Welcome to Techno-Billies

This is the view from the front of the house. Now, the issue I have always had is.... where does the garden stop and the finca begin? We normally like to wait until the wild flowers set seed before cutting the grass. It does mean that it looks a bit untidy for a few weeks but I think its worth it because I love the wild flowers and of course the bees and other insects they attract and because of them the huge variety and number of birds that we get. But.  Having decided that the bit immediately around the house was getting beyond a joke, Steve strimmed it down.  But where should one stop? In this little spot, which is supposed to be garden rather than finca, there is some pretty flowers hiding among the weeds. And a baby grapefruit tree. Weeding by hand here is a mammoth task.  I had intended to plant so much that the weeds would be crowded out but I really let it get away from me. I have still to decide where the boundaries of the garden sh

The weather has not been great this spring so far.  In one sense it has been really good, in as much as we have had plenty of rain for the garden and to water in my new almond trees.  It has also been on the whole, gentle rain.  So all my new veg in the veggie plot is doing well... so far. But we did have one lovely Sunday morning.... This is a total experiment, putting up video on blogger.  To date I have never managed to get a bit of video loaded.  Bear in mind that I do not have any fancy editing software so this is just one take... what you see is what you get. Click Here If it works of course lol!  Enjoy!

One of my New Year's Resolutions (if you can call them that) was to finish several sewing projects that I had started a while ago (some of them were started a very long while ago) and by doing so to reduce the amount of fabric I have that just sits about patiently waiting on me and cluttering up my sewing space while it waits. I have made a really good start on this.  Since January I have made two pairs of trousers, two men's shirts and two jersey dresses.  These were all projects that had been waiting for some time with brand new fabric bought especially for them. I also altered a few things.  A man's shirt sleeve taken up so that it fits me.  A not very flattering dress made into a much more wearable summer skirt.  Another summer skirt made from an old cotton sarong and a further two old dresses made into summer tank tops. This back to back sewing has highlighted my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to dressmaking.  a lot of the art of making clothes

I follow a few blogs online, most of which I have links to down on the right hand side of this page.  A couple in particular are written by people who I began to think of as friends... but that's only because when people share a part of their lives with you... even if you don't make any comments, you begin to feel like you know them.  Especially if what they write about is of particular interest to you. Four new almond trees Today, I looked up the list of my favourite blogs and settled myself down with a cup of tea for a few minutes of enjoyable updating on my 'friends' lives.  Only to be shocked by the news that one of my most favourite bloggers has passed away.  She wasn't old... ages with me I think.  It was obviously sudden and her husband has updated her blogging followers - for which I am grateful.  It would have been awful just to have the blog stop with no explanation.... but... talk about shock. Planted on a dull rainy day - so Mother Nature wate