Sunday, November 10, 2013

Budgies, Brooches, Blooms, Birds.........Bed !

Helloooooooo girls, it's me......yes, I'm still here
Albeit, sporadically, occasionally.......well sometimes!!
Mind you I do pop by for a visit and comment, so I haven't completely disappeared.
Thanks to Anne of Ungardened Moments for a lovely email checking to see if all was OK as I had been missing in action for some time.
You see I am now one of those Bloggers who has gone over to play in the Facebook playground and stayed there.......they have different toys over there and bright, shiny things and well.....I know there's no excuse.
But here I am, I hope you are all well, we won't talk about how the year has flown, but here we are in November......

Things here at Sweet Birdy Love are busy.

 Spring has been stunning and continues to thrill me with all the Roses in full bloom now.
My Hollyhocks have self seeded and are popping up wherever they can.
I hope I get a variety of colour....:)
We are also planting vegie seedlings and the garden is filling up quickly.

The weather has been quite changeable....last Thursday night I was kicking the blankets off it was so warm and then Saturday I was adding an extra one as it had turned quite cool.
I hold on to the cooler temps and enjoy them as much as I can as I know Summer is just around the corner and along with it the heat!

I also love this time of year as farmers slash and bale their paddocks for hay/silage. From the great room window I watch the green paddocks turn a patchwork of gold as the grass is cut, left to dry, raked and baled. I love hearing the rumble of tractors towing balers down the road throughout the day.

As usual there is plenty of sewing taking place and Budgies are featuring at the moment.
Hubby was given a gorgeous, green blanket last week and I couldn't wait to start cutting and stitching.
This little fella is going to be a sewing needle book for a market in December.




A few more needle books for the market.
Of course I couldn't stop at one Budgie, they are such fun to stitch.........






I've also whipped up some brooches and I couldn't go past a cute little Hedgehog with a couple of oak leaves.
I do love the woodland theme..... 



Let's duck outside for a little fresh air shall we?....

William Morris rose planted last season has burst into bloom and is  just beautiful but I'm afraid I'm somewhat disappointed with the lack of scent.
I can't believe I bought a Rose that doesn't have much of a perfume!!
This photo was taken about 3 weeks ago and you can see how green everything was. It has dried off a little, but still quite green.


The Dutch Irises in the Wild Wood, put on another lovely display.
 I noticed the leaves growing but then always get a surprise to see the flowers.
They blend in with the white trunks of the Birches so well.
They're very happy in this posi and have been there for about 4 years now.
 I also planted the Blue variety of Dutch Irises but only got one flower this year.
 Hopefully next year a few more will bloom.






The Lilac was stunning and I just love the purple of the flower  and turquoise of the vase......the perfume is beautiful and I picked quite a few bunches to bring inside and enjoy.





It's also Magpie season and the hatched young ones spend the days in our garden with their beaks open calling to be fed.
I love watching them they're such characters. 
But I would be happier if they didn't stand outside the bedroom window at 6am waiting to be fed!!

The Magpies inspired me to stitch a textile picture for our local art show which opened a week ago.
I've forgotten to up load it, oops....next time!!



This is one of the 4 pieces I entered in the show.
Watercolour and stitching on canvas.
I haven't done this before, so was quite pleased with the
overall effect.
Thankfully, all of my pieces sold, so I didn't have to bring them home and find somewhere to store them.
I love seeing what everyone enters.
 There are some very creative and talented people living in the area.

Unbeknown to me No.1 son actually bought a piece of art at the show and surprised me with it tonight when he arrived home.
It's a beautiful pastel drawing of a Flame Robin sitting on a rusty old star picket.
 I was a bit gobsmacked I have to say, but totally thrilled.
I'm sure you all know by now how much I love seeing those Robins in Winter.
He bought so that I didn't have to wait till Winter to see them!
I'll post a pic next time..... 


A little more stitching......another "Woodling' but this one is a little different.
She was part of an order I sent over to Janet at The Empty Nest in Warrenton Virginia.
Janet has been selling my work in her gorgeous shop.
So part of what I am working on at the moment will find it's way to The Empty Nest as well.......









Finally, I just  had to share this pic of Tigger with you.
What is it about cats and boxes?
He quite happily curled up and went to sleep in it, despite there not being alot of room to stretch.

Wouldn't that be a great attribute to have?

 Being able to curl up anywhere and nod off.

Talking about nodding off, it's time I did.....
So there you have it a quick little post of what I've been up to recently.
Just the usual things happening. The year is drawing to a close and that pair of socks I intended to knit this year, hasn't
eventuated. 
My sister and BIL from Wakefield in the UK were visiting about a fortnight ago. It was lovely to see them.
 Our last catch up was in 2007 when we headed over to the UK.
We had a lovely time together and they enjoyed the warmer weather . Not sure if they were enjoying the 41deg as they headed towards Port Augusta last week!!

So a busy week ahead of me. Stacks of sewing to get through.
Ukulele class is on tomorrow night and the Friday night
Yackandandah World Record Bunting Attempt happening so it's all go here.......
Hope all is well with you and thanks for visiting.

Take care,

Claire X 



21 comments:

  1. You know, Claire, I was just wondering where all my favourite Bloggy Friends had got to and here one of them is! How fab to catch up with your goings-on which as always are as busy as ever. Beautiful makes there too - I still treasure my little Sweet Birdy Love needlecase that you sent as part of our swap - a-a-a-a-g-g-e-e-s ago now but I still love it so and am still using the pretty pins you sent me too. ALWAYS great to see you around - enjoy those temps - it was frosty over here last night and I followed a gritting truck home the other night......brrrrrr!

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  2. I know that you were there somewhere!!!! I saw you on FB, but that is not my favourite place to visit you!!! ;oD I love to read your posts, you know! beautiful makes as usual my dear!!!!!
    xxxxxx Ale

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  3. Oh my goodness you have been so cusy with your beautiful sewing creations. I love all that you have made and the pictures of the flowers are just stunning. I love the rose, even with no fragrance and lilacs are my very favorite flower, we can not grow them here which makes me so sad.
    Hugs to you,
    Meredith

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  4. I love your newsy posts, the dips into your world of garden, family and crafting. Your sewing as ever is exquisite...you are too clever by far! The mountains in the background of that rose picture look like they need climbing, but maybe when its a bit cooler....

    We have a young lad who plays uke in our church band, he has a plethora of instruments and he is good on all of them.

    Lovely to see what's happening with you.x

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  5. Welcome back Claire! Wish we had your beautiful spring weather. It's raining cats and dogs in Holland. We are in the middle of autumn.

    You have been really busy indeed. You are a wiz with needle and thread. Your embroidery looks beautiful!!

    Happy week!

    Madelief x

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  6. Lovely to see a post here Claire and to catch up, on all your lovely crafty news and gorgeous stitchery. The budgies are adorable, the hedgehogs SOOO cute.
    It's a bit disappointing to buy a rose and then find out that the perfume, well just isn't there. Hopefully the beauty of the blooms will in some way make up for the lack of perfume.
    Anne xx

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  7. Beautiful blog, words and pictures! I play the Uke, too! Well, I'm learning.

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    1. Hey Angela, what a lovely surprise to find you visiting my blog....welcome.
      Hope you are enjoying learning the Uke, certainly easier on the fingers than the guitar .
      Thanks for popping by, great to hear from you.

      Claire x

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  8. Are you really learning to play the Ukelele? How fun! I love all your new stitching projects! And your spring garden roses and lilacs and iris are just beautiful!! Things are really cooling down here. We had a beautiful weekend, but the temps are supposed to plummet on Tues. I love kitties in boxes. They are such characters!

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  9. Gorgeous Claire - all of it! Lovely stitching and garden and Tigger. Good luck with the ukele - I'm planning on buying hubby one for Christmas ........

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    1. Hey Wendy, lovely to hear from you.......thanks for visiting.
      I'm sure hubby will enjoy playing the Uke, it's very easy, although just a tip, there are different sorts of Uke's and if you have large ish fingers like moi, then it's better to go for a particular style. Mr. Google can tell you all about it, as he knows everything, hehe......

      Claire :)

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  10. I have missed your posts - lovely to see what you have been doing - I have one of your lovely pcitures (robin) which I treasure.

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  11. Come back to Blogland Claire - we missed you! Beautiful stitchery as ever - love the watercolour/stitching effect on canvas - so pretty :) :)
    Alison x

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  12. WOW - those little 'needle books' are simply divine!!! Do you do custom orders? I'd love to get some made for my girlfriends for Xmas...

    I look forward to hearing back from you soon... :)

    Take Care
    Jodie

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  13. Stunning photos an I LOVE the budgies...your work is brilliant! Love it!

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  14. What a lovely catch-up! Glad to have you back in blogland! :-)
    Carly
    x

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  15. Claire I don't know how you find time to play the uke and make all your lovelies too, plus that garden, aren't you tempted just to wander about it fluttering your hand in the breeze?
    Congrats on all your sales too,
    now you just can't catch up like this on Facebook, can you?
    xx
    Julie

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  16. Gosh, Claire, and I thought I had been missing posts right and left whenever I saw you on Facebook. Apparently I missed nothing!

    Those budgies are adorable - they all have such a perky look in their eye. And the hedgehogs with oak leaves look like they could have walked straight in from the woods. That William Morris rose may not be very scented, but it's so gloriously mediaeval-looking it almost doesn't matter!

    So glad you are having a pleasant Spring - your lilacs are gorgeous. I look forward to seeing your magpie make(s). Give Tigger a pet from me.

    P.S. It's snowing here. :D

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  17. Glad to see the new season is creating inspiration for you as always your stitchery is amazing. xx

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  18. Welcome back, I've missed your posts!
    I just love all your stitchery and so envious of your Spring photos, my favourite time of year.

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  19. Hi, this is my first visit to this blog but I will be back. I just love those birds and your flowers too.

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