If the Hat Fits.........

Hello there, I have been a little wayward in posting recently still recovering from the Folk Festival last weekend and getting back into the swing of things......

So, how are you all, I can't believe it's Thursday already.....no I'm not going to mention the 'T' word and how fast it's flying.

Would love to clip it's wings and slow it down a little!!

Anyhoo, grab a cuppa and let's begin with something a little crafty

Sweet, little crocheted flowers inspired by a garden bed full of vibrant Zinnias has inspired me to whip up a few of these........

I still haven't managed to crochet leaves that I am completely happy with, so the next best thing was to make the leaves using felt and some machine embroidery.

I just need to sew a brooch back onto the felt and there you have it a couple of new brooches ready to brighten up a dull Winter's day.....

I am in love with turquoise/bright blue, call it what you will. It just makes me smile and when you add that colour to a Kombi/camper van........woohoo I feel a little giddy.

Do certain colours or colour combo's make you smile.......do tell...

The inspiration for my brooches........although there's no blue to be found here!!

Autumn colour in the background

Some little Kombi vans rolled off the production line today, ready to be made into egg cosies for my next market stall.

Turn them over to share some Polka Dot goodness....

Are you thinking about chocolate?

Ok, let's backtrack to last weekend and the Folk Festival.

It was a wonderful weekend, of great music, friendship and fun.

We billeted a very talented young lady by the name of Maggie Rutjens and her lovely mum Cathie.

They travelled over from South Australia on Friday and despite being tired Maggie performed Friday evening and wowed audiences with her beautiful voice.She then had another 3 or so performances over the weekend and this being only her second festival she did a brilliant job.

Richard met her at the Fleurieu Folk Fest last October and their friendship developed. He has been a bit of a musical mentor to her and when she was accepted to perform here it was natural that Maggie and Cathie would stay with us, so we could share our little town and festival with them.......

Head over to Youtube and type in her name and you can hear the voice that sent shivers up my spine and in certain songs had the tears welling up.......

Take note of the multi coloured jumper Maggie is wearing in one of her videos........

Cathie knitted it 30 years ago and it was hidden away in the deep, dark recesses of a cupboard until Maggie discovered it and claimed it for her own. I was surprised that moths haven't been nibbling away at it over the years, but it was in pristine condition.

It's a work of art in itself despite Cathie's protests that it shouldn't see the light of day!!An unseasonal cold snap had everyone reaching for their beanies, and jackets on Friday night and Saturday, but the sun showed it's face for the market on Sunday and the day was a right pearler.

Of course I spied the bunting from a distance of 50 paces......

Hats seemed to be a common theme over the weekend,

whether it was for warmth or for fun....

These little animal hats were popular with the kids both big and little and it wasn't unusual to see a bovine clad head wandering through the crowd at one of the concerts.

I thought they were chooks and asked if I could take a pic.....

They were actually Penguins!!

The bows under their beaks were a dead giveaway!!

Hmmmm....

More hats....a top hat and a flat cap

Very stylish lads.

Now, I know it's a little hard to see, but I wasn't about to walk up to the front of the stage to take this pic.

Seated at the drums is Cara Robinson she was wearing the most beautiful vintage green dress with a sweet hat AND a snood.

Done up in her finery she belted those drums like there was no tomorrow.

Each performance she wore the most stylish vintage outfits.

Google Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson to check out their music and her wardrobe.....

The weekend sadly came to an end and I can tell you we were all exhausted.

Sunday night found us sprawled over the couches reliving the great music we had seen and not wanting the weekend to end.

The countdown is now on there's only 11 months and 3 weeks to the next Yackandandah Folk Festival, but hey, who's counting!!

Back to reality......

It was time to get out into the garden today, specifically the 'back orchard' and do battle with the weeds, grass and berries.......

I was in charge of the secatuers, chopper lopper thingies and the wheelbarrow.....

No. 1 bought in the ride on, the push mower and between the two of us we chopped, snipped, mowed, raked and finally rediscovered the fruit trees and berries.

Since the discovery of a brown snake a couple of months ago we had pretty much stayed away from the orchard.....

But today we staked our claim and it's looking tickety boo.

The cows enjoyed the grass and prunnings and No. 1 shared a joke with this gal who looks like she's only got 3 legs.....don't worry it's just the angle of the pic!!

Five years ago you wouldn't have seen No.1 within cooee of these beasts. Up close they are rather large and intimidating and when they start flinging their hooves around stand well back...

Awww ain't that sweet......

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Well, it's close to pumpkin time so I better head off to bed.

It's been a rather smokey week here due to the DSE carrying out controlled burns which is usual for this time of year, although not much fun it does give us beautiful sunsets.

I hope you are all well, thanks for popping over for a visit.

A big thankyou to all my new followers and to everyone for all the lovely comments you leave. It's always great to hear from you and never ceases to amaze me as to which part of the globe you are visiting from..........

Take care

Claire ❤❤

A big thankyou to Alison over at Tweed Delights for her help with all things computer related.It took a while but it just goes to show you, that you can teach old dinosaurs new tricks, hehe.....

Let's Make A Deal.........

Cooee Possums, sorry have been watching an interview with Dame Edna.....

Well, Sunday evening and I'm yawning my head off, time for bed.

It's been a hectic weekend with 2 early starts and I'm a tad wearyo..

My first market stall for 2012 in Bright was a rip snorter ( a success!!).

It started off cold, grey and slightly gloomy, but that didn't deter my excitement as I do enjoy running my little market stall.

I set up and sorted,played and primped and and then waited for people to get out of their nice warm beds and head out into the bracing morning and come down to the market.

My little Owlies were sitting patiently in their little case wondering if they were going to find a new home.......

A bunch of beautiful Zinnias brightened up a corner of the table until the sun decided to show itself.

The lovely yellowy, green foliage are actually Parsnip seed heads.....

They were growing up next to the Zinnias and I couldn't resist the striking contrast of colours......so I snipped a few heads off.

I know I've been productive when I can stack up my makes ready to pack for the market......

A few of the hottie huggies I hope will find new homes and toes to warm in the cold evenings........

......and they did, so it will be back to the sewing machine and hope that I have enough blanketing left to whip up a few more.

It was great to be back at the market, meeting new stall holders and chatting to customers.

Bright is a beautiful tourist destination and I spoke to people from all parts of the countryside who were there on holidays

They head up to Bright to enjoy the mountains, the beautiful Autumn colours and in Winter the nearby ski resorts........

Heading home the warm car and sunny afternoon, had me feeling quite weary, so a 15 minute power nap was needed to keep me going past 8.30pm.

Plus, I had another early start Sunday morning as the first Makers Market was being held in my town this morning.

I arrived bright and early and snapped a couple of pics...

Sunlight, shadows and no one in sight.......beautiful.

Having sold quite a bit of stock at the Bright market I needed a little something to fill an empty spot on my table so I whipped up some sweet birdy brooches Saturday evening, while I could still keep my eyes open!!

The other stall holders were all crafty locals and Judy the organiser of the market makes some beautiful stained glass pieces as well as jewellery and other wonderful things.

Check out these two gorgeous pieces.....beautiful Blue Wrens.

Arent' they just stunning and as I stood there mouth open in awe I just knew that blue glass piece was coming home with me, hehe.....

Unfortunately, our windows are of the wind out variety so I can't hang it so the sunlight shines through BUT I have found a spot on the wall where it can be admired and as Judy pointed out if you don't place it directly against the wall you will get a lovely shadow.....

Anyhoo, Judy and I conducted a little business transaction....she acquired an Owlie and a hottie cover and the little Blue Wren is now hanging on my wall..........

I also conducted another of these business transactions in Bright, Sandy from another craft stall was after one of my 'Bgurk' brooches so I swapped for one of her knitted phone socks. It's lovely and colourful, so hopefully, I will no longer have to search too hard for my phone......

Continuing on .....next to me were Lauren and Chris from Indigo Ink.

They make screen printed, hand bound journals amongst other things

They have an etsy shop and you can click on the link to have a look at some of their wonderful makes.

It was interesting sitting there watching them fold and stitch paper for pages for more journals. They run bookmaking bookshops, think I will have to sign up for one of them......

Round the corner was Megan selling her wonderful crocheted beanies, washcloths, cushions and the most gorgeous baby blankets. Love those granny squares with their beautiful colours. Megan blogs over at Indigo Midge and she tells the story behind this fab cushion in her latest post.

Pop over and say 'hi'

Little did I know that there was another blogger living nearby, so it's been fun chatting about our fave blogs and wonderful things we've seen on the net.

Once again another little transaction took place.....I now have a beautiful, blue crocheted wash cloth and Megan has one of my Sewing Needle books with an Autumn leaf and saying on it......

Another great market and although there were only a handful of stall holders you know what they say 'from little things, big things grow'

When we weren't laughing, drinking coffee and scoffing yummy bikkies, we were all working away at our individual crafts.

A true Makers Market.....

So that's my weekend in a nutshell.......tomorrow is meant to be a day spent in the garden. The whipper snipper is now back in working order, so I can't put it off any longer and have to whip those weeds and edges into submission.

Hopefully, a little later in the week there will be time for some stitching fun and then next weekend is the annual

Yackandandah Folk Festival

We're looking forward to a weekend of great music, fine weather and lots of fun.

I hope whatever your week brings it's enjoyable.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post, it's always great to hear from you.

Take care ,

Claire♮♬♪♩

Got a Minute?...........

Hello lovely people and welcome..........

A little bit of what I have been up to this past week.

In preparation for my first 2 markets of 2012 which are being held in Bright next Saturday and in Yackandandah on Sunday morning, I have been stitching away.

I needed a good break from markets and from making the usual things to recharge the creative batteries.

Now, I think I'm ready to jump back in.....

Of course leading up to Winter, I wanted to make some Hottie Huggies.

Finding unloved blankets at the op shop bringing them home and giving them new life in a different form has been alot of fun.

I have a little stack of them just waiting to be stitched, but this little vintage caravan is the latest offering........

"Wherever I park my van, that's my home"

You can't see inside the door, but let me tell you in this little 'home on wheels' there are crocheted blankets, a handmade cushion or two, red and white polka dot mugs for a nice hot cuppa.

Lots of crafty mags, a bag of beautiful, bright yarn and a crochet hook, plus lots more wonderful things...

Oh well,a girl can dream can't she?.........

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I would have a go at making an Owl softie.....

I'm quite happy with the outcome, but have tweaked the pattern a little and changed the wings (sorry no pics).

Much happier now and hopefully, some owls will be flying off to new homes over the coming weekend.

I discovered this floral fabric at Spotters recently and at $4.00 a metre, I couldn't go past it. I do love pink and red together.

The hearts are filled with polyfill and homegrown Lavender.

The little hangy thingy was once used for cutlery. Give it a coat of cherry red paint and it's ready for it's new role.....

♥♥♥♥♥

The sewing continues this week, finishing off the Hottie Huggers, stuffing and stitching, hooking a little bunting goodness and maybe some more hearts...........

Sunday afternoon, driving home from the last gig, we pulled off the road so I could take a few pics.

I looooove seeing rows of mail boxes on the road side......this would have to be the most I have spotted.

Love the shadows created.

I do think they need to be a little brighter, perhaps a splash of red, yellow or blue paint !!

20 in total.

There's something about them all lined up waiting expectantly that really appeals to me.........

The Delatite River at Mirimbah Park, at the foot of Mt. Buller a beautiful spot to hold 'Picnic in the Park'.........

There were 100's of people some of them mud splattered and lycra clad having competed in a mountain bike event.

It was great to see large groups of people with their picnic tables set up with gourmet goodies, all relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather and stunning surrounds.

Food and wine stalls catered for others and the lineup for the icecream stall snaked around the grounds.

I was tempted, but we decided to head back to Mansfield for some refreshments when he was finished.

Best decision as we found an icecream shop in the main street, no queues and yummy icecream too.

I had forgotten that Monday was Labour Day hol and hubby would have the day off .

My plans were to sew, sew, sew, but I quickly changed tack and we headed out to Ceccanti Winery for lunch.

A small family run winery situated in the Kiewa Valley, not too far from Mt. Beauty.

It's off the beaten track, you have to drive up towards the hills along the dirt road, winding your way among the gum trees.

We sat outside so we could admire the view and watched a pair of eagles soaring on the thermals........

We admired the food, before we devoured it, hehe.......

Fettuccine Carbonara, absolutely delicious. In fact we all chose it as a main.

Hubby started with the Antipasta platter but No. 1 and I decided to save room for sweets.

I had the most beautiful ricotta cheesecake, lovely and light and still warm from the oven. No. 1 ordered the chocolate tart, mmmmm.

Surprisingly we only needed soup for tea!!

My only gripe would be, as we are not drinkers and yes, I realise that being a winery they want to make their money from the sale of wine.........the only drinks we could get were lemonade and there was one diet coke left!!

Bit of an afterthought........alot of wineries now do food, hopefully they are catering for the non drinker who would like also like to enjoy good food!!

A tasty finish to a busy but enjoyable weekend and there was still time for some sewing when I got home......

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It's back to the usual routine today, the weather is still holding out in fact I think we are heading towards 30deg. today before some rain later in the week.

Next week, will be spent outside in the garden, the Zinnias are still holding their own, the trees continue to colour up. The mornings are cool and dewy and there's another blanket on the bed at night.

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the change of season.........

Whether it be slowing down and moving into Autumn or gearing up for the delights of Spring.

Take care and thankyou for popping by for a visit,

♡♥ Claire ♥♡

Here We Go Again........

Hello there my lovelies.........

Am I the only one that thinks Mondays are rolling around just a little bit too fast?

A day at home and sewing was on the agenda. I wanted to whip up a few bits and pieces for my first market of 2012, but somehow I found myself cutting into a recycled woollen blanket and before I knew it a teacosy was taking shape.

Autumn's making it's presence felt inside as well as out.......

'Delicious Autumn, my very soul is wedded to it

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth

seeking the successive Autumns.'

George Elliot

Does that verse resonate with you too?

I'm happy with the finished result......now what was I meant to be making today!!

Come with me as I take a wander outside in the sunshine......

Let's feast on that beautiful blue sky, you see we nary got a look at it this past week.

It's been raining cats and dogs for the most part.

We've had 296.5mls over the last seven days.The creek's turned into a lake and there's been road closures but overall things are fine in this neck of the woods.

Unfortunately, folk in other parts of the state haven't fared so well

Umbels of Parsnip flowers........beautiful, lime green

This was the first time I had grown Parsnips......love them roasted, the smooth, nutty flavour.

Sadly, they weren't a great success. I have since found out there was too much manure in the soil which caused them to grow into some weird, munted looking thing.

Still the 'bits' I did use were very tasty.

I won't be put off and will try them again .

Once outside, I thought I would do a bit of pruning.

My poor neglected garden was looking a little sad, so half an hour with the secateurs has it looking a little neater and tidier.

The Dahlias are about to finish flowering, so this will be the last bunch I pick.

I love that white/crimson bloom......

It was a surprise buried under some of the foliage.

Tig is enjoying the dry weather, he can get outside and do what cats do best....sleep in weird and wonderful positions!!

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You know I had a week of being cocooned inside while the rain beat down outside and I loved every minute of it. Hearing it on the roof at night, watching it beat against the window.......I love it all.

The boys were away for the weekend, so early Saturday evening when it was bucketing down.....I made a very important decision.

I decided to light the wood heater.....

I know, I know, it wasn't particularly cold or anything, although it was the weather for long sleeves and slippers but I needed some company and you know a fire is great for bringing a bit of life into the room.

I sat there with a milo and marshmallows and enjoyed the evening twilight......bliss.

So that's a little bit of what I have been doing......nothing too outrageous or even wildly exciting just 'doing the do'.

So what have you all been up to?

Thanks for coming over for a visit, hope you've got time to say 'hi'

Take care,

Claire XX