frayed at the edge

Night lights

To make up for not taking photos during the day on Friday, I took lots when we walked over to town in the evening.  They were taken with my point-and-shoot, so some of them are a bit blurry!  First, we have the rather impressive tree in the town centre

 

then a decoration on a building .........

 

....... and a slightly blurry row of them

 

the tree in front of the Town Hall

 

this is true!

 

these cuties are in the window of the wool shop

 

another tree - this one at the entrance to a car park!

 

lots of lovely gifts

 

it's just as well this shop was shut, or I may have come home with a tractor mug!

 

the lights on the new bridge

 

and to finish ........ the lights look as if they are floating in the night sky

After the storm

Yesterday morning dawned cold and frosty

 

you can see the tracks that departing lorries, which had been parked in the dock overnight, left in the frost

 

we walked over to town mid-morning, pausing to watch one of the Christmas lights being attached to the top of a lamp post.  These days we are used to over-the-top "health and safety" ....... but there was just one man directing the traffic round the large machine taking up most of the road, no traffic cones, no temporary lights, not even stop and go boards

 

there has been a major refurbishment project going on for months on these two old buildings.  As they are the first buildings you see if you cross the old bridge into Berwick, it will make a great difference when the work is done, giving a much better impression of the town to visitors

 

this is looking at the works from the other side.  The businesses affected by the disruption will be very glad when it is finished

 

Malcolm spotted this town crest on an old lamp post

 

after lunch, we went for a walk on the beach ....... and were amazed at the aftermath of Storm Angus

 

Malcolm surveying some of the detritus

 

do you remember that after last year's storms we kept seeing turnips on the beach?  Well, this time it is apples

 

I wonder if they were stripped from trees by the storm, or is someone has lost their apple store

 

this year, as well as lots of tyres

 

there was a complete wheel!

 

Malcolm thinks this is part of a feed trough

 

here he is showing the scale of this enormous tree trunk

 

it is amazing that these huge trunks have come down the river, through all three bridges, to be washed up on the beach

 

this lump would look good in the garden - if only you could lift it

 

another interesting piece - you can pay a lot of money in garden centres to buy these stumps

 

I think the shadow of this branch looks like someone dancing with a handful of ribbons

 

another large piece of tree

 

and this is it seen from the other side, with the lighthouse in the background

 

but amongst all the rubbish, there were still little bits of treasure .......  a pretty shard of china

 

and a piece of seaglass (note to self : please knit new fingerless mitts, those pink ones are rather tatty!!)

 

Malcolm threw this at me - fans of Harry Potter might agree with him that it looks like a mandrake

 

this sheltered corner of sand still had frost on it

 

a lot of sand has been deposited on the promenade

 

I wonder if the café owners really expected anyone to sit outside in the cold for a cuppa?

 

it won't be long until all the usable wood will have been cut up and taken away, to be added to log piles  (Malcolm has asked Santa for a Land Rover and a chain saw for Christmas, but I somehow think he will be disappointed on Christmas morning when he looks under the tree for his presents!)

 

after forgetting to have cake last week (!), I made sure we went for a cuppa at the Garden Centre this morning.  We shared this slice of deliciously gooey chocolate cake

 

and yes, we ate the little snowman too!

 

we'll be heading back home tomorrow morning, and I hope to get some more work done on Nelly.  I will also be putting the finishing touches to a special announcement for later in the week!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

Friday again!

Oh my, this week has just flown by - we just always seem to be so busy there aren't enough hours in the day!  But this afternoon, we slowed down and went for a walk out to the lighthouse.   On the way we passed the Money Pit .......

 

........ which has even more scaffolding on it

 

it's a long way down from the chimneys!

 

as we walked along the Walls, a goods train rumbled over the railway bridge

 

when we reached the pier, there was a new sign, which seemed to be a list of what not to do

so we took care not to fall over bollards

 

or rusty old mooring rings

 

I felt seasick watching this fishing boat pitching on the choppy water

 

when we reached the lighthouse, there was the usual dilemma ...... should it be on the right

 

or the left of the photo!

 

in the distance we could see Lindisfarne

 

and Bamburgh Castle

 

the wind was whipping spray off the tops of the waves - but you can just see that there were people walking on the beach (bbbrrrrr!)

 

we quite often see a bird perched on this pole - it always makes me think of horror stories - perhaps Edgar Allan Poe wrote one?

 

there were lots of birds on the sandbank - and more people on the beach

 

I have been neglecting my arty photos recently - so here are two!

 

at the end of our walk, we popped into Lowry's for a cuppa and cake

 

Malcolm forgot the first rule of being a blogger's husband, and started to eat his cake before a photo was taken!  He had a raspberry and almond slice, which he said was similar to a Bakewell tart 

 

I was doubly naughty, as not only did I have hot chocolate instead of my usual tea, but I had a slice of the most delicious chocolate fudge cake!

 

weather permitting, we will have walk on the beach tomorrow - I need to walk off the rest of the calories from that chocolate cake!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

 

A stunning start to the day

 It was worth getting up early  .........

 

.......... on Saturday morning

 

......... to take photos of

 

.......... the stunning sunrise

 

then in the afternoon we headed to the beach, where the tide was out

 

leaving strange patterns

 

in the sand

 

this cute little dog wanted to play with us

 

has someone started building a new Stonehenge?  No, these are just odd bricks that someone has stood on end

 

I keep saying I am not going to pick up any more seaglass, until I have used some of my collection, but who could resist this little bird-shaped piece

 

as always I pottered along, taking photos of the groynes

 

which always look different as the sand shifts round them

 

the autumn sun is lower in the sky, casting longer shadows

 

and you know that I like rusty bolts!

 

this is probably the biggest razor clam shell that we have found on the beach

 

another good find, to add to my growing collection

 

the railings along the promenade have recently been painted, which must have been a very boring job

 

there are still a lot of tyres on the beach, from when they were left there by last winter's storms.  Some are standing up

 

some are lying flat

 

others are just visible

 

and someone has had fun with this one!

 

I think it is obligatory to have an ice cream after an afternoon walking on the beach!

Very happy mail!

There was great excitement yesterday morning when the postman delivered a parcel from the other side of the world!

 

so what delights did it contain?

 

a card and presents for my birthday from Meredithe, who was unable to post the parcel to arrive on time as she was quite poorly

 

a fabulous sheepie tin

 

and in the tin, an owl tape measure, and an owl shawl pin, just in time for my hand knitted scarves and shawls coming out of the wardrobe for winter ( which the "experts" claim is going to be very cold and snowy!)

 

and how cute is this tote bag .......

 

....... made to support a good cause.  Thank you Meredithe, for such lovely presents - the tin and tape measure  are now in my sewing basket in the flat

 

I took these photos of my sock knitting yesterday morning, before we left to come over to the flat.  The light was really bad, so they have been taken under the ceiling light in the lounge - some of them on my footstool, and some of them on the rug.  This pair is for Malcolm - they are more green than they look in the photo

 

sorry, this one is a bit out of focus!  Again, these are for Malcolm - the same pattern, but in a blue colourway

 

but there was a bit of an oops in the second sock, where something had obviously gone wrong with the printing of the pattern on the yarn

 

the same yarn in yet another colourway - this pair is for me (and I finished them last night)

 

I've got lots of  left over bits of yarn now, so I have come up with a cunning plan.  I unearthed a skein of yarn from my stash and wound it into a ball.  Now I am going to knit short socks for me.  I'll use the leftovers to knit the rib, then use the skein to knit the feet - after all, no one  will see them in my boots!

 

we walked over to town this afternoon, and of course went round past the Money Pit.  There is still a lot of work going on.  The rotten bits of window frame have been replaced, and the windows painted

 

why did I take this photo?  If you look closely at the big tree on the right, you will see that it is laden with apples!

 

some time ago, we went to have a look round the show house at this development when they had an open day (we had no intentions of buying one, we were just being nosey!).  The work is now almost finished, and instead of a great mound of earth and rubble, the centre space is now being landscaped

 

the little black boat is one of the fishing boats that moors in the dock

 

there weren't very many people on the beach today

 

this is an old fire insurance mark on the front of a house (well spotted, Malcolm!)

 

I rather like this window - I wonder if Malcolm would let me cut a hole in the studio wall to install one?

 

I have shown you this fire escape before - it is on the back of the Money Pit.  I just like the contrast between the curved and straight sections

 

when I was sorting through my photos, I came across this one from earlier in the week.  Has an alien invaded my kitchen?

 

no, it's just a saucepan waiting to be washed up

 

instead of going for a cuppa and cake this afternoon, we had a cuppa and shared a delicious cheese scone at the Garden Centre this morning

 

the forecast is reasonable for tomorrow, so we are hoping to go for along walk on the beach.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

I've never been one ........

...... to shirk a challenge, so when Little Miss Smartypants Meredithe mentioned knitting 16 pairs of socks in 2016, of course I said I would too.  The only problem was that she was on pair 12, and I had knitted one!  However, I bought some sock yarn to knit up when we went to Hampshire - I knew I would get a lot done in the car during the long drives there and back.  This is the first pair ........ I do like to start the second sock at the same point in the colour sequence as the first one

 

but I had just gone past the start point of the first sock when I got to the toe

 

and that part of the sequence didn't appear again until the heel, which was far too much to wind off, so they don't quite match

 

I bought this sock wool in the wool shop in Alton, as Malcolm said he would like a pair

 

I thought I had started in the same place, but as I was knitting in the evening with just the light of a small lamp ...... oops.  Fortunately Malcolm isn't bothered, as you won't see them when he wears them with his winter boots

 

hooray, this pair turned out matching!

 

this pair match down to the heel turn

 

but then the sequence has a slight hiccup

 

this is the latest pair - I should finish this first sock tonight

 

and now for a tale of woe!  When we got home, I popped into Fun2Do in Hawick to get a ball of wool to do another pair for Malcolm.  I started knitting .......

 

........ then there was a slight problem with a break in the yarn

 

but on closer inspection, it looked as if the yarn had been cut, and there were several more ends in the ball.  I took it back to the shop yesterday, and the member of staff who served me was as puzzled as I  was.  She too thought that it looked as if the yarn had been cut, rather than breaking when the ball was being wound.  She is going to send it back to the manufacturer ......

 

........ and I got a replacement ball.  But unfortunately there wasn't another ball of the manly colourway, so I just had to get another girly one!

 

on Saturday, Berwick was invaded by rather a lot of Goldwing motor bikes (they look like a cross between a motor bike and a large armchair!)

 

I promised you handsome young men, but I don't think these chaps qualify

 

nor do these ones

 

here they are ........

 

........ who can resist a well-turned out Minion (well, I can't!!).  The bike owner found it quite funny that I wanted to take photos of his Minions, not his bike!

 

there weren't any bananas on offer for the Minions, but if they were really peckish, they had the choice of burgers, donuts and ice cream ....... which I think are the three major food groups!!

Harvest moon

On Friday night, we had a good view of the harvest moon.  I used one of the specialist settings on the camera to take this photo, which also shows that there was some activity in the dock

 

then for this one I used the digital zoom, and there is a little bit of camera shake.  Sadly our moon wasn't orange, as it was in some parts of the country

 

the gates at our end of the dock are only open at the weekend, so on Saturday morning, I snuck in to take a photo of the big green machine

 

and the other two big machines and their reflections

 

because of the full moon, the tide was exceptionally low, and we spotted not one ........

 

........ but two chaps out with their metal detectors

 

the low tide revealed the foundations of the old bridge

 

and the new bridge

 

 

 

and there was only a trickle coming through the railway bridge

 

Malcolm walked on and pretended he wasn't with me when I stopped to talk to this pigeon, asking it to turn its head and look at the camera

 

because of the low tide, we were able to walk round the foot of the walls

 

Malcolm obligingly provided the scale

 

this bricked-up doorway also shows the height of this section of the wall

 

most of the foundations are laid vertically

 

but there was one section which was laid horizontally - we couldn't see any reason for the change of direction

 

this enormous metal flap covers a storm drain - I wouldn't want to be walking past if it suddenly opened and let through a flood of water!

 

a quick pause for an arty photo

 

we left the shore and continued our walk along the quay.  This photos shows the difference between low and high water

 

I had to stand on the edge of the quay and lean slightly forward to take this photo ...... scary stuff, as I get the urge to jump when I do that (I believe lots of people feel the same way).  But the boat caught my eye, with evidence of the many colours that it has been painted

 

but at least it is still in use, unlike this one which is slowly rotting away

 

we had a seat on the quay to enjoy the sunshine, and I amused myself by taking lots of photos of the old bridge.  First a general shot

 

looking through one of the arches to the railway bridge

 

then through another arch to part of the new bridge

 

and another part of the new bridge

 

and then through to houses on the far bank

 

this is one of those street signs which makes you think that they must have had a very long meeting to decide what to call the street at the end of the bridge!!

 

if you walk through this entrance, you will find a very small flat which is entirely under the buildings on top of the walls.  It only has windows looking out into the passage, there are no windows looking to the outside, so you would have to have the lights on all the time.  But if you fancy living like that, it is for sale!

 

on our way home yesterday, we popped into the Mill in Jedburgh for a cuppa and a scone ........ and this photo looks just like the one of last week's scone!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a knitting update ........ and some very handsome young men on motorbikes!!

Basking in the sun

Butterflies don't appear in our garden in any numbers until September, when they congregate on the buddleia

 

these ones were way up at the top of the bush ......

 

........ which meant the photos were of the underside of their wings (is this the butterfly equivalent of sheep turning their rear ends to the camera?!)

 

there were also dozens of bees, but they never stay still long enough for a photo

 

the last clematis of the year is flowering - these flowers are just opening

 

then these ones are fully open

 

and this is what is left when the outer petals fall off

 

 the everlasting sweet pea has decided to flower this year, after sulking for several years!

 

I love how the tendrils curl round themselves when they can't find anything else to grip

 

the climbing rose on the pergola is still flowering

 

this bud is on a miniature rose - it is only the size of the tip of my little finger!

 

the osteospermum has decided to flower again

 

and the olive tree is looking very healthy

 

although I don't think we will be harvesting these olives any time soon

 

I could have been naughty, and said these olives were on our tree, but they were on a tree we saw down in Hampshire!

 

we have lavender bushes all over the garden - I brush past these ones going to and from the studio, which fills the air with a delightful smell

 

I spotted this the other day.  Do you know what it is?

 

here is the plant it is growing on ....... yes, we have our very own passion fruit!!

 

when we walked over to town this afternoon, I paused on the bridge to take this photo of the Money Pit, on the other side of the river, in case there were workmen about when we walked past

 

but there was no-one there, so I could take a close up of the very serious scaffolding which has been put up since last week

 

as we walked along the river, there was suddenly a great sound of flapping wings, as some swans took to the air

 

we were very restrained when we went for a cuppa, sharing a delicious piece of lemon drizzle cake .........

 

........ as, unusually for a week night, we were going to have pudding!  Maureen had given me some plums, so this morning I added some strawberries, a teaspoon of sugar and a drizzle of vanilla, and after a quick zap in the microwave, had the base for a crumble

 

as we have limited space in the kitchen in the flat, I don't have a big store cupboard of ingredients, so I bought a crumble mix

 

just out of the oven

 

delicious!!

 

whether or not you are eating delicious puddings, I hope you have a super weekend, love Anne

 

A lazy (long) weekend!

We went over to Berwick on Thursday, and just as it was starting to get dark, a very large lorry drove onto the dock (it is used as an overnight lorry park) with a very large dumper truck on the back.  I was planning to get up in the night and steal it ....... but I slept in!

 

when we walked over to town on Friday, the salmon fishermen were out on the river

 

it must be hard work hauling the net in

 

work continues on the Money Pit.  The worn stone under the window had been replaced

 

and the pillar on the left has been plastered

 

there didn't seem to be much happening at the Big Money Pit, although some piles of rubbish have appeared in the back yard

 

seeing these coins lying on the pavement, of course I bent to pick them up ........ but they were glued in place!  I wonder if someone was filming all the people who tried to pick them up ....... maybe I'll be a star on social media!!

 

on Saturday, we stopped for a chat with the man on the sausage stall at the Saturday market.  OK, I meant we stopped to have a sample of sausage which he had just cooked (despite having just had breakfast!).  The sausages are so delicious, we regularly buy a pack - but on Saturday we succumbed to the "buy three, save money" offer.  Don't worry, we won't be guzzling them in one go, they have gone in the freezer

 

on the beach on Saturday afternoon, I thought I could see a face on this stone

 

and I am sure there is an angry bird on this rock, with his eye in the middle, and his big beak pointing to the right

 

if you are romantic, you will see a heart, if not you might see a little fat bird

 

there are still flowers growing in the sand

 

and of course we have to have a photo of the lighthouse - I decided to put it to the left of the photo this time

 

they say when you visit somewhere you should only take away memories, and only leave footprints ...... but I did take away my heart shaped stone

 

on our way home yesterday, we popped into the Mill in Jedburgh for a cuppa and sconnage ........ a very good cheese scone

 

I'll be back tomorrow to show you the one or two little things I brought home from our holiday (in addition to all the happy memories!!)

Checking out the fibre

 No, I wasn't closely examining some fabric ........ we popped over to the flat this morning, as Malcolm had signed up for fibre broadband, and it went "live" today.  It's not quite up to speed, as is to be expected on the first day, but it is FAST!!  As it was a lovely morning, we went for a walk round the old walls (on top, this time).    You can just see people walking out to the lighthouse

 

it was very clear, and way, way in the distance, you can see Bamburgh Castle on the right, and Lindisfarne  on the left

 

there were lots of people enjoying the sunshine on the beach

 

we are used to seeing weeds growing out of the top of the wall round the allotments, but this is a small raspberry cane (and Malcolm may have pinched a ripe raspberry from it!)

 

looking through the trees to the church

 

we went to Lowrie's at the Chandlery for lunch.  Malcolm had egg mayo sandwiches

 

and I had my favourite Coronation chicken

 

back home in the garden, yet another clematis is flowering

 

the passion flower produces a new flower almost every day

 

and the hellebore has decided to flower again!

 

when I was sorting through my photos, I realised that I had forgotten to show you what I bought last week at Sue's shop.  I didn't bother taking a photo of the stitch'n'tear, as that would be a bit boring!  So first we have this delicious charm pack

 

just look at those scrummy fabrics!

 

then something practical - tape for joining odd bits of wadding together.  Yes, I could stitch them together, but this is the equivalent of the tape that lazy people non-sewers use to hem their trousers!

 

I do love receiving happy mail, especially if it from my wonderful friend Lee (Just like Martha).  There are birthday cards for Malcolm and me, and a wonderful set of inspirational cards - these are just a few of them

 

to finish, we pop back over to Berwick.  This is the back of the Money Pit.  As the front is accessed from the walls, it is only 3 storeys high, but, as you can see, the back is 5 storeys (and the van and wheelie bins help with the scale)

 

and this shot of the fire escape shows just how big it is

 

but even bigger is this old school, which has been lying derelict, home only to pigeons.  But this morning there were workmen busy about the place, so it will be interesting to see what happens to it.  I have named it the Very Big Money Pit!! 

 

I shall be back tomorrow with some very special news!