Light Bulb Moments and Other Happenings....

Hello girls, it's blue skies and sunshine with some lovely cottony clouds this morning......

What sort of weather is greeting you at the start of a new working week?

I'm feeling quite excited this morning.

No major earth shattering news just a little creative epiphany taking place.......

I toyed with this 'patchworky' style of design a little while ago and whilst I loved it, somehow, it just didn't 'click'.

 But now the last piece of the creative puzzle has given me the full picture and I can't wait to play some more.

Ditching the black thread today.

I love red and pink together......

I have a small list of sewing projects that need to be finished this week and this most definitely isn't one of them, but I had to 'get it out' and see how it looks.

It will be a tea cosy when finished, more stitching  to take place.

Friday morning when I should have been packing up for the market I was actually stitching some pincushions. I just wanted to play with some more Zinnias....time was limited and I forgot to add the lighter coloured stitching around the flower centres.....lesson learnt!!

My little Owlets from last months market were tweaked and the brighter colours are much more appealing.......

Saturday morning saw the last market at Bright for 2012.

Rain was forecast over the weekend but we were meant to get 28deg.

I wore my outdoor boots as tramping over the wet grass in sandals wasn't my cup of tea.......

Just as well I took the practical option as once my gazebo and stall were set up it started to rain, lightly......

Erin, my stall holder neighbour is also a wildlife carer and had  with her a Black Cockatoo feather.

A couple of these birds visit her property regularly.

Some markets Erin has had a little joey with her that needs feeding every hour or so......

It's interesting listening to stories of her wildlife work.

Isn't the feather stunning?

It wasn't long before the rain set in.........

Fortunately, people still came down to the market but in reduced numbers and as the rain got heavier they left so we all packed up an hour early......

I managed to sell 5 of the 6 tea cosies I took, so that salvaged the morning for me.

 Although everyone was very disappointed there was still lots of laughter and light hearted banter taking place and to be honest, we really did need a good drop of rain.

The garden is certainly looking a lot happier and it means we won't have to water for a few days......

Here's the pic of the finished gift from my last post.

The Zinnias became a pot holder for my artist friend Ella........

She's a fabulous cook and being Italian, whips up many wonderful dishes.  I thought I would 'jazz' up a basic kitchen item and on the reverse side I machine embroidered a little information about Zinnias.

Thankfully, she loved it. 

Somehow I don't think it will find it's way into her kitchen. Knowing Ella, she'll probably hang it somewhere in her home as an 'artwork'....

♥♥  Hollyhocks ♥♥

I now have a lovely pale, pink Hollyhock  in flower as well.

The Sea Holly is about to have it's turn in the spotlight.

It's colouring up nicely and by the end of the week should be a  lovely, deep purple ......

The Agapanthus are bursting into bloom.

This pic was taken on one of the hot days we had last week.

A lovely, blue sky pic for all of you who are dealing with leaden skies and low temps.

I do hope you can feel the warmth.

 Let me tell you it was hot....

Whilst the rain wasn't particularly welcome at the market it has washed away the humidity we were experiencing.

Today is going to be a balmy 28deg. 

Oh almost forgot to say......

After the market and feeling a little damp and bedraggled I headed up the main street to check out the Bright Op shops and scored 3 woollen blankets for a very reasonable price.

You know that little purchase made up for the mornings disappointment.

I have decided to give the Jan/Feb markets a miss and have plans for the new year......

I hope to get my sewing room sorted.

Tigger headed in there last week and I warned him to leave a little trail of breadcrumbs so he could find his way out again!!

Needless to say ...being male.....he didn't listen and hasn't been sighted since!!

There are also windows that need to be cleaned and wardrobes sorted.

Sewing has taken precedence over other things this year and balance needs to be restored, so something had to give.

Of course, I will keep 'playing' with new ideas and designs.

 The creative side of things will always be there.

I'm toying with the idea of opening up a little shop in 2013.

If you have any experience with Etsy or Madeit I would love to hear it......

Well, I better get on with some of those sewing projects and tick them off the list.

Hope you are managing to tick a few things off your lists and thanks for taking the time out to come and visit.

♥♥♥♥♥

To all the people who have been affected directly or indirectly by the Sandy Hook massacre......

Words fail to accurately describe the deep sadness of this tragic event.

Hopefully, someone will have the strength and support to change the gun laws and make it alot harder for people to get access to weapons.It will never solve the issue but you've got to start somewhere.......

Take care everyone,

Claire xx

Inspiration equals motivation

This stunning Persimmon tree above, is the inspiration for a new tea cosy. Every year I say I will take a photo of this tree and sadly the fruit disappears and I still haven't taken a picture.

It's an old gnarled tree and a few metres away there is another one. You can see where cattle have 'pruned' the bottom of the canopy to a nice even shape.

As the leaves fall, the fruit hangs on the tree and on foggy, winter days the orange persimmons glow like bright orange orbs in the mist, just stunning.

This year both trees are laden with fruit, but the crows soon eat it. The land is private property so it is hard to get a decent picture of it, but I am happy with this.

I would like a photo of it 'glowing ' in the fog, so shall have my camera and boots ready to head out and snap some pictures.

Here is the tree, it's covered in beautifully coloured leaves with a carpet underneath.

Click on the photo to enlarge. I usually stick with black thread for my embroidery using fabric and scraps for the colour. Obviously this wasn't going to work with small objects like leaves.

I'm really happy with the picture and now all I have to do is finish the other side which will have an appropriate saying.

Sometimes it's good to step outside your comfort zone and try something new. You might just surprise yourself!

Uploaded in the wrong order!

The tree shortly after beginning. Don't you just love that feeling when something comes together just as you imagined it?

Our Maples along the driveway continue to colour up nicely. They are probably at their peak now and when the sun is shining on them, it's just brilliant.
A couple of more book covers:- the one above is of dried Agapanthus stems. They make great dried arrangements. Once all the flowers have fallen off the lime green stems look spectacular.Gradually, they fade to a parchment colour, I used black so that they would stand out.
Another butterfly cover with a quote from Hans Christian Anderson :- "Just living is not enough", said the butterfly "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower"

I wonder if that flower could be a Zinnia?

These little treasures are a bit early, but nonetheless very welcome in my garden. I love Jonquils and while some people may find their scent a bit overpowering, I love it. It makes me think of Winter/Spring and I love to bring them indoors and let their beautiful perfume waft through the house.

This is a vary rare photo. The gorgeous little grey cat was a stray who adopted us and it took many years before I could get near her and pat her. Alot of patience and cat treats were required. Here she is with the 'love of her life' Tigger.

She is still very shy and usually sleeps on a dining chair underneath the table, but I placed her on the ottoman and she was very happy to curl up by her mate and even let me take a couple of snaps.

Not bad being a cat, you get to sleep alot, play eat fish and curl up in front of the heater. Life could be worse.

I hope you all had a good weekend and I hope that the week ahead holds some time for you to be creative and enjoy the beauty around you.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by and saying 'hi'

Claire X

It's raining ,it's pouring!!

Another book cover, this time butterflies and a quote by Hans Christian Anderson. ' Just living is not enough' said the butterfly 'One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower'. I love the vintage look of the patterned fabric.


I found some lovely doily's at an Op shop. Two have brightly crocheted edges around them, which is unusual, so they came home with me of course. I would like to incorporate them in a book cover and will be working on them this weekend.

Not much flowering in the garden at the moment, so I decided to use some Agapanthus heads now that the flowers have finished. I just love the limey greenness of them and in the red enamel jug the colours just 'sing'. I will have them for a number of weeks, they will dry out and turn golden in colour and take on a totally different look.



The nectarines are fruiting and are lovely , sweet and juicy. The tomatoes are bearing well and the green tomato on the top is actually ripe, being a green variety. I know, it just doesn't look right, but it tastes as good as the red tomatoes.

We had a huge storm last night which dumped 38.5 mls of rain, which is just wonderful. leading up to the storm were some wonderful cloud formations and fronts. This photo is slightly darker than how it actually was at the time, but the band of dark cloud was so striking we knew we were going to get something out of it. Have never heard such loud thunder it went on for hours.

As the rain was falling No 1 son was out filling buckets as the tank overflowed. He was pouring it onto the parched ground in the shrubbery to make sure all the plants got a decent drink. He needn't have worried, all the plants ended up receiving a good watering, we won't have to water for a few days now.

The weeks are flying by at a pace, hope yours has been a good week.

Thanks for visiting,

C X