Monday, January 17, 2011

Home Again!

I have been away and now I am home, in my house, with the looms, the dog, the budgie, the sheep in the barn and the brilliant companion of my husband, Bucephalus the horse.
So amazingly much happened while I was gone - five months in all, three in Denmark exploring weaving, visiting with family and also showing work with a group of dedicated artists and daily creators who makes up our Nova Scotian group called SEVEN (because there are 7 of us, isn't that brilliant!)
From Oct. 23 until Dec. 23 I was aboard Sørlandet a Norwegian full rigger. My husband was teaching there for 4 months with an organization called Class Afloat. It was quite an adventure, close to the hardest thing I have ever done for many different reasons.
Let it just be known that ....... I have survived the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing ship. As the cook's mate I have cooked food for 70 people 3 times a day, in high seas and on calm waters. It is not easy to get back to cooking for two people at a time, but..... we have a large freezer and slowly and surely it is getting filled up with ...... extras!

 Today we went for a walk in the woods, the dog, the man and I.

I have not taken the time to go for a walk in our little woods since we came back, left that to the aforementioned two all the time but today, although it is cold, the sun is shining and I could put on layers and layers of warm clothes and venture into the beautiful landscape of snow, frost, ice and bright, bright light.  As we were walking over the fields to the woods I look about and acknowledged the amazing differences in surroundings which I have experienced recently. Some of it almost too hard to believe, never mind fully understand.
A month ago this is what his legs looked like, when he took a salt water shower aboard Sørlandet. We were preserving fresh water so we would have enough for the next port. The fresh water maker cannot be used close to land and in port due to polution. It is not cold, but about 24 degrees celcius coming straight from the Atlantic Ocean through a firehose, into a bucked with holes and voila, a shower for all to enjoy. Much appreciated by the students aboard the ship, especially on really hot days.

Today's view towards the north west of our property,  cold crisp beauty.
Once upon a time, in early November, on a drive around the country outside Agadir in Morocco. Warm dry, slow and patient view.  Hard putting these two views above together it is ........ something to digest slowly.

And the end of our walk in the snow covered woods. We had brought a bag of sunflower seed for our friends and they were there, waiting for us, ready to roll, oh, fly back and forth between safe branches and the big communal snack bowl hanging in the tree.