This, That and Something Else...........

Spring has arrived in all her glory as she is want to do.....

She has beguiled me with her beauty and turned my head.

When I returned from Canada I created a corner under my 'new' birdbath.

I placed a couple of pots with bulbs in them and waited for the explosion of colour and scent.

I certainly wasn't disappointed.

The mini Daffodils bloomed first and I was happy to discover they actually had a perfume.....somewhat citrus like.

Then the Hyacinths put in an appearance and their perfume is one of my favourites.

The rather late planted Tulips are yet to flower but they will bring the curtain down in a blaze of glory.

I removed all the grass/weeds and am not sure whether I will put some plants into the ground or maybe have a seasonal display of flowers in pots.

 I'm thinking 3 or 4 different varieties of Lavender might make a nice Summer display.

Given my bad habit of forgetting to water pots, I'm a little apprehensive......what do you think?

The Crabapples on the bank above the birdbath are dressed in their finest and are now a foaming sea of pinks and green.

Someone must've been spring cleaning as I spotted this tin at our local op shop last week......

There's chickens, guinea fowl, ducks and mmm, geese I think  around the side.

It's an Emma Bridgewater product, I was very happy to purchase it for 50cents.

Perfect for my button collection, the best thing being, there's room for lots more buttons, yippee.......

I've also been busy stitching and trying my hand at different things.

I recently discovered the work of Linda Miller and wanted to try something similar.

It was a lot fun, but I think I would need to have shares in a thread factory as you certainly go through the stuff.

Spring has also inspired some bunting....surprise, surprise.

I loved putting this together and the polka dot bias binding which I had purchased some time ago, was the perfect choice.....

Daffodils, birds nest with eggs, 

"Spring would not be Spring without bird songs"

 Frances M Chapman

Violets, Blossom, A bird and Bluebells

Hanging on the Manchurian Pear.

I fancy making some Autumn/Woodland themed bunting.

I'm thinking, toadstools, oak leaves and acorns, a Badger, a hedgehog.....something along those lines.

I also made some more brooches,

They're a fun project, when I need to restart my crafting mojo. 

Out in the garden everything is starting to take off....including the weeds!!

The bees love Borage....

 Manchurian Pear blossom

Grape Hyacinth

Prunus Elvins on the right and Loropetalum (Fringe Flower) on the left.

Two different pinks, both stunning.

Guess what gourmet delight I was looking forward to when we arrived home from Canada?

Hot buttered toast and a cuppa made with tea leaves in a tea pot.

"Just perfick....."

Life has resumed it's routine since we arrived home.

I've been busy in the garden, trying to keep on top of the weeding. 

I haven't had another market stall yet, not sure if I will.

I'll just play it by ear and see what happens.

Second day of Spring, I discovered a brown snake near the house.

I wasn't happy to see it.....but a good reminder to be on the lookout and to trim any long grass.

The weather warmed up quite quickly and it was t shirts for a couple of weeks and I didn't need to light the wood heater in the evenings.

 I wasn't impressed as I love Winter and the cooler 

weather.

 But we had a cool change last week, so I was happy to cosy up by the heater for a few more nights.

The chooks have started laying but sadly Mr. Whiskers paid my small flock a visit....the first time in 11 years of having chickens. 

He killed my rooster and a beautiful Barnevelder.

This happened the evening after we returned home.

I was horrified, but glad it wasn't while friends were looking after our animals, that would've been too much......

So life goes on and I now have a new rooster who is settling in well with his little flock.

Well, that's what's happening here.

I hope I haven't put you all to sleep, I will try and post every week, so they are not so long winded!!

I hope you are all well.

 Sorry but I have missed replying to some comments on the last couple of posts, but thankyou for visiting. I read and appreciate everyone of them.  

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.......

Take care,

Claire X

Not Such a Bright Idea.......

Hello girls, how are you all?

Hope you've had a great weekend and enjoyed some lovely weather

wherever you are.....

I've been a busy stitching away, aiming for my first market stall at Bright this year to be held on Saturday.

  

For a change I stitched up some gum leaves,nuts and flowers on a sewing needle book. I loved the end and result and the final touch..... a native blue banded bee....

I've been having fun stitching up little brooches......

Some garden scenes and flowers in polka dot jugs.

Some sleepy time, blanket bunnies waiting patiently to have their nether regions stitched up.

Whilst I'm warm and cosy stitching away inside, it's been quite damp outside this week.

I had to race and grab the camera before the view changed.

The sun was filtering through the cloud, it was quite spectacular.

Wee birds nests have been discovered now that leaves have dropped from trees and shrubs....

This one belongs to the Mistletoe bird. 

It's made from matted plant down and cobwebs. 

I'll take my creative hat off to the gal who made this....the time and effort that went into making this is amazing. 

It's like felt, quite strong yet pleasingly soft.

 It looks like  a small bag suspended from the twig and this pic was taken 10 days ago, when we were having lovely, sunny days after frosty mornings.

Back to the stitching.......

My friend and talented artist  Ella asked me to make some soft toys in the style of the "Woodlings', as gifts for her friend who recently had her second child.

One was for big sister Meadow.....she loves the outdoors and appreciates the beauty of her natural surroundings

A little colour in the cheeks and lips made all the difference.....

Diamonds or a birds nest?

Which treasure would you prefer?

The second was for new brother Geordi,his dad loves the bush and  

no doubt will share his love of it with his son, as he grows.

Possum and gum trees

Now you see the reason behind the native flora inspiration ....

A closeup of the Echidna, funny little creatures that they are.....

As is my way, things came down to the last minute in preparing for the market.

When the alarm went off at 5.30am Saturday it was raining, but I was ready to go whatever the weather.

 Would've been too disappointing not to.

The river in Bright was a ranging torrent after recent heavy rain.

It looked like melted milk chocolate.......

Underfoot it was wet in areas of the park, just as well I packed my gumboots........

I set up my stall along with a few others

.

There was laughter and chit chat and a warm welcome back from stall holders.

Shame the weather wasn't quite as welcoming.

The sun put in appearance and people ventured out, but when it was obvious more rain was on the way,

I packed up early and headed off to have a coffee and catchup  somewhere warm with fellow stall holder Sandy.

Still, I enjoyed my trip to Bright and what do they say?

'Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain' ......

The past week, we've had some very stormy weather and 4 inches of rain and during that time 3 calves were born.

Great timing girls!!

These little bundles of energy are such great time wasters.

I love watching them take their first wobbly steps, gaining confidence, learning to run and  playing together.....  

So the mayhem that ensues preparing for a market is over and I can relax for a bit.......

This week I will be packing away the sewing machine and giving my  sewing room a good tidy up as well as giving the garden a bit of a spruce up too

Then I will be packing my suit case and next week, I will be flying over to Canada to join hubby and son on the last leg of the tour ........

I will be there for the last 3 festivals in Canmore and Calgary Alberta. Then a gig in Kelowna and the last festival in

 Salmon Arm BC.....

So I am wondering if any of you Canadian bloggers or those who have travelled to these places have any suggestions on places to visit or things to do while we are there as the week will be free between festivals......

I'm looking forward to some Canadian hospitality, seeing some of your beautiful countryside and some warmer temps....but of course I will be missing out on some of our Winter!!

So what's going on in your neck of the woods?

Are you enjoying Summer or Winter weather?

Staying put or heading off on holidays?

Hope you have time to stop and say 'hi'.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

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

Muriel Loved Polka Dots...........

Mondays seem to be rolling around pretty quick these days and after a relaxed weekend I find it a little bit hard to get back into the routine.

Today is meant to be a 'production line' sewing day.........

I have managed to work my way through a few jobs on the 'to do' list but there was a little bit of 'play time' first.

"'Muriel loved polka dots.....'

A little idea that popped into my head and I needed to play around with it before I could settle down to the jobs at hand.

When todays 'to do' list is completed I will play around with the idea a little more.

A little chooky fun needed to be explored too...........

I was thinking brooches.

The one on the left turned out to be just a little too big for my liking, so I scaled it down and it's a better size.

Just a bit of fun before I get into the 'production line' sewing.

I have a market coming up on Saturday, it's not the usual but an extra and although I have enough stock I always like to have something new and fresh.

Since Friday we have had 3 inches of rain.

It was very on again off again, heavy, light or not at all.........

It hasn't been torrential which is good and the garden will certainly be enjoying it.

With warmer weather forecast for this week, all the plants including the weeds will be growing whilst we watch them.........

I have been picking lettuce for the last two weeks and it's so nice to pick just what you need.

This cage belonged to a friend she used it for clucky chooks and gave it to me when she moved house.

It's a little on the wonky side but has come in very hand to protect the lettuce seedlings from the chooks and birds.

The Spring Onions in the foreground are ready for use, so with the warmer weather it will be salads galore.

The tomatoes are still a long way off but we do have bucketloads of berries.

It's time to think about using them up...........

I kept this old book of my mums, there's lots of interesting recipes in it, like Walnut Ketchup !!

Or, if that doesn't take you fancy how about mushroom ketchup?

How does preserved pears with coffee jelly sound?

Sorry, but I'm starting to feel slightly queasy.......

I don't intend to make any of the above but if you are interested just leave a comment and I can send you the recipe, hehe...........

I thought I would start off making a small batch of jam after being inspired by Jules over at Little Woollie

Easy peasy recipe, 1kg of sugar and 1kg of fruit and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice.

I can see myself making quite a bit of jam over the coming weeks.

The raspberries are coming on thick and fast as well, so the pantry shelves will be groaning with jars of jam very soon.

Plenty for us and some to give away to family and friends.

Sadly, there were no freshly baked scones so a slice of bread had to do for a taste test.

It was yummy and No. 1 declared it to be a lovely colour, so I think it was a success!!

Did you know that I actually worked in a local jam factory for 7 years?

We made the most delicious jams there but we used 100's of kilos of berries at a time.

My favourite was/is blackberry and apple and raspberry jam.

The smell when the berries were cooking was amazing and just like making jam at home if you turn your back on it when it's boiling.................

Well, you can imagine the sticky mess it would make if a kettle full of jam boiled over, eek.

Fortunately, it only happened once or twice and I have to say it wasn't my fault either, phew !!

Thought I would let the chooks in for a treat while I picked the berries and had to laugh at Noddy's acrobatics.

He jumps up and picks a berry then drops it on the ground and 'calls' the girls over so they can enjoy it.........

He's very thoughtful like that.

There's plenty to go round.

The netting over the orchard has been very effective in keeping unwanted birds out this year, so we can enjoy more of the fruit.

There are plenty of apples and pears coming on that aren't netted.

Very soon the parrots will be paying us a visit to enjoy the bounty.

A snap of Just Joey........it's a beauty and the perfume is delightful.

The rain didn't spoil too many of the roses, but there are plenty of buds just waiting to bloom.

For some reason the girls and Noddy seem to find rose petals irresistible and rush to eat them.

I wonder what the attraction is?

--------OOOOO--------

So there you have a brief roundup of what's been happening in this neck of the woods.

Once December is done and dusted I would like to pack away my sewing machine for a little while, or at least unplug it and have a go at a few other little projects which have been in the back of my mind for a few months now .

I feel like the noise in my head, you know, all the ideas which keep popping in and wanting your attention.

Yes, all that sort of stuff has died down and I am really enjoying the 'peace and quiet'.

But it would seem that my blogging has dropped off a little too, which is fine.

We all know how life gets in the way.........

But I am still here and definitely getting around to blogs and keeping tabs on what you are all up too.

So thanks for dropping by for a visit, always nice to have a visitor or two and your comments are always appreciated.

Till next time,

Claire X