Yup, I've been bad. It's my intention to try and post once a week, but managed to override guilt feelings for the past three weeks. Let's see if I can catch up.
February's been a pretty full month so far. The main thing I've been busy on has been my masters. Managed to get a lot of research done, but for every answer I find there are 10 more questions! The plan is to spend most of this week writing down all the stuff that's been percolating in my head and then see what kind of order I can impose on it.
One of the more daunting and exhilarating tasks for next month is to tackle the Pretoria archives and National library to see what they can yield. Added to this is the discovery of two people that have done lots of research on Pretoria, and who's brains I hope to pick in return for coffee! One of them is Rosa Swanepoel who's been writing a monthly newsletter on Pretoria for a number of years. Her collection is up on the UPSpace repository for anybody who's interested.
Other than reading and thinking hard, there's also been a couple of functions and projects that have demanded a bit of time.
Burr and Andri got married on the sixth:
I hosted a hand-sewing class for MACS members. Back-stitch, running-stitch, whip-stitch, button-holes, seams and hems were covered. Despite a few snags, everybody was very proud of the drawstring pouches they had made. Now that I've proved a point, we will soon run a machine-sewing class!
My (purple) and James'(yellow)accomplishments. Despite all the sewing I've done, this is the first time I've done a project completely by hand with all the correct stitches.
I've been slowly trying to get my archery gear sorted, and I spent yesterday afternoon repairing arrows. To round off I decided to make a leather quiver for said arrows! It came out pretty well, and I plan to dye it red-brown and then paint on a Celtic pattern.
With the extra free time I've had, I've also been trying my hand at pie making. My steak-and-kidney pies received the highest complement I've had yet from my understated hubby, "That was quite nice.", and turned out so filling we had enough to freeze for three more meals. The pic below is of the chicken pies I've made this morning from the extra chicken we cooked last night.
