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