frayed at the edge

Beauty and the beast

Yesterday, we went out to the garden centre for a cuppa.  The main roads were clear, and the snow looked lovely

 

 

 

 

 

But when we were in Hawick this morning, we saw the other side of all the snow we have had

 

 

 

 

The snow is slowly being clear by bulldozers and large lorries ..... and this is where it is ending up - in a very large, dirty mountain

 

 

Although the main roads are clear, our road is still a bit nasty to negotiate in places

 

 

On a brighter note, I have baked the Christmas cake .......

 

 

...... and Alison's cushion is finished

 

 

 

And a bit of good news to end with - the Christmas Fair is on this Saturday ....... weather permitting!!

Shadow Shot Sunday

I was busy in the kitchen yesterday teatime, when I noticed that there were lots of shadows.  I've chosen these ones of my little fun signs to share with you today ..... and of course if you head over to Hey Harriet you can see shadow shots from around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a new month, and that of course means the next page of the calendar.  This month, we have not one, not two, not even three ....... but FIVE braw laddies, fine specimens of Borders manhood (my tongue may have been in my cheek there!)  And don't be upset that this is the last photo - hooray, they feature on the rear cover (there's a clue there as to what they have on show!!) so we ladies have something to look forward to in January!  Of course, these brave souls have bared all in support of a very good cause - and provided us with some fun at the same time!

 

Calamity!

This photo was taken from a funny angle ...... but that's because it was taken through the window - I haven't been out of the house all day.  During the night, a huge amount of snow came down off the neighbours' roof

 

 

and flattened several shrubs which had just recovered after the same thing happened to them last year

 

 

But to compensate, there was a lovely sky at the front of the house, with the clouds tinged with pink - a reflection of the sunrise

 

 

I thought I ought to make a start to my Christmas cake, so I got out my recipe, which I have used for years ......

 

 

The first thing to do was weigh out the fruit

 

 

then add an ingredient that isn't in the recipe - I always soak the fruit in several glugs of .....

 

 

The birds are still enjoying the food we put out every morning

 

 

Although the weather has caused a lot of disruption, the views round about us are beautiful, as you can see from these photos I took yesterday

 

 

 

 

We have icicles hanging from the roof ..... and also from the climbing rose in the front garden

 

 

The horses are still enjoying the snow, although they now have their coats on

 

 

This was the state of my car when Malcolm started to clear it before we went out yesterday

 

 

And to end ....... this snow obviously got a bit tired and had to sit down for a rest!!

 

 

If you have weather like ours, stay safe and warm.  If you have good weather .... can I come and stay with you!!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

A brief escape!

Snow, snow, snow and more snow - but the snow on the road melted a bit late morning, so after lunch we ventured out in the car.  It's only half a mile from the house to the main road, but it is down a long fairly steep hill, then up a short even steeper hill. It was a bit scary as the car slithered several times, but we made it out on to the main road and then on into Hawick.  There followed the quickest supermarket shop I have ever done (including a magazine - hooray) and with the boot full of fresh milk, veggies and other necessities, we set off home again.  Oh dear, not so easy to get back up the long hill, then ....... we met one of the neighbours coming the other way in his truck, which meant pulling over into the deep snow at the side of the road.  Much wheel spinning later, I got out and pushed the car, giving Malcolm enough of a help to get underway again.  Then ...... another neighbour in his big 4x4 and into the side again.  At least I was still walking behind the car and was able to use a bit of muscle to get Malcolm on his way again ....... and off he drove, leaving me to walk the rest of the way home (once he was home, he did walk back along the road to meet me!!)  So ..... we won't be going out again until the road conditions are much better.  As promised, no snow photos (don't worry Anne, there will be more tomorrow!), but the table measurement this morning was 18 inches!!

So, on to happier things

 

 

When I put this on the bookcase in the kitchen this morning, I realised that I hadn't yet shown you our new shelf.  It is actually an old shelf that I found in a charity shop.  The shelf was at an angle for books to sit on, so Malcolm took the saw to it, so that it would hang on the wall with a level shelf.  An added bonus was that the ends now have a funny heart shape!

 

 

The shelf is now home to Malcolm's collection of little owls - holiday and birthday presents from me (the one on the right wiggles when you nudge him!)

 

 

I also hung up our Advent Snowman (the photo is slightly confusing ...... there is a window between the back lounge and the hallway to the back door.  The table and the orchid are in the hall .... and you can see my reflection!))

 

 

The Gnome Sisters are delighted with their Christmas cushion ....

 

 

...... and their brothers love theirs too!

 

 

Now ...... if a recipe is in this magazine

 

 

then it must be low calorie and healthy .... mustn't it?

 

 

I'm sure 32 calories per piece must be a typo!  Preparing the strips was a bit of a faff, trying to remove all the pith

 

 

but dipping them in chocolate was easy - although I did have to resist the temptation to keep licking my fingers!

 

 

Mine might not look as pretty as the ones in the magazine, but they taste delicious ....... but with all those calories, we will have to ration ourselves to one or two pieces each day!!

 

So much fun!!

No - I lied, we haven't had much fun today!  We woke this morning to find that the electricity was off.  And just to cheer us up ....... it was snowing!  Our table now has an amazing 15 inches of snow on it - which probably means we have had more than that, as it will have settled a bit

 

 

After Malcolm worked so hard yesterday to clear the drive, he had to shift about another 3 inches today

 

 

I slithered, slid and slipped out on to the road to take this photo - it looks as if it is in B&W!!

 

 

I thought I would check the forecast for the rest of the week - now I wish I hadn't bothered!!

 

 

I much preferred the forecast for Pollensa in Majorca, where we had our wonderful holiday in May

 

 

Then I had a bit of fun with 'Talking Carl' ..... he repeats everything you say to him, he complains if you poke him - but tickle his tummy and he laughs!!

 

 

I love my ipod touch, which is my birthday/Christmas present from Malcolm.  I am finally getting to grips with all this new-fangled technology ..... I managed to set it up myself, put music on it, get apps for it (then I had to lie down in a darkened room for a week!!)  I can also use it for email, which is great, as it saves booting up the laptop.

We have had quite a lazy day (apart from Malcolm clearing the snow!)  We watched a film this afternoon.  I started on my second sock and knitted the toe, then I finished the first Christmas cushion

 

 

I'm going to show you one more snowy picture  .......and I'm not going to have any photos at all with snow in them tomorrow!