frayed at the edge

A blowy day

When we arrived at Berwick on Saturday, we decided to go for a walk on the beach before lunch.  It was just a little bit windy, as you can see from this poor little dog's ears!

 

we both took photos of the sand blowing past the wooden groynes, but I won't say who took which ones

I had to get down on my knees to take these "arty" shots!

 

I had to get up early yesterday to go to the loo, and I thought we had left a light on in the lounge, as there was a line of light under the door ....... but when I went into the lounge, this is what was lighting it up -  a spectacular sunrise

 

by the time we had breakfast it had started to rain, so we decided to head up the coast to St Abbs, for a walk roung the harbour and a cuppa

 

I wonder if anyone would notice if I acquired one of these lobster pots?

 

and perhaps a brightly coloured float or two?

 

the stones that have collected in this crab shell give you an idea of how big it is

 

when we went for our cuppa, I was slightly peeved that while I had a plain white cup for my tea, Malcolm got this one for his coffee

 

however when we shared a very tasty toasted teacake

 

I got a posh plate to put my half on!

 

there were no swans in the dock this morning, and when we walked over the old bridge to the town, we found out why -  they were all in the river

 

to finish ........ we saw this poster yesterday in St Abbs.  I have cropped the photo to remove the phone number, as I didn't want the poor man to be inundated with calls from all of you!

 

Recycling

Earlier this week, I broke a wine glass ........ I was most annoyed as it was a very nice wine glass!  However as I wrapped up the pieces of broken glass to dispose of them, I put aside this piece, as I am sure I can recycle/upcycle it ....... I just have no idea at the moment what I'll do with it!!  (any suggestions will be very welcome, there may even be a little prize for the best one!)

 

I took the Linus quilts with me to patch'n'chat, to give them to Sandra, our lovely Linus Lady

 

this afternoon Betty (who was one of my students at the College) demonstrated an all-singing, all-dancing cooking machine.  She made dough for rolls (which were then baked in the oven), soup, sorbet, bechamel sauce and other things which I can't remember.  Yes, it's a wonderful machine, but as it costs over £900 I won't be buying one!!  (even if it does have a self-cleaning mode!)

 

in the midst of all the cooking, we paused to have our usual Friday afternoon cuppa.  I forgot to ask Annette what this concoction is called, but I can tell you that it is sweet and delicious!

 

apart from the photo which I have for the end of the post, that's all the photos I have taken today, so I thought I would share some more from last weekend

fortunately I didn't have to climb these steps up from the beach

 

I think this boat needs some tlc

 

we rather liked this house!!

 

I had to buy this tin of biscuits!!

 

the swans headed off when these canoeists appeared!

 

is this the Loch Ness monster on holiday in Berwick?

 

and so to the last photo for today ...... why can't my chocolate bunnies breed like rabbits?  Every morning I get up and hope that they will have multiplied in the night!!

 

a bit of a mixed weather forecast for the weekend, so maybe we will be able to dodge the wind and the rain for a walk!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Buildings large and small

As the weather was good on Sunday, we headed down the coast to Bamburgh, to have a walk on the beach, although, of course, I had to pause on the way to take photos of the castle

 

then there was another pause to take a photo of this gate across the path through the sand dunes

 

but finally we reached the beach, where I was promptly waylaid by shells marooned when the tide went out

 

and a worm cast

 

and of course from the beach you can see the whole castle

 

after our walk on the beach, we had a stroll through the village.  This weathered rock caught my eye - do you, like me, see a face?

 

we will have to come back through the week, when this establishment is open!

 

of course we went for a cuppa, but I'll save those photos for the end.  As it was such a lovely day, we decided to go on down the coast to Beadnell, which we hadn't visited before.  After the splendour of Bamburgh castle, this quirky house, which was having a lot of work done on it, was at the other end of the scale

 

the village is known for its limekilns

 

these beautiful doves had made themselves at home on one of the kins

 

Malcolm wouldn't let me play with the big machines on the beach!

 

and I had to tell him not to go right to the edge of the pier

 

 

in the distance we could see Dunstanburgh Castle

 

driving back towards Bamburgh, as always we commented on how the castle dominates the landscape

 

and now ........ the cuppa!  We popped into The Copper Kettle

 

a lovely, traditional tearoom

 

where we enjoyed fruit scones with jam and clotted cream (as always we were going to share one, but the waitress brought two by mistake ........ and they looked so good we decided we would have one each!!)

 

 

 

A very, very busy weekend!

Oh my, we managed to squeeze so much into the weekend, this will have to be a two part post!!  So, let's get going!  We went for a (rather chilly) walk on Saturday, stopping first at the Coastwatch Tower

 

we were invited to go up to the balcony for a better view, but when I saw the ladder, I decided that I would remain on the ground!

 

while Malcolm was upstairs, I took these two photos to show how strongly the wind was blowing

 

a quick selection of our progress along the beach

 

I wondered what this group were doing, so of course when we went past, I stopped to ask!  They were making a dinosaur sand sculpture ...... and I think the adults were having more fun than the children!

 

I wondered what had left this mark on a rock.......

 

when I saw this on the next rock

 

and while I was taking that photo, Malcolm pointed out this on the next rock!

 

I'm glad that the dog that left this paw print in the sand wasn't still on the beach!

 

we encountered quite a lots of birds on Saturday

 

there was a very high tide on Saturday - a combination I gather, of the 18-year lunar cycle and the eclipse.  Combined with the wind, the waves were coming over the breakwater 

 

we had an excellent day out yesterday, but I'll save that for tomorrow, and instead I'll skip forward to today.  We were woken up in the early hours by a lot of noise coming from the dock, so we weren't suprised to see a large ship when we got up this morning

 

its cargo of grain was being unloaded into large lorries

 

we popped into town for some shopping, and decided to try out the new coffee shop

 

which is very nicely decorated

 

but I don't think I'll be rushing back to have a cheese scone served with salad!!

 

Would we or wouldn't we .........

........ see the eclipse?!  The weather forecast last night wasn't very encouraging, with talk of clouds.  When I got up at 6.30 it was misty, then as the mist cleared it was indeed cloudy, but with little bits of bue sky showing through.  By 8.30, the sky looked like this

 

we waited anxiously as the cloud came and went, then we had just the right amount of cloud to let us see the eclipse and take photos

a few minutes later, you could see that the moon had moved further on past the sun

 

the birds were discombobulated - they stopped feeding and returned to their roosts.  This sparrow landed on the roof before disappearing into the ivy where it usually spends the night

 

the little baby cardi is coming along nicely.  I have knitted the back, both sleeves and one front.  Once I have knitted the other front, I will knit the yoke.  It has been a very quick knit, and I will have to see if I have other neutral-coloured yarns in my stash to knit another one

 

at patch'n'chat this afternnon Katy was auditioning fabrics.  She had originally made this sample log cabin block with plain navy on the other side, but had decided that she wanted  a different colour.  I don't know how many bolts of fabric we looked at before she decided on this pink one

 

Annette was back from her holiday, and had made her light-as-air cupcakes for us.  It was hard, but I resisted having a second one!

 

the weather looks promising for the weekend, so there may be some beach combing!  I hope you hav a good weekend, love Anne

Very cute knitting, but first ..........

......... let's get the food out of the way!   We went to Melrose this morning and popped into the deli for lunch.  Malcolm had a cheese and pickle toastie

 

and I had cheese savoury sandwiches (usually I am good and have brown bread, but today I just fancied white bread for a change!)

 

so, the cute knitting.  I was delighted last week to learn that my bloggy friend Rachel is to be a Granny later in the year (I'm not giving away secrets, she has posted about it!!)  When I told Malcolm (some of you may remember his valiant attempts to repair her dishwasher?!) he suggested that I knitted the booties in the tiny kit that he had given me some time ago

 

so I did!

 

then I started a teeny cardigan as well

 

I finished knitting my hot water bottle cover, designed by the wonderful Kate, some time ago

 

but needed to use these

 

 

for the finishing touches

 

I have finished my first sock (and have started the second one)

 

I decided that I couldn't put up with these disorderly scrap baskets any more

 

so while Malcolm was perusing a hundred and one kinds of screws this morning, I bought this extra large pink bucket

 

that's better!

 

I had planned to work on the remaining space quilt this afternoon, but got sidetracked into having a good tidy, but I did remember to take photos of the three that I have finished

 

and to finish - why was Malcolm looking at all those screws this morning ....... to finish the garden door for the lovely neighbours

Take my photo ........

........ I'm the handsome one!  After our cuppa on Sunday morning, we continued our walk.  Malcolm and Alison looked on bemused as Stuart and I crept up to take photos of two seagulls on a wall

 

we laughed when the one on the right walked in front of the other one, as if to say "never mind him, I'm the handsome chap you want in your photos"

 

we walked back over the new bridge, so that Stuart could take some shots of the old bridge ........ but of course I had to take more photos too!  This is looking down on the area that is to be refurbished, where Malcolm went for his walk last Saturday

 

hopefully the old wooden jetty is going to be restored

 

I liked the reflection of the bridge in the slightly muddy water

 

but I doubt this statue likes what the seagulls do on her head!!

 

you may have to click on the photo to enlarge it, to see the seal swimming beside the pilot boat

 

whn we got back home, there was time for me to do some sewing before dinner.  I started by choosing these six fat quarters

 

and cut as many two and a half inch strips as I could from them

 

there was a slight pause as I had to eat a donut (Stuart and Alison had brought us a box, so we had to eat them!)

 

on a sugar high, I stitched all the strips together

 

trimmed off the corners

 

pressed open the seams

 

and folded and pressed the binding

 

ending up with eighteen yards for the space quilts

 

this morning the first job of the day in the studio was to take a photo of my special tea in another of my special mugs

 

I have been doing well NOT buying books, but this one somehow was bought and arrived in the post this morning!

I made a start to using all that binding

 

but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see the finished quilts.  While I was busy sewing this afternoon, Malcolm was busy in the garage, making a rather large garden door for our lovely neighbours, the shoe shop owners

 

I thought I made a lot of mess .........

I'll be back tomorrow with some knitting.

The Aunts' Quilt and Mother's Day

A very short Auntlets' report this month, as I am on schedule with my blocks.  No photo though, of all the blocks on the design wall, as there isn't room for them now!

1st pieced block

 

2nd pieced block

 

applique block

 

for next month, there are the last two pieced blocks and the last applique block.  After that there are the setting triangles which are appliqued.  The outer border has appliqued scallops, but I think I might not do them - I shall decide when I have assembled the main body of the quilt.

So now on to Mother's Day.  Stuart and Alison arrived at the flat on Saturday afternoon, and Malcolm made us a very nice dinner.  Then, after breakfast on Sunday (also cooked by Malcolm, while I sat with my feet up!), we went out for a walk.  We had frequent stops, as Stuart was trying out his new camera.  As always, there was plenty to see

I know there's an engine somewhere in here!

 

having fun with a floating plastic container

 

you're dribbling dear!

 

the allotmenteers are getting ready for planting

 

a splash of colour on an old brick wall

 

an interesting plaque on an old building

 

a good address!

 

I've still got lots of photos from our walk which I will save for tomorrow, because I have the main event to share with you ........ sconnage!  We popped into Lowry's Coffee Bar

 

Stuart and Alison shared a fruit scone

 

while Malcolm and I shared a cheese one

 

and here I am, a very proud Mum with her handsome son!

Randomitis!!

Oh my, a large dose of randomitis has hit today's post!  The first photos are from last night's final of the Sewing Bee - stand by to swoon, it's the delectable Patrick!

when we got home yesterday, there were two interesting packages in the post.  The first one contained this panel to make fun seaside bunting, which I bought here

 

I recognised the writing in the second package as being that of either of Malcolm's sisters, as their writing is similar.  It turned out to be from his younger sister Judith.  First, there was a picture from her last years's calendar

 

then a postcard of a David Hockney painting

 

the package was wrapped in what appeared to be plain brown wrapping paper - but look what was on the other side - OWLS!!  This will be upcycled on to cards and gift tags!

 

the butterfly is still in the bathroom.  I put some flowers in a little vase on the windowsill for it, but it preferred the cacti - which is a bit stupid of it as they are candles.  When I went to take a photo this morning, it was sitting on the wall, in the bottom right hand corner of the photo (I was going to write about calling it Shanks, and if another one appeared it would be called McEwan, but I couldn't find a suitable link to put in, that Shanks and McEwan used to make sanitary ware ........ leading to the word shunkie, meaning toilet!!)

 

when I was getting ready to go to patch'n'chat, I saw a tiny long tailed tit in the garden, but despite my best efforts all I managed to capture were sparrows!

 

but don't worry, the attack of randomitis hasn't affected the Friday cake photo.  Annette is on holiday, so her right-hand-woman Cathy baked a cake for us - chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream topping - what more could a girl need on a Friday afternoon!!

 

hopefully the randomitis will have been cured by Monday, when I will have my next report on the Aunts' Quilt.  Stuart and Alison are coming down to spend the weekend at Berwick with us, as it is Mothers' Day on Sunday.  No doubt we will eat too much and perhaps indulge in a glass or two of wine!  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne xx

Continuing our walk

Our next stop was at the old Bell Tower

 

which doesn't look as grand now as in the illustration

 

we walked on to an area called The Greenses, which we hadn't visited before.  In a corner of a raised flower bed is a memorial ..........

 

...... to a committed member of the community

 

if you follow the link above, one of the things it mentions is the provision on a new post box - and here it is!  It might be very smart, but I much prefer old ones, such as the beauties made over the years by Machan Engineering

 

this mosaic set in the pavement caught my eye - inspiration for an applique perhaps?

 

as we walked back to the flat, I remembered to look up and was rewarded with these three photos

 

this morning we popped into Cafe Crema for a cuppa, and were delighted that one of today's scones was the exceedingly tasty cheese and pickle, still warm from the oven

 

to finish ....... I had just started writing today's post when a movement in the garden caught my eye. We had a surprise visitor (sorry for the blurry photo) - a tiny field mouse tucking into spilled birdseed!