frayed at the edge

Sad news

Hello, my dearest peeps.  We received some sad news this morning ........Malcolm's brother-in-law, the husband of his older sister Jennifer, died suddenly last night.  So I won't be here for a while.

Love, Anne

Just for you .......

 There were some of you (you know who you are!) who thought that they were going to see handsome young men with rippling muscles when they saw the word Chippendale in Wednesday's title.  So to make up for your disappointment, here is such a young man - but I won't make you envious by also showing you the photo of the two of us with our arms round each other!

 

there was great excitement this afternoon when Malcolm's new shed arrived

 

the sun decorated it with a super shadow shot

 

the three windows will give him plenty of light.  The first job will be to build a large workbench across the back wall, where he can set up his big saws and his lathe

 

I have been doing a lot of sewing, but I can't show you until next week, when I do the next report on my progress on my  17UFOs.  But I can show you this - remember I put the top heart the wrong way up on the right hand block?  Well, I made another one with the heart the right way up, but I can't decide which one I prefer

 

when I was at the class with Lucie, I invested in this gadget to make yo-yos (or if you are old-fashioned like me, you will call them Suffolk puffs)

 

and this afternoon I made my first yo-yo with it,  It is a lot easier making yo-yos with it, so I may even invest in some other sizes 

 

I had looked and looked for this Sue Spargo book on my shelves, and in the end thought maybe I hadn't bought it after all.  But of course, as soon as I stopped looking for it, I found it when I was looking for something else!

 

I had already sorted out fabric and threads (and worked a sample)

 

and more threads and needles

 

and I bought these gorgeous pieces of woollen fabric when we were in Wales.  I gave them a hot wash to lightly felt them.  But I will have to wait until next year to make a start, as I have a lot of sewing to do over the last two months of this year!

 

when I was taking the photos of the shed this afternoon, a microlight flew over ..........

 

at the same time as a jet, far above it, but I couldn't get them in the one photo

 

and now, the Friday food!  Today we have a cheese and bacon scone, which was served with some onion chutney - delicious!!

 

we will be heading up to the flat tomorrow, so hopefully we will be out and about, walking on the beach!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

 

 

Chippendale it ain't*

I promised you a report on Malcolm's project to customise the kitchen wine rack

 

auditioning some pieces of wood from his stash

 

plenty more to choose from

 

including this lovely shelf, which was mine!

 

using his trusty Workmate

 

as you can see it has been well used since I gave it to him for his birthday in 1984!

 

the first stage completed

 

then my lovely shelf cut to fit

 

a trial fit in the kitchen - don't worry about the doors on the left opening, they are just for show as that is the back of the cupboards on the other side of the worktop

 

and the finished article, which has been given a coat of Danish oil

 

all we need now is the wine fairy to visit with some bottles of wine!

*that was Malcolm's suggestion for the title, I wasn't being cheeky!

Worth getting up for!

I know some of my friends think I am mad getting up early, but if I had stayed in my bed this morning ........

 

....... I would have missed this wonderful sunrise

 

in the end, Storm Brian didn't reach us, so yesterday morning we headed over to Amble for a walk

 

we have never been there when the tide is out - it was strange seeing an waterless harbour

 

I think this was once a pier

 

I felt slightly seasick taking this photo - as I looked through the viewfinder, focussing on the gull, the water was  rushing past in the background

 

one of the cormorants obligingly assumed the classic pose with outstretched wings for the photo

 

not quite as impressive as the Berwick lighthouse!

 

we were concerned to see all these men in hi-viz scrambling over the rocks, but fortunately it turned out to be a Coastguard training exercise

 

you can rent these little beach huts

 

a quick pause for a couple of arty photos ....... first some rust

 

then a large, strange piece of machinery

 

this piece of landscaping has recently been weeded and tidied

 

but this stretch is still neglected

 

heading for a cuppa after our walk, we were a bit bemused by all these pigeons on the roof.  We came to the conclusion that there can't be any loft insulation in the building, so the roof is warm for them to sit on

 

we had to avoid men with long ladders, who were stringing Christmas lights across the street

 

I remembered my own advice to look up, to find unusual things for photos

 

inconsiderate motorists, parking right in front of the tea rooms and spoiling my photo!

 

just for a change, we shared a toasted teacake - delicious!

 

I think I mentioned before that Stuart and Alison gave us walking shoes for our birthdays.  Manly ones for Malcolm ......

 

and girly pink soles for me.  It must be getting colder ........ note the hand knitted socks!

 

I'll be back on Wednesday with a report on Malcolm's wine rack!

I thought it was an oops!

When I was putting clean sheets on the bed this morning, I noticed these strange marks

 

what had happened?  Had I perhaps splashed the sheet with bleach?  No, it was the sun shining through the net curtain and casting the opposite of a shadow!

 

I have been meaning to show you these tray cloths and table cloths for some time, and today I finally remembered.  The tray cloths were embroidered by my Granny (I only had one Granny, as my Mum was an orphan)

 

it is hard to believe, but the tray and table cloths are older than me!

 

when I was about five, Granny showed me the basics of embroidery

 

and I have been sewing ever since!

 

I had thought that Granny embroidered these white-on-white table cloths as well, but some years ago my Dad's cousin Margaret told me that they had been embroidered by Granny's sister, Great-aunt Jemima

 

a detail of the flowers

 

and a butterfly

 

this one is kept safely in a cupboard now

 

as it is very thin, and has a small hole

 

this one is different to the other two, with a straight hemmed edge

 

and a different style of embroidery

 

somewhere on my to-do list is a white-on-white embroidery!

 

this last cloth was made for my Mum by our next-door neighbour Mrs Quinn.  It is a simple square of muslin

 

with circles of chain stitch in the corners.  It was used to cover the table when it had food on it, ready for visitors arriving

 

of course, at the end of Friday posts, our thoughts turn to food.  On Monday morning, we popped into the new deli/coffee shop in Berwick.  I am sorry I didn't take a photo of the outside, but it was raining!

 

there are just a few tables downstairs, but a much bigger space upstairs.

 

 

hopefully the views from the windows

 

will be sunlit next time we are there!

 

as always, coffee for Malcolm and tea for me ....... and an excellent cheese scone

 

sadly, we had missed the filming, but this is a report in the local paper (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

as bad weather is forecast for the weekend, we are staying at home.  Malcolm is planning to turn a wine rack in the kitchen into a piece of bespoke furniture (I must remember to give him a camera to record the process!) and no doubt I will be sewing!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

On the road again!

I have been down the A1 to The Quilt Shop so often recently, I think my car could drive there on its own!  Today I took in the finished Funky Chickens wallhanging (which is even brighter than it looks in the photo!)

 

I kept the quilting simple, stitching in the ditch round the blocks, and a quick fmq round the chickens

 

and here it is, hanging up in the shop.  Several people have already signed up for the class, so hopefully now that the sample is on show, more people be interested

 

this snowman cushion is a hybrid.  Sonia made the background at the original class, but then decided she didn't like it (she subsequently made another one), so she gave it to Ros, who added the appliqué.  They are now going to give it to charity

 

Ros was working on this little baby quilt, which will also be going to charity

 

Christine did the first snowman workshop, but unfortunately missed the second one, so today was the first chance that we had to get together for her to do the appliqué.  Don't you just love the fabric she picked for his trousers, and his funky purple boots!

 

Moira was making blocks with the tiniest of scraps - I think they will eventually become a bag

 

we had a newcomer to our Wednesday Ladies group ....... I asked her if her name was spelt Lyn or Lynne (I do try to get names right, having spent a lifetime having my name misspelt).  No, she said, it is Lynn.  She had brought a bag of scraps to use up, prepping some pieces ready to hand stitch together

 

Sue has been taking part in a giveaway of Aurifil threads.  Having filled in a coupon in a magazine, I gave it to Sue, having made the required spend of £15 (not difficult to do in a quilt shop).  Sue sent off the coupon, and this pack of delicious threads arrived yesterday in the post

 

it is a rather wet and unpleasant evening, so Malcolm lit the fire ........ sitting by a roaring fire brings back memories of childhood for both of us.

 

A fun weekend!

 On Saturday, I headed off down the A1 to The Quilt Shop, ready for a day of fun!  The wonderful Lucie had designed this wonderful whimsical wallhanging for us to sew (the photos are used with Lucie's permission)

 

every block is just so cute

 

and I will have lots of fun  ........

 

........ adding all sorts of embellishments

 

I started by tracing the shapes on to fusible web

 

then having cut out the pieces, I checked that they were centred in the block

 

unfortunately I wasn't paying attention, and put the top heart the opposite way up to the pattern - oops!  The other ladies thought it would look ok with the addition of a star on the top, but I have plenty of fabric, so I might make another one

 

of course there was cake to keep up our energy levels

 

working a zigzag stitch round the edges.  There is another class next month, so we have to finish our blocks, ready to add the sashing and borders

 

yesterday morning we went up to the flat, and as the weather was reasonable, we went for a walk on the beach.  The sand has moved again, so that this wooden post now only comes up to my hip, whereas last year it was above head height!

 

fortunately the interesting rusty bolts are still visible

 

there were several large stumps

 

all much too heavy to bring home

 

this wooden beam is about 15 feet long, and probably came from an old barn

 

I tried to pull out the bolt, but although I could turn it, I couldn't free it from the beam ....... I am sure Malcolm could have used it to create a feature in the garden

 

there was a lot of sea glass, so I have come home with a nice pile to add to my collection

 

dark clouds were appearing beyond the lighthouse

 

and there were no customers for the ice cream van

 

but it was mild enough to sit outside the café on the promenade for a cuppa

 

I went back to the car while Malcolm fetched a smaller piece of tree trunk that he had spotted

 

and here it is in a temporary place in the front garden.  The photo looks a bit fuzzy, but that's because it is very misty.  Storm Ophelia is due to reach us about midnight, so fingers crossed that she has run out of steam by then!

 

 

 

Very Happy Mail!

 I was somewhat surprised today to receive an envelope in the post with a Guernsey stamp on it, as I don't know anyone there

 

but all was soon explained ...... the envelope contained a card made by one of those companies that you can upload a photo to, and they turn it into a card and send it out for you.  And what a lovely card it is, a thank you for the pink unicorn quilt, from the parents of the gorgeous Jasmine, seen here with her quilt

 

Stuart mentioned recently that two more of his friends are to become fathers soon, so of course that means I get to have fun making baby quilts.  Sue has a sale on at The Quilt Shop (it's only on until next Wednesday, so you will have to get your skates on if you want some excellent bargains)

 

so I bought two bundles of fat quarters - oh my, the quilts are going to be bright!

 

I also succumbed to this batik jelly roll .......

 

over the last few weeks, I have been a bit worried about my Christmas cactus, which has gone a funny purple colour, and looks somewhat limp

 

so imagine my surprise yesterday when I noticed flower buds

 

I am so pleased that it is going to flower, I won't tell it that there are still quite a few weeks to go until Christmas!

 

do you remember I showed you this ivy some months ago.  I had given it to my Dad, not long before he died, so it is about twelve years old.  As you can see it is thriving since Malcolm re-potted it

 

I have always had houseplants, and the current crop are doing well

 

the yucca is still home to my Parliament of owls

 

this one is probably about four times its original size

 

and the rubber plant will soon be touching the ceiling!

 

the orchids haven't been happy since we moved here, although that may be because I have had them for years

 

looking beyond them into the front garden, the dahlias are still flowering

 

this one is quite happy growing in an old coal scuttle

 

this fern has had to be moved to the side of the mantelpiece, because we are lighting the fire in the evenings

 

I also love to have a vase of fresh flowers too - they just somehow find their way into the trolley every few weeks when I do the weekly food shop

 

it's Friday, so that of course means food!  We were in Morpeth yesterday, and decided to have a bite of lunch in The Morpeth Larder

 

Malcolm went up to the counter to order a Coronation chicken sandwich for us to share

 

and when he came back, he had to confess that he couldn't resist adding this excellent cheese scone to the order!

 

to finish, this is yesterday morning's sunrise - spectacular!

 

I will be heading down the road to The Quit Shop tomorrow, to do a class with the lovely Lucie - I am sure it will be fun!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Much too intelligent ........

......... to be a cat!  I love the Garfield cartoon strip - yes, I know he is a cat, and I don't like cats, but he is so intelligent he must be a dog in disguise!  Remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it, if the print is too small for you to read

 

I frequently get "free gifts" with quilting magazines (surely, if it's a gift, you don't need to say it is free?!).  Anyway, here are some recent ones.  First, good quality templates for cutting scallops

 

then, in another magazine, paper pieces and .......

 

...... a booklet of patterns to add to the scallops

 

the owl is my favourite

 

these two good quality templates are for making Dresden Plates

 

and finally, a set of templates for fussy cutting shapes

 

and to finish ..... having quickly made a sample for the Funky Chickens class, I have been working on the full wallhanging,  When I was at the Quilt Shop today, I was delighted to hear from Sue that five people have already signed up ...... so hopefully more will sign up when the wallhanging is displayed in the shop.

History

 So, what was happening on the quayside last week?   You probably guessed that they were setting up to film a tv show or a film.  My first guess, which was also Anne's guess (I knew that was what you would think, Anne!) was an episode of Outlander, but a very helpful young man told us that they are filming scenes for a Netflix film, Outlaw King, which about Robert The Bruce

 

I did remark that I hoped that it would be more accurate than Braveheart!

 

we weren't allowed on to the quay for a closer look

 

but we were very impressed with what we could see

 

it's just a pity that they weren't going to be filming until today

 

so we didn't get to see any Hollywood stars

 

now we are going to travel just a little bit back in time - all the way to last Thursday!  We stopped off at Powburn for a cuppa, on our way up to Kelso (for my regular appointment with my hairdresser)

 

I wanted Malcolm to buy this little ride-on mower for me

 

or even better, this John Deere one ...... but he said no!

 

after my blonde gorgeousness had been restored (don't worry, I still have my pink streaks), we went on to the flat.  Later in the evening we had a good view of the Harvest Moon rising from the clouds

 

on Friday afternoon, there was a sudden flurry in the dock, as there was a rush to finish unloading this rather large ship, so that it would catch the tide

 

they use this little machine to scrape the cargo into a corner to unload the last of it

 

soon the holds were being covered

 

then we held our breaths as the ship turned in the confined space of the dock

 

and headed out through the small opening

 

followed by the Pilot Boat

 

the dogs weren't as interested in the happenings as their owners

 

back home on Saturday evening, we had a rather spooky view of the moon

 

yesterday we popped over to Alnmouth for a walk on the beach

 

there were lots of dogs

 

catching balls

 

running away with balls

 

or just sitting looking pretty

 

is this a piece of driftwood, or a whale emerging from the sand?!

 

the beach just goes on and on

 

I couldn't resist adding a couple of flying golf balls to go with the sign

 

and while we're being silly, how about the October page from my kitchen calendar

 

they say when you visit somewhere, you should take nothing but photos .......

 

and leave nothing but footprints ........ so we left footprints from the smart new walking shoes which Stuart and Alison gave us for our birthdays!