frayed at the edge

Scrumptious!

Recently, I had hoped to win some wool in a giveaway by Pip.  The prize was a hank of any sock wool from her wonderful shop.  When I didn't win, I sobbed and sobbed (for about three days!!) ....... then I did the sensible thing and bought the one I had hoped to win!  So when the postman rang the doorbell this morning and handed me one of Pip's trademark purple envelopes ........

 

 

......... I knew that it contained something truly scrumptious!

 

 

It is 45% silk and 55% superwash merino.  I wanted something special to knit a pair of socks from the book which Rachel gave me recently

 

 

I have chosen this pair - although I don't think I will get them started before next week

 

 

We have had some heavy rain, so when I was in Hawick this morning, I wasn't surprised to see how full the rivers were.  This is the Slitrig, looking down to where it joins the Teviot

 

 

This is the Teviot, with the Slitrig coming in from the right - you can see the rough water where the two rivers meet

 

 

Just before I came in from the studio yesterday, I remembered that I had yet to take a photo of the knitted blanket for Project Linus.  I popped it on my work table to take the photo, so it's perhaps not the best of photos!

 

 

Tomorrow, we are heading for Newcastle again, for Malcolm to have another go at fixing Rachel's dishwasher (we should have gone last Thursday, but Rachel's Lovely Son came for an unexpected visit, which of course took precedence over such a mundane matter as the dishwasher).  While Malcolm wrestles with the dishwasher, Rachel and I will take Flossie and Tosca for a long walk - the sun is supposed to shine, so hopefully I will have lots of photos to share with you!

 

A busy weekend

There was great excitement on Saturday when the post arrived, bringing a very special book

 

 

So why was I getting so excited about a children's book, I hear you ask?  Because the author is my lovely bloggy friend Gretel.  Would you like a little peek inside?

 

Oh dear, Mrs Mouse has burned the cake .........

 

 

........just as her friend Kitty Blue was due to arrive for tea

 

 

but the day is saved, as Kitty has brought a wonderful cake to share!

 

It's a charming book, but it is even more special when you look closely ....... Gretel needle-felted Mrs Mouse, Kitty, the cakes and lots of other bits and pieces.  And if that wasn't enough, she also did the illustrations - she is just so talented.  Of course I bought my copy from Amazon (it's the dreaded 'one click'!) ..... and I've got my name down to be told when the next book is available.  (The photos are used with Gretel's permission).

 

Yesterday was Mothers' Day.  Stuart wasn't able to visit, as he had another engagement (Alison's nephew's 1st birthday party, complete with bouncy castle - I couldn't compete with that!!).  But he sent me my present - gorgeous Kath Kidston gardening gloves (much too pretty to wear in the garden!)

 

 

I also got a card - I would like to think that he sent it because I look just like the slim, elegant lady on the front (apart from the cigarette!) ...... but no, it's because it's the cheekiest card he could find!

 

 

At first glance, the wrapping paper has cupcakes on it ..... but on a second look, the cupcakes are made from fabric and knitting!

 

 

In Stuart's absence, Malcolm took me out for breakfast - but I am much too embarrassed to show you a photo of the rather large breakfast that I ate!  We went to Selkirk, and I took some photos from the car - it's funny you don't realise how bumpy the road is until you are trying to focus the camera!

 

 

 

 

I was busy in the studio on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but I'll tell you all about that tomorrow.  To finish, of course, it's the update on the knitting project.  As the belt was just a little bit small for me (I knew I wouldn't wear it, so I just made it the size given in the pattern), I had to call on my lovely mannequin to model it

 

 

It ties at the back with a bow - very pretty

 

 

This week it's a needle case.  I found the perfect piece of fabric for the lining in the scrap basket!

 

A damsel in distress

On my way to patch'n'chat at lunchtime, I had to stop the car, when this tiny lamb walked into the middle of the road (this photo was taken from the car)

 

 

She came running up to the car, so I got out to try to get her to go back into the field

 

 

She was calling for her mum, and I could hear the ewe in the field, calling back to her.

 

 

When I couldn't get her back in the field, I got in the car and drove away slowly, only to find her trotting down the road behind me!  So I went to the nearest farmhouse - the farmer who came to the door said he would go and rescue her

 

 

So, after all the cute lamb photos, back to the planned post.  When we had our cuppa out in the garden yesterday afternoon, I was, unusually, drinking rooibos tea.  Why?  Well, it started with this book, which I bought recently, and started reading yesterday morning

 

 

The main character, Mma Ramotswe (a lady of traditional build) is very fond of redbush (rooibos) tea.  I don't normally drink it, but I have two types in the tea and coffee supplies that I keep for the friends who come to my housegroup

 

 

The book is set in Botswana. so it seemed appropriate to make the tea in my 'zebra' teaset

 

 

A delicious refreshing cuppa, which I enjoyed sitting in the sun

 

 

The garden is waking up from the long hard winter

 

ornamental quince

 

aqualegia

 

astilbe

 

hosta

 

It's Friday, so of course that means cake!  Today's delight was the delicious apple and sultana one that we all are very partial to

 

 

I didn't mean to tease you yesterday by showing you the box and not telling you what was in it!  It was a case of wine!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Basking in the sunshine

When we came back from our usual Thursday morning visit to Hawick, there was a large box on the front doorstep - either the delivery driver didn't read the instruction on the label, or chose to ignore it!

 

 

It was such a beautiful day, I had an early lunch and headed out for a walk.  I wasn't the only one enjoying the sun ...... these ewes and lambs were making the most of the warmth

 

 

Further down the hill, there were some new lambs, having fun playing round the bottom of a tree

 

 

Their mum was keeping an eye on me .........

 

 

......... even when the lambs ran back to her

 

 

After a few days of milder weather, plants are shooting up - whether it's a weed .......

 

 

....... or a much prettier daffodil

 

 

However, not everything I saw on my walk was welcome - fortunately I saw this truck coming, and stood well out of the way!

 

 

I didn't mind this tanker passing me at the bottom of our road - but as you can see, there isn't much room to pass if you are in a car

 

 

Fortunately this fine fellow had safely crossed the road before the tanker appeared

 

 

This may look as if the truck and tractor are about to crash ...... but the truck had already stopped at the end of the road, as the tractor went past

 

 

In the garden, Malcolm was busy cleaning the cobbled area under the pergola (sporting his new boiler suit!)

 

 

I took advatge of the sunshine to take photos of my new knitting  (the bookmarks are done!).  This is a baby blanket for Project Linus

 

 

I am using two balls of 4 ply, as I didn't have any double knitting.  The pattern is a simple basket weave, with a garter stitch border

 

 

The sun has just set, with a pink glow lingering on the horizon.  Unfortunately, the forecast isn't quite so good for tomorrow, and it is to get colder at the weekend ....... ah well, at least we were able to sit out in the garden for our afternoon cuppa!

Catching up!

I've got lots of photos to show you, starting with this one from Saturday, when I finished the quilt top for the Linus tractor quilt - now I just need to layer it and quilt it!

 

 

When we were about to get in the car on Saturday morning to go to Hawick, the postman arrived, with a mysterious parcel for me.  It was from Amazon, but I knew that I hadn't ordered anything!  I opened it to find it contained a present from Rachel   (thank you  Rachel) ...... this wonderful book of vintage socks

 

 

It is packed full of the history of socks and the vintage patterns the book is based on.  There are clear instructions for the construction of the different heels and toes

 

 

and who could resist knitting a baby's bootikin!

 

 

Last week I bought a bunch of beautiful lilies.  When I left on Thursday morning only one or two of the blooms had opened, but when I came home on Friday, they had all opened

 

 

In the mirror, you can see a little bit of this embroidery, which I did many years ago for my Mum and Dad

 

 

Although we have had some frosty mornings, it has been warmer during the day, and there are more signs in the garden that spring is just about here.  This is new growth on the forsythia

 

 

and this is one of our many clematis

 

 

This next photo is actually from about ten days ago - I was just pottering round the garden, hoping to see some new growth (while lamenting the plants which haven't survived the winter), when I saw a flash of colour under the old leaves of the hellebore.  I immediately fetched the secateurs and snipped off the tatty old foliage

 

 

We went out for a walk after lunch today.  We were going to go up the bridle path, but it was extremely muddy!  Instead we walked through the wooded area beside the road.  This little holly has a long way to go before it it as tall as the trees round it

 

 

Two other flashes of green caught my eye - the first one is a welcolme sight of new growth

 

 

But it won't be long until this nettle is big enough to sting an unwary walker!

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this round up of photos that nearly didn't make it into the blog - I need to lie down for a rest now!!

Quilts galore!

There were quilts as far as the eye could see, traders with all sorts of wondeful things to buy ...... but first - breakfast!!  (yes, the bacon roll was as tasty as it looks) (and yes, I got some funny looks taking the photo!)

 

 

Suitably fortified, it was time to look at the quilts.  Since I started the blog, I have only shown general shots of quilts at shows, because of copyright issues.  But I have seen lots of quilts on other blogs - and by the time the quilts have been seen by the thousands of visitors to the shows, I really don't think there will be too much harm done if I show you some.  However, I have permission to show you these first two quilts, as they were made by one of my friends, and I saw her at the show.  They were part of a challenge to make 'journal quilts' - they are all the size of A4 paper

 

 

 

The next two quilts were made by another friend - I'm sure she won't mind my sharing them with you

 

 

 

There were several quilts with beautiful applique (the colours aren't true, as the lighting was rather dim)

 

 

 

The secondary pattern formed by the darker colours is much clearer in the photo than it was looking at the quilt!

 

 

I wish the colours were true in this next photo - I came round the end of the row and stopped in my tracks ........ the quilt is VERY bright

 

 

So did I buy anything?  Well, I didn't buy any fabric (although I was tempted!).  I got these two magazines, as they aren't available in shops here.

 

 

Then I was intrigued by this set of continuous line quilting patterns.  As I definitely need to practice my machine quilting, I thought this would be a good investment

 

 

This is part of one of the patterns

 

 

I also stocked up on my favourite thread for using in the bobbin

 

 

After all the bother of doing the post last night, I was glad to pick up my knitting and do a few relaxing rows.  But then I saw so many people wearing these scarves today, I have gone off it a bit!  I shall have to do something to customise mine.  I know I should have popped out to the studio and draped it round my mannequin to show you the progress, but by the time I got home, I just laid it on the rug in the lounge .......

 

 

Of course after seeing all those wonderful quilts, I should be spending the weekend chained to the sewing machine ...... but I'm off out for the day again on Sunday!  I'll tell you about that on Monday, when I'll also show you more of the photos from yesterday - and I'll also be using some of them tomorrow for Shadow Shot Sunday.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

A tale of two men in Morpeth

This morning, we headed south again so that I could meet another blog friend - this time is was Julie.  We were meeting so I could give her the third pair of socks.  They are for her daughter's birthday in May, but as her daughter doesn't read this, I can mention them!  We headed off for a spot of lunch, and amid much laughter, Julie handed me a paper bag from a bakers' shop.  Inside was a 'Morpeth Gadgie' bread (a gadgie is a man, perhaps of slightly dubious reputation!)

 

 

Julie also gave me some wonderful things in return for knitting the socks, but the light wasn't good enough to take pictures when we got home, so I will show you those tomorrow.  We had a lovely lunch, although perhaps we didn't do justice to the lovely food as we were talking so much

 

 

When Julie left, I had time for a little retail therapy before I met up with Malcolm and Jennifer, who had also been out for lunch.  There is a wonderful new shopping arcade in Morpeth, with some of my favourite shops.  First stop was .........

 

  I still have a beautiful dress and jacket that Malcolm bought me for one of our wedding anniversaries way back in the 80s.  It is somewhat too small for me now, but it is so gorgeous, I could never part with it (I must remember to take a photo to show you).  However, after a brief look at the clothes, I headed for my favourite part of the shop - the remnants basket.  I was very restrained, and only bought two pieces, which both cost £1!

 

 

The next stop was the one shop that I really miss, since we moved to the Borders

 

I have, for many years, bought my undies in Marks and Spencers, but today they let me down, as they didn't have the item I wanted in my size.

I decided to have a look round this shop ..........

 

...... although I was rather put off by the sign on the door which said something like 'we are open, but we keep the door closed to protect the environment' - but I won't have a rant about selling imported clothes (think of the fuel used to transport them) and all the lights used in the shop (all that electricity!).  The clothes were lovely, but as I didn't really need anything, I just had a look round, before going on to

 

 

This is where I encountered the second man of the tale ...... and he had designs on my gadgie!  I was looking at the craft books when one of the staff commented on the bread peeking out of my bag ..... he hadn't yet had his lunch, and was rather peckish.  When I showed him the gadgie, he had a good laugh at it - but said he wouldn't want to eat him, it would just be like eating a person!  I'm afraid I succumbed to a book - what can I say, I think I need a 12-step programme 'my name is Anne and I'm a bookaholic'

 

 

I was served by the same young man - very bright, cheeery and efficient,  I think he will go far.  He was delighted to tell me that as I had spent more than £10, I could have one of the books displayed on the counter at a (very much) reduced price.  Yippee - one of the books was the next in the 'No 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series.  I love these books - if you have never read them, get down to the library, or visit the dreaded Amazon and prepare yourself for delightful tales of Mma Ramotswe, a lady of traditional build, and her husband, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni

 

 

ps, my friend Lee in Sydney will be suffering from severe book envy - she is such a devotee of Martha Stewart, that her blog is called Just Like Martha!
pps - we ate some of the gadgie with dinner, and he was delicious!

Please take a seat

I'm not the only one who has been busy with material things this week.  Recently I bought a fabulous remnant of furnishing fabric (it was so cheap, as we left the shop Malcolm said 'quick, run, before she realises how little she charged you'!!).  So, on Monday, Malcolm put the fabric to good use, recovering our two big chairs in the back lounge.  The chairs occupants seem to be pleased with the results ....... first the girls

 

 

..... and then the boys

 

 

Recently I haven't been buying as many knitting magazines, but this one found its way into my trolley in the supermarket on Monday

 

 

It came with two frre gifts, but I nearly didn't get one ...... the knitting pattern, as Malcolm thought is was just packaging and was on his way to put it in the recycling

 

However, after I had read the pattern, I put it in the recycling ..... because all it amounted to was cast on, knit the required length in garter stitch, cast off!  Did you notice the pattern in the top left corner of the magazine cover ....... I said to Malcolm I would knit it for him - on condition that he then looked like the handsome male model.  I won't tell you what his reply was!!

 

Well, it's Friday again, and I am almost embarrassed to show you more cakes, after the amount that has been featured this week.  Annette didn't bake us a cake this week, but she popped into a local business which produces wonderful cakes, and bought the same two that she bought for us recently

 

a lovely rich fruit cake

 

 

raspberry and white chocolate

 

When I stood on the scales this morning, I had to steel myself to look down ...... but to my delight, I saw that I have lost half a pound this week.  Maybe I should just have a cake diet!

It has been wet and very windy today, but hopefully it will improve for the weekend and we will get out for a walk on Sunday.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

When life gives you lemons .......

....... make lemon curd!!  When I did the weekly food shop yesterday, as always I bought lots of fruit

 

 

But before I could put the new fruit in, I had to remove three slightly sorry lemons from the bottom of the bowl.  I was wondering what I could do with them, when I thought 'I'll have a go at making lemon curd'.  Not having the least idea how to make it, I turned to my favourite Delia book, and quickly assembled the ingredients

 

 

The recipe turned out to be very simple, and I had soon done the first stage, adding the grated lemon zest to the caster sugar, beating together the eggs and lemon juice and cutting the butter into pieces

 

 

It all then went into one bowl, which I put over a saucepan of barely simmering water

 

 

Then it was just a matter of stirring it until it thickened

 

 

So guess what we had for breakfast this morning ......... tasty soda bread

 

 

spread with lemon curd - delicious!

 

 

Now that I have mastered lemon curd, I will have to make some more, for one of the recipes in this excellent book, which I bought on Sunday

 

 

The book is being sold in aid of the same good cause as last year's naked man calendar.  So, the recipe using lemon curd?  I will have to invite lots of visitors to help eat it!

 

 

This morning, I took the socks out to the studio to wrap them

 

 

I added a little extra parcel for Vee, then popped them into an airmail envelope, ready to send off to Canada

 

 

When I went to the Post Office, the woman who served me told me that I would have to write my name and address on the top left hand corner on the front of the envelope (I always put it on the back).  She said that Canada is the only country who insist on this, and have been known to return items which don't comply ....... strange!!  As I left the Post Office, there was a great deal of noise ...... which was coming from this machine trundling along and holding up all the traffic

 

 

When I was out in the garden this morning, my eye was caught by a little flash of colour under one of the shrubs - which shouldn't be hanging over the front of the border like this, it was flattened by the snow which came off the neighbour's roof

 

 

It turned out to be a little polyanthus

 

 

I made a start to the first knitting project last night

 

The hole is one of the handles of the basket, and the two extensions will become the sides.  However, I won't get any work done on it tonight, as I am going out.  I will tell you all about it tomorrow ....... and I will also tell you about the special day out that we have planned!

Turning the tables

This morning we hit the sales ....... but not for me to buy 'bargain' clothes that would look wonderful once I shed two stones/grew six inches.  I was on a mission to find a small table to sit beside my couch, one large enough to accommodate all the bits and pieces I keep on my table, with room underneath to store my knitting basket.  The table I had was a little round wine table, that Malcolm's dad gave me for Christmas years ago - a lovely little table, but as politicians love to say ' not fit for purpose'.  I would have shown you a photo of it, but while I was making lunch, Malcolm installed the new table and put the little one away!  So here it is ...... my lovely new table

 

 

On it I have ......

 

....... my current reading.  I think there is a niche in the market for books 'for people who find dummies books bafflingly difficult' (ie me)!  I love Marian Keyes books - I was hooked from the moment I started reading 'Watermelon' many years ago.

 

 

........ the tidy bag that I made last year - it is very handy for all the odds and ends of thread and wool I generate.

 

 

........ my coaster - needs no explanation!

 

 

....... the owl notebook which was one of last year's pressies - as it has a magnetic catch, it is a good place to keep the scissors safe.

 

 

....... my reading specs - I wear them in the mornings when I read after breakfast (for the rest of the day I wear varifocals), pencils for doing crosswords, keeping track of knitting patterns etc, and handcream ...... I have tubes and bottles of handcream all over the house, as my hands get very dry in the winter.

 

 

....... I thought I should tidy out my knitting basket - these socks have been languishing at the bottom for months waiting for ......

 

 

....... the holes in the toes to be darned.  I knitted this pair four years ago.  They have been washed so often they are almost felted!

 

 

All tidied up!  I've added my current magazines under the books, and tucked in next to the knitting basket is my big camera, ready to snap visitors to the bird tables .....