frayed at the edge

Sunshine on a plate

I love this time of year, when I can feast on the most wonderful Scottish strawberries and raspberries - the best in the world!!  For breakfast this morning, I added some blueberries and Greek yogurt ....... delicious

 

if you thought Frances' blocks were tiny, at patch'n'chat this afternoon Katy produced these teeny tiny hexies - again I have put my thimble in the photo for scale

 

I was still working away on my Sheena Norquay sampler

 

today's cake was the delicious dumpling-like cake, fruity and rich with spices

 

back home, Malcolm had put his sign on the summer house - I was delighted when I found this sign in a garden centre, as there are very few things available with Malcolm on them!

 

it looks as if we will have another good crop of lavender, as there are several clumps like these dotted round the garden

 

as always we hope to go for a walk on Sunday morning.  I have lots of sewing to do, and Malcolm plans to give his planter a second coat of paint ........ we are busier than ever in "retirement"!  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

A gentle stroll

In deference to my (much improved) knee, we went for a short walk in Melrose yesterday.  After the mild winter, the verges are looking lush

 

this is a tiny wild rose

 

the thistle will turn purple as the summer goes on

 

although the river is very low, it still roared over the rocks

 

what a stunning laburnum

 

I like the way the fly-hood is shaped to cover the horse's ears

 

I remembered to look up

 

although it was only a short walk, I still had need of half a scone!

 

I spotted this poppy in the back garden this morning.  It has split from the bottom .......

 

....... instead of from the top like this one

 

I gave it a helping hand

 

this poppy opened the other day - just in time to be rained on!

 

the smallest clematis is flowering

 

a dainty aquilegia

 

the osteospermums love the sun

 

this wisteria was tiny when we moved here, and over the last almost eight years, it has hardly grown.  We have pruned it, moved it, spoken nicely to it, threatened it with the compost bin ...... all to no avail

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update ....... here is a little sneak peek

 

 

Would you like to know the time .......

........ then let me consult my new watch.  I bought this fun watch and matching bracelet on the plane coming home from Majorca.  It was inexpensive and good fun - and if I get fed up with it I can always re-use the beads

 

I bought this little box in Pollensa - it was actually made in India, but it was too lovely to resist

 

I was busy stitching on my Sheena Norquay sampler at patch'n'chat.  I finished off the French knots, then filled in this square with random stitches

 

I have now finished the basic stitching, and can start adding  decorative elements

 

I was entertained yesterday evening by these young sparrows

 

it's Friday, so of course that means cake!  Today's was Annette's wonderful chocolate sponge, topped with cream and strawberries - delicious

 

hopefully we will get out for a short walk on Sunday morning, and of course as always I will be busy sewing.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Back to work!

It was a bit of a shock to the system to be heading out to work before nine o'clock this morning - usually I am heading for the shower then!  When I got to the college, I was delighted to find that Tracey had the kettle on, ready for me to make cuppa.  I quickly got everything unpacked ready for my students arriving, and Tracey gave me all the paperwork that goes with the job.  Once the ladies arrived I went through all the important information - the fire exit, the assembly point, the location of the first aid box, where the toilet is etc etc.  We were so busy getting started on their sampler quilts that I forgot all about photos!  When I remembered, the ladies were quite happy to pose for this photo - you will recognise them as being four of the students from the first class

 

did you notice the bags on the table from the first class - this one is Susan's

 

the room we use is so small, there is nowhere to properly display the quilt, so I pinned it to a cork notice board!

 

back home, I set about making dinner.  After all that cake eating on holiday, I am very firmly back on my Fast/5:2 diet.  I had looked through some of the Fast recipes the other day, but hadn't seen anythinng that I really wanted, but then I remembered that I had this book

 

the recipes in it are fat-free, making them low in calories - perfect!  I settled on this one

 

so this afternoon I assembled the ingredients 

 

at least, that's the quantities given in the recipe, but I was making twice that amount, so that I could freeze some, so I added another onion and two more cartons of tomatoes.  I quite often use the frozen cubes of garlic - living in the middle of nowhere, I can't just pop to the shop if I discover that I don't have any fresh garlic, so I always have garlic, chillies and ginger in the freezer.  While the onions were softening, I browned the meat in batches

 

I measured out the curry powder using one of the cute little measuring cups that Stuart and Alison gave me for Christmas

 

way back in the 80s, I was a great fan of Madhur Jaffrey .......

 

....... and her Indian cookery

 

one of her pieces of advice was to add some water to the curry powder and make it into a paste

 

and another was to stir the paste in and continue cooking for a few minutes to cook out the raw curry flavour ......

 

......... before adding the liquid ingredients

 

the curry is so low in calories, I was able to have a small portion of rice, a spoonful of fat-free yogurt and a spoonful of lime pickle ....... but alas, no mango chutney for me, that was for Malcolm!

 

when I came home at lunchtime, I was only a short distance from the house when I spotted this naughty lamb out on the verge, munching on the weeds

As I was saying .....

...... way back on Friday, two of my orchids started to flower while we were away

 

last weekend, when we were watching Star Wars, I googled Harrison Ford to see how old he is (I think he is 71)  The article also mentioned that he is married to Calista Flockhart, which had me reminiscing about the wonderful Ally McBeal ....... you know where this is going, don't you!  Yes, a few taps later and the box set was winging its way to me

 

on Friday at patch'n'chat I was working on my Sheena Norquay sampler ........ it's not long now until Abbey Quilters' exhibition, so we are all busy trying to get things finished.  I spent the afternoon working rather a lot of French knots

 

however, just as I was flagging, I was revived by a delicious cupcake with chocolate topping

 

we didn't go for a walk yesterday morning, partly because of the weather, and partly because my knee is still a bit sore.  I don't think I told you what happened ....... I think I just took an awkward step, and it felt as if all the bits of my knee went in different directions (yes, it was as painful as it sounds!).  My leg buckled under me and I ended up in an inelegant heap on the floor!  However a sore knee didn't stop me from enjoying some excellent sconnage for lunch - we shared a cheese one and a lemon and raisin one - delicious!

 

I heard from Tracey at the College on Thursday that it had been decided to have the samprer quilt class go ahead, whether or not someone else signed up for it, so I was busy yesterday writing out more of the instructions (one day I will manage to be tidy!)

 

it started to rain .........

 

......... and got heavier

 

........ and heavier

 

until I thought I was going to have to ask Noah to lend me his ark!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing.

 

Consequences!

If you eat a lot of this on holiday ........

 

.......  then when you come home, you have to eat a lot of this!!

 

I took lots of photos in the garden yesterday while the sun was shining, which turned out to be a sensible thing to do, as we got up this morning to rain (that's because I was going to the hairdresser this afternoon!).  We have buds on three clematis

 

the early-flowering clematis only has one sad flower left

 

but lots of fluffy seedheads

 

I love the colour of the new growth on the pieris

 

this may look like something from a sci-fi film, but it is a poppy!

 

the shady corner is looking lush

 

and the back border has filled out

 

as has this border

 

the rosemary and chives are flowering

the grape vine is flourishing

 

the front garden is looking good too

 

when we came back from our holiday, we were delighted to find that we had blue tits in one of the nesting boxes

 

and great tits in a hole in the back garden wall

 

the front garden as usual is filled with sparrows

 

to finish, more sheepies for Thimbleanna, as she wasn't impressed by the Spanish ones!

After a slight delay ........

....... here is the last instalment of our holiday photos!  It is annoying enough when Typepad has problems, but is is seriously annoying when it is because of morons who deliberately attack the website to put it offline!

One evening when we were enjoying dinnerin  an Italian restaurant in Pollensa, a parade went past - and yes, that is Spongebob Squarepants in the middle of the traditional figures!

 

most days when we were in Puerto Pollensa, we saw a seaplane flying over the bay.  Then one morning I was able to takes photos as it took off

 

a collection of scenic shots

 

an arty seed head shot!

the bakery where we bought the wonderful LMP (you buy the cakes then go round the corner to the restaurant to sit down for your cuppa)

 

I wanted this chair, but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase!

 

the villa we were staying in is surrounded by fruit trees ....... lemons

 

 several hands of bananas

 

lots of pear trees

 

and grapes

 

excellent advice

 

my goodness, there are still lots of photos left, so here is a random selection, then perhaps the odd one will sneak into posts throughout the rest of the week!

 

I nearly forgot this one ........ Spanish sheepies, especially for Thimbleanna! 

 

much as we enjoyed all those wonderful cakes, we enjoyed this wonderful cheese scone just as much on Sunday!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing!

Almost over!

I can't believe that this is my last post from Majorca!  The three weeks have flown by, and although we have had a super holiday, we are looking forward to getting home.  This morning we went for a last stroll round Pollensa, and I found another gnarled olive tree

 

then Malcolm spotted this piece of street art/sculpture ........ a piano made of stone and metal

 

then it was time for our last cake - and what a last cake ........ possibly the best LMP in the whole world!!

 

we'll be heading out later for dinner, but alas not for a repeat of Wednesday's feast, but a cheap and cheerful pizza!  Then it's back to the villa for an early night, as we have to be up at the crack of dawn.

Have a good weekend, and do pop in on Monday for a last look at some holiday photos, love Anne

 

 

A very special evening!

You may have noticed by now that when we are on holiday, we abandon our (more or less) healthy diet, and indulge our love of food.  Last night we went to our favourite restaurant in Pollensa, Il Giardino

 

as soon as we sat down, we were given crusty bread and these two little pots, one with butter and the other with pâté

 

I have forgotten what Malcolm's starter was called, but it was similar to coquille St Jacques, but had fish and seafood in it - he said it was delicious, but I couldn't have a taste as prawns and I decided many years ago we were better off apart!

 

I have to admit that every time we go to Il Giardino, I have the same starter - carpaccio of beef with rocket and parmesan

 

for his main course, Malcolm had chicken lasagne, which was delicious

 

and I had the same main course that I have every year, rack of lamb. This year it was even more delicious, with a wonderful herb crust. As you can see, it was a very generous helping, so Malcolm helped me eat it!

 

the waiter brought the dessert menu ..... Malcolm was good and only had a coffee

 

I thought that considering how much I had already eaten, what were a  few hundred more calories!  When the waitress brought my cutlery, she also brought some for Malcolm, saying that he might want to share my pud. No, no, he said ...... then he saw these fabulous, delicious, amazing profiteroles.  And when I said that instead of cream they were filled with ice cream, he decided he had room for dessert after all!!

 

Blue skies!

We got up this morning to find that the clouds has vanished in the night.  The sun shines on the terrace in the morning, making it very pleasant to sit there for breakfast.  Later in the day, when it is much hotter, the terrace is in shade, making it a pleasant place to have lunch and dinner

 

I think the pool would be a bit on the cool side first thing, but it is just right for leisurely swims in the afternoons

 

the mountains almost look painted on the blue sky

 

after a pleasant stroll along the seafront, it was time for ice cream - banoffee and Jaffa cake for me

 

and cherry and coconut for Malcolm