Hellooooo

It's 5am and I'm awake, what else would you do but get up and do a blog post? Right?

I've cranked the heater, made a Milo and got a box of tissues by my side.....someone has shared their cold with me....:(

I was thinking I'd get another blog post in before July ended and then realised we were well into August......so my brain's in a bit of a fog at the moment.....

I've been having fun playing around with some ideas and stitchy techniques.

When I've got a bit more time, I'll take it a little further and see what I come up with.

Gotta love Pansies and Violas and their sweet, little faces.

They come in such a multitude of colours.

Another stitchery finished and off to it's new home.

I used a different colour palette and was very happy with the outcome.

It felt like Spring was just around the corner.

There are pops of colour around the garden and the girls love getting out and having a good scratch around in the 'Wild Wood'

Although egg production has slowed down, they are still giving me an egg a day which is lovely.

You can't beat fresh egg from your own hens.....

On the roadside a Japonica growing wild deserves a little attention.

Love this colour and they are such hardy, drought tolerant shrubs.

It gets the tick of approval and will find a place in my new garden.

Recently I was given a bag of embroidered doilies and linen from a  work friend.

They belonged to her late Nan and Jo, knows how much I love this sort of thing.

Inside the bag were some exquisitely embroidered hankies.

 Such delicate fabric and amazing stitching.

Some of the pieces are in perfect condition and like these hankies I won't be using them in my work.

But some may find their way into what I do.

I think I'll take my time and wait for the right project.....

Our local knitting group 'Yack N Yarn' met again last month.

It was great to see some new faces around the table.

Patterns were discussed, projects admired, coffee drunk and much chit chat and laughter took place.

Not sure how much knitting was done by the participants, but a good time was had by all.

I've just treated myself to a gorgeous little cottage, from the talented Joy Williams.

It's called 'Meadowsweet Cottage' and of course when I saw the chickens and their little home I knew it would have to come and live with me!!

Joy has painted a series of different cottages and I'm a little worried I won't be able to stop at just one.....

I think Joy's work has inspired me and I've been working on a little cottage of my own.

Since I took this pic I have started stitching the garden and of course there will be some chickens.

The last month of Winter, is giving us some of the coldest temps. all season.

We've had snow on the 'Ben' and there was some excitement last Friday with the possibility of snow falling even lower.

It didn't eventuate here but did snow lightly in various localities across the state.....

A misty morning recently had me snapping madly.

A sea of mist turned trees into little islands.

It was an amazing sight, worth getting up early for.......

Another recent purchase that I just couldn't resist.

My new apron modelled by No.1 son, I cropped his head as he was pulling silly faces!

Love the storybook quality of the design and it will replace one that I have recently worn out.....perfect excuse for a new one, don't you think?

Spring is on it's way here......the days are lengthening slowly and buds have opened a little early on some of the fruit trees.

Our wood supply is dwindling somewhat, but I think we'll have enough to see out the Winter.

It's been a little too damp to get outside and do much, but once Spring arrives I'll be busy gardening and putting things in order for moving in December.

Busy times ahead, so I've been making the most of this time to stitch away.

If you have any tips for packing up and moving house I would love to hear them.

 I have done this over 20 times and still haven't perfected it as each move is different!!

Ok, it's time for porridge and I think i better see if I can track down another box of tissues!!

Thanks for popping by to read my ramblings, it's always lovely to hear from you.

Take care,

Claire Xx

Sewing and Growing

Is it Friday all ready?

Half way through November and Spring continues to delight us.

It's the most beautiful day here, lovely and sunny with a light breeze and between the warmth of the sun and the cooling breeze it's the perfect temperature outside.

 If only it would stay that way......

I had a frustrating start to yesterday.

I had planned to plug my Janome in and sew the last makes for the market on Saturday. It was all sorted in my head.

 I was going to be very productive .....then the power went off about 8.15am and didn't come on for a little while.

 We often get what we call 'brownouts' where it goes off and comes back on within the minute...not this time it would seem.

So, I thought I can deal with this I will finish stuffing and stitching my softies and if it's still out, well I could tidy the sewing room......all sorted.

.

Just before 9am it comes back on, great, let's do a complete about turn and go with the original plan.....make another tea cosy.

I had ideas and started drawing and cutting and placing and no it wasn't working. 

Let's try idea no. 2, half an hour in, no, that's not working for me either.

 Let's go back to another idea and see if that grabs me.....

Two and a half hours later and the morning  was just about over before I could get into it, grrr!!

What a lot of faffing about.....

Do sudden changes to plans throw you off course, or do you roll with them and keep on going?

So finally another tea cosy for the market and something different......Pansies.

I love their sweet little 'faces' and the colour they add growing in amongst the Silverbeet....

The Sweet pea cosy is finished, if I can't have them in my garden this year I will just sew up a few......unfortunately this variety have no scent!!

I forgot to share  a little bit of exciting news after last months market.

The Alpine Shire put out some new advertising material for the area including, Bright, Myrtleford Mt. Beauty and Harrietville.

One little booklet "Retail, Dining & Experiences" has a pic of my work.

 The photo must've been taken over  a year ago, looking at what I was selling.....I was chuffed....

Of course there has been coffee and a catchup with friends this week and 20 mins before I was due in town I 'needed' to whip up a Bumble Bee to go with a posy of flowers for a friend.

Why does this desperate need to make something in particular always arise when time is limited ?

Do I work best under pressure? hmmm!

Come on let's go outside and enjoy the sunshine...

Garden fresh peas, have been picked, shelled and cooked to have with dinner. 

Sometimes they make it into the saucepan and sometimes they don't. 

Depends who picks them.....

Another 'newbie' flower to my garden are Larkspurs, they have just started flowering.

The garden bed is raised about 8 inches even so this plant towers above me......

The berries in the back orchard and coming along nicely, 

lots of flowers = lots of berries.

Not all that far away from ripening, yum

Then I looked a little closer and discovered our 'friends' from last season were back!!

At least they are easy to see against the darker berries.

So once again we will deal with these bugs by removing them by hand and feeding them to H.M. Mrs Brown, our only tame hen.

You just need to call "chook, chook" and she comes running, knowing that you will have some tasty morsel for her. 

The Nectarine tree has a lovely crop of fruit and I hope we get to eat it all this year.

Brown Rot ruined most of it last season due  to a damp Summer....

So one of this mornings jobs, was to finish off stitching these

softies...Owlets and Sleepytime Bunnies......

Now I am done and everything is packed ready for tomorrow's market. I have tidied, vaccumed, hung out the washing and it's all happening today....

Here's the changing view from the great room window.

Green turning to gold and eventually brown paddocks.....

I love hearing the tractors rumble down the road on the way to slash and bale the grass.

No. 1 received a hammock as  birthday present this year and we hung it in the orchard. I think I might just be spending a bit of time in it this evening after work.

 I hope you've all had a great week and it was productive and not frustrating.....
Thanks for coming over and have a great weekend.

 Take care,

Claire x

Garden? Art? Garden? Art?.....

Hello girls, things have been a little chaotic here since my last post, so if I haven't replied to comments or emails that's why.  I think I'm on top of everything now.....hopefully!!

I have been working on 4 textile pieces to put in the local art show. Unfortunately, the painting was pushed to one side as it didn't seem to be working for me. 
So I decided to stick to what I do best/better!! hehe....

Gotta tell you, it's been a long, painful and at times a  frustrating process....bit like being in labour!!

Saturday I was ready to give up butI persevered and I'm just about done......

This piece I whipped up this morning, it's not perfect and looking at the photo a couple of things stand out and bug me, but it's too late now.......

'Audreys friends had already

 labelled her a Nanna due to her

op shopping ways, but she was

 more than a little surprised at their 

reaction to her new love.....crochet.'

Apologies to all Nannas, it's not meant to be offensive

It's just referring to younger people taking up activities generally connected with more mature members of society.

 So let's leave the sewing and wander around outside.

I've spent so much time the last week sitting at the machine, I'm just about sick of the sight of it.....just about!!

Beautiful Poppies, so lovely and bright. I will be letting these go to seed and hopefully they will make an appearance next season...

The Lilac has been gorgeous.

Love the colour against the blue sky....

I was a little worried as it looked rather straggly a few weeks ago, but it has been swamped in blooms.......

Crabapple of a different and later flowering variety,

Large, pink flowers covering the whole tree.....

The bees are loving it.

Bridal Veil? Broom.....it's struggled over the years and I have had to prune off sections as they died off.

Not the best looking specimen, shape wise, but it's looking

a picture at the moment......

'Designer Gown' Iris....reminds me of a beautiful, floaty, chiffon evening gown......

Winter planted Pansies, sat for months doing nothing, but finally with a bit of sunshine and warmth they are now flowering their little heads off and look so pretty tucked in between the Silverbeet plants.

A late ripening passionfruit from last season!!

It sure was worth waiting for.....yum.

Better have a look for some more ......

Out in the Wild Wood....hope they're playing nice!!

It's the place to be on a warm day.

 Nice and cool and shady under the Silver Birches...

The weather is starting to warm up here, it's going to be around 30 deg. tomorrow,

I have had to start watering the garden, so a drop or two of rain would be nice.......

I am waiting patiently for the first roses to open up. 

The Hollyhocks I planted a little while ago are starting to put on a bit of height along with a few other seedlings.

Hopefully there will be more variety in the garden throughout Summer......

Well girls, it's way past my bed time,so I'll say 'ooroo and thanks for dropping by to see where I've been and what I've been up too.......

Take care,

Claire x