frayed at the edge

A box of delights

Just for fun, today's post is in reverse order!  As there was no patch'n'chat today (the shop hasn't yet reopened after being flooded), we came over to the flat this afternoon, and we have just had dinner ........ Malcolm popped out to the local chip shop, and came back with this box

 

which contained the most wonderful fish supper.  As you can see, it was a rather large helping, so we shared it

 

when we arrived, there was a rather large ship in the dock

 

it was being loaded, so hopefully we will see it leave tomorrow

 

when we arrived in Berwick, we parked in the town before going to the flat, as I had a parcel to post.  I treated us to a cuppa ...... and cake.  I had toffee crunch - a little bit sweet, but delicious

 

and Malcolm had toffee cabana, which had a layer of coconut under the chocolate - yummy

 

I met Maureen in Hawick for lunch - but we were blethering so much I forgot to take photos!  However I did take these two photos, to compare with the ones I took when the rivers were flooded.  First, the rocks can be seen again, but the heron hasn't returned

 

the white house on the left was flooded, with the river right up to the walls.  The two men in hi-viz give the scale to how many feet the river rose in the floods

 

and last, a bit of sewing from yesterday.  I found this fat quarter of animals in my stash (when I was looking for something else!)

 

and added the chicken fabric, and the orange fabric which was left over from a recent Linus quilt

 

after squaring the fat quarter, I added a chicken border

 

then an orange border - a quick make which will become another quilt for Linus

 

and I also made the binding

 

how long did that take ....... as long as it took me to listen to SuBo and several country tracks

 

with a pause to drink my mug of hot chocolate, which Malcolm brought out to the studio for me (he's a keeper!!)

 

the forecast isn't too good, so I don't think we'll be walking on the beach.  Whatever your weather, have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

A tale of two scones ........

....... but before we get to the scones, we'll start with Abbey Quilters' sewing day on Saturday.  I had layered up two identical small quilts for Linus, and soon had the machine set up ready to do some fmq

 

as the quilts are small, it didn't take too long to quilt the centres

 

using a little loopy flower stitch, instead of my usual lazy meander

 

Sheila was working on her little wallhanging ........ as you can see, her leaf blocks, unlike mine, are the correct size!

 

Sandra H had made this cute quilt top for Linus (it is actually deeper and brighter than this photo shows - my camera just doesn't like blue!)

 

Margaret had her first go at foundation piecing, and soon got the hang of it, producing this tree block

 

Val, as always, made sure we had plenty of fuel to keep us sewing, with her wonderful cheese scones

 

and delicious carrot cake - there was a slight oops with the icing, as it has stuck to the clingfilm covering the plate, but of course that didn't stop us from tucking in

 

after lunch, I changed to the walking foot and stitched in-the-ditch between the centre and the border

 

by the end of the afternoon, all I had left to do was finish the binding

 

so, why are we called Abbey Quilters?  Is it because we meet in the Abbey Row Community Centre

 

a magnificent building ......

 

........ which was a school

 

or is it because of the Abbey?  (actually, I don't know!!)

 

and now to the scones!  We didn't have a scone yesterday, after our walk on the beach (I'll tell you about that tomorrow), but when we popped over to town this morning, pausing on the old bridge to take a photo of the seal and a heron .....

 

........ we went to the delightful Mielle Patisserie

 

where we shared one of their delicious Provencal scones

 

but then this afternoon, we popped over to Wooler for a potter round the shops, and went for a cuppa (I forgot to take a photo of the coffee shop).  We were only going to have a drink, but then we saw scone with jam and clotted cream on the menu!!

 

and to finish - I realised yesterday that I had, yet again, forgotten about my blogiversary!  I have now been writing this nonsense rubbish informative blog for seven years!!  I am sure when I started it, Malcolm thought it would last for a few weeks, or months at most, but here I am, still rabbiting on.  Through blogging I have made many friends ...... mostly online, but some are now firm friends in the real world.  So, to celebrate, I think I'll have a little giveaway, as I haven't had one for some time.  What the giveaway will be, I don't yet know - I will have to wait until I have a hunt round the studio!  So all you have to do to enter is leave a comment between now and next Monday, when I will employ my random number generator (aka Malcolm) to pick a winner.  I'm quite happy to post the parcel anywhere in the world, so everyone can enter ........ and if you leave a comment everyday, then you have more chances!!

 

A walk on the beach

On Sunday morning we headed out for a long walk on the beach, and of course the camera went too!

is this a replacement for the lighthouse?

 

no, it's still there!

 

there is still a lot of stuff on the beach from the bad storms

we thought this looked like a dolphin - but it was too heavy to take home

 

there are lots of washed up traffic cones .....

..... and tyres

 

old wood, rusty nails and a long shadow - excellent!

more old wood

 

old wood and rusty bolts

 

an arty shot!

 

a long shadow of the old wood ......

 

..... and a longer shadow of me!

 

this would look good in the garden, but again it was too heavy to lift

 

alas the cafe was shut

 

an interesting rock formation

this has worn away to show two kinds of rock

 

an interesting piece of pink rock jutting out from the grey

 

this should also have a warning that the water is freezing!

 

this shows how much sand was washed up on to the promenade during the storms

 

yummy - a Devon scone made with buttermilk, enjoyed after our walk

 

and to finish.  I have had these Timberland boots for more than ten years (I bought them in Singapore!).  They may be too shabby to wear for best, but they are excellent for walking on the beach!

Bright skies

We decided on Saturday morning to head over to Berwick after all.  As we headed out to Malcolm's car, I paused to take a photo of my poor little car, still covered in snow from Thursday ......

 

....... and the road at the foot of the drive, which still had rutted, frozen snow and ice on it

 

the display on Malcolm's dashboard shows how cold it was

 

and this shows how he can change his driving mode

 

but before we get on to photos from Berwick, here are some from our trip out for lunch last Wednesday - the first ones are from the drive over to Melrose ..... fortunately the big beastie in the third photo had pulled off the road out of the way

 

the Abbey was looking good in the sunlight

 

Malcolm spotted this big clump of "chicken of the woods", which is a fungus, on a tree stump

 

I liked the delicate coating of ice

 

on the way home, we passed this pack of hounds ...... but we didn't see the hunt

 

so now on to Berwick.  Once we had unpacked, we went for a (chilly) walk into town.  After a potter round the shops, we popped in for a cuppa and scone for lunch ...... this is a delicious Provencal scone, with feta cheese, sundried tomatoes and olives (I pick out the bits of olive!)

 

on our way back over the old bridge, we could see clusters of people all looking down at the river and busy with cameras and phones.  Why? Because the seal was posing prettily for pictures!

 

and to finish ...... a photo of a swan!  It came into the dock this morning before it was quite light, so the photo has a slightly blue tinge!

 

yesterday morning we went for a long walk on the beach - pop in tomorrow to see the photos!

Between the showers

The weather really has been dire, so as soon as the rain went off for more than five minutes, we headed out for a walk.  The first set of photos are from a walk round Hawick.  You can see how much water was still roaring over the rocks in the Slitrig, a tree almost uprooted ...... and how did that straw bale get in the river?

 

 

as we walked back to the car, I stopped to take photos of this old Rover, which I think has been lying abandoned in all the time we have lived in Hawick!

 

after all the grey skies, it was good to have some bright blue sky in these photos

 

the next set of photos come from a walk round Berwick - again with some blue skies.  But it was also very windy, so some of the shots are slightly shaky, as it is hard to keep the camera steady when the big lens is fully extended (Malcolm kindly let me use his shoulder as a tripod for some of the photos!)

 

I wasn't surprised to see the golfers ...... it takes much worse weather to stop them playing!!

 

at least the golfers were on dry land, unlike this chap.  This is definitely not my idea of fun - I would want an awful lot bigger boat before you would get me on the water!!

 

there aren't many swans about at the moment, so it was good to see this one.  It's only when you see them out of the water that you realise just how big they are

 

the last lot of photos come from a walk on the beach on New Year's Day.  It was the first time we had been on the beach since the storms and floods, and we were amazed at the huge piles of detritus

 

there were lots of turnips all along the beach.  We think they had probably been in a field to feed the sheep, and were washed away by flood water

 

sadly, the lump in the middle of this photo is a dead sheep - you can just make out its horns at the right hand side of the lump

 

the entire beach has been affected by the storms, with groynes being uncovered - some of which we hadn't seen before

 

Malcolm was just wondering if he could take this tree home with him!

 

we decided not to join the swans for a paddle!

 

as we walked back to the flat, of course I had to take a photo of the three bridges

 

the heron was oblivious to the seagull floating behind him

 

it had turned much colder, and we had to watch out for frozen puddles - I didn't want to slip and end up in an undignified heap!

 

and so to the last photo ...... when we went out for our walk, we popped into the supermarket to get the newspapers, and I had a quick look in the clothing section for a hat, as my ears were freezing, just in the short distance we had walked!  Not quite my usual style, but it was relatively cheap, and very warm!

Two very different lunches

Yesterday, after arriving at the flat, we walked over to town for a bite of lunch.  I ordered a tuna, cheese and gherkin ciabatta (unfortunately they didn't have any gherkins!), and Malcolm ordered cheese and ham.  Then as we often do, we swapped half (and I gave Malcolm the tomato from my salad)

 

back at the flat, there was activity on the dockside, as a lorry was unloaded

 

with not one, but two, machines whizzing about

 

this seagull was keeping an eye on proceedings

 

but these seagulls were too busy gossiping to be bothered with what the humans were doing

 

this ship was far too large to come into the dock, and sailed on down the coast

 

I was somewhat worried by this little boat on the far side of the river, as it had a definite list!

 

they say the camera never lies, but these photos contradict that.  This is the scene as the moon came up at teatime yesterday

 

but when I zoomed in on the moon, the camera saw things somewhat differently

 

a little bit later, some cloud appeared

 

but again, when I zoomed in, the camera saw the scene differently

 

today, we had an invitation to a very posh lunch at Eshott Hall Hotel ...... it was so posh I couldn't take photos of the food, but I can assure you that it was delicious!  Then after lunch, we thought we were just having a demonstration on how to make a Christmas wreath, by Christine, a florist from Lavenders Blue in Morpeth.  But after her demonstration, we were all given a wreath to decorate!!  The hotel gardeners had gathered lots of greenery from the grounds, and we were each given a goodie bag of decorations.  So, who produced the better wreath, Malcolm or me?!  I'm not going to tell you which wreath is which, I will just ask you to leave a comment  saying which one you prefer.  Bragging rights for months to come are at stake here ......

Oh the joys of technology!

I'm sorry that I am a day late, but we had no internet yesterday ....... and it has been misbehaving today!

 

My blog is usually my sunny little world, where bad things aren't allowed to intrude, but of course I have to start today by saying that, like all of you, we have been shocked by the dreadful happenings in Paris on Friday.  I heard someone on the radio on Saturday say that the best response is to go on with our normal lives, so that is what we will do here, starting with walking over the old bridge on Saturday morning, braving the cold wind.   The swans were clustered on the mudbanks ....... probably because the water was so cold!

 

can you see the seal on the left of the photo, sneaking up on the cygnet?!

 

between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, we had a great deal of rain. as you can see from the puddles

 

the wind had dropped overnight, so it was reasonably pleasant when we went for a walk on Sunday morning.  We parked the car and headed for a section of the river front which Malcolm had explored before, but which I hadn't seen.  These little boats were marooned, as the tide was out

 

this building would make a lovely studio (just saying, Malcolm!)

 

the tiny figures show how enormous the old walls are

 

I don't think this boat will be going far

 

although the owners could try launching it down these remains of a boat slip

 

a view of the three bridges, from across the river

 

as we walked on, Malcolm reminded me of my own advice, to remember to look up ...... otherwise I would have missed this cupola 

 

a lovely piece of old weathered wall

 

this tree is hanging on to its leaves

I do like old garden gates and doors

 

a welcome splash of colour on a grey day!

 

two of our favourite shops have moved over the river into the town centre.  First, Miss Polly's Paint Pot

 

and behind the scaffold is The Furniture Barn

 

as I took the photo, Malcolm pointed out that one of the scaffolders was posing for me!

 

by this time we were more than ready for a cuppa, and headed to Lowry's at the Chandlery

 

we had one of our famous two-scone-lunches, sharing a very tasty cheese scone, and a delicious fruit one with jam and cream

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of crafting, and an exciting piece of news about a photograph and a magazine!

 

A scone is not enough!

On Saturday afternoon, Malcolm headed over to town, to have a potter round the shops. As the weather wasn't very good, I elected to stay in the flat.  When he came back, he handed me this box of Christmas cards

 

we have been invited to have a table at this year's Christmas Fair in Jedburgh, so Malcolm has been busy making more of his driftwood trees.  I offered to make some of my little folded gift boxes to hang on them, for which I needed inexpensive Christmas cards.  I made a start to the first box, then realised I couldn't remember where the second fold went ........ but all was well, as my first ever Tuesday Tutorial, way back in 2010, shows how to make the boxes.  You can find it here.  After a great deal of measuring, marking, cutting and folding, I had a pile of forty boxes

 

Malcolm declared that he would reward me with a scone when we went out for a cuppa on Sunday morning, but I declared that a scone was not enough for all the work!  So after Malcolm had ordered his fruit scone .......

 

........ I consulted with the waitress.  What did she have in the way of chocolate cake, because only chocolate would suffice.  She had tiffin, but it had a white chocolate topping, and you know that I don't like white chocolate.  She also had rocky road, which I was going to have, when she suggested a little something from the dessert menu ........ chocolate brownie baked cheesecake, with fresh raspberries.  By the time I had eaten this, my sore fingers from all that folding were feeling a lot better!!

 

and I washed it down with an excellent pot of Assam tea

 

we were in the lovely restaurant where we went for Malcolm's birthday dinner in September.  I do like this section of one of the walls

 

I popped to the loo before we left, and I took the camera, as I remembered from a previous visit that it was rather splendid

as we left the restaurant, I paused to take this photo.  I wonder if in times past shoes were made here?

 

we thought we should go for a walk on the beach, to use up some of the excess calories, but on the way I spotted some more things to take photos of

an ornamental air brick

 

a stylish detail on an old lamp post

 

I love these old stairs

 

a memorial plaque

 

it was rather windy over on the beach, and these little boats were flying along

 

we tried not to laugh when this boat tipped over

 

but he soon recovered

 

this chap preferred to supply his own power

 

the waves were crashing in

 

after being almost blown off the beach by the chilly wind, another cuppa was needed ........ and somehow we managed to eat a mince pie as well!

 

back at the flat, I was going to do some more practice on my sample of two-colour brioche knitting, but when I read the instructions, I realised that I needed stitch markers ....... which of course were all at home in my knitting basket.  Still, I am making progress with this rather complicated stitch

 

I don't know if we saw three different herons over the weekend, or the same heron three times!

 

and of course we have to have swans

 

 

and a cygnet

 

and to finish ........ I thought I might buy this little boat (complete with lobster pots) for Malcolm's Christmas ...... but for some reason he wasn't too keen!!

A tale of two beaches

On Saturday, we went for a walk on "our" beach.  There have been some very high tides, and the sand has shifted quite a bit, revealing the wooden groynes again

 

then there is the usual dilemma of the lighthouse ...... should it be to the right or the left of the photo

 

then on Sunday we went for a walk on the beach at Bamburgh

 

the sun was shining on the Farne Islands

 

but Lindisfarne was hazy in the distance

 

this family was enjoying a game of croquet on the beach

 

a rather large dead crab

 

Malcolm wouldn't let me play with this big (toy) truck!

 

on Saturday morning when we walked over to the town, I only had the point and shoot with me ........ so of course the seal was sitting on a mudbank!

 

look how much the tide had come in, when we returned home about 45 minutes later

 

we were delighted to see some cygnets come into the dock with the adult swans

I know there has been very little sconnage on the blog of late, so we took steps to correct that, having this delicious cheese scone on Sunday

 

and this even more delicious (and even bigger) cheese scone on Monday, on our way home

 

the trees are now blazing with their autumn colours

 

Maureen came over for the day yesterday, so that we could have some fun needle felting.  Before she arrived, I looked out all my felting stash, and most importantly, Gretel's excellent book

 

I had bought these rovings in Australia

 

I thought we should start with something simple, so chose the little mouse

 

my little mouse was soon under way

 

I just have a little bit of stitching round his tummy to do

 

but at the other end of the table, things weren't going so well, and there was a great deal of muttering from Maureen.  Having consulted the book, she decided to turn her mouse into a penguin!

 

however she then had a go with my embellisher, and in no time at all produced this super picture

 

while she was doing that, I made a start on a penguin

 

to finish ....... you know that I like tractors, but not when they are taking up the whole road!!

Our holiday - part 3

A quick last look at some of the delights of our holiday, before catching up on what we have been doing since we got home

were we tempted to take on a refurbishment project?  NO!!

 

beer for Malcolm, wine for me ...... and my terrible taste in holiday reading!

 

pomegranates

 

sunset

 

sunrise

 

swordfish with mango and coconut sauce - delicious

 

Malcolm ate a lot of olives (I don't like them)

 

very old olive trees

 

and one last lingering look at the wonderful pool

 

back home, the rowan tree in the back garden was looking glorious.  Although it was a bit damp and grey on Wednesday morning, I took a photo of it, which is just as well, as soon afterwards it rained and rained, and when the rain stopped, half of the leaves had come off!

 

the creeper on the back wall is looking glorious

when we were on holiday, there was no sign of Christmas at all in the shops ........ then we came home to shops overflowing with Christmas stuff, adverts on the radio and television ........ and even my Christmas cactus has buds on it

 

at the weekend, we had two walks on the beach, which I will tell you about on Wednesday.  To finish today ....... how cute is this little seagull, which we saw on the beach at Bamburgh yesterday