frayed at the edge

When does a boat .......

......... become a ship?  I'm not too sure, but we certainly had several to see over the weekend.  When we arrived on Saturday morning, this one was being unloaded

 

and by the time we came back from a walk, the tide was up and the pilot boat

 

was supervising the ship turning

 

and leaving the dock

 

over in the corner, a small boat was being lowered into the water

 

I wonder if it is against regulations to stand on the boat while it is being lowered, especially when not wearing a life jacket (given how obsessed with elf'n'safety this country has become)

 

after the pilot boat had seen the ship safely on its way, it about turned and brought in another ship ....... but not before this yacht came in

 

after some discussion with someone on the dockside, the yacht left again, getting clear before the big ship came in

 

again the pilot boat supervised, as the ship turned and moved sideways, to moor across the top of the dock

 

I didn't see the small boat being lifted out of the dock, but caught it being deposited on the dockside

 

then yesterday evening, just as it was getting dark, Malcolm saw this beauty arrive offshore

 

as the tide was high, we hoped that it would come into the dock, but it stayed offshore

 

it was still there this morning, when we, and the sun, got up

 

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you what we did yesterday, and I'll finish with some photos of the seal, who is as elusive as ever!

 

Messing about on the river

On Sunday afternoon, Malcolm pointed out that there was a rowing boat coming down the river

 

which was quickly followed by several more

 

but perhaps the rowers in the last little boat weren't too sure of their stamina, as they also had an outboard motor (and none of the boats rowed back up the river, we saw them later being towed behind cars!)

 

the swans have been spending a lot of time out on the estuary, with only the occasional one appearing in the dock.  I realised that I don't know very much about swans, and whether they  migrate ...... like me, you can find out more here

 

the seal, as ever, entertained us ......... but every time I got him in focus he vanished under the water - on several occasions showing me his bottom as he went!

 

on Sunday evening the seagulls made a great deal of noise over in the river

 

while dozens more sat out on the sandbanks

 

yesterday I layered up the Father Christmas wallhanging

 

and finished making up the kits (except I realised later that I had forgotten to put in the red buttons for his coat)

 

I keep forgetting to take photos of the progress of Mrs Billings, as I have been stitching away on the hexagons for the last border in the evenings.  So yesterday I remembered to round them all up and count them - I have enough of the coloured pyramids and almost enough of the calico ones for another side, with several coloured ones left over to start the third side

 

then today I made another Father Christmas, and layered it up as well.  The one on the left will be used at the workshop to show the students how to hand quilt it, but for quickness I shall machine quilt the other one

 

all this sewing requires a lot of stamina, and Malcolm made sure I didn't flag this afternoon, bringing me two tiny cakes

 

and a mug of hot chocolate

 

and finally, for all my cat-loving friends, this afternoon I took this photo of the nasty little beastie cute little cat just for you !

Blowing away the cobwebs

We went for a long walk on the beach at Bamburgh yesterday.  It was rather windy, and the walk helped clear our heads, as we both have a nasty cold.  Someone else making good use of the wind was this kite surfer

 

LS Lowry regularly visited Berwick on holiday ....... perhaps he had a trip to Bamburgh one day and was inspired by the little figures in the distance on the beach

 

when we turned round to walk back, the castle was only just visible above the dunes, which made me think that if you were a Viking who had arrived to attack the castle, you would think it wasn't that big

 

until you walked further along and saw it in all its glory!

 

it was a hazy day, with the Farne Islands just visible on the horizon

 

this shell caught my eye, sitting in a little depression in the sand

 

this jellyfish was somewhat larger

 

I had just taken this photo of the remains of a butterfly when a large dog ran up and stood on it, spoiling it

 

when I was taking photos of the castle from the beach, I cut off the right hand side

 

as the vehicles parked there were rather out of keeping with the grand structure

 

if you don't like snails, skip past the next few photos!

 

and you might want to avoid this hairy caterpillar too!

 

of course after such a bracing walk, we needed some excellent sconnage for lunch, and headed to Sunnyhills

 

where we tucked into a cheese scone

 

and a fruit scone

 

before going out to see the llamas

 

I'll be back tomorrow with more photos from the weekend, and some sewing.  But to finish ......... I think it may be some time before we start producing wine from our grapes!

 

So that's where it went!

I pressed Father Christmas this afternoon and put him on the design wall to take a photo

 

but then I noticed a funny little bump under his moustache and beard - yes, his original nose had somehow migrated to a new location!

 

do you like these delicious colours?  You will have to wait to find out what they are for!

 

I did some more work on assembling the kits for the Father Christmas workshop.  White and black felt, and pink fabric for the face

 

wadding, binding and fusible web

 

embroidery threads

 

the robin has been having more fun in the birdbath

 

I think this is a very young female sparrow

 

to finish ...... do you think this firm is owned by the Three Bears?!

 

Access denied!

Did you miss me yesterday?  The naughty internet wouldn't let me online, no matter how many times I asked nicely.  So let's get on with the weekend report, starting with Friday evening, when I captured the moon

 

on Saturday morning, Malcolm picked Jennifer and Judith up from the train station, and after a reviving cuppa, we walked over to the town.  The locals kindly obliged with photo ops ..... first the seal

 

then the heron - who hogged the limelight by catchinng a fish (click on the photo to enlarge it to see the fish)

 

then later this enormous seagull posed happily

 

we had a walk round the old walls, then Jennifer treated us to lunch (sorry, too busy blethering to remember to take photos).  Next was a walk on the beach - here are the siblings gathering seaglass 

 

after a long walk on the beach, Malcolm treated us to ice creams ..... is there anything better on a sunny afternoon at the seaside than eating an ice cream ?!

 

back at the flat, we got excited when not one, but two, seals appeared in the dock 

 

after dinner, we walked J&J to the station, then on the walk back, Malcolm pointed out these heads

 

J&J, knowing that we have a bit of a seaside theme for the decor in the flat, gave us this wonderful glass plaque

 

to finish - the swallows are still preparing to leave, congregating on the neighbours' roof before swooping round the garden (the windows and our cars are splattered!)

 

back tomorrow with lots of sewing!

 

Low tide

We came over to Berwick today, as Malcolm's sisters are visiting us tomorrow - and as they are arriving by train at 9.30, that would have meant a very early start from Hawick.  It was very foggy when we got up this morning, and it was still hazy when we got here and went for a walk along to Spittal.  The tide was the lowest we have seen it - these two boats beside the lifeboat station were high and dry

 

these wooden supports are slowly rotting

 

it was decidedly hazy looking over to the lighthouse

 

and back to the three bridges

 

this dog was patiently waiting for its owner, who was blethering to another dog walker

 

we passed this delightful group of ladies on the promenade.  As we went down on to the beach for the return walk, the tiny lady on the left was being teased that she had to go the the very end of the promenade ..... so she stepped round the fence.  The two ladies beside her are holding her walking aid!

 

there is always so much to see on the beach - interesting rock formations

 

sand and tiny stones caught in a hollow in the rocks when the tide went out

 

of course we can't walk on the beach without picking up seaglass.  Some of it is easy to spot on the sand

 

whereas other pieces are harder to spot amongst the stones

 

I do like a bit of rust ......

 

.......... and old weathered wood

 

we spent so long on the beach, the tide had started to come in, and the boats at the lifeboat station were afloat again

 

 

at the bottom of the slipway on the other side of the lifeboat station, two men were setting out to fish

 

while this boat was just heading back in from a fishing trip (as I write this, it is moored in the dock in front of the flat)

 

knowing that you would be disappointed if there wasn't a Friday cake photo ...... there are two!  On our way over, we stopped at the Village Shop in Cornhill for lunch, and while Malcolm paid the bill, I purchased two muffins for afternoon tea

 

lemon and poppy seed on the left, and banoffee on the right.  Delicious!!

 

we are looking forward to our day with Jennifer and Judith, showing them the sights of Berwick.  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great weekend (and Happy Birthday to Gilly), love Anne

Time warp

There was a bit of deja vu this morning, when I had to phone the dentist for an emergency appointment as a filling had fallen out - the same one that I had an emergency appointment for in July!  I arrived a bit early for my appointment, so picked up a magazine to read.  A few pages in, I was puzzled by this advert

 

had I been caught up in some sort of time warp, fallen down a wormhole, had Doctor Who whisked me back some years in the Tardis, to a time before BP introduced their current logo, which I think looks as if it was designed by a five-year old with a Spirograph?

 

 

no - it was just a very old magazine!  But the funny thing was, if I hadn't noticed the advert, I might not have realised how old the magazine was, as the main topics were just the same as those of today, including a debate about badger culling (the latest cull started yesterday)

 

my tooth was quickly and efficiently repaired by the hygenist/technician, and there was no charge - I just hope this repair lasts longer than the previous one.  So, now we can get back to the weekend, and the cake I baked.  I had been given the recipe for a chocolate and beetroot cake by Maureen, and she also gave me beetroot from her garden, so I had to make it!  It didn't look very appetising before it went in the oven

 

but once it was baked and had a delicious chocolate topping added, it looked much tastier

 

I used some of the cake to make pudding for our visitors on Sunday - our lovely neighbours, the shoe shop owners.  I made a strawberry compote

 

a little compote in the bottom of the bowl, then a square of cake on top - yummy!

 

we saw a large ship waiting for high tide to come into the dock, so we hoped our visitors would arrive in time to see it, but they arrived just too late to see the pilot boat heading out ........

 

........ to guide the ship in, coming round past the lighthouse

 

this ship was narrrower than previous ones, so negotiated the opening without a problem

 

but it was much longer, taking up a long stretch of the dock.  As usual lots of people had stopped to watch the ship docking

 

and also as usual, the swans had gone off in a huff!!

 

the shadows in this photo look as if they are cast by the sun, but it is actually a light outside at nighttime.  The room was dark, but the camera decided to make it look somewhat orange!

 

we went out for a walk after lunch today - and look what we found ....... sloes!  Not very many, but enough to make sloe gin!

 

we also collected a bag of pine cones

 

and a big bunch of honesty, which will of course look much better when the outer layers come off, revealing the silvery paper innards

 

the swallows have taken to congregating on the lovely neighbours' roof

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some very cute little birds - and some sewing!

 

Cast your mind back ........

........ to Friday, when the robin sneaked in at the end of the post.  Well, I had hardly hit the publish button when the scruffy robin turned up and had a bath as well!

 

In a comment on Friday's post, Julia mentioned that if we were going to Berwick at the weekend, we should take a walk along the pier, as dolphins had been sighted.  So as soon as we arrived and got organised, off we set, pausing along the way as always to take photos.  As we walked across the old bridge, the seal popped up to say hello

 

then Malcolm suggested this street scene

 

this scene was my choice

 

we didn't see any dolphins, but we did see several boats

 

having failed to see any dolphins, we went for a walk on the beach, where as always there were all sorts of things to snap

 

on Sunday morning we went for a walk - and instead of walking along the top of the town walls, as we usually do, we walked round the bottom

 

and look what we found - a garden celebrating the Queen's Jubilee

 

the garden bench shows just how big the walls are

 

by the time we had walked down all these steps .....

 

........ we were ready for a cuppa and some excellent sconnage

 

I still have lots more photos to share with you - but I have a big pot of chutney wimmering on the stove, and I need to go and bottle it, so do come back tomorrow, as I even have a photo of a cake that I baked (a rare occurence!!).  To finish - we were bemused yesterday by this car, sitting in the middle of a large grass area which seems to be used for parking when the carpark is full.  As you can see, the grass has been cut round it .............

 

 

A delightful evening

We had a pleasant stroll over to the restaurant yesterday evening, and we sat at a table in the window, just where the sandwich board is

 

I managed to take a quick snap of the interior before it got busy

 

toasting the birthday boy

 

if we had known how generous the portions were for the main course, we wouldn't have ordered starters - for Malcolm Canarian potatoes with a trio of dips

 

and for me sizzling garlic mushrooms

 

for my main course I chose a trio of tapas - chicken paella, lamb meatballs and patatas bravas

 

Malcolm had decided to order something from the specials board - lobster paella.  He expected to get a dish of paella with pieces of lobster mixed through it.  WRONG!  This is what he got!

 

a magnificent whole lobster, which took him quite some time to eat.  When he had eventually extracted the last morsels from the claws, he went off to wash his hands.  I promptly had a word with the waitress, and asked if she had any candles that she could pop on a cake.  After a bit of a search, she found some and went through to the kitchen with the candles and a large piece of cake.  When Malcolm sat back down at the table, he was somewhat surprised when she put this in front of him

 

it was a wonderful meal, the service was excellent, and we shall certainly go there again.  And now for some sewing!  I have prepped the other two Christmas stitcheries

 

and I have done more stitching on the first one

 

on Tuesday, after playing with my new rulers, I got on with some prep for the Father Christmas class.  I wanted to check that I had got all the measurements right for the fabric that will be included in the kit, so I assembled the fabrics and the fusible web, on which I had already drawn out the pattern pieces.  This shows the first piece stuck to the wrong side of the fabric

 

but instead of using my usual fusible web, I am using double stick web.  It is tacky, and sticks to the fabric without ironing.  You can see the web of adhesive on the fabric

 

once the piece is cut out and the backing paper removed, this side is tacky as well, and sticks to the background fabric without ironing - you can see here that is didn't fall off when I picked it ip

 

but it can be peeled off if it needs to be repositioned

 

I laid the backgrond fabric over the pattern sheet

 

and started buiding up the pieces

 

once they are all in  place they will be ironed, which will fuse them permanently

 

to finish, one last photo from yesterday evening - do you like the candles on Malcolm's cake?!

Birthday boy!

Happy birthday to Malcolm, who despite having been "retired" for nine years, still thinks he is 29 (same as me!).  It's very difficult to get a good photo of him - he always manages to pull a face or blink at the wrong moment ....... I took this one this morning when we were out for a walk, and he looks as if he is half-asleep

 

I gave him a gift voucher for a two day stained glass course, which I got from here.  I hope he enjoys it as much as he enjoyed his dry stone walling course.  I am also taking him out for dinner tonight to the tapas restaurant in Berwick, which we are looking forward to.  We will be able to walk to and from the restaurant, which is a pleasant change from going out in Hawick, when either one of us can't have wine with dinner, or we have to get a taxi.  We have walked off the calories in advance, going for a walk along the other side of the river.  First, we had to stop and admire some ducks

 

and a robin, who was a bit shy

 

then the walk began in earnest, with yet another view of the new and old road bridges

 

and the railway bridge

 

we had a good view across the river to Berwick Castle

 

and a rather grand house, half hidden in the trees

 

I let Malcolm hold this dead crab for the photo!

 

this little boat is often tied up in the dock - I think it takes people on sightseeing trips up the river

 

there were several herons on the river

 

as we walked up a path to take us back to the road, we passed an old weathered fence post with rusty wire.  But does it look better from this side

 

or this one?

 

I have been getting on with as much sewing as possible, to keep up with Meredithe and her stitching contest ....... I'll tell you more tomorrow, as right now I am off to titivate for our night out!!