frayed at the edge

Do you remember the slogan .......

.........save water, bath with a friend?  Someone must have told the sparrows, as they crammed as many as possible into the bird bath

 

then the starlings decided to join in

 

but were politely told to leave, as the sparrows were in the middle of their ablutions

 

so they waited until the sparrows were finished

 

the birdbath wasn't quite so crowded yesterday, when this very young sparrow came for a drink

 

when he flew off to sit on a shrub, you could see he still had his juvenile feathers

 

this starling posed nicely on top of the telegraph pole

 

while the swallows congregated on the phone wire

 

the nuthatch was poking about in the border

 

and a tiny wren was bobbing about in one of the shrubs - but even at maximum zoom, I couldn't quite get it in focus

 

so now for some sewing.  I wanted to do some more with my new rulers, so I thought I would combine it with an Angela Walters class that I watched on Craftsy at the weekend.  I started by marking a square on my practice piece

 

having stitched round the square, I marked dots around the edge, ready to quilt the design, using the straight ruler

 

having stitched the straight lines .....

 

....... I decided to do some fmq in half of the triangles

 

then this afternoon I had another play with the straight ruler, creating a geometric shape

 

before playing with the curved one

 

creating an abstract shape

 

some of which I filled in with fmq

 

and to finish, we have another cute bird - my latest attempt at an owl!

 

 

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 .............

 

 

Sheepies!!

I had just mentioned to Malcolm yesterday that there hadn't been any sheepies on the blog recently (the swans have been hogging the limelight) ......... and then, this morning, there were sheepies in the field across the road!!

 

there was a definite feel of autumn when I was out in the garden taking photos this morning.  The rowan tree is laden with berries, which the blackbirds love

 

 

 

and the climbing roses are hanging on

 

 

when the post arrived this morning - woo hoo, an envelope from far-flung places

 

there were birthday cards for both of us from Lee and her lovely family in Sydney.  I think you will guess which one was for Malcolm and which one was for me!

 

I was very busy sewing at patch'n'chat this afternnon - but I wasn't doing my own sewing!  Margaret had stitched a beautiful applique panel to put on a bag for her great-granddaughter, but she wasn't sure how to stitch it on.  I started by showing her the stitch that I would use to do it ....... and ended up sewing the whole thing for her!

 

Margaret did allow me to have a break, so that I could enjoy the Friday cake - cute little cup cakes with chocolate icing and fresh strawberries

 

we have a busy weekend ahead, with our lovely neighbours (the shoe shop owners) coming over to Berwick on Sunday for a visit.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

 

I was just about to publish the post when the robin turned up for a bath - so here are some extra photos!

 

 

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!!

Gizmos and gadgets

I had been waiting for a little something arriving in the post - but I didn't expect it to arrive from here!

 

we have recently been eating courgette ribbons instead of pasta, but it's a bit of a faff cutting them, so I have invested in this gadget (or is it a gizmo?)

 

which promises to turn courgettes into spaghetti with just a twist

 

quite often these things promise a lot, but deliver a little ......... but this one does just what it says on the packet!

 

so now for the goodies I came home with in Saturday.  First, who can resist that magic word "sale"

 

then there were these yummy woolly bits, which were on a special offer, saving me £4

 

I have seen these gloves being used in online quilting classes, so I thought I would give them a try (although I think it's a bit of a silly name!) 

 

they are light and comfortable, with "sticky" fingertips

 

I almost didn't get to make my last purchase ......... the stallholders were having problems with the machine for processing credit card sales, and I didn't have quite enough cash left to pay for my purchase.  However, as I had been patiently waiting for quite some time, they let me off with some of the bill!!  (as I was leaving, I stopped to give the few coins I had left to a chap collecting for Help for Heroes - so I came home with a completely empty purse!!).  So what is in my bag from Parrs Reel Ruler

 

two rulers (one came with the basic kit, I added the second one), a foot for the machine, and a "sew slip" mat

 

the mat, as you can see, is much bigger than the one I got some time ago

 

there was a slight pause at this point, as I stared in disbelief at the tv!

 

the trickiest bit of using the new rulers was getting the protective covering off them, but eventually I was ready to start.  Put simply, the foot fits into the slot in the ruler and you simply follow along the slot

 

but of course it isn't quite as simple as that, as you have to make sure that the ruler doesn't slip, and as you are free motion quilting you have to concentrate on keeping your stitches even.  My first attempt with the straight ruler wasn't too bad ......

 

then I set up the curved ruler

 

once you have stitched your first line, you can then stitch an echo line - you line the edge of the slot up with the first line of stitching

 

then you can turn the ruler round and stitch a cable.  Of course you can stitch longer lines - you just keep moving the ruler along

 

I went back to the square ruler and stitched a square within a square - Malcolm came into the studio at that point and was quite impressed (it obviously appealed to the engineer in him)

 

I also had a little play with some fmq - first some spirals

 

then some meandering

 

next some waves/flames

 

followed by flowers

 

I thought I would have another attempt at an owl.  Malcolm had laughed at my previous try - and he laughed at this one too!

 

so to finish we'll have two better looking birds - one of our many sparrows, sitting on top of the stone owl in the front garden

 

 

Morning, noon and night ......

...... or rather night, morning, noon and late afternoon!  We start with last night's sunset

 

then it's on to early this morning.  You know that summer is drawing to a close when the swallows start to congregate on the phone wires, getting ready to fly off south for the winter.  It has been a good breeding year - I counted sixty of them this morning!

later in the morning when we arrived in Berwick, the dock was a hive of activity, as the ship that came in on Sunday was still there ........

 

..... and had been joined by another one

 

when we were walking into town, we stopped to look in the other dock gate and could see this ship was being loaded .....

 

..... while this one was being unloaded

 

we had a stroll round town, deciding where to go for lunch.  Two places were ruled out as they were a bit pricey, and another one was ruled out before we even looked at the menu in the window - we could hear the customers' conversation out in the street - if they were talking so loudly, it would hardly be a quiet lunch!  We finally settled on this tiny coffee shop

 

where we shared a delicious "French platter".  We should have had a wooden board each with our bread and cheese, but as we were sitting at a small table, we had to share one

 

on Sunday I finished the stitcheries, and yesterday I pressed them and trimmed them

 

so after lunch we took the stitcheries to a picture framer, and had a long discussion on spacing, mounts and frames.  It will be some weeks before we get the resulting picture back, as the framer is very busy.  When we got back to the flat, the dock was still very busy, with two machines unloading the ship nearer to us

 

then, an extra flurry of activity, and the pilot boat appeared

 

the swans took off towards the opening

 

closely followed by one of the ships

 

then, late afternoon, there was a great burst of activity on the remaining ship

 

and the holds were closed

 

then we watched in amazement as the pilot boat pushed the ship round ......

 

........ and round

 

until it too headed out to sea

 

to finish - the swans really do get annoyed at all the activity, and every so often one will rise up out of the water and flap its wings in a very disapproving way ....... but usually not when I have the camera to hand.  So I was delighted when I captured not one, but two doing it!

Little Miss Muffet .......

......... may have sat on her tuffet, but she didn't have her own custom made footstool!  I always sit with my feet up in the evenings, so I needed a stool for the new flat.  Have no fear, my dear, said Malcolm, I shall make one for you to rest your dainty little feet on.  (The only true part of that sentence is that my feet are little!).  He started with a scrap of flooring left over from when the old milking parlour was converted into my studio, and some sturdy pieces of driftwood for the legs

 

before long the basic stool was assembled

 

the next stage was to put a foam block on the base and cover it with wadding

 

before I went to patch'n'chat today, I looked out a piece of fabric, and when I came home the stool was finished

 

I spotted this robin in the garden this morning, but I don't think it is our juvenile one

 

Maureen gave me this little beauty this afternoon - I shall probably stuff it with a vegetable and herb filling

 

as always, we had a delicious cake at patch'n'chat - chocolate sponge with cream and strawberries

 

the forecast isn't very good for the weekend, but I am sure we will find plenty to do indoors.  Whatever your weather, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

End-of-the-week roundup

I can't believe it's Friday again!  So here, in no particular order, are odds and ends from this week's photos

windsurfers 

 

on a hot sumer's day .....

 

...... you can't beat a cooling bath

 

even wasps use the bird bath!

 

cute

 

cuter

 

is this our good side?

 

free-range chickens

 

the beautiful climbing rose in the front garden

 

in full bloom

 

just going over

 

there were only four of us at patch'n'chat this afternoon, so we had rather generous helpings of our favourite cake!

 

we have very special visitrs over the weekend - I'll tell you all about it on Monday.  I hope you all have a great weekend, love Anne

That's it all over .......

......... for another two years!  It may have taken a whole day to hang all the quilts, but it only took about an hour to take them all down again.  It had started to rain late in the afternoon, so our banner, which was hanging outside, got rather wet.  I brought it home and hung it out yesterday to dry

 

while I was waiting for Malcolm to get home from Berwick, I had some fun trying to take photos of the many bees in the garden  - just as you get them in focus they buzz off to the next flower

 

 

the olive tree is flowering

 

and the grapes are swelling

 

Malcolm came home with some photos of the dock.  Another large ship had come in, this time to be loaded

 

several large lorries came in and parked, spoiling his view somewhat!

 

once the ship was ready to leave, the pilot boat appeared

 

yet again the swans had to make a dash for safety!

 

on Saturday afternoon he was entertained by a great cloud of seagulls

I had to get an emergency appointment at the dentist this morning, as a filling had fallen out (it was soon sorted, and the bill was more painful than the treatment!)  When I parked in Hawick, I spotted this very large gull hopping from car to car 

 

I was a bit early for my appointment, so I walked along to the cauld

 

I was delighted to see a heron standing in the water - there have been few sightings of them this summer

 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing