Surprise, Surprise........

Hello everybody...... late this afternoon I took a walk around the garden and found a couple of surprises.

It's been a somewhat chilly weekend here and a busy one to boot.

There's been coffee out with friends, soup making,a BBQ and a bonfire and No. 1's last gig before we head off at the end of the week.

It was nice to have some time to enjoy the beauty that is unfolding daily.

The Kale which I planted quite a few weeks ago, has started to put on some growth.

I thought the frosts may have finished it off, but it has survived..

In the 'plant pot graveyard' there are a few 

Grape Hyacinths bravely putting on a display.

This is the last year..... they're going into the garden by the Daffodils when they finish flowering.

I love the blue......

The Manchurian Pear is now in full flower and the leaves are starting to pop out here and there.......

On a sunny day a hum of bees busy themselves amongst the blossom.

It is a beautiful shape and quite a  size now.

I don't have the heart to chop off the lower branches.....

But it would certainly make mowing around it easier!!

The chooks enjoy scratching amongst the fallen leaves...

plenty of tasty treats to be found.

3 metres away there is another tree of the same variety and it has only just come into bud!

The flowering Quince is quite a tangle of branches and thorns but the beauty of the blossom seems to go on and on and on......

A skeletonized leaf...

delicate and beautiful in it's decaying state

The first surprise I found was this Hellebore.... a birthday gift to hubby.

 It was planted rather late and I didn't expect it to flower this season but it has settled in nicely and obviously quite happy living in the Wild Wood.

The markings are amazing.
 Next season we should get to enjoy quite a display from it....

Surprise number two...

What is this little plant?

From a distance I thought it was a weed but as I got closer I realised that it was actually a Bluebell....yes it certainly is.

 I  bought some bulbs some time ago and they sat on the laundry bench for quite a while.....till one day I managed to drag myself away from the sewing machine and out into the garden.

They were planted in the Wild Wood where I hope in time they will spread and create a carpet of blue.

Tough little plant that's for sure.

There are bunches of Jonquils yet to be picked and enjoyed before I go as they will have finished flowering by my return.

The pale, creaminess of the flowers and their perfume is divine. 

Surprise number three.......at first I thought the chooks had made a rather deep depression as they like to dust bathe in the garden, but on closer inspection I realised that some furry little critter has made itself at home right under our noses.

 I love cute, little, furry bunnies as much as anyone else BUT!! 

Now bunnies are not known for their cleverness.....just look at Peter, prime example....yes?

But this bunny must have  a death wish as this is one puddy tat

who won't put up with wabbits living on his patch...

So be warned bunnies!!

 And tigger lift your game!!

The burrow is to the left of the window

There's a busy week ahead of me and I'm sure the days will   merge into each other.

I'm finally packing up my Janome and all my sewing bits and bobs. The house has never looked so tidy, hehe.........

There are lists being made of things to do before I go and things to pack and take away with me.
Thankyou for all your suggestions of portable, crafty things to do whilst travelling...

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend, I would love to know what you've all been up to.
Any surprises?...

Thanks for visiting and 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

☀☁☂♥

Stitching Up a Storm.............

Afternoon, how are you all?

As you can see it's a sunny day here and the temp. is forecast to climb into the mid thirties this week......

The last couple of weeks haven't been typical February weather at all...quite cool in fact.

No complaints from me as it's easier living when there's no heat or humidity but the vegie garden needs some heat to do it's thing.....

Yes, you've guessed it, I plugged the machine in this morning, snipped some of that lovely woollen fabric I was gifted recently and made another 'Bgurk" .

Please meet,

Little Red Hen and her chicky.....

She's one proud Mamma, so it's best if you keep your distance as she's very protective of her little one.....

She's not going to let that little chicky out of her sight

I thought we would head outside for some photos as it's such a beautiful day and I've been told my Vitamin D level is a little on the low side,so it's a good opportunity to soak up some rays.

I was a little surprised to hear this news but mulling it over it all adds up.......

I'm not a Summer person so will head for the nearest patch of shade when outside to avoid getting sunburnt and stay cool.

I now spend more time indoors sewing than I do outdoors gardening, that's probably the biggest change in lifestyle.

Anyhoo, time to get outside a little more and enjoy the weather before it heats up too much.

Last Friday the weather decided to tease us with some stormy clouds and the threat of a thunderstorm.

The garden was looking for some rain and I thought here we go.....but no it wasn't to be and someone else got a nice drop of rain.

Beautiful, atmospheric clouds♡

Beauty waiting to unfurl.....

✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

Can you see them?

One evening last week after a storm we had this amazing cloud formation.

It was if someone had waved a paintbrush across the sky picking out a cloud here and there to colour........

♥♥♥

The trees have started to change colour, first the Pistachios and then the Maples along the driveway.

It feels as if we haven't had much Summer really and Autumn is knocking on the door.

You know I'm not going to complain about it......the last of the Winter wood supply has been stacked away in the shed ....thankyou guys.....so we're ready, but surely there's still some heat to come......

The beautiful White Belladonna Lillies are about to burst into bloom...

The bulbs look sad most of the year then it seems suddenly a little green shoot appears.

A day or two later it's almost 10 inches tall and then the flowers start peeping out of their little green covering........

Next post I'll show you the ugly duckling to swan transformation.

Our Nashis and apples are ready and providing lovely, fresh fruit to snack on.

They're not huge maybe half a dozen bites and they're gone.

Perfect size for filling pockets and munching on as we go for an evening walk......

So what has the week got in store?

More time outside me thinks, shall have a crochet hook in one hand and a gardening fork in the other, just to keep things interesting.

Some more Mamma chooks and chicks, a little more tweaking needed I feel.

If you want to check out some other chickens head over to visit Mimilove.

Karen has just finished a fab commission.....a combination of painting and stitchy creativity which will make you smile

Back into the working week, hope all is well in your little corner of the globe.

Thanks for taking time out to visit and say 'hi', it's always nice to hear from you.

Take care,

Claire ♥♥

Goodmorning Sunshine ☀.........

Good morning or evening depending on where you are and

a big welcome to all my new followers.......

Thanks for popping by for a visit.

I hope all is going well in your crafty corner of the globe.

In between trying to stay cool and some other projects I have been doing a little bit of creating.

A lovely lady by the name of Shirley (also a chook lover) gave me a box full of beautiful woollen fabric samples. She asked if I could make her a chook and she chose these colours.

Shirley has a personality to match her colour choice!

So, here's Rosie, she's a bit like the Queen Mary under full steam, but I am quite happy with the way she turned out and the gusset (these things are the bain marie of my life, hehe...)is a success.

Not sure if she's a one off, but for a very long time,I have been thinking of making one.

Sometimes you just need a little push to get you over the hurdle.

I thought a couple of pics in the garden (where chooks often find themselves!!) was appropriate but the sun has washed out her colours.

She did like being out with the flowers, but not so keen on the bees...

For all of you living in cooler climes I thought some blue sky and sunshine pics of my Sunflowers might brighten a gloomy day for you.

They remind me of a choir, all standing up straight with heads held high.......

A bit of blue sky love ♥ going on here too....

They are putting on a great show at the moment...

...and keeping the bees busy.

You know those little fellas were still out at 8pm last night.

Don't they have a home to go to?....

Love the blue sky against the yellow flowers

...just wonderful

It's been pretty warm here this week and I have been wilting in the heat, so I thought it might be wise to pick the roses and bring them inside where I can enjoy them rather than leave them to burn to a crisp in the sun.

L - R

Mothers' Love, William Morris and at the back

Blue Moon with Lady of Megginch.

I placed the vases throughout the house where I could enjoy them.

A pic of the vegie garden

We had a load of wood delivered.....getting ready early for Winter.

Just needs someone to put it away!!

The beans are producing slowly but steadily, there's plenty of tomatoes on the various plants. The Spring Onions are lovely in salads along with the capsicum and there's quite a few little pumpkins developing on the vine.

There's always something from the garden used in our dinner...

There aren't as many Zinnias as in previous years, but they are doing a wonderful job adding colour to the yard.

Tig is doing what he does best.......

Find a disused carton, curl up and go to sleep.

Ah, it's a cat's life.

-----OOOOO-----

Well,it's been very warm this week although not too hot at night for sleeping.

We were planning to head away for the weekend away but it hasn't happened. That's OK later in the year when we have more time and it's not so hard to get accommodation might be better.......

So, they say a change is as good as a holiday and I got a bee in my bonnet this afternoon and entered the SMB shed.

That's 'secret mens business'....just in case you were wondering.

I roped No.1 in to help and we dragged out an old kitchen table which I intend to use for a sewing table.

I also decided it was time to sell a piece of furniture which had been stored for some years.

I rang the local antique dealer he came around half an hour later, gave me a price loaded it up into his car and off he went.

I now have a few dollars to put towards a 2nd hand storage unit of some sort...

So the spare room, becomes my sewing room once the bed is removed.

I have been talking about doing this for some time, today just happened to be THE day...

And, I am going to reclaim my dining table, yay!!

I hope, your week has ended on a good note and things are going according to plan.

Take care,

Claire X

Let's Get Cosy............

It must be time for a cuppa.............anyone like to join me?

I finished the "Wibbly Wobbly" tea cosy today, so here's a photo to prove it, hehe.

It sat on the 'to do' pile for a few weeks but with a market coming up on Saturday I thought it was a good time to finish it off and see if anyone fancied a wibbly wobbly tea cosy!

I found the best light in the house for taking photos was in my bedroom so here it is on top of my dresser............

Here's the back view with it's wibbly wobbly verse..........

I love my little cup with it's bluebird. I bought it at a market when I lived in New Zealand back in the 90's.

Hmm, definitely time to pop the kettle on.

Ooh and I think there might be a banana and date muffin hiding in the cake tin too.......

Another beautiful bunch of roses to grace my dresser.

I have a mixture of Old Fragrance or Old Stinky hehe.......

as my friend Mabs jokingly calls it.

Mabs gave me a cutting off it a couple of years ago and it has grown like topsy even through out the drought and just before you start to worry......it has the most delightful fragrance.

That beautiful old world perfume that makes you swoon..............and I just ♥ the deep pink.

It would have to be one of my favourite colours, not that I wear it or have anything in my wardrobe in that shade.

Oh, almost forgot, tut, tut, David Austin's , Lady of Megginch is in there too.

See the heavily quartered flower at the front that's her.

Isn't she beautiful?

Whilst out in the orchard picking off the shield bugs I let the girls in so they can eat them, but unfortunately some of them are finding the berries much more appealing even though the lower ones are far from ripe.........

Our rooster Noddy, is quite a tall chap and when he stretches his neck he can reach quite a way up the canes.

Hmm, I don't mind sharing but.........

He's definitely airborne here........feet off the ground, trying to impress the girls with his acrobatics.

I think the grass needs a bit of a mow don't you?

Somehow No. 1 son seems to forget

this area as it's tucked away behind the wood shed..............

Red, yes........edible, no.

Don't even think about it !!

Won't be long before we are picking lots of beautiful berries.

Berry iceream, jam, sauce, muffins, hmmm.

I'm already out of ideas.....any suggestions.

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

Well, I hope you are all having a good week wherever you are.

My little Janome has been whirring away all week and there has been plenty of stuffing and stitching taking place.

I'm off to my fortnightly craft night and will be finishing off some stuffing and stitching, along with lots of chatting and laughing no doubt.

It's great to get together with other crafty ladies and see what they are all busy making.

I also received a packet of Sunflower seeds in the mail today.

Tanya from Suburban Jubilee sent them to me as a fundraiser for the Nettlefold Foundation which helps people understand and cope with depression. They also provide opportunities for life changing experiences for young people.

For $3.00 you will receive a packet of seeds which will bring sunshine into your life when they flower and you know how much I love Sunflowers..........

It's a great idea, pop over to her blog and read the story behind the foundation, it's very touching.

Righto, what was I going to do now, oh yes, time for a cuppa, so are you going to join me?

Okay, maybe next time, thanks for stopping by to say "hello" lovely to hear from you.

Till next time, take care,

Claire X