frayed at the edge

It seemed like a good idea!

OK, I said I was going to thoroughly tidy, and possibly rearrange, the studio.  This is what it looked like at the start of the afternoon

 

this is what was hidden by the table cloth

 

I gave Malcolm the table to use in the garage (I bought it for £10 in a junk shop) and cleared out the corner .......

 

........ and emptied the top part of this unit, which I bought some years ago from a wool shop which was closing

 

Malcolm helped me lift if down (or should I say that I helped him!) and I then emptied the bottom section, and rearranged the other end of the room

 

now I need to put everything away

 

oh dear - that's not everything, there is all this too!

 

I will finish putting everything away on Saturday ....... and I will have to try hard not to be distracted by finding things that I forgot I had (I hope Malcolm doesn't read that bit!)

Lucie gave me this as a belated birthday present

 

what is it?  It's a thread holder, for embroidery threads - I added a few lengths from my Welcome wallhanging, to let you see how it is used

 

I bought this magazine when we were in Hawick this morning

 

it is very different to other "lifestyle" magazines that I have bought over the years.  I think it is Dutch, and it has a lovely quirky layout, with lots of handwritten bits

 

I also bought this little work basket in a junk vintage shop this morning

 

I wonder what sort of garment you would put boil-proof elastic in?!

 

to finish - the recent rain has meant that the River Teviot is full again ......... and hooray, the heron is back!

A short post

We were on the road by nine this morning, on our way to Stitchin' Heaven, to deliver my patterns.  Unlike the last time we went, it was a lovely bright (if chilly) morning

 

yet again, we were held up at roadworks!

 

unfortunately, Anne wasn't in the shop, as she had been poorly through the night.  So she missed the fun of a shop filled by a visiting group of ladies

 

the Wednesday regulars were all working on the same projects as last time, so I didn't take any photos  So that's it - a short report of a busy day!  Now that I have finished the red, white and blue wallhangings and handed over the patterns, I think I will have a thorough tidy-up in the studio tomorrow ...... and perhaps a bit of a reorganisation.  I would like to move some of the furniture, but I will need Malcolm's help with that.

 

 

Sustenance

I have been very busy today, printing the covers and instruction sheets for my red, white and bue patterns.  The main pattern sheets are A3, so I had then copied at a copy shop when we were in Falkirk last week

 

there was a slight oops when I realised that I had left a bit off the bottom of one of the sheets, so there was a furious burst of writing on the ten copies!

 

fortunately, Malcolm provided me with sustenance ....... an apple doughnut, and hot chocolate topped with frothed milk

 

Lots of folding later, the patterns were all assembled ....

 

....... well, not quite, as my printer ran out of black ink with six pages to go!  I brought my laptop back into the house to use Malcolm's printer - and his had run out of black ink as well!!  So the last six sheets were printed in blue.  So here are the finished wallhangings

 

Malcolm has been busy too, making these fabulous driftwood trees

 

do you remember the strings of "lights" that I bought at the quilt show at Harrogate?  They are perfect for the trees

 

there was a lot of discussion on Saturday on the best way to quilt Abbey Quilters' raffle quilt, so I took these photos today to email to Sandra, the chairman, as one way of doing it

 

when I went out to close the outer storm doors at the back of the studio ........ woohoo, the sheepies had just meandered down to the bottom of the field

 

but to finish, a slightly more exotic animal.  My friend Maureen sent me a photo of a llama - no she hasn't been abroad on an exciting holiday, the llama lives in Jedburgh!

 

A multitude of talents

I had a great day out on Saturday, joining some of the other members from Abbey Quilters for a UFO day (that's unfinished objects, not aliens invading!)  First, we layered the raffle quilt for next year's exhibition, but there is an embargo on photos of it!  Next up was Rineke's striking black and red quilt

 

then we oohed and aaahed over Ivy's pretty quilt

 

Edith was hand quilting a small applique quilt

 

Anne S was finishing off her block keeper, with its cute owl

 

Sandra started off working on a pile of blocks

 

then did some machine quilting on this very cute quilt

 

we helped Moira layer this stunning quilt - the photo doesn't do justice to the colours.  She is very generously giving the quilt to Linus

 

of course lots of cuppas were drunk, and many biscuits eaten ....... and we might have eaten a few of these chocolates which I took, in case we needed a sugar boost

 

we weren't able to go for a walk yesterday morning, because of short, heavy rain showers, so had to console ourselves with a rather magnificent cheese scone

 

while trying to ignore the Christmas tree beside our table!

 

fortunately the rain had gone off when we saw this pipe band marching through Jedburgh

 

the rain stayed off as we drove home, so I was able to take some photos of the scenery

 

this is Fatlips Castle (although sometimes I get confused and call it Hotlips - do you remember her from MASH?!

 

this last photo is for Thimbleanna - I'm sure she wishes she had sheepies in a field behind her house!!

A quiet day!

Oh dear, not much to report this evening!  When I cleaned the kitchen windowsill this morning, I put the cotton lace cafe curtain back up, as it gives the orchids some protection from the cold nights.  You can read about Ayrshire lace curtains here and here

 

it was such a dark and dreary morning, I had to use flash for the photographs

 

after the miserable, wet morning, it did brighten up this afternoon ....... but then it started to rain again just as I arrived home from patch'n'chat.  These sparrows were a bit bedraggled

 

while these ones chose to shelter in the hawthorn tree

 

but as always there was the Friday cake to cheer us up ....... and hooray, it was our favourite apple and sultana.  Delicious!

 

tomorrow I will be heading to Eckford Village Hall ....... it is an Abbey Quilters' day, but we can't meet in our usual venue, so Sandra, who as well as being our lovely Linus lady is also Chairman of Abbey Quilters, arranged for us to use her village hall.

The forecast isn't very good for the weekend, with nasty winds on the way.  I hope the weather is better where you are and that you have a good weekend, love Anne

Tin love!

You may have noticed that I love tins - big ones, small ones, in-between ones ...... and when we were away I added to my collection.  This one appealed to my sense of humour

 

and this one is slightly impractical - because of course if you put pins in the cushion, you couldn't put the lid back on!

 

even I have to admit that Christmas is getting close, so it was time to buy the Christmas biscuit tin

 

when we see items that have names on, we never find any with "Malcolm" ....... until Wednesday, when I found this garden sign.  When I was paying for it, I remarked to the lady serving me that I could always paint over "genius at work" - and she said "just put a question mark after it".  Poor Malcolm, well and truly insulted!!

 

I had to go to Jedburgh just before lunchtime today, so I arranged to meet my friend Maureen for lunch after my meeting ..... but we were blethering so much I forgot to take photos!  It was a beautiful afternoon, crisp and clear, so when I got home I grabbed the camera and headed off up the hill.  Why is it that sheep turn their bottoms towards you just as you snap?

 

there were only two donkeys in the field

 

there are still lots of apples in a neighbour's old orchard ...... maybe I should have a midnight scrump!

 

just look at that beautiful blue sky above the church

 

I never tire taking photos of the Mintos

 

and the Eildons

 

I wonder if these sheep .......

 

appreciate the scenery?

 

this sheep was giving me the evil eye!

 

whille this one just looked so pretty

 

on the way back down the hill, of course I had to stop to admire my favourite view

 

and take more photos of the donkeys

 

then my bucolic idyll was spoiled by this - I had to jump on the verge to get out of the way of this lorry!

 

but then I took a last arty photo to restore my inner peace (or something like that!!)  The higgledy piggledy fence may have been replaced, but the reflection still looks good

Breakfast

We had a very enjoyable visit with Stuart and Alison, and they were pleased with the present that we brought them from Portugal - a mortar and pestle and a little dish for olives ........

 

........ which match this little dish, which we brought back for Stuart from our last holiday there, five years ago

 

we had a leisurely cuppa when we got up this morning after a long lie (Stuart and Alison having departed for work quite a bit earlier), then we headed to Torwood Garden Centre, to the bright and airy coffee shop .....

 

........ for breakfast - a delicious panini, with sausage, bacon and egg.  You won't be surprised to know that we didn't want any lunch!!

 

there was a display of plants at the garden centre door, which included an enormous rusty watering can

 

the colours in this permanently planted area were glorious

 

it was very wet and miserable driving up yesterday, so we were delighted when the early rain cleared away and the sun came out this morning

 

we decided to make a short detour to Blackness.  I don't need to tell you what this is a photo of!

 

those pesky English were here some years ago

 

we had a (windswept) walk on the beach, where we had a good view of the castle

 

there was an abundance of shells

 

and a lot of not quite so attractive seaweed

 

I  got my big lens back yesterday (woo hoo) and put it to good use on the journey home.  There is a lot of work happening on the reinstatement of the railway from Edinburgh to the Borders ...... involving massive earthworks and BIG machines

 

and, of course, there was the glorious scenery of the Borders

 

I may have bought one or two interesting things when we were away - but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see them!

Experiment

I am writing this on my new tablet, a Hudl from Tesco.  I am not going to attempt to change the font, just share the photos that I took when we stopped for a cuppa on our way to Stuart and Alison's.  Back to normal tomorrow

Logging on

On Saturday, we went to Jedburgh for a change, and popped into The Abbey Bridge Tollhouse Cafe  We haven't been there for some time, so we were surprised to see that there had been a major reorganisation, with the stove shop and the cafe swapping areas (if you click on the link, you can see what the cafe used to look like).  Malcolm liked the new counter, and had a good look when he was paying the bill!  The logs are only a few inches long - someone must have spent a long time cutting them

 

On Sunday we varied our routine, and went for our cuppa first.  We had decided to go to the  Mayfield Garden Centre in Kelso, and then go for a walk along the river.  We had a very good cheese scone ........ and I forgot to take a photo!  This magnificent tree hasn't changed colour yet

 

but these two are starting to show their autumn foliage

 

I like this gate ...... and the house is fabulous, but I thought it would be a bit cheeky to take a photo!

 

I missed my big lens yesterday, when we saw not one, but two, herons on the other side of the river

 

but I didn't need it to take photos of these birds

 

there were ducks

 

adult swans

 

and cygnets

 

 

I do like a nice bit of rust

 

this lorry was so big I couldn't get it all in the photo, so imagine how scary it is when you meet one while driving through the town

 

this is now the entrance to a shop, so it is good to see that they have preserved the intricate mosaic (I bet all of you who are quilters are taking note of the border!)

 

on the way back to the carpark, we passed the Abbey

 

there is a fruit and vegetable shop at the entrance to the Garden Centre, with lots of excellent produce

 

if you don't knoow what the knobbly green thing on the left is, it is a romanesco.  I used some of the cauliflower in the vegetable curry that I made for tonight's dinner

 

on Saturday I made the pear and bramble jelly.  Have filled three jars, I then added finely chopped basil to the remaining jelly.  I thought I had prepared enough basil, but once it was mixed in I realised that I should have used quite a bit more.  Also once I put the jelly in the jars, the basil rose to the top.  It tastes fine, but isn't really savoury

 

out in the garden, we have glorious autumn colours

 

but the climbing rose is stll flowering on the pergola

 

and the little clematis still has several flowers on it

 

and even when the outer petals drop off, there is still a pretty centre left

 

I think it is time I tidied the studio!

 

to finish ...... I bought these scary treats for Malcolm this morning.  He won't have to share them with me, because I really don't like white chocolate!!

<

Leftovers!

But not leftover food, rather some photos which were left over from yesterday.  The garden was full of birds, with lots of sparrows on the feeders

 

a tiny coal tit sneaked in when the sparrows weren't looking

 

a chaffinch investigated fallen seed

 

some starlings watched from the telephone wire

 

before I went to meet Lorraine yesterday, I had to pop into Hawick to pick up a parcel from the sorting office (I am convinced that the postman lurks at the end of the road waiting until we go out, before leaving one of those annoying cards!). On the way back to the car park, I walked along the river where the trees are just starting to turn

 

looking the other way along the river to the Town Hall

 

at patch'n'chat, Anne S. was working on some very cute stitcheries

 

and then, of course, there was the Friday cake.  I wish you could have a slice ...... the sponge is so light it almost floats off the plate, and it tastes delicious

 

I have lots of sewing to do over the weekend, and I will also be making pear and bramble jelly.  I think I will take some of the jelly and add some herbs to make it savoury, to have with meat.  I'll let you know on Monday how it turns out.  The forecast doesn't look too promising for Sunday, but perhaps we will get a short walk between the showers.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne