Visitors to the garden

The kowhai trees in our garden are starting to coming out in bloom. We have approximately 50 of them, and most are very old. As kowhai trees are slow growers, it has been suggested they are 40 to 50 years old. These trees attract our native bird, the tui. They come to feed from the nectar.

A few varieties have flowered early and we've had two resident tui feeding from the flowers. But now many of the others are coming into bloom and the tui numbers are increasing. Last count was 12. Each day the haze of yellow deepens and spreads.

They hop and fly amongst the tree tops and sing and chatter, it's lovely to hear them.

We have many trees and plants that the birds seem to like and I'll try and keep them in mind when I plant new things in the garden.

I'm pleased they are smart enough to stay in the tree tops, well away from any scheming cats!

Hope you've all had a good week,
Carole x

I've now passed the 900 blog posts milestone

900! Whew!
I'm exhausted just thinking about them all, haha.

I thought I'd share this with you. - On the weekend I was out in the garden. When the days are fine I find I'm spending more time wandering around just simply enjoying it all.
I decided to take a photo of some of the spring happenings, like this burst of colour from the polyanthus.
Of course I had company everywhere I went, and I'm guessing you know who?

Yep, if you guessed Buddy, then you would be right on! LOL He follows me everywhere. This particular day, every time I bent down to take a photo, leap, and there he was perched on top of my knees. I think he has an attention problem!

Of course after I told him off for being a nuisance he disappeared. But I soon found him. He was sitting on the roof watching me.
I told him I thought he should come down and find a nice place in the sun to curl up and sleep.

And although he decided he would come down, he wasn't prepared to let me cuddle him after I had growled at him.
Cats!

Unfortunately he's so gorgeous I just have to love him to bits!

Carole x

 

Not sure where this is going, but...

I'm not sure where this is going, but I've decided to make a quilt using some of the pretty doilies and fabric that I've collected.
This is the September block.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this leads :)
Has anyone made a quilt using their pretty linens?

Carole x

It's a happening place

A good weekends work.

And an update on the feeder ;)

Unfortunately the wee birds were way to fast for me - but you can see where they've been!

Hope you're having a good week!

Carole x

feeding time

I'm afraid I'm slowly turning into the local bird lady :)

Can't help it, I love watching the little birds feed.

Four more hangers arrived in the mail.

Time to fill them all and hang them in the trees. 

Carole x

Some new projects are being hatched...

I've got some serious sewing to do. 

But before I start sewing I have to play!

Don't you just love these labels?

Some nice Tangerine and orange tea was used in the dying of this fabric.

The smell was divine :)

Now this doesn't look so exciting, and doesn't smell as good either!

I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how it turns out.

Done anything exciting today?

Carole x

On my outdoor table this weekend...

It was such a lovely day on Saturday that I decided to fore go the stitching projects in my box and do a few chores out doors instead. As usual I had either one or both of the cats following me. I got roses pruned and the lemon tree. The bird feeders got refilled and my car got a good clean as I want to sell it. And I even took some time out to sit in the sun and read a few chapters.

Grape hyacinths in a pot on the table are coming into flower too.
Marmalade made, shortbread in the jar, and a date slice in the tin for Mr M&M and the binding stitched down on a small table quilt. Think we should be right for another week now, so back to the projects box!

So what did you get done this weekend? Finish any of your projects?

Carole x

A project box

This is my project box. Do you all have one of these? I decided to collect up all my half finished and almost started projects so that I can keep an eye on how many WIP's I've got on the go. The box has 8 projects in it at the moment. It did have 10, but I finished two over the weekend! I'm hoping to take out one project at a time and see if I can get them completed. Of course I still have my bright pink quilt sitting on my cutting table which I'm working on, but I've also got these sitting on one of the tables.

Now you'll know which one I'm thinking of working on. I must admit it's so nice to work on mixed media projects after fussing over perfect seams.

How many projects have you got hiding at your place at the moment?
I challenge you to gather them all up and put them in a container and one by one take them out and finish them. Will you do better than me and finish them?
Lets see!!

Carole x

One wee mini charm pack all used up!

Remember the mini charm pack I was using, well they have all been used up, plus I added half a metre of Moda marbles to add the sashings and a little contrast. I also had to add a few yoyo's - you know how much I love them!

A few hexes for interest.

Ans a heart or two.

hexes and yoyo's

And a little bit of blanket stitch

And here it is. A fun exercise!
Carole x

Watching the changes at Tui Glen Studio

I took time out over the weekend to take a walk around the garden and the signs of spring were everywhere. These were very scented and fill the air as you walk past.

 Some of the spring bulbs starting to flower were ones I planted a few months ago, but it's exciting to see what has been hidden under the ground and is now venturing out of hibernation.

And of course whenever I'm out walking round the garden I know there's always a furbaby not far away.

Back to the sewing room, have a great week everyone!
Carole x

Playing with the stack

I love Moda fabrics, and I guess it's true to say, all of them lol. Who doesn't? Well, Trish at the KC quilting store in town got this delicious range in, Esprit De Noel, and with it the wee mini charm packs.
The cuteness of the precut 2 1/2" squares overwhelmed me so I decided to see just how far a wee mini charm pack could go.

So, after stitching and slicing and more stitching I've got this far...

I'll be back to show you the end result (if it turns out okay!!)
So off to have a cuppa and a nice choccy Afghan biscuit and ponder what I shall do next with my wee blocks.

Hope you've all had a lovely relaxing weekend,
Carole x

I'm so easily pleased!

Look at my new, old clothes line! My clothes line used to be behind the house, and hidden from the sun. Mr M&M has made me a new prop clothes line and I love it! The clothes are all hanging to dry in the sunshine. I remember my mother had a clothes line like this when I was a child.
Can anyone else remember these?

Carole x

"Now is the hour, when we will say farewell..."

Desert Road looking mean

After what can only be described as a wonderful week, it was time to say goodbye to all the tutors who I got to spend time with every single day, and the amazing students, some who came from as far away as London and Melbourne to do my classes. I made some exciting new friendships born out of the love for fabric and creative goodness and it was hard to say goodbye to those who did two classes with me and especially Di who had such faith in me and my classes that she opted to do all three, spending 5 whole days with me. Saying goodbye was harder than I expected.

There wasn't much snow left along the roadside after a week of sunshine. But the pockets that were left looked pretty.

When I got home I unpacked all my art gear and remembered that two of my students had given me thank you gifts at the end of the classes. They were totally unexpected and I was a wee bit overwhelmed by their kindness.

Thank you Jenny, I am thrilled that you enjoyed the class so much. The hand wash certainly does smell heavenly and will be put to good use!

And Sian, how lucky was it for me that you decided from the other side of the world to come and do my classes? I was so touched that you gave me this wee gift and I love everything the precious wrappings contained, especially the shrinky! You certainly know what brings me joy! Thank you so much. x

To all the students who decided to take my classes, THANK YOU. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. To those who didn't, you missed some light hearted fun days with like-minded people.

If any of you are interested in doing classes, the ones shown here over the last few days, or new ones, I suggest you get a small group of girlfriends together for a weekend. I love to travel, so send me an email and I'll design something for you, and come and spend the weekend with you. I guarantee everyone will have a great time!

Hugs,
Carole x



 

As Symposium nears the end....

This lovely sunset was taken from my room, I could sit and look at this view all day, but I usually collapsed on my bed when I got back to my room! lol

The last morning of Symposium was my embellishment class where the girls were embellishing themselves. I planned to have the last day of classes a fun easy going relaxed class as I thought everyone might be tired and weary. As it worked out I was right and the girls were happy to have a relaxed class that they didn't need to stress over.

More dyeing although the sun wasn't much help.

More fabric spread over surfaces! Lovely!

This may look like a harmless wall of the school building, but my class was right next to it, and if your eyesight is good you'll be able to see that the little sign on the left says, 'Merchant Mall'. What it should say is: Danger: KEEP OUT!

Some of my students work....

 Amazing eh? Don't you just love it all!

And that was the end of the what was the best experience ever!
Carole x