watercolour class

Sunday Sevens #105 15.10.17

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Another week has flown by and it’s already Sunday afternoon – do you ever want a pause button just to stop the world for a moment or two? We’ve had such a busy week in our household this week and I could do with another weekend to catch my breath and take stock (you can probably appreciate the state of mild chaos I find myself in if you noticed that my previous post was published almost a month early by accident – so far, last week’s photo challenge photo is as yet untaken!).

Anyway without further ado, here’s this week’s edition of Sunday Sevens….

Another Sunday, another beachy crochet pic…

Last Sunday was another glorious autumnal day, perfect for heading down to the beach again, crochet hook in hand. I’m busy working on a Christmas gift, but time’s running away with me already and I’m really not as far along as I would’ve liked to be by this point….

Monday morning Med Steps

The lovely weather continued into the start of the week and I had a lovely trip up the Med Steps again on Monday. I glanced up at one point and saw the Europa Point Lighthouse framed beautifully by the branches of a tree.

Technicolor Tuesday sewing

In my Dressmaking class on Tuesday I started working on the sleeves of my blouse. The photo shows the slit at the cuff of my sleeve which is just waiting for a cuff to be added.

Misty Med Steps 

Wednesday began rather murky and misty. I really enjoyed my walk back down the Rock from the summit of the Med Steps. Looking out to sea from the road, there was nothing but mist and cloud, it was as if I was on the edge of an abyss. I love it when it’s like this, it’s so atmospheric and magical looking.

Light show

After the mist cleared on Wednesday, we had a scorching hot afternoon. Standing outside school waiting for the Little Postcards, I could feel the sun burning my back through my shirt. By dinner time however, the clouds had rolled in and we were treated to a fab lightning storm and then rain shower. Talk about four seasons in one day.

Sunset skies in watercolour 

I’ve been working on sunset skies at watercolour class… this is about the third attempt. Mixing that correct shade of orange has proved tricky…

Mini Olympiad 

Yesterday, hundreds of middle school children from across Gibraltar came together to participate in the annual Mini Olympiad. Organised by the Royal Gibraltar Police, the event is aimed at introducing young people to the joys of sport as a way of avoiding bad life choices later on (ie drugs).

The Olympiad began with a congregation in the Piazza with an address from the Head of Police, Mayor and a priest’s blessing before a parade through town to the Victoria Stadium. The Parade was led by the drums and bagpipes of the Sea Scout band and the members of the historical re-enactment society and their very loud cannon. 

After an opening ceremony and the firing of the cannon, the sports began. It was a great event and was enjoyed by us, although a certain young man was feeling rather achey and tired today after his exertions yesterday!

(Thank you to my friend Sarah for taking this photo for me – I managed to leave home without my phone, but she saved the day!)

I’m linking with Natalie of Threads & Bobbins for this weekly blog series. 

Sunday Sevens #104 8.10.17

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Good morning, I hope you are having a good weekend. This week has seen a return to my watercolour class after a very long summer haiatus. It was so nice to be back…

Sunday afternoon on the beach

Sandy Bay

Last Sunday we did something rather out of character — we went to the beach. We aren’t huge beach goers normally as we don’t enjoy the crowds or the heat at the height of summer. We do, though, rather like sneaking down there out of season.

As you can see from the photo above, we weren’t alone, but there was loads of open space where we could sit, chat, splash and dig without upsetting anyone else. 

My neighbours may not agree with me but I really do try to keep a lid on the level of noise coming from our apartment (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to living so close to other people). Being somewhere where the Little Postcards can scream and shout without upsetting anyone is a very valuable space for me.

Oh, and I got a bit of crochet done too…

Monday Med Steps

Last week on one of my Med Steps trips I was surrounded by a pack (troop?) of apes, on Monday it was Barbary Partridge bingo! There were loads about. This pair were very tame and I got very close before they scarpered.

Dressmaking whoops

Don’t you just hate it when that happens? I was making great strides with attaching my collar to my blouse at Dressmaking class when I managed to accidentally sew my underarm seam to the collar by accident – whoops!

Med stepping into the Levanter 


These two photos were taken about 20 minutes apart. One below the cloud in bright (and rather hot) sunshine. The other at the top of the Rock and slap bang in the middle of the Levanter cloud.

I started Wednesday morning’s walk in hot sun but was relieved to hit the cool, damp Levanter near the top. I almost took an amazing photo at the top… as I gazed up at the misty summit, on that low bit of wall to the right of the fence was the silhouette of a mother ape with a baby on her back. By the time I’d got my phone camera on, they’d vanished into the mist. Never mind…

Watercolour refresher

Thursday morning saw my return to watercolour class.  I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it over the summer. Our teacher began the new term with a refresher lesson on washes. It came just in time for me to get back to a picture I was working on before summer which had a very dodgy wash for the sky. My new aim for this term is to be less wishy washy with my colours – I need to embrace BOLD!

Beautiful Botanic Gardens 

You may have noticed that my excercise levels have gone up in recent weeks. After a rather sedentary summer I have a good few kilos which I need to shed. On Friday I took a trip into town and on the way home I opted to walk rather than catching the bus. I was rewarded by with a walk through the beautiful Alameda Botanical Gardens.

Autumnal WIP-along

On Instagram recently I have noticed lots of  crafty people publishing photos of the WIPs (work in progress) they have completed as part of a WIP-along with Gosling & Plumb. Check out the blog post in the link above  to find out more about it.

When I finished my last crochet project (Jenny’s Mandala from Little Box of Crochet) I almost started something new but I could hear some of my many WIPs calling me from carrier bags hidden in my secret hidey hole. So far I have worked on three; circles in granny squares (see beach crochet photo), a green granny square blanket and a cute crochet cactus pin cushion from a Simply Crochet Magazine kit.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a read about my week. It’s been lovely to have your company.

I’m linking with Natalie of Threads & Bobbins for the Weekly Sunday Sevens series.

Sunday Sevens #90 2.7.17

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Sunday Sevens number 90?? Crumbs have I really been doing it that long? I hope I’m not boring you! Thanks for coming along for the ride! 😊

So here’s this week’s installment of Sunday Sevens…

Another beautiful evening sky

I thought the clouds looked particularly pretty on Sunday evening last week. Unfortunately the camera on my phone didn’t quite do them justice. We are being really spoiled with gorgeous sunsets this summer.

End of term for dressmaking class

I can hardly believe that I have reached the end of my second year of dressmaking classes with the immensely clever Dorcas Hammond (you can read all about Dorcas in this post). It may seem a silly thing to do to end the year with the beginnings of a new project, but for various reasons I got a bit behind with my work this year.

I am now all ready to get cracking in September stitching this gorgeous Kafe Fassett fabric into a blouse.

Last watercolour lesson of the term

Similar to dressmaking I had my last watercolour lesson this week and again I spent my lesson working on a new project. I am attempting to paint a sunset I photographed a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed playing with the colours to find the right tones for the sky and sea. I do fear that the trial run may turn out better than the real thing though!! You can also see my post about my hugely talented watercolour teacher Deborah M Lawson here.

Crochet therapy

Life seems to be very hectic at the moment, it shouldn’t surprise me but it always is at this time of year. As the school year draws to a close and we are inundated with notes and emails detailing special days and meetings and a flurry of birthday party invitations for children whose birthdays fall during the long summer break. 

There have been days when I am sure I have had steam coming out of my ears and I’ve been contemplating running away and locking myself in a darkened room until September. However, I did make it to the weekend and next week is the last week of term for the Little Postcards. I did realise this week that I need to keep crafting to retain my sanity, so whenever I could, I grabbed a crochet hook and got busy on the border for this blanket. 

Poniente breezes

Something which has gone in our favour this week is is the fact that the wind direction changed. Of late we have ‘enjoyed’ a Levante (easterly) wind which has brought with it hot and humid weather, this week we received a welcome break with Poniente (westerly) breezes bringing much cooler weather. 

You could see the North Moroccan coast really clearly on Friday but blimey the water in the Strait was choppy. I don’t fancy being on that little boat! 

Another blanket finished

TA-dah! The latest Sixty Million Trebles blanket is completed. This one is the result of a collaboration and was created by the Gibraltar Crochet Collective, I just joined it and added the border. This is a slightly smaller baby blanket and will go with two others to a drop off point in England when I am over visiting family this summer. For more on Sixty Million Trebles, you can see their website here. 

Yesterday the organisation revealed the big news that they have reached the 3/4 point in their goal of reaching 60 million treble stitches. Hopefully they will hit 60 by the time the blankets are shipped to help Syrian refugee children in September.

Summer craft challenge 2017

Last year during the school summer holidays I challenged myself to do a little bit of craft every day in order to maintain my sanity. I amazed myself at managing to fulfill the challenge on all bar one day over the eight week long school break. 

This year, I have decided to do the same thing. I began my challenge yesterday seeing as it was the first of July and it felt like the start of summer proper. I wonder whether I’ll be able to maintain my challenge again this year?  Fancy joining in? If you do, you can follow my progress on Instagram, just use the tag #summercraftchallenge2017 with your creations.

Thanks for joining me this week. Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie from Threads & Bobbins

Sunday Sevens #89 25.6.17

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Hello there, I hope this week’s Sunday Sevens finds you well and happy. If you saw my last post, you will know that Postcard from Gibraltar is now the ripe old age of two years old! In some ways it feels like I have been writing these posts for ever, but in many other ways it feels like only recently I plucked up the confidence to start typing out my first blog post. Thank you to all of you for the positivity you have showed me over this last two years.

Now you see it… Now you don’t 


Well, Gib didn’t quite totally disappear, but you get the drift! Last Sunday we had talked about taking a trip into Spain, but we ended up staying a lot closer to home and heading down to Europa Point. We had visitors this week in the form of Mr Postcard’s parents and we went for a walk at Europa Point, the Little Postcards had a play at the park and I took my father-in-law for a walk down to the Europa Foreshore. 

While we sat chatting at the park I was watching the Levanter cloud coming and going over the peak of the Rock of Gibraltar. I kept taking pictures in the hope I would catch it completely obscured but this is as close as I got.

Dressmaking class 

In this week’s dressmaking class i actually managed to get some sewing done! I have lots track of the number of weeks I have spent drawing my new pattern. I am currently working on a blouse and boy, oh boy, it’s been a long drawn out affair. Well, the pattern is finished and this week I got the chance to actually sew. I made a sample collar ahead of the real thing. It was a relatively painless process, let’s see how the real thing turns out….

Chocolate cake and watercolours

We had a real treat at our watercolour class this week when one of my fellow students arrived bearing cake. She was weighed down with homemade flapjack and chocolate birthday cake from her daughter’s birthday party the day before. I was ‘forced’ to have a tiny sliver of flapjack and then was presented with this gorgeous piece of cake. It only slightly distracted me from finishing off my mussel shell…

Sports Day

I know I have featured a photo just like this one before in Sunday Sevens, but it never fails to amaze me when I take a seat at the Victoria Stadium for one of the Little Postcards’ Sports Days and see them running their races at the National Stadium with the Rock of Gibraltar as a back drop. It’s such a far cry from the school field behind a row of terraced houses that I competed on when I was trying to balance a clay egg on a table spoon!

Season of sea mists

We have had some belting sea mists this week. I know it is the season for it, and perhaps with the very hot weather we have been ‘enjoying’ of late, it has added to the phenomenon. Some days it has come all of a sudden and taken me by surprise, other days I have been able to watch it slowly creep up the Bay from the Strait and towards land. I love listening to the huge tankers almost singing to each other with their fog horns.

Dolphins!

As we had our special visitors this week, we decided to go out on a dolphin boat trip one afternoon when the Little Postcards had finished their half day at school. We were not disappointed as you can see. We saw literally hundreds of them. I took lots of photos on our trip and I will share some more of them in the next few weeks.

Against all odds…

You wouldn’t think that a pavement at the side of the beach would be the most fertile place for a flowering plant to thrive would you? One evening this week we took a trip to Catalan Bay to have dinner on a balmy summer evening and as we walked to the restaurant I spotted this plant growing up in a crack between the paving blocks. I am not completely sure what it is, but it does look a bit like the Hawaiian Busy Lizzies my Mum used to grow on her her kitchen windowsill and a woodier version of the Busy Lizzies I used to have in a hanging basket by my front door back in England  (I may be way off the mark with this). Anyway, whatever it is, it made me smile.

 

I hope that this has been a good week for you, whatever you have been up to. Thank you for stopping by, and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post comments on my blog and who have responded to my Tweets this week too, that has made me smile as well.

 

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

Sunday Sevens #83 14.5.17

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Hello there! This installment of Sunday Sevens begins and ends with the Med Steps. It was the Med Steps 5 Challenge yesterday and this morning I am feeling every step I climbed! It was worth it though, a great sense of achievement comes with knowing I’ve completed the challenge, but that is nothing to the challenge faced by the people who use the Cancer Relief Centre here in Gibraltar.

Here’s my weekly round up:

3 times round again!

Last Sunday I went out for my last three times round training session in readiness for yesterday’s challenge. This time last year, me and my training buddies had done at least one four times round session and plenty others in between. Three was the most I could fit in this year.

Finished sleeves 

In my dressmaking class, I managed to complete my sleeves and attached the linings – just got the hem of my dress to finish now 🙂

More Med Steps 

On Wednesday morning I got back up the Steps with one of my training buddies from last year. It was a hot morning and we could feel the sun beating down on us. You can’t underestimate how much harder the heat can make it. I kept trying to imagine that we were walking through a cool damp cloud… it didn’t work!

Gibraltar Crochet Collective 

At this week’s meeting of the Gibraltar Crochet Collective I began work on the border of our Sixty Million Trebles blanket. The requirements for the blankets submitted to the appeal have now changed, so this is going to be a smaller blanket for a young child. We are going be starting a new collective project soon…

Watercolour Steps 

I think I’ve finished my watercolour interpretation of the Med Steps. It’s not exactly how I imagined it would be in my head at the start, but I think it’s finished. (Please excuse the slightly battered mount)

Evening stroll


On Friday evening I found myself at Europa Point at sunset, it’s amazing how different the atmosphere is there at dusk. There are no tourists or kids at the park, it was really tranquil.

Challenge complete

These five stamps mean I completed all five laps of the Med Steps in the Med Steps 5 Challenge yesterday. I’d say laps 2,3 and 4 were the worst!! 😝 It was very warm, but the support of fellow walkers, organisers and the wonderful cause it was for is what kept me going. I was amazed to see that not only had I completed all five, but I did it 15 minutes faster than last year! I really don’t know how that happened!

I took quite a few photos of the event, so please watch out for a Med Steps 5 post coming soon!

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

Sunday Sevens #73 5.3.17

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Hello and welcome to another edition of Sunday Sevens. It’s not quite turned out to be the week I expected, plans went out of the window as I nursed a sick child and two sick bunnies… so here are my seven, oh ok, eight photos from the last seven days.

Citrus blossom scents the air

The citrus trees in our patio are covered in blossom at the moment. The lemon and orange trees are laden with the beautifully scented flowers. As soon as you head out the door you can smell it. In fact if you bring your nose right up close to the screen you may even be able to smell it it’s so strong!

Sunset 

This is the lovely sunset we saw on Monday night. Monday didn’t quite pan out as I expected as I got a call from school at 10 am to go and collect a Little Postcard from school who had suddenly fallen ill. I’m pleased to report that he is completely recovered now and he only missed two days of school. It did mean that no sewing got done this week though.

Poor little bunny

We’ve had a bit of a week as far as the Postcard Bunnies are concerned (four visits to the vet in total for me!). This little chap had to have an op. I won’t go into details but as we have a boy and a girl rabbit and we don’t want to be over run with rabbit babies, Diamond needed a ‘procedure’. 

He is normally a tad crazy and bounces from one side of his cage to the other when you walk in the room. After his trip to the vet, he was a sorry little soul and didn’t move much for two days.

I’m pleased to say that he has recovered well and is due for a post op check next week. He is eating voraciously and is bouncing again. He’s back to his crazy self.

Welcome back blue skies!!


Wednesday brought us some gorgeous blue skies. I had a trip into town and took this lovely photo from the ICC multi story car park. You can just make out Morocco in the distance peaking out above the buildings in the distance.

Tranquility


On Thursday morning I felt like I’d got a bit of normality back and headed off up the Med Steps before going to my watercolour class. It was so tranquil up there. It was very cloudy but the shafts of sunlight on the sea looked magical.

Painting…


If you’ve seen the last few Sunday Sevens you’ll know that we’ve been slapping the paint about all over and been looking for our ‘inner abstract’ at watercolour class. This week we’ve been developing those abstracts into something a bit more recognizable. So here’s my flamingo and citrus blossom…

Another poor rabbit


So, since last weekend our other bunny, Snowflake who we rescued from the Alameda Gardens, has been a bit off. She hasn’t been eating her food – in fact I had to empty her bowl at the end of the day on Wednesday because she had barely touched her carrots and kale. I finally decided to take her to the vet on Thursday. It turned out after an x-ray that she had an intestinal blockage caused by eating her winter fur coat.

As we are heading into spring, she is losing some of her fur and like cats, rabbits lick themselves to make themselves presentable. Unlike cats, rabbits don’t bring up fur balls, and this one is having trouble passing said fur the only other way. She is currently having four different medicines at different times of the day and is being fed a syringe of baby food every two hours. Honestly I thought it was hard looking after sick children….Anyway I am pleased to say that we have had results, the treatment is working! 

This photo was of her at the vet on Friday. You might notice the missing patches of fur on her ears and nose. That’s from the mange she must have had when she first came to us – that’s all cleared up and her fur is slowly growing back. Check out the EasyJet tail fin going past in the background. There can’t be too many vet consulting rooms in the world with a runway at the end of the road!!

Happy post

I had a real treat yesterday morning. I had to collect two parcels from the Post Office on Friday but was too busy to open them. I knew what was inside and wanted to take my time and enjoy opening them. It was like Christmas morning unwrapping this gorgeous bundle of fabric and my February subscription to the Little Box of Crochet. 🙂 It was a grim old day weatherise yesterday, so it was a real highlight to have these before heading out in the wind and rain!

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

Sunday Sevens #72 26.2.17

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This post goes way over the usual seven photos for Sunday Sevens… mainly thanks to my epic journey back from Manchester to Gibraltar last Sunday. So here goes…

Last Sunday in eight photos…

I ended my flying visit home to visit my parents with a walk on Sunday morning. It was just around the streets by their home, the streets where I grew up. Up this path is a pond where numerous adventures were had while I was growing up, from exploring and hide and seek to pond-dipping (or fishing as we called it then) for frog spawn to bring home in a jam jar. I can’t imagine letting my boys wander off over the road to a pond and telling them to be back in time for tea…. times have changed, and not necessarily for the better.

I’m so glad I got the chance to see some snowdrops while I was over. I love them. Also making an appearance were other spring flowers which were enjoying the unseasonably mild weather. These lovely dwarf iris were poking through last autumn’s leaves.

Then it was time to say goodbye and head to the airport once more… bye bye Manchester, until next time!

I know it’s a cliché but these clouds really did look like cotton wool from above…

I’m not altogether in my comfort zone while flying. I’m quite happy cruising along but I’m not over happy with take off and landing. I took my crochet into the cabin with me. I had heard it was allowed, but I had also heard about a knitter who had her needles taken off her. I took one of my least favourite hooks just in case it was taken away.

Nobody batted an eye lid, so I was fine. I continued with the quintuple trebles of my Spun Gold shawl to take my mind off the descent in to Malaga… yes Malaga. Stormy weather in Gibraltar meant that two of the three previous Monarch flights to Gibraltar had been diverted to the Spanish airport because they couldn’t land in the strong winds. Our pilot didn’t even attempt to land in Gibraltar as the air traffic control tower there told him the winds were beyond safe limits. It was going to be a very long trip home…

As chance would have it I bumped into an old friend at the Malaga baggage reclaim. She told me her husband was driving up to Malaga to collect her rather than wait for her to get onto one of the coaches laid on by the airline to ferry the stranded passengers back to the Rock. I was offered a lift back and I didn’t need to think twice about the offer. The lift must have saved me at least an hour travelling time.

Please excuse the grainy image, but I wanted to show you the flags on the Gibraltarian side of the border with Spain as I arrived in Gibraltar late on Sunday night. I was nearly blown off my feet as I crossed into Gib, I am so glad the pilot didn’t attempt to land as it would have been a very bumpy ride! My return journey took 8 hours door to door, a considerable time longer than usual but at least I got back safely and I’m extremely grateful for that!

A murky Monday 

Monday morning was decidedly murky, the winds from the day before had dropped quite a bit but it was rather gloomy looking. Can you spot the mahoosive super yacht in the background? It’s called ‘Yacht A’ and cost a reported £83 million pounds. It was ginormous, the highest mast is 100 metres tall. It was arrested by the Gibraltar Police because of a debt and we were able to enjoy seeing it moored out in the Bay for a few days.

Dressmaking success


Apologies for the uninspiring picture, but it’s a plain black dress I’m making so can’t really jazz that up. What I can say is that on Tuesday I more than made up from my catastrophic boo boo at last week’s class by cutting out fresh pieces for the back of my dress and I completed all 4 of my princess-line seams. So my front and back pieces are ready for a zip and lining. Then there’s the small matter of sleeves….. hmmm not looking forward to that part.

A blustery day for the Med Steps 

I climbed the Med Steps on Wednesday with one of my Med Steps 5 pals. It was another blustery day as you can see from the sea. We did wonder whether we would get blown off the side of the Rock but fortunately it was really sheltered on the Med Steps.

Saharan Dust

Why oh why did I leave my washing out on Wednesday night? The Saharan dust came back, with a vengeance. Still at least I hadn’t washed the car!

Watercolour class 

Our watercolour teacher is still encouraging us to explore our inner abstract. I have to admit that I am having mixed results with this… I did like the rainbow splodgey effect of the bottom painting. It reminds me of tie-dyed T shirts.

More Med Steps 

Friday morning was much nicer weather wise, it was less grey and you could just about feel the warmth of the sunshine peaking through the clouds above. I set off on a solo trip up the Med Steps and took my time seeing as I was on my own. It was lovely to enjoy my beautiful surroundings, it felt very spring like up there.

Sunday Sevens has been rather a long one this week, I do hope you didn’t nod off in the middle! Thank you for stopping by and thanks for sticking with it to the end!!

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

Sunday Sevens #70 12.2.17

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It’s been a busy old week for me so this week’s Sunday Sevens is a little bit longer than usual and may have more than seven photos…

I hope you had a good week!

Sunny weather

Oh hello there Mr Deep Blue Sky, how lovely to see you again!! What a gorgeous day Monday was, and what a gorgeous balcony – one of my favourites in Gibraltar.

Dressmaking class


I learned a valuable lesson this week at my sewing class… not to to run before I can walk. There I was merrily cutting out the fabric for my new dress… then when I pinned it together to begin sewing my seams… shock… horror: two sections were 4cm too short! I’d misdrawn my pattern pieces last week -eek!

I had to add an extra bit to the bottoms of the two pieces and hopefully you won’t see the joins within the hem. Whoops!

Another beautiful sunset


Tuesday evening brought us the most beautiful sunset…

It was too lovely for just one picture I thought …

Sunset inspired watercolour class


In my watercolour class this week our teacher got us to break out of our comfort zones and go abstract. Inspired by the lovely sunset this week I picked similar colours and slapped a bit of paint about. It was loads of fun and I ended up with some feathery bird like shapes. We’re going to add to them next week… I wonder what we’ll end up with!

Parsons Lodge


I ended up down by the sea at Camp Bay on two consecutive mornings, Thursday and Friday. The weather was beautiful, a bit cold but gloriously sunny on Thursday.


But on Friday… it was looking a bit grim! What a difference a day makes…

#freeheartfriday


Later on Friday I took a walk down Main Street and spotted these lovely hearts pinned to the trees. They were left for passers-by to take as part of the Free Heart Friday free art project. 

What a fab thing to do – I hope they brought hope and joy to anyone who needed it.

Gib Talks


Yesterday Gib Talks returned for a day of short inspirational talks on a whole range of subjects. To find out more about it, have a look at my post from yesterday.

On my hook this week


This little chap was on my crochet hook this week. The little amigurumi zebra has gone to his new home so I can share this. I hope his new owner will like him 😊
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a great week ahead.
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins

Sunday Sevens #69 5.2.17

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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.

Sunday Sevens #58 20.11.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Hello, and welcome to my latest edition of Sunday Sevens. I hope you have had a good week. I’m slightly later posting this today as I have been to a football match already this morning! More on that in the next edition.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s offering:

Remembrance Sunday

It doesn’t matter where I am, but every Remembrance Sunday at 11am I am transported back to being a Girl Guide and standing to attention with my friends at our local parish church during the 2 minutes silence. I have no direct relatives (that I know of) who fought in the either of the World Wars or since, both my grandfathers were involved in war duties at home. It is such an important time to be still and remember the sacrifice made by so many people for our benefit. In the light of recent events and the precarious nature of world politics, it seems even more important to remember what’s gone on in our not too distant past and hopefully not make the same mistakes again.

Super Moon

Those of you who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram will have already seen this photo, but I had to include it. On Monday night, Mr Postcard rushed out after dark with the Eldest to see if they could spot the super moon, they did and on their return urged me to go out and see it too. A short drive from our home and I was at Europa Point. I can honestly say I have never visited this part of Gibraltar after dark and it was weird to be adjacent to a play park we regularly visit but at night time and without children! It was so busy there – I presume it was because other folk wanted a good view of the super moon too.

So here is my attempt at capturing it, it was quite difficult. I’m a bumbling amateur when it comes to using a camera and I’m sure people who know what they’re doing would have been able to manage a much more sophisticated version! I’m rather pleased with it though…

Dressmaking class


Apologies for the uninspiring photo but it’s just to illustrate that at last my lining & outer section of my princess-line top have been joined. It’s been a long slow process but at last I feel like I’m getting somewhere 🙂

Watercolour class

Progress is also being made at watercolour class. Slowly, slowly my beach huts are edging nearer completion. I’d been having difficulty deciding how much detail to include in the middle of the picture, so my teacher told me to turn the original photo upside down to get a better perspective – it really works!

Glum Friday


I didn’t have the best day on Friday, I seemed to be in a bad mood when I woke up and despite a lovely impromptu coffee with friends, the blue mood persisted. Can’t explain it, I just wasn’t happy. The mood of the day wasn’t helped by the post office losing a parcel I’ve been waiting for with great excitement for 2 weeks or the fact it took us over 50 minutes to queue our way out of the new multi-storey car park on Friday night….

Festival of Light


The reason for us all being in town in the car on Friday night was to see the Gibraltar Christmas lights switched on in the Festival of Light. The Countdown to Christmas has officially started – eek!

Pokémon cards


Do you have Pokémon cards in your house? I do. They have become a bit of an obsession of late for Middle and Littlest Postcards. They had been promised that good behaviour would result a trip into town on Saturday to buy a few more packets.

Such was the level of excitement, they couldn’t wait to get home before ripping them open, so on the steps to the Parliament building they were opened and admired! Pikachu and Chespin are favourites in the Postcard family and both turned up in this haul so for them it was a very successful trip!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins. If you are a blogger and would like to join in, pop over to Natalie’s blog to find out more.

Thank you for joining me this week, I hope you have a good week ahead. Until next time, goodbye for now!