frayed at the edge

You know how it is .......

........ you've tried self-help, you have taken however many steps on the programme, you have listened to peer pressure, you have promised your husband you will never do it again ......... and then, one of those emails from Amazon pops up in your inbox

Dear Anne, as you have shown an interest in similar books, we think you might like these.  

You look at one of them, and underneath it says, people who bought this book also bought these books.

Before you know it, you have clicked on the dreaded buy-with-one-click-button, and three days later a parcel arrives in the post.  Your husband is there when the post arrives, so you can't slip the books on to the bookshelves and  claim you have had them for ages (I have a friend who hides away new clothes, then when she wears them says "oh, I've had this for ages, I've just not worn it for a while").  

So, my name is Anne, I'm addicted to books, and these are my latest acquisitions

 

what was I doing this morning with this little dish and a tube of toothpaste?  

 

this was a tip I was given when we were living in Indonesia.  If your pewter or Bangka tin is looking dull, clean it with toothpaste!

 

this has been another good summer for orchids, with lots of colour on the kitchen windowsill

 

we had our favourite cake this afternoon at patch'n'chat, the wonderful apple and sultana one

 

no doubt over the weekend we will be walking on the beach and eating scones - whatever you are doing I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

 

So, going back to yesterday .....

......... the post would have started with this photo.  Malcolm had fetched this little table from the loft to take over to the flat, and I had asked him to bring down my batik holdall, as I thought it would be handy for taking clothes to and from the flat

 

I bought it years ago when we were living in Indonesia, from my favourite batik shop

 

when I was checking what was in the side pockets, I discovered my gym membership card - I was a member before we moved here almost eight years ago

 

when I travelled back and forward to Indonesia, I used the bag as my carry-on luggage, and it still has two of my "frequent-flyer" tags on it

 

so what was the special thing that I bought yesterday?  We have having a browse round this establishment

 

when I spotted this little beauty, which promptly went back to the flat with us

 

it has been shabby chic-ed,  but that doesn't matter, it looks good

 

included in the (very reasonable) price were lots of goodies

 

the pin cushion has seen better days!  Most of the pins are rusty, and some of them are more like carpet tacks than pins

 

but it didn't take long for a certain other person in the flat to appropriate the sewing box as a side table!

 

normally when we stay at the flat on Wednesdays, we come home first thing on Thursdays, but I had a hairdressing appointment in Kelso this afternoon, so we spent the morning in Berwick, as there was no point driving through Kelso on the way home, only to drive back later.  We went to Cafe Crema for a cuppa and a scone.  As always I had a pot of tea, and Malcolm had a large Americano with hot milk on the side

 

there was a slight delay before the scone appeared, as it had just come out of the oven

 

cheese and red onion - absolutely delicious!!

 

as it was a lovely morning, we decided to go for a walk on the beach.  I changed the camera to take B&W photos

 

 

for some reason this one came out in colour!

 

then it was back to B&W for this tiny dead starfish

 

but perhaps it looks better in colour?

 

we had spent a long time walking on the beach, picking up driftwood and seaglass, so we decided it was time for lunch.  And what better thing to have than some delicious golden chips!

 

we still had time after lunch before we had to head to Kelso, so we went for another walk.  The tide was right out, so we were able to walk out on the sandbanks to the deep channel where the boats/ships come in

 

and finally, as promised, some sewing!  The first stitchery is finished apart from the satin stitch polka dots and the french knots to dot the i and the j

 

the second one is finshed apart from the (even more) satin stitch polka dots and the french knots to dot the i's

 

the third one is coming along nicely (and yes, there are more of those satin stitch polka dots!)

An unplanned post ......

........ you will have to wait until tomorrow for the plannned post, as when we arrived at the flat this morning, the big ship was still docked and being unloaded

 

big lorries came and went all day

 

as slowly the hold was emptied.  The big green unloading machine gradually crept closer (definitely on the Christmas list!)

 

then suddenly the last load had been removed, and the hatches were battened down

 

the engines were started, and the bow slowly edged away from the dock

 

this time the swans caught on a bit quicker than they did on Saturday, and made a sharp exit

 

the ship took a bit of manouvering to turn round 

 

getting rather too close to the dock at one point

 

however, the pilot boat was on hand, keeping an eye on proceedings

 

finally, the ship was turned and heading out of the dock, still with the pilot boat in attendance

 

and we had our view back!

 

the last two photos show just how much cargo the ship was carrying ....... on Saturday, it was low in the water coming into the dock

 

and today you can see how much higher it was going back out

 

do pop back in tomorrow, as not only will there be a sewing update, but there will also be photos of something very special that I bought today!

A very busy weekend - part 2

As there was no sign of the remnants of Hurricane Bertha on Sunday morning, we set off up the coast to St Abbs.  As it started to rain just as we got there, we decided to go for a cuppa first.  The last time we were in St Abbs, this place was rather run down, but it has all been renovated and redecorated

 

and now houses a smart cafe

 

where we shared a tasty toasted teacake

 

when we came out of the cafe, the rain had gone, and we were able to go for a walk round the village.  We stopped to look at this sad memorial to the East Cast fishing disaster of 1881

 

 

from the top of the village, there is a good view down to the harbour

 

but I decided I would rather walk round the road than go down these steep wooden steps

 

on the way I stopped to admire these plump rosehips

 

down at the harbour there were ramshackle buildings

 

old lobster pots

 

a collection of ropes and floats

 

the tide was out, and it was a long way down into the harbour, so I was not the happiest of bunnies walking round 

 

perhaps I should buy this boat for Stuart ........ 

 

........ but then again maybe not - I think he would want something a bit more stylish!

 

there were lots of people about, doing all sorts of things - taking photos, diving (yes to the first, a decided no to the second!)

 

the sea was much rougher outside the harbour

 

this house up on the cliffs reminded us of Bates Motel (from the film Psycho)

 

and of course there is a silly photo to finish - I love this prow, which was on a  little boat!

 

A VERY busy weekend!

On Saturday, after a bite of lunch, we walked along to Spittal beach, as there was a seaside fair on.  It was much too busy to take photos, although I would love to have taken some shots of little tots riding on beautiful donkeys.  After a potter round the stalls, and having walked the length of the promenade, we decided to walk back along the beach.  Malcolm immediately started picking up driftwood, as he is busy making more trees, and has some other projects in the design stage.  I wandered along behind him, picking up the occasional piece of seaglass, but mostly just enjoying the scenery (and keeping an eye on the waves as the tide was coming in, and I didn't want wet feet!)

 

there was a large ship sitting offshore - we guessed it was waiting for high tide

 

we were immediately proved right when the pilot boat appeared!

 

as we walked back home, we kept pace with the ship.  It passed the lighthouse .......

 

........ and headed towards the pilot boat, which was indicating where to make the first turn

 

the pilot boat sailed on, showing the ship its route towards the next turn

 

but what was this coming round behind the ship?

 

it was the Lifeboat, coming back to the Lifeboat station

 

we quickened our pace to get to the dock before the ship.  There are all sorts of warning signs at the dock about keeping out - but no-one pays any attention to them at the weekend, so we went in to have prime position to watch the ship squeeze into the dock

 

the first approach was misjudged and they had to back up and try again, aided by the pilot boat nudging them into line

 

but, I hear you cry, what about the swans, with a hulking great ship rapidly filling the dock?  At first, they just moved into the corner

 

but eventually it occured to them that perhaps they ought to move

 

at that point we left the dock and headed into the flat, where we watched the rest of the proceedings from the window

 

the swans decided they wanted nothing to do with this huge interloper, and left the dock in a great huff!

 

we had an excellent morning out yesterday, but I'll save that for tomorrow, and fast forward to this morning, when suddenly there was a great deal of activity on the dock, as they started unloading the ship.  First a large lorry arrived

 

followed by a smart little machine (I think I'll be putting one of them in my letter to Santa!)

 

the first hold was opened

 

and in no time at all the lorry was being loaded ....... no sooner had it been loaded and driven off, than another one arrived, but we couldn't stay to watch any longer, as we needed to get home 

 

a very unusual photo to finish - as we were walking back on Saturday keeping an eye on the ship, we nearly walked into this newly-married couple's photos!

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My new best friend!

I have to admit that for some time I wan't getting on very well with Mrs Billings, but now she is definitely my new best friend!  I was going to work on Stuart and Alison's blind yesterday, but I decided instead to get out Mrs Billings and organise what I have done so far.  You know that I have been working away on the hexagons for the outer border - this may look like a lot, but it's only enought to do one edge!

 

I laid out the various pieces for the centre and the first border

 

the pattern suggested adding the border before stitching to centre medallion, so that is what I did.  The first two sides stitched 

 

then the other two added

 

I then pinned the centre in place ready for stitching

 

I have also stitched the hexie flowers for Border 9

 

I have lots more hexies prepped for the outer border, some on my tray

 

and the rest in my box

 

we had a special visitor at patch'n'chat this afternoon - little Barley, who belongs to Annette and her husband Norrie.  Annette is away at the Festival of Quilts, so Norrie was minding the shop today and had brought Barley with him.  We had a violent thunderstorm during the afternoon, and poor Barley got in quite a state.  But when not barking at the thunder, his tail wagged constantly

 

 

as Annette is away, there was no home-baked cake, but Margaret brought in this delicious bought one

 

it is still very wet this evening, and I know the south is threatened by the remnants of Hurricane Bertha, but hopefully the weather will improve.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

The guest photographer ........

........ has come up trumps with his contribution to today's post!  When Malcolm arrived in Berwick yesterday, he saw another very large ship getting ready to come into the dock

 

it came round the deep water channel, and approached behind the Harbourmaster's office

 

slowly, slowly, it came in through the opening

 

almost there - as long as the stern doesn't get stuck

 

phew - they made it!

 

not content with his "industrial" photos, he finished the evening with an "arty" one of a rainbow.  Thank you Malcolm for the photos!

 

while he was capturing the rainbow, I was out in the garden capturing the sunset

 

the buddleia has finally flowered, and as always is attracting lots of butterflies

 

to finish - it was tricky taking the butterfly photos, as it was quite breezy.  Quite a few ended up like this, as the breeze wafted the butterfly out of shot!

 

A variety of projects

Thank you for all your batty stories - I didn't realise that they got indoors so often.  When we lived in Indonesia, we sometimes payed tennis in the evening under floodlights.  Every so often a bat would swoop at the tennis ball - I guess they thought it was a big yellow bug!

Now for the sewing update.  The first job yesterday was straightforward - a cover for the bolster pillow at the flat.  I used some batik fabric from my stash.  The new sheets are a sort of burgundy colour, so the cover will go well

 

the next project was a little thread catcher bag.  This will sit on the table next to my chair in the flat, and will act as a little bin for all the ends of embroidery threads from working on the stitcheries.  Again, I used batiks from my stash, choosing two vaguely seasidey fabrics

 

I worked out the spacing for the four sides of the bag, and pinned two lengths of tape to the right side of one of the fabric

 

I put the other fabric on top, right side down, and stitched the two together

 

next I folded it in half and stitched the seam

 

I folded the lining over the outer fabric, then stitched across the bottom

 

the last job was to stitch across the corners ....

 

....... and trim the extra away

 

the little bag will hang from my seaside themed coaster that sits on my table, but for illustration purposes I have used a coaster from the studio

 

having made shoe bags for Alison's best shoes, I had thought some time ago that I would make something similar for Stuart for some of his collection of trainers.  Having finally tracked down some fabric with sneakers on it, I ordered a metre ....... but when it arrived, not only was it heavy furnishing fabris, but also was very, very wide.  I  coudn't think what to do with it, so put it aside.  When Stuart was here the other weekend, I asked him if there was something he wanted me to make for his "man cave" (aka the smallest bedroom) where he has his XBox, his dartboard, and other manly pursuits.  He suggested a bean bag, so I bought a pattern for one

 

when I made a start yesterday, there was a slight problem - I didn't have quite enough fabric.  Malcolm was summoned to redraft the pattern to fit, and the main part of the body was soon cut out and stitched together.  This is it roughy stuffed with some cushions

 

that just left the base to make - could I do it using the scraps?

 

I laid half of them out and placed the pattern on top - yes it would work

 

I trimmed the edges and stitched five pieces together, then cut out the first half of the base

 

I did the same for the other piece, then stitched the body and base together.  It was hard to take photos without any beans in it, so I pinned it on the design wall.  The first photo shows the base, with the opening through which the beans will be added, and the second photo shows the main body

when Stuart and Alsion moved into their new house, I made this Roman blind for their kitchen.  When they decorated the kitchen, the blind didn't quite match the colour scheme, so they asked if I would make a new one.  They chose the lovely rich chenille fabric on the right.  I will recycle the lining to make the new one - it will make it quick and easy to do as I will only have to cut the new fabric to size, then use the existing stitching lines as a guide

 

Malcolm is over in Berwick - I decided to stay at home to get my sewing done.  I have just spoken to him on the phone and he said that a ship docked this morning and he has taken photos for tomorrow's post ....... he also said he got caught in a heavy rain shower when he was beachcombing!

 

ps - we had a wonderful dinner with our neighbours, and we may have had a glass or two of wine.  We also had a very late night, so it will be early to bed tonight!

Short and sweet!

A very quick post, as we are going out for dinner - not that we are going far, just through the back garden gate to our lovely neighbours (the shoe shop owners).

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing, but for today we have some pretty photos from the garden.  This is the "alien" clematis, which is now flowering for the third time

 

a second show of flowers on the dark clematis

 

the climbing rose on the pergola is very sweet (sorry about the rope, I had washing hanging out!)

the miniature rose has never has so many buds on it

 

to finish, an exciting tale from last night, although sadly there are no photos to go with it.  We were sitting watching tv just before bedtime (I was also prepping hexies) when something flew into the room.  At first we both thought that it was a very big moth ........ but then we realised that it was a BAT!  It flew round and round, before finally settlingon the floor, and Malcolm was able to cover it with some kitchen paper towel and gently lift it.  He took it out into the garden and it flew away, none the worse for its adventure ........ but I think it took a bit longer until we got over the surprise!!

 

A walk on the beach

We had mixed weather on Saturday, with some heavy showers, so we were delighted to wake up yesterday to bright sunshine, which the swans were enjoying too

 

we decided to head along the coast a bit, having read this small article in a magazine

 

by the time we got to Cocklawburn beach, it had got somewhat cloudy, but it didn't stop us from having a good long walk.  The views were stunning

 

there were lots of interesting shells

 

fortunately there was only one dead monster green crab

 

there were all sorts of wonderful rock formations

 

there were interesting things to see

a feather on the sand

 

a minute mussel

 

tiny stones in a hollow in the rock

 

a pretty shell

 

we could have continued our walk to the next beach, but by then our legs were weary - and we still had to walk all the way back to the car!

 

after all that walking, of course we had to be revived with some excellent sconnage

cheese

 

apple and cinnamon

 

while we were on the beach, we picked up lots of seaglass, but back at the flat we weren't tempted to drink this bottle of wine, which we are keeping for a special occasion

 

I was quite happy to put my feet up on my stool, and spend the afternoon reading the papers, then working on a stitchery

 

to finish, one last look at the swans as they came back into the dock on the rising tide