Since I can't get much sewing done until my new glasses are ready, I've been spending time in the garden. I have weeded under some of the apple trees with bees buzzing in the blossom above. I'm so glad that I haven't missed the apple blossom, it's so pretty and has a beautiful delicate scent. I discovered that while I was away the chives had started into growth and are actually quite large, I found, once all the weeds were removed! Spring has definitely sprung but it is off to a rather cool beginning, we've been in southerly airstream and with not much between us and Antarctica the air has been pretty cold. Out of the wind and in a sheltered spot however, you can feel the warmth in the sun (when it shines).
I'm finding it very frustrating without my glasses, I'd love to be getting on with some bearworks! I have brought back some fabulous fabrics and leather from
http://www.bearbasics.co.uk/ and I'm itching to get into them. All I can do is look at them and drool, while imagining the bears that will emerge. I have been drawing, my old glasses are ok for that, and the optometrist has put a priority on my new ones so hopefully the wait won't be too long.
When the weather warms up some more I'll be getting into some more mud larks, making progress on the house. I'm feeling that we should make a big impression on the project this year it's clearer in our heads what needs doing, so there should be less standing around staring up at walls trying to figure things out. In fact I can't wait to start again, the winter hiatus has left me with a severe itch to get going! Despite it's frustrations, building is another enjoyable aspect of life out here and though it sometimes feels as though we will never finish, it gives me a great sense of achievement. Slowly but surely our home is emerging and sooner or later it will no longer be a building site :) The photo shows the mix of mud and straw which is packed in between the timbers of the house to make the walls. It dries to become very solid and once plastered and rendered is a very eco friendly and insulating wall system. This is a very old building technique and there are samples that have stood the test of time and have been lived in continuously for centuries.
I'm sitting in a pool of sunshine in the bay window, it's real frosty outside but I'm feeling as warm as toast. Lately it has definitely felt like spring is on the way, the wattles are bursting into bloom, and in a few days the bush around here will be golden and abuzz with bees. The birds are certainly gearing up, our little Blue Wrens are becoming extremely vociferous and the other day I spotted the first of the returning Welcome Swallows wheeling above the house. Yes, I can definitely feel it :)
We have bought a new camera, it's a little one to take travelling with us, so I have been "practicing" with it. I'll have to get used to not looking through the viewfinder, though (it feels kind of odd) but I'm pretty happy with the pics I've been taking. Here are a couple of test photos I took of a bear I've been working on, I wanted to see how close in I could get it. These are with the bear sitting in my lap as I was working. Not bad for snaps! I think it will be a great little camera to take with us to Spain and Morocco, much less cumbersome than the SLR which tends to stay in the bag becuase it's such a pain to get out and use. So hopefully I will have lots of great travel pics to share with you when we get back from our trip :)
