frayed at the edge

An unusual scone!

On Thursday mornings, we usually go into Hawick, where we pop into the Pickled Orange for a cuppa and a scone (just one between us, as they are very large!).  Given the choice, we both prefer savoury to sweet scones ...... so this morning we were delighted to try out the latest offering - tomato and black pudding.  It was delicious!

 

On the way out to the studio this afternoon, I was sidetracked, first by this clematis flower .......

 

....... then this very pretty aqualegia

 

 

In the evenings I have been stitching away on the little Christmas stitcheries.  I have finished the first one .....

 

....... and have made a good start to the second one

 

I had another session quilting Lilly Pilly, and have now finished the centre area

 

When I did the food shopping on Tuesday, I got some lovely asparagus, which had been reduced to half price (because it has that day's date on it).  I had a look through this book for a recipe .......

 

....... and settled on this one (although I don't know why she calls it Alpine eggs, as it uses Lancashire, not Swiss, cheese

 

I had started preparing the dish when it occurred to me to take photos!  So at this stage, I had buttered the dishes, put the cooked asparagus in the bottom and added half of the cheese

 

The next stage was to add the eggs.  I always used to break eggs one at a time into a ramekin, in case there was a bad one, but in recent years the standard of eggs has been so good that I had stopped doing that.  But then some weeks ago, as I was cracking eggs to make scrambled eggs for Sunday breakfast, the last one was bad, so the whole lot had to be thrown out.  So I have gone back to cracking them one at a time into the ramekin!

 

When I added the first two eggs to the righthand dish, the yolks promptly slithered to the side.  I tried to gently persuade one to move back to the centre - and it promptly burst!  However the two in the second dish stayed in the centre.

 

After seasoning with salt and pepper, the rest of the cheese was added and the top was dotted with butter ( just because it's a vegetarian dish, it doesn't mean that it's healthy!!)

 

As suggested by Delia, I served it with salad and crusty bread.  I wouldn't normally butter the bread, but there was a little of the softened butter that I used on the oven dishes left, so I used it up!  You will see that there is avocado on top of the salad - when we were shopping this morning, I got a pack of two "ripe and ready to eat" avocados which had been reduced to half price ..... because they had today's date on them!  Topped with finely chopped chives (actually, I snipped them with scissors) the dish was delicious, and very filling.  I think though, if I make it again, I will add ham for some extra flavour

 

I've got another silly thing to finish with ..... I wondered what Malcolm was laughing at as he unpacked a case of wine which was delivered this afternoon.  I laughed too when he showed me this - if you don't speak French, the name of the wine is (almost) pronouned carry on

Soggy!

When I looked out the window this morning, I was very tempted to about turn and get back into bed, it was so damp and dreary.  However, I need the exercise, so I got dressed, got out the rain jacket and the tatty old trainers and headed out.  The drizzle meant that there were no insects about, so instead of swooping gracefully through the air catching their breakfast, the swallows were huddled on the phone line

 

The horses didn't look very happy either .....

 

....... but this little lamb had found a good place to curl up and avoid the worst of the weather

 

But it wasn't all gloom and doom!  I had fun looking for arty waterdrops ......

 

 

....... then I had a "find the biggest worm slithering down the road" competition!!

1st

 

2nd

 

3rd

 

I love how rabbits sit very, very still - I guess they think if they don't move, they can't be seen

 

The sheep haven't made much headway in eating the overgrown field - you can only just see the lamb's head peeking out from the long grass

 

When I was catching up on Brid's blog the other day, I saw that her house is featured in this month's Ideal Home magazine.  I finally got round to buying the magazine this morning, and have spent the rest of the day gazing longingly at her beautiful home

 

 

 

Did you spot the beautiful chair on the top right of the photo?  I have come up with a cunning plan ...... I am going to adopt Brid, then when I go to visit her, I shall accidently put the chair in my suitcase when I'm leaving!!

 

To finish, one of my arty photos ....... this is the skeleton of a dandelion flower

Backtracking

With all the news about the new mill shop and cafe yesterday, there wasn't room to squeeze in the weekend happenings - so here is a quick catch-up!

On Sunday we went for a walk along the river at the Waterwheel Cafe, so of course that started with photos of the owls!

 

Some months ago part of the riverbank collapsed, and we were amazed to see that the repair work has turned into a major undertaking

 

 

Malcolm wondered what I was taking a photo of ........ doesn't everyone take photos of stones?

 

As we were leaving the car park, Malcolm stopped so that I could capture this little cutie!

 

As always over the weekend I was busy in the studio.  These are the latest little stitcheries that I am doing for Anne

 

 

 

 

These two are somewhat bigger, with lots of detail

 

 

 

 

After pressing them thoroughly, I layered them with some thin cotton wadding, ready to stitch

 

Next, I pinned the layers of Lilly Pilly together, ready for quilting.  I knew I would need a lot of pins, so got out both tins

 

 

I made a start to the quilting this afternoon.  I am using a small scale pattern on the spaces round the leaves, and I'll increase the size when I work round the outside

 

I got the right hand side and along the top of the tree done

 

The tits are busy feeding the chicks - this one had a careful look before leaving the nesting box .....

 

........ quickly returning with a beak-ful of insects

 

Our new neighbours are finally about to move in - but they already have squatters!  The swallows have made a bit of a mess with their mud nest on the newly painted wall!

 

 

To finish ....... after showing you my latest hair colour, I thought you might like to see the colour I was born with (yes, the blond is fake!).  I'm not smiling as I was very self-conscious of a crooked front tooth!!

A day off!

Normally we don't vary from our routine when there is a public holiday ...... but as today is a very special holiday, for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we decided to do something different!  But first, I got up as usual and headed out for my walk.  I put the big lens on the camera, which meant I could take photos such as this one, of a black sheep some distance away in the field across the road

 

then there were these cows, two fields away at the bottom of the valley

 

 

I never tire of taking photos of the Mintos and the Eildons, as the views change so much with the different seasons

 

 

These sheep were tucking into the lush grass, in a field which hasn't been grazed for some time!

 

 

I just managed to snap this fox as it dashed down the field - but I couldn't see what it was carrying

So, where did we go for our "jubilee jaunt"?  All the way to Hawick!  One the the woollen mills has just opened a cafe and shop.  Malcolm had checked it out last week, and said it was a super place.  We parked in the supermarket car park, popped in to buy the papers, then walked along the river to the mill.

 

 

As always, I had a pot of tea, and we shared a delicious cheese scone

 

Malcolm enjoyed his large americano, topped with hot milk

 

The cafe is light, airy and welcoming

 

 

Although we just had a scone, I think the next time we might have one of the wonderful cakes!

 

the shop is full of wonderful things - not all of them woolly!

 

 

There are also little bits of history, such as these wool weights .......

 

 

...... and an old loom

 

to finish ...... get ready to say aaaaah

Shadow Shot Sunday

Today's shadow shots come from our recent holiday in Majorca.  These ones were taken in the old town of Pollensa.  You can see more shadows from around the world here

 

 

 

 

Drip, drip, drip

After yesterday's rain, it was still damp and dripping when I went out for my walk this morning, and  the ewes in the old orchard looked seriously disgruntled

 

However the dripping plants in the verges provided some interesting photos

 

 

 

However this rhododendron provided a splash of colour

 

I consulted my wildflower books to discover that  this is water aven

 

This weekend, the Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee ....... so of course that meant a party lunch at patch'n'chat!!  We had to dress in red, white and blue ..... so I bought this t-shirt (although purists will note that it actually shows a Victorian pillar box!)

 

I added a red bangle, my beautiful pearl and lapis lazuli necklace, and as it is the diamond jubilee, my diamond earrings

 

A not very good photo of the finished look!

 

We all took a dish to share - this was my contribution, smoked salmon

 

As always, there was a lovely spread of food

 

 

 

We may have had a wonderful lunch, but that didn't mean that we had to do without the Friday cake!!  This week's offering was fairy cakes with fresh cream, and to continue the jubilee theme, topped with an edible Union Jack!

 

I will be making a start to quilting Lilly Pilly over the weekend - I hope whatever you are doing, you have a good time, love Anne