Sand

As far as the eye can see

Last night, we flew to Sebha, from where we drove into the desert

We left the road at Camp Tekerbiba and ventured towards the Ubari Lakes

 

We drove through wadis, along ridges, over dunes in two 4WDs, expertly driven by two young drivers from Sebha.

 

Most of the time, there was nothing but sand, although in the wadis (valleys) were a few scrubby bushes and the occasional palm tree.  We stopped at four of the Ubari lakes, where there were groups of Tuareg merchants with tables full of silver jewellery, bright pieces of fabric for wrapping on the head and other bits and pieces.

The landscape is truly magnificent, the temperature comfortably warm and the driving terrific fun!

We arrived at Camp Alawi in the late afternoon, in time to shower and wait for the sun to go down.  Alcazar, a friendly Tuareg chap made us a cup of Libyan tea (strong, sweet, delicious) and we enjoyed the peace and quiet of a night in a tented desert camp.

Of course, I took hundreds more photos, so as before, here's a slideshow.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Septimus Severus fecit

My goodness, what a legacy.

Today we're in Leptis Magna.

We had the place (almost) to ourselves, too.

It meant that we could linger, take a closer look and stand, speechless, admiring the craftsmanship, engineering and sheer bravado which inspired the architects of this place.

Of course, I  took hundreds of photographs.  Here's a sampling.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Green

Today's post is brought to you by the colour green.

 

We are in Libya.

Pink

We spent last evening with our small friends and having received a note earlier in the week, I went prepared with a bag of tricks, most of which were pink.

 

Whilst slightly larger hands fiddled with rubber stamps and sequins, smaller hands did a bit of colouring on the other side of the kitchen table.  As you can see, someone else was quite enjoying himself too!

 

It was a race to the finish before bedtime, but four people are going to have a sweet surprise today.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Update on Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 1:16PM by Gill Thomas

Posting today's picture to my 365 blog, I found myself thinking that Love Hearts are a shadow of their former selves now we're using only natural colouring in foodstuffs and also wondering when "email me" began to appear.  Still, "Canny Lad" and "Bonny Lass" are a good sign that the vernacular is alive and kicking!

Inspiring

I was at an inspiring workshop yesterday, hopefully the start of something exciting.  There was certainly a great deal of inspiration, a wealth of talent and a buzz of enthusiasm in the room and if all of that could be bottled and put to good use, then how can it result in anything less than amazing?

We heard of great things which have already been achieved and plenty about what we might do ourselves, but for me, one very stylish and beautifully dressed woman stole the show as soon as spoke about people who put a button in the fruit bowl, who feel they have to pick up that pretty pebble and take it home. 

Erika Knight  was one of those names which seemed familiar as soon as I saw it on the agenda.  I knew it from knitting books, but felt I'd heard it elsewhere too.  For sure I had, for when she introduced herself and what she has done, I think that anyone interested in craft, fashion and textiles in the last twenty or thirty years must have encountered her work in some form or other.

Her current work (above) hits the spot with me.  More important, it was clear that her words resonated with the other women there in the room as she identified a shared personality trait amongst us and described so accurately what characteristics set us aside from other people.  It's that beautiful button which we pick up and roll around in our fingers, the one which we want to keep, to cherish but yet don't have a use for.

The button we put into the fruit bowl.  The pebble which stays in our pocket or finds its way onto the bathroom windowsill.

It explains why there's a small Vietnamese coin and a little wooden cross from a friend who went to Jerusalem in the paperclip dish on my desk.

Why there's a few odd shells, seeds and pods in the drawer where we keep the paper napkins in the sitting room

and possibly why there's a bit of Christmas ribbon, a green Waitrose charity token and a hat* from an Innocent drink in the kitchen basket where we put all kinds of oddments.

Or perhaps that's simply that I haven't had a clear up for a while? Definitely can't excuse everything away by simply saying I have a creative mind!

Have you got a button in your fruitbowl?  A collection of what my Mum would have called "odds and sods" in the corner of a drawer?  Would you have been there nodding with agreement as you recognised yourself?

Another first for me later in the day as I sat and listened to someone with experience to share.  The name was sort of familiar, her background seemed to fit...I gradually put two and two together and identified a fellow blogger!  I have met other bloggers before, of course, for some brave souls have come and introduced themselves to me at AllyPally and such places, but that's always been prompted by a mutual friend or somehow been less of a suprise than this time, where we were both there in a more professional capacity.  I must say that although it felt a bit strange knowing rather more about each other than normally would be the case on meeting someone for the first time, it was lovely to meet the warm and friendly woman who tells the stories and who creates such interesting bits of knitting and stitching.  I still felt a little bit like a stalker though!!

*  I might have answered my own quesiton when I found the link to Innocent above, but  does anyone know if Innocent recycle these little hats for next year?  Can I send these back to them?