I had to pop down into Hawick this morning for some shopping, then when I got back, the sun was shining and I decided to take a walk along the road to see if the donkeys were out in the field. I heard a tractor approaching, and was glad when it turned off, as its load didn't look too safe!
the donkeys unobligingly were in a corner of the field, so bits of fence were in the way
this little one must have been very hot with its shaggy coat
I don't know if this was a display of affection or chastisement!
this horse is often in this pen on its own - I know some horses mustn't eat rich grass, so perhaps that is why
in the field across the road, this horse was looking magnificent
these sparrows are slightly blurred, as they flew over so fast
back home, there were dozens of swallows on the neighbours' roofs
it was hard to count them
as they constantly took off and landed
but I think there were over 40 of them - I think they have raised three broods this year
the first of the new projects mentioned in today's title is Malcolm's
he has set up a work station in the summer house to work on some stained glass angels
he found some glass beads in his stash to use for their heads
he sat at our rather tatty table on the deck to put the copper foil round the edges
a good afternoon's progress
now for my new project - I had pieced this square years ago for a contest, but never finished it (I can't even remember now what I was going to do with it!)
I put it on the design wall, and cut a piece of stitch and tear
on which I drew some vague pencil lines
I then summoned my artist in residence (aka Malcolm) to turn my lines into a tree
I got out my embellisher (I had to give it a bit of a clean, as I haven't used it for a while!)
and some roving, which is a warmer brown than it looks in this photo
a start made to needle felting the roving on to the stitch and tear
gradually building up the tree - and even getting arty and adding a knot in the wood
after finishing the tree ........
........ the last stage was the scary bit - cutting the tree out, even although I knew the edges wouldn't fray. Next I will use fmq to stitch it to the background - but that will have to wait for another day!