frayed at the edge

Alas, no handsome prince ........

....... no matter how often I kissed him (no, not really)  ......

 

 

he remained a frog (or possibly a toad, I don't know which he is!)

 

 

Malcolm had a princess demanding his attention at lunchtime, when we visited Rachel - Lottie snuggled up to him and ended up sitting on his lap!

 

 

Fortunately, Flossie didn't try to sit on him, as she is just  a little bit bigger!

 

 

We were there for a very special lunch ......... next Monday Rachel is moving to Somerset, so it will be some time before we see her again.  We were going to take her out for a last lunch, but she just had too much to do, so instead we visited Marks and Spencers yesterday, and stocked up on some delicious food.  As the serving plates were packed, we simply put the food on the table in the packets!

 

 

Yes, that is a lemon meringue pie trying to hide on the left of the photo - it was delicious - lovely light pastry, very lemony filling and light-as-air meringue (it was so good, we had a second piece later with a cuppa!)

 

 

All too soon it was time to leave, and after several attempts, Rachel managed a smile for the camera.  We will miss her, but can look forward to going to visit her in her new home ....... and of course, following her adventures on her blog, which you can find here.

 

 

Please don't breathe on me!

 Recently, I read of a very good recipe on my friend Lee's blog ...... chicken cooked with forty cloves of garlic ...... which Lee had found here.  We decided to make it on Saturday for dinner with Stuart and Alison.  Not only did it sound delicious, but it could also be done in the slow cooker - ideal when you have visitors and don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.  I counted out the forty cloves of garlic ......

 

 

....... and picked the fresh herbs from the pot in the garden - getting soaked in the process in the heavy rain

 

 

While I was doing that, Malcolm browned the chicken ......

 

 

....... then we added the other ingredients and left it to cook

 

 

The result - delicious chicken, with a surprisingly mild garlic flavour.  We served it with dauphinois potatoes and broccoli (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the complete meal!)

 

 

Stuart and Alison headed off mid-morning yesterday, as they wanted to call in at Ikea on the way home (it was the last day of the summer sale!).  We went out to get the Sunday papers, then went for a cuppa at the Woodside Garden Centre.  We were able to get a table by the window, so that we could watch the birds on the feeders (the window was a bit dirty, so the photos aren't as good as I would have liked)

 

 

 

 

The weather over the weekend was miserable, but it didn't stop the bees balm finally flowering!

 

 

 

 

There's lots of colour in the next photo too - this morning's fruit shopping, freshly washed

 

 

To finish, the knitting update.  I have finished the first quarter of the shawl, and have made good progress on the second one

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

This week's shadows are from our trip to Coldstream on Wednesday - it's fortunate that I bagged them then, as today is wet and miserable, with no shadows to be seen!  For more shadow fun, pop over to Hey Harriet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun!

Just a quick post, as Stuart and Alison have arrived for the weekend! 

There are a lot of rabbits about this year - much more than in previous years.  They are quite funny when you get near - they just keep very, very still, as if that means you can't see them

 

 

Annette wasn't in the shop today, so we didn't have our usual wonderful cakes - but we did have a very good rich fruit loaf

 

 

Then someone produced this packet of jelly babies, which had us all laughing!

 

 

I hope you have a good weekend - don't forget to pop back for Shadow Shot Sunday to see the rest of the photos from our trip to Coldstream!  Love Anne

 

The way to a man's heart ......

....... is definitely through his stomach - so why not look after his heart with a delicious, but healthy salad!

 

This was quick and easy to make - lettuce and rocket (from my friend Lizzi's allotment), chives (from the garden), basil (from the pot on the windowsill), a clementine (from the fruit bowl) and strawberries (from the fridge).  I also made a quick dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and chilli flavoured salt.

 

I have been impatiently waiting for the bees' balm to flower in the back garden.  Today I ran out of patience and took these photos - perhaps in a few days it will be fully in flower

 

 

 

We didn't have any birds using the nesting box this year .....

 

 

But some new tenants have moved in ..... wasps!  Well, at least it means they have stopped trying to invade the summerhouse!

 

 

Although the nesting box wasn't used, we have lots of little sparrow nests under the eaves at the front of the house - here are some of this year's crop

 

 

When I went into Hawick this morning, I took the camera and big lens, hoping to find the heron on the river.  I looked round all the places we usually see him but he was nowhere to be seen

 

 

The only bird I saw on the water was this seagull

 

 

In the studio this afternoon, I lightly pressed the Linus blanket.  I made the pattern up as I went along - 20 rows of garter stitch, then every row for the first half was k50, p40, k10.  Then for the second half, k10, p40, k50, then finishing with 10 rows garter stitch.

 

 

I also prepped the second piece of the wreath.  It didn't take so long to do this one ...... and amazingly it just about matches the first one!

 

Give me a kiss ......

...... no, that's not me speaking to Malcolm, but what I imagined one of these calves was saying to the other one, as it licked the other one's face!

 

 

I am starting to think that some of the animals that I pass in the morning know what a camera is, and pose for me - after taking this photo .........

 

 

....... the horse on the left moved over to behind the other horse and put its head over its shoulder

 

 

and this ewe looked straight at the camera - or was she just keeping a beady eye on me, in case I was going to steal her lamb!

 

 

We popped over to Coldstream for lunch today, but I am keeping most of the photos for Shadow Shot Sunday! 

I just managed to capture this butterfly before it flitted away

 

 

This bridge crosses the River Tweed .... the left bank is Scotland, and the right bank is England!

 

 

On the way home, we stopped at the Teviot Smokery and Water Gardens for an icecream, but first we had a lovely walk through the water gardens

 

a beatiful pink water lily .....

 

and a white one

 

 

Malcolm looking mysterious behind a weeping willow

 

This photo isn't as clear as I would have liked ...... but can you see that it is the front of a very large koi carp?

 

 

I have neglected the pink and white Linus blanket since we got back from Woolfest, so I took it with me today, to knit in the car.  I was getting worried that I was going to run out of yarn before I finished it, so I kept working on it when we got home, and cast it off just as Malcolm was dishing up dinner

 

 

How much yarn was left ....... hardly any!!

 

 

Pampering!

All this walking may be good for my health, but it is hard on my poor feet!  However, Malcolm arrived home with this for me today, so my poor little tootsies can have some love and care lavished on them!

 

 

This morning was a bit chilly, and there were little ribbons of mist lingering in the valley

 

 

But there was no mist about when I found my favourite Jacob's sheep were finally in the field next to the road

 

 

 

 

This morning I had the small lens on the camera - so you will have to take my word for it that this is a hare in the middle of the road, not a rabbit!  (much longer ears!)

 

 

There is the promise of more free food in the hedgerow, with the rosehips just starting to ripen

 

 

It was hard not to eat them all myself, but I took the latest crop of raspberries home to share with Malcolm

 

 

I've been busy working on my Baltimore block.  I've stitched all the stems .....

 

 

........ and some of the leaves

 

 

To finish, a flower photo - my wild flower book tells me that this is hedge bindweed - but I much prefer the name that I know it as ...... morning glory!

 

A cool green walk

Yesterday morning, we parked at the Leaderfoot Viaduct, to go for a walk.  After a brief pause to take a quick photo of the magnificent structure.....

 

 

........ we set off along a path we haven't walked before.  There had been some serious tree felling

 

 

Malcolm lingered, admiring the wood!

 

 

Once we had passed the wood, we found ourselves in a heavily wooded, shaded, damp world, with running water on both sides.  There were ferns everywhere .......

 

 

..... some of which were putting out new shoots

 

 

 

There were also fungi growing on a fallen tree

 

 

 

 

I have been busy sewing over the weekend.  I quilted the third chicken wallhanging and added the binding.  Now I just have to sew in all the ends, sew on beads for eyes, and stitch down the binding by hand on the back

 

 

I also did some more prep for the Baltimore quilt, working on a very tricky shape

 

 

I had to cut very carefully round the twirly bit at the bottom, as there is very little fabric between the curves

 

 

It took quite a while to turn in the seam allowances round the curves, so I only got one done.  It's just laid on the background fabric, to see how it looks

 

 

Although I have temporarily halted the knitting project, I do have some knitting to show you - the progress on the baby shawl

 

 

A detail of the pattern

 

 

To finish, a photo of a wild flower I took this morning on my walk.  My wild flower book says it is a field scabious - which is a rather horrid sounding name for such a pretty flower!!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

It's just as well I didn't wait until today to capture some shadows, as thunder is rumbling overhead and it is raining!  This week's selection were taken last Sunday when we went for a walk along the River Teviot in Hawick.  To see more shadows from around the world, visit Hey Harriet

 

 

leafy shadows at the water's edge

 

 

trees reflected in the still water

 

 

delicate shadows of ferns

 

 

a rocky outcrop on the riverbank

 

 

shadows on an old bridge over the river

 

 

and last, another delicate fern shadow
 

Will you please keep still!

For the past few mornings, I have been trying to take a photo of a tree sparrow, which shouts at me as I go past its territory across the road from the church.  Most of the photos have turned out like this .......

 

 

....... because it just won't keep still, but finally, this morning, I managed to take two passable shots

 

 

 

The thistles are now flowering in the verge, with two distinct varieties.  This one has a small flower

 

 

while this is the one which is more familiar

 

 

I took several random photos of flowers this morning, with a vague idea of using the colours in a quilt

 

 

 

 

 

I could also include this beautiful raspberry colour (yes, I ate it!!)

 

 

Just after taking the photo of the raspberry, I had to stand on the verge, out of the way of our neighbour Billy the Farmer, as he came down the hill in his horse transporter (he was very considerate, and is marginally over to the wrong side of the road to pass me!)

 

 

As always for a Friday afternoon, I was at patch'n'chat.  I pinned out the pieces for the next block, and made a start to stitching it (the stray leaf at the bottom is just pinned there out of the way while I stitch the stem on the left)

 

 

And of course (I'm sure that's bad grammar!) we had cake!  Annette is so good to us - we had her wonderful strawberry and fresh cream cupcakes again -delicious!

 

 

 A little silly something to end with ...... I think it's lucky if a black cat crosses your path (but if it's unlucky, then of course I'm not superstitious!!)

 

 

I hope you have a super weekend - no doubt there will be sewing and knitting on the agenda here!!

Love, Anne