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 

Hello I'm Still Here........:)

Hello girls, yes, it's me.......I'm still here.

How are you all?

I did my first market for the year today.

The forecast was for 11deg. with 60% chance of rain.

 Think I needed my head read for agreeing to do it!!

Well the sun shone for most of the day, although a chill wind was blowing........

On the way home I had to pull over and take some photos of the brooding skies....... 

A corner of my stall, the sun brightening things up, but it was far from warm, brrrr.....

It's been a busy few weeks here in the Sweet Birdy Love household.

My Janome's been busy stitching away.

Some little brooches in the making.....

Along with some sewing needle books....

Teacosies were posted over to the U.S to

Janet at

 The Empty Nest 

shop......

A little chooky stitchery came into being.

I enjoyed making this as it was a little different from what I usually do....

It will be heading off to another part of the U.S next week......

Too much fun to stop at one, so.......

Outside it's been frosty and cold.

I managed to snap off a couple of pics before the parrots flew away.

I couldn't figure out what was going on as the Parrot appeared to be walking on the water....... the water had frozen.....

They added a splash of colour to the morning......

Apart from sewing there was also a lot of packing and sorting out going on.

 Hubby and son headed off to Canada last Monday.

Rich has a 6 week tour across Canada, playing at music festivals all over the place......

Hubby, Chris is going along as chauffeur/roadie/manager/dad......they work well together. 

The amount of organisation that has gone into this tour has been amazing.

After  a long trip which involved 4 different flights they arrived in Montreal minus their luggage which was somewhere at the airport in New York.

A rather frustrating 36 hours without it followed, but thankfully it turned up and they could hit the road.......

Things are going well now, although jetlag is playing havoc and rather large mozzies in Nova Scotia are enjoying some Aussie blood!

A little family pic....having breakfast the last Saturday before they left.

We're all looking a little pale,there was a light directly above us

The Johnnies are flowering, I love these blooms....the perfume can fill a room.

A small bunch in my 50 cent op shop jug brightens my day and makes me smile......

So things continue as they are here. 

Plenty of sewing going on, lots of ideas to play with.

Another birthday has come and gone and thankyou all for your birthday wishes.

Winter is giving us beautiful days after frosty starts.

Another little op shop has opened in town, did I mention that?

So a trip into town includes a visit to one or the other, or both!!

I've found some lovely things and turned my $1.00 investment in a vintage jigsaw into $20.00 by walking across the road to the

 2nd hand/antique shop and selling it on, not bad......

I won't tell you what they were going to sell it for, but I was very happy with my $20.00......

So what have you all been up to?

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and finding some time to be creative in some way.

Thanks so much for visiting and I will try not to leave it quite so long before my next post.

Take care,

Claire X

Inspiration is Blooming

Sunshine, rain, wind.....

A rainbow here, blue sky and sunshine over there and grey clouds looming

It's 9 degrees out, brrrr......

Surely it's Spring flexing her muscles....

Let's head indoors where it's warmer and....

SPRING

 is on my mind

Bright colours, 

polka dots, 

florals,

Snipping playing then stitching

Another WIP tea cosy.......

A little out of the usual for me.

 It needs a crocheted edging in blue and a polka dot lining....

The Manchurian Pear is in flower......

well one flower!!

If that's not proof that Spring is creeping up on us, I don't know what is!!

Better go throw another long on the fire.......

More projects on the go........

crocheted flowers blooming on my work table.

Reminding me of beautiful coloured Macaroons... yum

Sewing needle books.......more Daffodils and 

some stitched poetry.

Wild flower tea cosy....inspired by the swathes of wildflowers growing around the Olympic Stadium
(see previous post)

Views from outside

White winged Chough, looking for a tasty morsel in the chook run.

Chooks looking for a snack 

Japonica, it may be past it's prime, but it's still beautiful

Do the seasons inspire you to create?

Are they reflected in your work?

I'd love to know......thanks for visiting.

Joining in with other creative people over here and my tip for staying creative is:


Tuck a pen and book into your bag and when you're out and about doodle/draw/sketch something. 
It makes you take more notice of patterns, shapes, colours....
Have fun

Take Care,

Claire

☀☁☂♥

Finding Inspiration

How do you manage to keep the creative vibe going when you are working on a production line?

In preparation for next months market I have quite a bit of sewing to get through and am finding it difficult to get motivated............

So, still thinking about strawberries, I decided to have a change of 'scenery' and have made some sewing needle books with strawberries rather than the usual chooks.

The weather obviously is influencing my creativity and Spring themes are in the air.

It's taken me a while but I have found a few little tips and tricks to make the job of sewing multiple things a little easier.

Obviously, a production line of drawing, cutting and sewing makes the process quicker but new designs no matter how simple make it more interesting.

The back looks just as interesting as...........

The front........

'Berryliscious' is obviously an amalgamation of delicious and luscious !!!!!!!

I think you know what I was getting at..........

There's plenty more sewing to be done, so hopefully I will keep working away at it building up stock slowly rather than my usual last week rush.

After two weeks away No. 1 has returned home.

While he was way up north at Airlie Beach he picked up some sea glass for me............

Discarded glass tumbled and smoothed by the ocean and then thrown up on the shore.

I love it and the fact that he thought of me and bought it home.

The blue piece is beautiful and reminds me of the black faced sheep down the road..........

After being away for so long he was keen to get on the ride on mower and mow the 'lawn' green stuff outside so it looked cared for...........

Who was I to deprive him off this pleasure?

Another little job he likes to do is keep the glass screen on the wood heater clean.

Two weeks of soot build up wasn't going to move without some elbow grease.

He did suggest I could've cleaned it while he was away.

But once again who am I to deprive him of the satisfaction?

And you do know if you can see the flames, you feel warmer!!

I have to smile to myself, when he says things like this. Not that long ago he was having a dig at me about being so fussy as to how the housework and certain jobs were done.

Now I see it coming out in him and I just smile...........

Don't get the wrong idea, I am definitely not an obsessive housekeeper............

Read: don't turn up unannounced, you might be in for a shock, hehehe............

The fine weather continues and trees are blooming well out of their usual time.

The Manchurians are still putting on a lovely display. The first is now in leaf with the second just in blossom. The bees are having a field day.

The Crab Apples are starting to come out in leaf and it's still August (just).

A beautiful time of year and it's so nice to have sunny days, but once the sun disappears behind a cloud, you do notice the drop in temp.

I am slowly but surely getting on top of the weeds in the garden, along with the help of some feathered friends.

I wish I had their eyesight, they are so quick to grab the tip of a disappearing worm or grub.

Akin to crop circles.......but I know what causes them.............

Two weeks ago I noticed these 'interesting' vapour trails in the sky.

Obviously there was fog at Tullamarine airport in Melbourne and they were killing some time till it cleared.

Or were they just bored?

It made for interesting viewing. I wonder if anyone else noticed?

I love seeing things like this..........

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Well, that's a little bit of news from the Sweet Birdy Love household.

I hope your week is going well and that maybe you see something small and discarded , the beauty of which makes you smile.

Thank you for taking the time to drop by and see what I am up to.

Till next time, take care,

Claire X