Bears & Blankets...

Last year while the pandemic was in full swing and we were in strict lockdown, I found it comforting and stress-relieving to crochet giant granny squares for throws.  I think I made four or five and ended up giving them away to friends and family.  Stress levels are fairly high again at the moment for various reasons, so I am crocheting like crazy in the evenings once more.  This is the latest blankie - the camera has not done justice to the colours unfortunately.  It will be for sale in my Etsy shop once I take some decent snaps.

I'm also back to making Otis stuffies - they seem to sell before I have even finished them!

I must sit down one afternoon and cut out some more fabric for them - that is the worst part of making these, the mess and the coughing up of furballs afterwards!

Once the cutting out is over and done with, the rest of the making process is quite fun - I wish I had kept count of how many of these I have made!

One the easel...well, it's the lid to a trinket box, but I am painting Otis as well.  Nearly finished.
 

Tragedy...

 I lived in Greece for many years - my sister still does.  She married a ship's purser who gave up the sea to start his dream business, a riding stables.  This was over 45 years ago.  They started small, renting a piece of land and buying up ex-racing horses that were destined for the knacker's yard.  Horse riding was an elite pastime in Greece back then, pretty much only for the rich, but people could afford to at least have lessons.

Slowly over the years the business expanded.  They bought more school horses,  took on livery horses, entered show jumping competitions - one of the best showjumpers was one of the ex-race horses, an Arab named Aris.  My niece and nephew grew up riding from as soon as they were able to sit on a horse and ended up champions in show jumping and dressage - they even competed in the 2012 Olympics, and my brother in law was chef d'equipe for the Olympic games that year.  Horses and riders trained at Varimbombi entered international events with much success.

Last week it all came crashing down - fire broke out nearby, burning not only acres and acres of forest, but also the whole riding club.  My sister and her family have lost everything.  There is no insurance against forest fires, they happen too often in Greece.  There will be a small government grant towards re-building, but it will not be enough.

There is a crowd funding website - if you feel you are able to give a little towards the re-building, please do, it will be so very much appreciated.  If you can't, that's OK, thank you for reading this far.

https://gogetfunding.com/iobvarympompi/

Grazer...

This is a painting of the bear 128, Grazer, and one of her yearling cubs.  Watching the Explore.org bear cams this year has been crazy, lots and lots of bears and Grazer on the defensive the whole time - she has a reputation for beating the snot out of any other bear that dares to even look at one of her cubs.  However, I caught this tender moment a couple of weeks ago, just after she had been nursing her two cubs in a quiet spot under some trees and thought it would make a sweet painting.  Painted in watercolour on paper and will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

Next up - I've been asked to be the prize in the American magazine Travel Guide's summer competition again this year.  First prize is a painting of the winner's favourite bear, second and third prizes are a painted trinket box & a stuffed Otis bear, so I had better get a move on with the box & toy!