Market Report

Hello there, time for a market report.....

Sheep sales were up this week, hehe.

Oops, sorry, wrong market report.

Saturday was the monthly market in Bright.

It started off with a very foggy drive, I had to slow right down as I could barely see two metres in front of me. Fortunately, there was no traffic on the windy road so I could take my time. 

Once the fog lifted it was a beautifully, sunny day.....

I made some camper van zip purses using recycled blankets.

Some camper van brooches too....seems to be a recurring theme here!

I finished the Daffodil tea cosy and lined it with yellow and white polka dot fabric

I forgot to pack my teapot to display the cosy so  

used scrunched up plastic bags to fill it, hence the wonky shape.

It found a new home with a neighbouring stall holder who had fond memories of learning the Wordsworth poem at school.....

Anyone for a cuppa?.....

,

 Due to recent rain it was a little muddy underfoot.

The river was well up and flowing very fast. 

I've never been around to see it this high. 

Not surprised there weren't any ducks braving a swim.

Although sales were well down on last months market, I covered my costs and then some.

When all was packed up I made a quick trip to the local Op shops, one of which was closed due to lack of volunteers.

(They've headed North for the Winter)

Come on girls this just won't do, hehe.....

I then headed over to Ginger Baker, a little gem of a cafe situated at 127 Great Alpine Rd. 

If you are in the area make sure you pop in, it's wonderful

 A nice way to finish the day.......

Stall holder and all round clever, crafty person Lauren and her lovely friend Mel met me there. 

I decided on coffee and carrot cake, yum.....

Check out these amazing light shades.....pasta sauce jars.

Recycling at it's best.....aren't they great?

Have a look at that cake display.....double yum.

While I ummed and aahed over what to order guess what Lauren and Mel were doing?.....

.

Playing with my camera!!

Sneaky girls...you crack me up

That's Lauren on the left and Mel on the other left!!

Lauren is off working and travelling for quite a few months, venturing to the Middle East first and then the UK.

Safe travels Lauren, I will miss you.

Hope to see you at the market Mel and maybe you'll be having a stall one day!

All in all a good day, lots of fun, laughter, chit chat and CAKE.

The lovely weather has continued, so today was spent out in the garden.

 Mrs Brown was there to help once again.

I weeded, pruned, shifted plants around and had a rather splendid time. No.1 mowed/slashed the green stuff and in a day or three we could just about bale it!!

 Certainly looks alot better.

    

The Violets have been taking over and much in all as I love them and I once had an Auntie Violet, they have  become a bit of a nuisance.

 I picked a lovely bunch before I pulled the plants out.

 Barely made a dent in them!

I'm hoping to get some more gardening done this week before the wet weather arrives. I'll give the sewing machine a bit of a rest, although some play time might take place!!

I'll pick more Violets as I love vases of them on my bed side table and of course there'll be all the usual house work and boring stuff taking place, but who wants to read about that?

I hope your week has some fun in store.

 Let me know what you're up to, I'd love to hear.

Thanks for popping by and saying 'hi', it's always great to hear from you,

Take care ,

Claire

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Whatever the Weather......

It seems to be all about the weather at the moment doesn't it?

Too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry........and everything in between.

The seasons not doing quite what you would like them too?

Is it turning you into a Grumpy Bunny?.....

Despite, the cold and rainy days here, there's plenty of splashes of colour in the garden.....

Yellow and orange are the dominant colours at the moment.

A favourite corner in the darkening evening.

The Japonica has started flowering.....

I love the deep pink against the white.

Once again something has been nibbling at the flowers, grr....

A few branches in a vase..... 

Even in Winter there's something in the garden to pick and bring indoors.....

Last week when the sun was shining, I got out in the garden and planted up some peas and some flower seedlings.

 I'm hoping to bring a bit more  colour and variety to my Summer garden.

I made the most of the sunny weather and pruned and weeded like there was no tomorrow.......

As the vegie garden isn't fenced off, all new seedlings need to be protected from my gardening helpers!!

They're very good at scratching things up and turning the soil over BUT.......

Here's hoping my Summer garden will look a little more like this.....

Wouldn't I love it if that were my thatched roof cottage.

A pic from a favourite childhood book.

There's little gardening taking place this week.

Once again it's grey and damp.......

There's sewing and crocheting taking place,

soup making and some baking too.

I hope you have a great week, whatever the weather.

Thanks for coming over for a visit, it's always lovely to hear from you, 

Take care

Claire

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Words from William

 I was hoping for a lightning bolt moment!!

But the seed of an idea slowly appeared and grew from there.

Planning and placement of shapes and colours takes the longest time.

Stitching started and it slowly comes together.

Sit back take another look....a few more stitches.

Snip off the threads.....

Add some words from a favourite poem by William Wordsworth...

Slightly wonky, but then you know it's handmade and not churned out in the thousands!!

Later in the week (not much later to go really!)it will be turned into  a tea cosy....

My inspiration actually started earlier in the week.....

They're meant to be Daffodils but they remind me more of Jonquils.

 More practice needed....

Joining in with other creative people over here.

It's been a week of topsy, turvy weather.

Monday, sunny and gardening weather.

The fire brigade were called  to an out of control burn off.

  Who would've thought in Winter!!

 Long dry grass, with new green growth underneath and no, it wasn't me but someone down the road.....

Tuesday to Wednesday morning it rained, cats and dogs.

We had 79 mls.....it was wet....very wet.

View from underneath my umbrella....

Do you put your gumboots on and splash through the puddles.

Well, I had to check the mail and bring the rubbish bin in!!

Blurry pic or not I liked the effect.

Wednesday was 'fine ish' and today it's back to rain.....

Perfect for staying cocooned inside and being creative.

☁+☂= ☺

Time for a big bowl of warming soup and I'm off to visit some blogs.




Before I go, I just want to tell you about a lovely,


 Vintage Teaparty giveaway 
over at
Madelief

If you haven't visited her charming blog you are in for a visual treat, pop on over and say 'hi'

Take care,

Claire
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Mr. Whiskers.....

Hello there thanks for popping over for a visit.....and thankyou for all your lovely comments on last weeks Creative Space post.

For quite a while now I've been wanting to make a fox softie.

Lots of ideas have been swirling around in my head, so I finally turned one of those ideas into...

'Mr. Whiskers'

The back/rear view can be just as interesting as the front.

Lots of thread make him look like a very whiskery fellow..

Those green eyes seem to watch me from every angle.....

I had to give him 'eyebrows' as he looked like he'd had too much Botox and couldn't frown....

On the back I embroidered verse one of an old folk song.

I remember hearing this sung by Burl Ives when I was

 veeeeery young....

'The fox went out on a chilly night

He prayed for the moon to give him light

For he had many a mile to go that night before he reached

the towno towno towno'...... and so on

Now we all know Mr. Fox has some very unsavoury ways and unsociable habits (to put it politely) but he has such a cute face and looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth........

'Chickens..what Chickens?

I didn't see any Chickens....

Prove it...'

Tig's keeping his distance ....

Not too sure about Mr. Whiskers!!

I'm quite happy with how my fox turned out. 

But not sure about his 'socks'.

 He's got them pulled up nice and high over his knees.

 I think it may have been better if they were more 'ankle socks'.

What do you think?

I guess that's what a prototype is all about.....

 Recently I  took part in the Handmade Heart swap organised over at Mary Poppins Blog.

My swap partner was Fay who lives in New Zealand she blogs over at Monkey Makes Three

Her parcel arrived in my letter box this week.....

Don't you love finding packages in the post?......

She made me a fab embroidery hoop pic,

A lovely zip pouch with heart pull,

A beautiful Lavender heart which smells divine.

A crocheted coaster with felt heart 

(Fay has only been crocheting for a couple of weeks now. This gals's a fast learner.)

There was a lovely book mark with hearts some great fabric and a bag of the yummiest strawberry/choc hearts.

 I love it all, thanks Fay it's been fun.

If you would like to see what I sent her just pop over to her blog and say 'hi'.....

Well that's it from my creative space for now.
Linking up with other clever girls over here......

Take care,

Claire

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A Gold Sticky Star Award ✭✭✭

Brrr....welcome to July.....

It's cold, grey and gloomy here this morning.

 The sun is hiding it doesn't want to show it's face.

We were in Melbourne for the weekend and it was 5 deg. at midday yesterday.

 Haven't had a Winters' day that cold for some time.

 As we watched the temperature drop on the gauge in the car, I was hoping that the light drizzle would turn into beautiful snow flakes....❆ ❆ ❆ 

It wasn't to be.....oh well. 

There's still more cold weather to come!!

With 4 hours plus of travelling(in the daylight) I needed a little project to keep my fingers busy and warm.....

I packed a bag of wool, nice bright colours, leftover yarn from other projects. I wanted to whip up some small granny squares in random colours......

Quick, easy no tricky patterns or counting needed.

 I could've whipped up a lot more but was quite happy with my little haul.

I came to the conclusion that I don't do random very well.......

There needs to be some sort of continuity.

 I don't like certain colour combinations dominating, so a little planning was needed.

Saturday afternoon I visited Wool Baa yarn shop at 124 Bridport Street, Albert Park. I drooled over (not on, hehe) their gorgeous yarns. I imagined whipping up gorgeous scarves and beanies in some stunning colours and then I lashed out and spent $1.95 on a couple of wool needles so I could darn in the ends of my granny squares!!

There are UFO's to be finished girls.

 It's all about discipline and self control which I have very little of at the best of times!! 

Back home I dragged out my unfinished blanket last night,draped it over my knees as I watched Downton Abbey and darned in 51 ends and there's still more to do.

I have tried crocheting them in as I work, but have found they can wiggle their way loose, grrr!

Thanks to that wonderful needle, this tedious but necessary job was made alot easier.

 I have awarded myself 

 ✭✭ 

2 gold, sticky stars....

If you have finished a task that you have been putting off please feel free to award yourself one of these ✭✭✭

------00000------

Recently I was lucky enough to win Alison's giveaway over at

Tweed Thoughts.

The prize was  a choice of one of her lovely tweed garlands.

Well, a wonderful parcel arrived in my letter box last week....

I chose a heart garland.....

I love the fabrics and the colours.

 It is now hanging on a little cabinet and makes me smile

every time I look at it.

  

Alison also enclosed some sweet fabrics,

 buttons and one of her beaut tweed brooches and a card.

 A copy of her local newspaper the Stornoway Gazette was also in the parcel and I was thrilled to receive it. 

A little insight  into life in her neck of the woods.

I love it all and that brooch is such a gorgeous green....

Thanks so much Alison you have spoilt me..

If you haven't discovered Alison's blog yet, head on over and check out her lovely tweedy makes.....

Now for......

 'TIGGERS TIPS ON SURVIVING WINTER'

Tip No. 1.... Find somewhere warm and comfortable to curl up.

       Empty cartons are perfect for this......

His little gnome friend is courtesy of the very clever

Karen over at Mimilove.

 Pop over there and be inspired by her stitchy and painterly ways....

Oh, No. 1 has just let the chooks out. 

They're enjoying the worms that have wriggled up onto the pavers......an easy snack for them.

After 2 months of no eggs at all they have decided to start laying again, yippeee.

 Bought eggs just don't compare to fresh eggs from your own chooks.

Righto girls it's time to go and earn myself another gold, sticky star.......

There's sewing to be done along with some housework.

I hope you all have a great week and thanks so much for the lovely and encouraging comments on my last post.

Take care,

Claire

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