hibiscus

Hello there, I do hope you’re having a good weekend. Well summer seems to have arrived here in Gibraltar this week, Thursday saw the hottest day of the year so far, with highs of 26 degrees. The flip flops are out, the toenails are painted and we’ve had our first barbecue of the year!

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series which features seven photos from the last seven days. It was devised by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog. Pop over to her blog to find out how you can join in.

Sunday = rest day!

After the exertions of the Med Steps 5 Challenge last Saturday, Sunday was a rather quiet and stationary affair. We did manage a walk to the botanical gardens and a trip to the supermarket but mainly it was spent at home. We made a pleasant discovery on our balcony when we found that this flower had opened without us even noticing the bud had formed. I do love my hibiscus.

Watercolour class

This week we continued our study of orchids. I finished off last week’s attempt and worked on a couple of other styles too. Still more work to do on these though…

Dressmaking class

I have done absolutely no sewing at all in my dressmaking class for the last two weeks – it’s been exam time (well sort of). In order to test the knowledge we have gleaned so far, we were given a series of skirts to make mini paper patterns for. It was just to reinforce what we already know and to push us a little to experiment and consider how other styles we haven’t yet tried are put together.

The first few were relatively easy. The last two though, my word – my brain hurt! (The one above was one of the tricky ones). I had to go outside and have a walk to try and process what I was trying to achieve. I’m pleased to say that with a little gentle pushing in the right direction by our lovely teacher, I got there in the end. I was a bit of a zombie for the rest of the day though – I only seem to have limited brain cells available these days!!

Town scenter florals

Town scenter… do you like what I did there? No? Sorry, I won’t do it again! Walking through the new park in the centre of town this week I was overwhelmed by the beautiful scent of Jasmine. The old wall, the entire length of the park, has been planted up with Jasmine and they are in bloom right now. They look beautiful against the old brickwork and the smell is amazing.

Crochet crazy

Wednesday was rather pleasingly filled with crochet loveliness. First, I had a lovely response to my Med Steps Crochet wreath post. The highlight being that Lucy from Attic24 who had inspired me to have a go in the first place said on Instagram that she thought it was lovely! Hurrah for that – it made my day 🙂

Secondly, I went to the post office to collect my latest edition of Simply Crochet magazine which contained a kit to make a bright flower brooch. I had intended to crack on with my spring cleaning, but got ever so slightly distracted 😉

Med Steps… a return trip.

I did say in my last post that I would stop going on about the Med Steps but it would appear from many of your lovely comments that you’ve become rather attached to them. Well I guess I have too, as on Thursday morning I took a walk up there again. It was a lot quieter than last Saturday and it was a lot hotter too. I think I may have to stop the morning walks there as the sun’s beating down on you at that time. An alternative route will be found and Med Steps will soon have to become an afternoon or evening destination.

I was thrilled to find out this week that the Med Steps 5 Challenge raised over £7,000 for the Gibraltar Cancer Relief Centre. Our little gang of girls who walked up the Rock together managed to raise a fair chunk of that, over £1,700, which is utterly amazing to me. Our lovely friends and families have been so generous as well as a few lovely ‘blogland’ friends too. (I didn’t ask for sponsorship through the blog as I don’t like to, but a handful of lovely people actually contacted me and asked if they could support our efforts). Thank you all for helping us to help this wonderful cause. Xxx

He’s back!

Our eldest arrived back safe and sound from his week away in England with school. He had an amazing time rafting, canoeing, quad biking and learning archery among many other exciting things. I know he and his friends have made precious memories which they will cherish well into adulthood. Thank you to the teachers for looking after their precious cargo so well and bringing them safely back home to our families.

It’s been a busy week here chez Postcard, I wonder what the next seven days hold in store? Until next time, thanks for stopping by…

This week’s Sunday Sevens started rather flowery, but ends sadly with Gibraltar’s tribute to those affected by the terrible events in Paris on Friday.

Sunday Sevens is a blog series created by Natalie at Threads and Bobbins. It features 7 photos from the past week.

1 Watercolour class

This week has been a little bit thin on the ground for inspiring photos, so I decided to have a theme, no prizes for guessing that it’s flowers. Monday, for me, meant a return to my watercolour class after the midterm break. We worked on a number of pieces but this is the only one which I managed to complete, a little anemone.

2 A surprise on the balcony

My dressmaking class on Tuesday didn’t yield anything in the photographic sense but I did make some progress, I am hoping to be able to reveal what I’ve been working on soon… Meanwhile, while hanging out the washing this afternoon I was surprised to find this beautiful hibiscus bloom. The plant hasn’t given us many flowers lately so I presumed it was having an autumn/winter rest but this beauty opened up without me noticing.

3 Armistice Day

My only crochet since our return from Spain last week has been this little poppy (pattern from Simply Crochet Issue 24). Being over the border last week I was unable to buy a poppy to mark Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday so I made this. I did manage to find a Poppy Appeal pot to make my donation though afterwards.

4 Gibraltar Literary Festival Day 1

Thursday saw the start of the 3rd Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival and I attended a talk at the Garrison Library. I am in the midst of writing about my experiences at the festival for a post coming soon, so in the meantime, here’s a lovely lantana flower from the Garrison Library garden.

5 Gibraltar Literary Festival Day 2

Friday was a history sort of a day for me at the Literary Festival, so here’s a Tudor Rose from the cover of Dan Jones’ book ‘The Hollow Crown’ (one of my purchases – shh it’s our little secret!).

6 Lilies

I LOVE flowers and when we lived in the UK I had cut flowers in the house most weeks. When we moved to Gibraltar, I soon discovered that cut flowers don’t last five minutes before they droop and look a bit worse for wear. Now we’re in November though and the heat of the summer has subsided, I treated myself to some lilies and lisianthus this week and they look fab.

7 Tribute to Paris