frayed at the edge

Crash, bang, wallop!

I had some time to sit down and knit this morning, while the washing machine was on and my bread dough was rising.  Normally I would sit in the lounge at the front of the house .......

 

I wonder if you would guess this is where I sit!!

 

........ but we had workman making a tremendous amount ofnoise, as they prepared the drive for tarmac to be laid later in the day.  So instead I went and sat in the lounge at the back of the house ........

 

 

......... where I had lots of company

 

the gnome brothers

and the gnome sisters

 

As you can see from the last photo, the sun was shining today, so I took my scarf/shawl into the garden to take photos

 

you can see how fine it is

 

I had some advice from Rattling on ..., who told me that in Russia, women wear long pointy shawls in winter - they roll the top edge to shorten the shawl and to form a collar, which you can see I have done.

 

 

a detail of the beads

 

I have a confession to make ....... Malcolm finished my cracket just before we went on holiday, and I didn't have time to post about it then ....... and I forgot when we came back home!!  So here is my cracket - Judith's and Jennifer's are oak, but I chose pine for mine

 

the softer pine meant that Malcolm could cut a scalloped edge

 

I love the detail on the legs
 

 

I made egg mayo sandwiches for lunch ...... while the eggs were cooking, I finely sliced a spring onion and grated some cheese.  The rough guide to portion size for cheese is a piece the size of a matchbox ......... but which matchbox?

 

 

The matchbox from Cafe Batavia is a souvenir from when we lived in Jakarta.  We went there several times for a meal with a group of Malcolm's colleagues and their wives.  There was always a lot of laughter when any of the men had to go to the Gents, as rumour had it that the large mirror behind the urinal was actually a two-way mirror, that allowed anyone in the Ladies to have a view of the Gents!!  Of course we would never say if the story was true .......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

 

 

Regular readers know that I have resumed my early morning walks (I have to walk off the cake calories!!)  On Monday the sun was shining, so I took the camera with me, sure that I would find some shadow shots ..... I hope you like them!

 

setting off to find the shadows

 

 

does the grass taste better in the shadows ........

 

 

or out in the sun?

 

 

horses grazing in the dappled shadows of the trees

 

 

I guess it was just too early for breakfast for some of the sheep!

 

To see more shadows from around the world, as always, head over to Hey Harriet ..... not only can you see Trcay's mosaics of the best of last week, but if you scroll down to the bottom of her post, you can click on Mr Linky to see who is playing along this week.  While you're there, why not find out how to join in the fun ..... but be warned, chasing shadows is addictive!!

 

Modern shepherding

When I was out for my walk this morning, I helped one of the neighbouring farmers deal with a runaway ewe and her lamb.  But this wasn't traditional shepherding with a crook and a dog ........ his preferred method of rounding them up was to use his ....... Mercedes!!

 

 

He had been herding them along the road, when they were able to escape through an open gate into a field - he drove in after them and encouraged them to come back out - I took this photo just as they emerged.  He parked across the road so that they couldn't go back that way and started shouting orders at me to drive them back towards him (I was still a fair distance away, the photo was taken with the zoom lens!).  Just as he shut the gate, the ewe made a run for it past me, with the lamb trotting behind, and they legged it on up the hill.  At that point I left the farmer to get on with it and continued with my walk!!

I walk for a mile and a half, which brings me to a road junction.  I stand at the junction and admire the view, before I turn and walk back up the hill - the first two thirds of the road home is uphill - I am always glad when the final downhill stretch comes into view!!.  This morning I lingered to take some photos -  in this one, on the left you can two of the three Eildon Hills (Trimontium) and on the right you can see one of the two Minto Hills (and lots of beautiful blue sky)

 

 

Can you see a little creature in the middle of this photo - its companion had run away, but it must have thought that if it kept very still, I wouldn't see it!! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

One of our neighbours has an old donkey - he is now thirty!  I usually only hear him in the morning as he is in the paddock at the back of their house, but today he was out in the field.  As you can see he has rather unuaual colouring!

 

 

As usual for Fridays, I was busy this morning doing the housework, but then it was off to Borderland fabrics for an afternoon of sewing.  I had finished the applique on the runner, so took my sewing machine with me to sew on the binding.  All I have to do now is handstitch the binding on the back (I took this photo when I got back home)

 

 

I haven't forgotten that I said I would tell you my plan for all those ends on the shawl/scarf ...... I am going to thread beads on them.  I would have shown you, but despite having hundreds of beads in my stash, I don't have in the right shade of pink!!

I hope you all have a super weekend, love, Anne

 

 

 

Too good to share!

This morning we had to go to Kelso, which meant we had to find somewhere to have our usual Thursday morning cuppa.  We decided to try a recently opened deli/coffee shop called Pharlanne, which turned out to be very nice indeed.  Usually we go to the Pickled Orange in Hawick, where we share one of their large scones, but Pharlanne didn't have scones ......... but they did have chocolate brownies.  I'm sorry, not even Malcolm gets to share my chocolate brownie - I ate it all myself!! (don't worry, he had a white chocolate and berry muffin - which he knew I wouldn't want to share as I don't like white chocolate!)

 

 

Since we moved here (almost four years ago) we have been regular customers of Almstrongs, a small department store in Hawick.  In that time the store has gradually declined, with departments and eventually whole floors closing.  Now, sadly, the shop is shutting for good and they are having a last sale, with 70% off everything.  While obviously wanting to take advantage of such good prices, I did feel a little bit guilty that I was hastening the end by buying some of the remaining stock!  Earlier in the week I had bought some lovely cotton thread for hand sewing, so I bought some more today, along with a packet of embroidery needles in a variety of sizes, and several packets of buttons which can be covered with fabric

 

 

I also got three balls of beautiful cotton yarn - I have a little project in mind - it might even be done in time for next Tuesday's tutorial.........

 

 

I finished knitting my scarf/shawl (should I call it a scawl or a sharf?).  I soaked it briefly in lukewarm water with a delicate handwash, then squeezed (remember, never wring) the excess water out and wrapped it in a towel and squeezed some more.  I  blocked it out on an old sheet, using my blocking wires - but you could just use pins.

 

 

I'm not altogether happy with the proportions - it has turned out a little bit longer than I had planned, so I will have to have a rethink on the increasing, but it only took 23gms of yarn, so I can have several more tries to get it right!!

 

 

It sits nicely at the front, but is just too long at the back

 

 

So ...... what's going to happen with all those ends?  I'll tell you tomorrow!!

 

 

Early one morning .....

....... just as the sun was rising - oh, ok, the sun had already risen and I didn't hear a maiden singing in the valley below, but it was still quite early!!  But to continue, on Monday when I went out for my walk, I took the camera with me as it was a lovely morning.  When I start the walk I'm still half asleep and the verges are just a blur of green, but by the time I have eaten my piece of fruit and have hit my stride, I start to see all the wonderful colours in the verge

 

 

Unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable about the names of wildflowers, I just enjoy looking at them!

 

 

I love ferns when they are just uncurling (is that a word?) - I think they look like something from a sci-fi film

 

 

There is a saying ........ ne'er cast a cloot till may is oot........ which roughly translated means don't take off your thermal vest until .... ah, but is it when the month of May is over, or when the the may blossom on the hawthorn is out?

 

 

This next little flower is tiny - not even as big as the nail on my pinkie.  I think I will have to print out this picture to turn it into a pattern for applique

 

 

There have been vast amounts of dandelions this year - seemingly because of the severe winter.  This one has already gone to seed.  When we were children, we used to blow on the seedheads, believing that the numbers of puffs it took to blow away all the seeds would tell us the time!

 

 

When you were little, did you hold a buttercup under your chin to see if you liked butter? (if you did, the buttercup would cast a golden light!)

 

The lambs are much more independent now, and spend more time away from the ewes, with the bolder ones squeezing through the fences to feast on the lush growth in the verges.  The lamb in the field looked anxious when I stopped to take this last photo, but the one on the verge wasn't going to leave the tasty morsels it was tucking into!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Tutorial 19

Crazy Heart Pin Cushion Brooch

 

Whenever I see a sewer with pins or needles stuck in their clothing, I always say 'please don't do that' ...... why? ...... because it can be dangerous.  Small needles can penetrate your breast tissue, leading to surgery and if you forget to remove the needles/pins before you pull your sweater over your head, you can pierce your eye.  So, what is the answer .... well read on!!

The answer is a wearable pincushion ....... and here's what you will need to make one

 

paper, card, oddments of fabric, iron-on wadding, cotton wadding, felt and a brooch pin

 

Decide what size you want your heart to be, and cut paper and card to suit.  Fold the paper in half and draw half of your heart shape

 

 

Cut out the heart shape, then glue it to the card and cut it out.  Put the template on the iron-on wadding and draw round it.  Cut it out with approx a quarter round it

 

 

Cut a piece of fabric and place it on the 'glue' side of the wadding, making sure the edge of the wadding is covered

 

 

cut a piece of a different fabric and place it so that it overlaps the first one

 

 

continue placing pieces of fabrics in this way until you have covered the heart, then iron them in place

 

 

cut round the outer edge of the wadding (not on the marked line)

 

 

the next stage is to embroider over the raw edges.  If you wish, you can do the embroidery by hand, but it is a good chance to try out all those stitches on your sewing machine!

 

 

take two pieces of cotton wadding, and pin on the heart, wrong side up

 

 

cut out on the line, then turn the heart over and layer with the two pieces of wadding and the felt

 

 

stitch round the edge of the heart - you could do this by hand using blanket stitch, or on the machine using a zigzag or satin stitch.  My machine has a blanket stitch, which is what I used

 

 

cut the felt about a quarter inch from the stitching - I used pinking shears, but if you don't have any, you could simply cut a wavy edge

 

 

sew the brooch pin on at the top of the wrong side

 

 

your brooch is ready to wear to keep you safe!!

 

 

 

 

 

A soggy tale!

When I got home from my usual Monday morning shopping, I found Malcolm in the garden wearing swimming shorts.  Now, I know I was in town for a while, but I didn't think he had time to dig a swimming pool, so why was he in his shorts?  Well .... it all started yesterday evening, when ......... but I'm getting ahead of myself, so lets go back to yesterday morning -

We headed off to the garden centre to buy some fence paint (yes, it's that time of year again!), then we thought we would visit the Donkey Sanctuary - after all we've lived here for almost four years and hadn't yet visited it.  There was just a small problem - when we got there we discovered it didn't open until 2pm (oops).  However, I was able to take some photos .....

 

enjoying the spring grass

 

 

this one was a little bit shy!

 

On the way home, we had to have one of those emergency stops for photo taking ........

 

as you can see from his leg, he thought about getting up .........

 

 

....... but it was all too much effort to get up and pose!!

 

Back home, while Malcolm was working in the garden, I was busy sewing - but it was practical sewing.  I was making this peg bag for Stuart - at the moment he has his pegs in a plastic bag.  The fabric came from my stash of curtain samples, which our local curtain shop sells very cheaply.  I just made a very simple peg bag - I didn't think he would want one with applique and embroidery!

 

 

But I also got quite a lot of sewing done on the applique runner for our bedroom chest of drawers

 

 

Later I also did some work on my knitting.  It is a scarf/shawl, knitted in laceweight yarn.  I have been making it up as I go, but it looks as if it will turn out ok.  I've pinned it to our footstool to give you an idea of how it will look

 

 

Don't worry about all those ends - I have a cunning plan for them!!  So that takes us up to yesterday evening ...... there was a lovely sunset and I went out into the front garden to take some photos, including this one

 

 

I then went through the house and out into the back garden, where I took this photo of the moon

 

 

But as I took the photo, I realised that the outside tap was running, so I went to turn it off ..... but it refused to stop running.  I fetched Malcolm, who also couln't get it to turn off.  We have a short length of hose attached to the tap (to make it easier to fill the watering can) and Malcolm faffed about trying to put a clamp on the hose to stop the flow.  But I came up with a simple solution - we put the nozzle from the main hose on the end of the short hose and closed it - problem tempoarily solved.  When Malcolm went to fit a new tap this morning, he encountered a slight problem - he couldn't turn off the supple to the tap, which meant he would get soaked when he took the old tap off ....... hence the sensible solution of wearing his swim shorts to do the job!!

We have another small problem - these two swallows are determined to move into the garage to nest - but that would mean having to leave the door open all the time, which isn't a sensible thing to do (sorry about the quality of the photo, but the light was bad, and I didn't want to startle them with the flash)

 

 

As I'm writing this, lots of swallows are swooping round the garden, feasting on insects - I have tried to take photos of them, but they are just too fast!!

 

 

 

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

 

 

it's that time of the week again, when those of us addicted to photographing shadows meet up at Hey Harriet to show off our latest collection ..... why don't you join us there!

 

This week's shadows are from the garden - at last we have some glorious weather to cast some super shadows

 

strong shadows from the garden seat

 

 

one of our rowan (mountain ash) trees

 

 

not an alien - it's the satellite dish!

 

 

no need for food on the bird table at this time of year

 

 

lacy shadows from the birch tree

 

 

and finally - the gate through to the back garden

 

 

 

The magic of technology

Yesterday's post may have appeared as usual ....... but I wasn't here!  I wrote it on Wednesday and scheduled it to be posted yesterday evening, as I was away from home from 7am to 9pm!!  So, what was I doing?  I went on an outing to the city of York, to see a quilt exhibition .... but let's go back to the beginning ...... last Friday, my friend Anne said that she was going with Kelso Embroiderers to York.  There were spare seats on the coach and would I like to go - of course I said yes.  So it was up at the crack of dawn to head to Kelso to meet up with the Embroiderers Group.  We set off in our comfortable coach and were soon crossing over the River Tweed at Coldstream

 

 

On of the good things about travelling by coach is that you get a good view over the hedges.  This is a field of potatoes

 

 

The fields are ablaze with rape - even on dull days it looks as of the sun is shining!!

 

 

When we arrived in York, of course the first thing we did was have a cuppa, then we headed for the exhibition, which is in the Quilt Museum of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.  We arrived at the door .....

 

 

....... and the camera had to be put away, as no photography is allowed, not even a general view of the wonderful room that the exhibition is in (it's because of copyright issues).  So please click on the above links to see more of the exhibition!!

However, I can show you the wonderful gardens round the museum .....

 

the wrought iron and old bricks show off the plants beautifully

 

 

the old buildings provide a wonderful backdrop for the gardens

 

After a delicious lunch, it was time for a little sightseeing

 

wandering through the maze of streets in the Shambles ........

 

 

I remembered to look up

 

 

I wonder who Mad Alice was

 

We met up back in the gardens at the museum, and enjoyed a cuppa in the sun before heading for home

 

 

On the way to York, I was sitting on the wrong side of the coach to take a photo of the Angel of the North, but I was ready to capture one on the way home

 

You can read about the Angel here and see more photos  here.

 

The forecast for the weekend is for good weather, but whatever the weather is, I hope you all have a good one!!  Love, Anne 

 

Little lambs

As promised, here is the tale of Lucy, Lottie and Edward.  I was sitting in the studio on Tuesday afternoon (working on next Tuesday's tutorial), when three little lambs wandered past the back door.  I wasn't entirely surprised, as Malcolm had been talking to our neighbour on Monday, who had mentioned that they were hand-rearing three orphaned/abandoned lambs.  Of course my first reaction was to grab the camera!  I opened the door as quietly as possible, in case I scared them, but they stood there and posed prettily for me

 

 

My neighbour came out of their stable to tell me about the lambs - that's Lucy on the left, Lottie in the middle and tiny little Edward on the right.  She said they were more dead than alive when they got them, but are now all thriving.  The lambs meanwhile were tucking into the clover and dandelions

 

 

I asked what would happen to the lambs (I was thinking Sunday dinner!), but they will be going into the field with the horses - I was given a quick lesson in animal management .... the sheep eat the bits that the horses don't eat, keeping the pasture healthy and the worm count down (I didn't ask for an explanation of that bit!!)

 

 

If you think it looks a bit like a building site .... that's what it is - it's where the last part of the steading is being converted into a house!  The lambs were quite happy to explore, but they haven't been so happy being out in the field - every time they are taken out, they just finds gaps in the fence and come back home!!

 

 

I mentioned that I have been working on a new knitting design - here is a little sneak peek!