frayed at the edge

Weekword

Just over four years ago, Malcolm had to go to Texas on business.  As it was just before Easter, he added on a few days holiday and I went with him ....

 

This is me (I still have that skirt!) sitting on a wall across the road from ....

 

..... The Alamo, in San Antonio - we were amazed to find it is in the centre of town, as of course we have seen the film countless times!

 

During the trip, I had the first niggles of what I thought was toothache.  Now, four years on, I have had countless trips to dentists/doctors/hospital consultants/acupuncturist/hypnotherapist ..... and despite all of this - and all sorts of medication, it has got steadily worse.  Having just had a third diagnosis a couple of weeks ago, I have now given it my own highly dental/medical name - 'The Face Ache' ...... which brings me to this week's word 'reinvent' .....

 

..... thanks to Malcolm for drawing my nose - my efforts made me look like Miss Piggy!  Have a good weekend, love, Anne

ps - to see other participants, pop over to Valentina

A brand new toy

The other day, I left a comment on Sarah's blog, to say how much I liked the mosaic in that day's post, and how I couldn't find out how to do a mosaic on Typepad.  I then went on to read Hey Harriet and she had a wonderful jigsaw on her post - with this link on how to do it.  Of course I went to have a look - and there was how to do a mosaic as well ..... but while I was reading the instructions, I had an e-mail from Sarah ..... sending me the same link!  So of course I have been having a little play ... and here's what I've done so far

 

four of my wallhangings

 

 

I love my orchids!

 

 

Cheers!!

Normal weather has been resumed!

Oh yes, we really believed the long range forecast of a wonderful summer ( if you did believe it, I bet you think Elvis is living on the  moon!!).  So when we took Malcolm's Dad to Newbiggin yesterday, did we sit outside our favourite coffee shop and bask in the sun?

 

It might just have been a passing shower, but it was rather heavy while it lasted!

 

Today, I had a wonderful start to the morning - a doctor's appointment at 8.50, then the dentist at 10am!  However, I did have time as I walked from the doctor's surgery over the footbridge to the dentist's clinic to take some photos of the rivers Teviot and Slitrig.  Usually the rivers are fairly shallow and clear, but after the heavy rain, they were running high and brown

 

This little island is usually twice this size!

 

The Teviot (on the right) was running so hard it was backing up into the Slitrig

  

I took this photo later, crossing the Drumlanrig Bridge on my way to the High Street.  This is looking down on the Slitrig, as it runs down to the Teviot - it is usually little more than a trickle in the summer.

So let's forget the weather and end with .... cake, yes, more cake!!

 

But you might not want to eat this one!  It's a gift for a new baby - the bottom tier is made with nappies!  (yes, it also comes in blue!)

Tuesday Treasures

From just before Christmas in 2005, until he died at the end of March 2006, my poor old Dad was in hospital.  It was a very difficult time - having recovered from the problem he was initially admitted with, and having having survived c. difficile, he then contracted and died from MRSA.  During that time I was a member of Greenpark Quilters in Polmont.  Going to the group on a Friday morning and having the support of my friends there was a great help.  We had a challenge to make a fabric postcard and post it anonymously to another group member.  We then brought in our cards to show to the others, and to try to guess who had sent them, when we then signed them.  This is the card that I received

 

It is beautifully made, mainly with silk

 

with lovely shaded fabric for the sky and machine quilting with gold thread

 

delicate hand embroidery along the bottom

So why does this card, lovely as it is, mean so much to me - to answer that we have to look at the other side (and you will see that it did come through the post!)

 

it's the kindness of the thought that at such a horrible time, I could have my own tranquil place to escape to.  So when I look at this card I really can say "it's the thought that counts"!!

Running very fast .......

....... just to stand still!!  The last few days have been very busy, and I still have photos from Friday and  Saturday that I want to show you, as well as all the wonderful stuff from yesterday's Woolgathering.  So, let's get started!!

 

The table mats and runner which I was sewing in Friday

The brown areas are chenille = the texture is lovely

This is the swallow tail shawl, soaking in tepid water, with 'Ecover Delicate', for about twenty minutes.  I then rinsed it thoroughly and squeezed out the excess water (NEVER wring your knitting!)

 

I rolled the shawl in a towel, to soak up as much water as possible (I left it rolled up while I had lunch!)

 

Ready to block the shawl - a clean sheet, my new blocking wires, pins and tape measure 

 

It took a little while to carefully thread the wires through the top edge and then through the points of the swallowtails - but then it was so easy to stretch the shawl out to the correct size and shape and push pins into the carpet to hold the wires in place. (if you have never blocked a shawl like this - it is a long job if you are pinning each point and trying to get them even!)

 

lovely even points!

 

I knitted the shawl to wear with my good winter coat (which I've had since 1996) - I think it looks fabulous!

 

Many thanks to Helen for the beautiful yarn (it's alpaca, silk and cashmere) - and the shawl only took 32 grams - so I could do another two!! 

 

So yesterday, it was off down to Chesters for another Woolgathering, organised as ever by Lindsay. who was experimenting with some needle felting (do you remember Lindsay's lovely holiday cottage?  She still has some vacancies, so if you want to come and see the glorious Borders, do check out her blog)

  

Fiona was doing some more work on her amazing felted ram

 

Janet was spinning using her wonderful new spinning wheel

 

Lizzi was busy with her needlepoint

 

Tricia is getting to the end of her latest knitting project

 

Lorraine was working on her sampler quilt - it is entirely handstitched!  (and she has another one the same well on the way to completion!!)  (LtoR Tricia, Lorraine and Janet)

 

What was I doing?  Well after a bit of needle felting, I was working on my knitting that I can't tell you about, but Janet took this photo of me eating cake!!

 

Some of those there yesterday said I showed too many cakes on the blog - girls, girls, there is no such thing as too many cakes!!  So you know that I am going to finish with cake related photos!!  I got up at 5am to bake these scones - they looked so good I thought they deserved Granny's traycloth and pretty china for afternoon tea

 

Would you like a closer look - oh yum yum

 

Oh dear, I've just told you a great big fib - of course I didn't bake the scones - I bought them this morning in Morrisons! Complete with raspberry jam and fresh cream!)

That was a bit of a marathon post, but now I've caught up with all the things I wanted to share with you - I hope you have enjoyed it!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

I took my shadow for an eary morning walk

Along the way we met a snail taking his shadow across the road

 

Back home, the washing was dancing on the line

 

The late afternoon sun flooded the hall with light

 

Oh take my photo too, cried the Indonesian Christmas tree

 

Me too, me too, piped up the fake silk orchid

 

Later in the evening, there was one last long shadow, before the sun set

 

And off we went to bed

 

A perfect day of shadows!

 

For more wonderful shadow shots, visit HeyHarriet - it's amazing where people see shadows! 

A tale of two cakes!

It has been such a busy week, that there is a bit to catch up on today.  On Thursday I met my friend Lorraine for lunch.  I had quiche and salad - a bit boring for a photo, but then ...... to justify sitting so long at our table, of course we had to order something else ....... and somehow we ordered chocolate fudge cake.  Well, what's a girl to do, of course I had to eat it!!

 

I told you yesterday that I was going to Borderland Fabrics in the morning - now I can tell you why.  Judi, assistant editor of (British) Patchwork and Quilting magazine, was coming to see the shop, in order to feature it in a future issue.  So the usual Friday afternoon gang all turned up early, so that we could show off the wonderful facilities we have for sewing in the shop.  While Judi was busy taking photos, I turned the tables and took one of her

 

The workroom was looking fabulous, with a colourful selection of quilts hanging all round the room

 

 

 

Isn't this just so cute!!  The article on the shop will be in the September issue, which will be on sale in the third week of August - who knows, I might even be in one of the many photos that Judi took (probably when I was sitting in the coffee shop enjoying my mid-morning cup of tea!)

After Judi left, we were all busy sewing.  Jane was trying to finish her wall hanging, which she started at a recent workshop in the shop.  Unfortunately, she didn't get her outer borders on, but it's looking pretty good

 

I was working on other set of placemats and table runner - this time for the dining room.  I forgot to take a photo yesterday, so I took one this afternoon in the studio ....... well I was going to show you a photo, but every so oftern Typepad throws a wobbly and won't show the photo - I guess you'll have to wait until another day!

This morning we were in Hawick as usual, and walked past the sub-post office as usual, but today I stopped to take a photo of - yes, another pillar box.  I don't know how many times I've walked past this one, without noticing how fabulous it is!

 

Just look at the ornate top

 

After looking at the royal initials from all angles, we think it's VR - what do you think?

 

So I started with cake, and I'll finish with cake!  Annette produced another masterpiece for afternoon tea yesterday - I gave her 12/10 for this one!!

  

 

weekword : time

 For some weeks now, I have been enjoying Anairam's Friday posts for 'weekword' - each week one of the participants chooses a word, and everyone posts a photo, a drawing, something to illustrate the word.  This week it was Anairam's turn, and she chose the word time.  I had an immediate picture in my head, so decided to join in this week, but unfortunately, as you  know from my journal pages, I suffer from arrested development on the drawing front, so what appears on the page isn't what is in my head!

 

Do have a look at Anairam's blog - her interpretation of the word is wonderful, and she also has links to the other participants.

It's only 8.20, but I'm rushing to do this as I am spending the whole day at Borderland Fabrics - I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

Grasping the bull by the horns

So what did we do on Sunday?  Well, first we went to Morrisons for breakfast.  Sausage, bacon and egg may have been consumed, along with fried bread and potato scone ( and of course HP sauce) - oh dear if it tastes that good, it must be bad for you!

To work off some of the calories, we then walked to the other end of Hawick High Street, to see this wonderful statue, which had been unveiled the day before

 

The statue, the work of Innerleithen sculptress Angela Hunter, is of the first Turnbull.  The story is that William of Rule saved the life of Robert the Bruce by wrestling a bull to the ground, thus earning the name Turnbull.  You can read more about it here.

The detail of the work is amazing - here is a selection of the many photos I took!

  

 

 

While I was taking the photos, Malcolm was looking over the wall at the river - and there, posing beautifully was a heron (perhaps the one we've seen before?)

 

I find it fascinating the way herons stand motionless, watching the water - I had plenty of time to move to get a different view

We then walked the long way round to get back to the car (walking off more of those breakfast calories!)  On the way, I found not one but two more postboxes, both of them set into the walls of houses

 

 

This next photo is for Sarah, who like rusty things!  (I don't think that's weird - you know I like things like old fenceposts!!)

 

Then we saw this wonderful fence made of old railway sleepers (I don't often admit to this, but a long time ago when I had a proper job, I worked for British Rail, so I know a thing or two about sleepers!) 

If you look back at the previous photo, you'll also see sleepers to the left of the green shed.  So why so many sleepers - a clue could be this little hump-backed bridge

 

If you look over the bridge, all you see now is this

 

But before Doctor Beeching arrived with his axe, this was the railway line from Edinburgh to Carlisle.  There are plans to restore some of the railway line from Edinburgh, but it will only come as far Melrose, as some of the line now has houses on it!!

I'm so excited!

 

I've been given my first ever blog award!  I was given it by the lovely Anne Gaal, whose blog is a wonder to behold - not only does she make the most wonderful cards, she very generously gives full instructions so that you can make them too!  She also takes the most amazing photos - and if that's not enough, she has super giveaways. 

Now comes the difficult bit - passing on the award!  Oh, whom to choose?  So here, in no particular order, are my five nominations:- Helen  Sarah  Anairam  Gina  Helen  (yes, it's two different Helens!) - please visit their blogs (if you haven't already!) to see why I like them!

So, now that I've nominated you, here are the rules!

1. Cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog

2. Nominate at least 5 other bloggers that you think have become part of your circle of friends

3. Link to your nominees in your post

4. Include the instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post

5. Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation

6. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award. 

Goodness me, after all that excitement, I need to lie down in a darkened room, but before I do, here is a much shortened version of what I had planned for today's post, telling you about my day yesterday

  

a very noisy goose keeping the Jacob's sheep in order

  

a fine fellow posing on the gate

 

a strange parcel arriving in the post

 

it's the special wires for blocking shawls, along with some pins and an extra long tape measure

 

Malcolm has gone to see his Dad, so a whole day sewing!!

 

table runner and six place mats for the kitchen table

Thanks again to the lovely Anne for my award!  It has been such a busy week, that tomorrow's post is going to be about what we did on Sunday - hope you'll come back to read it!!