Thursday, October 11, 2012

Sweet Surprises.........


It's no secret I'm a broochy kinda gal and I have a growing collection of them.....
I was fortunate to win a giveaway over at
and part of the prize was this gorgeous brooch handmade by Trudy......







 The parcel arrived on Tuesday.....beautifully wrapped and full of wonderful things.
Yes, there was chocolate
.....delicious, Lindt chokkies.
Of course they didn't last long!!

A sweet little crocheted flower which reminded me of dark peppermint chocolate....





and fabric, lots of fat quarters from Trudy's stash.

Florals in soft, muted tones......just beautiful.
My pic doesn't do them justice...

I'm going to have lots of fun playing with these.

My fabric stash has a disproportionate amount of polka dot fabric amongst it, so these lovely florals will help balance things a little.

Oh, I do love finding a parcel in the letter box.

Thanks so much Trudy I love it all...






A quick market update from last Saturday.
Due to rain, the market was moved indoors to an old church hall....
Despite the wet weather quite a few people dropped in  after visiting the farmers market across the road.
I had quite a good day and yes, I did sell one of my 'new' hearts....




View through the window, love the reflection in the gnarled, old tree...
The rain was quite heavy throughout the morning so when things quietened down we packed up an hour early.

Hubby had the heater going, so Saturday afternoon was spent indoors, staying warm and enjoying the Wintry weather.....
you know me!!






Another lovely surprise to come my way this week.
This sweet little Owl needle case.....
My sis Rosie and her hubby returned from their hol to the UK and
knowing that I love Owls she picked this up for me on her travels.

What a hoot!!
It's just too tweet.

ok that's it for the jokes





She also bought back this beautiful book which is a gift from another sister who lives in the UK....
It gives a month by month description of what's happening in the garden and has room for notes and photographs.
 Our seasons and months might be the opposite here, but my sister knows me well......I love it. 





Spring continues to keep us on our toes with a mix of weather.

Last Thursday it was 27 deg. today it barely managed 10deg. with rain. 
Time to crank up the heater!!

On fine days the girls and their fella have been enjoying some time out of their run.





My Aeonium is flowering, a bright splash of colour on a grey day.
From one small piece this plant has filled a wheel barrow and continues to reach for the sky, eek!!




I would love to say I have this Grevillea growing in my garden but sadly no......
Great colours, rosy pink and a lemony yellow.
It's really very striking and I would love to grow it.
If you are familiar with it, could you please let me know what's it called.
Hopefully, I could track down a plant.
 Would be great to have more bird attracting plants in the garden.



Another floral discovery.......
A white flowering gum out on the verge.
Lots of 'fringed' blossom.
Nice finding these little surprises....






Tig's got the right idea and the right coat for a cold day....
He's not silly!!




I've been busy in the garden this week and it's been great to make some headway with the weeding.
 I'm happy to say it's just about under control. 
Thanks to Saturday's rain, the ground is lovely and soft so not too much effort required.
I also planted up some seedlings, hoping to have greater variety of flowers this Summer.

Another day in the garden should just about have it sorted, yay!!
Next week I must get back into the sewing with an extra market or two coming up I need to stock up.......

Thanks for popping over for a visit girls. 
I hope you've had a great week and managed to tick a couple of things off your 'to do ' list.


Take care,

Claire x 


20 comments:

  1. Gosh, you've covered a lot in this post. Lovely photos!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, isn't the Grevillea beautiful? I'd like to know if you do find out the type, I'd love to try to get one for our new garden. What a lovely post, full of things to cheer me up on a dark, rainy English night.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh I do love your brooch, its beautiful! Beatrix Potter is still one of my favourites!!

    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely giveaway and what a lovely stall you had! Your sisters know you well, Claire :) Enjoy your lovely Spring? weather - Winter is drawing in here, brrrrr!
    Alison x

    ReplyDelete
  5. A post full of lovely things. I especially like the brooch that you won and your view, as ever.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gretel's comment could be my comment too - except mine is from a wet, miserable Scottish evening!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glad your craft fair went well, gosh what a lot of lovely parcels! Ada :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Claire,I love brooches too and the little owl is gorgeous. Love your picture of the tree through your window.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Claire - I always look forward to your posts, always so jam packed with all your newsy news. I think there is a grevillea called Misty Pink or something along those lines. You could always ask Dr. Google!
    Lovely win that you won (and pressies too). Great surprises in the mail. Extreme spring weather here too at the moment. Tig is clever, but can just imagine the scampering if the brolly blew away. It's windy here today, so that's why that thought came along. Love the snap of your chooks - what a scenic run for them. cheers Wendy

    ReplyDelete


  10. First, the brooch is adorable, second you must be very much loved to receive all taht swag!

    Thanks for the pics of your chooks, and the beautiful flowring peach grevillea...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love all the pics. That Grevillea is amazing!! It doesn't look real. What a gorgeous plant.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So many sweet things arriving in the mail for you...glad to see you are back in the swing of things at home. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Glad you did well at the fair!
    And what a treat to have all that stuff arrive in the post! I have to say that I, too, have mostly spotty fabrics. They ARE the best, though, aren't they???
    Happy Friday!
    Carly
    x

    ReplyDelete
  14. wow..so lucky getting such fun things in the post! much better then bills, i say! all your pics are so gorgeous, thanks for sharing them with us xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. You have a mountain! (I'm jealous.) :)

    What a nice package, full of lovely things. And since you recently gave away two beautiful needle cases, how right that you should receive one for yourself.

    Those flowering plants are so exotic-looking - the pink and lemon one almost looks like candy, or sculpture. (In fact it reminds me a bit of a blown-glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly in the Milwaukee Art Museum.)

    Love that Beatrix Potter book. Have you seen "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady"? I think that might be right up your alley too.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. So many posts I have enjoyed catching up on, I've missed loads.

    Btw love those heel less shoes, why wouldn't you want a pair! I reckon they'd definitely be the job for me when I'm out vaccinating sheep!

    You've had some lovely parcels since you've been back, especially the lovely watercolour and embroidery, what a wonderful gift.

    Your giveaway prizes were lovely, what a great bundle of things to play with.

    So glad that you are settled back home, even if the weather is a bit iffy, lovely seeing all those little spring signs appearing thick and fast.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Also....can't get over the parrots on your lawn ....how cool!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a very full post! Your needlework is so inspiring! I've been reading back through your blogs and really like your style - love the whiskery fox :) And your garden blooms are so exotic. Great photos - really enjoyed the tour :) Wendy

    ReplyDelete
  19. ooh that crochet flower does look like dark peppermint chocolate, delicious!

    Lots of interesting photos in this post.

    ReplyDelete
  20. So happy you liked your little parcel in the post, Claire!! x

    ReplyDelete

Life's busy isn't it?......thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
I love hearing from you and will reply via email unless you are set up as a
'no reply blog'
in which case I will reply here on the comments page...♥

Thankyou xx