Bears, bees and things ................

We have finally sat down and produced some new bears. All stitched and ready to be dressed or whatever we decide to do with them.


I really miss a dedicated work area so have decided to move all my stuff to the landing area. There is a small couch there at present which can be moved to the second bedroom. It has a convenient skylight and I bought two trestles and a good strong piece of pine to make a worktable. I will them be able to organise the small amount of fabric, beads and other stuff that I have with me. Makes me quite sad to think what is sitting in storage in Cape Town as I will soon work through the fabrics I have with me. I am already experiencing withdrawal symptoms and spend time on the internet looking at all the beads, fabrics and things which are so tempting!
We have managed to cut the lawn at the front and back areas of the house but there is still a large area at the rear of the property which needs attention. This garden has been neglected for so long and it has taking a lot of hard work to cut the grass. Mervyn has planted out a few vegetables. It is interesting to have so much garden again after years of a pocket handkerchief size patch. The birds are amazing and I have taken to put out all the old bread and fruit which they love. Tiny red breasted robins, magpies and other birds which I will have to take time to identify. This is a picture of a big furry bee who settled on the wall. Yesterday was a warm sunny day and after our efforts in the garden we sat on the front bench to have tea! Think the locals find us quite interesting.
We have found that properties in France are very well maintained with no refuse and the hedges are cut to precision. However, the property next door to us with is quite large is a mess of brambles, old cars and goodness what else. It has apparently been like this for years and the owner of the house we are renting (which is also for sale) told us that the local estate agents were horrified at the state of this property. Well whoever owns it has decided that it needs cleaning up which is good. They have spent the last few weekends cutting down trees, shrubs and clearing out. However, they have taken it into their heads that they can just throw all the stuff into our garden. This has happened on two occasions and we have then had to pick up all the broken glass, bits of metal and try and put them on the boundary area between the properties. This has happened on two occasions so I will have to visit le Maire (the Mayor) to complain and see if we can reach an agreement. This is apparently the way things are handled in France, each little village has its own Mayor who sees to it that the residents all live together in harmony! With my limited command of the language it should be an interesting experience. I can put together all the sentences but if I get a reply in rapid French I will be totally lost.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.