frayed at the edge

6&6 in 2018 : May report

 My goodness, where did May go!  I was somewhat discombobulated to realise that this is the last day of the month, and I hadn't organised my 6&6 post.  So there has been a frantic scrambling through rather a lot of photos to find these ones!

For this month's new project, I looked out little bundles of Liberty fabric

 

and several packets of pentagons

 

of course we were on holiday at the start of the month

 

so quite a lot of the sewing of my pentagon flowers was done sitting in the sun

 

so, what am I making?  I don't really know yet!!  At the weekend, I pinned a piece of fabric on the design wall, then randomly pinned flowers on it.  Will I develop this, or will I decide to put the flowers in blocks?

 

Last month, Meredithe suggested that we included knitting projects as well, so I have two for this report.  First, the ongoing project of knitting a very long tube, which will eventually be stuffed, coiled, and turned into a rug.  As you can see, there is now so much of it, it no longer fits in my knitting bag

 

just before we went on holiday, I finished this snazzy pair of socks.  I have yet to block them, but as we are enjoying some lovely weather at the moment, that isn't a priority

 

so that is my May report.  Pop over to Meredithe's blog, and after reading her report, scroll down to the linky thing to see what everyone else has been doing.  And if you visit my Instagram (@annetaydon) you can see what else I did with some pentagons!

 

Domestic sewing

I have sewn for as long as I can remember, including making curtains and cushions.  I didn't make this pair, but as you can see, I am letting down the hem

 

having pressed the bottom of the curtains, I laid them out on the floor, ready to  turn up a small hem .......

 

so that they can be hung on either side of the opening through to the garden room

 

we brought this couch home with us from Indonesia (it is called a Bali couch).  Last week I snapped up this remnant of fabric for the absolute bargain price of £15 to recover it

 

this as a detail of the stitching on the fabric

 

do you remember that Malcolm recently recovered the dining chairs and the two tall Indonesian chairs with this beautiful black fabric?

 

there was some left, and turned to the wrong side will make excellent cushion covers to put on the refurbished Bali couch

 

when we bought this sofa bed last year, it came with rather boring cushions

 

but this recently purchased remnant will make very smart  new cushions

 

I said I would tell you about The Hunk ....... some years ago, when we were in Singapore, we were strolling down Orchard Road when I saw this rather handsome young man, clad only in (very) low slung jeans, standing in a shop doorway.  As I had my camera in my hand, I raised it to take a photo.  He saw me, and immediately posed for the photo.  Several days later, we were strolling down Orchard Road again, and Malcolm was teasing me about the handsome young man - would I perhaps talk to him if I saw him again.  Well, there he was, standing in the doorway, so I trotted over and reminded him that I had taken his photos several days previously.  I told him that I had put his photo on my blog, and had made a lot of ladies all round the world VERY happy!!!  He asked me if I would like a photo with him - and as you can see, I said yes!  He was a model for Abercrombie and Fitch, who obviously stood at the door of the shop looking gorgeous to entice shoppers in ....... and there was an young lady on stand-by with a camera to take photos!

 

I'll be back on Friday with photos of Malcolm's hard work in the garden!

Busy in the kitchen

I got organised after lunch to do a bit of simple cooking.  First, I assembled these ingredients to make a dish which is simply known as Indian chicken (my version of a recipe that was in a magazine many years ago)

 

I put some mango chutney in a small saucepan and added some curry powder, then cooked it gently for a few minutes - this cooks out the raw flavour of the curry powder

 

in a large bowl I put equal quantities of yogurt and mayo, and whisked them together

 

when the mango curry/curry mix cooled, I whisked that into the yogurt/mayo mix

 

I then added the leftover chicken, and mixed it well.  We had it tonight for dinner with a baked potato - delicious!  (and even better, there is some left over for my lunch tomorrow)

 

next, I prepped tomorrow's breakfast,  This is a variation on summer oats/refrigerator porridge.  In the tub is a mixture of granola and muesli (I didn't like either of them particularly, so I mixed them together)

 

in each jar I put a quarter cup each of the granola mix and yogurt, and added a third of a cup of milk.  Next was a dash of vanilla and a tablespoon of jam

 

I made sure the lids were screwed on tightly, then gave the jars a good shake to mix the ingredients

 

we have a choice of fruit to have with it tomorrow

 

I bought some fresh herbs this morning for future cooking

basil 

 

chives

 

coriander

 

after the fun of cooking, it was time to do the ironing (my absolute least favourite domestic task)

 

so to make it more pleasant I watched Despicable Me 3 (again), with those cute little minions.  What do you mean you didn't notice the minions, you were too busy looking at my mouse mat?

 

this is The Hunk - come back on Wednesday and I will tell you who he is!

A last batch!

 This is a very random last selection from the holiday photos.  As you go through, you will find some wonderful gnarly old trees, pigeons sharing a window with a tv ariel(!), a brilliant yellow jeep which Malcolm wouldn't let me steal borrow.  There are also two more of Malcolm's photos, which I have credited to him!  When you have staggered to the end, you will find three photos from yesterday

Malcolm #1

Malcolm #2

 

on our way up to the hairdresser in Kelso yesterday, we popped in for a cuppa, and shared a delicious cheese scone (we did miss our scones on holiday, no matter how many cakes we ate!)

 

I took this one from the car when we were stopped at temporary traffic lights (Malcolm was driving)

 

and to end, this is Jake the Salon Dog, working hard at guarding the premises!!

 

we will be heading home from Berwick tomorrow.  Malcolm will be busy over the weekend in the garden, and I hope to get lots of sewing done.  Have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A quick tour

I had hoped to have all the photos sorted out for today's post, but I was at The Quilt Shop all day yesterday teaching, and I was there again today for our usual Wednesday sewing day.  So here is just a quick look at our holiday

 

the front of the villa

 

the back of the villa and the wonderful swimming pool

 

the lounge area

 

the dining area, with the kitchen beyond

 

the Iron Cockerel in Pollensa

 

looking over to Puerto Pollensa

 

there are lots of these wonderful old gnarly trees

 

now this house has been refurbished, it has been screened from public view - most annoying

 

cute goats!

 

delicious food at the Sunday market

 

every year I offer to buy this boat for Malcolm!

 

a misty evening view of Puerto Pollensa

 

an old well, hidden in a neglected garden

 

one of Malcolm's photos

 

another of Malcolm's photos!

 

this car owner has a sense of humour!

 

I will try very hard to sort out more photos for Friday, as I still have some super ones to share with you!

I'm back!

Hello!  Did you miss me?  I missed you and I am looking forward to catching up with what you have been up to while we were away. I have been busy since we got back getting the laundry done and buying half the supermarket this morning to refill the fridge (I even did some gardening yesterday, as it was such a lovely afternoon).

I have yet to sort out all the photos that we took - yes, Malcolm has been bitten by the photography bug and took lots of photos too!  So for today, I shall share this one with you, which he thinks is his best one, taken in Cala St Vicenç