I Remember Youoooooo.........

Hello and welcome to a brand new week.......

It's sunshine and blue sky as far as the eye can see today, but there was a hint of Autumn in the air this morning as I went out to feed the girls...

All you Northern Hemisphere bloggers, I'm picturing you all snuggling down under crocheted blankets with your hands tightly wrapped around mugs of hot chocolate.....partly because I would love to be doing that, but mainly because of the cold temps and weather you've been experiencing.

I hope you are all well and have the fires stoked or the heaters on or just rugging up when out and about.

Better give a little explanation of the above pic.......

I was in need of a bookshelf for storage in the sewing room. So we picked up an 'el cheapo' one at a furniture shop when we were in town yesterday.

I pulled out my little polka dot purse and counted out all my pennies to pay for it.I like to think that I've worked for it and it's a sense of achievement to pay for the things I need.

Last night hubby and No. 1 put it together. There were screws, nails and glue involved.

I smiled to myself thinking this would be interesting......

but they assembled it without any problems, until they realised No. 1 had put the very top piece on upside down.

As there was glue involved there was no way to reverse it. It functions OK but there are holes for screws that you wouldn't normally see, pffft!!

Does it really matter?

Today I have had fun filling the shelves with bits and pieces, but unfortunately this may not be their permanent home as I intend to use the shelves for storing fabric.

Easier to see at a glance what you have rather than rummage through plastic storage bins.

As I sorted through various bags and containers I have rediscovered projects put aside long ago to move onto something else.......

The doll sitting up on the top shelf, I made about 5 years ago. I was very pleased with the way she turned out and love her outfit.

Would like to make her a companion one day.....

I've filled jars with coloured cotton, buttons and brought my sea glass collection out of the dim dark cupboard, so I can enjoy it.

Now back to the boring bit of sorting out.

It feels like one step forward, two steps back as I unearth more 'stuff'.

We're talking years of collecting here girls, so it was always going to be a big job.

Lets' just head outside for a short break in the proceedings and get some fresh air and see what's happening in the garden.

The main colour this year amongst the Zinnias seems to be orange.

Very striking.........

Last year I think it was a deep pink/purple.

The seeds find their way into a variety of places and it's really hard to pull them out when they've put up such a struggle to grow in the gravel path and flower.....

Our pumpkin has rambled across garden beds, wending it's way between tomatoes and capsicum.

It grew from a seed in the compost, so another little experiment left to it's own devices.

There are only 3 pumpkins on it, but they are a decent size and when I saw the price of pumpkin in the supermarket yesterday, I was quite pleased that we had at least 3!!

This variety is Kent and we've found them to be lovely and flavoursome, quite sweet too.

When it's roasted, mmmm...... it's hard to stop eating it.

The mini Roma tomatoes have been the best producer this season.

Eaten straight from the garden, they are lovely and sweet.

I roasted a dish full on Saturday night and I had to walk away from the kitchen after I took them out of the oven as I couldn't stop eating them, yuuuummmyyy.

Love those little, rosy, egg shaped fruit hiding amongst the dark green depths of the tomato foliage.

Don't you just love the smell of a tomato plant when you brush past it?........it smells of Summer...

The front orchard is producing a bumper crop of pears.

They look wonderful hanging from the branches. They are a little way off being ripe but that still doesn't stop the parrots....they're not particularly choosy.

There are plenty to share, just hope they have a lovely flavour.

Last season they looked delicious but had a rather unpleasant flouriness to the texture....such a disappointment.

At least the cows and chooks enjoyed them...

Plums are ready to eat and the birds can't feast on these as they are under netting, hehe.......

I made jam with the plums a couple of years ago and I think there's still some in the pantry, but it may be time to make another batch.

Ok, break's over back to the sorting.

I'm itchin' to get stitchin' again and there's no sewing till the room's sorted, eeek!!

Hopefully,by the end of the week, things will be close to being finished.

-----00000-----

So what have you all been up to today, or over the weekend?....

Was it a project you have been working on or just the usual?

Do tell, I would love to hear.

Thanks for dropping by to visit, lovely to hear from you all.

Take care,

Claire ♥♥

Threads of Happiness

What do you do with some brightly coloured embroidery thread and a teeny, weeny crochet hook?

You guessed it ladies......

You make teeny, weeny bunting flags.

The bunting love continues here in the Sweet Birdy Love household.

Two storage containers full of beautiful rainbow, candy coloured thread to choose from........♥♥

These little cuties are just as addictive to make, but a teensie tiny bit fiddly as you can imagine.

I find good daylight is necessary in which to make these and I do have to watch what I am doing....

If you would like a tutorial for these little cuties head over and visit Lucy at Attic 24.

Her January 24th blog post will show you how to make them.

Can't do the linky dink thing directly to that post yet!1

A new addition to the kitchen bench today.....

For several years this wonderful tin has been residing out of sight on the top shelf of my walk in pantry........

I looked at it the other day and thought

"why are you not sitting on the bench where I can enjoy you?"

This tin was used as storage for flour when I was a kidlet.

I love the colours, they are some of my favourite combos, so vintage....

It was made in Australia by Willow...... a very rare thing these days, which makes it extra special.

What will I use it for?

Eye candy and that's about it.

It's 10 inches high so would take a lot of buttons to fill it, but then again......

Colour is featuring big time this week...

The poor old Aggies were looking sad and sorry, so on Tuesday evening I chopped their heads off.

3 barrow loads were carted to the rubbish heap, but some made their way inside as they do every Summer.

Here they will stay until they dry off and become a lovely, soft parchment colour.

Cherry red and bright green...♥♥

A surprise pressie the boys bought me back from their weekend away at the Newstead Folk Festival recently.

Hubby saw a local fellow in the main street, he had two pairs of pliers and was bending old fencing wire into shape.

Asked if he could make a chook, no problems........

I love it and am more than happy to have any amount of these girls foraging in my garden.

So to all the crafty/handy blokes out there......well done.

Speaking of handy blokes, No. 1 has asked me 'pretty please' would I post a link to a video he made recently.

He wrote this song last year and has been struggling to find the right title for it.

He would appreciate it if you would have a listen and any suggestions for a title would be great....

I am earning big Brownie points here girls, so if you can help me out in return he'll be happy to do a few extra jobs around the place

That's what I call fair trade.

There are more videos from this session on Youtube, just google Richard Perso Main Street Sessions.....

The week has ended on a cooler note after recent heat and the air con is back in action.

Big cheer.....

A big cheer to all of you clever computer gals who sorted out my wandering ways and got me back on track with the old Blogger interface. Nice to back in my comfort zone, but new skills need to be learnt.

I have spent some time sorting out my new sewing room and it's slow going but I am making progress.

I am so happy to have my own space and since moving everything off the table and reclaiming it I feel so much happier.........like I lost 10kgs overnight...... now that would make you happy wouldn't it?

Anyhoo, I shall move in there eventually and get back to the sewing thing but for now there's more bunting to be made.

Thankyou all for popping over for a visit, I would love to invite you all over to sit around my tidy table and have a cuppa and some scrummy cake, but for now I shall just send each and everyone of you some blue sky and sunshine wishes for a lovely weekend.

Take care and thanks for visiting.........Claire X

You Can Colour My World.....A TaDah Moment

Hello ladies, I am sitting here trying not to pull my hair out, as I clicked on the 'new blogger' interfacey button the other day, as you do to see what's what and I can't figure out how to go back to the old blog setting thingamy doosie whatsit.......aaaargh!

Consequently uploading my pics ......one at a time, then they all turn out to be in the opposite order .

So let's work backwards shall we........this was meant to be my Ta dah moment too!!

Okay, a nice little envelope arrived all the way from the UK today.No surprise as it was a recent little etsy purchase.

I have been admiring Celia's work for some time and when I saw one of her latest lino cuts, I just knew it would be the very thing.........

Isn't the picture just beautiful?........It's titled 

'the birds' wedding day'

I love it,if you go and visit Celia's blog you can see her post about making this lino cut and printing it.

I am amazed by artists who do this sort of work.

The amount of patience,together with a steady hand and the creative side of things come together to produce wonderful prints.

I have had a go at this and found it not quite as easy as I thought it might be, but no doubt practice helps.

I probably gave up in disgust with myself and went and sewed something!!!

Okay, it's just too late at night to faff about with you blogger, so I shall continue....

This is the envelope that greeted

me when I opened the letter box

a Royal Mail stamp and a lovely

chook stamp. I bought it inside put it

on the bench and got on with my

housework till I could sit down and

open it in my own time...

This back to front thing really

stops things flowing.......

I am having some friends over this evening and love to have vases of flowers around the house. But, as there are only a few roses that have survived the heat and of course my colourful Zinnias I am always on the lookout for new ideas. I was about to put this basket away in my sewing room, it only had a couple of balls of wool in it and then....lightbulb moment...

Fill it up with lots of brightly coloured wool and leave it there in a casual, nonchalant (totally planned) way. Will anyone notice, probably not, but you know, it makes me happy......

The table in my entry is a blank canvas waiting for it's spotlight moment.

As my large vases were already in use, I had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak and I love single flowers in jars/bottles.

I am happy with the effect, once again it will probably go unnoticed, although I have trained No.1 to notice these sorts of things, so I usually get some feedback!!

Look above the flowers ladies.......yes, that's it...my bunting is finally finished, yippee.

I love it.

I finished it last night and then No.1 and I wandered around the room, climbing on top of benches and trying to figure out where it would go. We don't have alot of wall space for hanging things in this room, so it was a wee bit tricky.

We tried the dresser but couldn't get it hanging nicely so eventually gave up but today I was determined to put it up.

It just had to be the dresser so I had another go and tied it to the basket handles and was happy....

Eventually, it will find it's way into the sewing room, but for now it's in the right spot. Hiding around the corner on the right is a bright orange flag and on the left a mauve flag...9 in total.

Ta dah......Happy, happy, happy.........

Righto, I 'm off to bed....I'm sure I'll dream about bunting.

I have already started my next crochet project and it involves a tin can!

Without doubt some of you will know exactly what I am hinting at but when I was having coffee with non crochet friends today, they looked at me in a sad (she's lost her mind) kind of way when I told them I was crocheting a cover for a tin can.....

Ooroo and once again sorry for the weirdy, wonky way this post has turned out.

If any of you clever gals know which button to push (with the sledge hammer!!!!) to put things back the way they were, pleeease share.

Take care and thanks for understanding,

Claire XX

P.S. I must say that I do like being able to change the size of the pics after they've been uploaded!!

Joy Is The Flag Flown High...........

Hello there and a late welcome to Tuesday.....

I am sitting at the table pictured with the windows open and a beautiful breeze blowing........it's lovely and cool.

Yesterday the rain finally arrived, during Sunday night we had over 30mls, of steady, gentle, quenching rain.

It continued to rain throughout Monday, but the sun did appear and when it did, ooh , it was rather steamy....not nice.

But, today, ah.........breathing a sigh of relief from the heat.

Last night I finished off the flags for my bunting......I was very good and darned in all the ends and gave them a gentle steam press as one or two unruly corners continued to curl up.

Tonight I shall crochet them all together and hang them up.

I had intended to stick with paler colours but couldn't get the mix quite right and when I added some of the brighter shades, whammo ........

It's been hard to stop crocheting these flags they are soooo addictive and a fun project.

I sat in the main street at my favourite cafe drinking coffee and crocheting, much to the amusement of gathered friends!!

Hey you've gotta push the boundaries sometimes, right?.......

My dining table hasn't been this bare/tidy in oh, ......years!!

No.1 said 'it just doesn't look right' and hubby thought he'd come home to the wrong house!!

Gotta love 'em

Stormy skies yesterday......love the inky blue clouds.......

Hoping the rain will come this way......and it did.

Beautiful, cooling, refreshing rain.....

The garden looks renewed today. It had been wilting in the heat and no matter how much you water it, t needs the rain fall to bring it back to life.......

While it rained yesterday, I moved 'stuff' from the dining room table and put it in the spare room.

Yes, that's it above.

No ta dah moment yet.....probably not for quite some time....

Baltic pine (orange) furniture will have to do and you know what I'm over the moon that I have my own space so the furniture, pffft.

 Does it really matter? 

Not one jot...

I am surprised (ever so slightly) at the amount of 'stuff' I have collected, amassed, found, thrifted..........

I have to find a home for each and every bit, eeek!!

Until it is sorted, or until I can move freely without having to climb over things, I think the sewing thing will be on the back burner.

Crochet will be my craft of choice for the next little while, it's portable and not as messy as the other stuff i 'do'.

I have been drooling over Cecile's crochet at 

Eclectic Gipsyland

Oh, the colours she uses and things she makes are wonderful, beautiful little purses, bags, flowers......all sorts of things.

Pop over and have a browse but make yourself a cuppa first and make sure you have a spare hour, you'll need it.

If you've never crocheted before you're going to want to learn after visiting Cecile's blog.

Well, I am off to enjoy this cool weather, maybe I'll do something exciting like the ironing and dream about my next crochet project.

Thanks for popping by, I wish I could package up some blue sky and sunshine for all in the Northern Hemisphere. 

Sounds like it's turned rather chilly recently.

Lovely to hear from you and take care,

Claire XXX

Colour, Colour Everywhere

Hello and welcome, here we are at the end of another week.......

I had hoped to post earlier but.......

It's been very warm here and on Wednesday our air con. decided to play up, aargh!! No one available to look at it till next Monday, so in the meantime I have been trying to 'keep cool and carry on', hehe.....

In between other projects I have been crocheting some bunting.

Little triangles of colour, you can see them stacked together in the basket. Some blocked, some waiting to have 'their curls tamed'

It's been a great portable, little project. Pop a ball of wool and a crochet hook in a plastic bag and take it with me. Trips in the car have been measured not by distance, but by how many flags I can crochet. I can hook up two flags as we head into 'big town'....

I found Heather's easy to follow tutorial over at

Pink Milk Jewels.

Today I made myself a little helper, she's taking her job of choosing colours for bunting very seriously.

She was inspired by some sweet little fairies Ruth made from the book Scandinavian Stitches by Kajsa Wikman.

It feels like ages since I made something different, my crafting mojo is returning in fits and starts.

I have been busy, turning the spare bedroom into my sewing room.

The boys have been very good helping move furniture out and furniture in.

My 'space' won't be designer material, but, it will be my space where I can leave everything set up and just walk out and shut the door.

We will reclaim the dining room table,oooh, I am looking forward to that.

Earlier this week I received a parcel from Finland a little Etsy purchase.....

I was very pleased to find it waiting for me in the letter box and check out that gorgeous tape........squirrels and acorns.

Inside a brown paper package and a hand stamped card......

Inside the parcel is the necklace I bought from Delila over at

Robin and the Sage.

She lives in a little village in Finland and makes woodland inspired jewellery.

My necklace has a hand made acorn and lovely beads hanging from it.

It will be a piece of jewellery perfect to wear in Autumn and Winter.

I have admired her work and enjoyed reading her blog for quite some time, so......

If you haven't visited Robin and the Sage before, pop over and take a look and be inspired.

So, what have you been inspired by recently?

I would love to know.

-----OOOOO-----

I'm hoping we will get some rain over the next couple of days, the garden will certainly enjoy it and I think I will go outside and do a little rain dance. It's very dry and watering is quite a chore in the evenings.

I also hope to finish off the 'moving' process into my sewing room this week and find a home for everything. I will no doubt be making another trip to the op shop as I continue to have a sort out.

Looking outside there are some stormy clouds gathering, so maybe we will get some rain a little sooner than expected.....fingers and toes crossed!! B

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thankyou so much for popping by for a visit.

It's always nice to hear from you.

Take care,

Claire X

Goodmorning Sunshine ☀.........

Good morning or evening depending on where you are and

a big welcome to all my new followers.......

Thanks for popping by for a visit.

I hope all is going well in your crafty corner of the globe.

In between trying to stay cool and some other projects I have been doing a little bit of creating.

A lovely lady by the name of Shirley (also a chook lover) gave me a box full of beautiful woollen fabric samples. She asked if I could make her a chook and she chose these colours.

Shirley has a personality to match her colour choice!

So, here's Rosie, she's a bit like the Queen Mary under full steam, but I am quite happy with the way she turned out and the gusset (these things are the bain marie of my life, hehe...)is a success.

Not sure if she's a one off, but for a very long time,I have been thinking of making one.

Sometimes you just need a little push to get you over the hurdle.

I thought a couple of pics in the garden (where chooks often find themselves!!) was appropriate but the sun has washed out her colours.

She did like being out with the flowers, but not so keen on the bees...

For all of you living in cooler climes I thought some blue sky and sunshine pics of my Sunflowers might brighten a gloomy day for you.

They remind me of a choir, all standing up straight with heads held high.......

A bit of blue sky love ♥ going on here too....

They are putting on a great show at the moment...

...and keeping the bees busy.

You know those little fellas were still out at 8pm last night.

Don't they have a home to go to?....

Love the blue sky against the yellow flowers

...just wonderful

It's been pretty warm here this week and I have been wilting in the heat, so I thought it might be wise to pick the roses and bring them inside where I can enjoy them rather than leave them to burn to a crisp in the sun.

L - R

Mothers' Love, William Morris and at the back

Blue Moon with Lady of Megginch.

I placed the vases throughout the house where I could enjoy them.

A pic of the vegie garden

We had a load of wood delivered.....getting ready early for Winter.

Just needs someone to put it away!!

The beans are producing slowly but steadily, there's plenty of tomatoes on the various plants. The Spring Onions are lovely in salads along with the capsicum and there's quite a few little pumpkins developing on the vine.

There's always something from the garden used in our dinner...

There aren't as many Zinnias as in previous years, but they are doing a wonderful job adding colour to the yard.

Tig is doing what he does best.......

Find a disused carton, curl up and go to sleep.

Ah, it's a cat's life.

-----OOOOO-----

Well,it's been very warm this week although not too hot at night for sleeping.

We were planning to head away for the weekend away but it hasn't happened. That's OK later in the year when we have more time and it's not so hard to get accommodation might be better.......

So, they say a change is as good as a holiday and I got a bee in my bonnet this afternoon and entered the SMB shed.

That's 'secret mens business'....just in case you were wondering.

I roped No.1 in to help and we dragged out an old kitchen table which I intend to use for a sewing table.

I also decided it was time to sell a piece of furniture which had been stored for some years.

I rang the local antique dealer he came around half an hour later, gave me a price loaded it up into his car and off he went.

I now have a few dollars to put towards a 2nd hand storage unit of some sort...

So the spare room, becomes my sewing room once the bed is removed.

I have been talking about doing this for some time, today just happened to be THE day...

And, I am going to reclaim my dining table, yay!!

I hope, your week has ended on a good note and things are going according to plan.

Take care,

Claire X