frayed at the edge

Would you like to know the time .......

........ then let me consult my new watch.  I bought this fun watch and matching bracelet on the plane coming home from Majorca.  It was inexpensive and good fun - and if I get fed up with it I can always re-use the beads

 

I bought this little box in Pollensa - it was actually made in India, but it was too lovely to resist

 

I was busy stitching on my Sheena Norquay sampler at patch'n'chat.  I finished off the French knots, then filled in this square with random stitches

 

I have now finished the basic stitching, and can start adding  decorative elements

 

I was entertained yesterday evening by these young sparrows

 

it's Friday, so of course that means cake!  Today's was Annette's wonderful chocolate sponge, topped with cream and strawberries - delicious

 

hopefully we will get out for a short walk on Sunday morning, and of course as always I will be busy sewing.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Back to work!

It was a bit of a shock to the system to be heading out to work before nine o'clock this morning - usually I am heading for the shower then!  When I got to the college, I was delighted to find that Tracey had the kettle on, ready for me to make cuppa.  I quickly got everything unpacked ready for my students arriving, and Tracey gave me all the paperwork that goes with the job.  Once the ladies arrived I went through all the important information - the fire exit, the assembly point, the location of the first aid box, where the toilet is etc etc.  We were so busy getting started on their sampler quilts that I forgot all about photos!  When I remembered, the ladies were quite happy to pose for this photo - you will recognise them as being four of the students from the first class

 

did you notice the bags on the table from the first class - this one is Susan's

 

the room we use is so small, there is nowhere to properly display the quilt, so I pinned it to a cork notice board!

 

back home, I set about making dinner.  After all that cake eating on holiday, I am very firmly back on my Fast/5:2 diet.  I had looked through some of the Fast recipes the other day, but hadn't seen anythinng that I really wanted, but then I remembered that I had this book

 

the recipes in it are fat-free, making them low in calories - perfect!  I settled on this one

 

so this afternoon I assembled the ingredients 

 

at least, that's the quantities given in the recipe, but I was making twice that amount, so that I could freeze some, so I added another onion and two more cartons of tomatoes.  I quite often use the frozen cubes of garlic - living in the middle of nowhere, I can't just pop to the shop if I discover that I don't have any fresh garlic, so I always have garlic, chillies and ginger in the freezer.  While the onions were softening, I browned the meat in batches

 

I measured out the curry powder using one of the cute little measuring cups that Stuart and Alison gave me for Christmas

 

way back in the 80s, I was a great fan of Madhur Jaffrey .......

 

....... and her Indian cookery

 

one of her pieces of advice was to add some water to the curry powder and make it into a paste

 

and another was to stir the paste in and continue cooking for a few minutes to cook out the raw curry flavour ......

 

......... before adding the liquid ingredients

 

the curry is so low in calories, I was able to have a small portion of rice, a spoonful of fat-free yogurt and a spoonful of lime pickle ....... but alas, no mango chutney for me, that was for Malcolm!

 

when I came home at lunchtime, I was only a short distance from the house when I spotted this naughty lamb out on the verge, munching on the weeds

The red sky last night ......

...... didn't lead to a shepherd's delight today, as it is raining steadily.  But it was such a stunning sky I went out into the front garden just before ten o'clock last night to take soe photos.  The horses in the field across the road were kicking up their heels and running back and forward (that's a telegraph pole in the foreground)

 

the sky changed colour in the few minutes that I was outside

 

Malcolm was out today, so I thought I would spend some time having a bit of a tidy up in the studio, especially this corner

 

after a quick break for a bowl of soup for lunch, I finished the tidying - that's much better (ok, I admit it, I didn't vacuum the very messy carpet!)

 

I bought this box some months ago, as it had been greatly reduced in price 

 

I hadn't yet decided what to keep in it, but I have been prepping a lot of hexies for Mrs Billington, and the box turned out to be just right for storing them

 

much as I love our many sparrows, I wish they wouldn't chatter quite so loudly at 4am!  It looks as if they are refurbishing their nests ready to raise a second brood.  This handsome fellow .......

 

....... was having a good look through this plant for nesting materials

 

this youngster was shivering in the rain!  You can see he still has his downy feathers on his back.  He was making a lot of noise, but when his parents didn't appear to feed him, he flew off in a huff

 

I think we need a bit of Majorcan blue sky to finish!!

 

I have probably told you before .......

........ that foundation piecing is my absolutely most least favourite patchwork method (in case you got lost in that ungrammatical statement, I don't like it!!).  However this year's Abbey Quilters' challenge is a foundation pieced landscape.  As we have to hand it in at next month's meeting, I thought I had better get a move on.  I had drawn out a rough pattern before we went on holiday (sorry, forgot to take a photo), so on SaturdayI auditioned some fabrics, putting some sheets of paper round them as a frame

 

I was so busy concentrating on the despicable horrendous delightful method, that I had stitched on several pieces of fabric before I remembered to take a photo

 

I trimmed the finished piece, leaving a big margin - the finished size is just inside the line of stitching which you can just see an inch from the edge.  I still have to embellish it with hedges, trees and fences - I might even add some sheepies!

 

I thought I ought to put the final border on the sampler quilt!

 

I trimmed the little Linus quilt which I made before we went on holiday

 

and added the binding

 

this afternoon I did some prep of the step-by-step for next week's sampler class (oops, forgot to take photos of this week's)

I also spent some time today birdwatching.  This swallows' nest is on our neighbours'  house

 

I sat in the back garden for some time trying to get photos of the blue tits.  It was very difficult, as they fly straight in and out of the hole ....... if only they would land on the roof and pause for a few seconds, before popping into the nestbox!  So rather a lot of photos ended up like this

 

but eventually I manage to snap the tiny birds

 

you might think this is just a dried leaf caught underneath the wooden rail at the edge of the deck - but as I saw it fly past me and land there, I know that it is a moth!

 

and to finish, a little visitor to the studio this morning.  This teeny, tiny snail was about four feet from the bottom of the back door - quite a climb for it.  I stuck a sheet of paper on the other side of the door so that you could see it, and added the pin for scale

As I was saying .....

...... way back on Friday, two of my orchids started to flower while we were away

 

last weekend, when we were watching Star Wars, I googled Harrison Ford to see how old he is (I think he is 71)  The article also mentioned that he is married to Calista Flockhart, which had me reminiscing about the wonderful Ally McBeal ....... you know where this is going, don't you!  Yes, a few taps later and the box set was winging its way to me

 

on Friday at patch'n'chat I was working on my Sheena Norquay sampler ........ it's not long now until Abbey Quilters' exhibition, so we are all busy trying to get things finished.  I spent the afternoon working rather a lot of French knots

 

however, just as I was flagging, I was revived by a delicious cupcake with chocolate topping

 

we didn't go for a walk yesterday morning, partly because of the weather, and partly because my knee is still a bit sore.  I don't think I told you what happened ....... I think I just took an awkward step, and it felt as if all the bits of my knee went in different directions (yes, it was as painful as it sounds!).  My leg buckled under me and I ended up in an inelegant heap on the floor!  However a sore knee didn't stop me from enjoying some excellent sconnage for lunch - we shared a cheese one and a lemon and raisin one - delicious!

 

I heard from Tracey at the College on Thursday that it had been decided to have the samprer quilt class go ahead, whether or not someone else signed up for it, so I was busy yesterday writing out more of the instructions (one day I will manage to be tidy!)

 

it started to rain .........

 

......... and got heavier

 

........ and heavier

 

until I thought I was going to have to ask Noah to lend me his ark!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing.

 

Another attack!

Oh dear, I'm late doing tonight's post, as yet again Typepad was offline.  So, just a quick post to finish the week.  

I was delighted to find that two of the orchids had just started flowering

 

Oh - another oh dear, I can't upload photos!  

 

Hopefully all will be well on Monday!

 

Have a good weekend, love Anne

Consequences!

If you eat a lot of this on holiday ........

 

.......  then when you come home, you have to eat a lot of this!!

 

I took lots of photos in the garden yesterday while the sun was shining, which turned out to be a sensible thing to do, as we got up this morning to rain (that's because I was going to the hairdresser this afternoon!).  We have buds on three clematis

 

the early-flowering clematis only has one sad flower left

 

but lots of fluffy seedheads

 

I love the colour of the new growth on the pieris

 

this may look like something from a sci-fi film, but it is a poppy!

 

the shady corner is looking lush

 

and the back border has filled out

 

as has this border

 

the rosemary and chives are flowering

the grape vine is flourishing

 

the front garden is looking good too

 

when we came back from our holiday, we were delighted to find that we had blue tits in one of the nesting boxes

 

and great tits in a hole in the back garden wall

 

the front garden as usual is filled with sparrows

 

to finish, more sheepies for Thimbleanna, as she wasn't impressed by the Spanish ones!

A squashy parcel ........

......... with foreign stamps

 

was waiting for me when we got home on Saturday.  It was a surprise parcel from my wonderful Australian bloggy friend Lee, filled with lots of goodies

 

the envelope contained one of Lee's handmade cards

 

the set of cards has super bird illustrations

 

the bamboo skewers are topped with Lee's signature doilies, and are for decorating cakes

 

so, on to the sewing update.  I did take some sewing on holiday - but I didn't do very much!  I only did three of these pieces for Mrs Billings - I stitched the fourth one last night!

 

however I did add to my collection of Spanish quilting and craft magazines (is this the reason my suitcase was slightly overweight coming home?!)

 

 

I have been working on the patterns/instructions for the Sampler Quilt class - although at the moment I don't know if it will be going ahead!  Just before we went away, one of the ladies dropped out, so it wasn't going ahead, then last week another lady signed up, so it was back on, then yesterday someone else dropped out ....... so Tracey at the college has changed the start date to next Thursday, hoping that she can sign someone else up - she does have one lady who is interested.

I don't have a problem doing the illustrations for the geometric blocks

 

but I struggle when I have to draw the pattern freehand.  This shows my pathetic attempt at the top, and Malcolm's much better drawing

 

I traced Malcolm's drawing twice ......

 

........ but then encountered a slight problem.  I couldn't fit in the other two sections.  So Malcolm  modified his drawing, and I drew out the complete  pattern

 

this is the block in the quilt

 

I had fun colouring in the illustrations!

 

to finish ....... I had one of those accidental purchases on holiday!  I had seen these boots in the shop where I bought my basket.  I talked about them for several days, then the next time we passed the shop, I somehow went in and bought them!  Well, could you have resisted them?

 

After a slight delay ........

....... here is the last instalment of our holiday photos!  It is annoying enough when Typepad has problems, but is is seriously annoying when it is because of morons who deliberately attack the website to put it offline!

One evening when we were enjoying dinnerin  an Italian restaurant in Pollensa, a parade went past - and yes, that is Spongebob Squarepants in the middle of the traditional figures!

 

most days when we were in Puerto Pollensa, we saw a seaplane flying over the bay.  Then one morning I was able to takes photos as it took off

 

a collection of scenic shots

 

an arty seed head shot!

the bakery where we bought the wonderful LMP (you buy the cakes then go round the corner to the restaurant to sit down for your cuppa)

 

I wanted this chair, but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase!

 

the villa we were staying in is surrounded by fruit trees ....... lemons

 

 several hands of bananas

 

lots of pear trees

 

and grapes

 

excellent advice

 

my goodness, there are still lots of photos left, so here is a random selection, then perhaps the odd one will sneak into posts throughout the rest of the week!

 

I nearly forgot this one ........ Spanish sheepies, especially for Thimbleanna! 

 

much as we enjoyed all those wonderful cakes, we enjoyed this wonderful cheese scone just as much on Sunday!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing!

More problems!

Hi everyone, I am back from Majorca, but I wasn't able to do a post last night as there were problems again with Typepad.  Hopefully I will be able to do a proper post this evening, with the last of the photos from our holiday (I'm writing this at 8.20am, still in my dressing gown!)

Love , Anne