Wet oak

Will this be workable after its dried out?

Finished (maybe) bowl carving

Finished the bowl - some pics to have a look at.

Couple more bowl pics

Bowl pics

I started this yesterday with another odd-shaped piece of burr oak.
I wanted to try to carve it by hand for the experience and to contrast with turning so I gouged out the inside so far with the trusty gouge and mallet on my knee in the sunny back garden yesterday over the course of a couple of hours.
My partner insisted on the mouse - I didn't really want the hassle but, well, did I really have a choice? It's formed from a large nobbly bit which had a chainsaw cut through one side so I've worked round it - the mouse will eventually be peering over the edge whilst clinging on to the side with it's tail looped over the lip.
Not sure what shape the bowl will be eventually - sort of clam shaped I suppose - still more to do...
Again, I must apologise for the quaity of the pics - I'm not set up yet at all for doing any of this properly.

Bowl pics

More bowl pics

More pics of carving

More pics - taken with mobile - still can't find the camera lead...

Finished (maybe) mice carving

Here is the finished - I think - carving.
It's just had a coat of sand sealer so far but I like the colour.
It took 3 days using my new Axminster multi-tool - the small gouge and router. The rest I did by hand using a rasp and needle files. Hope the theme of mice on a wedge of cheese is obvious - though I did want it to 'grow' out of the wood.
It's not absolutely finished - there are a few small marks which irritate me, but, I reached a point where I felt I had chanced fate enough with some of the fiddly bits.
Feel free to critque, bearing in mind that I'm not a zoologist and this is the first hand to tools since guitar making in the 70s!!
And, yes, they don't have whiskers...