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When we were in Jedburgh this morning, Malcolm went for a haircut, leaving me with some time to kill. What could I do to pass the time? Well, the sun was shining and the sky was blue ..... so what better thing to do than to take some shadow shots of the Abbey!
For more shadow fun, visit Hey Harriet, where shadow addicts gather to share their latest captures.
........ but there was a very important event here today. Yes, we had a party at Borderland Fabrics. Why? To celebrate the other big event, the Royal Wedding! We were able to watch the wedding on Annette's laptop. This was our first look at the beautiful bride, in her stunning dress
Her father looked so proud, and her sister gorgeous!
Then it was on with the most important part of the day - lunch! We had all brought tasty things to share
And we had a glass plastic cup of fizz
But anything the Royals can do, we can do too - if they were having two receptions, we were having two parties. So we did it all again in the afternoon ..... and this time we had cakes!!
We had our very own love birds in the garden this morning ...... a pair of swallows, romancing on the phone wire!
We have a busy weekend ahead, with clothes to sort out ready to pack for the holiday, and a quilt show to go to on Sunday. I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne
....... and this morning we were very glad when we arrived early for our visit to Paxton House. We got there twenty minutes before the first guided tour round the house. We paid for our tickets, and the woman on the desk told us about all the things we could see. However, she didn't mention The Prestonpans Tapestry, which was the main reason for our visit. When we asked about it, she said that the exhibition had finished yesterday. No, no, we said, the advert that we had said it finished today. At that point, the woman who was going to be our guide for the tour arrived, and said she would take us up to the gallery to see if the tapestry was still there, as she wasn't sure when the exhibition was being removed. Hooray, it was still there, and we just had time to see it before the curators arrived to remove it! Photography wasn't allowed, but you can see the whole thing if you click on the above link. Meanwhile, here is a little taster from the fund raising leaflet ....
...... and the leaflet about the summer tour. Check out the link to see if it is going to be anywhere near you - it is a fabulous piece of work - I could have spent hours looking at it!
We enjoyed our tour of the house ..... but photography wasn't allowed. Our guide was very entertaining and showed off the house well, with interesting anecdotes about previous owners. The next stop was for lunch in the coffee shop, which is in what was the stable block (don't worry, it had been cleaned!). We both had pan haggerty - you can find a recipe here. I could tell you that this was Malcolm's portion with the cheese on top, but it's mine!
After lunch, Malcolm took the one photo that is allowed indoors ..... however I declined to sit on the chair to show its size!
We then went for a walk in the grounds. Paxton is probably the finest Palladian house in the country. The style is strictly symmetrical ......
....... even the swallows have built matching nests!
The pink sandstone looked lovely, bathed in sunshine
Down by the river, we found this fish house, where fish could be stored for several days in the cool, damp conditions, to keep fresh
Just past the fish house was this wonderful boathouse
Inside, there was an unusual staircase, which was folded flat against the wall, so that there was more space for the boat
We don't know what this strange edifice is - some sort of folly?
As we walked over to admire the Highland cattle, we were getting a bit worried as there wasn't a fence. However, once we were up close, we saw that there was a deep ditch between them and us!
This one kept turning his head away (has he been talking to the owls at the Waterwheel cafe?), but eventually I got a good shot!
We had a look round the gift shop before we left (I resisted buying a book about recycling textiles!). The woman who had sold us our entry tickets told us that three ladies had arrived to see the tapestry just after it had all been packed away - they should have been early like us!
We went into Hawick this morning, to collect our euros from the bank. However the teller informed us that not only did she not have them, but she couldn't trace our order. We said that we would go for a cuppa, while she sorted things out. So we had a very nice cuppa and shared a delicious piece of cake and strolled back through the sunshine to the bank. The good news was that the teller had tracked down our order ..... the bad news was that she still didn't have our euros. OK, we said, we have some shopping to do, we'll come back later. However, we were half way to the supermarket when she phoned to say that she finally had the elusive euros! So we have money to spend when we go on holiday next week ....... I'll tell you on Monday where we are going!
(photo from Wikipedia)
This afternoon I popped out to the studio to do some more prep on my Baltimore block. I have finished stitching the first pieces in place ......
..... so I started to position some more pieces under my polythene topsheet - and that's when my patience got tried again! I was placing some leaves on the left hand stem - as you can see in the photo from the pattern, the leaves are separate from the stem ......
........ but the placement guide, from which I traced my topsheet, shows the leaves overlapping the stem
Then I noticed something else. On the template sheet. only one template is given for leaf 'L', unlike the petal below it, which also has a reversed (r) template
But, as you can see, the leaves that I have marked with asterisks are reversed (there are more on the other side of the pattern). Not a great problem, but just a little annoyance that the pattern (or the photo) isn't accurate
Never mind, I now have the next stage ready to stitch. The ends of the leaves will be tucked in under the vase.
However, I had plenty of patience this morning, when the goldfinches reappeared in the garden! I stood for some time taking photos - the are just such striking little birds
To finish, a strange little thing! When we were having our cuppa this morning, Malcolm checked the solution to yesterday's crossword, as we hadn't quite finished it. When he looked at the answers, he noticed that the letters at the bottom spell 'frayed' ..... and they are at the edge of the puzzle! Could this be an omen of something good going to happen - just in case it is, we bought a lottery ticket for tonight's draw!
Another delightful book has arrived in the post. Hot on the heels of 'Mrs Mouse's Cupcakes' comes 'Peggy's Lost Pennies', another gorgeous book from Gretel
Like the first one, this one is full of beautifully needlefelted animals and the most wonderfully detailed painted backgrounds
When we were in Jedburgh on Sunday, we popped into the Tourist Information Centre. Malcolm picked up this brochure ......
...... he opened it - and there was 'my' tree (OK it isn't really mine, but I take lots of photos of it!)
The weather has been beautiful again, and it is a pleasure to see the garden looking good after two harsh winters did so much damage. We though we had lost the big ceanothus, so Malcolm had cut it down to a stump, ready to dig up. But when he went to remove it several days later ...... there were tiny shoots appearing!
The plants in the big border in the back garden have suddenly filled out
The little side border has recovered well from having a massive amount of snow on it, which came off the neighbours' roof
I love hostas, and we have several varieties in the garden. This bright one is eye-catching
The blossom has come out early on the little tree in the front garden
The bluebells are about to flower
Tomorrow we will be picking up our euros for our holiday ........ but where are we going?
I should have shown you this first photo on Friday - but because I was redoing Thursday's post ...... I forgot! This twig tree is usually out in the studio with the hearts and butterflies on it but I bring it in to the house and add the little eggs at Easter
I made the felt flower for last year's Southdean show - I won second prize with it (modesty prevents my telling you that I also won first prize with a needle-felted picture!)
On Saturday morning, I headed off down the road to Chesters, for the Easter 'Market Day'. I took with me the leftovers from the Christmas Fair and some cards that I have had printed from some of my photos. It didn't take too long to set up my little stall
I didn't sell a lot - but enough to have made it worth going ....... and I had a delicious bacon roll and lentil soup for lunch!
We went for a walk in Jedburgh yesterday morning. We were intrigued by this little figure that we spotted on the gable of an old house. He looks as if he is playing some sort of musical instrument (click on the photo to enlarge it for a better look)
Back home, we found we had a very unwelcome visitor in the summer house ...... a wasp
As you can see, he was aiming to move in permanently, as he worked away on his byke (nest). He had already completed the first layer, and was working on the next one
As we didn't fancy sharing the summer house with him and his family, Malcolm removed his efforts (with the aid of a long stick) The byke is made of a paper-like substance, which the wasp makes by chewing tree bark
However, these visitors, making their very noisy way up the road to a new field, were very welcome!
Malcolm reluctantly modelled last week's knitting project, the lovely pale green gardening gloves. After posing in them, he gave them back and said he didn't really think they were practical gardening wear!
I've chosen another small project for this week, as I am still resting my hands and wrists (which are much better)
We have had lots more sunshine, so I have been able to bag lots of shadow shots to fill up the archives! This week's selection are from our back garden. To see where my fellow shadow chasers have found their shadows this week, pop over to Hey Harriet
To finish, a shadow from in the house - can you guess what this is the shadow of?
So ....... the sun lotion rant! Yesterday we headed up to Galashiels in search of sun lotion. Yes, we could have bought some in Hawick, but we couldn't get anything lower than factor 10. We are well aware of looking after our skin in the sun, but after many years of living and holidaying abroad, Malcolm and I never lose our tans, so we are quite content to start off with factor 8, then have a few days at the end of the holiday on factor 4. But most places now only stock factor 10 and higher - with an awful lot of factor 50. I remarked to Malcolm when we were in Asda that we could buy as much alcohol and cigarettes as we wanted, to damage our health, but we couldn't be allowed to get a suntan! And of course there are now reports of children suffering from rickets because they don't get enough vitamin D, because they are constantly slathered in high factor lotion, and women developing osteoporosis for the same reason. Can't we be allowed to show a bit of common sense in looking after ourselves?
OK, rant over!!
After shopping, we went to the Waterwheel Cafe for lunch
This of course meant we had to visit the owls. Two elderly gentlemen were highly amused at the way the owls would turn their heads away, every time I tried to take a photo!
Back home, we went out for a walk - but not just a leisurely stroll, but a walk with a mission ...... to find and follow the course of an underground stream that runs through the valley in front of us. Jim the Farmer had given Malcolm information about where our storm drains discharge - into field drains, which in turn go in to the underground stream. Malcolm has had new discussions with the Planning Department at the Council, and with SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency), who seem to be happy for us to tie the new sewage system into this set-up. This was the view as we walked up the hill .... although it was a lovely hot afternoon, it was very hazy. The swathe of yellow is oilseed rape, which has just started to flower (bringing misery to hay fever sufferers!)
We had to walk down the side of a field (on a 'right of way' path) disturbing a ewe and lambs ..... the ewe was determined to keep her bottom pointed at the camera!
These two horses were enjoying the sunshine so much, that they didn't stir when I took their photo - normally they would wander over to see if any food was on offer
We could see the course of the stream through the valley, then we found where it emerges, to flow on above ground
Last spring, I had some snake head fritillaries in a pot at the studio door. I planted them out in the raised border when I later put summer plants in the pot. When they didn't appear, I though they had fallen victim to the harsh winter ....... but then Malcolm took the protective fleece off the bottle brush - and there, growing away happily under the fleece, were the fritillaries!
We sat in the garden for a while when we got back from our walk, enjoying a cold drink. My new herb garden is growing nicely in its pot ...... I can't have herbs in the borders, as the neighbour's cats think our garden is their toilet!
I have a small stall at a 'market day' tomorrow. I'm hoping to sell the leftover stuff from the Christmas Fair!! I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne
I had almost finished tonight's post, when Typepad started acting up, so to be on the safe side, I clicked on 'draft' and 'save' ...... and that's the last I saw of my post!! (I have had to put quite a lot of money in the swear box). I can't face doing it all again, so I will give you a quick post, and tell you the rest tomorrow!
I spent the latter part of the afternoon in the studio, working on my Baltimore blocks. I traced the block that I had to have enlarged on to the polythene topsheet, but it didn't look quite right. I put the freezer paper template for the vase underneath ....... yes, the pattern hadn't been enlarged enough!
So I put that one aside, and instead I chose a fabric for the vase for the next block, and ironed the freezer paper template on
I cut it out and turned the edges under, using the glue stick. I also prepped two calix, and as I had already made the bias, I was able to put the first pieces of the block in place .......
....... ready to sew tomorrow
So, tomorrow I'll tell you about the rest of our day, including a bit of a rant about buying sun lotion!!
Usually I go to the hairdresser on a Thursday afternoon, and I should have been there last week, but my hairdresser was on holiday. I wasn't able to get an appointment for tomorrow, so I had one this morning. My hairdresser is in Kelso, and I would have been going there today anyway, as this afternoon was knit'n'natter. So I ended up being out from 9.30 this morning, until 5 this afternoon! Of course the camera went with me, and I had time to take some interesting photos. The first was of these two handsome chaps, standing guard outside an art gallery
Then round the back of the gallery, there is this strange sight
To the right of the boat, is this amazing dolphin ......
....... made from all sorts of bits of metal
After the hairdresser, I popped into the garden centre for lunch, then had a walk down to the river, where this swan was gliding along
On the way to the cafe where we meet for knit'n'natter, I walked through the old grave yard. I paused to read this gravestone, which tells a sad story (click on the photo to enlarge it)
The blossom was beautiful in the sunshine
Even in the centre of Kelso, there is no escape from large trucks!
After all that hard work in the sun taking photos, I decided not to have tea when I got to knit'n'natter, but instead to have a refreshing bottle of ginger beer
A bit of fun to finish ..... is this Mars, and its so-far unseen twin?