frayed at the edge

Fun at the Fair

Saturday morning saw us trundling down the road to Southdean Village Hall for the Christmas Fair.  With a little bit of difficulty, given the size of our table, we got our stall set up

 

the hall was cold while people were setting up, as the door was wide open, so we were very glad when we were able to get a warming cuppa.  But once the door was closed and the heaters turned on, the hall warmed up and we were able to shed coats, gloves and scarves.  Unfortunately as the day wore on, the weather worsened, with rain and wind.  However quite a few people braved the weather, and Malcolm was pleased with his sales.  He had a lot of interest in his driftwood creations, and we had to endure a fair amount of teasing about how many bottles wine we must have drunk to provide the corks!!  However it wasn't a happy homecoming - as we had another power cut.  Fortunately the power was restored in time to cook dinner, and to settle down to watch the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing.

The weather was much better yesterday morning, so we headed into Hawick to go for a walk along the river

 

we weren't able to walk as far as we usually do along the river, as the unpaved section was too muddy, so we turned off and went through the tunnel under the old railway line

 

and took the footpath which follows the route of the railway

I followed my own advice, to remember to look up

 

we were heading to The Mill for a cuppa

 

but we were too early, so we walked across the footbridge to have a look in the window of Yvette Jelf's hat shop.  I wouldn't want a peacock feather on a hat - it's one of my superstitions, that they are unlucky

 

this fascinator is very pretty .......

 

....... but given the current weather, I would rather have this hat!

 

we were the first customers in the Mills' coffee shop, so I was able to take photos

 

the scones were delicious - we chose a fruit one and a cheese one

 

I was walking past the lounge door after lunch, when I glanced out of the window, and saw a woodpecker on the peanut feeder.  While the large window gives us a wonderful view of the garden, it also means that the birds on the feeders are aware of any movement in the room, and fly away, so I crept along the back of the couch to reach the camera, which was on the little table at the end of the couch

 

I also knew that Malcolm was on his way round to the front of the house, so I quickly took this photo as soon as I turned the camera on, in case he frightened the woodpecker away

 

 I then zoomed in and took another two photos, but when I took a step forward to try to get a better angle, the woodpecker flew off

 

to finish - sometimes it's just the little things that can brighten your day.  When I bought salmon this morning, I was given lemon pepper butter to have with it, and when I opened a new box of teabags, there was a little extra inside

 

 

It's getting closer!

Yesterday was grey, dreary and damp, so yet again we weren't able to go for a walk.  So we went off to The Old Melrose Furniture Showroom (that's their Facebook page, it's the only link I could find).  There was a Christmas Fair, but again we didn't buy anything.  However, we had the consolation of sharing a toasted teacake ......

 

....... and a cheese scone

 

on the way in to the Furniture Showroom, we saw this enormouse tree, which probably came down during Thursday night's storm.  The second and third photos were taken through the side windows of the car, which were wet

 

back home, I put up the Christmas tree(s) and decorations, but I had to wait until today to take photos, when it was brighter

the big tree

 

the driftwood tree

 

the minimalist tree - and the new bunting above it

 

the tiny mittens garland

 

the Gnome brothers and sisters as usual squabbled over which cushions and stockings were to be put on their chairs  ...... I had to remind them that only good Gnomes get presents from Santa!

 

the elves are counting down the days in the kitchen

 

the little wallhangings brighten the doors

 

in the dining room, I turned the table runner over, to reveal the Christmas side

 

and decorated the deep windowsill

to finish, I hope thhe owls play nicely with the robin, which has popped in to visit for Christmas

 

 

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

The smell of Christmas.......

When I saw this recipe at the weekend

 

I thought yum yum!  So this morning I started it off.  It doesn't look too good, but it filled the kitchen with the smell of Christmas

 

for lunch I had a little bit of the new cheese, with crackers and some homemade apple and sultana chutney - delicious!

 

then it was out to the studio to get on with the Top Secret project.  I stitched the second side of the pincushion

 

the pincushion stitched together and stuffed

 

the opening stitched shut

 

next I looked in the bead drawer for some little beads, but I couldn't find anything suitable ....... so I got out my jewelllery making supplies

 

and found these little hearts - perfect!

 

the finished pincushion with the scissors holder

 

when I took the photos of Malcolm's makes for the Christmas Fair, I forgot these - driftwood and cork trees on canvas

 

and too finish - I realised that I could show you the poster for the Christmas Fair.  I simply took a photo of the laptop screen!

Thoroughly spoiled!

I had a busy afternoon on Saturday, workinng on the Top Secret project.  Fortunately it is only what it is for that it a secret, you can see what I was doing.  When I have a busy sewing afternoon, Malcolm makes sure that I keep my energies up by supplying me with hot chocolate, complete with frothy milk ......

 

....... and in case I was peckish, half a salted caramel cookie (there had been an odd number of cookies in the packet) and half a mince pie, which had been part of the "meal deal" he had for lunch on Friday (a turkey and stuffing sandwich and a coffee - as the mince pie was wrapped, he brought it home)

 

I played some more with folding paper to make the scissor holder, as I wanted to get rid of the long point at the bottom

 

with a good idea of what I wanted to do, I chose two of my four fabrics and a thin cotton wadding

 

I cut out an  eight and a half inch square from each fabric and the wadding, layered them and stitched round the four sides, leaving an opening to turn the fabrics through to the right side

 

having pressed the square I folded it in a similar way to the paper, but it was a bit lumpy at the bottom.  So I turned it back through and cut a corner off

 

then stitched across the corner

 

I turned it back through to the right side and pressed it, and slipstitched the opening shut

 

I topstitched a quarter of an inch from the edge

 

the first fold, with the edge handstitched in place

 

the second fold pinned in place

 

ah - that's better with the flap folded back

 

all the handstitching done, and a little button added to hold the flap in place

 

then it was on to the next part of the project, a hexagon pincushion, using English paper piecing

 

it didn't take long to stitch the first side .......

 

...... you might recognise the film I was watching!

 

we have a stall at this year's Southdean Christmas Fair (I was going to show you the super poster made by  Lindsay, who organised the crafty day I was at on Sunday, but it is the wrong sort of document or some such technical thing!)  I haven't made anything yet (oops), but Malcolm has been beavering away in the garage.  He has made lots of driftwood trees

 

and has branched out (yes, a groan for the pun!) with driftwood mirrors - the third one isn't quite finished. (sorry, not the best of photos - the things were propped up on the kitchen table for some quick snaps to email to a friend)

 

for years we have saved wine corks, with vague ideas of making things with them.  I think you will like what Malcolm has made - a mirror edged with corks, and two pinboards, which I think look so good they could be hung on the wall as art!!

 

 

Not one, not two ......

........ but three finishes!!  First we have the stripey socks

 

then the socks knitted on two needles (sorry, my apprentice photographer let me down and the photo is slightly out of focus)

 

the line down the middle of the cable panel is where I crocheted the edges together

 

the third finish involved these little wooden birds and owls which I found in a shop in Hawick this morning, and the bunting kit which was a freebie with a magazine

 

it didn't take long to make the bunting.  I hung it up on the design wall to take a photo, but because there wasn't room to hang it level, the poor little birds are hanging off the side flags at drunken angles!

 

I started work on  a new project this afternoon.  I can show you what it is, but I can't yet tell you what it is for!  (how mysterious).  It is a sewing set which will comprise a needle case, a pincushion, a scissor holder and a bag to keep them in.  I chose these pretty fabrics

 

the pincushion will look like this one, made with hexagons using the English paper piecing method

 

I played with some paper, working out how to fold a square to make pockets for two pairs of scissors

 

to finish, more food!  Malcolm made this for dinner - haddock and spinach in a half-fat creme fraiche sauce, topped with an egg.  It looked so good I had to take a photo!!

 

 

Isn't technology wonderful .......

....... when you learn how to use it!  After I mentioned yesterday about not putting a post-it on the Kindle, Rachel left a comment about making a note on the Kindle.  So I made the effort this morning to find out how to do that .......

 

...... so when I tap on the highlighted word, up pops the note to tell me to use less egg

 

a sad day ....... my favourite skirt is now too tatty for me to wear.  I have had this skirt for years - I had it before we moved here seven years ago.  It was great for travelling in, as it doesn't crease and the bright colours hide any dirty marks.  But I have a plan to recycle/upcycle/repurpose it!

 

today didn't quite work out as planned, as we had a visitor this morning who stayed much longer than expected.  Once he finally left, we poppped into Hawick for a spot of lunch and some shopping.  I had to call in at the pharmacy in the Medical Centre to pick up a prescription, only to find that it was closed for lunch!  So we had to potter about the shops until it re-opened.  This meant that I didn't have as much time in the studio as I had planned.  I made a start to putting the binding on the red, white and blue wallhangings.  This is the hanging sleeve pinned in place

 

and the binding stitched on the front, ready to be folded over to the back and hand-stitched in place

 

this shows the binding n the second wallhanging folded over and clipped in place, ready to be stitched

 

since Saturday, Malcolm has transformed the garage into an outpost of Santa's workshop!  He has been making his driftwood trees, which he sold lots of last year.  He has made five so far

 

he has plans for the contents of these boxes

 

for those of you who are to young to recognise yesterday's tv programme ...... it was Cagney and acey.

The rest of our day out

As well as the castle, there is also the Priory to visit.  As we didn't have that much time left, we didn't pay to go inside the ruins, but contented ourselves with walking round the outside

 

the Priory is next to a beautiful old church

 

Malcolm spotted this headstone in the graveyard

 

this is a list of ships which were helped by the Grace Darling lifeboat, and the numbers of lives saved (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

on the way back to the causeway, we saw some people in the distance walking across the sands, guided by the line of poles.  If you are on foot, it is a much shorter way than walking round by the road - but I think I would rather walk the extra distance!

 

it was an excellent day out, and we are looking forward to going back to see the parts we didn't have time for.

This morning, Malcolm put the beehive out in the garden

 

he hasn't decided yet what to keep in it

 

we have had lots of bees in the garden, but they never stay still long enough for me to get them in focus ...... these are my two best efforts!

A hive of activity!

On Friday, Maureen gave me her leftover piece of iron-on bias for my New Zealand vineyard wallhanging.  There was a great holding of breath as I measured it ........ then a great sigh of relief that it was long enough.  I ironed it in place on Saturday afternoon - as you can see there was just an inch left over

 

I stitched the remaining bias strips in place.  I will do some more quilting before I put the binding on

 

I cut the borders of the Mount Fuji wallhanging

 

and added the binding to the front

 

usually when I make templates I use cereal packets, but when I made my flowers on Sunday, I used these pretty pieces from a tissue box

 

I put my two fabrics right sides together and drew round the circle template five times

 

the three stages of making the flowers, after stitching round the cirlcles and turning them right side out

 

I have also been working on the red, white and blue blocks.  By the end of Sunday afternoon I had three of them on the design wall

 

and this afternoon I added the fourth one

 

the next stage will be to machine quilt the blocks, then I shall add some embellishments

 

tiny birds

 

and teeny tiny bees

 

and now for the beehive.  The woodwork was finished at the weekend

 

then it had its first coat of paint

 

to finish - I know I have lots of projects on the go, but I'm already planning the next one!  I got these fabrics recently from Stitchin' Heaven ...... but what am I going to put in the centre?

 

ps - Typepad has resumed its wicked ways of putting comments in the spam folder, sometimes days after you have left them!

Salty!

Some of you guessed what I was making with yesterday's ingredients - it was indeed my version of the salted caramel shortbread.  But of course, being my version, it is a cheat's version!  I started with shortbread fingers (do you like the plates - a packet of them cost a whole 10p when they were sold off after last year's Jubilee celebrations!).  I put them on two plates, as I was going to top half of them with plain chocolate, and half with milk

 

I spread some caramel on each finger, then sprinkled a little salt on top

 

after chilling them in the fridge to firm up the caramel, I melted the chocolate and covered them.  They might not look very elegant, but they tasted good (we have been very restrained and only had one piece each!).  I think if I made them again, I would use a bit more salt.  I'll take this plateful tomorrow - we will have the even less elegant ones!

 

I do have a proper recipe for caramel shortbread - I wrote it in my little notebook years ago, when I still had neat handwriting!

 

I baked the cake this afternoon.  The recipe came from this book, which was published in 1977!

 

it's a very easy recipe.  Having soaked the fruit and orange zest in tea overnight, this morning I added flour and a beaten egg

 

just out of the oven, and it smells delicious.  Of course you will have to wait until tomorrow for a report on how it looks and tastes

 

while I was busy in the kitchen, Malcolm was doing more of his project.  I think you may now guess what it is

 

out in the garden, the flamingos are settling in.  Maybe we should turn the water feature on for them!