frayed at the edge

An assortment of birds

First, we have the birdy bunting, which is now up in the kitchen

 

then we had the feathered variety on the feeder

 

I have finished my scarf, which will look good with my "best" navy coat (please excuse my scruffy housework-doing t-shirt)

 

Annette hasn't been well this week, so didn't bake a cake for us ........ but as she knows how much we love our Friday cake, she popped into Border Meringues and bought a delicious gingerbread, and a local delight, a Border tart

 

I have lots of sewing to do this weekend, and hopefully will also put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house.  Do you like to decorate your house now, or do you prefer to do it all on Christmas eve?  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Slightly chilly!

We didn't go for a walk yesterday, as I was away for the day having crafty fun (sorry, no photos from that).  So, although it was rather cold ...... the frost didn't lift all day ....... I decided to go for a walk after not having lunch, as this is a Fast day

a noble-looking horse

 

there was just one donkey out in the yard

 

I hope this lorry didn't meet one coming the other way!

 

I never tire of this view

 

or this one

 

the Waterloo monument in the distance

 

the tree is looking a bit sad since it lost its last large branch

 

heading for home

 

there are lots of sheep in the fields round about us

 

back home, these blue tits were enjoying the peanuts

 

while the sparrows watched from the hawthorn

 

if you thought that the pear and chocolate jam was a strange mixture .......... I bought this cheese this morning.  It sounds very strange indeed, but it is delicious!

 

I also bought these little chocolate treats for Malcolm

 

Topsy turvy plants

We may have had some frosty weather, but we still have two clematis flowering in the back garden

 

the hellebore has decided to flower for the third time

 

and then there is this - have aliens invaded the garden?

 

this is just a quick post, as it is Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting this evening.  I have my bag packed ready to go

 

we take our own mugs along to Abbey Quilters' meetings and workshops, and at the weekend Katy had this wonderful mug

 

I may not have a heron in the garden, but I do have lots of little birds visiting the feeders

 

and of course I always have these exotic birds, which never fly away

 

 

It seemed like a good idea!

OK, I said I was going to thoroughly tidy, and possibly rearrange, the studio.  This is what it looked like at the start of the afternoon

 

this is what was hidden by the table cloth

 

I gave Malcolm the table to use in the garage (I bought it for £10 in a junk shop) and cleared out the corner .......

 

........ and emptied the top part of this unit, which I bought some years ago from a wool shop which was closing

 

Malcolm helped me lift if down (or should I say that I helped him!) and I then emptied the bottom section, and rearranged the other end of the room

 

now I need to put everything away

 

oh dear - that's not everything, there is all this too!

 

I will finish putting everything away on Saturday ....... and I will have to try hard not to be distracted by finding things that I forgot I had (I hope Malcolm doesn't read that bit!)

Lucie gave me this as a belated birthday present

 

what is it?  It's a thread holder, for embroidery threads - I added a few lengths from my Welcome wallhanging, to let you see how it is used

 

I bought this magazine when we were in Hawick this morning

 

it is very different to other "lifestyle" magazines that I have bought over the years.  I think it is Dutch, and it has a lovely quirky layout, with lots of handwritten bits

 

I also bought this little work basket in a junk vintage shop this morning

 

I wonder what sort of garment you would put boil-proof elastic in?!

 

to finish - the recent rain has meant that the River Teviot is full again ......... and hooray, the heron is back!

A quiet day!

Oh dear, not much to report this evening!  When I cleaned the kitchen windowsill this morning, I put the cotton lace cafe curtain back up, as it gives the orchids some protection from the cold nights.  You can read about Ayrshire lace curtains here and here

 

it was such a dark and dreary morning, I had to use flash for the photographs

 

after the miserable, wet morning, it did brighten up this afternoon ....... but then it started to rain again just as I arrived home from patch'n'chat.  These sparrows were a bit bedraggled

 

while these ones chose to shelter in the hawthorn tree

 

but as always there was the Friday cake to cheer us up ....... and hooray, it was our favourite apple and sultana.  Delicious!

 

tomorrow I will be heading to Eckford Village Hall ....... it is an Abbey Quilters' day, but we can't meet in our usual venue, so Sandra, who as well as being our lovely Linus lady is also Chairman of Abbey Quilters, arranged for us to use her village hall.

The forecast isn't very good for the weekend, with nasty winds on the way.  I hope the weather is better where you are and that you have a good weekend, love Anne

Logging on

On Saturday, we went to Jedburgh for a change, and popped into The Abbey Bridge Tollhouse Cafe  We haven't been there for some time, so we were surprised to see that there had been a major reorganisation, with the stove shop and the cafe swapping areas (if you click on the link, you can see what the cafe used to look like).  Malcolm liked the new counter, and had a good look when he was paying the bill!  The logs are only a few inches long - someone must have spent a long time cutting them

 

On Sunday we varied our routine, and went for our cuppa first.  We had decided to go to the  Mayfield Garden Centre in Kelso, and then go for a walk along the river.  We had a very good cheese scone ........ and I forgot to take a photo!  This magnificent tree hasn't changed colour yet

 

but these two are starting to show their autumn foliage

 

I like this gate ...... and the house is fabulous, but I thought it would be a bit cheeky to take a photo!

 

I missed my big lens yesterday, when we saw not one, but two, herons on the other side of the river

 

but I didn't need it to take photos of these birds

 

there were ducks

 

adult swans

 

and cygnets

 

 

I do like a nice bit of rust

 

this lorry was so big I couldn't get it all in the photo, so imagine how scary it is when you meet one while driving through the town

 

this is now the entrance to a shop, so it is good to see that they have preserved the intricate mosaic (I bet all of you who are quilters are taking note of the border!)

 

on the way back to the carpark, we passed the Abbey

 

there is a fruit and vegetable shop at the entrance to the Garden Centre, with lots of excellent produce

 

if you don't knoow what the knobbly green thing on the left is, it is a romanesco.  I used some of the cauliflower in the vegetable curry that I made for tonight's dinner

 

on Saturday I made the pear and bramble jelly.  Have filled three jars, I then added finely chopped basil to the remaining jelly.  I thought I had prepared enough basil, but once it was mixed in I realised that I should have used quite a bit more.  Also once I put the jelly in the jars, the basil rose to the top.  It tastes fine, but isn't really savoury

 

out in the garden, we have glorious autumn colours

 

but the climbing rose is stll flowering on the pergola

 

and the little clematis still has several flowers on it

 

and even when the outer petals drop off, there is still a pretty centre left

 

I think it is time I tidied the studio!

 

to finish ...... I bought these scary treats for Malcolm this morning.  He won't have to share them with me, because I really don't like white chocolate!!

<

Leftovers!

But not leftover food, rather some photos which were left over from yesterday.  The garden was full of birds, with lots of sparrows on the feeders

 

a tiny coal tit sneaked in when the sparrows weren't looking

 

a chaffinch investigated fallen seed

 

some starlings watched from the telephone wire

 

before I went to meet Lorraine yesterday, I had to pop into Hawick to pick up a parcel from the sorting office (I am convinced that the postman lurks at the end of the road waiting until we go out, before leaving one of those annoying cards!). On the way back to the car park, I walked along the river where the trees are just starting to turn

 

looking the other way along the river to the Town Hall

 

at patch'n'chat, Anne S. was working on some very cute stitcheries

 

and then, of course, there was the Friday cake.  I wish you could have a slice ...... the sponge is so light it almost floats off the plate, and it tastes delicious

 

I have lots of sewing to do over the weekend, and I will also be making pear and bramble jelly.  I think I will take some of the jelly and add some herbs to make it savoury, to have with meat.  I'll let you know on Monday how it turns out.  The forecast doesn't look too promising for Sunday, but perhaps we will get a short walk between the showers.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Belated birthday party

My friend Lorraine and I met up for lunch today to celebrate our birthdays (hers is a few days before mine).  There is a smart new sign at the entrance to the garden centre

 

as usual I was early, so passed the time taking photos of the birds on the feeders

 

Lorraine had a brie, apple and cranberry sandwich

 

and I had ham, cheese and pickle

 

of course you can't celebrate birthdays without cake!  As Lorraine is a chocoholic, she chose the chocolate crunch

 

and I had lemon meringue roulade

 

poor Malcolm was at home dealing with a load of logs which were delivered this morning

 

by the time I came home he had filled the log store

 

so what did I buy yesterday?  You may remember that I already have one of these tins

 

but unlike that one, this one is stuffed with delicious fabrics

 

inside the carrier bag is a big roll of wadding ......

 

....... and these fabrics

Shock horror!!

We went for a walk after lunch, to look for sloes ....... and there wasn't a sloe to be found!  We had hoped that there would be a good crop this year, after the complete lack of them last year, but there was not a single solitary sloe to be had.  However I have had a look on ebay (where else??!!) and if we don't find any locally, I will be able to buy some to make sloe gin.

However, there were compensations aplenty ....... first there were animals

 

wonderful scenery

 

new gates to admire

 

I was glad to be in the company of a master dry stone waller  who approved of the construction of this new stretch of wall

 

then there was the chance to take some arty seed head photos .......

 

before wending our weary way up the hill home

 

resisting the urge to kick up the leaves!

 

when we moved here seven years ago, there were only a few sparrows in the garden.  Now, many, many, bags of bird food later (costing a lot more than tuppence a bag!), we have a very healthy population

 

finally, the sewing!  I started with the six blocks with little sayings

 

after cutting them to size, I added the borders

 

then stitched the six blocks together

 

when I was in the studio at the weekend, it was cold enough to have the first fire of the autumn!

 

next, I took the six blocks with little pictures (you might notice that one of them isn't quite finished!)

 

these six blocks just have plain borders

 

I looked out the instructions for my workshop bag .........

 

.......as two of my friends from Abbey Quilters, Sandra and Sheila, are coming for a day's workshop in November to make one

 

it's quite a while since I last taught this workshop, so I need to make new samples

 

I pulled these fabrics from my stash - I'm looking forward to using them

 

I bought this panel at patch'n'chat on Friday, for a quick and easy project ...... yes, I'll tell you about it tomorrow!

<

Foraging

Yesterday we headed to Newtown St Boswells, where we recently discovered a new walk.  This time, instead of parking in the middle of the village, we took the car to the start of the section of the road which is closed to vehicles.  This meant we could walk much further along the road than last time.  It was a glorious morning - it had been decidedly chilly during the night, and the air was crisp and clear

 

as we approached the end of the closed section of road, we found the Rhymer's Stone

 

when we did the walk before, we saw a lot of rosehips, so we went armed with bags to pick some, and we also picked some brambles

 

having worked up an appetite, we headed for the Mainstreet Trading Company.  For a change, we didn't have two scones!  We had a delicious cheese scone ......

 

....... and a piece of the most wonderful moist lemony Tunisian cake

 

refreshed and revived, we headed for the Deli, behind the main building

 

is that a beehive on the left of the photo?  It may look like one, but it is a compost bin.  I suggested to Malcolm that he should make some - this one costs £170 (yes, you read that correctly, one hundred and seventy pounds!).

 

back home, the butterflies were enjoying the sunshine

 

in the kitchen, I washed the roships thoroughly

 

I topped and tailed them, then blitzed them in the processor

 

I had already put the leftover hedgerow apples and the brambles in my big stock pot (note to Santa, I'd love a proper jam pan).  I added the brambles more for their colour than their flavour

 

I added the rosehips and simmered the mixture for a short while.  I let it stand so that the liquid woud be infused with the flavours.  I then put it in to the jelly bag and left it overnight to drip through

 

this morning I measured the liquid, put it back in the stock pot and added the sugar.  It didn't take long to reach setting point, and I put it into jars.  Along with the bramble and apple jelly which I made on Saturday, we have more than enough to put on our porridge all winter!  (if you like my jars with their spotty lids and labels, I bought them here)

 

this afternoon, I packed my two big workshop bags, and folded a small selection of wallhangings ..... but you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out why!

 

to finish - this plump robin was sitting prettily on top of the bird table late this afternoon.  Normally I would have taken a photo with the long lens, but Stuart has borrowed it, so I took this with the full digital zoom on the short lens, so it isn't as sharp as it would have been with the other lens