Sunshine, Stitching and Songs.........

Hello girls, I may be wilting in the heat but this Sunflower is loving it.

This is a low growing  variety of but it's certainly making an impact in the garden.

The heat this Summer has been on going.......my poor garden is looking a little worse for wear.......

The tomatoes are red and juicy and fruiting beautifully......and thankfully there's no fruit fly this Summer.

The beans on the other hand are growing but not setting.

There are flowers here and there but leaves are burnt.

I used some old bed sheets to make shade tee pees over them, but I'm not too hopeful of getting any beans.

On these hot days I tend to stay indoors in the aircon. and go out to water the garden in the cool of the evening.

The heat seemed to sap my creativity last week and my sewing machine sat around gathering dust which was most unusual.

But thankfully, my mojo seems to have returned and I've been stitching some little birdies......

The hotter it gets the more I dream about cooler days.

It comes out in my stitching .......

This lady rugged up in her hat, coat and boots seems to be featuring and I think she may become part of a series of stitcheries.

I had alot of fun putting them together

For some time I've wanted to try a different design for a tea cosy.
 I wanted to create a patchwork look and keep it simple.
It's certainly an 'in your face' colour combo.....
not everyone's cup of tea...
 (hehe, no apologies for that one!!)

and on the reverse side......or is this the front.

You figure it out, I'm confused!!

Outside things are very dry, the grass has browned off. 
Living in the country where our water supply is from the tank or dam, we don't waste water on lawn.

It gets brown and crunchy and when the weather breaks in Autumn and we get some rain it greens up again.

Despite the hot days the evenings cool down enough to sleep well....I think I've had a fan on only 2 nights.

Thankfully this week we did get a cool change and a couple of nights I even had a blanket on!!

Temps are back up for the weekend and windy conditions Sunday  mean we'll be on high alert for bush fires.

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the "Black Saturday" bush fires here in Victoria.

I remember it was still 40 deg at midnight on that particular evening......we certainly don't want to go through that again.



You've heard of Kitty Litter, well there's a new product out called Kitty Mulch!!

Tigger has his own way of keeping cool.
 Not my idea of fun, but you know what cats are like!

2014 is shaping up to be a big year for us here in the SBL household.......

We will be selling our home and building a new one.

There'll be limited time to sew but the creating will still take place to help keep me on an even keel!!

Our little Folk Festival also takes place in March.

I'm really excited about this years line up as one of the performers is a blogger from Melbourne........

Mezz Coleman from Mezz Makes Stuff will be performing.

 I won her CD in a giveaway last year or was it 2012?!!

 I suggested she put in an application for the festival and she was accepted woohoo.......

Can't wait to meet her and see her perform live.

If you'd like to have a listen to her singing

 Shelter by Eric Bogle,

 here's a link, be warned it's a powerful song

 you'll need to have your tissues handy.

Righto, girls that's it for me......time for a cuppa and ooooh maybe some stitching, better dash, see ya and thanks so much for all your lovely comments last post....♥

Claire Xx

We Have A Winner Folks............

Take one top hat when No.1 son isn't looking.

Preferably, while he's not wearing it as he has been known to chase people down who try and run off with it..........

Write down names on pieces of paper and place in upturned hat.

On the appointed day, just after finishing breakfast ask random person (aka hubby) to pull three names out of the hat.

And here they are in drawn order.........

First name drawn was

Emma from Lemons for Lemonade

followed by

Jacquie from Bunny Mummy

and

last but not least

Alison from Tweed Thoughts.

Jacquie and Alison, I have been following their blogs for some time, but Emma's blog is quite new to me.

I found her blog when she wrote a post late November about a pub she visited The Gwdihw in Cardiff which had a lot of owl ornaments.......

We 'chatted' a bit and there was a funny little story unfolding which she posted about recently.

If you haven't 'met' these crafty talented ladies, click on the links and say 'hi'........

It's a stormy evening here .......

Grey skies with the hint of a rainbow.

No rain for us, but someone, somewhere is getting wet.

Screeching Cockatoos, disturbed from their roost, wheeling across the leaden sky.

This is the same view but a different angle.

You can see how things have dried out, but there is still some greenery around.

Yes, we have ripe tomatoes before Christmas, yay....

These are meant to be cherry tomatoes, but they are hoouge.

You can't beat the taste of a homegrown tommie...

My favourite Summer flowers....Zinnias.

The first for the season.

A little red Robin or three came to live in my garden courtesy

of my talented, artistic friend Ella.

She used some above ground pool, corrugated metal and pop riveted some wings and legs to the body.

Sorry about the dark pick , but the wind had whipped up and it was getting late.

I still have to show you the wonderful tea cosy I received from another friend......next time.

It was quite a different story last night......

A beautiful sunset and a freshly washed piece of fabric drying on the line.

I spied this fabric at Spotlight yesterday and had to buy it.

I love the vintagy colours, very CK I thought.

Hopefully it will be put to good use very soon.

Sharing a meal with a friend.....Tigger and Mrs Kafups

--------OOOOO-------

Thank you all for entering my first ever giveaway, I've had a lot fun reading about your blog reading habits and welcome to all my new followers.

Well I do hope you've all had a great week, not too hectic........

We're heading towards a warm weekend with 32deg. forecast for Christmas day and a possible thunderstorm.

Wherever you are and however you spend Christmas day I hope you enjoy the time spent with family and friends.

Till next time, take care

Claire X

Snippets from my Saturday...............

Saturday at last and a chance to 'play'.

Here's a few snippets and snaps of what's been taking place in the Sweet Birdy Love household.

The tartan swatches Nana go go sent have been snipped into already.

It really had to be more egg cosies.

I mean to say

chooks + tartan = McChooks

or McChickens depends where you live, hehe........

I have some more ideas swirling around in my head.

Little things that make me smile, will share with you over the coming week.

After a break of a few days from the crochet rug I am back into it but perhaps in a manner slightly more reserved...........

My enthusiasm for this project aggravated an old RSI type of injury, ouch.

Now in case you can't see the difference in the above pic and one from a few posts ago........

Here 'tis and it's big enough to throw over my knees.

I have invested in a wrist bracey thing and it feels good having it on.

Hopefully, it will mean I can crochet away to my hearts content without the 'ouch' factor kicking in later on.

This week has been warmer than the last couple. Maybe Summer was trying to redeem itself......

Yesterday, saw a brief shower of rain and the most spectacular rainbow across the valley.

If you click on the pic you can see the Maples changing colour.

It has been a little more humid too, which is not particularly pleasant, but today is lovely and mild.

Showers are threatening, but at least the breeze is keeping the humidity at bay.

Now where is the end of that rainbow?

Oh, right at my Crabapple tree, how exciting is that?

Better go and check for that pot of gold..........

Nope out of luck, all I could find were weeds.

There's also been a spot of cooking taking place.

Tomatoes with Basil to put in the freezer and use in Winter when we have brunch.

Bacon and eggs with a taste of Summer on the side, yummo.

Hubby has been a great help peeling and cutting up peaches.

They are lovely and sweet and quite a size due to the good season.

Hmmm, peach cobbler in Winter, sounds good to me.

My kitchen feels a little like the above.

Wouldn't I love a beaut fire place like that.

I do have a wood stove and as the wood shed is full to almost overflowing with wood, I shall be firing up the stove as soon as it's cool enough.

Not sure if my pies and cakes will look like those above but I'll give it a try.

Wouldn't mind that patchwork rug either........

Check out that huuuuuge dresser full of wonderful produce.

I know, I know .........

It only happens in the world of Brambly Hedge but I would love to live in a house like that.

If you haven't yet figured it out, I am a huge fan of Brambly Hedge.

Jill Barklem is a little like a modern day Beatrix Potter, in my mind.

Beautiful drawings and what an imagination.........

After the peaches there's apples to cook.

Next week there will be more apples ripening plus pears.

It doesn't get any better than eating your own home grown produce.

No 1 son has been checking his didge stand in preparation for Carnivale in Wodonga tonight.

A community celebration of music, food, workshops etc.

It's put on by the Wodonga council and is free.

It's a fun night with a wearable art competition and I have to say the ladies who enter this comp. are seriously creative with their outfits.

Art activities for the kids, a parade and 3 different stages with various musical acts, dancers etc.

Will be a great evening of entertainment, if only this rain would clear up and go somewhere else.

And of course Tig has been doing what he's best at.......

Need I say more?

So, this has been a few snippets out of my Saturday.

I hope your Saturday has been an enjoyable one too

Thankyou for visiting, it's always nice to hear what you have been and are up to.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and till next time take care,

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