frayed at the edge

Reflections

On Saturday morning, as we walked back over the old bridge, having been out for breakfast, we stopped to look at the wonderful reflections of the other two bridges in the river, which was unusually still

 

then in the afternoon, we drove up the coast to Coldingham, for a walk on the beach....  but first, we sat on this bench to have a picnic lunch

 

looking out at this view

 

with these colourful beach huts to our left

 

and there were some hardy souls surfing!

 

is this some weird creature from the deep?  No, it's just two crab shells

 

I rather liked this beach hut

 

walks with Malcolm somehow always involve lots of stairs!

 

I would have loved to go up this set of stairs, to see the garden on the other side of the gate!

 

of course I had to have some arty photos!  First, of old fence posts

 

then a seed head

 

I'm not quite sure if this qualifies as arty - two teeny, tiny snails on a leaf

 

later on, it was quite misty, but it didn't stop this chap rowing up the river and into the dock

 

I won't be here for just over two weeks, as I am going to have some serious rest and relaxation ...... no sewing, no knitting, no blogging.  Just lots of reading, good food, a glass or two of wine, and hopefully lots of sunshine! 

 

 

Bridging the gap

When we went for our walk on Sunday, we went the other way round the town, starting off at the bridges

 

 

there were great hordes of seagulls swooping on the water - there must have been a lot of fish for them to feast on

 

but this little gull wasn't interested, sitting quietly on a pile of seaweed

 

as we walked on along the river bank, a heron swooped in and landed just in front of us

 

I wasn't quick enough to capture the moment he caught a fish, but you can see the bulge in his throat as he swallowed it!

 

when we walked along to the ruins of the Castle, I had fun taking arty photos through the windows

 

we turned away from the river, going through this wonderful gate

 

then up this long flight of stairs, which has little bits of handrail to match the gate

 

there were splashes of colour along the way

 

I like the way the twisted handrail is finished off - as if they just wrapped the ends to keep them in place until they came back and finished them off neatly

 

the only place in the world which has been fought over and changed hands more times than Berwick is Jerusalem!

 

Malcolm spotted this big fat pigeon sitting in a tree

 

as we walked on round the old walls, we had a good view over the golf course

 

it was very misty looking out to the lighthouse

 

as we headed back round to our starting point, we could see the poor old wooden pier, which still hasn't been repaired

 

as we walked back over the old bridge, we saw one more little bird, well camouflaged on the seaweed

 

to finish ........what a pity I missed seeing this building being demolished, as no doubt there were big machines involved!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing!

 

It rained so much on Saturday ......

....... that Malcolm considered setting up an ark-building company!  But then on Sunday we got up to a beautiful morning, so off we went to the beach

 

there have been some very high, and then equally low tides recently, and the sand has shifted a lot.  The wooden groynes have almost disappeared in places

 

I hoped that all the shifting sand would mean that there would be lots of seaglass, and I had only gone a few yards before I had picked up several pieces

 

recently I have seen lots of pictures in craft shops, at craft fairs and on Pinterest, made with small pieces of seaglass and little pebbles like these.  I shall have to have a play!

 

perhaps I could add in a feather?

 

this surfer was trudging up the beach - I guess the surf wasn't to his liking

 

we walked right to the end of the beach, then came up the steps and walked back along the promenade, stopping at the cafe ......

 

for a cuppa and a shared bowl of delicious chips

 

the good weather had brought out lots of people ...... with lots of dogs!

 

while I was taking this photo of an enormous rosehip .....

 

....... Malcolm was sitting enjoying the view

 

you can just make out Bamburgh and Lindisfarne on the horizon

 

as we walked back through the car park, we decided we wouldn't want to spend a holiday in this big beastie - you would probably spend half the day trying to find somewhere to park it

 

I've shown you various catering vans at local events ...... this is their base

 

as we walked along towards the dock, we saw one of the little fishing boats

 

which seemed to be having problems, as it was going round in circles!

 

I was tempted to "acquire" three different metal objects on our walk ....... a wonderful old gate

 

......... a piece old scrap metal, which would probably sell for a fortune in a trendy art gallery

 

....... and this lovely rusty gate post and lock

 

back at the dock, there was more temptation ........ two transporters full of brand new Minis (they aren't two-tone, the white is protective covering)

 

I shall be back tomorrow to tell you about a very special little boy, and to show you the quilt that I have made for him.

Discombobulated swans!

When we arrived at the flat on Saturday there was a large ship in the dock - it was very good of the two drivers to park their lorries to frame the ship and give an indication of its size

 

then in the early evening, a line of swans which was sailing majestically into the dock suddenly veered off to their left

 

why?  Because they were about to be run over by the ship

 

which was being shepherded out of the dock by the pilot boat

 

soon it had headed out to sea past the lighthouse

 

and the pilot boat had returned to the dock

 

since we bought the flat, we have watched this development taking shape when we have been walking round Berwick

 

as the show house is now open, Malcolm suggested that we pop in and have a look round ..... a little bit naughty as we have no intention of buying a house there!  There were too many people downstairs to be able to take photos, but I took some upstairs

 

it's that time of year when the air is full of seed heads

 

for some reason, Malcolm wouldn't let me go into this exhibition!

to finish, a clue to the identity of next week's visitor ....... she is American, and her first name is almost the same as mine!!

 

 

 

Slightly delayed!

Thank you all so much for your good wishes while I have been a bit under the weather.  I suffer from a recurring pain in the right hand side of my face, which doctors and dentists have been unable to diagnose or cure, despite both MRI and CT scans.  So when I have a flare-up it is just a case of waiting for it to settle down again.

 

So, on to cheerier things!  A selection of photos from our walk on Saturday afternoon

 

Birds

 

 

Hedgerows

 

 

Beach

 

 

Old doors in garden walls

 

to finish ....... the baby quilt will be heading off to its new home tomorrow, ready for the arrival of the Lovely Grandchild

Rescue me!

When this little boat let off a flare, we thought it was just as a signal

 

but then we realised that they were acting as if they were on fire, when the lifeboat arrived and turned the hose on them

 

but the event we most wanted to see was a demonstration of the breeches buoy, which you can read about here.  But there was an great deal of standing about

 

then there was a flurry of activity

 

this boat joined in the action

 

there was a great deal of hauling on ropes

 

this poor chap obviously drew the short straw, and had to get kitted up ......

 

and go into the water to remove vast amounts of seaweed which had fouled the ropes

 

at last everything was sorted out and the breeches buoy was attached to the ropes

 

and sent out across the water

 

at the other end, the short-straw chap had a bit of a struggle to get into the buoy

 

 

and was then pulled back across to the shore

 

while all the rescuing was going on, the lifeboats were whizzing back and forward, creating waves

on dry land, I thought this little boy was going to need rescued, as when he got almost to the top of the climbing wall he froze!  Fortunately, he got underway again and completed his climb

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing! 

All at sea!

Yesterday afternoon, we walked along to the Lifeboat Station

 

to enjoy all sorts of fun

 

the Festival was declared open by the Mayor

 

as well as the Berwick lifeboat, the Eyemouth lifeboat had come down the coast to join in the festivities

 

then there all sorts of watery events ...... I'l start with the raft race

 

the race was won by the Mexican Bandits ...... but when they lifted their raft out of the water after the race, perhaps they should have been disqualified for rafting under the influence!

 

this crew was the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team ....... you might think the man on the left is a roguish looking chap - but he is a respected Berwick business man, whose firm installed our solar panels!

 

but the rafters didn't just have to contend with paddling their unwieldy crafts ...... the lifeboats were having fun whizzing past them setting up large waves

 

the Salmon Queen and her attendants were there too, and went out on the lifeboat

 

I did think about jumping into the water to be rescued by all these fit men

and there were craft of all shapes and sizes on standby

 

but I decided to stay on dry land!  With all the excitement, we were in need of refreshment and retired to the tea tent, where we had earlier seen the Mayor enjoying a cuppa

 

no scones, but we shared two delicious, sweet and sticky traybakes

 

I still have lots of photos to share with you, but they will have to wait until tomorrow.  But I have something very cute to end with ....... we called in at The Hirsel for lunch on our way home today, and Malcolm spotted these four little swallows crammed into their nest

All the fun of the fair!

The weather cooperated on Saturday for the Spittal Family Festival, which we walked along to, after lunch.  The first part of the promenade was taken up with a car boot sale

 

then there was the funfair

 

sadly we missed the performance of the Punch and Judy show

 

this boat was whizzing about

 

the four men on the right were doing some impressive synchronised kite flying

 

there was a climbing wall at the far end of the promenade.  These two young girls may have taken some time to climb up, but it didn't take them long to come back down, as they just launched themselves out from the wall and came down on the safety ropes.  I would never, ever have had the courage to do that!

 

the girls would have had an even better view than this, looking back across the Festival

 

as we walked back along, we enjoyed delicious "99" ice creams

 

on Saturday evening, as it was getting dark, Malcolm pointed out a line of swans coming into the dock.  But by the time I had picked up the camera, they had about turned and were furiously swimming back out

 

so what had spooked them?  This naughty creature!

 

I am going to be very busy over the next few days, finishing the decorating in the studio, so I won't post again until Friday, when hopefully I will have the big reveal!  To finish, I'm not going to make a habit of this, but this is another Gaelic cartoon  - I have decided that the sheep is having to sit on his own because he is eating garlic popcorn!!  Of course it won't be saying that at all, but perhaps you can suggest another silly "translation"!

 

 

 

Sewing!

You may have thought that with all the other stuff going on, that I haven't been doing any sewing!  But I have been working very hard on my Aunts' Quilt, to make sure that I had this month's stage finished.  I started by trimming the applique blocks

 

but you will have to wait until next Friday to see the full report!  The little elephant stitchery is finished

 

and I have made a good start to the next one

 

yesterday I sent Malcolm up into the loft to retrieve two pieces of furniture for me.  First, this half-moon piecrust table, which belonged to my Mum and Dad.  I can vaguely remember them buying it when I was little, so it must be at least 50 years old!

 

I am going to paint it with this Annie Sloan chalk paint, and bring it over to use as a hall table in the flat

 

we had this little chair in the hall of the Victorian house which we lived in, in the 90s.  It was the time of paint effects and stencilling.  I think Malcolm used a stencil for the basic design, then embellished it.  But it too is going to be painted with the chalk paint, and will go in the guest bedroom at the flat.  While I am painting it, Malcolm will recover the seat.  There is a tale to tell about the fabric that is on it at the moment, but I will have to look out the relevant photos to go with the story

this cupboard is now in my studio, another paint effect and stencil job

 

I painted the cupboard in the paler paint, then sponged it with the darker one.  I then stencilled it - even stencilling rosebuds on the handles

I also painted the inside of the cupboard!

 

I wasn't at patch'n'chat this afternoon, as we came over to Berwick.  For a change, we came via Duns, and popped into the Garden Centre for a cuppa.  So there is still a Friday cake ....... the most wonderful scone, filled with blueberry Eton Mess

 

for those of you who may not know, Eton Mess is broken up meringue, mixed with fresh cream

 

the forecast is good for tomorrow, so we are looking forward to the Seaside Festival

 

I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

We finally get to Sunday!

On Sunday morning, we headed back over the Border to visit Coldingham Priory ...... or rather the remains of the Priory.  However the parish church .....

 

........ is built on the site of the Priory

 

this board (click on the photo to enlarge it) .......

 

....... explains what these relics are

 

around the site of the Priory are paving stones with messages carved into them

 

I always get a lump in my throat when I see these old gravestones

 

this old gravestone has had a new plaque put on it

 

and this War Grave is particularly sad, that the sailor's family wouldn't have known that their loved one had been buried in Coldingham

 

when we walked by to the car, I spotted this pillar box beside the car park.  It is from the reign of George VI, the Queen's father

 

from Coldingham, we went on to St Abbs for a cuppa.  While Malcolm was placing our order, I was admiring the little table setting

 

I was given a plain, ordinary white cup and saucer with my tea, but as happened the last time we were there, Malcolm was given this stylish cup and saucer with his coffee

 

after our cuppa, we had a potter down to the harbour, where the tide was well and truly out

these boats in the inner harbour would have a long wait until they were afloat again

 

of course I had to take a photo of this boat!

 

we had a hunt on the shoreline for shells and seaglass, but I was distracted by this crab claw

 

this was the first crab I have found with blue pincers

 

 

when we walked back to the car, I was glad that this enormous gull was sitting on someone else's car!

 

on the way home, we stopped to have a look round number four

 

the gallery is filled with all sorts of art works, and as we wandered round oohing and aahing, I had a good idea!  I have been stumped as to what to give Malcolm for his birthday this year ...... so I told him to pick something, which he was delighted to do.  However, as it isn't his birthday until the 3rd of September, you will have to wait to see what he chose.  However, I can show you a general shot of all the loveliness on offer

 

back at the flat, the poor swans were discombobulated again, as yet another boat came into the dock

 

to finish ...... our lovely neighbour (the shoe shop owner) popped in this afternoon to give me a bunch of sweet peas, which she had just picked from her garden.  I wish we had smell-o-blog, as their scent is lovely.  I put them in my favourite little vase, which I bought when we were living in Indonesia, so it is about seventeen years old