraltar-based family’s trip to Battle in the South of England at Easter, where a similar scheme is in operation. On their return, they set up a Facebook page called Gib Rocks and at the last count it had over 3,600 members. It’s kind of mushroomed!
Anyway, we decided to join in too. I shan’t show you what the Little Postcards painted, as they wanted to keep it a secret, but I’m rather partial to rainbows so I could only paint one thing couldn’t I? It’s drying off nicely now ready for it’s final touches, I’ll keep you posted on where it ends up…. watch this space!
I’m linking with Natalie from Threads & Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
Hello there, I hope you’re having a nice weekend. We have been blessed with some lovely weather this week (I wore a T-shirt to do the afternoon school run on Friday), but – and it’s a big but, I have it on good authority that we are in for some very wet weather over the next seven days.
It’s funny you know, whenever there are severe weather warnings for the British Isles, that often means that for us down here on the southern most tip of the Iberian Peninsular get pretty rubbish weather too – admittedly not as cold as ooop north, but, still bad. So, as the UK grabs it’s thermals and digs out the shovels and grit to cope with a big freeze and snowy weather, we are digging out our wellies and rather fetching waterproof trousers to cope with an impending monsoon.
Anyway, weather talk aside, here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens…
Sunset across the Bay
Clearly last Sunday nothing of note occurred as I didn’t take any photos. This lovely sunset happened on Monday though. All of a sudden the apartment was bathed in the most beautiful orange glow and I looked out of the window to see that the sun was just about to set behind the hills directly opposite our apartment windows. Each day the sun is setting further to the right (north west) as we get closer to spring and it was a beautiful beam of orange which signalled the end of Monday’s daylight.
Seaside blanket silliness
I’m really enjoying the twice weekly instalments of the Coastal Crochet Seaside stash busting blanket Crochet Along. Last week, one of my fellow CAL-ers uploaded a cute photo to Instagram with a Lego diver, seaweed and fish on her blanket and I thought I’d join in with the silliness. I spent rather longer than I should have digging about in search of a Playmobil diver and his gear, but only managed to locate his breathing apparatus. I gave up and raided the bath toy box for this pair. I have a horrible feeling our diver has met a sticky end somewhere. (Note to self : I really must grow up).
Dressmaking class
At my dressmaking class this week I finished my slice and slide frill around the top of my toile dress. It was removed from the mannequin and converted from lots of jigsaw pieces of fabric to just two to check I had the correct drape for the frill. It’s not looking too bad. I’m awaiting instruction on what to do next….
Crochet confusion
I have been attempting to start a rainbow crochet blanket (requested by a Little Postcard) for a few weeks now, but I have really struggled with it. First of all, I tried a new ripple pattern, which required a lot of concentration by me. I really wanted something I could do without too much thought in front of the telly, but I kept getting so far and having to frog it because I’d made a mistake way back at the start of the row.
On top of this I wasn’t completely happy with the colours I had chosen. I picked them online and got them sent to Gib, but when they sat next to each other, they were a bit harsh. I finally relented and went to the wool shop here in Gibraltar and bought three complimentary shades which evened out the rainbow effect I wanted. I also found a new ripple pattern which worked better for me. Back to the drawing board, but I had a plan!
Blue skies
I mentioned a the start of this post that we have had some beautiful weather this week. This was the gorgeous blue sky on Wednesday lunchtime. I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch but she got a call from school to say one of her little ones was ill, so lunch was postponed and I got the bus home. This was the view from the bus stop over the top of the park and Trinity Cathedral to the top of the Rock in the distance.
Watercolour daffs
I managed to finish my latest watercolour painting at my watercolour class this week. I’m rather pleased with these daffodils. They go well alongside my iris painting from a couple of weeks ago. I have decided to have a go at another painting in this same style with pen and watercolour, and after a bit of a poll on Instagram, it’s been decided that tulips should be my next subject!
I love it when a plan comes together…
My persistence paid off I think, the rainbow blanket is coming along well (although not fast enough for the Little Postcard who wants it for his bed…. “When will it be finished Mummy??” “Errr, don’t hold your breath son.”) I’m finding these ripples so relaxing to make, with not too much counting required by me. I have enjoyed a couple of episodes of Wallander on Netflix as I hooked these rows during a few quiet moments. I have been wanting to work on this all the time and it has come with me to football training and a football match just in case I get the chance to hook a few extra rows! My kids are seriously considering disowning me….
Batman update….
Did you see Batman in my last Sunday Sevens? He’s still up there bless him – I took this photo at 10:30 last night. They must have good helium in Gibraltar!!!
That’s all for this week’s Sunday Sevens, I hope you have a good week. If you are in the snow, keep warm, if you are in the wet, keep dry and I’ll see you next week, same time, same place. Toodleooo!
I’m linking with Natalie from Threads & Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
Hello there, I hope you have had a good week. Mine didn’t exactly go to plan, it started well, but ended with me under the weather with bronchitis :-(. Needless to say there are no glorious photos of the Med Steps this week, as much of it has been spent flat on my back in bed! Never mind, these things are sent to try us and I’m slowly getting better. Onwards and upwards….
Stormy Sunday
Last Sunday we saw the beginning of a period of stormy weather. We decided to head to the cinema in the afternoon as it certainly wasn’t a day for the park. By the time we had emerged tree branches were strewn across the road, at one point an entire tree was sitting chopped up on the pavement after coming down in the gale force winds and closing a road for a time. We had managed to miss all the drama, oblivious in the cinema!
On Sunday night the winds came back with a vengeance. We were remarkably sheltered where we are positioned as the wind was coming from the east and we were protected by the Rock. In the North District, at Europa Point and in town, however, it was a totally different matter. A roof was rippped off an industrial building close to the foot of the Med Steps, a wall of scaffolding several stories high was blown down from a tower block which is under construction in Ocean Village and many trees and buildings sustained damage. It was quite a storm. Amazingly just one person was injured, and that wasn’t seriously. Just a few hours later and the roads and pavements would have been busy with school children and people heading to work, it could’ve been so much worse.
Cosy crochet
As it was too dangerous to attempt our usual Monday morning trip up the Med Steps I was able to complete the latest section of Eleonora from Coastal Crochet’s Crochet-Along. I’m really enjoying this project as it’s being drip fed to us twice weekly in small manageable chunks. On previous attempts at such things I have fallen by the way-side a few weeks in, unable to sustain the momentum to complete the 20 or so rows each week. You can find the details for this project in my last Sunday Sevens if you fancy joining in yourself.
Stormy skies
On Tuesday morning I wasn’t able to park in my usual car park of choice as it was already full at 8 minutes past 9! Presumably people had left their cars overnight as the traffic problems caused by Monday’s storms were rather bad. The commercial entry to Gibraltar from Spain was closed in order to try and ease some of the traffic problems. Several roads were closed because of the scaffolding collapse and that caused chaos.
I digress, anyway I ended up parking on the road surrounding the small boats marina as I couldn’t find anywhere else to park. I did so with a touch of trepidation as the day before had seen high seas and big waves crashing into buildings close to the sea. Would my car still be there when I returned at lunchtime from my sewing class?? Yes, thank goodness it was, it looked like it had had a bit of a drenching from a wave or two but it was otherwise intact.
It’s finished!!
Just one year late, I finished my wedding skirt at Dressmaking class. The hem is done (believe me there’s a lot of hem on the skirt and the lining – I was taking forever!). I’m really pleased with the finished article. It’s too late for last spring’s two family weddings, so it’s on standby for the next big occasion.
Super blue blood moon
Heavy cloud and rain overnight meant we didn’t get to see the super blue blood moon on Wednesday night. We did, however, see it over the Bay on Thursday morning. It didn’t have the orangey red tinge of the dramatic photos from elsewhere in the world but it did look a lot closer and very bright.
Plenty of time to read
So I mentioned before that I ended up in bed with bronchitis. I had been coughing since Saturday but by Tuesday afternoon (after dressmaking) I was feeling decidedly rough and it got worse from there. I spent an awful lot of time on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday asleep when I possibly could. And when not sleeping, I read. I’m not a huge reader these days as I often spend what free time I have doing crafty stuff, but I couldn’t really be bothered with that at all.
This week I managed to start and complete Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood which was really gripping and I’d recommend it. I will now seek out the Netflix series of the same name to see how it compares to the book. I also began a book which has been sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read for a while; Shadow of the Rock (Spike Sanguinetti) by Thomas Mogford. The story follows an investigation carried out by a Gibraltarian Lawyer (Spike Sanguinetti) and it’s quite refreshing to read about a place I now know so well, as the first part is set in Gibraltar itself.
Blue skies return!
I began the week with a photo of the Bay of Gibraltar and I will end the week with one too. This was taken late yesterday afternoon as the sun was setting on a beautiful warm day. I spent a bit of time sitting out on the balcony reading as I didn’t have the energy for much more than that, but it was lovely to feel the warmth of the sun after a week of pretty miserable and cold weather.
I hope the next seven days are good for you, and I hope to have a few more inspiring photos for you next week too. Hopefully I will have a mid-week post for you as well, I ran out of steam on that this week…. Thanks for stopping by!
I’m linking with Natalie at Thread & Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
Hello there and welcome to this edition of Sunday Sevens. I hope you have had a good week. Our lovely weather of late is changing sadly so perhaps this might be the last Sunday Sevens with clear blue skies for a while, so for that reason there are eight pictures not seven this week. I have a feeling next week’s Sunday Sevens will be on the grey side….. Anyway, here it is:
Finished at last!
Last Sunday I finished the last row of the border and weaved the million endy bits in, to complete this green blanket for a certain Little Postcard with a penchant for all things green. It was started as a Christmas gift for Christmas 2016 and actually was going to be based on Minecraft blocks (hence the solid squares). I’m not the best at sticking to a project however, so when it became apparent I wouldn’t hit the December 2016 deadline it was put away for another time. In the meantime, the fascination with Minecraft waned slightly so I opted for just green squares (with a bit of blue variegated yarn too) and a grey border to bring it all together. He’s very happy with his new blanket and snuggles under it on his bed at night time now – perhaps it was worth the wait!
Sunday evening by the water
On Sunday evening we went into Ocean Village for a spot of dinner and as we headed for home were greeted by this lovely view. The sunset was almost gone but the colours of the sky and the Sunborn boat hotel lights looked pretty reflected in the water.
Coastal Crochet CAL (Crochet-along)
As I mentioned in last week’s Sunday Sevens I’ve been cracking on with the Coastal Crochet CAL this week and thankfully Eleonora began this week’s pattern with a reminder to check the stitch count on the blanket so far. It turns out that watching Netflix while working on a foundation chain isn’t a good idea … my first week’s progress was based on 136 stitches and not the 180 it should have been – whoops! I had to start again, needless to say and I’m back on track now – phew!
Car Park Rainbows
I love the way the louvred windows in the new multi-storey carpark make rainbows. I decided to be healthy and take a trip down the stairs this week rather than using the lift and I was rewarded by this rainbow display.
Sacred Heart in the Golden Hour
A late afternoon trip to Upper Town gave me this fab view of Sacred Heart Church during the ‘golden hour’ as the sun was about to set. I have featured the beautiful ceiling inside this church a couple of times before in my posts, but I thought you might like to see it from the outside if you aren’t familiar with Gibraltar.
Watercolour class
In my watercolour class this week, I tried something totally different. I’m using ink to outline my sketch before filling in the colour with watercolours later. I’ve never done something like this before and it was good fun, it even turned out looking like I wanted it to (I’m not the world’s best at drawing – I prefer to attempt to use the paint to make my pictures). Time will tell whether I completely make a mess of it with the paint or not… watch this space!
Dockyard sunshine
I found myself in the industrial estate beside the Dockyard at the end of this week. I don’t often show the more industrial side of Gibraltar as most of the time I get bowled over with views of the beaches and the Med Steps. I thought the view through this big arched shed was pretty with the sun shining on Spain in the distance.
Med Steps training
I know I have already reached seven photos and this one will take me up to Sunday Eights, but I had to include it. I heard that our lovely sunny weather won’t last, so yesterday I made the most of the last of the sun and headed up the Med Steps as I might not get the chance to go again for a few days. It was beautiful up there. This photo was taken looking south west across the Strait towards Morocco at the start of the walk before you get onto the Eastern side of the Rock. In the foreground you can just about make out the building site where diggers are excavating the foundations of the new sports facilities which are being built in time for Gibraltar to host the Island Games in 2019.
Unfortunately the sunshine hasn’t lasted, as forecast a few days ago, the storms have come. As I type the wind is rattling our old wooden sash windows and shutters and when we were out this afternoon we saw that several trees have been damaged by the gusty winds already. Apparently gales are coming this evening along with thunder storms, so it could make for an interesting night. Where ever you are tonight, I hope you are safely tucked up indoors safe and well. Have a great week!
I’m linking with Natalie at Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.
