Welcome to June........

Hello girls, just wanted to show you my new sewing machine.

This is Clothilde, isn't she a little gem?

I fell in love with her when I spied her on Ebay and knew she just had to come live with me........she's totally useless when it comes to stitching, but makes up for it with vintage, brooch gorgeousness.

Now that Winter's here, it's most definitely the season for a brooch or two.

I'm still creating little stitcheries.

I'm not sure what, but there's something about thready, frayed snippets of fabric stitched together that make my heart sing......and of course a fuzzy, little Bumbly bee adds to it

'Autumn's Bounty'

When there's very little flowering in the garden,I love to have a jug full of beautiful Autumn foliage to bring colour inside...

The vegie garden still has some Zinnias flowering, smaller blooms, but colourful and happy.

Recent rain has made them look a little sadder but I'm struggling to pull them out.

 It will look so bare when they are gone.

The Wisteria in the background has also added some beautiful golden colour to the garden.

  The Loquat tree has just finished flowering.

The perfume from the flowers pervades the air, smelling a little like baby powder.

The bees were enjoying the blooms, having a lovely time.

I've been enjoying misty mornings 

 and grey days.

 They make the last of the Autumn colour look so vivid.

 I had to share this photo.....grey skies, golden light in the corner and a silhouetted Robin......

This past week, we've had some lovely rain.

Days where it falls constantly, steadily, the sky slate grey.

We don't get days like this very often, I found it hard to focus on any stitching, preferring to enjoy the day.

Staying warm and cosy inside, making a pot of warm, nourishing soup.

Things are moving along quietly here as the weeks come and go along with the seasons.

I'm enjoying the slower pace the colder months bring.

The hustle and bustle of Summer is a distant memory and I look forward to evenings spent by the heater with a crafty project at hand or working on an idea for stitching up the next day.

But now I best go deal with a pile of ironing, I'm tired of looking at it.......

Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment.

I'm still popping over to different blogs to visit and say 'hello'......

I'll catch up with you soon......

Claire X

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