frayed at the edge

Not so exciting after all ......

Today's post was going to tell you all about my trip to Edinburgh to have my first lesson on my new sewing machine ..... but things didn't quite go to plan.  We had a good trip up, and after we got over the cost of parking (almost all parking in Hawick is free!) we popped into Starbucks - as much to have a toilet stop as a drink!  Malcolm then headed off to have a potter round the shops and I went for my lesson.  I'm not going to name the shop (I don't want to be sued!) ...... but lots of you will know where I went.  I met the woman who was going to give me my tuition - and then it all went rapidly downhill.  She waffled on about completely basic stuff concerning needles and threads and showed me how to switch the machine on(!).  I said I knew all of this, could she perhaps move on a bit.  She said she didn't know how experienced I was, so had to cover the basics ... I said I hardly thought my machine was an entry level machine (perhaps she should have asked how experienced I was and then pitched the lesson to that level?) She then finally got round to demonstrating a stitch to use ..... at which point it became clear that she was unfamiliar with the machine - I was telling her what to do!!  At that point I gave up, complained somewhat vociferously to the shop owner and said I would arrange with Janome to have my tuition elsewhere!! 

Never mind, things got better after that!  Thank goodness for mobile phones ..... I was able to get a hold of Malcolm and we went for a quick sandwich for lunch.  Then of course the camera came out ...... this was our first glimpse of the castle (sorry, it was a bit grey, and I only had the small camera, so not the best of photos!)

 

 

Those of you who have been to Edinburgh will know that the castle sits high above the main railway station.  There is a frequently told joke about a tourist (I'm not going to put in the nationality!!) who asked why they built the castle next to the railway (perhaps it was the same tourist who asked why the Queen built Windsor castle under the flight path to Heathrow Airport!!)  I took this next photo to show you one of the beautiful wrought iron balcomies - it was only when I looked at it on the laptop that I realised that there is a pigeon perched on it!

 

 

This magnificent building ......

 

 

...... is home to the national Archives

 

 

When we looked up the lane at the side of the building, we saw this quirly little building (it turned out to be a restaurant)

 

 

This next magnificent building belongs to the Church of Scotland

 

 

I was puzzled by the lighthouse on this building, until I saw that it is the offices of the Lighthouse Commission!

 

 

Do you think we should have a sphinx put on our roof (except it's probably bigger than the roof!)

 

 

Another glimpse of the castle

 

 

It is often said that we Scots have very bad eating habits, and that we eat too much (deep) fried food, and too many sweet things.  So you can indulge in both with one of these ....

 

 

Of course we would never eat anything like that - our tastes are much more sophisticated, as you can see from this 'plate to share' that we enjoyed with a cuppa at a garden centre on the way home ...... oh dear, that was a lie, these were all sweet and sticky and gorgeous (but just small pieces, honest!!)

 

 ....... the one at the back on the left had bits of Turkish Delight (the chocolate covered kind) in it - that made up for the rotten morning!!

 

 

 

 

 

Starting at the bottom!

For some time now, I have been working up to trying a pattern for toe-up socks ..... as the name suggests, you start at the toe, the opposite to normal sock knitting.  So this week I got organised and downloaded a pattern from Ravelry.  (I am much too embarrassed to tell you who I am on Ravelry, my page is so pathetic! ...... oh well, if I must - it's Carenza)  The next thing of course was to buy some sock wool, which I did on Monday

 

I haven't used this wool before, so I am looking forward to seeing how it knits up (all I have to do now is remember to print out the pattern!)

 

Oh dear, I've bought another quilting book .... but it was from a charity shop, so really I was doing a good thing and contributing to the charity's funds!

 

 

How could I resist a book with such a vibrant cover! The book is quite a mix .....

 

traditional blocks

 

 

a mix of techniques and fabrics

 

 

different styles of quilting (I love the one on the bottom right!)

 

 

an Amish-style doll, with her own  rail fence quilt

 

 

this is unusual - the background has been quilted before the applique has been tacked in place

 

I thought I should tell you about the Christmas Fair, in case you live close enough to come!  It's in Southdean Village Hall in Chesters, which is near the town of Hawick.  If you look at a road map, you will see the A6088, which goes from just outside Hawick to meet the A68 just before the Carter Bar, passing through Chesters on the way.  So if you live in the Borders or North Northumberland, do think about coming along on Saturday the 27th November from 2 to 4pm.  As well as all my goodies, Malcolm has stools, bird boxes and bird tables, Lorraine has fabulous Christmas cakes, marzipan petit fours, jams and chutneys, Lindsay (aka The Border Tart) will have all her gorgeous goodies, to mention a few..... and of course there will be tea, coffee and home baking.  If you want more detailed directions, leave a comment or email me (if you look at the top of the lefthand sidebar, you will see a link to click on to email me).

 

ps - tomorrow we are going to Edinburgh, as I am going to do something very exciting ...... so make sure you come back tomorrow to read all about it!!

 

Soup kitchen!

When the weather is this cold, there is only one thing to cook ....... soup, and lots of it.  I sometimes use a recipe, but most of the time I just use what's in the fridge.  So today I sorted out the ingredients for

 

orange soup

 

 

and green soup

 

For the orange soup, I sliced and diced onions, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrots and orange peppers.  For the green, courgettes, leeks, celery and broccoli.  I added stock and seasoning to both pots, then simmered them until the veggies were cooked.  The last stage was to blitz them (I don't like bits in my soup!)

 

 

Lots and lots of lovely soup to divide into portions for the freezer

 

 

Did you notice there is less orange soup?  That's because I had some for lunch, with a spoonful of creme fraiche to stir in ..... delicious!

 

 

It started out a very cold day (although it got milder and damp later).  The sheep in the field in front of us looked miserable this morning

 

 

But this little tit was quite chirpy, flying back and forward to the bird table

 

 

We have had other birds about the place recently.  It all started when Malcolm asked to borrow my chicken calendar

 

 

He got out the pencils that I bought him when we went to the Pencil Museum, and over several days, he produced two drawings

 

this one looks ready to have a peck at you!

 

 

a striking pose

 

 

it's got its beady eye on you!!


 

A little bit of string .......

........ was all it took to transform my empty candle jars into pretty tealight holders

 

 

I bought these lovely coloured strings in a garden centre some time ago, certain that I could use them for something!  I stuck some double sided tape round the bottom of the jars, then wound the string round.  I added some tealights, some pretty packaging and a fun label ....... a quick and easy way to transform the jars

 

 

I also solved the problem of how to attach the pencils to the notebooks.  I stuck them to strips of card with that horrible gummy stuff that free gifts are stuck to magazines with, then attached the card strips to the notebooks with tiny clothespegs.  A fun tag, and the job was done!

 

 

I may have mentioned before that my crochet skills are decidedly rusty.  Years (and years!) ago, I used to crochet ..... I even crocheted dresses when I was in my teens.  But I always had problems with my tension, and with knowing where to work my first and last stitches, so my work tended to have rather oddly shaped edges.  But having seen so many lovely crocheted things on other blogs, I decided to have another go.  I saw a nice shawl pattern in this magazine ......

 

 

It was funny buying a 'People's Friend' publication, as I can remember my Granny reading the People's Friend when I was little.

 

 

Once I had read the instructions for the special stitches several times, I made a start .......

 

 

.... but I had to frog a few rows, as there is a mistake (third row from the top, there should be three double trebles in the centre!)  But after that, I made good progress, and I've finished the first section

 

 

Weather forecasters might keep saying that it is late autumn, but it was definitely winter when I went out this morning ...... as you can see, it was minus one degree ......

 

 

....... and the windscreen took a bit of scraping!! 

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

It is that time of the week again, when we get together to share our shadows..  As always, many thanks to the lovely Tracy, who organises this wonderful meme for shadow addicts all round the world.

Last Sunday morning, we woke up to a glorious frosty day, so after breakfast we headed off to Jedburgh for some shadow hunting.  We didn't have far to look for the first one - it was facing us as we got out of the car!

 

part of the ruins of the Abbey

 

 

lots of shadows and reflections ...... but look closer

 

 

a wonderful heron

 

 

a weeping willow reflected in the river

 

 

enjoying our walk

 

 

 a warning on a piece of farm machinery!

 

First class service

I was intrigued this morning to recive a tiny padded envelope in the post - I hadn't bought anything, so what could it be? I was delighted when I opened it to find this

 

I think it is excellent customer service to send out this new foot - I was unaware that there was one available.

 

I was trying to take photos of the tiny tits on the bird feeders this morning - but they just wouldn't stay still long enough!  (click on the photos to enlarge them)

 

I think this one was a blue tit

 

 

you can see how small this one is compared to the sparrows behind it

 

For the past two weeks, there has been a new horse in the field in front of us - can you tell which is the new one (hint- look at the state of their coats!)

 

 

Of course Friday means patch'n'chat ...... and that means cake!  This week Annette had made one of her wonderful sponges - although she didn't think it was one of her better ones .....

 

 

I chose the fabrics for the borders of my row quilt - the darker fabric will be the inner border, the lighter one a much wider border which I will applique .... probably with flowers and leaves

 

 

I quite often buy scented candles in glass holders from my local supermarket ...... I like to burn a candle after dinner to eliminate cooking smells.  I looked out a collection of used ones this morning (and a large jar which had last year's Christmas candle in it).  I stood them in a basin with very hot water to soften the remnants of wax

 

 

Once I had cleaned the wax out, I put them in the dishwasher, where they are being washed along with today's dishes!  I will be doing something with them over the weekend, which I will share with you on Monday!

I hope you all have a good weekend ..... the forecast isn't very good, so I think I will be spending a lot of it in the studio!  Love Anne

Would you like to know ......

....... what was in the box?  It was exciting to find it on the doorstep when we got home yesterday and see the Italian postmark ......

 

 

..... and to see that it was from my lovely bloggy friend Meg.  This gorgeous card .......

 

 

.....told me that the contents of the box were belated birthday gifts.  First, there was a ball of Meg's beautiful hand dyed yarn

 

 

Then there was this beautiful felt bag

 

 

The flower is made with felt and embroidery

 

 

But that wasn't all, as I realised that there were two little gift bags inside the felt one

 

 

Inside the smaller one were these glass hearts, which Meg thought I might use as stitch markers

 

 

and inside the larger one, this fabulous glass bottle stopper

 

Thank you very much, Meg, for these wonderfull gifts!!

 

As it has been a wet and windy day, I was quite happy to spend the afternoon in the studio, with the stove to keep me warm, and 'golden oldies' on the radio.  The first job was to sew the rows of my quilt together, so that I can choose my border fabrics tomorrow when I go to patch'n'chat.

 

 

Next, I put more labels on, ready for the Christmas Fair

 

 

The last job of the afternoon involved the bright fabrics and notebooks ...... I cut squares from the fabric and stuck them on to the books

 

With brightly coloured pencils, they will make nice stocking fillers for Christmas.

Turning into a mouse!

It was a bright clear frosty morning, so we stopped at the Carter Bar so that I could take some photos.  But it slightly hazy when we got there (and very, very cold!)

 

this is looking back into Scotland

 

 

the border runs into the distance

 

 

beautiful blue sky behind ....

 

 

....... The Beacon - I don't know if it has been lit since

 

 

I always cheer when we pass this sign on the way home!

 

When we picked Jennifer up, Malcolm suggested that we went to the Biscuit Factory for lunch.  He had discovered it some time ago, as it is near the Alfa Romeo garage where he got his car at the start of the year.

 

 

As we were a little bit late for lunch, we hurried in the door .....

 

 

... went upstairs to Cafe Byker Vista, and studied the menu - which had a lovely fabric cover

 

 

When my tea arrived, I was quite taken with my funny angled saucer

 

 

And now to explain why I am turning into a mouse ...... I decided to order a ploughman's lunch, thinking a little bit of cheese, some crusty bread, pickle.  This is what I got!!

 

This is as much cheese as I probably eat in a month - I swear I felt little mousey whiskers appearing and my nose twitching as I surveyed my plate.  However, you don't have to worry about my cholesterol levels, as Malcolm ate some of it!!

When we got home, we found a mysterious parcel from Italy on the doorstep ...... but I'll tell you about that tomorrow!

Scraps

After cutting out the lavender hearts, I was left with this pile of scraps ....

 

 

....... but of course nothing is wasted in the studio, so I cut out little hearts to use for labels

 

 

I showed you the front of the label yesterday, so here today is the back

 

 

I will have to decide how to present things on the stall - I have a collection of nice baskets which I can use

 

 

The needle cases also look good in this one

 

 

I got some lovely crisp white tissue paper to line the boxes for the baby gift sets ...... and used more of the spotty ribbon to wrap the facecloth round the baby soap

 

 

The next project is to use these fabric pictures .....

 

 

..... to decorate the covers of these notebooks and then think of some way to attach a pencil

 

 

This morning, while we were having our breakfast, the birds were gathering in the hawthorn tree in the front garden for theirs

 

 

A splash of colour against the grey sky

 

 

These ones braved the rain to look for food

 

 

The good news is that the antibiotics are starting to take effect ...... fingers crossed that when I wake up tomorrow the pain will have gone - especially as we are heading off for Morpeth in the morning to visit Jennifer.  No doubt this means that we will be going out for lunch .......

 

The continuing saga .......

Oh dear, just when we thought things were getting better ....... last night I was struck down with raging toothache again!  I was at the dentist's first thing this morning (even before the dentist arrived) and fortunately he saw me as soon as he came in.  He promptly wrote me a prescription for antibiotics, with instructons to take double doses today ..... so hopefully by the time I get up tomorrow, things will have improved!

But now for more cheerful things! Yesterday was glorious - cold and frosty, with a beautiful blue sky.  We went to Jedburgh for a walk along the river - I had to stop every few yards to take photos!  I took lots of shadow shots for next weekend, as of course with winter just about upon us (there was snow just down the road from us on the Carter Bar this morning) I have to stock up on them when I get the chance.  We were delighted to see not one, not two, but THREE herons.  One of them kept tucking its head down out of sight, but finally I managed to capture this shot

 

 

I love autumn colours, and this tree was beautiful in the sun

 

 

The carpet of leaves glowed under the trees

 

 

Of course after a long walk in the cold, we had to go for a cuppa - how could I not enjoy a cup of tea from such pretty china!

 

 

Back home, it hadn't got any warmer, and there was still ice on the windscreen of my car ...... this feathery shape would make a lovely quilting pattern!

 

 

There was lots more activity on the Christmas Fair front - here is a little taster - I'll show you the rest tomorrow!