Scents/Aromas/Smells

10 Scents/Aromas/Smells I love

1 Washing still warm from drying in the sun and wind, it has a certain scent about that says "fresh"

2 New mown grass

3 Rain on a warm day as it hits the ground gives off a wonderful smell

4 Bales of hay smells so good sometimes you wish you were a cow!

5 Old books, you open them open and the smell of the paper almost takes you back in time. You just don't get it with books printed these days.

6 Oil pastels - when you open a brand new box and lift off the cover paper. It takes me back to Grade 3, the girl who sat behind me had a wonderful set of oil pastels that had gold and silver in it. She was an only child and I guess a little bit spoilt and I was one of four girls and a little bit jealous, but Rosa was nice and shared them with me.

7 I love the smell around dairys, that lovely "cowy" smell that can sometimes assault your nostrils, but lets you know well and truly you are in the country.

8 Food cooking, who doesn't love the smell of something yummy cooking away. Whether it is savoury or sweet it's a nourishing, tantalizing smell that gets the taste buds going and the mouth watering.

9 Smoke from burning Autumn leaves, like it's heralding the cold weather and letting you know the warm summer months are behind us.

10 Another food related smell, opening a packet of ground coffee, once the vacuum seal is broken and the pack opens up you can smell the freshness and if the kettle isn't on it soon will be.

Lots more scents aromas and smells I love but there are 10 that I love. Anyone want to leave a comment and let me know if we agree on any or leave your very own list, please feel free.

I am gearing up for a market this Saturday, it will be running from 10am to 4pm I have never done an all day market before, so it will be interesting. As most of my items are have small price tags I need to sell a few to make it worthwhile, so the sewing machine has been whirring away madly. The ideas are flowing freely and the clock keeps ticking away too fast for my liking, but I am looking forward to a good day Saturday.

First Day of Spring



As if on cue the wether has turned on a bumper day for the first day of Spring. As I sit here typing fluffy, cottonwool type clouds fill the sky, admittedly they look a little grey underneath but the rain seems to have disappeared for today at least. The sun is shining, it took a while to come out and stay out, but everything looks so vibrant and fresh.



Yesterday, was quite the opposite, cold, windy and wet a beautiful finish to winter. I say beautiful because I was cocooned inside by the wood heater playing at the sewing machine, what better way to spend a wet wintery day. Not all was as planned I did get a call after lunch to go and do a shift at work, that threw a spanner in the works for a few minutes!!



The magpies seem to gather here in the mornings and it's quite amusing watching their antics. On wet days they come right into the courtyard looking for an easy meal of worms that have been marooned on the pavers. This morning I noticed one on the door mat right outside the door. I thought it must've found a tasty morsel but on watching closely I realized it was pulling the fibre out of the mat, filling it's beak and then flying off, presumably to build a nest. I thought perhaps I should leave a small pile

of fabric scraps and thread lying around to see if it would be interested, hmm!!



They are quite interesting characters to watch, the other morning there were two of them having a tussle in the grass with a group of onlookers warbling encouragement. I could just imagine what they were saying "Go on get the beak into im", 'wing him wing him" Like a bunch of footballers having a brawl!



Creativity must be in the air today, whilst I have been sitting at the sewing machine have some success with my latest project, No1 son has been busy writing songs and come up with 2. Sitting outside in the sun with all this beauty surrounding him has certainly got the creative juices flowing. Sometimes I wonder where he gets it from, my mother was very good at putting together funny little verses, limericks and poems. I like to think that's something I have inherited from her and passed it onto my son. He amazes me sometimes, the sensitivityin the lyrics he writes makes me realize that he can be a deep thinker and look past the obvious and see what many his age don't. For all his faults many of which came from me, he has turned out to be a caring, snesitive and quite thoughtful young man. Of course there is still alot of room for growth and that not just for young people. Hopefully, we all keep growing and learning as we get older.

Secretly, I am hoping for some more cold weather, I am not ready yet to pack away the electric blanket and doona, we can always do with more rain as well. But for now I shall enjoy the day we've been given and make the most of it.

Officially last day of Winter

Well, here it is the last day of Winter. I treated myself to breakfast in bed, I made up a lovely tray with 2 fresh, free range eggs courtesy of my "girls", some lovely grain toast a pot of tea and a lovely china cup and saucer which needs to be used on a regualr basis, it's so pretty. I sat in bed and gazed out at the mist covered hills and enjoyed watching the rain falling as it came through the valley.
Winter is one of my favourite months, you can always get warmer by adding another layer of clothing unlike summer, when you have stripped off there's nowhere else to go!!

Spring is in the air well and truly the daffodils are on their last legs they have put on a lovely display but some wee nasty has been munching on the emerging flowers leaving some of the misshapen, but still pretty from a distance.

The Manchurian Pear has been showing off her Spring dress for a couple of weeks now it puts on a long lasting display as long as the weather behaves! The Grape Hyacinth which are sitting neglected in pots by the shed keep coming up year after year and the purple haze is so appealing, the roots would be such a tangled, matted mess, I look at them and think next year I shall sort them out!!

The "girls" are starting to lay a little more regularly not that we eat many eggs but it's nice to have a few in the fridge in case the urge to cook something should suddenly strike me, even if it is only scrambled eggs with parsley sprinkled over them.

It has been raining quite a bit over the weekend which has been just lovely, in the past week we have had almost an inch and a half, the tanks are full to overflowing and the dam has risen a little. The garden has had a good drink and the grass is growing like topsy and we won't be able to mow it until we get a couple of fine days by which time we will most likely have to bale it11

I would love to let the cows in to have a munch but they are not particularly discerning at times so I imagine there would be more than just grass to turn their heads.

Well, it's so long to Winter officially and hello to Spring but the rainy cool weather is set to continue for a while longer and I will enjoy each and every day.

Last of the WIntery Days

Well, this is the last week of Winter and today is certainly cold, windy and somewhat rainy, much to my delight. I am not yet ready to pack away the jackets, scarves and gloves and think about warmer weather, particularly after last summer's scorching temperatures. The people in Greece certainly have my sympathy, according to the news reports it sounds as if they are having a terrible time with the fires. Mind you at the other end of this country, there are 100 fires burning in Queensland due to the wild , windy weather, quite bizarre considering it's still winter.

On the crafting front things have been bubbling along nicely, I am finishing off some lovely stripey red white and blue bunting to hang around my stall at the craft market held once a month. I have decided to use a gazebo (once I learn how to erect it!) which is blue and the bunting should really jazz it up. I also found a lovely supper cloth (not a full scale table cloth) at one of my favourite Op shops. It cost me $1.00 and is a lovely rosy floral on a bright blue and white background, Everynow and then I drag it out of the kitchen drawer just to have look at it and enjoy those lovely colours.

Tafe is going well although my visual diary is more an invisible diary, I am not one for doing my homework as the sewing machine is always beckoning me!! Over the past few months I have gotten to know the ladies in my class reasonably well and they are a very talented bunch. It's always inspiring and alot of laughs are had in class, just the same as when I was at school!

My next project is to learn how to upload photos on the computer myself and not have to ask Mr GP or No 1 son. Hopefully, this will be a painless and quick procedure, so please come back and visit me soon and hopefully there will be something interesting to look at next time.

Friday Again !!

Friday comes around soooo quickly but it's great because it's back to Tafe to have some fun
playing, creating and learning.

Some days I go "yay" I've learnt something useful and have something to show for all that time spent and some days I go" well I learnt something, but not soooo much to show " Getting to know the other ladies a bit better and feeling more comfortable around them. I certainly appreciate their creative talents and they are happy to share what they know.

I have to give a short talk next week on a technique I use in my crafting, so that will be interesting. Today we learnt about wet felting and there are lots of people out there who do it, but as yet I had not dipped my toe into the soapy water, but it certainly was fun. Bought home some wool to have a go at my leisure.

The Autumn colour is absolutely glorious this year despite the drought and our maples are putting on a glorious display. In years gone by they have usually been blown off in a storm after only a couple of weeks, but this year they started changing in February and still haven't peaked. Absolutely stunning, I have gone out to pick up a basketful which I will press and then arrange onto a cardboard shape, usually an oval and that will hang on the chimney above the heater for the duration of the winter or until I have the heart to take it down and dispose of it.

The 'girls' have slowed down with the egg production as the weather grows cooler and the last of the summer vegies are being used, namely the zucchini.

Looking for ward to a weekend with a bit of crafting a bit of housework and a bit of relaxing.
Hope your weekend is enjoyable, take care and don't forget to slow down and smell the roses, or should that be admire the Autumn leaves at this time of the year.

Regards

Claire

Well what a wet, wintery weekend we have had, all up we have had 54mls of rain which in the old scale is 2 inches, yahoo. I have certainly been in my element, being a lover of cold weather!!

The Mt. Beauty Music Festival was on, so I spent Saturday up there with Mr G. and No.1 son who was performing at the festival. It was fresh and it rained on and off which wasn't the best weather for the market stall holders, but we do need the rain.

Despite the inclement weather I think everyone was enjoying the festival, so I hope it was a success. The boys will be home later this evening with news of how it all went.

The Autumn colour up there is stunning as usual, one of my favourite seasons, it's hard not to fall in love with the range of colours that decorate the trees. When we slow down and look around us there is beauty to be seen and it doesn't cost a cent!
When I came home yesterday afternoon I lit the wood heater and enjoyed watching the sky, the cloud formations and the colours were wonderful. Nothing beats listening to rain on the roof, watching it fall outside and being coccooned inside by the heater. I crocheted a few a couple of squares for my blanket, it's very relaxing and so enjoyable creating something that hopefully will be put to good use.

I have a secret to share, I actually went into town today and bought some more wool in totally different colours for another rug!! Am I mad or what ? I do wonder sometimes. The colours I bought are inspired by Autumn, burnt orange, cinnamon, soft gold, deep turquoise, red, they just cried out to be crocheted into a rug. I think I might try a different pattern, maybe a hexagonal shape inspired by Attic 24, check out her blog, she is a very clever lady.

Anyway, I better go and check the heater, put some soup on for dinner and try and decide which rug to work on tonight, the ironing will just have to wait!!

Hope you all had a good weekend, rug up and stay warm, winter is on it's way at long last!!

Well, the weekend is almost upon us again and another music festival to attend. This time it's the Mt. Beauty Music festival, I am told that it's going to be cold up there on the weekend as this cold snap moves through the state.Everyone who knows me knows that I love winter and cold weather, any opportunity to dig out the gloves and a scarf and rug up!!

Had a fantastic time at the Canberra National Folk Festival at Easter. It's HUUUUUGE, if you are into people watching there's enough to keep you entertained without going to any of the concerts.

No 1 son, played 4 sets and had a great time and did very well in a couple of competitions, all in all an enjoyable weekend. There is alot of talent out there.

I have been sidetracked from my usual crafting and have caught the crochet bug, inspired by Fi at Marmaladerose and her gorgeous granny square blanket. I raced out to Spotlight and bought some Cleckheaton wool, fortunately it was on sale, but it still added up pretty fast!! Yes, it is addictive and if I don't crochet at least one square a night, something just isn't right!!

Back to Tafe tomorrow after a 2 week break for the holidays, a little confession I haven't done the homework I should have BUT at my age I am not and will not feel guilty. I will take responsibility for my actions and any consequences!!!

It's my wedding anniversary to Mr. G. tomorrow and No.1 son is 18 next week, amazing how time flies. I know this happens all the time and to make the most of every moment, but it still comes as a surprise.

No 1 son has made an outdoor fire pit using an old 44 gal drum, he cut a design in it using the angle grinder and it looks very effective when there's a fire burning. We just sat outside and had a bowl of pasta for tea whilst sitting around the fire, enjoying the stars better than anything on the TV.

Well, have a great weekend and take care and start digging out those winter woollies, it sounds like we are going to need them at long last, yahoo.