frayed at the edge

Leftovers!

I only took two photos today!  So I have had a quick look through the photos that were left over from this week's posts.  I looked out my Baltimore blocks and put them on the design wall.  I have run out of enthusiasm for them, so I have two ideas for what to do with them.  The first idea is to join them in a row to make a runner which could go across the bottom of the bed, the second idea is to make them up into a quilt with plain blocks, which would be handquilted, perhaps with a feathered wreath or heart

 

when Lucie suggested using up scraps in January, I thought I would make several small projects, and had looked out these books ..... but then got sidetracked with the scrappy strippy blocks

 

when I went to put another log on the fire the other day,  I was a bit puzzled by this one.  It looks as if a branch had grown, then another branch had formed round it

 

while I have been busy sewing, Malcolm has demolished the log store (except for the base) and has started building another one

 

now for today's photos.  First, the Friday cake.  Today's delight was Annette's delicious light-as-air chocolate sponge

 

my lovely friend Katy said that she had a special present for me ....... something which she had seen, and immediately thought of me.  What could it be ...... diamonds, a little sports car, a ticket to an exotic destination

 

I hope she meant that she remembered that I like Cadbury's chocolate, and not that she thought I look like the monstrous spider!  As usual, we hope to go for a walk on Sunday, but the forecast isn't good.  No doubt a scone will feature at some point over the weekend!  Whether or not you are eating scones, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

From the sublime to the somewhat silly!

Yesterday, Kate posted about a wonderful book on Shetland Lace knitting - do pop over and read all about it.  I, on the other hand, have just bought a brilliant, but rather silly, book .......

 

who could resist these gorgeous little sheep

 

if I knit Andy, will I have to include the horrendous blister that he had during the Australian Open?

 

at least I won't get fat with this pie (they are even tastier when they are deep fried, and no, I have never had a deep fried Mars Bar!!)

 

and I could wash the pie down with a glass of whisky ....... except, and as a Scot I am embarrassed to admit this, I simply don't like the taste!

 

while we are on the subject of food, we went out for lunch today.  We had the most delicious Thai chicken soup - I shall have to try to make this!

 

I took these photos about ten days ago - then forgot about them!  When I made Lilly Pilly for Anne last year, I thought thhat I would make a version for myself using my favourite autumn colours.  Then Lucie started her version as part of her using up scraps project, with a pieced background.  Ah, I thought, I could use the six fat quarter top from the fmq pile.  Then, I was looking out of the window at the sparrows sitting in the hawthorn tree .......

 

....... and I had a lightbulb moment!  I'm going to do my Lilly Pilly with bare branches, with little fat sparrows perched on them (and perhaps a robin?)  I found a nice dark piece of fabric in my stash for the tree, to stand out against the background

 

when I was telling Malcolm about my plans, I said that I should give my version a different name.  My first idea was Anny Pilly, but that didn't sound right.  So this is what I decided on

A pain in the bahookie*

It's snowing again ....... it has been snowing off and on all day.  Our road would probably be described as "passable with care", but I really didn't care to drive down it to go to patch''n'chat!  So with an unexpected free afternoon, I thought I would tackle the pile of magazines which has been sitting beside my chair since before Christmas (I haven't bought any magazines for weeks, as I felt guilty for not finishing the ones I already had!)

 

however, I have succumbed to buying a book, after seeing it on Lucie's blog

 

the instructions are very clear, taking you from the most basic stitching (I'm thinking of you, Meredithe!)

 

through decorative stitching

 

how to fill in shapes

 

ending with designs like this one, which looks complicated, but as the title of the book says, it is a continuous line of stitching

 

I forgot to take a photo of tonight's dinner ..... as it's Burns' Night, we of course had haggis, neeps and tatties!

The garden has been full of sparrows

 

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I shall be going to an Abbey Quilters' workshop.  I hope you will join me in cheering on Andy Murray, who reached the final of the tennis today, having "bitten" Roger Federer!  Whatever your weather, be it too hot or too cold, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love Anne 

 

*I am sure you guessed what bahookie means, but if not, you can find out here

Glutton for punishment!

As I have quite a lot of stuff left from Saturday's fair, I have decided to have my own fair!!  I am inviting everyone I know in the area, and as an added inducement we will be having mulled wine and nibbles.  If only you all lived close enough to come along next Wednesday night ...... but perhaps it's just as well you can't all come, as it would be a bit of a squash to fit you all in the studio!  On Saturday I was limited as to what I could sell, as I only had half a table, but as I will have lots of room next week, I had a look through my stash to see what else I could make.  I found some large notebooks that I bought when Woolworths closed down - so I have had them for several years!  I had a trial run yesterday to make a much simpler cover than I usually make, then today I delved into my stash of curtain samples

 

having made the sample in a dark fabric, I picked out cream/beige fabrics for the others, so that I wouldn't have to change the thread in the machine.  By the end of this afternoon, all the books were covered

 

I can no longer deny that it is getting near Christmas ...... and I certainly can't forget how long it is to go, now that these two little elves have appeared in the kitchen

 

it has been miserable today ...... snowing when we got up this morning, then turning to heavy rain for the rest of the day.  But at least it has got a lot milder, although I still needed the log burner to keep warm in the studio

 

I took these bird photos on Tuesday

 

there is always one bird that flies off just as I snap - this time it was a blue tit.  You can just make out the outline of its wings

 

today's prompt for#reverb12 is

Compare the “you” from the beginning of 2012 to the “you” that you are now. What new skills or talents have you learned or discovered this year?

the big difference between how I was at the start of the year, and how I am now, is that I have learned that there is a big difference between a fear and a phobia.  I have a fear of heights, and especially heights over water, but it isn't a phobia that prevents me from doing things such as walking over Sydney Harbour Bridge in September.  Yes, my heart was racing, and yes, I was hyperventilating, but I was determined to do it ....... and this was my reward

 

I have also realised recently that although I have always said that I don't like enclosed spaces, I am actually not bothered by small places like toilet cubicles, but I couldn't crawl through a small tunnel.  It is lack of height, rather than width that bothers me (I can't watch potholers on tv), so when I was recently stuck in the lift, I could cope because of the design of the lift.  It didn't have a roof, and I could see up to the next floor of the building.  OK, any excuse for handsome men ...... remember the hunks who rescued us

I know I promised you sewing ......

....... but I have something  far more important for you - food and drink (and a bit of silliness)!!  This morning I assembled the ingredients for the Christmas cake - the fruit had been soaking overnight in brandy and smelled wonderful

 

I was using a recipe from this little book, which I have had for years

 

to make it easier to follow the requirements for the size I make, I have highlighted the column

 

and I no longer have to refer to these instructions to prepare the cake tin, I have done it so often

 

lined with buttered greaseproof paper, and wrapped up with brown paper .........

 

...... ready for the mixture.  I can't remember who gave me the tip to make a little hole in the middle, as it helps keep the top of the cake level (unlike my Mum's cake, which always sank in the middle!)

 

fast forward almost three hours, and here is the cake, just out of the oven

 

another tip ..... to make it easier to remove the cake from the cake tin, stand it on a tin

 

I wish you could smell the cake!  It is now wrapped up in greaseproof paper and foil.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will feed it some more brandy, before I ice it and decorate it with the marzipan fruits

 

Malcolm was out this morning, so I just had to make lunch for myself ....... a cheese omelette, jalapeno coleslaw and chilli sauce (yes, I like spicy food!)

 

I had asked Malcolm to get me a bottle of vodka, so that I could make this ......

 

he had at first picked up a bottle of cheap vodka, but then he saw this pack on special offer ...... so not only was the vodka cheaper, but there was also a carton of cranberry juice, and a little book of cocktail recipes

 

I added these other ingredients

 

it has still to be strained before being bottled - it might not look very pretty - but, oh boy, it is delicious!!!!!

 

and now for the silliness!  There was quite a lot on the radio this morning about a prediction that the world is going to end on the 21st of December.  That reminded of this wonderfully daft book, that I bought a few years ago

 

I love the bit on the back about the next meeting being on Thursday (when the world is supposed to end on Wednesday!)

 

there is more silliness at the foot of several pages - these are my favourites

 

I promise that there will be sewing tomorrow ..... and here is a little teaser - I bought this fabric for the back of a quilt - but which one?

A dearth of photos!

It has been a miserable wet day (of course it rained, I was at the hairdresser!), so I wasn't out and about with the camera.  I did take three photos in the kitchen ....... first, Helen in Melbourne asked me what stovies are.  I got out this book

 

and found this recipe

 

I laughed when I read the bit about his not liking the kind made with tinned corned beef, as that is how I make mine ...... briefly, dice an onion and fry it until soft.  Add sliced potato, seasoning, stock (I generally use chicken stock) and a tin of corned beef.  Simmer until the potatoes are cooked and the liquid almost boiled off.

 

Yesterday I took a bag of homemade Florentines when I visited Anne, as I know she likes them.  The recipe is very simple (ignore the asterisk, that was just a note I made to remind me that I had also made them with porridge oats).  I'm sorry I don't have a photo - I shall take one next time I make them!

 

now, in best Blue Peter "here's one I made earlier" traditon, here are some photos I took earlier in the week!

The naughty step!

Malcolm has been sent to the naughty step for telling fibs!!  After saying that he only had enough driftwood for one tree ...... he has made another two!!

 

I was busy this afternoon making more cards.  I unearthed this booklet, which was free with a magazine, from my stash

 

I've never made decoupage cards before, but is is quite simple, if a bit fiddly cutting out the smaller pieces

 

this photo shows the several layers

 

last Friday, when Sandra, the Linus Lady, was sorting out a large pile of fabric samples which had been donated, I spotted these delicious linen fabrics

 

as they aren't suitable for making quilts, I asked Sandra if I could have them in exchange for a donation to Linus, which she agreed to.  I had thought of using them for cards but this afternoon I remembered that I had some plain black notebooks.  I cut out a piece of fabric and frayed the edges, then stuck it on the notebook.  The plan now is to type up wording, print it out, and stick it on ...... nothing fancy, perhaps  "notebook"!

 

I popped into The Reivers' Moon Gallery this morning with some more cards

 

This is my favourite one - the little post box is at the end of our road, and I took the photo a couple of years ago when we had the really bad winter

 

I know that I have declared next year the "year of using it up" (and in January I am going to join Lucie in a challenge to use up scraps), but I was very naughty yesterday when we were in Jedburgh!  I had a little browse in the three charity shops, and as well as this book .......

 

........ I bought these four cushion covers, which are printed, ready to embroider (thus using up some of the embroidery thread stash!)

 

but it wasn't a great extravagance, as amazingly they were only £1 each!

 

when I was in the Gallery last week, I had asked Sally, the owner, if I could buy some mounts, backing boards and cellophane envelopes, which I knew she had left over from mounting my photos for sale in the gallery.  She was quite happy to let me have them, and it means that I can mount some photos for the Southdean Christmas Fair.  This is my favourite heron photo - I may have to buy it from myself!!

Day 23 ...... and the fruit in cola!

Some of you wondered in your comments yesterday what kind of fruit was in cola (in the jubblies).  I unearthed the box from the recycle ...... so you can see just what is in the jubblies - and I noticed that that there are even fewer calories than I thought, I had looked at the calories per 100g, not per jubbly!

 

I was interested to see that there is hibiscus in the jubblies, as when we were in Singapore, we popped into Starbucks one day for a delicious iced hibiscus tea.  In the interests of equality, over the holidays we also visited McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and KFC  ...... of course we had the healthy option menu in each establishment!

 

I had to pop into Hawick this morning, and took a rather circuitous route from Sainsbury's carpark to the High Street, crossing the River Teviot by one footbridge, then recrossing by another, in the hope of seeing a heron, but all I saw was a duck!  However I did pause on the second bridge to take these two views of the river

 

 

when I returned to Sainsbury's, I handed in this pile of books.  The shop has come up with a novel way (sorry, bad pun) of raising money for a local charity.  There is a table of books which have been donated, and for 50p, you can borrow a book to read, returning it for someone else to borrow.  The scheme has already raised a lot of money, and as the pile of books was somewhat depleted when I was in yesterday, I thought I would have a look through my bookshelves for books I know I won't read again

 

I have borrowed this one - I really enjoy the Inspector Lynley books, although I haven't watched the tv series, as not just the actor playing Lynley is wrong for the part, but the actress playing Barbara Havers is absolutely nothing like her description in the book

 

this afternoon I was busy in the kitchen, turning these ingredients

 

into "hedgehog", a delicious traybake, using a recipe I got from Meredithe.  The bits on the plate are the raggedy offcuts, the rest is in the two tubs, one of which I will take when I go down to Longframlington tomorrow to see Anne, now that she has recovered from last week's illness, and the other tub is for Friday night (but you'll have to wait to find out about that!)

 

so, would you like to guess what this is?

 

the recipe came from here, as did the bottles.  It is apple, cider and sage sauce, and according to the recipe it should last for two moonths (I think it will be eaten long before that, as it is delicious!).  I also finally made some rosehip syrup, with the rosehips that we picked last week.  Here are all the bottles, waiting for their labels

 

and how was my soup for lunch - delicious, with a spoonful of half-fat creme fraichhe stirred in!

I'm singing John Denver*

Not long to go now!!  I am just about jumping up and down with excitement at being off on our travels, but before we go, as promised, the project I am taking to work on when I join Meredithe and her friends for a sewing day.  I have so many things on the to-do list it was hard to decide, but in the end I settled on this

 

I love Anni Downs patterns (I have another book and a small pattern for a needlescase as well!).  I have gradually been collecting small-print fabrics .....

 

....... including some of Anni's own designs

 

and of course there was the bundle of Lynette Anderson fabrics which had one with cats on it hidden in the middle of the bundle!

 

However, I won't be taking the fabrics with me, as I will be working on the stitcheries first.  I photocopied the patterns, to make it easier to trace them on the light box

 

 

Once the patterns were traced, I put some thin iron-on wadding on the back (oops, forgot to take a photo of that stage!) and looked out an assortment of embroidery threads

 

We leave here early tomorrow morning, and finally arrive in Sydney on Thursday  I've got lots of books on my Kindle and music on my ipod for the journey, but as it is an overnight flight, I will probably sleep through most of it.  I got used to flying longhaul when we lived in Indonesia, so although it can be boring, I don't mind it too much.

 

When I have finished this post, I will do another three quick ones and schedule them to appear while we are travelling, as I still have lots of photos to share with you ....... and we visited somewhere new yesterday for our cuppa after our walk.

 

* and I'm still singing "all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go" and "I'm leaving on a jet plane"!!

Winning ways

There was great excitement on Satuday afternoon when I went back into the hall after the judging was complete (Malcolm had gone back home to watch the Test Match).  First was my "champion chutney" (the jar on the right with the red lid with white spots), which I had called "going for gold" as I had made it with golden delicious apples ........ there may have been squeals of delight when I saw it had been given 1st prize.  Then it was on to the "jubilee jam" (the jar on the left with the spotty lid).  I had called mine "not quite red white and bue jam" ........ I had made three different jams and layered them in the jar - the strawberry was nice and red, the pear had gone slightly yellow and the blueberries had gone a bit purple ........ but it still got 2nd prize

 

Next was "2 metres of paper chains" ....... I was the only one who entered that category, so I got 1st and 2nd!!  The one at the back is made with scrapbooking papers which were free with a magazine, and the one at the front is made from pages from an old road atlas, which I bought in a charity shop last year to make bunting

 

when I saw the other entries for "a tealight holder", I didn't think I would win anything, so I was pleased to see that my felt one had been given a 3rd

 

when I saw the next category on the schedule, I thought "oh dear", and I guess others thought that too, as again mine were the only entries ........ toilet roll covers!

 

fortunately I already had two handmade brooches - another 1st and 2nd!

 

the herb pots in the garden provided lots of choice for this arrangement (I had asked Malcolm not to cut back the parsley when it went to seed, as the seed heads looked good!)

 

the hedgerow and the garden provided enough flowers for "purple passion in a vase" ........

 

......... and "a button hole with a Scottish theme" (mine was the only entry for this category!)

 

there were also some quirky categories ........ this one was "something still in use".  These are my pinking shears, which I have had for just over 40 years

 

"stitches from times past" ....... the small table cloth on the left was made my by Great Aunt Mima, and must be about 80 years old, and the tray cloth on the right was embroidered by my Granny, and is maybe 60 years old (I still use them!)

 

next, the photography section.  I won a 1st for "a photo taken on the 1st of August! ....... mine was called "one man went to mow".  Then a 1st and 2nd for "first day at school" ........ yes that is Stuart!!

 

a 3rdd for "a holiday snapshot" ....I took this at the Sunday market in Pollensa in May - "Spanish onions"

 

and another 3rd for "the wonder of nature!

 

and now, the big one ........literally!  Malcolm entered his garden chair in the "I used to be something else" category, and was delighted to won a 2nd for it

 

 

I still have lots of photos left, which I will show you tomorrow ........ I'll finish with this one of a very handsome chap.  The children had to mark on a chart where they thought he would poo - the chart was put into the cage under him when they had all had a go, then there was much excitement waiting for him to do the business!!