frayed at the edge

Jumping about!

Usually I put the photos into the post more or less in the order I have taken them, but there isn't really any order to them today.  I managed to snatch this shot last night of a water skier going at a great rate of knots down the river

 

then when we went for a walk out to the lighthouse this afternoon, we saw someone whizzing along in a sand yacht

 

he was going at quite a speed, turning back and forward

 

there were some men fishing in the river

 

but it didn't look as if they had caught anything

 

thank you to these two men, who provide scale for this shot of the lighthouse

 

if you don't like snails, skip over the next three photos!  Malcolm spotted this beauty on top of a wall

 

then this one nestled in a little hollow in the stonework

 

that's my little fingernail, to show you this size of this one

 

I had just taken this photo of the railway bridge through the new bridge, when Malcolm pointed it out - great minds etc!

 

it was rather breezy out on the breakwater, and it took five attempts before I got the heron in focus, as I couldn't hold the camera steady

 

now, I think you know by now that we like our food, so we were delighted to pick up these two bargains when we were shopping this morning - beautiful wild salmon

 

and our favourite cut of steaks

 

the three steaks are so big that each one will feed both of us, and the salmon divided up into 6 portions ..... so six special meals for less than £18 - all tucked away in the freezer

 

at the end of our walk this afternoon, we were going to go here for  cuppa ........ but it is just a little place, and there wasn't a free table

 

so instead we went here

 

Malcolm tucked into a large hunk of light-as-air banana loaf

 

while I had a piece of Twix and Crunchie chocolate delight ....... there is no more needs to be said about it, the name says it all

 

a little footnote - after doing the shopping this morning, we popped into the Garden Centre for a cuppa ........ Malcolm had a fully-stamped loyalty card, so was due a free cup of coffee.  We were enjoying our cuppas and reading the papers, when a lady approached the table and said "excuse me, are you the lady who writes the blog, frayed at the edge?"  She introduced herself as a reader, who occasionally leaves a comment ........ so Julia, if you are reading this, it was lovely to meet you!!

Raonic has just beaten Federer, so Andy Murray is about to start his semi-final ....... I think I may have no voice left by bedtime!  Then of course, if Andy goes through to the final on Sunday, I have to go through it all again.  And then finally, the football, which seems to have being going on since the beginning of time, ends on Sunday evening, and life can get back to normal.  Whether you are watching the sport, or locking yourself in a darkened room to avoid it, have a good weekend, love Anne

Keeping a beady eye .......

on the photos which are languishing in folders, waiting to be included in the blog, is this magnificent wood pigeon

 

he reminded me that I had taken photos of lambs in the field across the road

 

although they are getting big, they still like to be with mum

 

 

this horse, also in the field across the road, is gleaming with health

 

the plants in Malcolm's planter are growing well

 

an old tractor cutting hay in the field behind the studio

 

one day, I set the camera up on the tripod in the summerhouse, to try to capture the pair of tits flying in and out of the bird box

 

despite using the remote control shutter button .......... 

 

I just couldn't capture a good photo

 

so I moved the tripod to the deck, where it was partially concealed by a little tree, so that the birds wouldn't be disturbed by it

 

well, I got some good shots of their tails as they flew into the bird box

 

and another blurry one of one leaving

 

but I had more success with Mrs blackbird having a bath

 

but the pigeon flew off just as I snapped!

 

and finally ....... in a recent post, I showed you a photo of my lace panel curtains that at still in the bedroom window of the house we moved from in 1997.  I had kept one of the curtains, which I cut down into a cafe curtain for the kitchen window ....... not because anyone can see in the window, but to provide some insulation from the cold glass for my orchids!

 

I was washing up the dinner dishes on a sunny evening when I noticed the shadow pattern on an orchid leaf - I do like a good shadow shot!

The king of the castle

 After lunch on Saturday, we went for a good long walk on the beach.  As always, I started by taking photos of the lighthouse - here are just two of them

 

the next two photos show the difference that the light makes.  The first was taken looking towards the sun, then the second is round the other side of the groyne, with the sun behind me

 

a lovely rusted old fitting

 

I might have to sneak on to the beach in the middle of the night and steal this, to put in the garden!

 

this reminded us of the Easter Island heads

 

I do like a good rusty bolt or two

 

Malcolm recently showed me a bit in a magazine, where someone had taken seaside photos and added little stones, shells and bits of seaglass, so I think I will get prints of the next three photos and have a play

 

we sat in the sun outside the cafe on the promenade to have a cuppa (no cake after Friday's gargantuan helpings!).  There was a little old lady sitting on the wall, with three dogs.  The one on the left was a feisty little thing, challenging every passing dog to a fight, even ones big enough to swallow him whole!  You may think the other one is gazing adoringly at his mistress ......... no, she was eating chips, and he wanted one.  As for the third dog ......

 

....... it was having nothing to do with the others

 

as we walked back along the path above the beach, a skein of geese flew past - if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see them more clearly

 

back home, there was a swan in the dock

 

and a lot more swans out in the river

 

this little boat has been put up the dock sometime in the last week, as it wasn't there when Malcolm was over last weekend

 

we always end up picking up bits and bobs on the beach.  This piece of seaglass will make a good sail for a little boat picture, perhaps with a stone hull

 

as will this piece of pottery

 

the small tyres have all been cleared from the beach since the winter floods, but this rather large one has been left behind.  Malcolm immediately went to stand on it, which reminded me of childhood, when someone would stand on something and sing "I'm the king of the castle, and you're the dirty wee rascal" ....... I doubt the pc brigade would let you sing that any more - much too judgemental, referring to someone as both dirty and a rascal!!

A walk in the park

On Sunday we walked over the old bridge, then along the river to Castle Vale Park

 

the start of the walk is dominated by the railway bridge

 

this photo shows the scale of the bridge, with the tiny figure of a rower who had just come through the arch

 

the air was full of the small of wild garlic - but look out for the nettles if you pick it!

 

as always we paused to admire the ruins of the castle

 

this plaque shows what the castle might have looked like

 

someone has had fun with the trees and branches washed down the river in the floods, building a wonderful boat!

 

the boat even has a deck

 

but my favourite bit is the branch at the front which looks like a strange four-legged beastie is trying to climb aboard

 

further along the path Malcolm spotted this owl peeking out of the undergrowth

 

and who can resist a rotten old fence post (but again, look out for those nasty stinging nettles)

 

it looks as if this tree is coming into leaf

 

but it is fluffy catkins, not leaves

 

we encountered several gates on our walk.  The first one is in need of some tlc

 

the second one is at the entrance to the park which was to have commemorated the coronation of Edward VIII, but after his abdication, it was dedicated to George VI

 

but this is my favourite - if you look to the left of the gate, there is nothing to stop you simply walking past it!

 

this beautifully restored cottage is a holiday rental

 

it has a stylish weather vane

 

and a quirky garden seat

 

as always on our way back, I paused to take a photo of the view through the railway bridge to the "new" road bridge, and the old bridge

 

the railway bridge is so long, that even this photo doesn't show the full length of it

 

as we walked back into town, we crossed over the railway just as a train pulled into the station

 

somehow the beautiful old buildings have survived - so may old stations have been knocked down and replaced with ugly modern buildings

 

we were going to have scones for lunch, but we made the mistake of looking at the menu, and instead had rather delicious sandwiches.  It may look as if I used a special effect for these photos, but it was just that the lens had steamed up!  Malcolm had egg mayo

 

and I had coronation chicken

 

we walked along the quayside after lunch - and there was another lovely rusty pile

 

late in the afternoon, these two swans came into the dock

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing - and some knitting.  But to finish - I was delighted to read the other day that a recent survey showed that the population of long tailed tits has increased because of the mild winter.  And to prove it, we have had more in the garden

 

How many calories .......

..... do you think there are in this slice of Easter Bunny cake, which we shared on Sunday?  Not only was it very chocolatey, there were Smarties in the middle and mini marshmallows and eggs on the top.  The slice was supposed to be for one, but we were full just eating half each!

 

we had a quiet weekend at home .......... we didn't even go for a walk on Sunday, as the weather wasn't very good.  Malcolm pottered about in the garden, and in the garage, giving the garden bench a fresh coat of paint.  I got quite a lot of sewing done, but I have still to sort out the photos, so to finish, some photos of a long tailed tit on the fat ball feeder this afternoon

All square

When I was watching a recent episode of The Quilt Show, I saw a new-to-me method of using squares.  So after I finished the runners on Tuesday, I looked out this charm pack from my stash

 

the first job was to sort the squares into pairs, right sides together

 

then chain piece them

 

but then comes the strange bit - you turn them round and sew them on the opposite side

 

which gives you tubes like this one

 

the next stage was to cut the sets in half.  I lined them three at a time on the cutting mat, with the seams to the sides, and cut them 

 

the first three cut and opened out 

 

having done the same with the rest, I took two of them, and pinned them with the seams lined up

 

having stitched these on both sides, I cut them in half

 

giving me little four-patches.  What a clever technique, so much easier then if I had cut each of the original squares into quarters then stitched them 

 

this is as far as I got on Tuesday - half of the pile done

 

then yesterday I had to decide what to do with all these squares, so I thought I would make a bag.  I remembered this stitchery, made from a kit which I had bought when we were on holiday in Australia quite a few years ago

 

I then looked out this lovely Liberty fabric to use as the lining (yes, Meredithe, I have finally used some of my Liberty stash!!)

 

I used fusible web to stick the Liberty fabric to the stitchery

 

then used the false binding method to finish of the edge of the stitchery.  This will be the front pocket of the bag

 

using the same method as I used for the runners, I stitched all the squares together

 

I folded the strip of squares in half and pinned it to the design wall, the pinned the pocket on.  The square and a half  below the stitchery, along with the matching square and a half on the back,  will form the base of the bag.  Not bad for making it up as I went along!  Hopefully I will get it finished over the weekend

 

I spotted the sparrow and the female blackbird on the bird bath this morning - perhaps they were agreeing that the water was still too cold for a bath!

 

and the robin was looking very grumpy sitting on the wooden owl which we brought back from Indonesia.  The poor owl is slowly rotting away - sitting outside in the British weather hasn't agreed with him!

 

I took this last photo at the weekend, then forgot about it.  This little fishing boat was obviously having engine trouble, with great clouds of smoke belching out the back, giving the scene a misty, romantic look!

 

I won't be here tomorrow and Monday, as it is Easter.  I hope you have a good weekend ....... and don't eat too much chocolate!!  Love Anne

Fun on the beach!

 

 

We came over to Berwick this morning, and after lunch decided to go for a walk on the beach that is way over on the other side of town.  We went past the Bell Tower

 

then on past the golf course

 

we paused to look out beyond the lighthouse to Bamburgh Castle and Lindisfarne

 

 

 

 

then there was the beach below us

 

we very sensibly walked down the steps

 

but it might have been fun to go down the slide (stop sniggering, who said my bottom would get stuck!!)

 

we may have had fun making dams to divert the water running out to sea

 

one of us played with a shell, floating it on a little pool (which one of us ...... well, it wasn't me!)

 

I made a stone stack

 

which was dwarfed by the slab of rock I sat it on

 

Malcolm joined in the fun, and together we created this larger stack

 

the sun came out, casting our shadows on the sand

 

Malcolm thought this bit of broken wall looked like a crocodile

 

there was very little driftwood on this stretch of beach, but we did pick up some little bits of driftwood and china (I must knit new fingerless mitts, my pink ones are getting a bit shabby)

 

these birds ignored us, as they poked about at the water's edge

 

there were lots of limpet shells on the beach

 

but these are live ones clinging to the rock

 

I've still got lots of photos from our walk back through the town, which I'll show you tomorrow.  To finish, on our way back to the flat we popped in here ......

 

....... for a cuppa  and a delicious lemon meringue tart

A walk in the woods

Yesterday morning we drove over to the Woodside Garden Centre, and having parked the car, went for a walk in the woods.  We had only gone a few yards when I had to stop to take this photo, of the sun shining on a tree stump

 

since we last were there for a walk, this new bridge has been built

 

it is a major construction, with metal supports

 

there were lots of snowdrops

 

and the wild garlic was just starting to come through

 

this may look like a weird woodland creature, but it is a pile of fallen branches smothered in moss

 

this flash of white caught Malcolm's eye

 

we decided that it was a fungus, but neither of us was willing to touch it, to examine it more closely

 

this bridge is a somewhat smaller construction than the new one

 

this fishermen's hut is slowly falling to bits

 

we eventually had to turn back, as the path got too muddy, but it was no hardship to pop into the garden centre for a spot of excellent sconnage!

 

this morning I spotted this big fat pigeon poking about under the bird table

 

then this afternoon a robin appeared and sat at the edge of the bird bath

 

would he venture into the water?

 

he decided that he would rather have a meal instead!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing - and some knitting

 

Crash, bang, wallop!

You will have to wait until the end of the post to discover what went crash, bang, wallop ..... but we will begin with sunrise in Berwick this morning

 

we walked over to town later in the morning, and stopped on the old bridge to take photos of a heron (and his reflection)

 

and a last look at the beautiful blue Berwick sky

 

so, on to the promised sewing.  I have finished another stitchery (only four to go!!)

 

I have added a second row of large hexies to Mrs Billings

 

and I've done more fmq on the animal quilt, working a sort of curvy design on the chicken border

 

and spirals on the outer border

 

and in one of those little serendipitous moments, when I turned over, the spirals had outlined the eyes on two of the owls!

 

then it was on to the red and black blocks.  I stitched together the top left hand corner

 

then the top right hand corner

 

when I stitched the bottom left hand corner and put it back on the design wall, an idea was starting to form .......

 

and by the time  had stitched the last section, I knew what I would do next

 

I stitched a sashing strip between the two top sections

 

and having trimmed the block I made with the scrappy leftovers, I added a central strip

 

 

then added a sashing strip to the bottom two blocks and stitched it all together

 

this detail shows the fun fabric I used for the sashing

 

but now I have another pile of scrappy bits left over!

 

on Saturday afternoon, our lovely neighbour (the shoe shop owner) appeared at the back door of the studio.  As I walked round the table to open the door to talk to him, there was a bit of a rattle ..... then the aforementioned crash, bang wallop.  The lid had come off this tin on the top shelf

 

and some of the contents had landed on the lower shelf

 

and the rest had landed on the floor.  A thousand pre-cut paper hexies (a gift with a magazine) to be picked up ........

 

 

Scraps

After making the red and black blocks, I was left with a pile of scraps

 

so I started sewing them together

 

randomly adding bits

 

ending up with this block

 

but now I have scraps of the scraps!

 

today was orchid-watering day (I only water them once every two weeks) and I thought you might like to see which ones are flowering.  This one has only just started to flower 

 

a lovely pale flower with delicate markings

 

this one is darker

 

with much stronger markings

 

this one is a stronger yellow than it looks in the photos

 

the flowers are waxy looking

 

and now a very special treat - a guest photographer!  Stuart recently upgraded his camera (I am very envious) and took it out for a walk on Sunday.  He sent me these three photos, which he was particularly pleased with.  First an arty shot of a pine cone

 

next, an elegant swan

 

this is my favourite - a very sharp image of a robin

 

to finish - there was a bit of a commotion in the kitchen this afternoon, and this is what I found when I went to investigate.  I had left some tubs of home made soup to cool, before I put them in the freezer ........ and Malcolm had somehow knocked a pear out of the fruit bowl into one of the tubs.  As he went to clear up, I was, of course, shouting "leave it until I take a photo"!!