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

So That Was June.......

Hello girls, how are you enjoying July?

Is it cold and foggy in your neck of the woods, or is the sun shining and the garden full of beautiful blooms?

Well, we're into the second month of Winter here.

There's still plenty of wood in the shed, so all is good.

I've been enjoying some lovely damp, grey days, they make this Pluviophile smile.......

Seeing posts here and on Facebook about Summery gardens in the Northern Hemisphere gave me some wonderful inspiration, so I stitched up a 

'Summer Posy'

We celebrated "World Knit In Public Day" recently and a post on our community Facebook page bought out a group of like minded women......and a few others!!

We met in a local cafe and over coffee and yarn we stitched and chatted, laughed and shared skills and

'Yack 'n Yarn'

 was born....

 I felt a couple of vintage cloths and a basket of wool and vintage needles were necessary to 'prettify' the table.

I got absolutely no stitching done,I was teaching a friend how to crochet.

That's my  ball of sock wool with 4 needles sticking out of it in the foreground......next time.

Friend and talented knitter Julie, not only knitted this gorgeous cardy, but she also spun the wool and if I remember correctly I don't think she used a pattern either.

Anyway, she is one clever lady and it's good to have someone with her experience in our little fledgling group.

So if you are in the area and feel like a Yack or a Yarn, we will be meeting on the 4th Sunday morning of the month in a local cafe and would love you to pop in......

If I ever needed some knitting inspiration I wouldn't have to look far.

These gorgeous Eastern Rosellas visit my property daily and on a foggy, grey morning, the certainly brightened up the view.

Loving the oak leaves still hanging on to these trees and the golden, coppery colours......

This pic was taken last Saturday, a damp Wintery day.

I  rugged up and headed up to our new block to take some pics.

The Manchurian pears on the right are still holding on to some leaves.

 It's quite a different micro climate.

 Our Manchurians at home dropped all their leaves weeks ago and there's less than a kilometre between the two.

Hubby has been busy in the vegie garden.
He's cleared all the grass and weeded the beds and added more.
They'll be raised beds, to make gardening easier.
I joke that we are going to be feeding our local community with all the beds he's putting in, but he's got it all planned out and is enjoying making that plan a reality.
If you read my March post, you'll be able to compare the difference and see how much he's done.

Wonderful fairytale,Fly Agaric toadstools which grow under Oak trees......

It's quite exciting when you stumble across them and it became the inspiration for the following stitchery.

I celebrated another birthday last month, so a rather large slice of lemon meringue cheesecake was enjoyed by hubby and myself.

It would've been rude not to share!!

Our Magpie family are quite the characters and this cheeky, young, thing decided to investigate the compost bucket which I was about to empty.

It picked out a few things and scattered them around, while Tigger slept soundly through it all!!

 Robins continue to visit the garden and this beautiful female, made a stunning picture against the blue, blue sky.

I love all the birdlife we see here and feel very privileged that we get to enjoy it.

The last of the green tomatoes were picked a few weeks ago along with the capsicums and I spent the day slicing, dicing and stirring.

By the end of the day there were 25 jars of green tomato pickles sitting on the kitchen bench

The second batch I've ever made and I have to say while they may not have matched the flavour of last years', they came a close second....

I used a couple of recipes  and merged them and added a bit of this and that and of course I was too busy cooking it all to write it down......

So next years batch will be interesting.....

It's so satisfying to turn something that once would've gone over the fence to the cows into produce for the pantry.....

So there's a snapshot of a few happenings in the

 Sweet Birdy Love  household.

While Winter is here, it's about cosy evenings  by the heater and enjoying the weather, whether it be a grey, foggy day or a blue sky and sunshine Winter's day.

I know that all too soon it will be Spring and then Summer and the temps will rise and rise and rise, so I'm not going to complain for one minute about the cold.

 I shall embrace it and run headlong into it wrapped in scarves, jumpers, tights, boots and gloves.

I'll throw another log on the heater and cook up some wonderful one pot meals in the kitchen.

 Snuggle under the doona and enjoy each and every day.

Righto, I'm off to bed, it's later here and I've taken way longer to do this post than I expected.

Thanks for dropping by for a catchup.

Always lovely to hear from you.....

Claire Xx