Crafty in the Med

I am here to enjoy meeting other bloggers and to share my love of craft ,mostly crochet, my thoughts and my daily happenings here in Alicante,Spain, my adopted country. I belong to a local choir because singing and music makes me happy. Flea markets and book shops are two of my favourite places to be. I read lots......sci´fi/fantasy,buried treasure, and off world adventures. I have a passion for history! I walk and walk and walk for about 10 months per year during the hot months I swim.

Sunday 17 November 2013

Robbed of bloggy time

What a total change!! Snow has coated the mountain tops and the villages up there.
Just 30 minutes away Christmas like scenery!
I have been digging out my woolies because although we haven't got snow down here in the city there is a bitter chill in the air. Meanwhile as I am nice and cosy and warm here at home I have finished off the hairbows which complete the batch of craft items I am sending to Kerrie at Spanish Strays in Cadiz.
As I have had a few complaints from Sr P about all the time that I spend on the computer ,hence the title of this post,I am using my ipad and blogsy to write up this post. It is a bit sneaky but Sr P doesn't understand.
I don't really know how to add links to this post yet here in blogsy so I can't refer to my past post about helping the stray and abandoned kitties in Spain.
Hopefully these goodies will sell and help Kerrie raise funds for the cats to get their medical attention and consequently their passports to be able to send them to forever homes in Europe. Please help this organisation by liking their facebook page and sharing. I feel sure the more people who hear about it more help will be forthcoming. You can find them on facebook under Spanish strays.


Mostly baby beanies in cottonand the two at the back in Red Heart super soft baby yarn.



I can hear Sr P stirring from his siesta so I am posting this now and Pronto!! :-)
AMANDA

Tuesday 12 November 2013

About toadstools and makeovers


There is a saying in Spanish that goes like this "tenia pegado las sabanas esta maรฑana" or in other words "this morning the sheets stuck to me"... and you usually say this when you've had a difficult time getting out of bed!

I'm afraid that is what happened to me Sunday morning I just felt totally bone tired and the sheets really stuck to me so I couldn't get out of bed!!! This meant of course that we left the house much too late to go too far afield for our Sunday outing so it had to be a Sunday stroll.

Sr P had been on about big toadstools all week in some street or something in the city??????


 You know during the week I'm really busy so those sort of mumblings just don't sink in to about Saturday evening or Sunday and what the dickens was he on about anyhow????
It seems the Town Hall and council had the brilliant idea (very costly by the way) to revive one of the most dismal areas in the centre of the city.
There is  a rather long narrow street which used to be very popular about 20 years ago for its cafes and tavernas but had gradually fallen into a ghetto like area, harboring closed door clubs and dark grimy shops of very dubious repute.
The street gained a very bad reputation so much so that you did not walk down there alone after dark.



 The project was started a year or so ago,there was a large clean up  of undesirables and a few adventurous restauranteurs were coaxed to return to the area, opening up some very neat little tavernas and then other little business followed suit  ....this and the Toadstools,the costly bit, has really worked because the population of the city have flocked down to see the Toadstools.


  It is a very family orientated street now and it is wonderful also to see the restoration of some of the really beautiful old buildings in this street and also in the Plaza de Correos  (Post Office plaza ).

Big clean up!


 I have always admired the Post office building which I'd say was early 19th century but I also always complained that one couldn't appreciate it as it was hidden under years of grime!

It is truly a sight to see now!
Restoration of post office




Beautiful  Mirador

 It just takes the restoration of one building and others follow suit!





Permissible graffiti .....this house is covered in poetry ....verses from famous local poets



An old door restored .......   big archway ...tall big door....not quite sure why I love taking photos of doors!!!


What was just a stroll turned into a few hours of noticing changes and admiring them. 
It is so good to see that an effort is being made to keep the city looking nice.


Amanda :-)





























Sunday 10 November 2013

He cannot march........




    The Forgotten Army     
The Retreat from Rangoon
The Last to Leave


 
Dad in tropical gear circa 1940




Don't worry Dad!  I'm not a child anymore.
I understand....and I feel your pride.

You cannot march to the military beat with these medals heavy against your chest. 
You cannot pay your respect to your comrades, the fallen or offer that silent homage.

Don't worry Dad! I'm not a child anymore 
I understand .... and I feel your pride

I will shout out and say...
this is what my Dad did, he and the brave gave us our today and our tomorrows.


Don't worry Dad! 

I shall not forget!


Warrant Officer  Sydney Ernest Smith served!

1st Battalion Royal Horse Artillery  1929 to 1949


Amanda 









Thursday 7 November 2013

Winter babe



Fifth day and migraine free today! 

What a relief to wake up this morning without that heavy load bearing down on me....never really had migraine before and now know what it is. Just absolutely no idea why...my doctor seems to think stress. I get the feeling the doctor's diagnosis of stress means "I don't know why you have migraine either "
Meanwhile during the lucid moments I have turned to my own therapy, crochet , and have finished this blanket I was making for a little winter babe....a babe who will be born on 30th December.... a beautiful New Year gift.....a little girl.
My nephew will be a grandfather at 40....they seem to get younger and younger!!!


 This 12 point rainbow ripple star baby blanket pattern is by Celeste Young and can be found here on Ravelry
 It was a breeze except for running out of the yarn in the middle of the process and having to order and wait for more of the right colour to arrive. 
I used a 4:00 hook,Red Heart Soft Baby Steps  Yarn in Aqua,Lavender,White, Strawberry and for each border Coats SMC Micro Grande in white,purple,mint green and soft pink.
 I still had some leftovers of the yarns used so I decided to use them up making a little beanie for the newborn. I added earflaps to it and some ties and I was very pleased with the beanie when I finished it but I felt it needed something else, so I tried this and that but as soon as I saw the cutie little bear ears on Alison Cromwell's Newborn Baby hat pattern I knew I had to try them out. 
I'm sorry but I am not sure now where I got the pattern from...I suspect from Ravelry.


The bow was taken from Michelle R Kovach's pattern found here
          

From swap to swap: 

I am still participating in the Autumn Glow swap hosted by Blueberry Heart  and my swap parcel to my partner Helen at Moonstruck Creations was finally received three weeks ago.I did indeed go through a few anxious moments there thinking it was lost but it finally turned up at Helen's house,I am pleased to say.  I wouldn't usually think of joining another swap until the one I am participating in has been completed but I enjoyed Tracy's Christmas Cracker swap at Mad about Bags last year so much that I want to do it again. I couldn't resist the temptation,so I'm in and on 11th November we will be assigned our partners!!!


If you would like to participate in Tracy's Christmas Cracker swap you still have time:


I must take this opportunity to thank all bloggers who have offered, in my previous post, to help Spanish Stray's and send supplies for Kerrie's Christmas craft stall.  I am super proud of you and the response I have received. 
Unfortunately I continue to have problems with my mail slipping into some recipient's spam folders and they don't get to see it. 

Here you have Kerrie's address if you have not received my mail :

Kerrie Edwards, Apartado de Correos 176. Los Barrios 11370, Cadiz, Spain


weekend nearly here!!!!

Amanda :-)







Friday 1 November 2013

Can it be their time now?


Happy Halloween to everyone celebrating tonight!!

KERRIE'S STALL 

This is going to be a difficult post to write because I have to ask you for help!
This is an appeal!


I can't solve any of the stupid wars out there nor will the corrupt and deceitful politicians listen to anything I say ! However I can but try to help these poor animals who are taking the brunt of the actual recession that many of us are suffering from. It is cheaper to chuck them out,abandon them,thrown them in the rubbish bin,ditch them at a roadside and even thrown them into the river to die miserably!

A neighbour said to me the other day that what was all the fuss about , that it is the humans first and then the animals....very nice.... considering it is the humans who brought them into their world in the first place and domesticated them. If they had left well alone nature would have taken charge as she does with the wild animals.
Please don't get me wrong I will always save a child before an animal but I'll try and save my pet as well!
WE are responsible for these animals who have been brought into our society to live and that responsibility must be accepted!

Spanish Strays is a non-profit organization run by a small group of national and international volunteers in the Campos de Gibraltar area in Spain They are doing a splendid but never ending job of rounding up stray cats and caring for cats that have been abandoned. They heal them,feed them and neuter them;They also find them forever homes in Spain,Europe or the UK.
It is a slow arduous task!




If you follow Hettie Jones blog and View from a Teapot you will already have heard of this organization. Sophie at Hettie Jones blog has adopted Luna and given her a loving home.
View from a Teapot has also sent out a cry for help you can read about it on her post here.

 However Spanish Strays are in dire straits!! The refuge is packed and I mean packed full so much so that if Spanish Strays are not able to reduce the numbers of cats in the refuge the municipal regulations will kick in and it means they will have to put the cats down within 10 days.
They desperately need forever homes or foster homes for the cats but they cannot get the cats' passport to send cats to forever homes abroad if they have not been neutered and vaccinate first. They also need the travel expenses as Spanish Strays sponsers part of the travel expenses too.
 In other words they need funds! 
 Kerrie Edwards,one of the volunteers has thought of setting up a craft stall at the numerous Christmas craft markets which are very popular in Spain throughout December, to collect funds for the refuge .......but she needs supplies!!!!!

This is where you and I come in!

I was thinking if I can find the time and the cash to make a few bunting triangles to send to Lucy at Attic24 for Yarndale surely I can do the same for this worthy cause and perhaps I could make a few more bits and pieces to send to Kerrie to sell.
I know there are lots and lots of very good causes out there who need help but can it be these cats turn now.
It is totally up to you, just a little something will be fine.
Can you imagine if 10 crafters make and send a beanie each to Kerrie,then she has 10 beanies to sell...if 10 other crafters make one pot holder each then Kerrie has 10 pot holders to sell and so on. A couple of pot holders does not weigh very much so the cost of postage would not be horrendous.
If you want to help please comment here and I will send you Kerrie's postal address by email where you can send your craft donation.   If you want more information about Spanishstrays ,this is their facebook page . If you cannot help by donating something to Kerries´stall you can still help by clicking LIKE on their FB page and also by sharing the link with your friends.
Please please pass this message along to your bloggy friends.

Can it be a happy MOGGIES' Christmas this year please!!!



Amanda :-)