Thursday, June 30, 2011

Let's get cosy


A tea cosy for a friend who loves a good old cuppa...........

Some WIP pics.......... 'i's still need to be dotted

Bright colours and polka dots were the order of the day.

The red and green together make me happy, there's something about them that makes me smile and reminds me of................... Summer !!



The other side still needs some work.
A little bit of stitchy decoration on the teapot and cups just to lift them and add a bit more interest.

My creative mojo has been lost while I was on hols.

A reward is offered if anyone can find it.

The tea cosy is an order that has been on the back burner.
I thought I should crack on with it while waiting for the return of my mojo.........



Talking about hols, I managed a bloggy catchup with some lovely bloggers........

Tanya from Suburban Jubilee hosted the get together at Resurekt the wonderful shop she spends two days playing in.
I say playing as it can't be work when you are surrounded by wonderful, creative products made using recycled items and between customers you get to whip up items to sell in the shop.

Sounds like a dream job to me...........


We were also joined by Lee from Killiecrankie Farm and wee Herman who was feeling under the weather but was so well behaved .

We spent a couple of lovely hours getting to know each other better and discussing all sorts of subjects.

It was so much fun meeting these ladies face to face.
If you ever get the chance for a bloggy catchup go for it.

Lee spoilt me with some handmade gifts, the 'apple cosy' above which I have actually put on a mandarin as no apples were available for the pic. I love the bright colour and the gorgeous button. I have secretly admired these on her blog, so I was very happy to unwrap it.



I also received some wonderful birds Lee whipped up.

I wonder how she knew red and pale blue are one of my fave colour combos?
Ooh, I would love to look out the window and see some of these beauties in the garden.
I have just realised I forgot to upload a pic of the beautiful card Lee painted for me.
A fab picture of the Rotunda in The Gorge, Launceston...........next time.
Some people have so much talent.........

Tanya had put out a blog call out to any other bloggers in the area who would like to join us and Chris from Chrisartist dropped by, a lovely surprise.

Funny thing is, Chris has met my son and hubby. She is one of the organisers of the Tamar Valley Folk Festival which No. 1 has played at for the last two years.
Small world isn't it?



You may remember back in December one of my chooks hatched 3 chicks, 2 of which turned out to be roosters..........

Well, as they grew it became apparent that they were not going to be best buddies (something I knew, but fingers crossed there wouldn't be any problems........tell her she's dreaming!!)
A decision had to be made about which to keep and which to rehome.
Noddy above is now King of the Castle and the other rooster who was very handsome has gone to live at the home of a work colleague.
I am yet to hear how he is going, I hope he has settled in............

Noddy needs a wing clipped as he likes to escape from the run and come over to the house and let me know it's time for their breakfast.
Guess, he's just doing his job and looking after the girls.


Sheesh, can't anyone have a little sleep in?!!

I secretly, suspect he's checking out the flight path..........over the fence and into the paddock.

Or just surveying his domain.



Before our trip away, we had a family dinner here.
It was a double birthday celebration for hubby and I as we both celebrated significant birthdays.................

I wanted to show what you can do with some milk cartons cut in half and a tealight candle.

No. 1 and I ran around in the late afternoon setting them up in the 'wild wood' and lighting them.
The light shining at the base of the Silver Birches was very effective.


They looked beautiful in the gathering dusk and when the daylight had completely disappeared it was absolutely magical.


A little bit of effort and the effect was stunning.

I had told my family to arrive at 6 sharpish as unbeknowns to them I had some 'entertainment ' organised and didn't want to give the game away.

Sister no. 2 decided to come out early to see if I needed a hand.
She rocked up at 5.30pm thereby missing out on the light show........... I had to insist that she stay inside as we lit the candles and then come out to have a look.
Not quite the same but hey.........

At 6.30pm my 'visitor' turned up (no pics sorry) and No. 1 had been primed to look after him.
At the appointed time I asked my guests to don coats and we all went out to the verandah.
With oil lamps providing light along the dam wall a piper played 3 tunes I had chosen

Scotland the Brave
Amazing Grace
Mull of Kintyre

In the beautiful starry night, the sound carried across the valley, this was my birthday treat to myself.
I had wanted to do this for ages and it was beautiful until the lamps went out and he was standing there in the darkness of the night, hehehe...............

I love the bagpipes, I know they are either love 'em or hate 'em instrument.

Anyway, it was a night to remember and I'm so glad I did it............

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Well, here we are at the end of June.

One month of Winter over, two more to go...........

I'm still enjoying it and looking forward to many more hot chocolates, wood fires, rugging up, warming soups and all those things I love doing in the cold weather.
But it's back to work on Monday which means getting up at 5am, in the dark and cold, euughhhh.

Oh well, that's the way it goes...........holidays and then back to work to help pay off the bill.

I hope you are enjoying the season wherever you are.

Thanks for dropping by and for leaving a comment, I love reading them and finding out where you are visiting from.

Til next time, take care,

Claire X






12 comments:

  1. I had tears well up thinking about the piper playing those songs in the candlelight. Just perfect and a lovely treat. You inspire me so much. I have to tell you that the rooster on the back of the bench seat is my new favourite photo.

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  2. What a lovely post Claire with absolutely gorgeous craft, teapot cozy in the making with bright colours and spots everywhere and pretty writing. However do you do that on a machine, you are so clever.
    Your rooster is certainly a most handsome bird, very much the male as he stands looking like his chest is puffed out and ready to strut! :) Roosters do like the sound of their own voice very early in the morning and perhaps he will be your alarm clock on Monday morning at that cold and dark hour of 5am.
    The tealight candles in the trees look absolutely magical for your birthday celebrations and how lovely to have music played that you love.
    Have a super weekend,
    Anne xx

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  3. Hi Claire - you've won one of my 'tweedie' egg cosies! Can you get in touch (there's an e-mail link on my blog, or via one of my website contact pages) with your address details. Many thanks!

    I love the bagpipes too - sounds magical :)
    Alison x

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  4. The tea lights give such a lovely look to the night garden; listening to the bagpipes must have been enchanting.

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  5. Love the bagpipes, have even converted the kids - we wanted one for a wedding up on Ben Lomond but they were all at a Celtic festival - no consideration !
    And I'm glad the world is small enough for a few of bloggers to catch up in person !
    So enjoyed us all getting together, what an occassion.
    Your birches are looking wonderful candlelit - I'd want them all the time.
    Wonder if the birdies could be made in oilskin so they could got outside ?
    And your embroidery just keeps getting better Claire - the little twigs of flowers seem to hint at the Spring weatehr not far away (flowering quince ?)
    I'm with you on wing clipping Claire - the flock has gotten a little out of hand in my garden, all led by Roger who has gotten all bolski with love in the air.

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  6. Your teacosy is gorgeous, how do you manage such neat embroidery.

    I have a soft spot for bagpipes too, well we do have some Scottish connections in our family, what a wonderful celebration for you and your husband, the candles between the trees are magical.

    lily x

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  7. Love the teacosy! Thanks for your wonderful comment at my blog; good to know the translation is alright. I tried the translation widget in the sidebar myself and it does translate the comments :)

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  8. `Hark,Hark the pipes are calling`! (The first line of `Scotland the Brave` for the uninitiated!).Nothing like the sound of bagpipes to stir the soul.What a fabulous sound that must have been in the glistening candlelight (until they expired!).
    How lucky you were to meet some fellow bloggers - what a friendly bunch. Love the teacosy too - well done Claire.
    Have a great weekend. x

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  9. Hi Claire,

    I forgot to mention my chooks in your reply, so I thought what a good excuse to come over and leave it on your blog and say hi here!

    So my sussex girls are not bantams they are just "light" sussex, but they are very small and flighty - the only ones that need their flight feathers clipped.

    Also I love your post on the roosters, Noddy is very handsome. Our hen turned out to be a rooster also in the end. Not sure who was tricking with the speckled eggs that made me think he was a she :( - Anyway, as we live in the city and not really allowed roosters - we rush out there in the morning to feed him so he forgets to crow. However he is a very quiet and late crower, the other morning it was 7.35am and we hadn't heard a peep out of him. so for now all is good and so long as he can keep quiet he can live in a happy fairy castle! take care and speak to you soon. Yollie xx

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  10. for years we had a man come to the seacliffs near hear and play the bagpipes at sunset for a Scotsman friend who had gone on. IT wafted over to our house and I always got goosebumps listening.
    I love your Tea cozy!
    xx
    julie

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  11. A lovely post! Sorry I've missed so many recently, I haven't been very good at keeping up with blogging (will try and improve this week though!). I love all those songs you chose, the lights under the birches look amazing and of course I love bagpipes too (my favourite and the one that was played as we walked along the aisle for our wedding is 'Highland Laddie', quite upbeat). Great crafts too, the dotty tea cups and teapot are lovely! :) x

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  12. Wow! you are such a talented lady! Sewing, taking care of chickens, preparing a lovely setting for a birthday party, even bagpipes! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I will be back.

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