Return of the Weavers

I finally finished the right hand side of these sketch journal pages yesterday - I blogged about the left page in November last year, and when I noticed the little yellow birds back, busily darting around the garden and little green globes starting to form at the ends of bare branches, knew it was time to get this double page done. As Gillian (good and loyal sister) noticed in her comment on 'Walking the Talk again', things are coming around for the second time... which means... tomorrow is this blog's first birthday! I promise not to rehash last year and cover the same subjects all again, but the Walk, and the Weavers alerted me to the fact that I've gone full circle and kept this going for a whole year - wow! I'm trying to think up an appropriate celebratory subject to paint or sketch for tomorrow, and some sage words to impart, but really, I'm just quite chuffed!

Papercut

Here is the wedding banner I was working on in the blog below - the wedding was wonderful, moving, and had many of us there determinedly holding back wild joyous sobs, as it was the 'happy second beginning' after long terribly rough times for both the bride and the groom. And the sun shone! - the only day it has for weeks before and ever since. What a cool wet summer we're having... those weaver birds were mistaken when building their nests so low (see previous post).
Anyway, after all that cutting, I haven't started my Christmas shopping - and it's our eldest's 27th (gulp) birthday tomorrow, and the house has spiralled down into chaos, so if I don't post for a while and anyone wanders into this blog, I wish you a very happy Christmas, Chanukkah or whatever it is you're celebrating - and a renewal of all your creative energy for the New Year!

The weavers

More garden birds - the little weavers that return every spring to begin their exacting task of building a nest above our swimming pool. Like flying daffodils, the male frantically strips branches bare, collects strands of grass, bamboo, palm and yucca leaves, laboriously constructs the pendulous globes on the thinnest of twiggy branches, only to have them bossily rejected by his drab little mate. He then dismantles the whole affair and begins again - over and over and over until she finally gives the nod.
This year they have built them quite low down in the trees, which apparently means there won't be a very wet rainy season - no danger of floods. So far we've had weeks of wet overcast rainy weather. Hopefully they know something we don't, and the sun will be coming out soon!