Thursday, July 3, 2014

So That Was June.......

Hello girls, how are you enjoying July?

Is it cold and foggy in your neck of the woods, or is the sun shining and the garden full of beautiful blooms?

Well, we're into the second month of Winter here.

There's still plenty of wood in the shed, so all is good.
I've been enjoying some lovely damp, grey days, they make this Pluviophile smile.......



Seeing posts here and on Facebook about Summery gardens in the Northern Hemisphere gave me some wonderful inspiration, so I stitched up a 

'Summer Posy'




We celebrated "World Knit In Public Day" recently and a post on our community Facebook page bought out a group of like minded women......and a few others!!
We met in a local cafe and over coffee and yarn we stitched and chatted, laughed and shared skills and
'Yack 'n Yarn'
 was born....
 I felt a couple of vintage cloths and a basket of wool and vintage needles were necessary to 'prettify' the table.
I got absolutely no stitching done,I was teaching a friend how to crochet.
That's my  ball of sock wool with 4 needles sticking out of it in the foreground......next time.





Friend and talented knitter Julie, not only knitted this gorgeous cardy, but she also spun the wool and if I remember correctly I don't think she used a pattern either.
Anyway, she is one clever lady and it's good to have someone with her experience in our little fledgling group.
So if you are in the area and feel like a Yack or a Yarn, we will be meeting on the 4th Sunday morning of the month in a local cafe and would love you to pop in......





If I ever needed some knitting inspiration I wouldn't have to look far.
These gorgeous Eastern Rosellas visit my property daily and on a foggy, grey morning, the certainly brightened up the view.



Loving the oak leaves still hanging on to these trees and the golden, coppery colours......




This pic was taken last Saturday, a damp Wintery day.

I  rugged up and headed up to our new block to take some pics.

The Manchurian pears on the right are still holding on to some leaves.
 It's quite a different micro climate.
 Our Manchurians at home dropped all their leaves weeks ago and there's less than a kilometre between the two.



Hubby has been busy in the vegie garden.
He's cleared all the grass and weeded the beds and added more.
They'll be raised beds, to make gardening easier.
I joke that we are going to be feeding our local community with all the beds he's putting in, but he's got it all planned out and is enjoying making that plan a reality.
If you read my March post, you'll be able to compare the difference and see how much he's done.





Wonderful fairytale,Fly Agaric toadstools which grow under Oak trees......
It's quite exciting when you stumble across them and it became the inspiration for the following stitchery.




I celebrated another birthday last month, so a rather large slice of lemon meringue cheesecake was enjoyed by hubby and myself.
It would've been rude not to share!!




Our Magpie family are quite the characters and this cheeky, young, thing decided to investigate the compost bucket which I was about to empty.
It picked out a few things and scattered them around, while Tigger slept soundly through it all!!






 Robins continue to visit the garden and this beautiful female, made a stunning picture against the blue, blue sky.
I love all the birdlife we see here and feel very privileged that we get to enjoy it.



The last of the green tomatoes were picked a few weeks ago along with the capsicums and I spent the day slicing, dicing and stirring.
By the end of the day there were 25 jars of green tomato pickles sitting on the kitchen bench
The second batch I've ever made and I have to say while they may not have matched the flavour of last years', they came a close second....
I used a couple of recipes  and merged them and added a bit of this and that and of course I was too busy cooking it all to write it down......
So next years batch will be interesting.....
It's so satisfying to turn something that once would've gone over the fence to the cows into produce for the pantry.....




So there's a snapshot of a few happenings in the
 Sweet Birdy Love  household.
While Winter is here, it's about cosy evenings  by the heater and enjoying the weather, whether it be a grey, foggy day or a blue sky and sunshine Winter's day.

I know that all too soon it will be Spring and then Summer and the temps will rise and rise and rise, so I'm not going to complain for one minute about the cold.
 I shall embrace it and run headlong into it wrapped in scarves, jumpers, tights, boots and gloves.
I'll throw another log on the heater and cook up some wonderful one pot meals in the kitchen.
 Snuggle under the doona and enjoy each and every day.

Righto, I'm off to bed, it's later here and I've taken way longer to do this post than I expected.


Thanks for dropping by for a catchup.
Always lovely to hear from you.....

Claire Xx




18 comments:

  1. Hi Claire,
    I love your latest stitcheries and you yack and yarn group looks wonderful. I also love the way you embrace winter...but I think that's because summer is soooo hot there. Here it's definitely the nicest part of the year, 23 degrees Celsius and cloudy right now ( it's 4.30pm )....perfect.
    I guess that means we are both happy at the moment, and that's got to be good :0)
    Enjoy the rest of winter.
    Jacquie xxx

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Jacquie for popping over to visit........I can imagine I wouldn't embrace Winter so much if I lived in the UK. Sounds like you are having quite a good Summer........
      Well, we can both enjoy the current season and all that it brings.
      It's a cloudy, day here, I think there's rain on the way , surprise, surprise!....:)
      Hope the sun is shining for you,

      Claire Xx

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  2. I can't believe that cardigan that the one woman knitted. It is totally gorgeous! Amazing to be able to do not only all that knitting but spinning the wool as well---I just can't imagine all that!

    I check your blog often and wish you posted more often.

    I occasionally go to your Facebook page but am not on Facebook or a big fan of it so don't spend much time at all over there.

    Victoria in Indiana

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    Replies
    1. Hey Victoria, great to hear from you. Julie's cardigan is amazing isn't it? She has a whole wardrobe full of beautiful hand knits. She's one very clever lady.
      I would like to post more, but find the time it takes puts me off a little when it's so quick and easy over on Facebook. But thanks for the encouragement, I will try to be a little more regular.
      Hope you are enjoying your Summer.....

      Claire :)

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  3. Hi Claire, reading your posts is like reading a really good magazine and all too soon you've read every word until the end and look forward to the next issue!! I love the look on your lad's face at the woolly gathering! Loving your new stitchery as always and keep those home fires burning. xxx

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  4. For once I can say that it is lovely and warm here!! No doubt it will soon end in tears and a thunderstorm, but am enjoying the garden while the weather holds!! I love that cardigan!! The yak and yarn group sounds fun, glad you also craft better with a supply of tea and cakes!! Keep warm! XX

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  5. I loved catching up with you and a belated Happy Birthday. Can I come stay with you? I could use some grey, cooler days.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  6. You certainly are embracing winter and running into it headlong with all that beauitful knitting and cooking. I am pretty sure you could feed all your neighbours with those veggie beds. Xxxx

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  7. Oh good to hear your World Knit in Public Day was a success. Susan mentioned she was going, is that her I spy in that beautifully colourful jumper?
    x

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    Replies
    1. No, but I do wish it WAS me, Zara! That jumper is beautiful, isn't it. I wasn't far away that day, just 15 or so minutes drive down the hill at Barnawartha with another group of knitters, crocheters and spinners.

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  8. Hi Claire, I always enjoy catching up with your news and drooling over your pretty photos.
    I must come up the hill for one of your monthly Yack n Yarn Sunday mornings before Winter has gone (all too quickly).
    What a foggy, misty day its been .. usually I love it, but the grandchildren have been here for 5 days, so we ALL have cabin fever today ;)

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  9. Beautiful photos as usual and happy birthday!! Those knitting parties look like so much fun! XX

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  10. Hey Taz, thanks for visiting, great to hear from you. Thanks for the birthday wishes and the knitting parties are alot of fun.......mind you I didn't get any knitting done this time.....Xx

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  11. Love your stitcheries and photos.

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  12. I do enjoy these catch up posts of yours, even when I'm late catching up with them!

    Gorgeous stitching, pretty birds, and wow you're going to have a lot of veg.

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  13. It always comes as a surprise to me that you're not in the same season as us! We're having a very good summer this year with lots of sunshine.
    I had to google Pluviophile and can now say that I'm not one!
    That's an awful lot of raised beds your husband's making, is he going to be selling his produce?!
    As ever I love your stitcheries.

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