She Was A Curious Little Creature.......

Hello girls, how's your weekend going? 

Are you enjoying some lovely, Spring weather

 or the delights of Autumn?

It's been a lovely day here, blue skies, a few clouds but a pleasant temperature.

My camera/computer has been giving me the run around trying to upload photos, but finally it's behaving despite the first pic!!

I've had a lovely day stitching, snipping and finishing off a little project, I've been thinking about for a while.....

You know how much I love Autumn and all it's glorious colours.....

Beautiful, scarlet rose hips and coppery leaves

'She was a curious little creature.

Her blue eyes full of wonder,

Her heart full of love and her arms outstretched to

help others'.....

I needle felted some wool into the Oak leaves, to add a touch

of colour.....

Just need to hand stitch her closed and she's finished.

I'm quite happy with the way she's turned out, although I wanted her hat to look a little more 'slouchy' but hey,

 first time 'n all that.

I've called her Fenja (love that name) she lives in the forest and has a natural affinity with all the woodland creatures.

A visit to local gallery on Wednesday saw me buying 2 bags of wool tops. 

I've never bought them before, but the wool is so incredibly soft and the colours are just stunning.

 Coppery reds, green, purples....so many different colours hidden away among the folds.

Blues and purples, the colours in the pic aren't quite true....but I'm sure I'm going to have some fun with some needle felting projects soon.

Out in the garden one lonely Hollyhock spire is reaching for the sky in a last ditch effort before frosts arrive.

I watched it shooting upwards, wondering if it would manage to flower......

The sky was a dramatic, inky blue yesterday morning when I was feeding the chooks. 

Had to race and grab my camera and snap away before  it all changed.

It looked a little stormy but there was no rain forecast.......

The Chrysanthemums are starting to bloom.

The long, hot Summer almost killed them, but thankfully they're tough.....

Tig has done his contortionist impression and made himself comfortable in the box Ted arrived in from Devon.......

Fortunately Ted had long vacated it and made himself comfy elsewhere.

He's settled in nicely and thankyou all for your name suggestions.

Mrs Micawber thought it should be something suggestive of faded splendour and Annie @ Knitsofacto felt it should be something with gravitas so that's the direction I'm  heading in.

 I'll keep you posted but if you have any more suggestions along these lines, please let me know.

It's been a big week for celebrations here.

Hubby and I celebrated 20 years of marriage on Wednesday

 He took me out for a lovely lunch and had bought me some very thoughtful gifts.

 It's hard to believe it's 20 years...in the blink of an eye!!

Tomorrow No.1 celebrates his 22nd. birthday.

He'll be away, working on his birthday,

 playing at St. Alban's Folk Festival,

 but somehow I don't think he'll mind!

 He's doing what he loves so what more can you ask for.

Well I think I can stay awake long enough to do another round on my granny square blanket. Takes that little bit longer each round, but I am getting there......slowly.

Thanks for the lovely comments you all left on my last post.

I have some new followers so  welcome to all of you.

Have a great weekend girls and thanks so much for coming over to visit...... 

Claire X 

It's In The Post.......

I've just been trying to hang a load of washing on the line and avoid being whipped in the face with wet pillowcases and tea towels. There's a cold wind blowing today, feels like it's blowing right off the snow and yes, there was snow up at the nearby ski resort last night. 

My fingers were like ice when I had finished.

 Get that, last week we were having 25-28 degs. today it got to a top of 18deg.

Autumn temps are finally kicking in.....

Well, I finally finished my Foxglove tea cosy.

After umming and aahing over fabrics to line it with, I made my choice and I'm  very happy with how it turned out.

The mug belonged to my mum and came to live with me when she passed away......

The quote on the mug reads .......

Beautiful gloves to fit a fox's paw......

I think we have mail.....don't you?

One parcel in the letter box was for No.1.....

guitar strings....boring

The parcel on top was for me......exciting.

This parcel has travelled thousands of miles, over vast oceans and foreign lands......

Pretty paper a Royal Mail sticker an address in Devon.

Now to carefully open and see what's inside.

Oh my, under layers of pretty, pink tissue paper there he is.

'Love-Me-Ted' from Elaine of Ted and Bunny blog

He's an antique, not sure what his exact age is.

 He's being coy and not telling.....yet!

He's balding and worn from love and the passage of time.

He has vintage buttons for eyes.

Elaine has patched him with vintage fabric and beautiful hand embroidered linens. 

She's added buttons and stitching and turned him from something you probably wouldn't look twice at to something that's been given another chance and I've already fallen for his charms.

He's very special, to me.

 He represents everything that's good in people and the way the blogging community came together to help one of our own.

You see Love-Me-Ted was one of the prizes in the raffle held to raise funds for Gretel Parker.

 Wonderfully talented artist and blogger.

I need your help girls......

He needs a name, so all suggestions will be thoughtfully considered.

With the arrival of the cooler weather, I feel I may have to whip up a little jacket and scarf for him as he no longer has his fur coat.

I've been sock shopping this week....

That is shopping for wool to knit my very own socks.

It was one of goals I wanted to achieve this year.

I'm getting there slowly......

The wool is lovely with blues and purples in it.

It speaks to me of Scotland, Heather, blue skies and seas.....

I couldn't resist it 

The book is full of patterns 

Ideas....

And lots of photographs and instructions......

I won't be starting these for a few weeks as I want to finish off my crocheted rug first.

I know there are lots of bloggers who have knitted socks and 

I have been inspired by all of you and I'm hoping that I will 'catch the bug' as well.

This little plate was one of my recent op shop finds.

Love the turquoise trim, it was only $1.00 so of course it had to come home with me.

I'm really loving these Dahlias given to me by a friend last week.

I don't usually go for flowers that are orange/yellow, but these are so vibrant and well, Autumnal (love that word).

 I am really taken with them and may have to ask for a tuber or two.....

And a quick peek at the Liquid Ambers 

(part of No. 1's 21st. pressie)

They are looking beautiful in gold and red, a nice contrast against the red of the Maples along the driveway.

They create quite a splash of colour against the grey/green of the surrounding gum trees.

So there you have it girls.......

A little snapshot of what's been going on here.

Thankyou for all the comments on my last post, it's always nice to have visitors and a big welcome to some new followers too.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, thanks for visiting.

Claire x

Let's Get Cosy.......

Monday, Monday, hope your week is off to a good start girls.

I'm back into the teacosy making for a special order.

I've been wanting to sew a Foxglove design for some time, so today was the day.....

Let me tell ya......there was alot of snipping going on and it might look pretty straight forward and simple now that it's done but it took me hours!!

BUT, I'm thrilled with how it turned out and although I love using bright colours I'm also loving the softness of the pastel shades.....

Finding the right quote for the reverse side was the next step and I just couldn't go past Monet.

I think most gardeners would agree.....

A little Autumn inspiration has been stitched onto another 

'cosy in the making'.

 This 'new' blanket is such a gorgeous green,

  the photo just doesnt' do it justice.

Y'all know how much I love Autumn colours....

Talking about Autumn let's have a wander outside and see what's happening....

This Crabapple was looking a little sad after our hot Summer and No 1 was very worried that it was going to turn up it's toes.

Thankfully, it's come good and colouring up nicely with

lots of golden, coppery tones....

Beautiful new growth on the Leucadendron......

The Maples along the driveway are turning on the colour, not wanting to be out done.

Something weird has happened to the photo, hmm!

The bees are still buzzing away amongst the Zinnias which have been flowering for months now.

If any of you girls in the Northern Hemisphere are looking for something colourful and hardy to plant in your garden you really can't go past Zinnias.....♥♥♥......just sharing the love.

As well as some tea cosies I made a red version of my 

'knitting' stitchery......

Seems it's all about red today ♥♥♥

 Finally  a scene from Sunday evening, golden light shining through a smokey, stormy haze.....just beautiful.

The Janome is cranking this week, I'm having fun putting together designs for my cosies. 

It's been a little while since I made one and I have enjoyed the break.

The temp has climbed into the high 20's this week. It seems the warmer weather wants to hang around for a little bit longer and

recent rains have greened up the paddocks.

Gives me a chance to keep working on my granny square blanket before Winter arrives.....it's growing slowly.

So what's been happening with you girls?

Love to hear,thanks for popping by...

Have a great week.

Claire x

Another Slice.......

Hello girls, hope you all enjoyed the Easter break.

It was a very relaxed time in the Sweet Birdy Love household.

The weather was perfect, although I did find it cool enough on Saturday that I needed (most definitely needed, hehe) to light the wood stove for the first time this year......love it.

And the biggest thrill of all was spotting the first Flame Robin of the season. Actually there were 3 of them, 2 males and a female.

 I had to look twice, they're rather early, but very welcome.

In fact there were several sightings over the weekend.....

I also watched some of the 'Cranford' series with Judi Dench and I think this, along with the cooler temps has influenced my latest little stitchery......

'As the harshness of Summer gave way to

mellow Autumn days she found

 herself dreaming of evenings spent

by the fireside with nothing 

more than a ball of yarn

 and the rhythmic clicking 

of her knitting needles for

company.....'

Guess what I'm going to be doing soon?

This gorgeous, green blanket is one of my latest op shop finds.

 The green is somewhat brighter than the photo shows.

I couldn't resist making a little sewing needle book in between other projects today.

My bulb order arrived yesterday, prompt service I must say.

I'm quite pleased that I got my order in before it was too late.

I ordered Hyacinths, Tulips, Daffodils, Freesias, Dutch Iris and received a bonus of some extra Daffodil bulbs.

Now I just have to figure out where I am going to plant them all, but I think I'll find room!!

Our little op shop has moved into a larger room and seems to be getting quite alot of attention.

It's open 3 days a week but hours will increase when there are more volunteers to man it.

I picked up this sweet little leaf dish for 20c, it's fine china and made in Japan.

After a long, hot Summer, the cooler temps and recent rain have made gardening an option.

 So, Easter Monday, armed with my rusty I mean trusty secateurs I got busy and once I started pruning, I couldn't stop.

Green against green it's a little hard to see how much I cut off the shrubs, but there were 3 groaning barrow loads taken out to the paddock.......

I certainly felt alot better after spending a couple of hours in the shrubbery.

Cattle moving from one property to another had me watching carefully as they wandered along the verge.

We planted 2 young Liquid Ambers as part of No. 1's 21st. birthday pressie last year and I was a little concerned these rather large beasts would take a liking to the greenery.

Fortunately, they weren't interested, but a well placed hoof would've been all it took to do some serious damage.

I love the times when the local farmer moves his stock.

 Often he is on horse back and cracking his whip.

 The noise alone keeps them moving, but he had roped in family members home on holidays to help out.

The Camp David roses are putting on a final Autumn flush.

Can you smell the perfume?

It's intoxicatingly beautiful.

Think I might have to bring  a couple inside so I can enjoy their beauty......

I also managed to crochet 3 rounds on my granny square blanket which I started oh, about 2011 I think.

It's been slow going I know.

A bout of RSI due to my over enthusiastic crocheting technique calmed me down at the start.

 I hope to finish it in the next few weeks....it's large enough to throw over my legs, but I want to curl up and snuggle underneath it, so more work required...

So a little bit of crafting, gardening, relaxing and chocolate eating has been going on here....and now here we are in April...

So what did you get up too over Easter?

Did you eat too much chocolate?

Thanks for coming over to visit, it's always nice to hear from you......

Take care,

Claire

 x ♥ x

P.S. my latest stitchery and sewing needle book are for sale on my Facebook page if you are interested. Just pop over there for more details.....