inspired by the birds

Over the last few weeks we've watched the birds busily gathering twigs and grass to build their nests. We have bluetits and 2 blackbird families nesting in our garden and they are a joy to watch as they hop about looking for food.

They have been on my mind I realised, as I was looking at bird related things on etsy - so I thought I'd show you some of my favourites.


I do love bird cages and this silhouette is full of elegance and grace.

by awedore on etsy


These little birds are adorable, the reuse of old papers gives them such charm.
sweet birds by Cotton Bird Designs


I have a gorgeous painting by Cat Seyler Smith and I get so many lovely comments on it. It makes me smile every day, the colours are so warm.

by artist Cat Seyler Smith


I will keep you posted when the little chicks hatch and fill our garden with new life.

happy bird watching x

my creative space

I've been a little busy on the allotment this week to get much done creatively but I did have a go at some very simple crochet flowers. I'm planning on making some summer dresses for the girls and thought some little flowers would be a lovely detail on them - so I had a go at these simple ones and had great fun - I've even ordered a couple of crochet books dedicated just to flowers and motifs, so watch this space for some more.

See more creative spaces at Kirsty's.


Meanwhile the garden is looking happy, this is my favourite tree, I have no idea what it is, but every year for few weeks it is this beautiful fluff of pink.
It's a fairly spindly tree and once the pink has gone it looks a little whispy.
Here's a close up of it's tiny delicate flowers, some are yet to reveal themselves.


If you know what it is please tell me, I'd love to know.

happy weekend x

butterflies and elephants

The sun shone so we set out to hunt for butterflies, elephants and dinosaurs.
Luckily they are only a tube ride away.

some fun on the lawns at the Natural History Museum

The beauty of the architecture still takes my breath away.

Whilst we were there we had to pop in and say hello to the dinosaurs and roar at the T-Rex, but the reason we went was to go to the Butterfly Explorers exhibition - there's a butterfly house to go into where they fly freely. If you're lucky they land on you, or you can spot the amongst the flowers, watch them come out of their chrysalis or see them feeding.

munching on bananas and oranges

We had a wonderful time and after our mini explorers had played in the wooden house and crawled through the log pile we headed off to look for elephants.

We found some just outside the V&A.

They are part of the Elephant Parade and there are 250 around London. This is a conservation campaign highlighting the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant, I think we'll have to go elephant hunting again and see if we can find the other 248.

On Sunday we had a quiet day at home and avoided the rain
and to finish off we had some birthday cake.


Happy Birthday! x

my creative space

Here's a little peak into what I've been up to this week.
Some yarn arrived yesterday so I could carry on with Little Missy's blanket, I got stuck in last night whilst watching the last 'Edible Gardener' and mentally planning the next stages of our allotment.

I have to say the blanket is coming on nicely, it's going to be various shades of pink and red and the only plan is stripes, I do like simple.
The tale behind Missy Bigs blanket is here, this is an ongoing project - and at my rate they will be several years in the making.

Play along and add your creative space at Kirsty's.


Carrying on from my 'cutting the garden' moment I picked this cowslip ( I have much to learn - it's actually cow parsley!) at the allotment this week and thought it quite splendid in it's simplicity.

The house feels very different when full of flowers, I love it. So I think I'll carry on this idea and look at things differently in the garden - I shall be taking my snips to everything with a bit of scent and beauty and bringing it indoors to be truly admired.

happy creating x

butterflies for bedtime

Little Missy finally has her second duvet cover, a polka dot cover with butterflies to flutter around as she sleeps.


I appliqued different fabrics scraps (some Liberty) on with some free machine embroidery, they are all a little different in their design and I really loved doing this.
Missy Big sat with me whilst I was making this, she had her sewing project out and we spent a lovely afternoon chatting and stitching - perfect.

Little Missy trying it out.


This is the first one I did, the linen and cotton flowers are appliqued, with a few swirly stitches to add some texture.

I plan to get some clothes made for the girls this summer and this has really spurred me on.
It's been too long since I made any clothes and I'm itching to get back to it.
Life seems to be settling down a bit as the girls get bigger and I seem to have a bit more energy.

happy sewing x

freshly cut

I'd just like to say hello, and thank you to all the super ladies that are following me and reading my waffle, it's great to know someone is reading this - and hopefully getting some pleasure!

I had a mooch around our garden this afternoon and cut some flowers to brighten up our kitchen.

This isn't something I normally do, it feels a bit naughty.
I don't know why, they are our flowers, we grew them.

I was encouraged by the lovely Miss Pickerings post 'cutting the garden'
this was her masterpiece:


I know mine doesn't compare but I was pleased with my little effort.
I do have a lack of vases and pots to put flowers in, this always becomes apparent when I'm holding a bunch of flowers desperately looking for something to house them in. All my jugs, vases etc are too small and topple over
- note to self - buy more vessels.


I love this gorgeous birdcage and can you believe that it's in a giveaway?
Yes that's right - a giveaway! Pop over to sixty one a and see if your luck is in... I'm hoping I'll be the lucky recipient obviously! I have just the space for it...


Hope your week is full of loveliness x