A Mixed Bag

Hello my friends - thank you for being here and for your lovely messages which are always such a pleasure to receive and so encouraging for me! It's been so nice catching up with all your posts too, and enjoying your creativity, although I have been a bit late now and then!

Everytime I get around to posting I think there isn't much to show you but then am usually surprised once the pics start to upload (or is it download, I always wonder about that) from my camera; this time is no different so lets make a start and see what we come up with!

First off the crocheted flowers that you would have seen on my previous post have now found a nice little spot to rest, and I think they look quite happy - what do you think?

I almost forgot to mention that I saw these flowers hooped up in Issue 9 of Simply Crochet!

After settling these little blooms in I hooped up some little fun pictures which would be suitable for a child's room, I think! This fabric was another craft square - 'Forest Christmas All Over' it's called - that I cut into and backed with the cotton wadding, same as for my other hoops. After completing these I then had afterthoughts about them - perhaps I could have stitched into them to outline the main character in each one, but I haven't really felt like taking them apart and starting again - yet! It is a thought for next time though!

And here are close-ups of the main little characters - the pics are not as clearly defined as I would have liked but they are cute little fellas aren't they!

A few days ago my very kind neighbour left me a big jug of sweet peas at the front door - what a lovely surprise! I do love these 'sweet' little flowers but don't really have space to put a frame up and grow my own, so I have been thoroughly enjoying my lovely gift! You can tell that my neighbour likes the same colours that I like!

Aren't they just gorgeous! And aren't I blessed!

I've been having difficulty with my teas lately: real tea is too acid for me so I either go for herbal types or else its hot water with lemon juice, but the enjoyment of my 'tea' supplies had totally left me and I'd even resorted to the odd cup of coffee, knowing that it didn't agree with me but hoping I'd got over that problem, which I haven't!!! Anyway, I have really enjoyed rose tea in the past so popped into our local shop to see if they had any - which they didn't, although they do have a great range - but, they had one I'd never come across before that looked like it might be worth a try . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . and it certainly was, and is! The blend of rose with chamomile and lavender is divine and I'm very happy to have found it, especially as it's meant to warm my heart too!!! 

While in the kitchen it crossed my mind that you might be interested in having a sneak peak into my other creative area in my home so here are a couple of snaps of my shelves . . . .

Those little mice are from  a boxed set that came with three stripey balls, so they are in fact a Skittle Game but to me they're just my little mice in the kitchen - much better than real ones, I would say!!! 

Now how about another wee walk around the garden while the sun is shining . . . 

Another lovely rose, a climber this time, and he is Pierre de Ronsard - such a prolific bloomer but sadly with very little perfume. Then we have those gorgeous pink blooms, so fairy light, waving to us in the gentle breeze - they are called butterfly something or other! This honeysuckle was grown from the smallest cutting from our neighbour's hedge just a couple of years ago and just look at it now, and with the added bonus of that beautiful fragrance we really enjoy it!

Here we have a butterfly bush which I believe is a New Zealand plant - its foliage has an unusual smell when you touch it but oh my, look at that flower - and you're only aware of the smell if you grab hold of the foliage, so it's okay!

Then we have a lovely fuchsia hanging over the fence - I always think of ballerinas when I look at fuchsias - can you see the resemblance?

Last but certainly not least here are a couple of snaps of the LillyPilly that I've shown you before, but at a different stage here with its beautiful blossom!

And that my dear friends is it for this time - I've been busy with other little crafty things but they will wait for another time as I've probably bombarded you enough with pics for now. I do hope you've enjoyed our little sharing time and I always look forward to hearing from you and to keeping up with your posts also. As always I wish you the very best of all that is good and wonderful, and for those of you who are feeling a bit 'under the weather' or caring for a loved one who needs that extra little bit of loving, I send warm healing thoughts - and thus energies!

Warm hugs and love,

❤Joy xoxo