Med Steps 5 Challenge

Sunday Sevens #69 5.2.17

~ Making Stitches ~ 15 Comments


Hello there, believe it or not, this is the 200th Postcard from Gibraltar blog post! When I started this little blog back in the summer of 2015, little did I know it would still be going strong 18 months later or that I would start podcasting!

Thank you so much to you all for your likes, kind comments, and all round marvelousness. The virtual support I have received over the past 199 posts has been very much appreciated.

The past seven days have brought us another mixed bag of weather here in Gibraltar with strong winds and rain interspersed with some lovely sunshine. I hope you’ve had a good week. Here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens.
Polluted sunset


We had a lovely sunset again on Sunday evening. Sadly though we couldn’t go outside to fully enjoy it. The toxic smell of chemicals from the Cepsa plant across the border in Campamento was so strong that it caught the back of my throat. Plumes of black smoke were seen billowing out from the chimneys at the oil refinery and blew right across the Bay.

Clearly in contravention of EU rules on pollution, the plant’s immediate neighbours must have been choked with the smell. So dangerous and so frightening. It’s no wonder that the number of people in this part of the world suffering from asthma is higher than the average.

Starting as I mean to go on…


This year’s Med Steps 5 challenge is just 3 1/2 months away so no time like the present to get fit so I can achieve 5 times round again this time! Monday morning was utterly glorious, so I left the unmade beds, laundry and breakfast dishes to go for a walk. The jobs were still there for me when I got home but I felt a whole lot better for it.

Gib & Rocksy

Do you remember Gib from Sunday Sevens #67 22.01.16? Well I thought he looked a bit lonely, so he’s got a new friend. This is Rocksy. They are the mascots for a new crochet group here in Gibraltar; the Gibraltar Crochet Collective. We have a Facebook page which tells you where we are going to meet each week if you fancy joining us.

Dressmaking class 

The pattern is drawn for my princess line dress in my dressmaking class, it’s time to get cutting…

More Med Steps


This photo was taken from the sitting position! Phew after doing the steps on Monday, my legs were a bit stiff when it came to Wednesday’s attempt…

Watercolour class

At this week’s watercolour class, I went back to the primulas I was working on last week and finished them off. They now have a terracotta pot to sit in and their leaves are finished. I’m pleased that I managed it without making a mess. I had to be talked into going back to this by my teacher  Deborah M Lawson but I’m glad I did.
And finally…


Do you think someone had a bit of fun at work one day??!

I have walked down this path quite a few times… this week I walked up it for a change and spotted this!! Is the stick man walking like an Egyptian or just doing the funky chicken do you think?

Thanks for stopping by! Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog.

Review of the year : 2016

~ Making Stitches ~ 10 Comments

As the clock ticks inexorably towards midnight on 31st December and we close the door on 2016, I thought it was time to take a look back at the year we have just had. Most of the newspaper reviews I’ve read so far have focussed on the negative aspects, celebrity deaths, the seismic political changes afoot both in Europe, America and the rest of the world, and general doom and gloom.

I am very fortunate in that for us, in our little corner of the world, apart from the uncertainties of Brexit and what that could mean for us in the years to come, we’ve had a pretty good year. Looking back at all the interesting things we’ve done makes me think about how fortunate we are. If your 2016 has been a difficult one, I sincerely hope that 2017 will be better for you and your loved ones.

January 2016

The New Year saw us spending a few days up the coast from Gibraltar on the Costa del Sol, but we were back on the Rock in plenty of time to see the Three Kings Cavalcade. It was also back in January when I went for the first of my strolls around Gibraltar the first one was an homage to the many beautiful balconies, the second one paid tribute to the many steps we ‘enjoy’ here!

February 2016

February brought us some misty and stormy weather, but there was plenty of indoors activities to keep us busy here in Gibraltar. The second annual Gib Talks event saw speakers from all walks of life take to the stage for short talks on a huge range of subjects. Later in the month, the extraordinary Gibraltar Womens Association celebrated their 50th Anniversary, I found  their story fascinating.

March 2016

In March, we were blessed with some beautiful sunny days with bright blue skies. Along with completing a tin man outfit for World Book Day, I finally managed to finish my Attic 24 Cosy Stripe Blanket after a year of hooking! We made the most of the lovely spring weather and took a dolphin trip out into the Bay of Gibraltar. There was also a beautiful exhibition in Gib celebrating  women’s creativity.

April 2016

During April we made another short trip up the coast and headed inland to Ronda a beautiful Andalucian town. I was very productive at my dressmaking and home furnishing courses inserting my first invisible zip and producing curtain tie-backs for the public transport fan in my life. A tall ship called into port at Gibraltar and members of the public had the chance to go on board and have a snoop around.

May 2016

May meant Med Steps for me big time as I completed my final training sessions for, and then finished, the Med Steps 5 Challenge with my two stepping buddies. It was a rather intense day but we were so proud of ourselves for climbing to the top of the Rock five times in quick succession. We also managed to raise a fair amount of sponsorship money for the brilliant Cancer Relief Gibraltar. Some of my sponsors are readers of this blog and I am so touched that you took the time and effort to support our fundraising efforts – thank you.

As I spent so long prattling on about the Med Steps during my training, I figured I should tell you all about it:  The Med Steps: a few facts & figures . May also meant saying goodbye to a good friend to me and my blogging adventures. One of the sad things about living an expat life is that many of the friends you make are in the same boat as you and therefore may not be around for long Saying goodbye…

June 2016

June was a very eventful month not only for me but for Gibraltar and the rest of the UK as a whole as BREXIT loomed large (this post was my most read of all time and by a very long way). Six months on, we are still no further forward knowing what it all means.

Another unexpected thing to happen to me in June, was when I chose to go back up the Med Steps one foggy morning. I thought that the mist would make the climb cool as the summer heat had begun to build. I was wrong. As I climbed up the Rock, I climbed out of the mist and fog. I was nearly roasted alive, but I did manage to take a rather good photo of the Rock emerging out of the mist below (see second left image on the bottom row above). I got loads of likes and shares and retweets with that picture taken on  A mini stroll in the mist!

11th June 2016 marked International Yarnbombing Day 2016 and I had a little go myself with my first guerrilla crochet project as I attempted to Yarnbomb the Alameda Gardens to celebrate the park’s 200th anniversary.

July 2016

July equals the beginning of the very long school summer holiday in Gibraltar. As I stared down the barrel of 8 weeks of no school and the prospect of entertaining the three Little Postcards I felt a little overwhelmed. In an effort to find some way of surviving (with my marbles intact) I decided on day one that I would set myself the challenge of doing something crafty every single day of the holidays…. and the Summer Craft Challenge was born. One of our summer holiday outings took us up into the Upper Rock Nature Reserve to visit one of Gibraltar’s newest attractions, the  Windsor Suspension Bridge .

August 2016

August, for us, was mainly spent in England. I travelled back with the Little Postcards to spend two weeks based in the North West with my parents (with a lovely trip down to Berkshire to visit friends) and then two weeks with Mr Postcard visiting his family in East Anglia. We were blessed with the best of English summer weather. When the sun shines – there really is no better place to be. Our East Anglia holiday base was Southwold in Suffolk, it gave us the perfect opportunity for multiple visits to a special place for us Southwold Pier .

The end of the month brought the school summer holidays to an end. After eight weeks of full-time kiddiwinks and eight weeks of the summer craft challenge, I was very proud to still be in full possession of my marbles (I think) and I also managed to do something crafty on every day except for one (the day we travelled back to Gibraltar). The final instalment of my challenge is here.

September 2016

September is always a very busy month in Gibtraltar. Just after the children return to school, we all have a day off for Gibraltar National Day on 10th September. Around this time we now have the Gibraltar Music Festival to enjoy too. This year saw the Stereophonics headline and Europe played the air guitarist’s dream of The Final Countdown live on the Rock.

Towards the end of the month, I was able to fulfil an ambition of mine to visit the Yarn Festival of Yarndale. It was everything I had expected and more, with bells on. My absolute highlight was meeting my crochet hero Lucy from Attic 24 and being able to give her one of my Llanitas (Llanita, the Gibraltar Yarndale sheep that is). The sheep were made to raise funds to support a children’s hospice in North Yorkshire, I made two and they have both gone to live in Yorkshire!  My Yarndale 2016 (featuring Llanita’s Yorkshire adventures)

October 2016

In October I was still determined to keep up some of the crochet momentum I had achieved during the summertime and finished off my contribution to the Sixty Million Trebles project. I made a rainbow granny square blanket which will go towards the World Record breaking attempt to create a huge crochet blanket made up of sixty million treble stitches. Each treble stitch represents a displaced person or refugee. After the world record attempt the giant blanket will be made into smaller blankets and handed out to charities in the UK and those helping Syrian refugees. The organisers also hope to raise a considerable amount of funds too to help Syrian refugees.

A big event locally was the fourth annual Gibraltar Literary Festival 2016 I was lucky enough to be able to attend several events this year and really loved it.

November 2016

At the beginning of November we had just one Bunny in the Postcard household, then one Sunday afternoon during a walk through the Alameda Gardens, we found some abandoned rabbits. One of them, Blizzard, came home with us (Blizzard turned out to be a girl and she is now known as Snowflake). It was back in November when I had my first attempt at Podcasting I had such fun making it, and hope to be able to share another one with you soon.

December

In December we sadly said goodbye to Bunny Postcard. She had only been with us for 11 months but she’d quickly become a much loved member of the family.

This month I also headed out for my most recent stroll, to see some of the Christmas lights  we have on the Rock – amazingly it was the 16th stroll post I’ve written this year. I also took the plunge (literally) and joined with the annual Boxing Day Polar Bear Swim at Catalan Bay – I’m still feeling proud of myself for doing it!

 

Thank you so much for joining me this year, I have loved having your company and enjoy reading all the lovely comments. Here’s to next year, who knows what it will have in store for us all, here’s hoping it will be a good one.

A Postcard birthday

~ Making Stitches ~ 8 Comments

 

1

 

 

It’s been a whole 12 months since my first blog post on Postcard from Gibraltar and what a fun and busy year it has been. I started out publishing my first post and wondering if anyone out there in cyberspace would actually read it but I soon discovered a lovely community who share my interest in craft and want to hear about this lovely Rock I live on.

Thank you very much for all the lovely comments and likes over the past year, I appreciate you taking the time to leave them. I read them all although sometimes it can take me a while to reply.

I know that an important part of being in this community is that it’s not just a one way street and we should all take the time to read each others posts and sometimes I’m not too great at that as life tends to get in the way a bit. Please know that I always mean to, and I usually get around to taking a look at my fellow bloggers posts eventually!

I’m afraid I’m being very lazy this week with my midweek post and I’m just going to share a few of my highlights from the last year with you. I hope you enjoy this trip down Memory Lane 🙂

 

Expat life:

Moving countries with two small children and leaving all our family and friends behind was no small feat. I have to admit that when I was faced with the prospect of moving here (due to Mr Postcard’s work relocating) I wasn’t impressed. I had my life sorted and was happy where I was, the prospect of having to start all over again didn’t fill me with joy.

Back in September last year the annual cardboard boat race in Ocean Village reminded me of what life was like back when we first arrived and that the warm welcome we received as a family helped us on the road to settling in: Cardboard boats and memories of moving

Apart from arriving here and making a fresh start, one of the hardest things about being an ‘expat’ is that many of our community are transient. For those who come with work or their partner’s job, rather than just making the choice to move here for good, their tenure in Gibraltar can be short.

However short that stay may be, friendships can develop fast. In the absence of family nearby friends very soon become each other’s support network and that makes saying goodbye all the harder: Saying goodbye…

 

Crafty highlights

I love, love, love making things. If you’ve caught any of my Sunday Sevens posts you’ll know that most of my weeks are dominated by crafty things including watercolour lessons, dressmaking lessons and of course, my love of crochet. In May, I was inspired to make a wreath celebrating the wild flowers I’d seen this Spring while I trained for the Med Steps 5 Challenge : Wild flowers of the Med Steps

 

Along with the Med Steps I have become very fond of the Alameda Botanical gardens during our almost seven years here in Gibraltar.  International Yarnbombing Day 2016 proved too much of an opportunity to miss paying homage to the Alameda Gardens bicentennial celebrations.

 

Gibraltar highlights

Last Saturday was the Convent Garden Party, an annual event which the Postcard family usually attends. It’s the one chance in the year for ‘normal’ folk to have a wander around the beautiful back garden which belongs to the Governor of Gibraltar. My post about last year’s event ended up being my first ever blog post based on a walk (a theme which has featured heavily in the last few months): A stroll up the garden path…

As I mentioned earlier, I am a bit of a fan of the Med Steps. So much so that I climbed them five times in the one day last month as part of the Med Steps 5 Challenge. If you have never had the pleasure of climbing them yourself, here’s what you’re missing! The Med Steps: a few facts & figures

 

On 9th June, Gibraltar woke to find itself wrapped up with a blanket of fog. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to climb the Med Steps again (as it had been getting a bit warm to do it in recent weeks). On that walk I experienced the most amazing view (the one you can see above). I had been misguided in thinking that the fog would help me with its cool damp air, as I climbed the steps I soon realised that I had, in fact, climbed up out of the fog and was viewing it from above.

At one of my many rest points on that morning, I witnessed this stunning view of the Rock swathed in fog. It was otherworldly and truly mesmerising. I was also only one of a handful of people who had braved the Med Steps that morning, we were incredibly lucky to see this weather phenomenon from such an elevated vantage point.

As soon as I got home I posted this photo online and got the most amazing response. So far, more than 12,000 people have viewed it on Facebook! I also wrote a post about my foggy walk and featured a lot more photos: A mini stroll in the mist

 

A year on the Rock

IMG_6071

One of the great things about living in Gibraltar is that despite it’s size (which is really quite tiny) there is so much to do. The social calendar includes the Three Kings Cavalcade, the Calentita food festival, the Gibraltar Fair, National Day, the Gibraltar Music Festival, the Gibraltar Literary Festival, and the Christmas Light switch on to name just a few.

Here are a couple of my highlights from the last 12 months: Rock stars & heart throbs: Gibraltar Music Festival 2015 & So many books, so little time… Gibraltar Literary Festival 2015

Looking back at all that makes me realize we’ve packed a lot into our last year on the Rock. I know we are very lucky to live in such a great place and to have the opportunity to experience all we have. 

I first started this blog after being encouraged to do so by friends and family and I’m really glad I did. Postcard from Gibraltar has opened doors for me both virtually and in real life, it’s been a great adventure so far, here’s hoping the next 12 months are as good if not better!

Thank you for dropping by!

 

Sunday sevens #32 22.5.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 16 Comments

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…

Sunday sevens #31 15.5.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 22 Comments

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series devised by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog . It features seven photos from the past seven days.

A damp start to the week

As much of the British Isles were basking in Mediterranean weather at the start of the week, we were donning our  wellies and digging our waterproofs out of the back of the wardrobe! I’m posting this photo to make all you Brits feel better about the weather up North! I don’t grudge you having the sunshine one little bit, you deserve it. We, at least are guaranteed a long, dry, hot summer, thankfully this is just a temporary blip! 

Watercolour class


This week, I tried my hand at orchids as my teacher had a lovely one in her house. As you can see, I had to take the photo while it was still wet, so the colours may have changed slightly by the time I get back to class to finish it off. It was a very calm, therapeutic lesson though. Us students joke that our teacher should charge more as she’s a therapist as well as a teacher! We can go and have a good laugh or a moan about things and we all come out feeling much better at the end and sometimes we even have a nice painting to show for our work too!

Feeling floral

I’ve been working on a floral crochet project of late, I’m hoping to be able to share a bit more of it with you soon – here’s a sneaky peak 😉

Here comes the sun!

At long last, after a very wet week, the sun came back to us on Friday. Oh it feels good to be able to hang your washing out outside again!! 

A school trip


We waved our eldest off on a school trip on Friday night. He flew to England for a week long visit to an outdoor adventure centre. I know that he and his friends will be having a whale of a time but it was difficult saying goodbye at the airport. 

Gazing around the parents milling about at the check-in desks I guess it was us grown ups who found the parting hard, the kids much less so. This photo was taken on our walk back across the runway to collect the car. The Rock looked majestic in the evening sun. 

The traffic on Friday night was awful, there were a few planes landing, it was Friday’s rush hour – oh and Gibraltar had just been made the 211th member of FIFA so the the border queue was pretty slow heading into Spain…

Med Steps 5 Challenge


Well, we did it! 5 times round the Med Steps, that’s more than 19km in a time of 4 hours & 38 minutes. It was hot on the Eastern side of the Rock with our newly returned sunshine. When I last checked 140 individuals had registered to take part and 160 in teams of up to 5.

It was an excellent event organized by the Gibraltar Prison Service and to support the wonderful Cancer Relief Centre here in Gibraltar. Everyone was so friendly and encouraging. I’m very proud of what my team mates and I achieved and grateful to have been able to support this event and the charity it’s for. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and put up with the incessant ramblings about this event. We have had some lovely good luck messages and your support has been very much appreciated. We have been feeling the love – thank you!

And finally…


A glass of bubbles to toast our five times round. The wrist band was stamped on the completion of each circuit – I promise it has 5 stamps even though you can’t see them all!

The Med Steps: a few facts & figures

~ Making Stitches ~ 37 Comments

Unless you are completely new to this blog, you will no doubt be aware I have a rather daunting event on the horizon. Along with two friends, I am planning to climb the Med Steps to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar 5 times as part of the Med Steps 5 Challenge on Saturday. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of taking this rather scenic, steep walk, I thought I’d take you along with me. You won’t need your trainers though – I’ve done the hard work!


The length of the walk from it’s beginning at Jews’ Gate on the southern edge of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve (just opposite the monument to the Pillars of Hercules) to the summit (close to O’Hara’s Battery) is 1400 metres. At it’s start, you are 180 metres above sea level, at it’s summit, you are 419 metres above the waves below – that’s a climb of 239 metres.


It runs round the southern edge of the nature reserve and then along the eastern side of the Rock on narrow rocky paths and steps up along the cliff face.

Just next to the Jewish Cemetery and bird observatory is a flight of steps leading the way into a small wooded area.

The path winds gently up hill before opening out to offer a great view across the top of Europa Point, and the northern coast of Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Close to here is Martin’s Cave the roosting and breeding site for rare bats. 

The path takes a downward turn down several steps before levelling out to a beautiful path lined at the moment with wild flowers.


Then the Med Steps begin in ernest. They are rather irregular in size, some man made, others just appear to be lumps of rock. Some take the size of ‘normal’ stairs, others are well over 30cm deep. Approximately half way up this first set of steps is the Goats Hair Twin Caves.  

Excavations during the 1970s found evidence here that suggests prehistoric man once lived there. It’s believed that many years ago, these caves were actually at sea level.

Just above the caves, there are several old military buildings serving as a reminder to the role the Rock played during World War II. 

At the top of this climb the path takes us through a small tunnel which offers much needed shade and a chance to take a breather.



It’s at this point that you often see seagulls sitting on the path, they look most put out as you approach and they feel the need to move. Clearly they are making the most of the peace and quiet and taking in the view! I have also seen a couple of native Barbary Partridges near here too, I believe Peregrine Falcons are a relatively common sight as well, but I can’t say I’ve seen any.

A little further along here and you end up on a great viewing platform which affords a fantastic view on a clear day along the eastern side of Gibraltar, across the runway and north towards the Spanish Costa del Sol.

A few metres back from this and the rocky path takes you onwards and upwards towards our goal. 

This part of the walk is particularly verdant and it was along here that I saw one of Gibraltar’s national plants, the Gibraltar Candytuft for the first time a few weeks ago.

There are several other plant species native to the Rock which can be found in this area, the Gibraltar Thyme, Gibraltar Campion, Gibraltar Chickweed and Gibraltar Saxifrage to be precise.

The walk continues meandering back and to along the side of the Rock with several more flights of stairs here and there until you find yourself at the foot of the cliff where there are 15 flights of steps zig zagging up the rocky face leading to the summit. (In my opinion; the killer part).


Up you climb, up and up. 

I love seeing this ‘seat’ carved into the rock. Every time I see it, I think of my Dad who walked up the steps with my Mum and me a couple of years ago. He stopped here for a rest. If I’m still fit enough to climb the Med Steps when I’m in my seventies, I’ll be more than happy!

Two flights later and there’s the wild flower sign – oh we’re almost there!

Just two more flights and we’re at the top – Hurrah!!!

I may have lost count due to exhaustion but I think I counted 595 man made steps up to the top (I didn’t count the extra natural rocky steps or the ones which rather annoyingly take you downwards before the main climb).

So we’re at the top, time to give yourself a pat on the back and take in that magnificent view. 


It’s now time to head down the military road which zig zags down the western side of the Rock past St Michael’s Cave and back to Jews’ Gate again. Just another 4 times round and then we can stop for a cup of tea – wish us luck!!

All information is courtesy of the GONHS

Sunday Sevens #30 8.5.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 24 Comments

Hello there, I hope you’re having a good weekend. It’s been a bit damp and grey here in Gibraltar which isn’t the norm for this time of year, but summer’s around the corner and we had a little taste of it last weekend. 

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series featuring seven photos from the last seven days. It’s the creation of Nat at Threads & Bobbins blog. To find out more, pop over to her blog. 

May Day in Gibraltar

Here in Gibraltar, we don’t need too much of an excuse to have a party, and May Bank Holiday weekend was the perfect opportunity. The skies were blue, the sun was out and lots of people headed out to enjoy the beautiful spring weather. We made a bee-line for Commonwealth Park so the boys could run off a bit of energy with their scooters. This photo makes it look pretty deserted but I can assure you that there were dozens of other families there doing the same. You can probably see them in the distance on the grass. 

Later in the day there was the added excitement of a free live concert in Casemates Square featuring a series of local acts culminating in Ben Haenow, the X Factor winner from 2014.

Crochet

There was no art class this week so on bank holiday Monday instead of painting, I found myself sitting in the sun and fancied doing a spot of crochet. This little butterfly fluttered off my hook ;-).

Dressmaking class

It’s finally finished, my lined panelled skirt with an invisible zip. I’m not sure how much I like the fabric and style now it’s made up, but I learned a lot making it. 

Watercolours 

As I didn’t have watercolour class this week, I did a bit at home. I’m pleased with how my window’s coming along. I’ve managed not to spoil it…. yet!

Med Steps


So far this week with school closed 3 days out of five here (bank holiday Monday, Acension Day on Thursday and In-Service day on Friday) I only managed one single trip up the Med Steps. It was perfect conditions, overcast and cool, so I did it in a good time.  However, now I’m getting a bit worried that it’s less than a week to go to the Med Steps 5 Challenge on Saturday and that scares me a bit! 

Ouch!


On Friday night my right index finger had an argument with a pair of doors and lost. On Saturday I woke with a blue nail and swollen finger and felt rather down in the dumps as I’d spent much of Friday busily doing jobs so I could do some crochet on Saturday. 

Unable to pick up a hook, I decided to read instead and began Empty Cradles (Oranges and Subshine) by Margaret Humphreys. It’s not the cheeriest read to lift the mood but is incredibly powerful. 

It tells the true story of the hundreds (if not thousands) of British children who were shipped overseas to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Rhodesia from the 1940s until the late 1960s. They were sent away from children’s homes in the UK to help populate areas and work the land, with little hope of seeing their families or homeland again. If you are interested I social history, I can highly recommend it.

My last post


When I pressed publish on my last post Saying goodbye on Wednesday morning, I was slightly nervous about putting out such a personal account. I was overwhelmed by the response to it, both on WordPress and Facebook, and I would genuinely like to thank you for taking the time to read it and those of you who sent messages afterwards, it was very much appreciated. 

We are really blessed with the wonderful community we have here in Gibraltar and from what some people have told me, it’s a sadly rare occurrence. I shall treasure the friends I have close by and am confident that those who have moved on to pastures new will continue to play a part in our lives either online or through visits. All is not lost!

Sunday Sevens #29 1.5.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 8 Comments

Hello there, happy May Day to you all. I hope the sun’s shining where ever you are and that you’re enjoying a good Bank Holiday weekend. 

A message has just popped up to tell me this is my 100th blog post – how did that happen??

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog. It features seven photos from the last seven days. To find out more about it or to join in, pop over to Natalie’s blog.

Med Steps…

Well my Med Steps training has continued this week as we are now less than two weeks away from the Med Steps 5 Challenge on 14th May. There was a bank holiday in Gibraltar on Thursday (one of our usual training days) so training has had to be fitted in around the family a lot more than usual. My first trip up was on Monday and as you can see from the photo above it was very cloudy. That made for great stepping conditions, it was cool, there was no sun and there was a double bonus of climbing up into the cool, damp cloudy conditions at the top – just when you need it most. There was no one else about; I had the whole Med Steps to myself. The wild flowers were looking gorgeous even though there was no sunshine. They are so beautiful up in the Upper Rock at the moment and probably at their peak before the hot summer sun scorches the ground. I can feel a wildflower post coming on – only problem is I don’t know most of their names…. I’ll need to do a bit of research.

More Med Steps…

My BIG Med Steps training session had to be done  yesterday morning. I decided to forego my Saturday morning lie-in, and set my alarm so I was well on my way up the steps by the time the clock struck nine. I was also on my own and I’m very proud of the fact that without anyone with me to egg me on, I managed three times round solo for the first time. I’m feeling quite proud of myself but am feeling a little bit achey as I write this. The countdown is on now though so I need to step it up a gear next week I think…..
Watercolour class

Last week I had a bit of a go working on a looser style as I painted some bird of paradise flowers. I had another go at improving them this week but it didn’t go well so I gave up and started preparation work for my next project. You may remember from my post on doors that I had a go at painting one of the old doors I had photographed. I really enjoyed doing that so I decided that now is the time to start work on my next architectural painting based on a photo I took a while ago of a particularly beautiful window in the town centre.

The painting so far…

 

I found myself with a bit of time yesterday between climbing the steps, doing the washing and heading out to a kids birthday party, so I decided to crack out my paints while everyone was happy entertaining themselves. I’d been practicing how I was going to paint the reflections on the window panes – something I’d never attempted before. I had a lot of fun with it and am very happy with the result. I just hope I don’t make a mess of the rest of the painting now!!

1st holy communion season


Gibraltar, being a predominantly Catholic place, is currently in the middle of Communion and Confirmation season. My two eldest are of the ages that their school friends are celebrating these milestones of growing up. Being a non-Catholic family it’s not something we do, but it’s lovely to see their fellow students in all their finery heading into church for this big event. For those of their friends who were receiving their Holy Communions on Wednesday, the weather was beautiful and allowed for sunny photo shoots with friends and family in the park. They looked lovely.

Off the beaten track

Considering how small Gibraltar is, I find it amazing that even after almost seven years of living here, I am still discovering new things. On Friday I took a slight detour off Main Street along a side street I must have walked past hundreds, if not thousands of times during our time here and found these windows up above my head on a residential building.  I have never seen anything like this in Gibraltar before, where the windows have been bricked up and then images of windows painted over the bricks! That’s certainly one way to liven up your facade!

Cake!

Another discovery on that street was a lovely little cupcake shop. It would have been rude to return empty handed from there don’t you think? It tasted as good as it looks. The diet went a bit out of the window, but I reckon I burned it off on the Med Steps the next day 😉
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great week!

Sunday Sevens #28 24.4.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 11 Comments

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at the Threads & Bobbins blog. It gives you a chance to reflect some of the things you’ve been doing in your week through a series of seven photographs. To find out more, or to join in, pop over to her blog for more information.

**Warning – this blog post contains a lot of Med Steps related things – apologies for the repetitive nature but it’s kind of consuming my world at bit at the moment!**

My Med Steps training update

Monday morning meant an early trip up the steps and boy was it worth it, the view was absolutely stunning from the top of the Rock. Look at Spain heading off into the distance!

Time didn’t allow me to train again on Tuesday or Wednesday but the weather would have stopped me so it’s probably for the best. We did the school run on Tuesday morning to a soundtrack of thunder, Wednesday was wet too. 

Thursday was dry and bright and meant for the first time we managed…

4 times round…  

I can’t quite believe that we managed it, that final (fourth) ascent was a killer. Just in case you haven’t heard, me and a couple of other crazy ladies are currently training to take part in the Med Steps 5 Challenge next month. That means we hope to climb the Med Steps five times in the one day – see, I did say crazy. 

Why? I hear you say… Well here’s how it all came about:

 My post-Christmas hangover cure…

  

My secret’s out, the reason why I’m doing the Med Steps 5 Challenge is because I agreed to do it while under the influence of Christmas spirit! ;-). My Med Steps journey so far featured in an article in our local e-magazine for parents Mum on the Rock. Do check out their website or the Postcard from Gibraltar Facebook page if you want to read it. 

And now for something completely different:

In my watercolour class this week I decided to revisit my bird of paradise flowers from Easter. This photo was taken part way through, my teacher told me to loosen up my style and be a bit less detailed. I’ll put another layer of paint on top of this once it’s dry and see what happens next week.

Dressmaking class  

This skirt’s a bit tricky, I’ve got lining, panels, a waistband and an invisible zip all going on at once -arghhhh! Deep breaths, slow and steady does it…. 

#tightsqueeze


Twice this week I got stuck behind two buses having to negotiate the same very narrow stretch of road. I have no idea how they achieve this feat without coming a cropper. Do you think they ask the passengers to breathe in? I wouldn’t fancy attempting it!! Hats off to the very skillful drivers. 

A quiet Saturday morning


This weekend has been very strange in our house. Our two eldest went away on Friday evening to a scout camp. We have spent the weekend with just one child in the house for the first time in over eight years. I was really looking forward to it but to be honest I’ve missed them and it felt really odd. Yes, it was nice not to have to intervene in sibling arguments and play referee on who’s turn it was to watch their choice on TV, but I’m not sure I liked it. 

I’ve felt very uneasy the whole time like I should be busy doing something… So I had a quiet post-breakfast sit down at the window looking out over the Bay and doing a spot of crochet – it’s a green stegosaurus this time ;-). It’s my second attempt at this Simply Crochet magazine pattern, I think they’re so cute.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you’ve had a good weekend. 

Sunday Sevens #27 17.4.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 22 Comments

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at the Threads & Bobbins blog. It gives you a chance to reflect some of the things you’ve been doing in your week through a series of seven photographs. To find out more, or to join in, pop over to her blog for more information.

I hope you’ve had a good week, it’s been a busy one here and I can’t believe Sunday’s come around so quickly again!


Med Steps training

A certain seriousness has come into our training for the Med Steps challenge this week with the realisation that we have just a month left to build up our stamina to manage 5 times up the steep climb to the top of the Rock in one day. The charity event, which raises money for the Cancer Relief Centre here in Gibraltar, is open to individuals and teams (some of whom actually run up!?). You can enter a team of 5 and each individual can do  it once or like us (in our little team of 3) you can all do it 5 times. We won’t be breaking any records and the event is open from 9 until 5 on the day so there’s a very good chance we’ll take a long time to complete it. 

One morning we all got together for a team training session – our first collective one for weeks, and did twice round. It’s starting to get really rather hot and this photo was taken on our second circuit (not too far from the top) when I stopped for a breather and some water. We are praying for overcast weather on the big day so we don’t all keel over from exhaustion and sun stroke – I fear some unflattering head gear may be de-rigeur. I’ll keep you posted on our progress, we are stepping up our training this week….

Postcard family bake-off 

We have a Postcard family birthday coming up soon and one of the little Postcards thought we should have a baking competition to decide on the birthday cake of choice ahead of the event. Sadly it was not in the luscious English countryside and neither Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry nor Mel or Sue were in attendance (probably for the best). 

Now, I do enjoy eating cakes but am not the world’s best baker by any means. In the interest of family harmony, I ‘threw’ the competition (shh – don’t tell anyone) by making millionaire’s shortbread ably assisted by the smallest Postcard while another young Postcard made a chocolate fudge cake with a garnish of sweets! The chocolate fudge cake won as it was a ‘cake’ and did taste rather good. The millionaire’s shortbread was incredibly sickly although it did improve on chilling. Now I have to make another cake in time for the birthday celebrations!! Just as well I’m doing the steps a lot in order to burn all of this off!

Final home furnishings class

This week, we had the last of our 12 home furnishings classes and we made curtain tie-backs. You may notice they are the same fabric as the cushion I made last time for the transport fan in my life – I hope he likes them!  The Transport for London inspired material came into my possession after reading  Nana Cathy’s blog post about The Remnant House (a great fabric shop in York). I had a look at their website and bought myself some great fabric to make things for my boys. So thank you Nana Cathy for telling me about this fab shop. I hope one day to visit it for real, although I fear I’ll end up adding considerably to my stash and to-do list when that time comes! 

If you are in Gibraltar or nearby, and fancy having a go at learning to make curtains, cushions and tie-backs, I was taught by Dorcas Hammond of Dorcas Hammond Designs. She’s very experienced and a great teacher. Pop into her shop on Governor’s Street or find her on Facebook to get more info on her classes.

Dressmaking class

Sewing has begun in ernest on my first ever lined skirt in my dressmaking class. I had to unpick and re-sew my invisible zip but apart from that it was a good lesson this week and I’m pleased with the progress I made. Fingers crossed the rest of the skirt will go well 🙂

Watercolour class

  
In watercolour class this week, we focused on skies and the different techniques you can use to paint them. One of the most interesting finds was that by painting a thin wash of raw sienna first even under blue you can get a really nice glow. I’ve got work to do on my cloud formation as they are a little sausuge shaped for now but it was fun.

A nocturnal visitor

Spring must be here because for the first time this year I spotted one of these little chaps on the bathroom window. You can see the lizards or geckos even in the middle of winter here if it’s a sunny day. They crawl out from their hibernation place and bask in a sheltered sunny spot, but they disappear long before the sun goes down and the temperature drops. This week though, we have started to have a few warmer evenings and so this little chap was lying in wait for an unsuspecting moth to come fluttering next to our bathroom window and pounce! It’s quite spectacular when it happens – like a mini version of ‘Wildlife on One’ on your window!

Bunny update

Bunny’s doing well and his fringe is continuing to grow, however because of his long hair/fur he has a tendency to get dreadlocks and matted areas despite regular brushing so we are going to  have to take him to the vets soon to have a bit cut out near his tail. It’s a bit close to his tail for us to want to attempt to cut in case we hurt him. He also needs some injections so that he can have a hop about on our back patio too… poor bunny it’s as bad as having to hoodwink kids into going to the clinic for jabs 🙁 not looking forward to that.

I hope you have a great week, goodbye for now!