frayed at the edge

A new apprentice

I had to take on a new photography apprentice, Katy, this afternoon, to take a photo of Kay handing over my quilt to me ........ the quilt top was given to me by the lovely Helen, when I met her in Melbourne

 

the quilting is fabulous ..... but you will have to wait until Monday to see it in detail, when I get the chance to take photos in good light.  Of course I knew it would be fabulous, as Kay is this year's Scottish Champion

 

there was great excitement this morning when a nuthatch appeared on the bird table.  I got somewhat exasperated as it kept flying off before I could get it in focus, but eventually I managed to get a couple of photos

 

a flash of red in the hawthorn tree caught my eye - the robin's breast is much brighter at this time of year

 

when I was in the hall cupboard yesterday, I noticed a box tucked away under the bottom shelf.  I discovered that it contained a whole lot of glasses with the remains of scented candles.  I cleaned them out and popped them in the dishwasher (along with the day's dishes, not just on their own) ....... so now I have fifteen sparkly clean glasses - I just have to decide what to do with them!

 

oh yum, yum, yum ...... our favourite apple and sultana cake

 

I shall be doing something very special tomorrow afternoon ...... but you will have to wait until Monday to find out what!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

Glutton for punishment!

As I have quite a lot of stuff left from Saturday's fair, I have decided to have my own fair!!  I am inviting everyone I know in the area, and as an added inducement we will be having mulled wine and nibbles.  If only you all lived close enough to come along next Wednesday night ...... but perhaps it's just as well you can't all come, as it would be a bit of a squash to fit you all in the studio!  On Saturday I was limited as to what I could sell, as I only had half a table, but as I will have lots of room next week, I had a look through my stash to see what else I could make.  I found some large notebooks that I bought when Woolworths closed down - so I have had them for several years!  I had a trial run yesterday to make a much simpler cover than I usually make, then today I delved into my stash of curtain samples

 

having made the sample in a dark fabric, I picked out cream/beige fabrics for the others, so that I wouldn't have to change the thread in the machine.  By the end of this afternoon, all the books were covered

 

I can no longer deny that it is getting near Christmas ...... and I certainly can't forget how long it is to go, now that these two little elves have appeared in the kitchen

 

it has been miserable today ...... snowing when we got up this morning, then turning to heavy rain for the rest of the day.  But at least it has got a lot milder, although I still needed the log burner to keep warm in the studio

 

I took these bird photos on Tuesday

 

there is always one bird that flies off just as I snap - this time it was a blue tit.  You can just make out the outline of its wings

 

today's prompt for#reverb12 is

Compare the “you” from the beginning of 2012 to the “you” that you are now. What new skills or talents have you learned or discovered this year?

the big difference between how I was at the start of the year, and how I am now, is that I have learned that there is a big difference between a fear and a phobia.  I have a fear of heights, and especially heights over water, but it isn't a phobia that prevents me from doing things such as walking over Sydney Harbour Bridge in September.  Yes, my heart was racing, and yes, I was hyperventilating, but I was determined to do it ....... and this was my reward

 

I have also realised recently that although I have always said that I don't like enclosed spaces, I am actually not bothered by small places like toilet cubicles, but I couldn't crawl through a small tunnel.  It is lack of height, rather than width that bothers me (I can't watch potholers on tv), so when I was recently stuck in the lift, I could cope because of the design of the lift.  It didn't have a roof, and I could see up to the next floor of the building.  OK, any excuse for handsome men ...... remember the hunks who rescued us

Keeping my promise!

So did you guess which quilt the snazzy fabric was for?  Yes, it's for the black, white and red one for Linus.  Here it is all layered up, ready to quilt ..... I just have to decide how to quilt it!

 

I want to add a border to the other Linus top, but I can't decide between green .....

 

....... and pinkish red (or is it reddish pink?).  Malcolm prefers the green, while I prefer the pinkish red ...... what do you think?

I stitched together the three strips which form the pockets on the Needle Nookie, and marked the stitching lines

 

then wrote the needle names lightly in pencil, ready to embroider over.  Anne will be using the Needle Nookie when she has finished displaying it as a shop sample, so I am embroidering the pockets with her choice of needles.  Her favourite needles for applique are Bohin (you will have to scroll quite far down to see the needles)

 

at the end of November, I was invited by Kat to join in her project for December #reverb12 (she also hosted Blogtoberfest).  Each day she has a prompt on her blog for participants to feature on their blogs ....... and every day so far I have forgotten to do it (sorry Kat!!)  However, I had no problem remembering today's prompt ..... my dream destination in 2012.  I had to think about that for ..... oh, about one second!  Of course it was our fabulous trip to Australia and Singapore, and it's good to have an excuse to share more photos!

no caption needed!

 

enjoying the view

 

who's a pretty boy then?

 

a ginger plant in Singapore Botanic Gardens

 

and who needs an excuse to show you this gorgeous young man again!!

 

I know I promised you sewing ......

....... but I have something  far more important for you - food and drink (and a bit of silliness)!!  This morning I assembled the ingredients for the Christmas cake - the fruit had been soaking overnight in brandy and smelled wonderful

 

I was using a recipe from this little book, which I have had for years

 

to make it easier to follow the requirements for the size I make, I have highlighted the column

 

and I no longer have to refer to these instructions to prepare the cake tin, I have done it so often

 

lined with buttered greaseproof paper, and wrapped up with brown paper .........

 

...... ready for the mixture.  I can't remember who gave me the tip to make a little hole in the middle, as it helps keep the top of the cake level (unlike my Mum's cake, which always sank in the middle!)

 

fast forward almost three hours, and here is the cake, just out of the oven

 

another tip ..... to make it easier to remove the cake from the cake tin, stand it on a tin

 

I wish you could smell the cake!  It is now wrapped up in greaseproof paper and foil.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will feed it some more brandy, before I ice it and decorate it with the marzipan fruits

 

Malcolm was out this morning, so I just had to make lunch for myself ....... a cheese omelette, jalapeno coleslaw and chilli sauce (yes, I like spicy food!)

 

I had asked Malcolm to get me a bottle of vodka, so that I could make this ......

 

he had at first picked up a bottle of cheap vodka, but then he saw this pack on special offer ...... so not only was the vodka cheaper, but there was also a carton of cranberry juice, and a little book of cocktail recipes

 

I added these other ingredients

 

it has still to be strained before being bottled - it might not look very pretty - but, oh boy, it is delicious!!!!!

 

and now for the silliness!  There was quite a lot on the radio this morning about a prediction that the world is going to end on the 21st of December.  That reminded of this wonderfully daft book, that I bought a few years ago

 

I love the bit on the back about the next meeting being on Thursday (when the world is supposed to end on Wednesday!)

 

there is more silliness at the foot of several pages - these are my favourites

 

I promise that there will be sewing tomorrow ..... and here is a little teaser - I bought this fabric for the back of a quilt - but which one?

That's enough of that, thank you!!

This was the view of the back garden early this morning ...... that's quite enough snow, thank you

 

but let's go back to thhe start of the weekend, and of course, the Christmas Fair.  Oh dear, I didn't sell very much, although as I know several other stallholders also had poor sales, I didn't get too upset!  I did get slightly annoyed with a woman who had a good look, then said she was just getting ideas and picking people's brains for things that she could make .........

 

the highlight of the afternoon was the delicious bacon roll that I had for lunch!

 

at the end of the afternoon, I was delighted to be given a gift by the wonderful Maria, who had the table next to me - a set of wine glass charms (in return I gave her one of the toiletries and chocolates set)

 

from my friend Lorraine, I bought her gorgeous marzipan fruits, to decorate the Christmas cake with (I'll be making it tomorrow) ........

 

...... and new to her repertoire, chocolate ginger creams

yesterday, we went to Dryburgh Abbey (we had a voucher to get in free!)  There was a little bit of snow on the ground, which added a little extra something to the photos.  I also had some fun taking some in B&W

 

there were some tricky bits of road to negotiate

 

and beautiful scenery to admire

 

we popped into The Main Street Trading Co for a cuppa and a bite to eat.  We shared a delicious feta and spinach muffin ........

 

....... and a slice of cake, which was drenched in a citrus syrup

 

I love the mugs

 

they have just opened a deli and homeware extension - I wish I could have taken photos of all the wonders for sale!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update, but to finish, some birds in the snow