frayed at the edge

Cheese glorious cheese!

Despite the wind and rain, I joined my friends to visit Standhill Cheesery, which you can read about here and here.  We were made very welcome by the owners, Annie and Jimmy.  As soon as we sat down, we were given a glass of wine ..... well, you can't taste cheese without wine, can you!  Annie and Jimmy were very entertaining as they told the story of how they came to start the cheesery, and of some of the disasters along the way (the word 'rancid' was used!)   We were able to look into the room where the cheese is made (we couldn't go in because of hygiene regulations).  These cheeses had been made earlier in the day, and were scheduled to go into the chiller after we left

 

 

The soft cheeses are ready in a few weeks, the hard cheeses can take up to two years to be ready.  All of them were delicious........

 

 

 

 

........ and multi award winning

 

 

 

Then, of course, we had the opportunity to buy some cheese ....... and quite a lot came home with me!  These ones are produced on the premises

 

 

while these two are made for them with sheep and goat milk

 

 

It was  a very enjoyable visit and then we finished the evening by going for a meal ...... I had a mixed grill (yes, I had one of my rare treats of chips with it), but I declined the peas and tomato, neither of which I like.  (as I wasn't driving, I also had a very nice glass of wine!)

 

 

This morning, while we were enjoying our post-breakfast cuppa and reading our books, Malcolm noticed a rainbow.  I dashed out with the camera to capture it

 

 

I had hardly sat down and resumed reading, when Malcolm said that there was now a double rainbow (he faces the window, I sit at right angles to it, which is why he saw it and I didn't).  I rushed out into the garden again - just as a very heavy shower started!  But it was worth getting wet, as not only was there a double rainbow (the outer one is quite faint) ........

 

 

....... but the entire rainbow was visible

 

 

 

When we were in Hawick this morning, we had our usual detour to see if the heron was on the River Slitrig ...... I just had time to take a couple of photos before there was yet another heavy shower!

 

 

 

Back home, the feeders were crowded with birds, with the robin making use of the owl's head to wait for a chance to tuck in!

 

 

Wet and windy

Summer came back briefly on Sunday, but it has been downhill since then.  Yesterday the weather was mixed, with some sunshine, but also heavy rain and hailstones.  Then I got up this morning to find that it had rained heavily in the night, and was very windy.  When the weather is like this, there is only one thing to do ....... spend lots of time in the studio sewing!

Yesterday I did a lot of prep on the Baltimore blocks.  Then today, as well as the Baltimore prep, I also did a bit more work on my hexagons.  The hideous lurid charming pink project box is starting to fill up with hexagons in the three stages . ...... paper, fabric, and fabric tacked on to the papers

 

 

Block 3 is progressing well, and I now have most of the pieces prepped and pinned in place, with just the buds to add

 

 

I made a start to block 4

 

 

and block 5

 

 

I have stopped using glue to prep the pieces - I wasn't happy with some of the tight curves, which I found difficult to do using the glue.  So I have gone back to my usual way, ironing the freezer paper on to the wrong side, then tacking the seam allowance in place.  When I stitch the pieces in place, I leave a small gap to pull the freezer paper through using one of these wonderful implements

 

 

They are really meant for clamping blood vessels during surgery, but the serrated edges mean that they grip the freezer paper well

 

 

I haven't decided on the final layout of the blocks, but they are looking good so far

 

 

The strong wind made it difficult to take photos of the birds on the feeders, but I managed to capture this little tit ....

 

 

...... and this poor chaffinch looked extremely miserable in the rain

 

 

I've been invited by my friend Lorraine to join her and the other ladies of Southdean Rural on a visit to a local cheesemaker this evening.  We are then going for a meal.  If I don't get blown away, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

The long and winding road

 
On Saturday, I got up at 6.30, wished a sleepy Malcolm a happy birthday (I did offer to make him a cup of tea), got ready and headed off to meet up with 42 other ladies.  Our destination - the autumn quilt show at Harrogate.  Unfortunately, it is a rather long journey from the Borders to Harrogate ....... 3 hours by bus!!  However, it was worth every moment of the journey when we arrived to see the stunning 'best in show' quilt   - I'm always unsure about showing photos of quilts at shows, but this quilt will be featured in every p&q magazine over the next few months, so I don't think it matters if I show it to you here

 

 

There were some fabulous quilts (and one or two not quite so fabulous!) ........ here are a couple that particularly caught my eye

 

 

 

Of course a quilt show doesn't just mean quilts ...... it also means TRADERS!!  So did I buy anything? Yes, of course!!

 

delicious fabrics

 

 

co-ordinated linen

 

 

could this be a future project?

 

 

a replacement for Malcolm's flexible curve which I have lost mislaid

 

Of course you can't spend a whole day away from home without having something to eat!  The catering was excellent, and I really enjoyed my lunch

 

 

Later on I had a little icecream  - mandarin, with little chips of dark chocolate - superb!

 

 

Yesterday morning we went to a local garden centre for breakfast ...... and came home with another owl to add to the collection.  How could I resist this lovely rusty owl!

 

 

Having been worried about the lack of butterflies in the garden this summer ..... suddenly there are lots of them!

 

 

 

 

There have also been more bees about

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in the front garden, there were plenty of birds to watch ....... including the adult robin

 

 

and the young one, who is still just a little bit fluffy!

 

 

I spent most of the afternoon in the studio - I'll show you tomorrow what I have been busy with.  Malcolm was also busy being creative ........ he was going to keep this driftwood sculpture that he made this afternoon to give me for my birthday next month - but he was so pleased with it, he gave it to me before the glue was quite dry!!

 

 

I decided to put it through in the back lounge, beside a wooden and metal sculpture which he gave me for my birthday five years ago (when we had  lived here for a just few weeks)

 

 

The knitting update ....... I haven't had much time to work on the socks (and I had to take back several rows last night after dropping a stitch!)

 

 

To finish ..... it won't be long until I need to light the stove in the studio, so today Malcolm gave it a good clean and polish with 'black lead'

 

 

Birthday boy!

 

 

Happy birthday Malcolm!!

 

Have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Unidentified flying objects .........

......... in this case birds!  I have been looking at so many pictures of ducks, I am starting to quack, but I still don't know what this is.  It was swimming in the River Teviot this morning

 

 

 

 

I also haven't been able to identify this bird, which was bobbing about at the water's edge.  It looked similar to a wagtail, but with stiking yellow  flashes

 

 

 

 

However, I didn't need any help to identify this next bird - the heron

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I should take a photo of this old mill, as it is scheduled for demoltion ...... although hopefully the clock tower will be saved.  The building is a victim of the economic downturn - it was going to be developed into apartments, but those plans fell through, and the building fell further and further into disrepair.  It will be sad to see another little bit of Hawick's rich history disappear

 

 

These two handsome dogs were patiently waiting for their owner outside the supermarket - I guess their owner didn't see the item on the news yesterday about dogs being stolen and large amounts of money being demanded for their safe return

 

 

Back home, the birds haven't been put off by the appearance of the owls round the bird table, and were tucking in when I took these photos after lunch

 

 

 

 

 

Summer is now officially over, and one of the horses in the field across the road already has its coat on!

 

 

To finish - why do these ripening elderberries not fill me with joy ....... because it means that soon my car will be covered in purple bird poo!!