A Creative Mish Mash........

Who pulled the plug out when I wasn't looking?

I had the day planned and all was going well until I got home from town and then it all went awry......

A 4.15am start didn't help.

 Hubby and son needed to be driven to the airport for an early morning flight north.....

Away for the weekend they'll be enjoying 26 degree days up in Queensland.

Still it gave me the chance to have a breakfast catchup with my sister. Get some shopping done, goods exchanged, shoes ordered  fabric bought sort of stuff and get home and still have half a day left to sew......right?!

Ha...

Someone pulled the plug once I got home and did a few jobs.....crank up the heater, wash bought fabrics, put away shopping, pat the cat and have lunch that was it.....

So here I am.....finally posting after uploading pics for the 3rd, yes, 3rd time, grrr!

A mix of recent makes......tea cosies for an order, a little stitchery and some seasonal stuff to follow.

Grab a cuppa, I'm playing catchup here girls.....

My latest stitchery 

'Miss Mousie'

Makes me happy looking at all the bright, cheery colours.

Something a little different for me and a little wire heart hanger instead of the Silver Birch twigs I have been using.....

It is looking for a new home, just email me if you would like to know more.....

Bluebell tea cosy.....love these colours.

I planted some Bluebells in the Wild Wood last season I hope they flower this year......

Last Saturday it rained...... It was beautiful, the golden, coppery tones of the leaves still hanging on made my heart sing....

It was the sort of day where I couldn't wipe the smile of my face. 

We definitely needed the rain (almost 3 inches) and listening to it on the roof or watching it fall whilst cosied up at home or in a cafe having coffee is just the best.

Definitely soup, stew and dumplings weather.....

Love distorted rain on windscreen effects......♥

More happy colours.....

Love a little woodland scene,

"The woods were buzzing with the news.

 Mr. Whiskers was holding a tea party and everyone was invited...

But the wise, old owl knew every trick in Mr. Whiskers book

 he'd seen it all before....."

 and there had to be more Foxgloves too....

Taken before I headed away recently, our Maples put on a wonderful, fiery red display.

There were still quite a few leaves doggedly hanging on when I returned home, but this week......they're almost gone.

I love the carpet effect they create underneath the tree.

The last cosy to show you.

Head over to

The Empty Nest 

face book page and have a look at my inspiration

Now I've done the fun part of the cosies, I 

 need to crack on and finish them off.

Of course with cold, wet Wintry weather, soup is a must.

I dug up some overgrown Parsnips to see what I would find.

Well, as expected they were monster size, half of this one was cut  off by the shovel!!

 I chopped and cut off the fibrous centre and just boiled it.

Then I 'zjooshed' it up with the stick mixer, threw in a knob of butter and tasted it.

It was surprisingly

 AWESOME

So I then turned the puree into soup.

If it had've been a dud, the chooks would've enjoyed a hot meal, but I have enough soup to last me for a couple of days and there are still more Parsnips in the garden.

No.1 on seeing me serve dinner that night, wondered why I had cooked so much potato mash!!

"Would he like some?" 

"Well, seeing as though you cooked so much I better have some"

"No wait a minute" he exclaimed "what' in it?"

Almost got him, hehe......

I love cooking on the wood stove in the gathering twilight and just looking out at the hills.

Wanted to share my view with you even if it is a little dim outside....

A final pic to share......an op shop find,

 the last day in Byron Bay.

I wandered through those op shops for 3 days, just browsing as you do.

On the last day I spied the polka dots and vintage green....be still my beating heart!

A chipped spout and crazed glaze on the inside did not detract from it's beauty......

50 cents really?

Wasn't until I got it home and had a good look, that I could see the Beswick Ware stamp on it's bottom.

I also found a copy of

 From Lark Rise to Candleford

just my sort of book, loving it.

Oops, almost forgot to show you my new door mat.

Lifelike isn't it?

Guess who nearly got stepped on?

It's time to feed the chooks, throw another log on the fire and think about what's for dinner.

Soup perhaps?

Most definitely....are you a Parsnip lover or hater?

I have just discovered that

Kirstie's Vintage Home

is on the ABC on Thursday nights.

Squeeeeal with excitement.....

I read about things on UK blogs and then it takes months to find it's way Downunder....

So don't ring me at 8.30pm 'cos I won't answer!!

Ooh, hello it's just started to rain, I didn't expect that.

I do love Winter.....

Hoping you are all well and feeling creative and inspired.

Take care,

Claire X

Let's Get Cosy.......

Monday, Monday, hope your week is off to a good start girls.

I'm back into the teacosy making for a special order.

I've been wanting to sew a Foxglove design for some time, so today was the day.....

Let me tell ya......there was alot of snipping going on and it might look pretty straight forward and simple now that it's done but it took me hours!!

BUT, I'm thrilled with how it turned out and although I love using bright colours I'm also loving the softness of the pastel shades.....

Finding the right quote for the reverse side was the next step and I just couldn't go past Monet.

I think most gardeners would agree.....

A little Autumn inspiration has been stitched onto another 

'cosy in the making'.

 This 'new' blanket is such a gorgeous green,

  the photo just doesnt' do it justice.

Y'all know how much I love Autumn colours....

Talking about Autumn let's have a wander outside and see what's happening....

This Crabapple was looking a little sad after our hot Summer and No 1 was very worried that it was going to turn up it's toes.

Thankfully, it's come good and colouring up nicely with

lots of golden, coppery tones....

Beautiful new growth on the Leucadendron......

The Maples along the driveway are turning on the colour, not wanting to be out done.

Something weird has happened to the photo, hmm!

The bees are still buzzing away amongst the Zinnias which have been flowering for months now.

If any of you girls in the Northern Hemisphere are looking for something colourful and hardy to plant in your garden you really can't go past Zinnias.....♥♥♥......just sharing the love.

As well as some tea cosies I made a red version of my 

'knitting' stitchery......

Seems it's all about red today ♥♥♥

 Finally  a scene from Sunday evening, golden light shining through a smokey, stormy haze.....just beautiful.

The Janome is cranking this week, I'm having fun putting together designs for my cosies. 

It's been a little while since I made one and I have enjoyed the break.

The temp has climbed into the high 20's this week. It seems the warmer weather wants to hang around for a little bit longer and

recent rains have greened up the paddocks.

Gives me a chance to keep working on my granny square blanket before Winter arrives.....it's growing slowly.

So what's been happening with you girls?

Love to hear,thanks for popping by...

Have a great week.

Claire x

Anyone for tea and scones?

As promised dear reader the tea cosy mentioned in the previous post and it's finished.
It was made from a felted Op shop jumper and I used other felted wool from jumpers, scarves and some woollen blanket I dyed myself.

If you read the previous post you will notice how different it looks now that it has some stitching on it.

I burrowed into my fabric stash and came up with some cotton fabric to line it.

I don't 'do' tea cosies with openings for spouts and handles, far too fiddly for me

Autumns Jewels - rosehips and the last of the blackberries.

On the reverse side oak leaves and acorns and a lovely saying by Samuel Horowtiz.
It appealed to my love of Autumn.

Here it is keeping a rather large tea pot nice and cosy!

I couldn't resist showing you this little beauty I picked up during the week.

Doesn't it remind you of strawberries and cream or raspberry ripple icecream?

A lovely lady I met through my work has been crocheting them for many, many years. Gwen would be in her 70's and I couldn't help but admire it and offered to buy it .

It may be a little bit 'nanna' but you have to admire the workmanship and that's gone into it.

Lets hope that it's not a dying art.

This was one end of my stall at the market last Saturday, tea cosies, cards, baby singlets and some soft toys on the far left.

A bunch of zinnias to brighten everything up of course.

Shall have to whip up something on which to display my cards upright.


During the week a local paper featured an insert from a very well known, nearby bakery. In the insert was their recipe for their fabulous savoury scones.

We love them, a little bit too much perhaps, but No1 son decided he would whip them up.

An apron was a must, afterall, he couldn't get flour on his singlet could he?!!

Out of the oven and smelling oh sooooooooo good.

Let me reassure they tasted as good as they looked.

Funny that Mr. G. just happened to drop by on the pretext of getting some files for work!!

Another garden shot, vegie garden has done quite well this season, not that we have alot in it, we have scaled back due to the drought, but the late planted beans are going berserk over the arch (middle of the photo) I am picking a bunch everyday, just love them.

Where have the hills gone?This was the view that greeted me on Monday morning after a weekend where it rained and rained and rained, we thought we had seen the last of it, but Monday did turn out to be a fine day after a dull start.

To be honest, I do love this sort of weather and now that it is cooling down I am alot happier, as my thoughts turn to soup, more knitting, crocheting and mmm, maybe it's time for another savoury scone.

Thanks for dropping by take a minute to say 'hi', I love to read your comments.

From my corner of the globe to yours with love.

Claire X