frayed at the edge

Tractors and snow .......

....... what more could a girl want?  (apart from George Clooney).  When I went out for my walk yesterday, this little tractor was sitting across the road

 

I walked on up the road, pausing to take a photo of the frozen ponds

 

and an arty shot of a snowy fence

 

I heard a chug chug chug behind me, and there was the little tractor chugging up the hill.  As I didn't know the driver, I waited until he had passed me before I took the photo

 

then there was another chug chug chug, and a matching tractor appeared, driven by our neighbour BillytheFarmer

 

I walked on up past  the church, to where I could see over the valley

 

I wonder why this one field was still green

 

of course on the way back down the hill I had to take photos of my favourite view

 

and then a last photo of fences in the snow

 

I have finished knitting the ball end sweater, and have started making it up (sewing in all those ends is a pain in the wherever!).  Malcolm wasn't available to model for me this morning, so I just had to drape it over the back of the couch

 

we were a reduced company at patch'n'chat this afternoon, because of the weather.  However, there was still plenty of chatting and a delicious spicy fruit dumpling for our Friday cuppa

 

the forecast for the weekend is for cold weather, with the possibility of some more snow, so I don't think we will be going far!  Whether you are chilly in the Northern Hemisphere, or enjoying warm weather in the Southern one, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Too much snow!

We got up this morning to a white world!  While Malcolm worked hard clearing the paths and the drive ........

 

........ I had fun taking photographs

 

then suddenly it started to snow again

 

when the snow went off, I went for a walk, but I'll save the scenic shots for tomorrow, as there are lots of photos of sheepies, ponies, donkeys and birds to get through

 

the two little donkeys had more sense than to stand outside in the cold, content simply to pop their heads out of the table

 

as always,there were lots of sparrows in the front garden

 

so, I'll be back tomorrow with some wonderful scenic shots, but to finish ........ I wouldn't want you to think that Malcolm had to do all the clearing work on his own.  He had two little helpers ....... CheekySockMonkey and JDtheTractor!!

 

A good idea?

The latest issue of Homemaker magazine arrived in the post this morning.  As usual it is full of good ideas ........ but I think this suggestion on the cover might make your bed soggy!

 

of course they meant a hot water bottle cover!  I was delighted with this month's free gift - very often these little kits languish in the studio, but I think I will make up this one

 

when we set off for Melrose this morning, there were some flights of snow, but the sun was shining.  

 

sometimes when I take photos from the car, they don't quite turn out as planned ........like these blurred sheepies!

 

we had a very enjoyable lunch.  Malcolm had a cheese and ham toastie

 

and I had cheese savoury sandwiches

 

on the way home, the weather got steadily worse

 

back home, Malcolm was delighted with his bargain of the day ...... a half-price tin of amaretti biscuits (and he can eat them all himself, as I don't like them!)

 

to finish - these Belted Galloway cattle looked decidedly miserable standing in the mud!

Stash busting!

After all the hand sewing that I have been doing, on Sunday I decided to pull some fabrics from my stash to make a couple of quilts for Project Linus.  First up on the design wall was this panel, which I bought at a "bring-and-buy".  As you can see, it is a bit wonky

 

I also thought it was a bit out of proportion, so I cut some off and tried to square it up as best I could.  I was limited by the fact that there was only a small seam allowance on the sides.  I then added borders 

 

as you can see, the bottom still looked decidedly squint, so I added two fleece flowers to try to hide the worst bit

 

I put it aside to be quilted at a later date, and got out the leftovers from Hanna's baby quilt

 

I cut squares, and after a few different arrangements on the design wall, I decided on this arrangement.  As you can see, there is an odd square in the centre, as I was one square short!

 

another search through my stash turned up this pretty floral for borders

 

I thought it still needed something, and cut a trial flower, using the template that I used for the baby quilt

 

I added another three flowers, and I will make a smaller flower to go in the centre square

 

this morning I stitched the second pieced block that I have to make this month for the Aunts' Quilt.  The first job was to make the flying geese.  I marked a diagonal line on all the small squares

 

then chain pieced half of them  to one side of the rectangles

 

I trimmed the corners off

 

and pressed the seams

 

I stitched the remaining squares on the other side, to end up with flying geese - but you will have to wait until my next report to see the finished block!

 

on Sunday I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, this morning I watched The Girl who played with Fire, and this afternoon, when I was stitching the fourth applique Aunts' block, I watched The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.  These are the original Swedish films, and I had the option of watching them in Swedish with English subtitles, or dubbed into English.  I chose the dubbed versions!

 

I almost forgot to include the stitching I did on Saturday when we were over at the flat.  I finished block five

 

and started block six

 

to finish ........ I had my special cup of tea, made with my special infuser, in another of my special mugs

I saw a ship .......

......... but I didn't see it come sailing in, as it was already in the dock when we arrived at the flat on Saturday morning

 

this was a BIG ship

 

 

all these little fishing boats could fit on board with room to spare

 

after lunch, we wrapped up warmly and headed for the beach.  This might look like a pile of rubbish

 

but a closer look produced the first piece of driftwood of the day - when I sat it on the sand I couldn't quite decide if it was a bird or a fish!

 

I had a different subject to decide if it shoud be on the right or the left of the photo - the clock tower

 

I like the shapes and colours of the rocks - inspiration, perhaps, for a quilting design?

as the forecast wasn't do good for yesterday, we headed back home in the morning, stopping on the way at The Teviot Smokery for a cuppa and excellent scones

fruit

 

cheese

 

on Saturday morning we had collected this picture from the framers in Berwick.  Malcolm had found the First Day cover, featuring the famous Berwick swans, in a charity shop, and gave it to me for my birthday

 

but we only saw two swans over the weekend, and they vanished behind the ship before I could get a good photo!

 

I popped out to the garage this afternoon to take some photos of the driftwood we have collected recently.  It doesn't show up too well against the grey concrete floor - when the weather is better I'll take some of the bigger pieces out into the garden to get better photos

 

 

to finish, these arrived today for Malcolm.  He is planning to make a bookcase and/or chest of drawers from them

Who ate all the pies?!

I hadn't weighed myself recently, as the scales needed a new battery, but Malcolm bought a battery yesterday, so this morning I stepped on the scales .......... and turned round to see if the Wicked Weight Witch was standing behind me with a foot on the scales!  Oh dear, recently there has been too much of this

 

and not enough of this

 

so I will have to up my fitness regime on the instruments of torture

 

when we were in Berwick last Saturday, I saw this piece of beautiful blue woollen fabric in a shop window.  As it was very reasonably priced, I popped into the shop and bought it .....

 

.......as I knew it would be perfect for this pattern, which I bought in Australia, along with the book and assorted woolly bits

 

Margaret has started to put her latest quilt together - every time she makes a new quilt I ask if I can have it!!

 

I may have had a shock when I stood on the scales this morning, but that didn't prevent me tucking into my Friday cake!  Annette had tried out a new recipe - raspberry and yogurt muffins ...... delicious!!

we're off to Berwick in the morning, and hopefully will be able to have a walk on the beach in the afternoon, no doubt collecting more driftwood!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

More stripes than a zebra!

As usual on a Thurday morning, we headed into Hawick for a cuppa in the Pickled Orange coffee shop.  Malcolm then headed off home, while I headed for the dreaded dentist.  As I was a bit early. I walked along to the cauld, hoping to see a heron.  No herons, only a few ducks and a couple of seagulls!

 

these stems of dogwood(?) provided a bright splash of colour

 

this beautiful building has been lying empty since we moved here, slowly rotting away

 

then I could put it off no longer and had to head to the torture chamber dentist.It was every bit as bad as I feared it would be - I could feel a tear trickle down my cheek ....... and that was when he was administering the painkilling injection!  After 45 minutes I staggered out of the chair to face further pain, as I paid another instalment of the bill!  However, that is all the prep done for the crown, and I go back in two weeks time to have it fitted

 

back home I headed out to the studio for a relaxing afternoon cutting out the rest of the hexies for the outer border of Mrs Billings.  I cut them out in batches, and filled each little bag with the hexies needed to make a pyramid.  By the end of the afternoon, I had them all organised, ready for the next sewing session

 

to finish ....... we have stripes, lots of stripes!!  Poor Malcolm was made to stand in the garden, draped in the front of the ball end sweater, and an almost finished sleeve.  I love it - I just hope Fraser's Dad does too!!

More sewing .........

........ but the title could also have been more snow, as yes, we got up to find more of the pesky white stuff had appeared overnight!  The birds were queuing up for breakfast

 

but we didn't have to queue when we went out for lunch, as we were the only customers in the coffee shop!  I was disappointed to find that the menu had changed since we were last there, and that my two favourite sandwiches, cheese savoury and coronation chicken, were no longer available.  However I enjoyed my cheese and pickle one

 

Malcolm had cheese and cauliflower soup, which was very tasty

 

yesterday, after prepping the rest of the embroidery blocks, I turned my attention to the blocks for the Aunts' quilt.  I sorted out what I needed to finish the two blocks that shoud have been finished for last week, and I made a start to the block which has to be finished for next month

 

then I made a start to one of the two pieced blocks ........ but you will have to wait until the next report to see how it turned out

 

the last task of the afternoon was to look out Mrs Billings from where she had been languishing for several weeks ........

 

....... and make a start to calculating what still needs to be done to finish the hexie border

 

so this afternoon I settled down to organise the work.  First, I had to remove the paper hexies from the completed pyramids, so that I could reuse them

 

then I marked and cut out lots and lots of calico hexies

 

and started assembling little bags with the hexies required to make a pyramid

 

by the end of the afternoon, I had various piles on the worktable.  All the pyramids are finished for the first border

 

for the second border, the coloured pyramids are finished, and there are a few more calico ones to be stitched

 

for the third border,  a few more coloured pyramids and all the calico ones remain to be stitched

 

and as for the fourth border, all I have done so far is count out all the papers for the pyramids!

 

I have an appointment with the dentist tomorrow morning, when he will be making a start to crowning the front tooth that is falling to bits.  If I have recovered from the pain and agony, I will be back with a stripey knitting update!

More snow!

We got up this morning to another light covering of snow, then more fell after breakfast.  After lighting the stove, I went out to take some photos in the back garden while the studio warmed up

the bell outside the studio

 

frozen water butt

 

fern leaves in the shady corner

 

the rusty bird looks unimpressed by the snow!

 

the ladybirds were a souvenir from our holiday in Portugal

 

just as well I didn't need to tell the time from the sundial!

 

 a solar lamp on the deck

 

delicate snow crystals on a shrub

 

after taking the photos, I was ready for a warming cuppa.  Stuart and Alison gave me this posh tea for Christmas

 

and I treated myself to this fun infuser

 

special tea deserves a special mug, so I got out this one (I have to admit that I have a matching teeshirt, but I think that might have been taking things too far!!)

 

 

I have now finished the first four blocks of "Best Friends Forever", which I have been working on when we are over at Berwick

 

at the weekend I made a start to block five

 

and this morning I prepped the remaining blocks (there are thirty two altogether!)

 

I did quite a lot of sewing today, but I'll save the rest to show you tomorow!

Snow!

When we got up on Saturday morning, we found that it had snowed during the night, so we were quite happy to head over to Berwick.  After lunch we wrapped up warmly and went for a walk on the beach.  It was so cold that there was frost on the sand and on the detritus washed up by recent storms (more of that later)

 

but it was also very clear, and way in the distance we could see Bamburgh Castle ........

 

........ and Lindisfarne

 

suddenly, the peace and quiet was shattered by a low-flying helicopter

 

which hovered over the lighthouse

 

then hovered even lower over the town

 

so, to return to all the stuff washed up on the beach.  Unfortunately this piece was too big to bring home for the garden

 

but we collected a bagful of excellent pieces of driftwood for Malcolm's trees and sculptures.  The bag was so heavy we had to carry it between us (and a very nice man walking his dog offered to help carry it up the stairs from the beach!).  As we were still some distance from the carpark, Malcolm headed off to fetch the car, while I guarded our treasures

 

while I was waiting, a little fishing boat came chugging into view.  That presented the usual dilemma - as the lighthouse would be in the photo with the boat, should it be on the left .......

 

......... or on the right?!

 

after Malcolm picked me up, we drove back round to the carpark and headed off on to another section of the beach to collect more driftwood (I shall have to take photos when Malcolm sorts it all out in the garage).  My shadow came with me!

 

on Sunday morning I got up and looked out of the window, to find that it had snowed in the night!!  These first photos were taken at just after eight, when I should have been making breakfast!

 

then these were taken about an hour later

 

I was quite excited at the thought of taking lovely snowy photos on the beach - but by the time we were showered and dressed it was raining heavily, and the snow was rapidly disappearing!  So we had to console ourselves with going for a cuppa, and a very delicious cheese and sun dried tomato scone

 

and to finish ........ we would have loved to have brought a wooden sign home from our Australian trip, but of course that wasn't possible, so instead we bought a tea towel, which Malcolm mounted in an Ikea frame.  The place names are a wonderful reminder of some of the places we visited on our trip - including the excellent Yackandandah!