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

Sweet Surprises.........

It's no secret I'm a broochy kinda gal and I have a growing collection of them.....

I was fortunate to win a giveaway over at

 Playing in the Attic recently

and part of the prize was this gorgeous brooch handmade by Trudy......

 The parcel arrived on Tuesday.....beautifully wrapped and full of wonderful things.

Yes, there was chocolate

.....delicious, Lindt chokkies.

Of course they didn't last long!!

A sweet little crocheted flower which reminded me of dark peppermint chocolate....

and fabric, lots of fat quarters from Trudy's stash.

Florals in soft, muted tones......just beautiful.

My pic doesn't do them justice...

I'm going to have lots of fun playing with these.

My fabric stash has a disproportionate amount of polka dot fabric amongst it, so these lovely florals will help balance things a little.

Oh, I do love finding a parcel in the letter box.

Thanks so much Trudy I love it all...

A quick market update from last Saturday.

Due to rain, the market was moved indoors to an old church hall....

Despite the wet weather quite a few people dropped in  after visiting the farmers market across the road.

I had quite a good day and yes, I did sell one of my 'new' hearts....

View through the window, love the reflection in the gnarled, old tree...

The rain was quite heavy throughout the morning so when things quietened down we packed up an hour early.

Hubby had the heater going, so Saturday afternoon was spent indoors, staying warm and enjoying the Wintry weather.....

you know me!!

Another lovely surprise to come my way this week.

This sweet little Owl needle case.....

My sis Rosie and her hubby returned from their hol to the UK and

knowing that I love Owls she picked this up for me on her travels.

What a hoot!!

It's just too tweet.

ok that's it for the jokes

She also bought back this beautiful book which is a gift from another sister who lives in the UK....

It gives a month by month description of what's happening in the garden and has room for notes and photographs.

 Our seasons and months might be the opposite here, but my sister knows me well......I love it. 

Spring continues to keep us on our toes with a mix of weather.

Last Thursday it was 27 deg. today it barely managed 10deg. with rain. 

Time to crank up the heater!!

On fine days the girls and their fella have been enjoying some time out of their run.

My Aeonium is flowering, a bright splash of colour on a grey day.

From one small piece this plant has filled a wheel barrow and continues to reach for the sky, eek!!

I would love to say I have this Grevillea growing in my garden but sadly no......

Great colours, rosy pink and a lemony yellow.

It's really very striking and I would love to grow it.

If you are familiar with it, could you please let me know what's it called.

Hopefully, I could track down a plant.

 Would be great to have more bird attracting plants in the garden.

Another floral discovery.......

A white flowering gum out on the verge.

Lots of 'fringed' blossom.

Nice finding these little surprises....

Tig's got the right idea and the right coat for a cold day....

He's not silly!!

I've been busy in the garden this week and it's been great to make some headway with the weeding.

 I'm happy to say it's just about under control. 

Thanks to Saturday's rain, the ground is lovely and soft so not too much effort required.

I also planted up some seedlings, hoping to have greater variety of flowers this Summer.

Another day in the garden should just about have it sorted, yay!!

Next week I must get back into the sewing with an extra market or two coming up I need to stock up.......

Thanks for popping over for a visit girls. 

I hope you've had a great week and managed to tick a couple of things off your 'to do ' list.

Take care,

Claire x 

Summer, Winter, Summer.................

So here we are into another week, hope you all had a great weekend whatever you did.

My weekend started out a little differently than expected.

I woke very early as I was planning to head to Bright for the monthly market, but it was pouring with rain, so I decided not to go.

As it turned out the market was cancelled, but not before a few die hard stall holders had made the trip and set up.............

I decided it was the perfect morning to head down the road to Beechworth for breakfast. It's a lovely little gold mining town with alot of history, beautiful old buildings and lots of lovely shops.

I took the above photo about 10.30am, one minute it was clear and then the fog rolled in.

It didn't hang around for long, but you know I love this sort of weather.

Mind you it wasn't at all cold, in fact it was quite mild.

We had 36mls of rain all up and it had fined up by lunch time.

It was actually rather steamy which is never pleasant.

The second building on the left is the Beechworth Bakery and in this sort of weather I like to order coffee a savoury scone (or two) the local newspaper and grab a seat in the window, to enjoy a relaxing breakfast, look out into the street and while away a lazy hour.

Hubby and No. 1 son had gone to the Cool Summer Festival at Mt. Hotham for the day.

Apparently, it was quite wet and blowing a gale, but the scenery was spectacular.

The outdoor stage was moved indoors and it sounds like everyone had a good time.

Sunday was the monthly Lions Club market in my little village.

Earlier in the week rain had been forecast for Sunday as well, but it had cleared off Saturday afternoon.

I still had the car packed from the Bright market so off I went.

It was a lovely morning if a little breezy.

I put my basket of Pirate Cats and Blanket Bunnies on a little tray stand covered with one of my op shop tea cloths.

Feb. is usually a quiet month after the rush of Christmas and school hols etc. so this market was a little quiet.

But we still had people coming from far flung parts to visit.

I sold a few things, but nothing like previous markets still that's how it goes, swings and slides..........

I

There was live music, as a fundraiser for the Victorian flood victims.

Gives the market a lovely atmosphere.

It's always a good opportunity to catch up with some locals and have a chat.

I had my crochet with me and almost managed to finish a granny square..............

(No I'm not that slow, just alot of interruptions, welcome ones of course......)

This morning was lovely and sunny and I had promised myself a day in the garden.

More like I had neglected it for so long it was threatening to take over. So armed with secateurs and chopper lopper thingys,I donned the gardening gear and attacked.

I cut chopped, trimmed, pruned and the pile of prunnings grew and grew and grew.

While I'm outside it's a good opportunity to let the girls out of their run for a change of scenery.

They're great little helpers, eating all the little nasties, they have brilliant eyesight.....

Ever seen a chook wearing glasses? Thought not......hehe

Poor Tig felt a little under threat, safer to stay inside whilst Mrs Brown is on her bug hunt.

Here's my secret weapon, in the gardening war.

No 1 son and a ride on mower with trailer.

While I pruned and the piles grew, he gathered them up, loaded them into the trailer and took them into the paddock for the cows to graze on.

There were several loads and the cows had a lovely feast.

We didn't even have to call them, they were mooing and running.

It's not like there's no grass in the paddock for them, but I guess it's a nice change from their usual diet.

By the end of the day I had hacked, mowed and whipper snipped the jungle back into some semblance of order.

As I headed for a nice warm shower with a feeling of contentment at my achievements, I hoped that I hadn't overdone it, as tomorrow I have to go to work.

Always nice to be able to move without sore muscles accompanied by moaning and groaning......

Not a good look when you work in a hospital.....

Tig has the right idea, I plan to do this as soon as I have finished this post.

I'm sure I will sleep soundly tonight.

Hope I don't dream of killer shrubs, their leafy tentacles reaching out to strangle me!

It's a cool, dare I say chilly, evening here, I have had to put on some layers and have dug out my Winter slippers.....

No. 1 started stacking away the wood (see previous post) later this afternoon.

I told him I couldn't wait until we could use the wood heater.

He rolled his eyes, but he's used to me.......

BUT fear not, Summer isn't done here yet, we are expecting temps to climb back up to 30 by the weekend........

So hopefully the zucchinis will keep growing and the tomatoes keep ripening before I have to start using some of that wood........

I hope your week has gotten off to a good start.

Thanks for dropping by and reading my ramblings, it's always nice to hear from you and I must say a big 'WELCOME' to all my new followers.

Look forward to hearing from you all,

Till next time, take care,

Claire X

Introducing Muriel

I would like to introduce you to Muriel, the twin sister to Ruby Rose, whom you met last post.

Muriel is a rather unusual character, lovable in her own special way, but she doesn't have the natural charm and poise of Ruby R.

Muriel has decided it's time to step out of her sisters shadow and find out who she really is.

She's a little bit, hmmm, what shall I say here? Quirky, eccentric, zany, obsessive an interesting character to say the least!

She's a 'try hard', a square peg in a round hole, but that doesn't stop her from 'having a go'

Muriel is gracing the front of two book covers.

She's likes to think she's a bit of a trend setter, whether these trends 'take off' or not remains to be seen........

She decided to join the 'blue rinse' brigade, well before her time.

She thinks the colour suits her particularly when she puts on her new 'op shop' glasses.

She's planning on joining the local book club and thinks she will fit in nicely........

She also has a slight obsession with Peter Pan collars and puff sleeves. They bring back happy memories of matching candy striped party dresses her mum used to dress her and her sister in.
Harking back to her childhood, when she was carefree and happy and never worried about what people thought of her or if she fitted in or not.

Muriel will no doubt be making more appearances in the future.

I found these two photos on the camera when I was down loading and would like to share them with you.

No1 son has taken them and I love the softness and subtleness of the colours.

Two different evening skies and colours Muriel would approve of!

I whipped up a new bunny for my stall at the weekend and sold it before I even thought to take a pic of it, doh!
Just had to make another as I rather enjoyed putting him together.
I wanted to post before I went to work so here he is not quite finished but you get the idea.

Using a recycled woollen blanket and some vintage style fabrics. Love the colours and his little Suffolk puff cotton tail.




As you can imagine with Spring here and bucket loads of rain the garden has been taking off along with the weeds.
I decided to check out what the cherry trees were up to and imagine my surprise and delight when I found these little beauties amongst the leaves.
Last year during the drought we had a measly 3 cherries on each of the 3 trees and then to add insult to injury the birds ate them, grrrr....
This year it's a different story and between the 3 trees there must be close to 100 cherries. BUT if you click on the pic you will spy some nasty, slimy little cherry slug.
Whilst they don't appear to harm the fruit they do damage the leaves and there's no way I'm going to spray this close to the fruit being ready to eat, even if I use something organic.
The trees aren't netted, so chances are we will be sharing some of the fruit with the birds. But I will keep an eager eye on them to make sure we do get a taste!!

Along with the cherries, the berries are also cropping abundantly. They have only been in for 3 years and once again this year is a super duper crop.

With regular weekly downpours, the berries are filling out and colouring up beautifully.

Once again some nasty little sap sucking critters have decided to help themselves.

For the first time, we have those little green shield bugs, which suck the juice and goodness out of things.

We are using the natural method of picking them off and giving them the 'size 9' treatment (crushing them under our boots!)

One of the chooks has taken a liking to the taste of them and as soon as we head over to the canes she is right by our side, waiting for the feast to begin.

They seem to give off a smell much like coriander, which I actually love, so I don't mind picking them off the plants.

Hopefully, we will be able to keep on top of the problem and harvest enough fruit to make some jam.

If anyone has a natural method or product they know of to eradicate these nasties please let me know.

I started my morning with a wander round the garden, basket and secateurs at hand and dead heading the roses and picking some to bring inside.

I filled the basket almost to overflowing, I love roses and filling vases with them to place around the house.

There's a mix of Camp David, Radox Bouquet, Mothers Love and Lady of Megginch (David Austin and new this season) in the photo.

Forget your expensive arrangements of exotic flowers from the Florist (nice if you are sent some though) I'm happy to pick them from my garden even if some of them are a little too sun kissed.

Can't forget a little posy for the bedside table, rosebuds, lavender and parsley flower heads for added interest. The bees are loving the parsley at the moment and I love the shape and texture of the flower heads.

Mind you there's no parsley as it has gone to seed, but I am quite happy to leave it there for a little bit longer to enjoy.....

It's been a little while since my last post, I was busy sewing for my market stall last Sunday. The weather was perfect so we expected a bumper crowd.

But due to the weather being so nice it seemed the crowds were elsewhere. Never mind that's the nature of markets and there were still quite a few visitors and the usual locals.

I sold quite a few things and was very happy with the outcome, so will be once again beavering away at the machine making things for next months market.

All's well here in the Sweet Birdy Love household.

The weather is warming up, not sure how I feel about that. Doesn't take much to work up a sweat when you are out in the sunshine, but at least we will have lovely juicy berries and cherries....

The Lavender walk will be haze of purple shortly and the bees will be creating a daily hum. The orchard is filling up with apples, pears and nashis and in the back orchard are nectarines, peaches and plums. Not the biggest crop as heavy rain and wind have knocked alot of flowers/fruit off the trees. I love summer days when you can walk out to the orchard and pick a sun warmed peach straight from the tree. Bite into it's juicy flesh, let the juice run down your chin, mmmm..........

There are things I love about summer and that's some of them.

Well, thankyou all for stopping by, having a read and leaving a comment if you have time.

I hope you are all having a good week,

until next time, take care,

Claire X