Sweet Birdy Happenings

Hello there and welcome to a new week.

After a cold, grey and damp weekend, filled with homemade soup, date scones and plenty of time relaxing we are now into a new week.

The sun was shining this morning, woohoo..........

Isn't it amazing what a difference it makes to your mood?

Unfortunately it was being coy and hid behind some old, grey clouds, peeping out occasionally. There's been a keen breeze at times, which has been good for helping to dry a load of washing.

My week has gotten off to a wonderful start with the above parcel arriving in my letter box.

Just look at all those stamps, customs note and drawing to the left of my address.............

I knew immediately who had sent it.............can you guess, before you read on ?

This is the beautiful birthday mug I ordered from Julie Whitmore.

It was a very special treat to myself and it is absolutely gorgeous as is all Julie's work.

I had asked Julie if she could paint a Red Robin on the front and .............

A nest with blue eggs on the back.

Julie also added lovely green polka dots on the handle with a sweet pink forget-me-not next to it. Speaking of handles it's a good size, you can fit a couple of fingers in it and hold the mug firmly.

And when you've had your final sip, sitting in the bottom of the cup is.............

A sweet little ladybird.

I'm onto my second cuppa already and I just love it.

Enclosed in the box were a couple of prints Julie had blogged about recently. I had admired the chicken in particular and as the prints arrived the day she was posting my parcel ,she very thoughtfully popped a couple in as well.

Aren't they sweet, I love the owl with it's very stylish acorn top beret and oak leaf.

Don't forget you can click on the pics to enlarge and see more detail.

If you haven't yet discovered Julie's world of whimsical characters and wonderful creations click on the link above.

Being a broochy kinda gal and being Winter which is the best time for brooches, I picked up another to add to my growing collection.

This gorgeous fella is made by Dick and Dora and I found him when we were on holidays in Tassie recently.

It was a tough decision as there was also a rather handsome looking rooster alongside.

It was almost a case of toss a coin to see which one came home with me, but in the end the Robin obviously won.

I must be in a brooch frame of mind at the moment as I sat down on Saturday afternoon and did some hand embroidery or 'slow stitching' as I like to call it.

I've always loved birds nests and eggs, sorry about the blurry pic, somehow my wee camera doesn't like taking closeups.

Not perfect, but I will iron out the bumps in the next one.

When I was young and dad was mowing the nature strip, I would get some of the grass clippings and make a nest on the ground, next to the fence hoping that some homeless bird would find it and decide to call it home..........

Today's creative endeavours are a WIP, so a sneak peek.

So far, so good, pop back later in the week to see what it is..........

Saturday afternoon visitors, they must've heard that I had made date scones or maybe they were practicing the 'chicken dance'..........

I hope you've all had a good weekend and got to enjoy some time doing the things which make you happy.

It's time to start thinking about tea/dinner, better get the washing off the line first, but maybe there's time for one more cuppa..........

Thanks all for dropping by to say 'hi', it's always lovely to hear from you,

Till next time, take care,

Claire X