frayed at the edge

It's definitely looking .......

...... like Christmas now!  The tree is up

 

and there is, of course, a driftwood tree too

 

and some other cute decorations

 

the mirror in the kitchen is looking festive

 

and the cake has been iced and decorated

 

Stuart and Alison are coming down for the weekend, and we will have a somewhat topsy turvy celebration ........ we will have Christmas dinner tomorrow, and Christmas breakfast and present opening on Sunday!

 

All that remains for this year of blogging is to wish you a Happy Christmas, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Love Anne

 

It may be the middle of December ......

........ but after reading Jessica's latest post, I realised that we still have lots of interest in the garden

daffodils peeping through in a sheltered corner

 

a little bluebell

 

a rose bud on the climbing rose on the front of the house

 

buds on the ornamental quince

 

 buds on a little alpine in an old sink

 

I don't know what this is!

 

even some of the tattered flowers still look good!

this fuchsia flower was pink!

 

a shredded osteospermum

 

a faded hellebore

 

clematis #1

 

clematis #2

 

this strange thing is on the false castor oil plant

 

there is also new growth on two of the trees in the back garden

 

usually when we go for lunch on a Wednesday Malcolm pays the bill ...... but today was my treat!  We went to the Jammy Coo, where as usual I had the bacon, brie and cranberry panini (I know I should try something else, but when I find something I like, I tend to stick to it!)

 

Malcolm had Parma ham, mozarella and olive on his panini - of course I wouldn't choose that one as I don't like olives, but he said it was delicious!

 

Friday will be my last post of the year. so do come back for some festive fun!

Fairy Twinkle!

It was our Christmas lunch at patch'n'chat on Friday, and Margaret as always had decorated the tables

 

she had also brought along her latest Christmas quilt

 

and she made a raggy wreath with the leftover fabrics from the quilt

 

I din't manage to take a photo of the delicious buffet lunch, but I did manage a photo of our afternoon cuppa

 

Betty's mince pies, which were served hot, were delicious!

 

but the highlight of the day was a visit from Fairy Twinkle.  To protect her reputation, I won't tell you who dressed up as her* (but Margaret used to own a fancy dress business .......)

 

it rained rather a lot on Saturday in Berwick, but yesterday was dry (and rather chilly), so we went up the coast to St Abbs for a walk.  I think it is probably obligatory to take a photo of a seagull when you are walking round the harbour!

 

there were lots of lobster pots on the quayside

 

as always I found some interesting things to take photos of

 

I don't know what these small trolleys are for - moving lobster pots perhaps

 

several boats had been lifted out of the water for the winter

 

although there were still some in the dock

 

we went for a cuppa and a sandwich for lunch ....... as usual I had a plain white cup, saucer and jug for my tea, while Malcolm had lovely decorated ones

 

we had ordered a sandwich to share, and were delighted when it arrived on two plates, both with a little bit of salad, coleslaw and some crisps - excellent service!

 

to finish, a message for Santa.  If I can't have a yellow machine .......

 

...... can I please have a big red truck (I've been a very, very good girl!!)

 

*I should point out that there was a "fat suit" underneath the fairy dress!!

 

The continuing story ......

......... after the technical problems, let's hope this post is problem free!

So, on Wednesday morning, we popped into Hawick, and walked round to see how much water was roaring over the rocks in the River Slitrig

 

did you notice the heron - I don't think he had much chance of catching anything!

 

we popped into the Damascus Drum for lunch

 

we both had soup, which came with delicious thick slices of bread.  Malcolm had leek and potato, and I had Lebanese chickpea

 

after lunch we walked round to look over the bridge at where the Slitrig runs into the Teviot.  The Slitrig had carved out two deep channels and created a new island  

 

and can you spot another heron?

 

when we got home, I grabbed the big camera and went out for a quick walk.  First stop was to take photos of some sheepies for Anna

 

the I walked on to see if there were any donkeys for Bumblevee.  There were horses (or are they ponies?) in the field

 

then as I turned for home, look who peeked out from behind the stables

 

we didn't seen many birds in the garden when the weather was so bad, but on Thursday they started to reappear.  First, the nuthatch, which is an infrequent visitor

 

then Mr Blackbird

 

several blue tits

 

but the star of the show was the red, red robin, bob, bob, bobbing

 

yesterday we had our Christmas lunch at patch'n'chat, with a special visit from Fairy Twinkle ....... but you will have to wait until Monday to see her!!

 

 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!!

Typepad is still misbehaving, and won't load any photos.  I have even tried a different browser to no avail.  I'll take the laptop with me tomorrow when we go over to the flat, and hopefully will be able to do a post, as I have lots to share with you.

So in the meantime, I will wish you a great weekend, love Anne

Variety is the spice ......

....... of blogging!  So let's start with the promised sewing.  I finished the wallhanging which Margaret had asked me to quilt

 

I have also finished the Santa wallhanging, which is a present for someone who doesn't read the blog

 

after quilting the wallhanging for Margaret, she asked me if I could put the binding on this quilt.  She hand-pieced the top, and Kay longarm quilted it for her

 

it didn't take long to make the yards and yards of binding

 

I only had to machine stitch the binding on the front, as Margaret will hand-stitch it on the back.  However, as the quilt is in my favourite autumn colours, and looks good on my guest bed, I may just forget to give it back to her!!

 

there has also been some secret Christmas present sewing, which I can only give you little glimpses of

 

last night was Abbey Quilters' Christmas party.  Maureen showed us how to make Christmas trees with polystyrene cones and ribbon

 

we had a lovely supper, but as I was sidetracked by someone asking me for advice, by the time I reached the table it looked as if a plague of locusts had gone before me, so instead of lots of tasty food, the only other photo I have is of my tree

 

 

oh dear, the original post was much longer, but Typepad threw a wobbly and lost the rest of it, so I shall save that for Friday!!

A casualty of the weather

On Friday morning, we headed to Jedburgh Town Hall to set up for the Christmas Fair

 

once we had finished setting up, Malcolm dropped me off at patch'n'chat.  As the afternoon wore on, I started to worry as it got very windy, and by the time Malcolm picked me up again at the end of the afternoon it was very windy indeed.  We had fish suppers for dinner, then headed to the Town Hall, and waited for the Fair to open.  Last year great crowds came in as soon as the doors were opened, but on Friday there was only a trickle.  We found out later that less than half the number of people turned up this year, compared to last.  As the evening progressed, the weather got worse, with heavy rain.  Sales were few and far between, not just for us, but for all the stall holders.  Even the cupcake lady didn't sell all her delicious confections ....... yes, a box of them came home with us

 

along with several others, we packed up and went home early, and had to leave everything in the car overnight as it was so wet and windy.  Saturday was no better, it just rained and rained and rained.  When we got up on Sunday the rain had finally stopped and the wind had dropped, so we decided to head into Hawick for a walk and a cuppa.  The river was very full

 

people had taken precautions, with sandbags and special plates to seal the airbricks, to prevent the foundations flooding

 

as we walked on, we could see evidence that the river had actually flooded over into the street

 

we had thought that we would cross over the footbridge, to walk back along the other side of the river

 

but the footbridge was closed, as this had happened just beyond it - you may have seen this on news bulletins

 

further on, we stopped to watch some ducks struggling against the fast flowing water

 

this footbridge across the road from Sainsbury's was closed

 

perhaps because of the tree wedged under it

 

at the end of our walk, we came across this bunch of men, armed with brushes and shovels, offering to help clean out flooded premises

 

I'll be back on Wednesday with some sewing, and hopefully some cheerier photos!

 

I forgot to say

........ that I wouldn't be here today, as of course we are at the Christmas Fair!

I hope you have a great weekend, and hopefully on Monday I will have tales to tell of selling lots and lots!!  Love Anne

It's beginning to .......

....... smell a lot like Christmas!!  Yes, somewhat later than most, I have baked the Christmas cake!  The fruit had been soaking in brandy for two days, and I assembled the other ingredients this morning

 

but before I started baking, we popped out for lunch at Lochcarron.  Malcolm had lovely thick lentil soup

 

and I had Moroccan chicken - deliciously spicy.  The thick slice of bread was very tasty too

 

I have made the Christmas cake so often, I only need to consult the recipe for the amount of each ingredient, not the method.  So it was soon in the oven, and the delightful smell of Christmas was wafting through the house.  After taking it out of the oven, I had already taken the brown paper collar off before I remembered to take a photo

 

oh yum, a thing of perfect beauty!  Over the next couple of weeks it will be fed more brandy, before it is iced

 

yesterday afternoon, I made a start to quilting the reindeer wallhanging

 

after quilting the main body of the quilt with a little loopy meander, I stitched in the ditch round the border

 

and then made a start to stitching straight lines on the borders.  I hope to finish it tomorrow

 

I keep forgetting to show you my little Sue Spargo needle case, that I have been working on at patch'n'chat.  Having stitched all the pieces in place

 

I have made a start to the embellishment, stitching round the wings with bullion knots and coral stitch

 

then working on one of the flowers, with French knots in the centre, and over-wrapped bullion knots round the edge

 

those of you who have been reading this nonsense rubbish drivel informative and entertaining blog for a while, may remember that over the years I have suffered from bouts of nasty pain in the right hand side of my face.  During the summer, I saw an ENT consultant at our local hospital, as I have a funny lump inside my ear which my GP might be a factor in the pain.  The consultant said that it wasn't to blame, and that he thought that I had trigeminal neuralgia.  But as that comes under neurology, I had to wait for another appointment, to see a neurology consultant.  That happened yesterday, and he confirmed the diagnosis.  So it has only taken ten years to finally find out what is the cause of the pain!  There isn't any real treatment for it, although he did recommend a drug that I have not yet been given (the ones I have had so far have nasty side-effects) but he told me about a last resort operation that I could have, but as it would involve drilling a hole in my skull, I'll pass on that!!