frayed at the edge

Tuesday Treasures

This treasure isn't a family heirloom - I found it in a junk shop about fifteen years ago, and I just thought it was sad that William's family didn't want it.  I know it has little monetary value, as it is only epbm, but I just thought it was worth rescuing!

 

It was very difficult ot take a clear photo of it, without getting a reflection - if anyone can give me advice, I would be very grateful!

 

Eventually, I got a clear photo of the inscription by using the flash.  So you can now see why I think this is something to treasure - it is almost one hundred and seven years old!!

The long and winding road

As we wound our weary way home on Saturday, Malcolm suddenly announced that we would stop for a cuppa.  There was no argument from his passengers!  He had noticed this place on our way to Woolfest and had thought it would be good for a stop on the way home - he was right!!

 

I took a photo of the menu, which desribes the place

 

It was a very welcome cuppa - and I loved the china cup and saucer - very delicate

  

However, there was one more delight to end our day out.  Upstairs from the coffee shop, there is a ...........

 

......... little shop called Quiltessentials (I wonder what it sells!).  What bliss- a day with all things wooly, topped off with a fabric hit!  Even better, I actually had some pocket money left, so I combined wooly things and sewing and bought this wonderful book

 

There are some wonderful projects - perhaps if I give up sleeping I could fit them in with all the other things on the to-do list!!

When we got home, Fiona headed off to have a soak in the bath, while Jennifer and I sipped on a glass of wine while Malcolm made a wonderful ham and asparagus risotto for dinner.  Altogether an enjoyable (and somewhat lazy) weekend for Jennifer and me!!

Big knitter!

I promised yesterday that I would tell you who the lady is with the big knitting.  She was just one of a cast of talented people at Woolfest.  Her name is Ingid Wagner, and you can read more about her here.  She produces amazing knitted items on enormous needles - great fun!

When we started shopping, of course our first stop was with Helen at  Ripples Crafts.  We hadn't seen Helen since she moved to Sutherland a year ago, so there was a great deal of squealing and hugging before we could think about shopping!

  

Jennifer was amazed at the range of colours that Helen dyes her wonderful yarn - and of course I had to buy some!

 

I also bought this wonderful little sheep - if you go over to Helen's website, you can read all about the sheep on her blog - it is a wonderful, heartwarming story

  

We had a short break from shopping to watch the sheep-shearing demonstration - it was such a warm day, I am sure the sheep were grateful to lose their wooly coats!

 

This little lamb didn't look to happy at what had been done to its mum!!

 

While browsing round the stalls - oh would you like an idea of how many there were?

 

this is just a fraction of the stalls - sorry it's not the best of photos - taken through a dirty reinforced window!

So, as I was saying, I was browsing, when I bumped into Kate, wearing one of her own creations

  

It is a lovely jumper - but will I let you into a little secret - I can't wear wool next to my skin (it makes me itch) and I don't think this would look the same worked in cotton - ah well .....

 

So - the important bit - what else did I buy?  Apart from Helen's lovely wool, everything else I bought is for needle felting  - lots of luscious colours - I am looking forward to working with it all.

 

And one last thing - this kit to make a funky frog!!

 

By mid-afternoon, we were hot and tired, with sore feet, so we decided to head for home.  But that wasn't quite the end of our wonderful day out - and you know what I'm going to say ...... yes, I'll tell you the rest tomorrow!

An honorary girl

Today it was Fiona's turn to arrive bright and early, as we were off to Woolfest for a girly day out.  This presented a slight problem, as Malcolm had offered to drive.  However it was easily solved - we simply declared him an honorary girl!!  When we got there, after the obligatory toilet stop, we had delicious rolls and sausage for breakfast - and then we were ready to shop!

However, as I am just a little bit tired, I will save the details for tomorrow, and just show you some photos of the creatures which supply the raw materials .....

 

 

 

 

So come back tomorrow, and I'll tell you who this lady is ....

 

.... and I''l show you the goodies that I bought!!

 

Girls' Day Out

My sister-in-law Jennifer arrived bright and early this morning, for our girly day out.  First, we headed over to Kelso to my friend Lizzi's (you've met her at Kist meetings!).  Lizzi recently qualified as a therapeutic masseuse (Lizzi - I hope I got that right!).  While Jennifer was having her massage, I had a potter round the shops in Kelso, including a look in the charity shops, where I bought not one, but two things!

We have fish for dinner on Wednesdays (the fishman comes in his van on Wednesday mornings!) but we have never had proper fish knives and forks - until I found this set today.  As you can see, they have never been used, still wrapped up in tissue paper.

I also succumbed to this lovely set of dessert forks and spoons - if you stand on your head you can see my reflection in the big spoon!

 

After I had my massage, we headed off to Under the Sun (where we go for knit'n'natter) where we continued with the healthy theme of the day and had delicious salads.  Then we may have had to indulge in a bit of shopping.......

 

Jennifer bought these wonderful red shoes

 

while I fell in love with this sweater

 

We then called in at Borderland Fabrics - after looking at all the wonderful fabric, the healthy lifestyle might have suffered a hiccup and something very sweet and chocolatey was consumed with a cuppa (but we did share it!).  We are now sitting sipping a glass of wine, while Malcolm cooks dinner -a perfect end to a great day out!

You know it's summer when ......

 

summer hay cut

 

summer hair cut

 

not one

 

not two

 

but three honeysuckles!

 

white harebells

 

blue harebells

 

another lovely clematis

 

And last but not least - Wimbledon is on!!

Meatball heaven!

This morning, we set of for Ikea on the outskirts of Edinburgh, as we wanted to get a new blind for the kitchen.  We went via Peebles - it was quite misty, that only added to the wonderful scenery.  Of course, you can't go to Ikea without having Swedish meatballs for lunch - complete with creamy sauce and lingonberry relish - heaven (and chips may have been eaten as well!).  We then had the strength to walk round and not buy all those tempting candles, coathangers, clocks, things you don't know what they are, but you're sure you need them!  Howvever, I did succumb to these

  

What are they?

 

Little spice jars, which I will use for buttons and beads

 

We came home via the A7, stopping off in Stow (rhymes with cow) for a cuppa.  We have been in the Cloudhouse Gallery and Cafe several times in the past, but we knew it was now under new management.  However, nothing has been changed yet, and we enjoyed our coffee, tea and fruit cake

 

When we got home, while Malcolm was busy putting up the new blind, I was cooking, using these ingredients ....

 

...... diced lamb, chopped onion, dates, spices, pomegranite juice, olive oil and salt.  Those of you who saw the programme or have the book, will know that this is Nigella's lamb tagine.  We will have one portion tomorrow, and the other one will go in the freezer.  I would have taken a photo once it was cooked, but it just looks like stew!!

Tuesday Treasures

I love books, not just reading them, but owning them, and the house is full of them.  Every so often I have to have a clearout, when the bookshelves are threatening to collapse, but there are some books I will never part with

 

This is my first school prize - an illustrated version of Oliver Twist.

 

 

This is also a primary school prize

 

 

This is my last primary school prize - the dux medal

 

(I know it's not a book!)

 

This is my first secondary school prize

 

 

This is one of the books which formed this special prize for English

 

 

Even more special - my Dad's school prizes

 

As you can see, we went to the same school!

Just call me Delia!

As usual, Monday meant domestic things - shopping, laundry - yawn, yawn.  However, I also had one of those 'what needs to be used up' sessions.  First of all it was the fruit bowl - some plums and apples.  First stop of course was my favourite Delia book - and there it was - a recipe for spice plum and apple chutney!

Next, an investigation of the vegetable drawers in the fridge.  Sweet potatoes, sweet yellow peppers and leeks - it might sound a slightly strange combination, but it has produced some tasty soup for tomorrow's dinner (as usual the soup is thick enough to stand a spoon up in!)

 

The third thing wasn't using things up - it is just a little treat for Malcolm to take when he goes to see his Dad tomorrow - strawberries dipped in chocolate (I'm keeping this one for me!)

 

On Saturday night we watched Mama Mia! (again!) and in between singing along with all those wonderful songs, I finished Oliver's quilt

 

It is just so cute and colourful - I love it!

 

As promised, the next stages in making Stuart's cushions.  If you haven't made cushion covers this way before, the assembly seems strange - you start by putting the front right side down

 

Then the two pieces of the back go on right side up, aligning the outer edges so that they overlap, then pinning them in place

 

Why do I put the pins in at right angles?  So that I can take them out as I go, as I sew the binding on

 

I stitched the binding on to the two sides first.  It was then trimmed and pinned in place on the wrong side

 

The other two strips were then added and trimmed (leaving enough to turn in at the corners).  The cushion cover now looks like this

 

The binding is just pinned on the back, but I hope to hand-stitch it in place tomorrow, when we have our last Kist, before taking a break for the summer.

 

Almost done!

As promised, I took Oliver's quilt to patch'n'chat yesterday.  After trimming it to size, I then cut strips for the binding, which I folded in half and ironed

 

This is the first strip, seen from the right side

 

and this is it stitched into place on the wrong side

 

I hope to finish the hand-sewing of the binding this evening!

 

When Stuart was here for a visit (quite) a few weeks ago, he chose fabrics for some new cushions.  Somehow they just didn't get done, so this afternoon I went out to the studio determined to get on with them.

 

The cream fabric was a sample curtain, the coffee coloured one a remnant - these two are for the fronts of the cushions.  The pale green fabric is a man-made 'suede', also a remnant, which is for the backs.

 

The two cream and the two coffee fronts

 

The eight pieces to make the backs

I am putting binding on the cushions, in the same way that I bind a quilt.  Those of you who have been reading the blog long enough, will remember that's how I did my Jennie Rayment cushion.  (If you haven't been reading it that long - why not?  You've missed all sorts of wonderful things!!)  I decided to bind the cushions with black, to go with his black leather sofas.

 

The binding strips folded in half and ironed, and the edge on the green fabric turned over and ironed, ready to hem (as it doesn't fray, it only needs turned over once).  So are we ready to sew - no, not quite, there is one last thing to do

 

Before I start a new project, I always clean the machine.  The lint on the brush is just a fraction of what was under the bobbin case!!  I also always put in a new needle.  Now I can start sewing.....  but I'll tell you about that next time!