~ Just Chat ~

Hi and if you are visiting my blog a big thank you for taking the time....

I have a couple of things to share with you today.  One, a beautiful little visitor who flew into the garden the other day and even came right in under our deck to look for insects .....

Look at this little treasure....

Isn't he just the cutest thing.  My research tells me he is a 'Striated Black-headed Pardalote' 

and was very tiny.Their size is about 9-11.5 cm.  I really hope he will come back again.

I just love when these more unusual birds visit our garden. Sometimes their visits are just very fleeting but they bring with them so much pleasure to us when we see them.  

Speaking of tiny things...

I made this tiny mini album recently for my beautiful daughter and thought you might like to see it. It is only about 2.5 inches square.

I didn't take any photos of the individual pages but I was amazed at how much I could fit into this tiny book.  Each page was a pocket page and had something tucked into it and I hung some charms from the side.

Autumn is here in Australia and even although we live in the sub-tropics we can feel a slight difference now in the temperatures particularly on our morning walks and it is that time of year when you need to change the bedclothes to something a little warmer.

My beautiful boy Ben,  hasn't made an appearance here for quite a while it is appropriate that I show you a photo of him this time as he turns 8 years old this Friday.  Love that boy!!

He LOVES the beach!!
 

~ Oh my gosh...two posts in one day!! ~

I just had to come back to show you this...

I happened to look out the window and here'Lizzy' was in the bird bath..... well she is a water dragon...

A bird came down for a bath whilst she was there, took one look and  thought... 'What kind of 'bird' is that' and flew off!!

I am so glad she is enjoying our garden!!

~ Some Wildlife in My Neighbourhood ~

Thought I would show you some Australian wildlife that I have photographed over the last few days....

Saw this Carpet Python while on our morning walk the other day.....  quite large and very beautiful....

This cutie lives in my garden and delights me with it's presence basking on my deck and waiting for insects...

 Although I am not sure if it a boy or girl  I have named it 'Lizzy'....very original don't you think :))

And finally these two were happily going about their business while some onlookers were standing close by taking photos....

Hope you enjoy seeing some nature from my neighbourhood.

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful.  Everything is simply happy.  Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance.  Look at the flowers - for no reason.  It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.  ~Osho

~ My Quilted Patchwork Journal ~

  I followed a nine part  tutorial by Marianne Kensington and had fun creating this quilted patchwork journal.

I followed a tutorial to learn to make the crochet flowers which I have decorated it with.

I made a pocket inside.

I stitched the signatures in using  pamphlet stitch and used a lot of 'precious junk" to fill it.

I did a lot of rough machine stitching on my pages and left loose threads because I like the 'rustic' look.

This was a fun project to do and thanks to Marianne for the great tutorial.

Thanks for dropping by my blog.

~ Well hello.....~

...to anyone out there.  Yes, it has been ages since I have updated here and am not surprised if you have given up on us as we have been AWOL for quite a long time.  However, there are no rules and blogging shouldn't become an obligation - right!!

Anyway, a cheery hello to anyone who might drop by. I just wanted to share a couple of photos from my garden with you today and I REALLY wish I could bottle fragrance as the fragrance from these is amazing. Murraya paniculta, commonly called Orange Jessamine or Mock orange and it is out in all it's beauty at present at our house. Wouldn't it be lovely if I could send you the fragrance through the Internet....maybe the day will come when that can be done LOL!! 

I have just put a little posey of these on my desk beside the computer as I write and am willing the fragrance to go through to you so let me know if it works LOL!!

Hope 2013 is treating you well.

"To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat".
                                                  ~Beverly Nichols

~ It's Shedding Time Again ~

For some reason, my title reminds me of the words of a song....no, wait a minute.....that 's "It's Crying Time Again"  I remember now!!

Anyway, Spring is here and Ben has decided he must rid himself of his thick winter coat and he is making fluff bunnies like there is no tomorrow.  Oh well, he mentioned he likes to do his bit for the birds and give them something soft to line their nests with.  The birds don't have to look very far to find it either as there are balls of the stuff floating all around the driveway!!
Here is my boy looking beautiful after a lovely brush this morning....
It is so very dry here that the leaves are just dropping from the trees.  We need rain so badly.

Yesterday, I attended the Craft and Quilt Fair in Brisbane.  Lots to be seen there and I managed to pick up a  few little crafting bits and pieces.  Not a lot but I didn't come home empty handed. I purchased a couple of little bits of fabric to complete my Mrs Waddelow's Huswif which I have recently completed stitching. Considering I forgot to take the pieces of fabric I already had with me, I was pretty pleased with my choice of matching fabric as we all know how difficult it is to carry colour in your head.  I am also going to stitch the needlebook to complete the set.

I hope all is going well in your part of the world and thanks for visiting my blog.

~ A Little Crafting ~

Made these folded envelope pockets.  Very simple and fun to make. Can make them from 12 x 12, 8 x 8 and 6 x 6 sheets of paper. Two pockets in the back to tuck a little something extra and write a little note to put inside or tuck in a gift card.

"Each day comes bearing it's own gifts. Untie the ribbons."

                                                                 ~ Ruth Ann Schabacker