frayed at the edge

I told you there were two!!

I quite often show you photos of the Minto Hills - but because of the angle we see them at, you actually only see one.  But we went for a walk after lunch round a different route ....... and there they were, the two Mintos!

 

 

We also saw Ruberslaw from a different angle

 

 

But to go back to the start of the morning  ........ it was grey and threatening to rain, but as always the roses in the hedgerow provided some lovely colour

 

 

 

When I stopped to take a photo of these two horses, they were both lying down, but one of them stood up, making a much better composition!

 

 

The shorn sheep look comical

 

 

I hope you like animal photos, as here is another one!  A beautiful new horse in the field across the road

 

 

Then during our after-lunch walk ....... well, could you resist this gorgeous beastie?

 

 

....... or this one?

 

 

I am still enjoying playing with the new lens - I didn't have to bend down to take this photo of a tiny feather on the road!

 

 

To finish ....... no, not another animal, but a little sparrow!!

 

 

 

Puzzled!

I was a little bit puzzled when the post arrived this morning, and I saw this on the back of an envelope from The Red Cross

 

 

I couldn't see what The Red Cross had to do with the Changi Quilt, which was made by women detained in Changi Prison during the Second World War, but on reading the enclosed leaflet, it all became clear (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

The leaflet opened out to show the quilt in full

 

 

Two of the blocks caught my eye

 

 

 

The Red Cross are using images taken from the quilt as part of this month's fundraising ........ also in the envelope was a set of stationery - and of course a form and envelope for me to send a donation

 

 

Before I went for my walk this morning, I took these photos of the ongoing work ......

 

the treatment unit concreted into the big hole

 

 

the trench for the pipework from the house to the treatment unit

 

 

bits of pipework

 

 

I can't park in my usual place because of the work

 

......... but when I came home from knit'n'natter - a complete transformation!

 

the ground restored round the treatment unit

 

 

the garden cleared and the hedge replanted

 

 

the trench from Malcolm's shower room to the unit, backfilled and ready for new tarmac

 

But the best thing ......... I can use my bathroom again!!

 

 

 

 

Raspberry delight!

Here it is, the first foraged raspberry of the summer!!

 

 

That one was eaten as soon as the photo was taken, but I did pick some more to take home to share with Malcolm

 

 

The hedgerow apples are coming along nicely.  They are about the size of golfballs, and won't get much bigger, but will make good jelly in the autumn

 

 

 

The flies were bad again this morning, so I thought I might invest in a fly coat and hood, to match these horses ....... although I would have to have my ears relocated to the top of my head!!

 

 

I wasn't able to take any photos of the big hole today, as there was too much going on ........ but we're not the only ones digging holes - from the size of this one in the verge, I think it has probably been dug by a badger

 

 

Back home, when the post arrived, I was delighted to see an envelope with this stamp on it ......

 

 

...... as it meant the prize I won in Meredithe's recent giveaway had arrived.  I opened the envelope to find a prettily wrapped parcel

 

 

Inside ...... a set of Meredithe's templates.  I haven't done any hand piecing for a while, so I am looking forward to making this project!

 

 

As promised, an update on the Baltimore blocks.  I added the three buds

 

 

 

 

Next, I worked on the centres of the four main flowers.  I used a reel of thread as a template to draw a circle on card and on four fabrics.  I cut the card circle out on the line, but added seam allowance to the fabrics

 

 

I ran a tacking thread round the edge of one of the circles, put the card on top, then pulled the thread tight.  Then I pressed the fabric, to give a crisp edge for sewing

 

 

Once the card cooled, I removed it and used it to prepare the other three circles.  I then marked circles on a scrap of wadding

 

 

I padded each circle of fabric with wadding, then stitched them in the centre of the flowers

 

 

That only leaves the eight-petal flower on the left, but I think I will fill the centre with French knots, so I won't do them unitl I have washed the block to remove the fabric glue.  The next block has a lot of leaves.  I had already prepped some of them, and did the rest this afternoon

 

 

Rain is forecast, but hopefully it won't be too heavy in the morning when I go out for my walk, and I will be able to take photos of the ongoing work!

 

 

Dear Santa .......

........ I have been a very, very good girl, so please can I have one of these for Christmas?

 

 

The workmen had to bring in the digger today, as they needed to dig a hole big enough for this

 

 

Before they left for the day, they made good use of the hole as overnight storage for the spare digger buckets

 

 

While they were busy working, we went for a walk up the bridle path ...... we were delighted to come across this foal

 

 

The flies are very bad this year, and this poor horse was being tormented by them - if you click on the photo to enlarge it you will see them clustered round its eye and on its mane

 

 

Fortunately we weren't bothered with flies when we were out for a walk by the river yesterday morning

 

 

We were a bit surprised to see this lily growing on the river bank ..........

 

 

........ and even more suprised to see the remains of a motorbike in the river!

 

 

I spent quite a lot of time in the studio on both Saturday and Sunday..  I have a growing pile of things which are part done, so I thought I would make a determined effort to get them finished.  First off the pile was the third of the four chicken wallhangings (the first two are finished).  I layered it, ready to quilt

 

 

Next were the two knitted fronts for cushions, which I finished some time ago.  I got out one of my many sample curtains and took it apart.  I hemmed the two pieces for the back of the cushion and put them on the cutting board, overlapping them so that they formed a square

 

 

then put the knitted panel, backed with cutain lining, on top and pinned all the layers together

 

 

The last stage was to add binding.  One of the cushions is finished, and I just have a little bit of stitching to finish on the second one

 

 

I also finished to cushion which was last week's knitting project.  When I knitted the stripes on the back, I thought it looked a bit boring

 

 

so when I did the front, I knitted the stripes in garter stitch, rather than stocking stitch, to add some texture

 

 

I found some buttons in my stash

 

 

The finished cushion

 

 

I am taking a break from the project for a few weeks, as I want to concentrate on knitting the baby shawl to put into the Southdean show next month, and I also want to spend more time on my Baltimore blocks ........ I'll give you progress report tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

I missed joining in the fun when we were away last week, so I was delighted that we had some sunny mornings this week when I was out for my early morning walks, and I could bag lots of shadow shots to join in this week, along with all the other shadow addicts over at Hey Harriet

 

lazing in the early morning sun

 

 

thinking about having breakfast?

 

 

resting in the shade of an oak tree

 

 

never mind all those horses, take our photo!

 

 

can I have my fleece back please?!

 

To finish, something small, cuddly and very, very cute!!

 

Come on Andy!

I can hardly concentrate on doing today's post, as I am watching Andy Murray playing Rafael Nadal in the semi-final at Wimbledon!!

You may have noticed that there hasn't been a lot of sewing happening recently ....... so yesterday afternoon saw me chained to the work table in the studio, doing more prep work for my Baltimore quilt.  Having cut out the vase and some flowers, I arranged them roughly with some stems on the background fabric

 

 

This is what the block should look like when it's finished

 

I also made another four petals to replace the ones that the freezer paper stuck to ...... and this time I made them in a contrasting fabric

 

 

When we were in Hawick yesterday, Malcolm pointed out this workman ........

 

 

........ and this is where he was working!!

 

 

To finish, I thought I would show you a last lot of photos from our Woolfest trip ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops - nearly forgot the Friday cakes ...... Annette really spoiled us this week, with strawberry and cream cupcakes!

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne