frayed at the edge

Neat and tidy!

Last night I gave my knitting basket a long overdue tidy, as I was sure that the contents were breeding and spilling over on to the floor!  It took some time, but eventually everything was replaced in a neat and tidy way (maybe I should have tidied my sewing as well!)

 

I chose this UFO to finish, as there isn't much left to do - a cover for a little hot water bottle, designed by the delightful Kate

 

the Friday cakes were delicious .......

 

....... so delicious that some people may have had two!!

 

the weather is still damp and dreary, so let's have some more colourful photos from our holiday - this time from the Rhododendron Gardens

 

 

we will be busy over the weekend with the last of the preparations for the Craft Fair - but no doubt we will fit in a scone!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Pickled!

We went for a cuppa in Cafe Crema in Berwick this morning.  Having ordered our drinks, I asked the waitress about the scones - she said they were just about to come out of the oven, and oh joy, one of today's flavours was the cheese and pickle one that we enjoyed so  much recently

 

as it was another grey day, I had just poppped my little point and shoot camera in my bag, not expecting to take any photos other than that of the scone.  Which of course meant that as we walked back over the old bridge, there was the seal posing prettily for us!!

 

on the way home we called in at the Garden Centre, and were delighted to find that they had two very special visitors

 

part of the Christmas display featured these bears, which were a bit scary, as they moved like real ones!

 

however the penguins were very cute

 

to finish, a very small sewing update.  After spending yesterday afternoon wrestling with large curtains, it was a pleasant change to work on a stitchery last night

Blue skies!

It was so good yesterday to see blue skies, after the dreary, grey, damp weather we have had recently.  We decided to go the Mayfield Garden Centre in Kelso, as Anne S had mentioned on Friday afternoon that the major revamp/expansion was complete.  

 

we were glad to see that "Julian's Veg" had survived the upheavals, as they sell exceedingly good stuff

 

the new coffee shop is much larger, and much, much smarter than the old one

 

with a large outdoor seating area, which will no doubt be well used in the summer

 

we had vouchers for a cuppa and a slice of Christmas cake for £1.49 (a bargain!), and we also shared a delicious cheese scone (I was delighted that there was no marzipan on the cake!)

 

we then went for a very enjoyable walk round Kelso

a bright splash of red berries

 

boats on the riverbank

 

more red berries, this time on a holly tree

 

stylish new seating in the square

 

the summer floral displays in the hotel windowboxes are all gone

 

a lovely etched window in the hotel

 

an old chimney ....... and beautiful blue sky!

 

we liked this sign (but we don't like tattoos!)

 

I want this tractor (it's a wine bottle holder!)

 

more blue sky!

 

the Abbey

 

a peaceful scene at the river

 

and to finish - there were one or two sparrows waiting for the bird feeders to be filled this morning!

A riot of colour

Much as I love our little population of sparrows (which has grown steadily since we moved here), they are just brown

 

and the male blackbirds are just black

 

so you can imagine my delight when I saw these wonderfully bright birds in Australia

 

some of this afternoon's cakes at patch'n'chat were rather brightly coloured - a selection of cupcakes, which Katy and Sheila brought

 

brown may be somewhat boring for birds, but, oh my, it is a wonderful colour for cakes!  First, a toffee and pecan cheesecake (that's what I chose)

 

and Cathy's chocolate cake - she asked us to guess the secret ingredient, which none of us did (it was Coke!)

 

we are staying at home again this weekend, so I will be busy in the studio, not only sewing, but also working on a few things for the Craft Fair in Jedburgh (help, it's in two weeks time!!).  We are hoping that the weather will be good enough on Sunday for us to go for a walk (and possibly for some sconnage!).  Whatever the weather, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

All sorts of loveliness

I had planned to take a photo of the quilt top I won in the auction spread out over the guest bed, but the light was so bad at the weekend, I ended up pinning it to the design wall.  As you can see it is rather large - and it is all hand-stitched!

 

the bigger squares are all made up of four smaller squares - I just couldn't contemplate sewing that much by hand!

 

of course I came home from Australia with lots of lovely things ........ some which I bought, and some which were presents from my lovely quilty friends.  First is this pattern in my favourite French General fabrics, which was given to me by Glenda

 

why did she pick this pattern?  The answer is on the back

 

you can't see from the photo, but Glenda embroidered the fabric - I saw a sample piece, and her work is beautiful.  This is going right up to the top of the to-do list

 

Karen gave me this wonderful fabric

 

to add to this collection, which I just couldn't resist

 

you know that I like owls, and both Meredithe and Glenda added to my collection of small owly things

 

while Helen had made this stunning wallhanging for me (thank you so much again, Helen).  I think I will quilt it with sashiko-style quilting

 

when we were on our way back from the retreat, we went via Bendigo, so that Meredithe could pop in to see her Mum and Dad.  We had a delightful visit with them, with her Mum and Dad staging a show and tell of all the quilts that Meredithe has made for them, and proudly showing off the cutest photos of Poppet, their beautiful baby granddaughter.  We then went on to Bendigo Woollen Mill, where I could quite happily have filled a suitcase with their beautiful yarns.  However I restricted myself to a ball of sock wool and some patterns

 

mindful of the weight of fabric, I mostly bought patterns in the many quilt shops that we visited .....

 

but I did succumb to this cute kit

 

I spent all of my holiday money in Australia, but I did manage to bring some back from Singapore!

 

Stuart and Alison stayed at the flat in Berwick while we were away, and when we went last weekend, I was puzzled to see their oven gloves sitting neatly folded on the dining table

 

 I couldn't think why they would have taken them to the flat ........ but then I had a closer look

 

when I spoke to Stuart on the phone, he said he thought that I might be able to repair them, but I think it will be easier to make new ones!

to finish ...... I have been busy in the kitchen both yesterday and today. Maureen had given me a bucket full of crab apples, so yesterday I made apple and vanilla curd, and started off some jelly.  Today I finished off the jelly, and using the leftover egg whites from making the curd made meringues (which look golden, as I used unrefined caster sugar, which was all I had in the cupboard)

 

The end of a busy week!

First, Malcolm says thank you for your lovely comments on his photos!  

Second, good news from Margaret's silent auction - my bid for a lovely blue and white quilt top was successful (I'll take photos at the weekend), and the amazing amount of £1200 was raised to help fund Margaret's disabled grandson to play Boccia.

Third,I forgot to post these photos yesterday of the most delicious scone that we shared with our morning cuppa

 

cheese and pickle - Malcolm declared that it was possibly the best scone that he has ever had (that is high praise!)

 

I hope you're not on a diet, as fourth is the Friday cake!  Annette's light-as-air chocolate and cream sponge

 

finally ........ over the last few weeks, there have been two butterflies flitting about Borderland Fabrics, which had been named Sew and Sew.  They had joined us when we had our cuppa last Friday, but then, during the week, Sew (or was it Sew) went to that great big butterfly heaven in the sky (pause to wipe away a tear!).  But Sew (or Sew) joined us this afternoon (althought we didn't give him//her a piece of cake!)

 

we are staying at home this weekend, and I am looking forward to spending time in the studio sewing, with the log burning stove keeping me cosy.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A day of indulgence!

Just a quick post, as I shall be heading out shortly to pick up Maureen to go to Abbey Quilters for our monthly meeting.  We had a notice from our electricity supply company that there would be a planned power outage today, as they were going to do major maintenance works.  This poses a problem for us, as when we have no power we can't run water or flush the toilet, as our little sewage treatment plant needs power to operate.  So we decided to head off to Ikea, as we wanted to buy a new bed for the guest bedroom at the flat, and we had seen a good one in Ikea which has storage drawers underneath.  On the way, we stopped at Mayshade Garden Centre for a cuppa, where we shared a "tasting plate" of cakes (half an indugence)

 

then at Ikea we had meatballs for lunch (it's obligatory to eat meatballs at Ikea!!).  The presentation could be better, but those Swedish meatballs are yummy (not really an indulgence)

 

we came home via Peebles.  We had hardly got out of the car when it started to rain, so we took refuge in a wonderful chocolate/coffee shop.  Malcolm had a large americano, with hot milk and I had a caramel hot chocolate.  We also shared a caramel mousse (definitely another half an indulgence!)

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update!

Friday afternoon cake!

I know you have missed the Friday afternoon cakes, so I will start with today's offering ......... light as air fairy cakes

 

Margaret was working on another of her stunning applique quilts

 

but the main event of the afternnon was the silent auction of 24 of Margaret's quilt tops, to raise funds for her disabled granndson Harry, to help fund his playing boccia.  He recently returned from a big match in Poland with both a gold and a bronze medal, much to the delight of his proud Grandma

 

at the end of the afternoon, we were treated to cheese and wine

 

Margaret is sitting, with behind her from left to right, Cathy, Annette, the other Margaret, and Sandra

 

I left before the closing time for the bids, so I shall have to wait to see if my bid was successful ....... if it wasn't I'll give Margaret a donation.  We're off to Berwick in the morning, and no doubt, weather permiting we will have a walk on the beach.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

On our holiday we will see .....

........ this

 

and this

 

and this

 

so no prizes for guessing that we are going to Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne!!  When we are in Sydney we will be visiting our wonderful friends Lee, John and their gorgeous daughters, then in Melbourne I will be meeting up with Meredithe.  But not just Meredithe - Malcolm is leaving me with Merdithe, Miss Helen and Mrs Mac, as well as Miss Glenda who isn't in the photo.......

 

and we are going off for five days on a retreat here.  While I'm off doing all things quilty, Malcolm will be enjoying himself visiting wineries!  I think Meredithe is expecting me to take some of my Mrs Billings to work on (it was seeing M's award-winning version that inspired me to do it), But I am taking a stitchery project instead.  This is part one of an eight part project

 

I have tacked the first for blocks to thin cotton wadding, ready to stitch with the wonderful threads I showed you the other day

there was a slight worry at patch'n'chat this afternoon that there would be no cake, as Annette is on holiday - but we needn't have worried, as Cathy had made delicious orange and date muffins for us

 

I finished stitching the binding on Father Christmas - now he just needs the black buttons for his eyes, the red buttons on his coat, and the pompom on his hat

 

we will be popping over to Berwick for a last visit before the holiday.  No doubt there will be a walk on the beach and some sconnage-scoffing!!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Messing about on the river

On Sunday afternoon, Malcolm pointed out that there was a rowing boat coming down the river

 

which was quickly followed by several more

 

but perhaps the rowers in the last little boat weren't too sure of their stamina, as they also had an outboard motor (and none of the boats rowed back up the river, we saw them later being towed behind cars!)

 

the swans have been spending a lot of time out on the estuary, with only the occasional one appearing in the dock.  I realised that I don't know very much about swans, and whether they  migrate ...... like me, you can find out more here

 

the seal, as ever, entertained us ......... but every time I got him in focus he vanished under the water - on several occasions showing me his bottom as he went!

 

on Sunday evening the seagulls made a great deal of noise over in the river

 

while dozens more sat out on the sandbanks

 

yesterday I layered up the Father Christmas wallhanging

 

and finished making up the kits (except I realised later that I had forgotten to put in the red buttons for his coat)

 

I keep forgetting to take photos of the progress of Mrs Billings, as I have been stitching away on the hexagons for the last border in the evenings.  So yesterday I remembered to round them all up and count them - I have enough of the coloured pyramids and almost enough of the calico ones for another side, with several coloured ones left over to start the third side

 

then today I made another Father Christmas, and layered it up as well.  The one on the left will be used at the workshop to show the students how to hand quilt it, but for quickness I shall machine quilt the other one

 

all this sewing requires a lot of stamina, and Malcolm made sure I didn't flag this afternoon, bringing me two tiny cakes

 

and a mug of hot chocolate

 

and finally, for all my cat-loving friends, this afternoon I took this photo of the nasty little beastie cute little cat just for you !