sunset

A postcard from February 2024

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Sunset on 1st day of February 2024

Hello there! It’s the 1st of March – the first day of meteorological spring – how lovely! The days are slowly getting longer and that always puts a spring in my step. I hope this finds you well and that the past month has been kind to you. Here’s a little look back at what happened in my world in February.

A lovely gift to start the month

I started (and ended) the month as a ‘lady of leisure’ in other words I don’t have a job as such at the moment (other than freelance bits and bobs). I have to admit that at times I have found it a struggle. It’s not for the want of applying for jobs, I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of months filling in application forms, writing cover letters etc, but as yet, they haven’t borne fruit. I’m not sure whether it’s the state of the job market at the minute, the fact I’m not as young as I used to be or what, but as I write, I’m still looking.

On a positive note though, I did get a lovely parcel through the post, the yarn bowl pictured above was a gift from my former colleagues at my last place of work – they knew me well clearly! It has seen two projects completed using it (both of which are commissions I can’t share sadly) and is now home to my current make, which hopefully I will be able to share with you pretty soon.

My former colleagues were a really lovely bunch and I miss them but I can think of them whenever I’m using this yarn bowl.

Crochet Hearts

So this month, as well as making magazine commission samples, I made a few hearts and wrote a pattern! The pattern for this heart garland is now in my Etsy shop if you fancy giving it a go. Remember, hearts aren’t just for Valentine’s Day!

I also had a go at making a stripy rainbow heart using my free pattern here. This was fun to make and I have one hanging in the room I do most of my crochet – it makes me smile especially on grey wet days!

A half term trip to London

Tower Bridge

The school half term holidays fell last month and we made a trip down to London to visit Eldest. He’s studying there at University and it was the perfect opportunity for Son Number 2 to see what University accommodation is like as it won’t be terribly long before he’s thinking about such things – eek!

It was a really lovely day – and super to be able to give Eldest a squeeze too. We ended the day looking around the area where he’ll be moving to for the next academic year – how are we talking about such things already? Time is galloping on!

Sunset in Islington

A sunny walk

Just 2 weeks after visiting him in London, Eldest had a reading week and made the trip up north to visit me and his brothers. We were very lucky to have some bright winter sunshine briefly so we dashed out for a walk before the next lot of rain came!

We had a lovely walk along part of the Trans Pennine Trail at Lymm in Cheshire. It was pretty busy as lots of other folk were making the most of the nice weather. After walking the trail for a while, we doubled back and went into Lymm itself. There’s a chippy there which does really rather fantastic chips which taste delicious with a slosh of vinegar, a sprinkling of salt and eaten out in the fresh air!

The Bridgewater Canal at Lymm

Sock darning

While Eldest was visiting, I darned a pair of his favourite socks for him. I mentioned it to my Mum and said I’d struggled to get the right colour of yarn and that his burgundy socks now had bright red toes! A day or so later, I received a package filled with sock yarn (some of which is specifically for darning) and my great grandma’s darning mushroom! Never again will I have to struggle and keep jabbing my fingers with the needle – and as long as future socks are grey or blue I should be sorted!

If only that mushroom to could speak and tell about all the socks which had been darned with its help. I shall treasure it, and am thrilled to be custodian of this family heirloom now.

In the long run

I started running (off and on) a few years ago. I did the Couch to 5K which is a miracle considering I was always vying for last place in school cross country races. I wasn’t built for speed! Once I’d got over the initial breathlessness and built up a bit of stamina, I was rather pleased with my progress and from time to time I start running again for a while.

I spotted these snow drops (above) when I was on a run early in February around the time I was considering upping my game a bit. You may be aware I celebrated a milestone birthday last month, and I wondered whether this was the year I should attempt a ‘real’ run. Now by real, I don’t mean a marathon or anything daft like that, more like a 10K.

I’ve thought about trying one, probably for 10 years, and I’m not getting any younger, so now is probably the time I need to stop procrastinating and give it a whirl. The picture below was taken of the picturesque Manchester Ship Canal at the end of my first proper training run – I managed to run for 10 minutes four times – which I impressed myself with.

I shall keep you posted on my progress and let you know if this is indeed the year for a 10K attempt. Watch this space!

10K training

Podcast news

Cathy Wright from Lazykate Textiles

I’m pleased to say that Making Stitches Podcast made a return last month after a longer than expected Christmas break. My first guest was Cathy Wright from Lazykate Textiles who spoke about her passion for spinning and weaving. You can catch her episode here.

That’s all for this month’s round up. Let’s hope March brings us more blue skies and good times ahead.

Thanks so much for stopping by! See you again soon.

Lindsay x

A Postcard from November 2022 – no, make that 2023!

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The River Mersey

So, hello there… it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve been around here… I thought that as we head towards the end of this year, it was time to blow the cobwebs & dust off my blog and check in with you.

It’s been a year and a half – 2023 – you know … and as I dipped into my drafts folder to open a new blog post I found this – A Postcard from November 2022 a post which was started but not finished. My word, a year is a long time and an awful lot can happen in that time.

These three first photos were indeed from November 2022, beautiful sunny blue skies above the River Mersey. Little did I know when I took them that the rug would be ripped out from under our feet – it’s just as well we don’t know what lies ahead…

The River Mersey

It’s funny really that one of the things which sparked my desire to post was a photo I took while I was on the very same walk with Son number 2 last weekend!

Taken on the same path as the above photo 1 year apart!

This new photo is of the same path, although I may have been facing a different direction, I’m not sure. It’s funny that when big things happen, that we cling to the small routines to keep our heads above water.

If you haven’t been around this way for a while, I’ll put you in the picture. This year we lost a hugely important person in our family. It’s been an unfathomable loss for me and my 3 boys. Life has changed forever in so many ways, obvious ones and in many other ways too.

Aside from the emotional side of things, I have had to return to ‘formal’ work which has meant less time for fun creative things. I have continued to make when time allowed and after taking half a year off from Making Stitches Podcast, I managed to get back into the swing of things with that. Blogging though, fell off the end of the ‘To Do List’.

Life is so different in so many ways from how it was this time last year, I have found strength I didn’t know I had and I have found my friends and family to be amazing. People are so kind.

I’ve learned many things, but the two most important ones are to lean on friends when they offer help and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

The River Mersey last weekend

So, the real reason for me blogging is that I had been meaning to get around to it. I miss my monthly updates – looking back through the back catalogue, they form a rather interesting diary for me.

Did you keep a diary as a child? Or maybe you still do now? I did as a child – I wasn’t that great at it but I have a 5 year diary from when I was young somewhere and it’s probably about half filled. I bought another one 5 years ago… this year has been the final year and, to be honest I didn’t feel like filling that in either very much.

One thing I had done pretty regularly, since starting this blog (as Postcard from Gibraltar) many moons ago, was post updates, so I shall attempt to do that again I think. Here goes….

A new project on my needles

A few weeks back I went to Black Sheep Wools to have a catch up with my sock knitting friend, Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum. It was our first catch up of 2023 (because of the reasons outlined above). It was so, so good to get together again and catch up on each other’s news.

I went armed with a planned purchase in mind – I wanted to have a go at knitting a jumper. I haven’t knitted a garment for myself (other than socks) since Eldest was a baby. That was a beige cardigan (with variegated flecks of brown) with a cable pattern up both sides of the front. It ended up being an ok fit, but a bit itchy and had a distinctly ‘homemade’ look to it.

I have been squishing this desire down for ages saying to myself : “you don’t need to buy more yarn”, “you’ll never finish it!”, “it’ll probably look rubbish if you ever do finish it”, “why not carry on with one of your *many* WIPs instead??” – you know the drill…

Anyway I gave myself a good talking to and bought the yarn anyway! I am making a Simple Sweater by Tin Can Knits and had planned to do a rainbow striped yoke, but when I priced up how much it would cost to buy all the different colours I wanted in order to make it (bearing in mind I might never finish it and it may look rubbish if I do) I decided to opt for this (much easier on the pocket) super rainbow yarn instead. It’s called Knit Me Crochet Me and is made by Stylecraft. There was a lovely jumper knitted up in the shop made in another colour way which caught my eye. So there you have it, a jumper in the making … eventually!

I did make really good progress to begin with then when I tried it over my head it was so tight it felt like I was being choked (my fault for using the wrong size needles). This meant I lost a week’s worth of progress, but I’m back on track.

On my hook…

A mini person in the making

I am in the midst of a gift for a special person… who may read this blog so I can’t show any more than this. I will, however share this little ‘mini me’ once it has been gifted. I was thinking of writing up the pattern if it gets a decent reception, so watch this space!

A trip to the theatre (and the spooky world of Uncanny)

Last month I was lucky enough to have the chance to see Danny Robins, Evelyn Hollow & Dr Ciaran O’Keefe in action at the Lowry in Salford. I have been a fan of the Uncanny podcast since it first started, having listened to The Battersea Poltergeist previously.

When the Uncanny tour was first launched very early on this year, I really wanted to go and see it. I had no one to go with – none of my friends are into the podcast so, seeing as it was a matinee performance, I decided to go it alone. My first time ever doing that!

It didn’t faze me at all and in fact I ended up sitting next to a lovely lady and her son who commented on the fact she would never be brave enough to go to the theatre alone and shared her sherbet lemons with me! I would highly recommend it! I had my first solo cinema trip last year and that went fine – once it’s dark no one can see you are alone anyway! And if anyone has any judgements about it, it’s their problem not yours!

I pre ordered a copy of the Uncanny book and was able to pick it up at the show too – signed!! It was a big fan girl moment!

Crochet & Podcast News

My latest episode of the podcast features Fran Darlington-Pollock, CEO of the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity. The charity is joining forces with Black Sheep Wools in the run up to Christmas with their A Bed for the Night / Deck the Halls campaign. Money realised from selling wool packs and patterns for Christmas decorations will support the charity’s aim to provide 1,000 beds for rough sleepers over Christmas. It costs £30 for a bed for the night and the associated wrap around care. You can find out more information on the Black Sheep Wools website.

Also in Podcast news, at the end of October I went down to London to the Independent Podcast Awards. It was a fantastic night and I was able to meet up with some friends from my local podcasters club (yes they do exist – it’s our Christmas party tomorrow!). Making Stitches Podcast didn’t win but blimey the standard of the other podcasts was high so it was an honour to be considered alongside them!

You might spot Making Stitches on the shortlist (bottom right)!

Winter is here…

The temperature levels have fallen considerably in the last few weeks – this photo was taken on that walk by the Mersey a week ago – it was the end of the afternoon and the frost from the night before still lay on the fields. Yesterday it was -4 degrees when I scraped the ice off the car to drop the boys off for school!

Super cold days usually mean clear skies though so I’m not complaining – blue skies and sunsets are far preferable to damp greyness!

So that’s all from me, thank you for stopping by, it’s been nice to be back again!

Until next time…

Take care,

Lindsay x

A Postcard from October 2022

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Hello there! I hope this finds you well. It’s November – eek! How did that happen??

Here’s what I’ve been up to over the past month…

Autumnal colours

October began and ended in a blaze of orange! The first photo is of one of my little Acers which took on a great colour at the beginning of the month, we also enjoyed this sky of fire at the start of October (below) – the second sunset was taken on Saturday evening before the clocks went back to put us on Winter time….. the last hurrah of the summer that was…

Changing times…

Postcard from Gibraltar

Last month, you may have noticed that there were some changes on this blog from Postcard from Gibraltar to Making Stitches Blog. I won’t go into all the reasons behind it, as you may well have already read the previous post, but if you have just landed here and are wondering why Postcard from Gibraltar is no more, you can read why here.

Yarny news

Last month I decided the time had come to finally dig out my knitting needles and have another go at knitting some socks! About a year ago, I was inspired by Christine Perry of Winwick Mum, to have a go at knitting socks for the first time. Now I learned to knit well before I learned to crochet, but apart from an odd cardigan here and there over the years I haven’t done too much so the prospect of knitting in the round, turning a heel and using double pointed needles sent me running for the hills. (It turns out you don’t need to used DPNs after all – hurrah!) After interviewing Christine for Making Stitches Podcast, we got together for a brew and with her help I actually managed to knit a pair!

At Yarndale this year, I picked up a ball of Yarndale sock yarn called Hope (I have admired this colourway for a while). I have done non-stop crochet for so long, I fancied a change and early in October I cast on the first sock. Determined that it wouldn’t take me months to complete this project (as happened last time) I powered on through and had my first sock finished in less than a week!! I’m very pleased to say that on Monday (31st) (with the help of Christine’s fabulous book “Super Socks“) I Kitchener Stitched the toes of my second sock and I own a second pair of hand knitted socks made by me!

Up the Garden Path friends

Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite & Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom Up the Garden Path crochet patterns

Two new friends joined the Up the Garden Path gang in October, Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite and Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom. I had loads of fun making these – they had both been in my head since last autumn, and finally I was able to complete the patterns in time to get them out for this autumn. Oakley and Agatha should actually have a couple of other autumnal companions but I’m afraid other things got in the way of getting to the finishing line with them, so they will need to stay under wraps (or maybe that should be hibernation) until next autumn.

I took them with me to the gorgeous Dunham Massey National Trust parkland for a photo shoot a couple of weeks ago on a bright sunny morning. It was so lovely to have the perfect excuse to get out of the house and enjoy nature for a few hours. It was great fun finding suitable spots for them to pose with the gorgeous natural backdrop. The only issue is that as it is a deer park, there are lots of lovely areas you can’t go into because they are exclusively for the deer. Any parts where you are allowed to stray a little from the path are generally rather well populated so there’s a ready made audience for a crazy middle aged lady arranging crocheted little people on tree stumps or next to fungi.

I tried to keep my head down and not make too much of a spectacle of myself but I was sniffed out by a rather lovely little spaniel on a super long lead at one point, and at another, I was asked by an amateur photographer if he could photograph my little people too. Those were just the passers-by I engaged with – with many others I just ducked down behind the ferns and tree stumps and hoped for the best! I think most people were just glad to give me a wide berth as I was clearly barmy.

Downloadable PDF patterns for Agatha and Oakley are available now in my Etsy Shop if you fancy making either of them and if you would like to make both, you can buy the pair as a bundle with a bit of a saving.

As you can see below, it was a truly stunning morning at Dunham Massey when I went for my photo shoot….

The first Great Northern Textile Show

A week or so ago it was the first ever Great Northern Textile Show, just down the road from where I live in Manchester. I stumbled across the event on Instagram and reached out to the show’s organiser Tracy Fox to ask for more details. Once I’d spoken to Tracy it became apparent that not only did I have to go to the show, but that I also had to go to meet Tracy and hear more about her story. Tracy is an artist working with textiles, she dyes fabric to create art cloth for art quilts and can use anything from leaves from her back garden to rusty saw blades to create the most amazing patterns. I interviewed Tracy for Episode 52 of Making Stitches Podcast which you can listen to below. Then, on 23rd October I found myself at my second big show in a month by going to the Great Northern Textile Show. It was fab – I met some really lovely people. I shared my experience of the day in the latest episode of the podcast which went out last week – you can also listen to that below too.

Tracy Fox – my guest for Episode 52 of Making Stitches Podcast

In other podcast news, I got a rather lovely surprise at the weekend. I noticed that there had been a rather big upward surge in my listener figures so thought I’d check on the Apple Podcast charts to see if the numbers had had an impact there – and they did! I found Making Stitches Podcast at the Number 1 spot in the craft podcast charts in the UK, Canada and New Zealand, at Number 2 (then up to Number 1) in Australia and at Number 5 in the USA!! What a thrill! The podcast has made it to number 1 several times in the past but never in so many places at once or for so long. Thank you to everyone who has listened to it, recommended it to a friend or left a review – I am a very happy podcaster!

A return to ABBA Voyage!

If you read my August Postcard, you may remember that I made the trip down to London with a couple of school friends to see Abba Voyage. The trip had originally been meant to be for my parents to join me but their holiday which had been booked for 2020 and had been rearranged so many times ended up clashing with the ticket dates. I was able to return to London this month with my lovely Mum, the person responsible for introducing me to ABBA in the first place. It was super to be able to share the experience with her. (It also meant that I was able to meet up with Eldest – who is now a London based Uni student – for the briefest of times for a quick cuddle before hopping onto the train back home).

Half term football fun

Last week was half term week for the two youngest Little Postcards. Youngest is back in love with football after breaking his thumb and really enjoyed being able to take part in the local soccer school for the week. There was some rain, but they were really very lucky with the weather. The pitches, despite appearances, were rather muddy so I spent a week with the washing machine going almost constantly!

Pumpkin season

After a busy half term week and a weekend grass roots football match, it was rather nice to have some time at home on Sunday. Sunday afternoon meant there was time for a session of pumpkin carving and pumpkin soup making with the innards. I may have been a little heavy handed with the chilli flakes – the soup is in need of yogurt to make it palatable but never mind. It was fun to do.

And that, is that. October ticked off. It’s been a pretty good month all in all and the icing on my cake was the arrival of Eldest home late on Halloween night for a reading week break from Uni. It was so lovely to be able to get him back home again and look after him. He has been very sorely missed these last six weeks.

That’s all from me for this time, thanks so much for stopping by and reading my October ramble!

Until next time, take care!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #15 6.12.20

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Hello there, happy Sunday to you. Wow, we’re in December already. I heard someone describe this year as the fastest and longest year of all time and I have to concur. It’s been a strange one hasn’t it?

Although all the signs are that we are on the countdown to the end of the year and lots of Christmas lights keep appearing, I can’t say I’m feeling too festive yet – are you?

Here’s this week’s rather short Sunday Postcard….

Fresh start

So, around this time last year I embarked on a Couch to 5k programme and made good progress until life got in the way on put paid to it. Recently though I’ve been giving a lot of thought to starting it up again. In the meantime, I’ve been doing quite a bit of walking locally with a very good friend of mine (one of our walks was by the River Mersey a few weeks back which featured in a recent postcard). Then out of the blue she asked if I’d like to join her with doing couch to 5k? That was the incentive I needed. I got my trainers out of the box and we are 3 runs and 1 week in already. I’m desperately hoping I make it further into the programme this time!

Frosty starts

We had frost this week and slippery pavements and icy puddles. Winter is officially here! It was remarkable in our house because it’s the first time Littlest has knowingly experienced ice and frost. He spent his first Christmas in the UK visiting grandparents but after that we decided to stay at home in Gibraltar over the festive period, meaning our UK trips would only happen during the ‘warmer’ months of the year. (He’s desperately hoping he’ll see snow at some point before too long).

Needless to say the crunching leaves were a huge novelty for him, and for me too to be honest. I’m loving watching how the seasons are changing, it gives a real rhythm to life in a way events always did when we were living in Gib.

Festive yarnbombing

Some of the local churches where we live are putting on a festive yarnbomb. They have been looking for volunteers to knit and crochet angels and for those who can’t knit or crochet, they’ve been asked to make peg dolly style angels. They are going to be adorning lamp posts very soon.

Never one to be able to turn down a request to get my hook out, I’ve abandoned my Crochet Sanctuary Christmas CAL this week and been making little Christmas angels. They will be flying off to a lamppost very soon and hopefully make someone smile.

Clear blue skies

Yesterday was a busy day in our local town, it was the first Saturday post lockdown number 2 and also the day of our monthly artisan market. The traders (most of whom are crafts people and others who produce their own edible products) have had a rotten year, so we headed down to join the very long queue to get in.

Last night we enjoyed some gorgeous local pies for dinner and a couple of Christmas gifts have been ticked off the list. I forgot to take a photo of the market – which was run expertly and safely – so this is the photo of the sunset taken at 3pm (yes, that’s right – 3pm) as we headed back to our car. Not sure we’ll ever get used to these dark afternoons and evenings again!

That’s all for this week, I hope this one has been a good one for you all things considered. I believe it’s been rather cold and wet back in Gibraltar while we experienced ice and some sleet too. We’re certainly missing those Gibraltarian mid winter evening sunsets!

Take care and have a good week. Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #14 29.11.20

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Hello! Happy Sunday. It’s a bit of a grey murky end of autumn kind of a Sunday for us here in Manchester. Not that it really matters to be honest seeing as we’re not supposed to be going out anywhere!

It’s been another busy two weeks of being busy but not actually achieving a whole lot of progress, so sorry I didn’t pop in last week. By the time my week was finished last week I was a bit tired so thought I’d make this week’s Postcard a longer one instead.

We’re all ok thankfully, although I have one teenager at home who has almost reached the end of his 2 week isolation after someone he sits close to at school tested positive for Covid. He hasn’t succumbed thankfully but is going spare because he loves to be out and about. (Others in the Postcard household would revel in the excuse to stay home). He, on the other hand, cannot wait to get back to school. It’s been hard for him poor thing.

So, what’s been going on lately Chez Postcard? Let’s see shall we?

Do you remember my trip to the Riverbank Café by the River Mersey with my friend in the last Postcard? Well before we were stuck with an isolating teen we all headed out for an afternoon stroll two weeks ago today. The sun was just about still in the sky and we enjoyed the golden light filtering through the leaves.

There was a lot of moaning and groaning about having a walk, but the hot chocolate was definitely worth the effort by the Little Postcards!

There’s a man outside my window!

Imagine my surprise when I looked out of my bedroom window to spy a man outside!! You don’t see that every day! He was giving the lovely mature tree outside our home a bit of a hair cut. I’m so glad they hadn’t come to cut it down!

What’s in the box?

We are slowing filling our new home with furniture (we left most of it behind in Gib to keep the removal costs down). Two weeks ago something I’ve been really looking forward to coming turned up. I was rather perturbed when I saw the box though! It didn’t look very ‘sofa-shaped’. I should have expected that really from IKEA!

This will now form my corner of the dining room where I can sit quietly and crochet while looking out at my new garden!

Isolation cookery

While Eldest has been at home and frustrated at being trapped indoors, he decided to have a go at cooking. I present to you vegetarian enchiladas and lemon drizzle cake. Both were a delight! I do hope he keeps this new hobby up once he’s allowed back outdoors!

Making plans for next spring…

I’ve been itching to do some gardening in my new garden but I’ve decided it’s better to just wait and see what appears in spring. I have been planting up some bulbs though. I have a few pots around the place filled with daffs, alliums, anemones and other bits and bobs so there should be some guaranteed spring colour next year.

Happy Post

I know I should really be thinking about gifts for Christmas but I went wild a few weeks ago and bought myself so bits & pieces. It’s such a treat when fun stuff comes through the door! I now have a needle punching set and a couple of new books to digest – not sure when I’ll have the time will come for me to read them or even make anything, but you never know!!

On the subject of crafty things…

At long last I have completed part 2 of the Crochet Sanctuary Christmas CAL – just 4 weeks behind! I’m loving how the dinky Christmas trees have appeared! Now on to part 3…

Podcast news

This week on Making Stitches I spoke to Emma Jones from the Vintage Sewing Box about her love of patchwork and the importance of craft for mental health. I also spoke to Lydia Wonham from The Apex Singers, a vocal group based in Manchester about their upcoming Christmas performance. They are a super group of young singers who make music which it magical. Please do give the episode a listen if you haven’t heard it yet.

The Apex Singers

You can listen to the episode here.

Thanks very much for stopping by, I hope the coming seven days are good for you.

Take care,

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #005 30.08.20

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Hello again! Blimey it feels like more than a week ago that I woke up to the sunrise in the first photo. It’s been a week of getting ready for school starting – that can be an expensive business!! Here’s this week’s Sunday Postcard…

One last Gibraltar sunrise

So this was one week ago, our last wake-up in Gibraltar for a while. In case you missed last week’s postcard, I headed back to Gib with Eldest so he could collect his GCSE results in person and say goodbye to his teachers. It was a lovely few days – if a little odd after leaving so recently, however I’m really glad we made the trip. Last Sunday though, it was time to head home.

A long road home: plane, trains, trams & automobiles!

Our epic homeward journey in 3 cars, 2 trains, 2 trams and 1 plane! With a bit of crochet to pass the time.

Unfortunately for us, we missed out on a flight back to Manchester, we delayed booking due to Covid and the fact I was preoccupied with moving, so when we did try to book, the flight we needed was sold out grrr! Our only option was to fly to Heathrow and travel up from there.

We got a fabulous view of London as we came in to land, we saw Buckingham Palace, Wembley and all sorts of easily recognisable places which was a treat. Then came the rest of the journey.

We booked a car to take us from Heathrow to Watford Junction station to avoid having to take the tube into central London (we were trying to limit the amount of people we would come into contact with). Then had two (thankfully) very quiet trains from Watford to Milton Keynes and then from Milton Keynes up to Manchester. Then caught a couple of trams to the rendezvous point where we managed to get a lift home! Phew, that was a trek. But at least I had plenty of time for crochet on the move!

Happy post

When I arrived home this was waiting for me, a cute crochet pin badge and some stitch markers from Mrs G Makes. She has some lovely stuff on her Etsy shop.

Sunset on a Wednesday

Last Wednesday we had a lovely evening trip to the park. Our local park gets rather busy on a dry day and, as we don’t really want to mix with too many people at the moment, we have been giving it a wide berth. We have been popping back there in the evenings though, which is great as we often have the place to ourselves! This was the lovely sunset which heralded our walk home.

A blanket for Bluebell

Our new set of wheels, Bluebell was so lovely and clean when I picked her up from the garage, it seemed such a shame to dirty her, so I grabbed my crochet hook and made her a blanket to protect the back seat.

I don’t know what our neighbours thought when they spotted me popping out to the car several times every evening to see if it would fit properly! Anyway, I’m pleased with the result, let’s hope it works and keeps Bluebell spick and span for now!

Dishcloths for Yarndale

Yarndale may not be happening for real this year anymore, but this year’s charity appeal is still going. This year festival organisers are asking knitters and crocheters to make dishcloths to raise money for Martin House Children’s Hospice. Earlier this year I spoke to Carole Rennison from Yarndale about this for Making Stitches Podcast, so I thought it was about time I got round to making my contribution.

A magical treasure trail

Yesterday we buzzed into Manchester City Centre to have a go at a magical treasure trail. We had to follow clues to get us from place to place, solving anagrams and codes as we went and looking out for fabulous fantastical beasts along the way.

‘Manchester – the Wizard’s Spell Book’ was loads of fun and took us to parts of the city I have never visited before (or at least I haven’t visited since major building work has taken place there). The Little Postcards loved it and so did I!

You can find the trail by visiting the Treasure Trails website and pay to download the instructions and treasure map or they will send one out to you in the post. It made for a good few hours of entertainment and was great fun. We can highly recommend it.

It’s amazing how many mystical creatures you can spot in the city. You often just need to look up!

And that brings this week’s Sunday Postcard to an end. If you have a bank holiday weekend this weekend, I hope you are enjoying it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #002 9.8.20

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Hello there, I hope you’re doing well! Sunday again already…. where are the weeks going? Here’s this week’s postcard…

On the edge of the city

Last Sunday, we popped out to stretch our legs in the lovely Longford Park on the edge of the city of Manchester. The main park and gardens were rather busy and it was obvious we couldn’t visit the swings and socially distance as well, so we had a walk away from the crowd to this meadow which framed the city skyscrapers beautifully in the distance.

Bunny road trip

Our pet bunny Diamond began his trip north to join us on Tuesday. This was him in his cage in his transport as he was picked up from the Gibraltar border. We were hoping he would be alright traveling with other animals because he’s a rather timid chap and not used to mixing with other creatures.

Moody clouds over the park

Our fascination with going to the park hasn’t waned during the month we have been in our new home. We end up there several times a week (weather permitting) although things have got a lot busier since schools broke up here and sometimes we have had to abort our trips to return later on after dinner to avoid over crowded swings.

A walk by the water

We had some warm and sunshiny weather on Friday and headed off for a picnic and walk in the open air. This is Pennington Flash in Lancashire where we ended up on our trip.

Chunky crochet

So this week, I bought a new car! My new wheels (she’s called Bluebell by the way) looked like she could do with a blanket… so I raided my packing boxes to find that stash of chunky yarn I bought many moons ago and have been saving for the right moment!

Sunset on a Friday

I sat out in our back garden on Friday night with my crochet, a glass of wine and this lovely sunset overhead. It’s not quite the view of sunsets across the Bay that I used to look out at, but it’ll do nicely.

He made it!

Look who arrived safe and in one piece yesterday?! Our little gang is complete again – Diamond is settled into his new home and we are all happy bunnies now that he’s back with us!

That’s all for this week, I hope it has been a good one for you inspite of all that has been happening in the world. Where ever you are reading this take care and have a good week ahead.

Lindsay x

Sunday Sevens #230 26.07.20

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I’ll be honest with you, it’s been a long three weeks since my last Sunday Sevens! It’s been exhausting and a tad emotional at times. But we survived it. I have come up for air briefly but am heading back into the realm of the packing boxes for a while…

In the meantime, here goes with a look back at our last 3 weeks in slightly more than seven photos from slightly more than the last seven days…

One last Saharan dust sunset on a Sunday

Our last Sunday in Gibraltar was a lovely day for so many reasons, we said goodbye to friends, and ended it with a lovely meal out by the sea. This gorgeous Calima (Saharan dust laden) sunset was the perfect ending.

Haircuts on Monday

In light of the very recent opening of hairdressers in the UK, I figured we might be waiting a long time for haircuts in England, so all three Little Postcards had one last Gibraltarian short back and sides. I love this spot by Southport Gates, I had to photograph it on the way back to the car.

Goodbye Diamond on Tuesday

Our last Gibraltar Tuesday was A DAY. From early morning until late at night it was full on packing. My Fitbit told me I did 18,000 steps. The Little Postcards were entertained with good friends and we said goodbye to Diamond our bunny. He’s gone off to Spain for a short break on the Costa before heading north by road. We hope to see him again in August, he might be glad of all that fluffy fur up in Manchester!

Removal day on Wednesday

Up at 6am for final bits of packing ahead of the removal men arriving just after 8. Once the trucks were loaded I had to cross into Spain to complete the paperwork and pay the duty on our stuff at customs. Off went our things to be stored until there was enough to fill a big lorry to travel up to the north of England.

Thursday by the sea

The Little Postcards had a final hurrah on the beach with their very good friends, while I ran round finishing off the last admin and cleaning up jobs in Gibraltar. When I arrived at Eastern Beach to pick them up we had tea and ice cream with our friends and it was lovely just to be still and enjoy the moment after all that rushing around.

Friday goodbyes…

On our last morning we packed up our final bits and bobs and drove from Gibraltar to Malaga. We had been due to fly from Gib on EasyJet but our flights were cancelled a couple of weeks before and we had to rebook via Malaga. We had to fly to Manchester because at the time of booking we were looking at 2 weeks in quarantine on our arrival and had we flown from Gib to London, we would not have been able to make the trip up north on public transport because of the regulations.

As it turned out, Friday 10th July, which is when we flew, became the first day that travelers didn’t have to quarantine. We were so fortunate.

Queuing to leave Gibraltar

A new view

This is my new view. Once I looked out on the Bay of Gibraltar one way and up the Rock to the summit of the Med Steps the other way, for now, I have this gorgeous leafy colour instead! We have moved into a rented home as a temporary measure until the sale of our place in Gib goes through. I’ll certainly happily take this view as I stand at the kitchen sink – it’s not too shabby!

And breathe

Open space!! Something you don’t get much of in Gib. This gorgeous field used to signal torture in my childhood (think school cross country – I wasn’t built for speed) however now I can appreciate how beautiful it is. It’s just a few minutes’ walk from our new home and en route to the park – a place we have visited a lot recently in a bid to get over the loss of the beach!

Milk bottles!

One of the perks of being back in the UK is the fact we can get our milk delivered to our front door in glass bottles! No more mad dashes to the supermarket for milk to find out there is none, and no more plastic milk bottles going to the recycling.

A not-so-little treat for me

When this special one-off rather large Little Box of Crochet was advertised, I decided to order it to my parent’s house knowing that when I arrived in Manchester, I wouldn’t have any crochet with me until my boxes of stash arrived. What a joy to open it and see all that squishy, yarny goodness.

I thought I’d be able to do a bit each day in my summer craft challenge style of years gone by, but sadly other things have taken precedence. I have dabbled a bit and will share any progress as I go along.

A birthday

We celebrated a birthday too. A Little Postcard is a year older, this time he was able to share his birthday with grandparents (for our first hugs since arrival in the UK) and a socially distant aunt & uncle! (No home made cake this year – my mixer & cake tins were somewhere on the continent in the back of a truck!).

Our stuff arrived!

It all arrived at the back end of last week. Our spacious rental home is now looking a lot less spacious!!🤣

It’s good to know that all our things made it over ok. Now there’s the small matter of finding everything that we need! Wish me luck!

Thank you for stopping by, I’m not sure when my next post will be as I’m still battling my way through boxes and multiple lost items, not to mention still trying to sort schools and other admin bits and bobs. I’ll pop back when I can though. Until then, take care.

Lindsay x

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins.

Postcard from Manchester

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The Bay of Gibraltar on Thursday evening

Well here we are. We survived the move. We’re 2000 or so miles further north than we once were. We’ve replaced sea views for trees and greenery and I rather like that.

The sunset was our last one while living in Gibraltar back on Thursday evening. The photo of the green field and sky isn’t the view from our new windows but a short walk from our new home.

I just wanted to pop in and let you know we survived the move, and we are loving living close to family & very old friends again, but I will be having a little while off to get on with what needs to be done over here in England. I look forward to sharing our adventures with you again in a little while.

Lindsay x

Sunday Sevens #229 5.7.20

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Alas, it’s been our final full week living here in Gibraltar. A week of goodbyes, packing boxes and parcel tape. Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:

Beach day

Believe it or not, this summer we hadn’t been to the beach as a family until last Saturday. I’ve just been so busy packing boxes and dealing with admin that I couldn’t justify a day off. It was worth the wait though! Just what was needed.

Packing

I had been holding off packing my Pandemonium blanket and small bag of yarn until the last minute convinced I’d have the time to crochet in the evening. I was wrong…. I’ve been sitting down at about 11:15pm each night too exhausted to crochet for well over a week.

I gave up and packed my blanket as a consequence. I’m not sure what the removal men will think when they see the name on this box!

Back to the beach

You wait months for a trip to the beach and two beach days come along at once! We went back to the beach on Monday. It was great, and one Little Box of Crochet dodged the packing boxes for now!!

A chilly treat

Ever since Hotel Chocolat started selling ice cream in Gibraltar, I have promised Eldest that I would get him one. This week, that finally happened. It was lovely, but I managed to give myself brain freeze as I ate it too quickly!!

Bright summer days

It was so colourful at the southern end of Main Street when I popped into town to have a farewell coffee with a friend – I couldn’t resist taking a few photos.

Another goodbye…

I had a wonderful evening on Thursday after a day of admin (mainly to do with schools for the Little Postcards). It was my last book club meeting ‘in person’ for a while.

Book Club was started a few years ago by a friend who had been a member of a group in the UK (who I know sometimes reads this blog – thank you Jackie!) It’s been wonderful, a really lovely group of friends and given me enough impetus to get me reading properly again. Having studied a very literature heavy degree at university, I kind of fell out of love with reading as it became a chore.

My book club ladies helped me rekindle my romance with a good book from true crime to historic fantasy. I will miss my book club nights, but have been told I still have to read the books each time and take part remotely!!

Our last meal together was utterly scrumptious- fish & chips!

Nocturnal wanderings

I love the walk home from book club too – it’s so nice to walk the quiet streets of Gibraltar after dark. The views out to sea are equally stunning at night! And how about this for an intricate window?

Another sunset

Forgive me, but it has to be done. There won’t be views & sunsets like this where we are going. However I will be replacing the view with beautiful green trees which lose their leaves in autumn, instead of a balcony there will be a garden with grass and I’ll have close family & life-long friends close by so I think that’s a pretty decent trade, don’t you?

Ahoy there!

It was a humid, grey morning yesterday when Eldest exclaimed – “What’s that?!” What a peculiar looking cruise ship. I’m told it’s a Virgin cruise ship which is normally based on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean. It did look a bit unusual as it passed by our windows!

And that brings this week’s Sunday Sevens to a close. I’m not sure what state either Sunday Sevens or I will be in this time next week. One thing I can be sure of is it’ll be a few degrees cooler and far easier to unpack than it was to pack!! I’m off now to throw some more things into boxes … wish me luck!

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.