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magic of Malta
We travelled all the way to Malta and one of our waiters was from Liverpool!
Our family hasn't been abroad together since Lois was born so this holiday was a big deal. We went with my mum, step dad, sister and her family, it was a big group holiday. It worked so well, we all did our own thing, came together for certain activities and had built in babysitters for an evening out! The following post is my diary of our trip and so feel free to skip it if you aren't into that. I will say though that Malta's history and culture has completely inspired me and hopefully this glimpse will interest you...
The holiday started with a stay in Mellieħa on the main island of Malta. It was super hot when we arrived and so we decided to head to Malta's National Aquarium, which was fun with the kids. The exhibits were good, some nice interactive bits and actually some really funny elements throughout (worth reading the information screens). Then we were happy to spend time in the pool and the sea! It was glorious, here's the view:
The next day we headed to where we spent most of our visit, and took the ferry to the island of Gozo.
We stayed in Xaghra - a beautiful, fairly quiet part of the island - in a farmhouse next to the Ta' Kola Windmill!
This is the Nativity of Our Lady Church which stands in the town square, where most of the restaurants are. We ate at a couple of them and on our last night there was a rehearsal for the upcoming Festa (feast), we got to see all the local children dancing and acting out scenes. It was sweet to see and a shame we couldn't be there for the actual event.
Keen to explore we took a bus (or three!) to the town of Żebbuġ, where we were early for the celebrations (again!). It was the day of The Assumption of Our Lady Festa but we missed the morning part and decided it would be too late and difficult to get back if we stayed for the evening. Still it was amazing just to walk around, the landscape is so different to the UK.
one love + an overdue sunday stash
I'm writing about a day spent with my family... scroll down to fabric pictures if that interests you more :)
It has been an emotional day. Before the London attack last night we had already planned to go in to the city centre of Manchester today, it was made more poignant after another tragedy. I wanted to attend Quaker meeting, the girls decided they wanted to come too (for the first time). It was something I really needed and the testimony people spoke was moving. The children gave a short performance at the end and I was so proud that my girls got involved and they did brilliantly.
We met up with my husband and son outside the town hall. We walked through town (that's what we call the city centre!) and made our way to the tributes at St. Ann's Square. To be honest I wasn't really prepared for how I would feel.
The scale of it was beautiful. So much love, sadness, grief and so many heartfelt notes and tributes. I stood and cried.
We went and spoke to some armed police officers, they had come up from Wales, the children thanked them. There were people having their pictures taken with them, I suppose because it's so unusual. Then we went into St. Ann's Church to light some candles. It's a beautiful church. St. Ann's has long been one of my favourites areas in the city, I would often go and sit outside the back of the church when I was in town. It's incredibly peaceful.
Joan high fived a police officer then she continued giving high fives to every officer she saw! Their reactions were awesome, one had never been given a high five and was very happy about it! We took the kids to buy a book each and walked back past the tributes to sit in Exchange Square to have some lunch. It so happened that a Pipe Band began playing (my husband is Scottish and we all love the sound):
I did a bit of shopping alone then met back up with the family to go to Manchester Cathedral. My husband and I had never been inside it before. There was a service taking place so we stayed for a prayer and lit more candles.
As a family we don't go to church, today I went to three (well three places of worship). The girls want to go back to meeting and I would like to start attending again. Faith isn't something I talk about much, and I don't really plan to, but it is important to me. Tonight we watched the One Love Manchester concert on tv and it was brilliant. Not all my usual musical taste but I enjoyed every minute. You could really feel the love, compassion and unity.
Earlier in the week I made these hexie blocks for the Manchester Quilting Bee, they are collecting blocks to make quilts for the families affected by the attack. To get the details click here.
Recently I have had some lovely new fabric additions {I will be including the info about each print when I have time, please check back!}
Lovely Chris kindly offered to send me a Wefty needle, I really can't wait to try it because all the projects I've seen made using one look stunning. Anyone tried it? Any tips?
And she also sent all these amazing goodies!! She totally spoilt me. Thank you so much Chris! ❤
Also this past week my wonderful Nan turned 99! We had a lovely lunch together and our youngest loves borrowing her bling, she strikes an adorable pose:
Wishing you all a wonderful week full of love xx
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