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 

THANKYOU IT'S BEEN A 'HOOT'.............

Some things take a while to sink in.....you know what I mean?

I love owls as do alot of others, so the question is 'why haven't I been making any owlie things?'

Who knows apart from the fact it can take awhile for the penny to drop.

I think I was just too caught up in one of the hundreds of other ideas that invade my brain.....

So I have just finished and I mean JUST finished these owls.

Ladies they are hot off the press, still smoking, hehe......

Who doesn't love having an owl or two, or three or even four, perched in a nearby tree?!!

We often hear the Boobook owls calling across the valley at night.

A sound that makes me very happy as I drift off into the Land of Nod.

Not only are these little owls cute but............

They're also useful for holding your needles.........

Yes, these little fellas are sewing needle books.

Lots of bright polka dots along with felt a bit of stitching, some buttons for eyes and there you have it.

And guess what I'm giving 3 of them away, so keep on reading if you're interested.

I'm also giving away this little pendant I bought at the market last Saturday.

Told you I had something in mind for it, didn't I.........

I made a little pouch for it to travel in, to keep it nice and safe..........

I really had fun making this little pouch and it reminded me of when I was a child handsewing bits of fabric together to make 'things' for my dolls or myself.

Details of the Giveaway at the end of this post, but let's take a turn around the garden and see what's blooming.

The Chinese Star Jasmine is putting on an awesome display. It's been growing in this pot since we moved here 9 years ago. This is the best season yet, due to the rain. We all know how much more the garden appreciates natural rain compared to hand watering...........

If you are not familiar with this plant it has a beautiful perfume which fills the air in the warm weather and is just divine.............

Grows quite happily in the garden or in a pot.

The beautiful Buddleia is in bloom.

I love this plant, the honey perfume is heavenly.

Unfortunately, all the flowers are on the new growth at the top of the shrub which is about 5 metres high. Hopefully, we'll get some blooms lower down so I can pick an armful and bring them inside...

Further along in the shrubbery the Dahlias are starting to bloom.

The bright orange of this cactus Dahlia certainly makes a splash against all the surrounding greenery.

Along the driveway we have the ubiquitous 'aggies' or agapanthus.

They're hardy, they survived the drought and are frost hardy, so obviously they are a good choice to line the driveway.

They have just popped out of their little papery coverings and are about to open up fully.

Purple and green another great colour combo.

As you can see the countryside is starting to dry off as the temps rise.

Still quite green but Summer is creeping in.

There is rain due over the next day or so. It will give the 'lawn', lol a good drink and freshen up the garden.

Fingers crossed for more than half a dozen drops!

Now, remember last post I was talking about doing a bit of yarnbombing, ssssh!!!!

No words needed, it's self explanatory......

Dressed in black complete with beanie (took it off 'cos that would look suspicious and it was just too hot!!) my accomplice who shall remain nameless came into town with me.

He held the torch and the crochet while I stitched as fast as I could.

The old time dance was ending so there were cars around and we were trying not to look conspicuous!!

Mind you two people loitering in town late at night, always looks conspicuous, specially when you are dress in black!!

I haven't heard any comments yet, I do hope someone has noticed but there it is.

FYI I used a size6 hook and double yarn so it would hook up quickly.

I did a nice little picot edging at one end and a shell edge at the other end, just to give it that certain touch, hehe.........

Hubby thinks I'm barking and he's probably right, but hey, we got some good laughs out of it and that's what it was all about.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Ok, this giveaway has been a long time coming.

I never had giveaways at milestones.......

100 followers

100 posts

1 year of blogging etc. etc.

I didn't want to just because everyone else did.

But now the time is right, we are heading towards the end of the year and I just want to say THANKYOU

to each and everyone of you who pops by to read my ramblings, whether you comment or not.

You have been encouraging, helpful with computer/blog issues (Cuckoo, Tanya Anne and Alison),

inspiring, motivating and all those good things.

Like everyone else who blogs, I really enjoy this community of people some of whom I have had the pleasure to meet (Tanya, Lee, Chris) but the majority I haven't.

Thanks for sharing your lives, makes, ideas, the good, the bad and occasionally the ugly, hehe.......

It's been such fun and whilst I think my blog can be rather pedestrian at times, I don't have all the fancy bits and pieces that are available due to my dinosaur computer skills you keep coming back, so Thankyou

Ok, let's get to the nitty gritty.

First name drawn out of No. 1's top hat will receive the pendant in it's unique little travel pouch, plus an owl needle book.

2nd name drawn will receive an owl sewing needle book as will the 3rd name drawn

(No.1 told me I couldn't have two prizes the same, but I said

"who are you the giveaway police!!" )

I will also add some other bits and pieces to these prizes but that's a 'Bgurk' surprise.

What do you have to do?

Just leave a comment, maybe you should give me two colour options for the owl just in case!!

There is a question I would like to ask

I'm just curious about your blog reading habits.........

Do you check out "Blog Lists' on other blogs or click on comments that are interesting to find out a bit more about who wrote it?

Are you a blog hopper or stick with your favourites and don't venture to far from home?

This giveaway is open to all and sundry from Tangambalanga (say that 3 times fast) to Timbuktu (which is actually in Mali/Africa)

Whether you are a follower or not, blogger or not, commenter or lurker, please de-lurk and say 'hi'

I won't bite, promise........ despite the fact hubby thinks I'm 'barking'

If you mention this on your blog please let me know for another ' bite of the cherry'

The giveaway will close at my brekky time 7.30am on Thursday December 22nd..............

Please make sure I can link back to you or leave your email in the comment or I will have to redraw.

The winners will receive their prizes after Christmas.........

So once again thankyou for taking the time to drop by and say 'hi', nice to hear from you it's been a 'HOOT', oops, just had to, sorry........

Till next time, take care,

Claire X