Autumn Is Upon Us.........

Hello girls, thanks for coming over for a visit to find out what's been going on in the world of Sweet Birdy Love.......

This week I have been focusing on a project that will be completed within the month.....can't say too much.

But lots of stitching, snipping and 'playing' taking place

and when it all gets a bit too much and I want to run screaming from the room.........

...I move onto something that's less taxing on the brain!!

Lots of UK bloggers are posting photos of the countryside Springing to life after being blanketed with snow.

Gotta love Snowdrops......I think there might be a little range of these cards in the offing. 

It was a fun little make......but you all know I'm just putting off what I really should be doing!!

Last Thursday, out little op shop opened in town......

There was a ribbon cutting ceremony and I had to make sure there was also some cake cutting......couldn't let the opportunity pass.

So it was chocolate cake with jam and cream in the middle, chocolate icing on top and sprinkles......

Remember in my state of excitement about the opening I cooked a cake 3 days too early?!!

 Well, I popped it in the freezer and made another one the day before  and we had a double decker doozie.....

Gotta say it was yummy, this recipe has never let me down and is always chocolatey and moist......starting to salivate just writing about it.

On Saturday our wonderful wood man Alan, delivered a truckload of wood. He rumbled into the yard and did a 10 point turn so that he could angle the truck close enough to the shed to make for easy stacking.

That job definitely belongs to hubby and No.1 !!

 I am already dreaming of evenings by the fireside spending quality time with yarn and hook.

Alan had a run in with a B double semi 3 weeks ago and unfortunately his tipper trailer was written off.

 The driver of the semi was at fault

 Luckily Alan walked away from the accident with very little in the way of injuries......

So from dry, brown countryside to a photo taken by No.1 while he was in Toronto.....

There was snow, he took his thermals and said he'd never been so cold in his life.

They had a crazy, busy time there and it all went well. 

The whole trip was about networking and promotion and all that sort of thing.

 So we'll see if anything comes out of it, but they were both very glad to come back home to some warmer weather and rain.....at last!!

I caught up with Megan from Indigo Midge recently.

We tried out the new cafe in town and it passed with flying colours.

Megan had some saved some seeds from her garden to share with me.

I love the shape of these Poppy seed heads aren't they wonderful?

 I can't wait to grow some next season and see what colours I get. 

She also gave me some Hollyhock seeds....

the flowers are black....yesssss!

The bees are still having a field day amongst the Zinnias, buzzing here and there, so many flowers to visit........

Tigger in the garden this evening.....

He's had a busy day sleeping inside and now it's

time to have a little lie down in the garden!!

Don't cats have an amazing ability to sleep just about anywhere?  

Autumn is sneaking onto the scene here......the Maples along the drive way are colouring up.

 The mornings and evenings are alot cooler although the days can still be quite warm.

We've had rain, but definitely more needed.

It's a nice time of year, with the heat of Summer just about behind us.

We have a busy month coming up with our Folk Festival happening on  the 22nd-24th of March.

Lots taking place before that, but as long as I can have some quality time each day with my Janome I think I can hold it together.

So what have you been up to and do you need one on one time with your sewing machine/paintbrush/knitting needles and yarn to get you through the day?

Pleeeeeeease, say you do.......

Welcome, to some new Followers, lovely to have you on board for this little adventure.

Take care and thanks for visiting,

Claire x

Remember Me?.......

Hi there girls, I haven't run away with the circus.....

just in case you were wondering where I had disappeared to.....

A caravan wouldn't be big enough to hold my fabric stash, so I'll be staying put!!

Anyhoo, there has been some creating taking place and loved up Budgies have appeared on a N2M (new to me) blanket.

"Tweet Hearts Forever" first made an appearance around Valentine's Day and I had so much fun making them, I had to make some more......as I do!!

It's bright, it's kitsch but I love it.

 It makes me smile......

This little stitchery is looking for a new home, so if you are interested in purchasing it, head over to my Facebook page where it is patiently waiting for it's new owner to come and claim it.  

My stash of blankets has grown recently and I love the turquoise/lime green/lolly pink combos......

Lots of ideas have been forming, but I'm still working through my 'To Do' list and probably won't be playing with any of these ideas till after Easter.

The garden has been languishing in the heat and lack of rain recently but these beautiful Belladonna Lillies have added a spot of colour.......

It seemed that one day there were just bulbs sitting in the garden bed, then a stalk sprung up and  the next day there were beautiful blooms....

The Zinnias continue to bloom and bunches have been picked to pass on to friends and share the 'Zinnia Love'

The little, native, blue banded bees seem to visit late afternoon. They dart quickly from flower to flower and it's hard to get a good pic of them.

Two weeks ago a storm blew in and it was quite wild and windy for a time.

The rain pummelled the ground in big drops down and blew in against the windows.

The sky and the mountains became one under a curtain of grey.

The rain was rushing so fast from the roof top to the tank it 

backed up and there was a waterfall flowing out.....

The storm didn't last long and when the rain stopped falling we only had 12 mls, but it was wonderful to listen to it on the roof and see it and smell it as it hit the sun warmed earth.....

Tigger watched the goings on from inside the house.....

He wasn't keen to come outside with me and enjoy it!!

The Maples along our driveway have started to change colour.....Autumn is around the corner and that makes me very happy.

It's been a hot Summer, with very little rain and I think everyone is looking forward to cooler temps.

Fortunately, the nights have been relatively cool, so you can get a decent nights sleep.

Hubby and No.1 are over in Toronto, Canada....a quick 10 day trip, to play at the Folk Alliance Conference.

It's been go, go, go for them, with gigs at crazy times. They won't have time to get over their jet lag before they board a plane to come home again.

They've gone from high 30's temps...shorts and singlet weather to minus temps in Toronto.....they've also hijacked my little, pocket, rocket camera so I hope they got some great snow pics.

Rich played a gig in Huntsville about 2 hours north of Toronto and there were 2 people in the audience wearing 

'Yackandandah' 

t shirts which were purchased at a little haberdashery store in our town!!

Small world girls!!

So apologies for not being around a little more, but I am still visiting blogs and commenting .

Big THANK YOU 

to new followers, you are very welcome here at

 Sweet Birdy Love.

BTW have you heard about the raffle to raise funds for

 Gretel Parker click here

Creative and generous artists and have donated some of their wonderful work as prizes.......

Check it our, I'm sure you'll want to be a part of it 

Better stop now, before I lose you completely, hehe.....

Thanks for coming by, would love to know what you've all been up.

Take Care,

Claire

❀❀❀❀❀ 

Oops, almost forgot.....

We're getting our own little op shop in town, yippee.....

The most exciting event on my social calender so far this year.

In fact I'm so excited I baked a cake for the opening, shame I didn't read the email properly.

I'm 3 days early, oops!!

PPS....one more thing....it seems that more bloggers are now 
'no-reply commment' which means I can't reply to your comment via email which I prefer to do, rather than on my blog.

What do you do? 
Reply to comments on your blog?
Seems I might have to go that way, as I don't want anyone to think I'm ignoring them, as I truly appreciate every comment I receive....lot of head scratching, chin rubbing going on over this one

Clearing the Decks........

Hello girls, how are you all?

I'm watching the first episode of the new series of Downton Abbey.

Obviously not giving it my full attention as I am typing this post...... 

Have you been caught up in it or not?

There is a cool breeze blowing through the windows and I can smell smoke, hmmm........must check out the CFA website to make sure it's nothing too close.

I assume it's from the fires up near Harrietville which is a way off from here, so no need to put my fire plan into action.....

 This week I  finished off some more tea cosies which had been sitting on my sewing table for far too long.

I've managed to find quite a few blankets at the op shop recently..... so my blanket stash is growing somewhat.

Gotta love red and white

I certainly agree with you Mr. Wordsworth.......

A couple of little budgies made a brief appearance and will be flying off to the USA to live with Liz.....

Hope it's not too chilly over there....

I also whipped up this card for a friends birthday.......

A moment of inspiration followed by 20min of faffing and stitching.

A personal note on the back a piece of trim for hanging and there you have it.......

I resent forking out huge amounts of money for cards.

At some stage they will be thrown away....

This will be the year of handmade card....it's more personal and it gives me another reason to play, create and have fun.

I had a quick trip to Melbourne, last weekend.

No.1 and I saw Keith Urban in concert

 ( you know, Nicole's hubby!!)

Great show Keith.....love the hair.

 On Monday morning No.1 played chauffeur whilst I ducked in and out of a few op shops.

I spied this fab Cake Box, it's made of hard plastic and in great condition.

The base is pink, so cute.....thought it would be great for storing trims, ribbons or buttons but I really needed to use it for it's original purpose first.

So.......I whipped up my favourite chokky cake, slapped on some awesomely chocolate icing and then the final touch...

rainbow sprinkles. 

Don't do crunchy 100's & 1000's

Well, the cake was a hit and it's all gone, so I can now fill it

with sewing goodies. 

The warm weather has returned this past week and the cherry toms are ripening nicely.

They are so full of flavour.....it's hard to stop at one

The Hollyhocks are still flowering and I love this beautiful pink bloom. Reminds me of a ball gown, layers of beautiful, soft, floaty fabric........thought you might like a change from Zinnia pics

So I have been 'clearing the decks' here....

I've almost finished the last orders from 2012 and am not taking on any more new work. I have a couple of things I need to work on for an exhibition in March and a lot of ideas I want to try out.

 Tidying the sewing room is taking far longer to get around to then I thought, but it can't be avoided forever....can it?!!

I'm scared I'll uncover far more UFO's than I thought I had!1

Hubby and No.1 son will be heading off to Canada shortly and I want to use the time they're away to work on some new projects....

That reminds me, must search for Winter jackets as they'll be in for a shock. Temps in Canada have been in the minuses! for some time. Certainly a lot colder than the Winters we have.

 I have been absent from my blog for a little bit I've been playing over on FB and having lots of fun.

Come over and visit if you like, just click on the button on my side bar.

Don't forget if you would like to donate to the 

Gretel Parker Project

there are only 22 days left to do so.

Funds are trickling in and the total is growing, but it's a long way short of what they were hoping to raise for her.

I know I said it last post, but a

 HOOUUUGE

 THANKYOU

to bloggers who put their hand in their purse and gave.

You know who you are  and so do I thanks guys....

So what have you been up to?

Are you a sprinkles or a 100's & 1000's kinda gal?

What would you fill the cake box up with.....besides cake!!

Do tell.....

Thanks for visiting always great to hear from you .

Hope you all have a fantastic week,

Take care,

Claire X

One Down, Eleven To Go........

Here we are about to fall off the edge of January into February....

How has the first month of 2013 been?

Are you keeping up with your resolutions and goals?

I've had mixed success, but that's about par for the course.

Things are going well so far and my little sewing machine has been whirring away again this week and I've been able to tick some things off my 'to do' list.......

A friend asked me to make her one of those bags in which to store recycled plastic bags.... a simple project

She likes bright and colourful and doesn't want to store it in a drawer.

So a 50cent tee shirt from the op shop has been re purposed.

European folk art influenced. 

I love the designs and bright colours......something a little bit different

I've also had a bit of fun playing.....

A Julie Arkell inspired watch added to  some inspiration from Trudy over at Playing In The Attic.....

After I had started stitching the numbers I realised they were on an angle....I figured it adds to the quirkiness of it!!

We've been enjoying some cooler temps this week which has been lovely, but a good drop of rain is needed to give the garden a satisfying drink.....

Hard to imagine that there are floods up in Queensland when we have bush fires down here in Victoria........

I'm just managing to keep the garden going, there's not much flowering, but the Pineapple Lily/Eucomis is opening up beautifully.

......and of course the Zinnias are creating a splash of colour.

They are hardy plants.....excuse my foot there in the picture.

My favourite colour this season... 

I couldn't resist putting some on a teacosy.....

I've working on the last few orders from 2012.....yes, I am a bit behind but I am getting there slowly.

I aim to clear the decks which will then allow me to work on all those ideas which keep popping into my head.

Plus I still have to organise my sewing room... ahem!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the 

Gretel Parker Project

This blogging world is very supportive and it's been great to see the tally growing daily......

If you would like to contribute or share this on your blog or Facebook site please click on the link to find out more.

Thank you all for caring,

Big hugs to you all,

Claire X

About Flowers, Feathers, Food and Friends......

Hello girls how are you all, I hope you've had a good week and are looking forward to a well deserved rest over the weekend.

I've been a little quiet on the blog front this week, not for lack of things to show you but sad news early in the week left me with a heavy heart......more of that later.

I have been busy, stitching and making more Patchy Daisy designs for tea cosies and pincushions.

I love playing with the fabrics to get it just right, but it certainly takes quite a bit of time....

A successful trip to the op shop on Wednesday where I found 2 woollen blankets...yippee

Love the contrast of red and white.

Since taking this pic I have added a ladybird to the area on the right.....now I'm happy...

Remember the blue banded native bee that visited my garden recently?

Here it is on a pincushion....just waiting to be made up.

The last tea cosy design....seed heads....

I couldn't resist putting the turquoise and purple together.

A little more subdued than the daisies but I love it just as much.

Now I have to crack on and finish them off.

I have to admit I'm a bit naughty as I love playing with the design, that's the fun part, but putting the layers together and stitching them, that's not quite as much fun.....

I've also been working on some more birdy wall hangings.

Bright colours and an appropriate saying.

'My favourite weather is bird chirping weather.....'

Terri Guillemets

It's for sale on my Facebook site, just click on the badge at the top of this page.......

There have been lots of picturesque snowy photos on blogs recently along with wonderful Red Robin paintings etc. on Facebook, so I just couldn't help myself.

 You know how much I love red Robins....

It will be another wall hanging when finished.

'O, wind, if Winter comes can Spring be far behind'

Percy Bysse Shelley

More bright colours, but not fabric this time....

This is Tanya's beetroot and carrot salad in the making...

 recipe over here.

I wasn't sure if hubby and No.1 would enjoy it, but they certainly did.

Hubby is a confirmed beetroot hater BUT he asked me if I would make some up so he could use it in his lunch during the week!!

I think that says it all......

I would make it for the colour combo alone....

 

More colour inspiration from the garden...Zinnias.

They haven't been as prolific this year....I let them self seed and they came up all over the place. In the gravel paths and outside the garden bed and a few sprinkled around in the garden bed. I had to pull quite a few up as they grew in inappropriate places.

 They are blooming beautifully, but I won't be picking lots of bunches to bring inside or give away to friends, but I am enjoying them anyway.

Back to the sad news I mentioned, please take a minute to read the following.....

What would you do if the person you loved and relied on most in all the world suddenly died?

Most of us would turn to our support systems -- parents, siblings, church groups, fraternal organizations.  But what if you didn't have those sources of support?  Then, I think, you would turn to your friends.

Gretel Parker is a talented artist, illustrator and artisan needlefelter who lives in the county of Shropshire in the United Kingdom.  She's also my friend.  Perhaps she's your friend too.  And right now she needs some financial support.

On 21 January, Andy Macauley -- Gretel's sweetheart and life partner of 21 years -- died.  The two had just moved to Shropshire and had bought their first house together, a place they christened "Bodge Cottage." Andy died without a will, and it will likely take many months for lawyers to determine what, if anything, is left for his sweetheart.  Meanwhile, life does go on and there are still bills to be paid -- funeral expenses, mortgage payments, electric bills, trips to the grocery store, and all the other costs of daily life.

Andy's job helped pay for things, but now he is gone and Gretel's situation is financially precarious. Although Andy's family is dear to her, Gretel has no living parents, no siblings, no one from the usual support system to help her get through this.

But she does have us. We can help her.

As mentioned, Gretel is very talented.  She has written and published several books, has been featured in the British craft magazine Mollie Makes, and has held several seminars to teach others the craft of needlefelting.  Her blog, "Middle of Nowhere," is a window into everyday life in rural Britain and has helped her meet and befriend many people around the world.  I have absolute faith that Gretel will get back on her feet when the time is right, and that she will be able to keep Bodge Cottage.  In the short term, she could use some financial assistance.

Any amount you could donate would be welcome -- and if you can't donate, you can still help by spreading the word about the Gretel Parker Project on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.  Tell your friends and family.  Let as many people know as possible.  Please, help us to help Gretel.

Thanks for your time.

You may  know Gretel from her blog Middle of Nowhere, you may have already read this sad news....if you can help whether it's just a couple of dollars or more please do so.

Every little bit helps and at this moment Gretel certainly needs it.

I have made a donation and would really appreciate it if you were able to help as well.

It's very easy using Paypal or a credit card.

Click on the link and then click again...you'll get there.

thttp://indiegogo.com/gretel-parker-project

This blogging world is supportive, encouraging, inspirational and I love being part of it.

Thankyou for visiting and thankyou for your comments ......

Hug those you love and have a good weekend girls,

Claire xx