frayed at the edge

Day 11 ........ and it's that hunk again!

Back in our routine, we went for a cuppa in the Pickled Orange this morning ....... and of course that meant sharing one of their wonderful scones - this one is blackberry and vanilla (with some of their tasty homemade raspberry jam to spread on it)

 

I always have a vase of flowers in the hall - but since I started shopping in Sainsbury's, they haven't always been the fanciest of flowers ..... the latest offering was what I call petrol station flowers (yes, I could go to a florist, but it's a case of lazy "pop it in the trolley" shopping!)

 

so when we popped into Morrison's for some shopping this morning, I took the chance to buy a bunch of altroemeria and a bunch a gypsophila

 

did you notice the little blue and white pot on the left .....

 

Malcolm bought it years ago on a business trip to Manila.  Then, when we were in Singapore, he spotted this little pot

 

so of course it had to come home with us

 

so ....... what is that on the right?  It's a temple bell, which Malcolm bought on a business trip to Kuala Lumpur

 

and what are all these things sitting on - a wine cupboard which we bought in Jakarta ....... and the little bit of rug that you can see - Malcolm bought that on a business trip to India!

 

and if you look at the hall from a different angle ....... the lamp/plant table in the corner also came from Jakarta  - but the little pine chest of drawers was bought years ago in Falkirk (we lived there in the 90s).  The big embroidered tree was a kit that my Dad bought from an advert in a newspaper many years ago (just as well that he knew someone to stitch it for him!) ....... and the two white tablecloths were stitched by my great-aunt Mima (they were already old when I was little, so they could be 80 or 90 years old!)

 

and I might as well show you the other corner, which has a lovely chair which we bought in an antique shop in Hexham years ago (Malcolm reupholstered it)

 

so, to return to this morning ........ when we came home, I was jumping up and down and squealing, when I found this on the doormat

 

why?  Well, let me explain.  Although I am now on my 4th laptop (Malcolm bought me my first one in, I think, 1999, when I took over as writer/erditor/producer of the monthly newsletter for the little expat group that I was a member of when we lived in Cillegon, West Java (we moved there after the fall of President Suharto and the ensuing political chaos meant that the project that Malcolm was working on in Jakarta was put on ice and he went to work on an existing plant, in the hope that the original project would be revived .... it wasn't) ...... I have never got the hang of using a touchpad, and have always used a mouse - which of course means also using a mousemat.  My current one is a rigid one, which means it can sit on the arm of the couch when I am using the laptop (it actually came with a cable to plug it into a usb port - the silver bit has several usb ports, so that you could, in theory, plug several things in - unfortunately it didn't work!)

 

ever since I took the photo of that gorgeous young man in the Abercrombie and Fitch shop in Singapore (I have since discovered that the staff in A&F shops routinely go about half-naked!), Malcoolm has been teasing me about him, and on Sunday said "I'm surprised you haven't had his photo put on a mousemat".  Yes. you have now guessed what was in this morning's post ....

 

sorry, Malcolm, what did you say ...... it's not for stroking

 

but why should a little mouse have all the fun!?!?

 

ok, I've run out of excuses to show you more photos of him ....... but I know that there are quite a few of you will have been drooling over him, given that I had more comments on him than I have had on most posts!  So ....... if you would like to get your own mousemat - I got mine here (or simply print out a photo), either tell me in a comment , or email me (there is a link to click on at the top of the righthand sidebar) and I will email you with the photo as an attachment for you to download.

Day 10 ..... and trying to avoid C*****mas!

It's only the 10th of October, but the shops are rapidly filling up with cards, decorations and presents.  We could hardly get in the door of a shop this morning, as a member of staff was stringing up lights!  When I rule the world (!!) I will ban anything to do with Christmas until December (except for those organised people who make their cakes and puddings weeks/months in advance).  However at Abbey Quilters last night, I had to bend my rules, as we were making felt decorations.  We had a choice of a stocking or a pudding, both adorned with little teddies.  I chose to start with the stocking

the decorations are made with felt

 

all the pieces cut out

 

the white pieces stitched in place and a cute little Santa added

 

the back and front stitched together

 

that's as far as I got!

 

the pattern for the pudding decoration

 

at the end of the evening, Caroline came over and put a little parcel into my sewing bag.  I asked her if I could have a peek ...... she said no, to wait until I was home before I opened the parcel.  I was squealing with delight when I saw what she had given me.  Thank you very much, Caroline, for the wonderful present!!

a beautiful handmade card

 

the cutest sheepie fabric

 

I shall have to make something special to show off the sheep

 

pull the lamb's tail .....

 

...... and you can measure your knitting!!

 

I took the photos of the present out in the garden this morning, making the most of the sunshine, as the forecast is for rain tommorrow.  It's no surprise to me that it is going to rain ....... I am going to the hairdresser tomorrow afternoon, and it always sees to rain when I get my hair done!!

Day 9 ...... and something I nearly forgot!

Stuart and Alison gave us a joint birthday present, which we opened before the holiday, as we didn't want to take it with us in case it got lost.  I finally remembered today to take photos to show you.  We removed the outer wrapping to discover this - I would box Stuart's ears for being cheeky, but I would have to stand on a stool to reach!

 

inside was an intriguing folder

 

and inside the folder ...... gift certificates for us to attend a food and wine evening.  They are valid for a year, so we have plenty of  time to decide which evening to attend

 

you know how much we enjoy our food (and wine) so they couldn't have found a better present for us!

 

I had to pop into Hawick this morning, and as usual walked round to see if the heron was sitting on the rocks in the Slitrig.   He wasn't there ...... but there is a new "water feature" - and old tyre which has got jammed in the rocks

 

I walked on round to see if the heron was further along the river.  No heron, but a pair of ducks

 

I walked through the old churchyard

 

I have wondered in the past about the meaning of a skull and crossbones on headstones, so today I made the effort to google it ....... if you click here you will find a very comprehensive list of gravestone symbolism.

A quick visit to my favourite charity shop produced these four wine glasses

 

taking that photo reminded me that I hadn't yet shown you the miniature glass bottles that I bought from a quirky shop at the South Melbourne Market (I put the espresso cup beside them to give you an idea of how small they are)

 

they are a little reminder of the very elegantly served cuppa that I had at the Armchair Collective, which we visited with Lee

 

when I went out this morning, I had to break the ice in the birdbath .....

 

...... the water must still have been cold this afternoon, as this (rather plump) female blackbird was somewhat hesitant about having a dip!

 

........ and the robin looked most annoyed at having to queue!!

 

I'm off to Kelso later for the monthly meeting at Abbey Quilters.  Come back tomorrow to see what tonight's project is.

Day 8 - and still going strong!

When I was busy sewing yesterday afternoon, Malcolm came to tell me that there was a butterfly in the garden ...... we have seen very few this year!

not just a butterfly, but bees too!

 

beautiful markings

 

can you see the body is quite furry?

 

the everlasting sweet pea has finally flowered

 

I like the tangle of tendrils

 

the pyracantha beside the studio door is laden with berries

 

this afternoon I thought I ought to tackle the ironing basket!

 

to finish ...... this isn't the best of photos, as it was taken through the window.  The robin was having fun in the birdbath ...... but as soon as I took the photo, he flew off!!

Day 7 - and this is strange!

Regular readers know that I don't usually blog on Sundays (it's all to do with Shadow Shot Sunday and is a bit complicated).  But having committed to posting every day during Blogtoberfest, here I am with a Sunday post!

We woke this morning to a beautiful frosty autumn morning -  it's hard to believe that last Sunday we were sweltering in the Botanic Gardens in Singapore

 

however, we had a wonderful walk this morning, made even better by these gorgeous creatures!

 

there is no better place to be on a beautiful autumn morning than the glorious Scottish Borders

 

and after a busy day ...... a little bit of blog reading, a glass of wine, and a cosy fire ...... bliss!!

 

ps - did the studio stay tidy?  NO!!

 

Day 6 ...... and the first fire of the season

I finally escaped from housework and laundry duty, and headed out to the studio for some fun.  I had tidied up before the holiday, but I suspect by the end of the weekend the tables will be covered in  stuff!!

 

although it wasn't really cold, I said yes please when Malcolm offered to light the stove for me (typical male, he thinks I can't manage anything fire-related ........ or maybe he still remembers when I set the chimney on fire in 1989!!)

 

I thought I ought to make the effort to get on with some UFOs, before I get more work from Anne.  I think I have been calling this wallhanging Love Notes ...... but when I got the pattern out, I realised that it is called Notes of Love!  I still have two of the stitcheries to finish, but I trimmed the others to size ......

 

and arranged them on the design wall with the pieced blocks .......

 

...... and added the first border

 

by the end of the afternoon, I had stitched the rows together

 

do you remember when we drove from Sydney to Melbourne, it took us three days?  I found this postcard which I had bought years ago when we had a holiday in Western Australia, and Malcolm kindly marked the approximate locations of Sydney and Melbourne for me (geography is not my strong point!)

 

but if you thought that during that 3-day journey we saw a lot of Australia, think again!!

 

the forecast is good for tomorrow, so we are looking forward to going for our usual Sunday walk ..... and no doubt we will go for a cuppa (and possibly a scone!)

Day 5 ...... and it's back in the old routine

It's Friday, so of course that means housework!  If you are ever walking past our house on a Friday morning and you hear a strange noise, as if someone is strangling a cat ....... don't worry, it's just me singing as I clean the bathroom.  Think of the chorus of Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night", then sing along ...... scrub-a-dub, a-dub dub, scrub a-dub a-dub.  With the house gleaming, I set off for Borderland Fabrics, for an afternoon of patch'n'chat.As soon as I arrived, Katy jumped up to give me a belated birthday hug, and this beautiful handmade card ........

 

....... and these super buttons

 

when Tricia arrived, she too had a present for me (I have been so spoiled!!)  How cute is this pincushion!

 

and knowing that I like owls, Tricia had found the perfect gift bag

 

Friday at patch'n'chat means cake, and today we had a choice of not one, not two, but three cakes!!

date slice

 

truffles

 

cupcakes

 

I was very good, and only had a date slice - having lost that two pounds, I don't want to put it straight back on!! 

I'm looking forward to getting out to the studio over the weekend, and organising some sewing projects.  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Day 4, and I know you won't believe it but ............

.......... I weighed myself this morning - and I have LOST weight!!  OK, it's only two pounds, but I think that is the first time I have ever lost weight on holiday!  Although it seemed as if we were always eating big meals, those were the special occasion meals.  On other days we cooked dinner in the apartment, just the everyday sort of dinners we have at home.  And, of course, we were very active, walking for miles most days.

Do you remember that wonderful pesto chicken pasta that I had for lunch at the winery.  I decided to try to recreate it for dinner tonight - but a slightly healthier version!

 

the ingredients, clockwise from top left :- 250g of fusilli pasta (I used fresh, but you coud use dried);  pesto - this is a light one, with less fat; half fat creme fraiche (but if I was making this for a special occasion, I would use double cream!); 200g of diced chicken; salt and pepper; a medium onion, diced;  four mushrooms, finely sliced; and broccoli and asparagus to serve on the side

As usual, I managed to forget an ingredient for the main photo...... parmesan! 

 

 I shaved some with the potato peeler, to put on the finished dish

 

and grated some to stir in to the sauce

 

it was very simple to cook.  I started by gently cooking the onion and mushroom in a little olive oil

 

and put the broccoli and asparagus on to simmer

 

once the mushrooms and onion were nicely softened, I added the chicken

 

then when the chicken was cooked, I put the pasta on to cook

 

to finish the sauce, I added the creme fraiche .....

 

....... and the pesto and parmesan

 

I drained the pasta, and stirred it through the sauce ....... remember, add the pasta to  the sauce, or you end up with two saucy saucepans to wash up!!

 

We had a good sized portion, and it would easily do three if you perhaps had a salad instead of the veggies, and some garlic bread, and it would certainly do four for lunch.

Day 3 of Blogtoberfest

I am feeling decidedly discombubulated!!  We had a 13-hour flight from Singapore to London, leaving Singapore about 11pm ....... but because of the time difference, we got to London at 5am.  We then had an onward flight to Newcastle, and finally a drive home.  The bags are all unpacked, the utility room has a great pile of laundry on the floor, and there are piles of this and that throughout the house, waiting to be sorted out/put away.

It will take some time to go through all my photos (the joys of digital photography, I took several thousand!) and over the next few weeks I will do an occasional post to share the highlights of our wonderful holiday with you. 

I have already shared with you the fabrics and patterns that I bought, but I realised that I had yet to show you the yarns .....

delicious merino

 

gorgeous kid mohair and merino

 

fabulous alpaca and merino

 

and finally ....... cheap and cheerful acrylic!  I bought this as a kit when we were on our way to Melbourne - I wouldn't normally buy such bright colours, but it just seemed the right thing for holiday knitting.  The pattern is simple, and I will just keep knitting until I run out of yarn.  Although it's acrylic, it is actually soft and cuddly - lovely to snuggle under on a cold winter's night!

Day 2

This is the second day of Blogtoberfest, but of course for me it is the most important day of the whole month, as my birthday has finally arrived!  I love birthdays ..... Malcolm was laughing at me at 7.30 this morning as I sang "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me"  Then later I performed my "Birthday Girl Dance" ...... think Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hamks doing the "Goat Dance" in the film Dragnet - they were probably more elegant than me!!

We may be away from home, but I still had cards

from Lee, Stuart and Alison, and Malcolm

 

and presents

from Malcolm, a kit to make a little wallhanging ......

 

....... and some ribbon

 

and from Lee some beautiful Australian fabrics

 

this morning saw us indulge in a last look round the shops ...... there are just so many shops here, that you could visit a different shop every day for a year and not see them all, whereas at home in Hawick if you started first thing in the morning at one of the High Street and went in to every shop, you would be finished by lunchtime!  And speaking of lunch ....... again, there are so many places to eat here, that it is hard to decide where to go ......... but today when I saw this sign

 

I thought yes, I could just fancy some Italian food.  So after all the fancy dining of the last five weeks, for my birthday lunch I had ..... lasagne!!

 

Malcolm had lobster and crab ravioli

 

all washed down with a very pleasant glass of Pinot Grigio

 

Ah well, all good things must come to an end, and I'm off now to finish the packing, then have a shower and get ready for the journey home ..........