frayed at the edge

My magnetic personality!

I think perhaps I shouldn't stand next to anything metal, in case the scan has made me magnetic!!  It all went very well .... Malcolm as ever went with me - he knows how much I hate having to go to the hospital!  I didn't have to wait too long before I was called.  I had to answer lots of questions (which I had already answered on a form) as to whether I had any sort of metal implants.  Then I had to answer all the questions again for the next radiographer - it is just so important that you don't have bits of metal in you.  I had taken an eye mask to wear (thank you Jenny, for that piece of advice) so when I went into the room, I didn't look at the scanner, just lay down and put my mask on.  The radiographer then fitted ear defenders (the machine is VERY noisy) and gave me a panic button to press.  They then loaded me head first into the scanner - if I had seen that I would have run screaming from the room!  I had taken a cd with me which they played through the ear defenders and I concentrated on doing my deep relaxing breathing.  In the end, it wasn't as bad as I feared.  The results will be sent to Mr Moralee (short pause for a swoon) who will then get in touch with me.

 

I still went out for my walk this morning (I did think about claiming that I needed a long lie to keep up my strength for the afternoon!) and I was glad I did when I saw these two naughty lambs munching on the verge

 

 

Then I saw this third lamb, which obviously thought that if it stood very still, I wouldn't see it!

 

 

And that wasn't the end of runaway lambs - when I was almost back home, I spotted these two in front of the farm cottages

 

 

Do you remember some weeks ago I showed you a photo of a vey pregnant mare?  Today she was back in the same field, but this time she had company ......

 

 

I hope you all have a great weekend - Malcolm's sisters, Jennifer and Judith, are coming to visit tomorrow.  They plan to arrive in time for us to go out for lunch, and Malcolm has already started his prep for dinner!!  Love, Anne

 

Fabulous fabric from France

There was a distinct nip in the air this morning when I went for my walk .... we are definitely into late summer!  The farmers are still busy - this field was cut for hay yesterday

 

 

The crops have been harvested from this field, and the straw baled

 

 

This afternoon I made a start to my cushions using my lovely piece oftoile fabric, which was originally made in France.  The first job was to disassemble the sample curtain

 

 

I then cut the pieces for the back of the cushion

 

 

To make sure I hemmed the correct edges and put the matching pieces together, I used different coloured pins on the edges to be stitched

 

 

Despite the dozens (and dozens) of threads that I have, I had trouble finding a brown one - I eventually unearthed this rather old reel

 

 

I like to listen to music when I am sewing, so there was a slight pause while I put on another cd - this one was pure nostalgia - I used to love watching Ally McBeal (and I cried when Billy died!!)

 

 

Having hemmed the pieces for the back, I then had to decide which pictures to use for the fronts.  Having picked two, I then had to mark cutting lines.  I used my twelve and a half inch square ruler to centre the picture, then added another ruler to give me my line to mark

 

 

These are the two pictures I chose

 

 

The first cushion pinned and ready to sew

 

 

After stitching, I turned the cuchion cover right side out and ironed it well.  I wanted to topstitch it an inch from the edge, so I put a quilting guide on the sewing machine

 

 

I only had time this afternoon to finish one of the covers - I should get the other one done over the weekend.  They are for the big chairs in the back lounge - I am pleased with how this one looks .....

 

 

....... and the Gnome Sisters like the new look for their chair!!

 

 

 

 

 

Just the two of us!

After a bit of persuasion, Malcolm came with me on my walk this morning.  There is just one problem - he walks faster than me, so my legs are a bit sore this evening!  However, it was nice to have company - apart from the usual cast of animals!

 

 

I managed to snatch this photo of the Jacobs' sheep before they did their usual disappearing act to the other side of the field!

 

I've never seen a donkey with markings like this one - and he looks pretty good for being 30 years old!

 

The horse on the right looks as if he is in the huff with the other one!

 

When I was having my Wednesday morning leisurely soak in the bath, I heard a great deal of commotion outside.  All was soon explained - the load of logs which Malcolm had ordered had been delivered

 

He had hoped that they would be able to unload them at the back garden gate, but the lorry was too big to go up the lane past the back of the studio, so poor Malcolm had to shift them by wheelbarrow, to stack them in the log store (and quite a lot were left over and had to go in the garage!)

 

I like to be fairly well organised, but even I think it's too early to buy my Christmas cards ..... but the Red Cross don't think so - this has just arrived in the post!!

 

Thanks for all your good wishes and advice for my scan - I have been listening to my hypnotherapy cd and practising my deep breathing, so hopefully I can relax.  I will be able to take some music to listen too - I will have to have a look through my CDs for something suitable!!
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

A little bird told me ......

...... to watch out for this BIG bird, which we saw when we were out for lunch today

 

 

A magnificent specimen of eagle owl - this sign tells you more about him (click on it to enlarge it

 

 

I would not like to get too close - we were behind a fence, which kept us several feet away from the enclosure

 

 

He kept his eyes firmly on us!

 

 

However, this afternoon, I was quite happy to get up close to these birds!  I finished the quilting in the ditch, then started to free-motion quilt the chickens

 

 

I'm having fun, just 'scribbling' over the birds, then stitching several wavy lines round the outside of each bird

 

 

Every time I work on the chickens, I change my mind as to which one is my favourite - this was today's choice

 

 

I have recently been reading a super new blog .... The Cloth Shed ..... I would say that it is filled with gorgeous things - but of course Helen has first dibs on that description!  In a recent post, Julie showed some lovely toile cushions, which reminded me that I have a large piece of toile that I bought some time ago.  I got it very cheap, as it had a large dirty mark on it, but I knew that even if the mark didn't wash out, there was so much material it was still a bargain.  I was sure that my piece was terracotta, but when I got it out, it was brown!  Now this is where things get a bit weird - when I said to Malcolm about the colour, he said he thought it was terracotta too ...... but the even weirder bit is that it was the dirty mark that was terracotta!!  I very bravely put the fabric in the washing machine, and was delighted when the mark washed out.  Now I just need to decide which parts of the fabric to use for my cushions

 

this bit

 

 

or this bit

 

 

but then I like this scene too!!

 

I had a hunt through my stash of curtain samples and found this one, which will look good on the back of the cushions

 

 

This afternoon I got a phone call from the MRI department at the hospital.  The lovely lady said they had 'a wee space' on Friday afternoon, and if I wanted, they would fit me in for my scan.  Of course I said 'yes please' ....... I would cancel a date with George Clooney to get it over and done with!

 

 

 

 

Curtains!

When we were visiting Stuart, we had a visit to Remnant Kings, to get some fabric for me to make new curtains for his lounge.  Malcolm was surprised that Stuart was quite at home in the shop .... until Stuart pointed out that he was often there with me when he was little - and the shop has hardly changed!  He chose this fabric - it is a lovely medium weight silky one

 

 

I have used this book for many, many years for curtain making - but I didn't need it this time, as they are just plain curtains - no swags and tails!

 

 

However, I did need to get out the sewing machine manual, as I can never remember how to do a blind hem!

 

 

I did the hems on Saturday and the side seams and tape yesterday and finished them off today - I hung this one on a quilt pole to let you see how they turned out

 

 

I have also been getting on with Maia ....

 

 

Malcolm has finished painting the inside of the summerhouse (he will be painting the outside the same colour as the doors)

 

 

He has found some of the bits'n'bobs we had in the summerhouse in the last garden, including this fun sign which a friend gave us