Goodmorning......how are you all?
I'm sitting here with a cuppa, it's a lovely cool morning which is very refreshing....
I've enjoyed a lovely, grey, overcast weekend and on Sunday, we even had a couple of mls of rain.
There were blankets on the bed at night and Winter jammies worn, lots of snuggling down and enjoying the coolness.
You gals in the Northern hemisphere will probably think I'm bonkers, but it's in my genes and I can't do anything about it!!
I was tempted to light the wood stove and start cooking soup but I resisted the urge...
Moving on to other things, I picked up this sweet little plate in Beechworth at a bricabrac shop between Christmas and the New year
What a lovely cottage garden, I couldn't resist it.
It's Queen Anne china and the design is Tudor Cottage.
Friends from Daylesford were visiting and Deb bought another little plate at the same shop.
A reminder of our day out together......
Cooler weather this week has meant certain household chores could be carried out yesterday.
WINDOW CLEANING......uggh!!
Obviously not my favourite job, but when they're done it's so satisfying.
Armed with brooms, brushes, buckets, cloths and squeegy thingy's I roped No. 1 in to help.
He swept and wiped over screens while I did the windows.
This is the view from one of my bedroom windows..... a little on the brown side at the moment, but none the less interesting.
No. 1 was happy to help as long as we could have a coffee in town when we were done........was I going to say no?
Everyone needs a carrot dangling in front of them at some stage!!
I think we deserved it, but next time I will do the windows in Spring......could someone please remind me around September!!
We've had some rather unwelcome visitors to our orchard this past week and while they are pretty to look at they are terribly destructive......
I don't mind sharing fruit as we have more than we can possibly eat, but when they take a few bites from one piece of fruit and then move onto another I do get rather annoyed.
Sprung with a beak full of apple, grrr!!
This is just a small part of the mess they have made and they can be in the orchard well before we are up and about......
This little fella has been attacking the nectarines.
You can see we have netting over the top of the orchard which keeps the bigger birds out, but these little ones can fit through the holes in the wire fence!!
Much as I love birds there are limits......
A visitor of a different kind, spotted last evening.....
This bee is actually a blue banded bee, not quite showing up the colour in the pic......
It was lovely to look at and googling it, I have found out it is one of many native bees in Australia.
First time I have seen it in my garden.......
The bird bath I purchased recently and have been moving around the garden to find the best spot for it, has been used....
not quite for it's intended purpose but......
not quite for it's intended purpose but......
Mrs Kafups, has discovered another spot for a cool drink.....
either that or she is hatching a cunning plan.
I have spied a Magpie using it, but still think it's not quite in the right spot......
This morning I'm finishing off this tea cosy.
Enjoying working with the bright colours.
On the other side I have sewn another flower and the saying is
"Let us dance in the sun wearing wild flowers in our hair"
Susan Polis Schutz
I will have it for sale over on my Facebook site in a day or so.
If you are interested please click on the Facebook badge at the top of my blog......
✿ My Spring tea cosy is finished and now on my Facebook site ready for sale.......head over there if you are interested, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.✿
I was planning to open an Etsy shop and may still do so but the price of postage is quite high for some items.
A $10.00 pincushion weighing 53gms would cost $17.50 in postage to the UK!!!!
I double checked this at another P.O. and it was correct info....
So, I am just rethinking my plans....the only way around this would be to post it without the 'filling' costing approx $7.00 and for the buyer to 'stuff and stitch' it up......not quite what I had in mind.....
Any thoughts you may have on the subject please feel free to share them.
Well I better get on and finish tidying up the sewing room. It was on my list of things to do while I was having a break from markets.........
Hope you are all well and thanks for coming over for a visit.
Have a great week and take care.....
Claire X
Hi Claire, your destructive birds ARE beautiful, too bad they're pests. Your cat looks like she already swallowed the canary ... funny, my dog gets the same look (guilty!). You need to stitch some blue bees onto your tea cozy! Enjoy the rest of your cooler day - I'm zonked and ready for a good night's rest. Wendy
ReplyDeleteHi Claire,
ReplyDeleteGosh that is so funny, I could nearly have written your post for you!
With the cooler weather (and we had a downpour of rain), we have been washing the windows with dear one removing and cleaning the screens.
And I had to persuade him with coffee down the cafe.
The pressure washer blew up, so had to go get another one as house was filthy.
The same birds have destroyed my apple trees.
I would also like input on the postage issue - I think we are in sync.
cheers
Fi
Claire,
ReplyDeleteWhat you need is a pig to eat your windfall apples!
for such lightweight items I can't understand why the postage is so high. When I ship pottery there its so much less and you know how heavy it is. Crazy huh.
Darling Tea cozy
xx
julie
Claire, I'm so glad you are getting some cooler weather. The birds are beautiful! But eating one bite from each piece of fruit is just plain not nice manners. Where are their mothers? ;-) Julie's suggestion (above) for a pig is not half bad. Or a goat. They would eat those, too.
ReplyDeleteI think you should consider opening your shop anyway, and let the people decide if they are willing to pay the shipping. Let me just say that when something really catches my eye, I don't care how much the shipping costs. Not all of your orders will be from as far away as the UK, so the shipping charges won't be that high for everyone.
I find it so lovely to stop here and read your nice posts! I envy your capacity to write long posts without being boring!!!!
ReplyDeletexxx Ale
Aren't the birds a pain. I went away for work last week and come back to a Nectarine tree without a single intact piece of fruit. :-( Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteI have found the shipping costs amazing! I have been posting similar product in Australia over the past three years and have seen a HUGE increase. I am sure most Australians haven't noticed. We desperately need some competition in the postal market though. I am considering getting courier quotes for things like my soaps and candles. At any rate, do open your on-line shop, people will make up their own mind if they want to pay the postage. I for one would pay it for some special Sweet Birdy Love original art work. x
ReplyDeleteNaughty birds, cheeky Mrs Kafups and ridiculous postage costs, but nice clean windows and the opportunity for winter jammies in the middle of summer :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Claire, we too enjoyed a coolish weekend, so nice to have that bit of respite from the heat.
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty china shown in your first two photos.
Oh boy, I can relate to naughty birds in the orchard. I stood by the plum tree the other day and took my own bites on the good areas left after the birds had taken their one bite out of the fruit. Lol, felt like I was the one raiding the orchard!
Love your bee on the flower photo and Mrs Kafups in the bird bath - it must have been lovely and cool for her in the water.
Cheerio for now and stay cool :D)
Your little plate reminds me of my Mum! Those birds look wonderful I would find it hard to be cross with them, mind you if they'd eaten half the crop maybe I would! :) x
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by "seaview cottage". !!! I love your site!! So hard to imagine hot...we are about to get snow...which I love!!! I adore your birds! I've never been to your part of the world the birds are so beautiful! Hope it stays foolish for you!!
ReplyDeleteOh....I was just reading your profile and see we love the same movies...but the most wonderful thing is you've read Beverly Nichols!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Probably my favorite read of all time...my mother adored him and introduced me...I have collected most of his books over the years...and this was before the Internet!!! I just love his writing and have read and reread most of his books!!!! Such a lovely find!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the kitty in the birdbath!
ReplyDeleteI love Etsy. I have similar issues with postal rates, but I'm just getting so used to paying a lot for postage! Sometimes I think people take it better if you just add a little to your item price so that you can charge less for postage. That said, I don't think it'll put all that many people off. I've never had anyone say boo about the postage I have to charge in my shop, and conversely I am used to paying out for shipping when I order, because unless I'm ordering from some big company, it's always expensive. I do almost all my gift shopping on Etsy and figure the money I'm saving on gas (running around the shops!) pays for shipping. :)
Ha ha I love the photo of Mrs Kafups in the bird bath!
ReplyDeleteIf only those birds would just eat one apple at a time....