Sew, Cook, Dig...........

Monday, Monday it's a beautiful Autumn day here, the sun is shining after a frosty start.

I knew it was going to be a cold morning,(-2 deg.)I had to get up some time after midnight and drag the doona out of the cupboard and put it on the bed!! 

 Snuggling in under it's feathery warmth and I didn't stir till morning.......

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and a belated happy Mother's Day to all you hard working mums......

            Saturday was quite a productive day......

A new version of my Blanket Bunny came to life. 

This little Bunny in Blue is looking a little sad.

 I'm not sure why, but I know that all he needs is a cuddle and everything will be OK.....

'Hug me tight all through the night and 

cuddle me till dawn......'

Obviously I had my head on the side as I sewed this, hehe...

He has two mates who need stuffing and stitching and then hopefully they will find some new homes where little arms will wrap around them and together they'll journey to the

 Land of Nod......

After the creative, fun came the other stuff.....

cleaning out the chook house, hmmmm.....

It needed to be done and I'm sure the girls are happy with a lovely clean home and some fresh straw.

You'd think the least they could do to  show their appreciation would be to lay some eggs.....

It's soup weather and lamb shank with pearl barley and lots of vegies is the current favourite....
 So when my sister popped out for lunch last Monday and a friend came over today it was the soup d jour and I have to say it was delicious.

You can't beat a savoury muffin  with a bowl of hot soup ......

After I waved goodbye to my visitor, I got out into the garden and planted cauliflower, silverbeet and spinach seedlings.


Nice to find some locally grown and cheap seedlings at a weekend market....


This unused chook cage will hopefully, keep the cabbage moths off the caulies and I can retire my badminton racquet!!

My favourite, feathered friend the Flame Robin decided to pay a visit to my property this afternoon........

He had just landed on the barbed wire fence, when whoooosh from seemingly nowhere a Mudlark or Magpie (couldn't tell which) decided to see him off......

Obviously, my little friend wasn't welcome.....

Please don't stay away too long, you add a bright spot to my day.

 Photography and card made by Carol Hawke 

More handmade cards I bought at the market......

You know I love these flowers, how could I resist this card?.....

No label on the card, so I can't credit the maker

Have you seen this book?

I bought it online and it arrived last week.

Much earlier than expected, yipppee, thanks Postie Pam...

There's lots of wonderful things to either crochet or knit......

Where to start?

Look at that cute little Blue Tit, or those gorgeous deep pink Foxgloves.

It has me longing for Spring!!

Wouldn't I love some of those Bumble Bees, buzzing and bumbling their way around my garden?

Not sure about that caterpillar or some of those other creepy crawlies though, eek!!

Toadstools, mushrooms, acorns and oak leaves, yeeeees, I love them all.......

What's first on my list to whip up?

Might have to be some mushrooms or toadstools, they are just too cute.......

I'm heading North to warmer climes later this week.I'll be away for a few days or so and first thing to be packed into my case will be this book and a selection of yarns. Unfortunately, I can't take my little hooky stick on the plane, what am I going to do?

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post. It seems a few of you have been lucky enough to wander through a Bluebell wood recently........

I thought I might create my own and turn the 'Wild Wood' into a Bluebell wood.....

Love the stark, white Birch trunks.......

'

'No finer carpet was ever laid than that which Autumns' treasures made.......'

quote by me, hehe.....

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

This time next week, I hope to be strolling along a beach, sand  between my toes, sun on my skin,(upping my vitamin D intake) and searching for sea glass.

There will be new op shops to discover and hopefully treasures to be found. Maybe a market or two along the way and lots of hooky time.

I will be taking on the role of 'unpaid roadie' for No.1 son so there's a bit of work involved too, oh well, the price you pay!!

I hope you all have a happy and creative week and a BIG welcome to all new followers that have found their way to my blog and decided to stick around......nice to have you here.

Take Care,

❀ Claire ❀

On The Third Day of May..........

 Monday got off to a good start, a coffee catchup with friends and the latest Mollie Makes magazine......

It was a cool morning but I spied someone with a pair of thongs on at the next table......can you see that naked foot hehe?

(UK mags always make it into our newsagents a month or so after they've been issued unless you want to pay extra for an Express Delivery issue)

Today I took a little road trip down to Benalla, Op shopping along the way......

I found this beautiful hand knitted jumper and had to buy it.

Someone has put a lot of 

Love

Care

Time 

Effort

&

Thought

into making it....

It's soft and warm......

'You can't beat wool for warmth'

My mums words ringing in my ears.

It's in perfect condition, either it hasn't been worn alot or it has been well cared for.........

There's a little row of ♡♡♡♡♡♡ at the bottom of the pattern and a little further up.

Is it vintage retro or just old fashioned?...

It's definitely not the latest fashion, but I love it and will wear it when I have a coffee catchup....

 Sitting outside in the cool weather I'll be as snug as a bug in a rug....

Another recent Op shop find is this sewing box.......

After the Bright market and a visit to the local Op shop,I spied this little beauty on a high shelf above my head.

It needed some tricky, tip toe action to reach it.

It's quite heavy with a wooden base and  was made in Czechoslovakia....

I ummed and aahed.....did I need another sewing box? 

Of course not, but at $3.50 it was a bargain and would anyone else love it and appreciate it?

The inside is pink satin and in perfect nick apart from the strip of fabric on the RHS which I assume held reels of cotton....

 ♥♥♥

How many items do you think you have to have before you can call it an obsession/collection?

Back to Monday and it was a lovely day, perfect for gardening.

I pulled all the spent plants out of the vegie garden along with the Zinnias.

It was great to be out in the sunshine enjoying the Autumnal beauty...

In The Eye of the Beholder.......

Hello there, we're being engulfed under a sea of late season Zinnias......

It's time for them to be pulled out but I don't have the heart to do it.

 The bees are still collecting pollen and the plants are still doing their best to flower, albeit smaller, daintier blooms but they are looking tired and it's time.....

So.....I donned my new gumboots I do feel rather stylish wearing them, hehe..(Target jobs)found a pair of secateurs and picked a hoooouuuuge bunch.

 I'll wrap them up share the love and give them away to a few friends, then I won't feel so bad about pulling out the spent plants.

The garden will look awfully bare, but it needs a rest. I haven't saved any of the seeds as they self seed and even as the weather is cooling down, little seedlings are popping up here and there.

I hope I have encouraged some gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere to give these beauties some room in their garden.

Please let me know if I have.

I would love to see some pics...✿✿✿

It's been a little while since I posted so here's a quick catchup on what's been going on here in the SBL household...

I had my usual stall at the Bright market last Saturday.

 

It started off extremely foggy, a right 'pea souper' and as I dawdled along the road barely able to see 3 metres ahead of me I did wonder what on earth I was doing up at sparrow pop instead of being tucked up in a nice, warm and cosy bed!!

In fact, I think my subconscious was trying to tell me something, as I had dreamt I had the dates wrong and the market was cancelled hehe!!

The day turned out to be a stunner and by mid morning all the stall holders were peeling their layers off as the temp. headed towards 24 deg.

I was more than happy with my new Brooch stand and although sales were just average it was still a lovely day out (despite the early start!!)

After the market finishes and I've packed up my stall I always head up the main street of Bright. It's particularly pretty in Autumn and the two op shops are open till late afternoon, yippee

There's always the hope of finding a forgotten treasure and I was happy to spy another vintage sewing box tucked away on a high shelf. 

I'll show you this little beauty next time.........

!.

 A row of trees along the back road between Porepunkah and Bright.

Beneath each tree a circular carpet of fallen leaves. 

In the mid afternoon light, the colours are delicate, everywhere you look the Autumn colours just take your breath away......  !

Back home and someone has forgotten to check on the Feijoas in the back orchard.....ooops!!

✿✿ Hellebores ✿✿

A wedding anniversary pressie for my hubby........

We celebrated 19 years on Tuesday.....where has the time gone?

He would like a carpet of Hellebores under the Silver Birches in the 'Wild Wood', so I thought they were the perfect thing.

(I just deleted the pic of the other plant, arrrgh! which is a Pink spotted Hellebore.)

He does like the regular varieties but I thought these were quite striking.....

The weather has cooled down quite a bit in the last week and the wood heater has been making things nice and cosy in the evenings.

 Along with the shorter days and cooler temps, Milo or hot chocolate with marshmallows starts to make an appearance with

Brambly Hedge mugs marking the change of seasons....

A short break with a warming drink before I start dinner makes a nice end to Autumn days.

Tig's favourite spot to enjoy the late afternoon sun.....

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There has been a subtle shift in blogging and crafting here and I'm trying to figure out what's behind it......

I won't be doing any markets in May due to time away so I will be  able to get out into the garden and give it a good tidy up which is well and truly overdue.

A nice drop of rain last week has given the weeds a new lease of life...... At least the ground won't be rock hard when I try and pull them out.

Before starting this post I armed myself with a coffee and a slice (or two) of cake. I was worried that I was going to have all sorts of issues after reading of other bloggers frustrations with the new  blogger interface.......

But, I have to say despite having a trial run a few weeks ago which caused me no end of frustration I have surprised myself and found it relatively easy to use today plus there are some great, new features.

I am not keen on changes to routine etc. but it gets the thumbs up.....next time, well, we'll see hehe....

Thanks for popping by for a visit despite my sporadic posting.

I hope you are all well and I wish you a wonderful weekend.....

We're off to Mt.Beauty Music Festival, No. 1 is playing and it's his 21st. birthday tomorrow....

Someone asked him if he was having a party for his birthday and he replied "party, hah, I'm having a whole festival" yep, he's excited......

Till next time....

Claire ✿✿✿

To Do or Not To Do?.... that is the question.

Hello there, did you all have a relaxing weekend and enjoy some beautiful weather?

I hope so......

My 'to do' list has been keeping me busy with a market coming up this Saturday.......

I've been working on another tea cosy or two......

Autumn's beauty surrounds us here.......

Hmmm, a dodgy camera angle has my cosy looking slightly wonky on one side.

'Autumn burned brightly, a running flame

through the mountains, a torch flung

to the trees......'

Faith Baldwin

I love this saying........

The good old gum trees have a beauty of their own but you can't beat English trees in Autumn.......

Saturday afternoon on a whim, I grabbed florals and polka dots to have a play and see what came out of it.......

Truth be told I was avoiding one of the jobs on my 'to do' list....

I didn't want to be too particular with the lettering.

You know I prefer wonky and frayed to straight and perfect.

I like the character and texture machine embroidery adds.......

The longest part is deciding on fabrics and design. Maybe it's just me but boy, it can take a while to get a pleasing design happening....

In preparation for the market I have been finishing off some crochet flower brooches. For some time, I have been searching for a picture frame to use as a brooch display.

I finally found a suitable frame, although a little larger would've been perfect, but I could work with this.

It was silver but a quick spray with Cherry Red has it looking rather spiffy and eye catching.......

Adding a contrasting yarn to the 'petals' of the flower has given them some more definition and interest.... I like the effect.

There are still more waiting to be finished off so my little brooch stand will be simply blooming.....

❀❀❀❀❀

I couldn't let you go without showing you a treasure or two from the garden now could I ?

The Forest Pansy tree is a myriad of colour and when the afternoon sun shines on it........

It literally glows, in the gathering dusk with the last of the sun's rays catching the leaves.

They may be smaller than the mid Summer blooms, but the splash of colour in the shrubbery brightens the day.......

Rain is forecast for later in the week, which is great as the garden is rather dry...

It's Feijoa season, yay.....

(Feijoa/Pineapple Guava/Guavasteen - an evergreen shrub growing to between 1-7 metres, it's native to the southern highlands of Brazil and other South American Countries. Widely cultivated as a garden plant and a fruiting tree in New Zealand.

For more info. ask Mr. Google it's quite interesting...)

The first for the season were all mine on Sunday afternoon as the boys have been away during the week and I found these nestling in the grass.

I was told recently that 'they aren't ripe till they drop off the tree'...... I wasn't going to argue with this 'font of knowledge' as he seemed to be a rather self appointed expert on a number of things, hehe.....

They explode in your mouth with their fruity cocktail of flavours....

Believe it or not, some people have them growing in their gardens and are blissfully unaware that the fruit is edible!!

I'll have to look carefully when I'm in the orchard next as the egg shaped fruit are well camouflaged amongst the grass.

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

The 'to do' list is a little shorter now, but the job I was avoiding is still on it, hmmm.....I can't put it off any longer.

The boys are home after spending the week in Adelaide.

I had the house clean and tidy for their arrival and shortly after they walked in there was 'stuff' on just about every horizontal surface and a load of washing piled up in the laundry.....

Welcome home ♥♥

Thanks for all your lovely comments.

I enjoy reading every one of them....now I'm off to rediscover my horizontal surfaces!!

Have a great week, thanks for visiting and take care,

Claire ❀❀❀

Cooeeeeeee I'm Back

Hello there, how are you all?

Sorry I have been away for longer than usual.......it's been a little busy here.

We spent Easter in Canberra at the National Folk Festival. No.1 was on the bill for the first time, so the three of us headed north for the break.

We had a lovely time, Canberra is a very picturesque city and more so in Autumn with all the English trees changing colour and beautiful parklands....

I did manage to visit an Op shop or two on Saturday morning but no treasures leaped out at me.

Normal life has resumed now we're back home and a little sewing project had me side tracked today........

Some sweet Babushka print fabric from Spotlight has been turned into key fobs......

After a bit of snipping and sewing they just need a little stitching to finish them off and some hand embroidery gives them a personal finishing touch.

❤❤❤

A cold snap over Easter had me searching for some extra warmth Saturday night.....

Fortunately, there was a stall at the Festival market selling the most wonderful, fingerless gloves and hats.

They are Fair Trade, hand made in Peru and 100% organic. So many beautiful designs, colours and all beautifully soft.

These gloves will get plenty of wear this Winter.....I love the colours, design and the comfort factor is very high.

Reading some of the information about the products and how they are made proved quite an eye opener......

"The women use urine from young boys which is fermented for 2 weeks and then used to help 'fix' the indigo blue dye.

The urine has to be collected from the children as it doesn't contain alcohol!"

If you would like to have a look at some more of their products take the link.......

❆❆❆❆❆❆❆❆

Beautiful Autumn weather continues here and the days have warmed a little....

The garden is putting on a colourful show in one way or another...shall we?...

Beautiful Camp David roses are reaching for the sky, or the roof at least.

The blooms are huge,

velvety, highly perfumed and quite voluptuous.....

The photo doesn't do them justice, but you get the picture...

Under the Manchurian Pear there's a carpet of Autumn leaves.

The colours are glorious....reds, golds, burnt orange....

Maples along the driveway continue to colour up adding to the overall display in the garden...

Chrysanthemums are starting to unfurl their Autumnal beauty......

lovin' those colours...

I picked the pumpkins yesterday as we had a couple of frosts recently......

These pumpkins grew on a vine that popped up in the garden after I dug some compost in.

20 seedlings poked their heads through the soil and we pulled them all out bar one. Initially only 2 pumpkins were growing on the vine a poor harvest......but in the last couple of months more pumpkins appeared and I have picked 6 and I think there might still be one or two hiding under the leaves.

Guess what we are going to be eating over the colder months?

Pumpkin soup, scones, roast pumpkin,

hmmm, any more suggestions please leave a comment.

By the way, they are Kent pumpkins and generally very tasty indeed...

☞☞☞☞☞☞☞

Now let me introduce you to my new friend, Wilfred.....

During a visit to the Op shop yesterday as I passed the toy section this sweet, little bunny caught my eye.

Perhaps it was the hand knitted pants and jacket that swayed me.

Or, perhaps it was the fact that he was just so darn cute.....

Whatever the reason he was coming home with me...

Someone took great care to knit his outfit as they made sure there was a spot for his little cottontail.

Wilfred has settled in to his new home and

become firm friends with Tigger, hehe.....

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

Well, my blogging voice is in full swing again, but as for my own voice it's coming and going thanks to a cold.

I'm on the improve but I have been squeaking and croaking for the last few days which has been quite comical at times.......

Whilst typing up this blog post there was a knock at the door and my wonderful and thoughtful neighbour ( you know the kind they are real treasures) Lindy popped by with a mug full of delicious, steaming hot, home made pumpkin soup and some slices of scrummy Milawa Ciabatta bread.

I had dropped in to visit her this afternoon and deliver a 'thankyou' gift for looking after our animals while we were away.

She knew I was on my own for dinner this evening......

what a sweetie.

Do you have wonderful neighbours?

I hope you are all well and enjoying some lovely Autumn/Spring weather wherever you are....

Thanks for stopping by to read my ramblings and say 'hi' always enjoyable reading your comments and a big welcome to all new followers.

Take care,

Claire X

❀❀❀❀❀