Merry Christmas - Happy Birthday to Jesus

I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and blessed day and also let us not forget the reason of this very special day 'Happy Birthday dear Jesus' .

The Christmas log - maltese way

Today I am posting a photo of one of the most popular sweet dishes made during the Christmas period here on the Maltese islands. This is known as the Christmas log and it is very very sweet but also very delicious. There is still one more step for this log to be finished and that is to melt chocolate and spread it all over to decorate!!

ta qali crafts village / xmas theme # 3

some of the displays at ta qali last sunday .

ta qali crafts village / xmas theme # 2

two of the stalls, one selling lots of Christmas related food and the other selling the Christmas plant 'poinsettia'.

ta' qali - crafts village / xmas theme

 


Ta' Qali is a village in Malta, situated 2km from Mdina, a wide open space in the middle of Malta containing the national stadium, the Maltese National Park and a national vegetable market which is locally known as the Pitkalija.

Shortly before World War II, the area was used to build a military aerodrome and a station for the RAF. During this time the area served as an airfield but has since been transformed into a recreational area. The area is small in scale but considered by some in Malta as an ideal place to go for a picnic and spend weekend afternoons. The National Park also includes an amphitheatre. A number of international concerts were staged at the Park, including artists as diverse as Status Quo, Deep Purple, Fish, Iron Maiden, Demis Roussos, Alannah Myles, Bonnie Tyler and many others. International artists such as Riccardo Fogli have also planted their own trees in the Park.

Ta' Qali still fulfils part of its former role as an air field but the only aircraft that take off from the greatly diminished landing strip are model aircraft, whose owners make part of a club located there. Today, many of the military huts and buildings have been converted into workshops where Maltese craftsmen produce their handiwork, and Ta' Qali Crafts Village has become an important tourist attraction. There is also a the Malta Aviation museum where one can find different types of aircraft related to Maltese aero history. Before being converted to a recreational park the air strip was used in the first car races ever held by the Maltese, nowadays the Assoċjazzjoni Sport Muturi has it's offroad tracks where it organizes its annual motorsport championship.

A christmas village has been put up for this weekend only. This morning I drove up there. It was a little bit wet but still had a good time and will be posting some photos of the village for the next few posts.

Inside the church.....

Inside the church of yesterday's post one can find the statue of the immaculate conception.























photos taken by Laetitia.

Cospicua Parish Church

Cospicua (Bormla) population around 6,500. It is the largest of the Cottonera Three Cities and it is surrounded by forticiation. Originally a fishing village it's importance increased with the arrival of the knights of St.John.

photo taken by Laetitia

Away for the weekend!

Today I will be flying to Frankfurt, Germany. I will be back Monday evening. I wish you all a pleasant weekend :) .

I take this opportunity to thank my friend Gabriella who will be helping my husband with the kids whilst he's still at work and Laetitia for a lovely Christmas log that I will be taking with me to give to my friend Sandra!

Christmas lights in Valletta

Here's a collage of photos showing some of the christmas lights displayed in Valletta.

















Photos taken by Laetitia.

Malta Feline Fanciers - International Cat Show # 3

Here are some more photos which I have taken at the cat show. I hope you have enjoyed this series of photos.

Malta Feline Fanciers - International Cat Show # 2

This little kitten whose name is Carabott I'm so pretty won best of variety , best in show kitten and judges special award. This beautiful kitten is also owned by Carabott Cats. So cute!!

Malta Feline Fanciers - International Cat Show

Presenting Scotty, an Exotic shorthair brown blotched tabby imported from the Netherlands, one of the cats exhibited yesterday owned by Carabott cats.

This gorgeous boy , Almerians Party Suad (the exotic boy)- won :
BEST OF GROUP, BEST MALE IN SHOW, BEST ADULT IN SHOW, & OVERALL BEST IN SHOW























Yesterday one of my friends Mrs Keely Carabott exhibited her beautiful cats at the International Cat show which was held at the Corinthia Palace Hotel in Attard. For the next few days I will be posting some of the photos I took at the cat show. I must admit that it is not easy photographing cats, but it was fun and an experience for me.

Ghaxaq Parish Church

Details of the Ghaxaq parish church can be found on these websites: www.ghaxaqparish.org and www.sanguzeppghaxaq.com

photo taken by Laetitia

The Maltese Balcony

Back in business!!

 



First of all I take this opportunity to thank marie6 for standing in for me.

As a photo for my return post I decided to do a collage with all the sky photos I had in my files. I hope you like them and I wish you all a great weekend.

Grand Harbour views.

This part of the Grand Harbour can be seen from a hotel in Valletta, where a friend of mine was staying for a few days. This part is the Cottonera area, also known as the three cities, which are Cospicua, Vittorosia and Senglea.
The weather was really wet & windy when I took this photo, but I must say my kids had fun puddle jumping while I was busy trying to get a decent shot!!!

3 4 U

This campaign has started in Malta to help promote more greenery in our country, the idea is to have more trees planted around the towns and villages.
One can sponsor a tree or more and the tree is dedicated for a member of the family or to mark a special occassion. My family and I had this tree planted in memory of our beloved mum, and the children helped with the digging and planting.

Proud enough to burst!!!

Thanks Dina, you've given me the chance to show off this morning. I know it's not much but yesterday two of my kids had a football funday, where we spent the whole day taking part in games and races for all.
Gedeon my son, won first prize in a scoring game and he got a nice trophy to show for it, and Niamh, one of my twins, came second in a ball race.(The other twin hates football so she wasn't taking part). We always say Niamh flies not runs and you can see in this photo that both her feet are off the ground! I was proud enough to burst, well still am in fact. It's really the smallest things that sometimes give you the best feeling in the world, isn't it?

what happened to Dina??

Hello Everyone, thanks for your comments. Somehow my laptop has gone a little bit off from working in good order. I am at the moment using a VERRRRRY slow desktop (my previous pc) which has lately been revived from its rotten state gaining dust on my desk. I would try and upload a post but believe me it is not worth the wait!!!!It takes tooooooooooo long - poor old thing . Also there is no means of a usb port (more than one at the same time I mean) for my camera to be installed :( . So until i go next week to have my laptop checked out professionally (not by me only!!) I will not be able to post, i will however visit your blogs, good day every one.

Well not unless our friend from Qajjenza - marie6 offers to fill in for me until i fix this problem. :)

Lunch anyone??

 




















After a hard morning in Valletta, what more would one want then to stop for a nice lunch in a nice place !! Gedeon this is for you: guess who stopped here for lunch ;))?

Whilst browsing today I found this cool tool (by the side: The Readability test) and I tried it out.

Xmas decorations......

For this Sunday I have decided to post a photo showing some of the christmas decorations which are already up here in Valletta, Malta. I must add that some of the main roundabouts are also being decorated. Also here as you can see two young ladies (unkown to me ;) ) are strolling along the Valletta streets, shopping. I wish you all a good Sunday .

The electric car - Valletta

This electric car was in Valletta a few weeks ago. The lady driving was doing tours around the capital city.

The views.....# 2

The views.....# 1

part of the view that is found opposite the house from yesterday's post.

The building you see down there is part of what used to be the only railway station in Malta many years ago. It is now (hope i am not wrong !) called 'l-Istazzjon' and is serving as a restaurant, also one can go for a nice cup of tea and some 'pastizzi'.

More housing

This is another old house which has been nicely restored. This house is found in Rabat, for the next two posts I will post some views that are found opposite this house.

Books for Sale - Valletta

At the moment in Valletta there's a book sale. Prices are pretty good!

St.John's Cathedral

St.John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta was built by the Knights of Malta between 1573 and 1578, commisioned by Grand Master Jean de la Cassiere as the conventual church of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St.John known as the Knights of Malta. Military architect Gerolamo Cassar designed the church.

Olden days - Posting Letters

Sorry for Dina's absence these past few days but her internet has been cut off, so she asked me to stand in for her today. Hello to all fellow bloggers!

Today's post takes us back to the 60's when the G.P.O (General Post Office) used these kinds of motorbikes to deliver letters.

This bike is displayed at a post office outlet in the Embassy shopping complex in Valletta.

Maltese Police

 

RED

Yesterday we had blue, today I give you red. Red telephone boxes are a reflection of the previous ties between Malta and Britain, mostly dating back from the 1950's.

photo by Laetitia

Boat hoists - Marsaxlokk # 3

I have already shown photos of these boat hoists, this time you can see one of the fishing boats being hoisted out from the sea and carried on shore.

Today's DP Theme is 'Blue', so I guess this could very well be one.

Vineyards - Malta

Made in Malta - Marnisi is a single estate selection harvested from the Marsovin Vineyards bearing the same name. It is a blend of four grape varieties, Cabarnet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabarnet Franc and Petit Verdot.



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