Saturday, February 8, 2014

Sunshine, Stitching and Songs.........


Hello girls, I may be wilting in the heat but this Sunflower is loving it.
This is a low growing  variety of but it's certainly making an impact in the garden.
The heat this Summer has been on going.......my poor garden is looking a little worse for wear.......




The tomatoes are red and juicy and fruiting beautifully......and thankfully there's no fruit fly this Summer.

The beans on the other hand are growing but not setting.
There are flowers here and there but leaves are burnt.
I used some old bed sheets to make shade tee pees over them, but I'm not too hopeful of getting any beans.






On these hot days I tend to stay indoors in the aircon. and go out to water the garden in the cool of the evening.

The heat seemed to sap my creativity last week and my sewing machine sat around gathering dust which was most unusual.

But thankfully, my mojo seems to have returned and I've been stitching some little birdies......





The hotter it gets the more I dream about cooler days.
It comes out in my stitching .......




This lady rugged up in her hat, coat and boots seems to be featuring and I think she may become part of a series of stitcheries.
I had alot of fun putting them together



For some time I've wanted to try a different design for a tea cosy.
 I wanted to create a patchwork look and keep it simple.
It's certainly an 'in your face' colour combo.....
not everyone's cup of tea...
 (hehe, no apologies for that one!!)




and on the reverse side......or is this the front.
You figure it out, I'm confused!!





Outside things are very dry, the grass has browned off. 
Living in the country where our water supply is from the tank or dam, we don't waste water on lawn.
It gets brown and crunchy and when the weather breaks in Autumn and we get some rain it greens up again.




Despite the hot days the evenings cool down enough to sleep well....I think I've had a fan on only 2 nights.

Thankfully this week we did get a cool change and a couple of nights I even had a blanket on!!

Temps are back up for the weekend and windy conditions Sunday  mean we'll be on high alert for bush fires.

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the "Black Saturday" bush fires here in Victoria.

I remember it was still 40 deg at midnight on that particular evening......we certainly don't want to go through that again.



You've heard of Kitty Litter, well there's a new product out called Kitty Mulch!!

Tigger has his own way of keeping cool.
 Not my idea of fun, but you know what cats are like!




2014 is shaping up to be a big year for us here in the SBL household.......
We will be selling our home and building a new one.
There'll be limited time to sew but the creating will still take place to help keep me on an even keel!!


Our little Folk Festival also takes place in March.
I'm really excited about this years line up as one of the performers is a blogger from Melbourne........

Mezz Coleman from Mezz Makes Stuff will be performing.
 I won her CD in a giveaway last year or was it 2012?!!
 I suggested she put in an application for the festival and she was accepted woohoo.......
Can't wait to meet her and see her perform live.

If you'd like to have a listen to her singing
 Shelter by Eric Bogle,
 here's a link, be warned it's a powerful song
 you'll need to have your tissues handy.


Righto, girls that's it for me......time for a cuppa and ooooh maybe some stitching, better dash, see ya and thanks so much for all your lovely comments last post....♥

Claire Xx




28 comments:

  1. such hot down there!!!!! W are having a lot of rainy days, instead and I have quite enough of them! I wish I could see a ray of light in the next few days : these grey skies are killing me!!!
    your stitched lady is adorable, Claire!!!!
    xxxxxx Ale

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  2. Your latest applique is fabulous - lovely little bird - I still treasure the one my friend sent me and it is always out where I can enjoy it. Good luck with your housing project, it will be very interesting to see how you go along the way if you have time for the odd blog. Betty

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  3. It's been hot during the nights here as well, the air con has been on for ever! I too dream of cooler days and some wet stuff falling from the sky. Good luck with the sale of your home xx

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    1. Hey Angela, great to hear from you. A cooler day today has made things alot easier, but rain would be great.
      Good chance of getting some over the next couple of days. Hope you get some over your way too Enjoy your weekend,

      Claire Xx

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  4. Gorgeous makes as always Claire. I love the bright tea cosy and the sweet little pictures.
    Your hills and garden look lovely too. sounds like you have a big year ahead of you....good luck with all the changes.
    jacquie x

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    1. Thanks so much Jacquie, it certainly is going to be a busy year for us........
      We'll still have a view of the hills but it will be alot different from where we are.
      Send us over some of your rain if you can, we could certainly do with a good drop.
      Have a great weekend,

      Claire Xx

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  5. Your creations are so inspiring, I love every single thing you make. Very beautiful sunflower, and the tomatoes are such a beautiful shade of red. Very exciting news about the new house, is it in the area you currently live in?
    Hugs to you,
    Meredith

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  6. Hello Claire
    Wonderful sunflower!
    What a project building your own house,very exciting. I'll look forward to that as I hope you'll show progress of it here on your blog.
    Your creations as beautiful as ever and highly original but its the cosys that I have my eye on. I love them!!!

    keep well

    Amanda x

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  7. Wish I could pop over for a day to enjoy your fine weather! I can use some warmth! It's wet and stormy in Holland.

    Your needlework looks beautiful!

    Madelief x

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  8. I love your winter ladies, and the very bright tea cosy. Lovely to see some warm colours.

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    1. Thanks Ginx, I can imagine how much you are looking forward to Spring and some sunshine.
      Have a great weekend,

      Claire Xx

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  9. Love your work, and that tea cosy is fabulous. I too am dreaming of cooler days

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  10. That's exciting about a new house....hope it doesn't interrupt your beautiful crafting too much.....I wish I was more like that sunflower and thrived in the heat..I too am like you stay indoors and venture out in the cool of the evening xx Have a great week. xxx

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  11. Hi
    I love your machine embroidery pictures they are brilliant. I went on a short day course with my Bernina and really enjoyed it. I suppose it's practice and more practice, to be as good as you are. Any tips Thankyou for sharing. Keep cool.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Sarah, lovely to hear from you. Practice is the key word and it's the word I found really frustrating as a kid, but when you love doing something it's not so hard. Let me know what you're up to with your stitching and what you want to do and I'll try and give you some pointers..........

      Claire :)

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    2. Many thanks Claire that's very kind of you. Hopefully if we have power at the weekend I will be able to get my sewing machine out - I would like to do some applique pictures. Happy sewing.

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    3. Hey Sarah, hope the power is back on, it must be quite frustrating with out it.
      We'll take some rain if you would like to send it this way......
      I find with my stitcheries that it's good to use a fabric with a bit of body to it. That's why I like to use blankets otherwise you need to use fabric stiffener or a couple of layers of fabric. But please shoot me an email if you would like any more specific info.......

      Claire Xx

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  12. What beautiful projects you've been working on!!! You're so talented!!!
    How about we swap for a few days - some of your sunshine and heat, for some of our rain and chilliness??? ;-)
    Carly
    x

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  13. The tomatoes look gorgeous, as does your stitching projects. What a big year ahead for you Claire! I'd love to pop on down to the Yack festival, would be so much fun, but can't see it happening I'm afraid. Hope the weather cools down for you soon. cheers Wendy

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    1. Thanks Wendy, definitely a big year ahead for us...... Be good when the hot temps disappear and you can get outside and do some chores comfortably.
      Wouldn't that be great if you could come to our little festival, it's so much fun and great music too........
      Hope all is going well for you up North,

      Claire Xx

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  14. As usual your embroidery amazes, inspires and makes me drool. Just love them and the new tea cosy is wonderful. I'm just a little over the hot dry scorching weather.Let's hope for all our sakes that we get some rain soon. I'm feeling for all the people down your way with fires all around them and hope you are keeping safe.

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    1. Thanks so much Kate, I love my tine spent stitching....
      Yes, I'm over the dry weather too, just waiting for the rain, there's a large rain band heading this way, but weather we get much or anything, who knows? The fires are thankfully nowhere near us, but it is a worrying time. A much cooler day today has mad life a little more pleasant.
      Here's to a wet weekend......

      Claire Xx

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  15. Hello Claire. Just been listening to that song - it's beautiful and your friend has an amazing voice. How brilliant that you will be able to meet up with her at your folk festival. Love your stitching - especially the dear lady who found the lonely heart - I loved that - Valentine's Day and all. The bush fires are certainly worse than any drop of rain that we've had. Hope you get some much needed rain soon xx

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  16. Dear Claire, you've been coping admirably in all that heat. Those tomatoes will reward you, they always amaze me how tough they can be.
    Good luck with the change of home - some exciting times ahead. We're going through a similar change. Life goes on, and it's the little things that make such a bright difference to our lives.
    I love your sweet lady who found the heart. Also that colourful tea cosy is just perfect for a lovely pot of brew!
    Cheers now :D)

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  17. Love the sweet little bird stitchery and the daisy t-cozy! So cheerful! Your tomatoes look perfect to me! Our grass gets quite brown in summer, too, but the heat from last summer actually killed it. Our attempt to reseed didn't go as well as we had planned, so we may need to do a spring planting, and then a third in the fall again. Sigh... Selling and buying a new house? Where are you moving to?

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  18. Just gotta say ... I LOVE that tea cosy!

    I hope things have cooled down for you x

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  19. Love all your beautiful stitchery. And what a gorgeous sunflower! I just finished ordering all my vegetable seeds for this year. Will start some indoors in a couple of weeks but right now we're still covered in snow. Hope you get a bit more rain soon!

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