frayed at the edge

There might not be sconnage ......

.......... but there are cakes!!

 

 

and there is wonderful scenery

Another problem resolved!

Oh dear, no sooner was the blog sorted out, when the comment form went awol ....... not just for me, but for Typepad generally.  That too has now been fixed.  Thank you all for your lovely comments - I was delighted to read that you had missed me!

I went off to patch'n'chat early this morning, all organised for the Linus day.  I had a search in the shop for a fabric to team with the tractor fat quarter, but I couldn't find a green that looked right, so I opted for this fun chicken fabric

 

after adding the chicken borders, I layered the quilt, ready to do some machine quilting

 

it didn't take long long to do the quilting

 

Maureen was deciding what to do with these leftovers from a quilt she had made some years ago

 

Pam was making colourful blocks

 

Margaret, as always, was hand stitching her quilt

 

then there was the Friday cake ......... oh my, there was silence in the room as we tucked in to the most delicious chocolate sponge, topped with fresh cream and strawberries

 

so, to finish, what is the exciting news?  Well, this time tomorrow, we will be in Majorca!  Those of you who have  been reading the blog for a while (thank you!) know that for several years now we have headed off to Majorca at this time of year.  We are going for three weeks, and are staying in the same villa as last year.  I am hoping that the villa still has a wi-fi connection, as I am taking my Hudl, so that I can share some photos with you.  However if there is no wi-fi, unless I can find a cafe or a bar with wi-fi, you might have to do without me for three long weeks!  But to finish, here is a photo to help you picture where we will be spending quite a lot of time!

 

They're back!

For the past few days, Malcolm has been telling me that the swallows are back, but I kept saying that it was a bit early.  But then yesterday evening, there was a very soggy swallow sitting on the telephone wire.  I bet he was wishing that he had stayed in Africa a bit longer!

 

now, some more catching up, first with more photos from our walk on Sunday.  At first I thought these were snowdrops under the hedge ..... but if you could smell the photo, you would know that it was wild garlic

 

this boat was high and dry

 

everywhere we loooked there was blossom on trees

 

at first we were puzzled by this blossom

 

but then we saw this on another branch

 

of course when the sky is such a wonderful blue, I have to take photos to show it off

 

I wonder if this fisherman found the water a bit chilly?

 

now, on to Monday.  I treated Malcolm to lunch at The Night Safe Bistro in Hawick - so called as it is in a former bank (I would have shown you a photo of the outside, but just as I went to take it the camera switched itself off, as I had forgotten to change the battery!)

 

the restaurant opened last September, but this was our first visit.

 

they have kept the vault door, but now it is used as a storeroom

 

Malcolm ordered a BLT

 

and I ordered a chicken tikka wrap

 

then we had half each!   The food was delicious, the staff were friendly and efficient and the prices were reasonable - we will definitely go there again.

back home, the early clematis is now fully in flower

I have been working away on the sampler quilt

 

I have run out of the black fabric for the outer border, but hopefully I will be able to get more tomorrow at Borderland Fabrics - but don't worry, if I can't get more, I do of course have a plan B

 

while looking for the photos of the sampler quilt, I found this photo of Sandra's prize for winning the giveaway........ two of my photos, some of my cards, and a copy of my Country Cottages pattern

 

do pop in again tomorrow, as I have some exciting news to share with you!

 

I gather there is a problem with commenting - I don't know if it is related to the problems of the last few days.  If you can't leave a comment, please email me and let me know - there is an email link at the top of the right hand sidebar.

 

 

Fingers firmly crossed ........

....... that the problems are over!  As you may know, Typepad was subjected to some sort of attack which meant that there has been no blogging.  I'm just going to do a short post just now - I would hate to do a great long one and have it vanish!  So, back to Sunday.  We went for a walk in Melrose

 

the last time we walked along the river, the water was roaring over the rocks.  It was much quieter this time

 

most of the scaffolding has been removed from the Abbey

 

we popped into the Woollen Mill for a cuppa, and shared a delicious raspberry muffin

 

to finish, two little robins.  I snapped the first one on our walk on Sunday, and Maureen snapped the second one in her garden on Monday

And the winner is .......

........ I have just activated my random number generator (aka, of course, Malcolm!), and he has picked Sandra Hoy, who is one of my friends from Abbey Quilters.  Well done Sandra, and I'll be in touch with you about your prize.  At this point I should be showing you a photo ......... but I forgot to take one!!  I shall make sure I remember over the weekend and show you on Monday.

You know I love getting parcels in the post, and I love it even more when they are prettily wrapped like this one

 

the pretty packaging continued inside with ribbon .......

 

and a hand-written thank you

 

all that for a fat quarter of tractor fabric ( and the p&P was free!).  We are having a Linus day next Friday at patch'n'chat, soI thought I would get a little bit more tractor fabric to use with some of the piece that Dawn sent me.

 

I think a little boy will be delighted to have a quilt with this super fabric in it

 

if you want a really sweet treat this weekend, you could try this recipe

 

and on the subject of cake, we had the choice of two this afternoon - ok, I admit it, we all had a piece of both of them- a delicious gingerbread and a lovely gooey chocolate cake (I had already removed the white chocolate shavings from my chocolate cake when I remembered to take the photo)

 

after havinng the pleasure of Miss Molly's company last week, today we had Barley who belongs to Annette and Norrie, the owners of Borderland Fabrics.  He is a very cute Dandy Dinmont

 

it has been another lovely sunny day, and the forecast is good for the weekend, so we will be out and about, and no doubt consuming sconnage!!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Colourful visitors

Yesterday evening, we had a little bright bird in amongst the brown sparrows, in the front garden

 

 

today,when I came in to the kitchen to make my lunch, I heard the distinctive call of a pheasant.  I looked out the front door, and there he was, strutting round the garden.  I ran through to the lounge and grabbed the camera -  he was bobbing in and out of the bright sunshine and deep shade, sometimes half in one and half in the other

 

it was such a lovely day, I had my lunch out in the garden

 

I didn't share my ginger beer with this little beastie!

 

Malcolm has been hard at work, tidying up the garden - it is looking good!

 

don't forget to leave a comment if you would like to be in the draw on Friday for the giveaway to celebrate my 1,500th post.  I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing.

 

 

Pretty little things

Hooray, we finally had a good long Sunday morning walk!  We went to Harestanes, where we hadn't been all winter, as we knew it would be very muddy underfoot. But yesterday it was dry, and everywhere we looked there were signs of spring

 

the new bridges over the stream are looking good

 

this tree was very big ........

 

........ but not as big as it used to be, having lost an enormous piece off the back

 

of course after a long walk, there is only one thing to do ....... eat scones!

 

I went out for a walk at lunchtime today, as we had seen lots of lambs in the nearby fields when we came home yesterday.  Before seeing the lambs, there were horses big and little to be admired

 

and the donkeys were enjoying the sunshine

 

 

but the sheep weren't co-operating, and were all at  the far side of their fields!

it was good to see the sun shining on the Mintos .......

 

......... and the Eildons

 

on round the bend there were sheep much nearer the road - but there were no lambs!

 

but then, in the next field - hooray

 

 

of course on the way home I had to pause to take a photo of my favourite view

 

remember to leave a comment to be included in the draw for my giveaway to celebrate reaching 1,500 posts on Friday (I still don't knw what the giveaway will be, I will have to have a search in the studio tomorrow!)  To finish, I am sure you thought that today's title referred to the lambs ....... wrong!!  It referred to these little beauties - my new shoes for the summer

Post #1,500 .........

.......... and I still haven't run out of things to say!  Yes, it's a very special day in frayedattheedgeland, as I reach 1,500 posts.  When I started writing the blog, I am sure Malcolm thought I would do it for a few weeks then give it up.  He certainly anticipate that it would last so long, and that he would become involved in it, pointing out photo opportunities, and of course making such wonderful things for me to share with you.  So, of course, we have to mark the occasion with a little giveaway.  What the giveaway will be, I don't yet know - I shall have to have  a hunt through my various stashes for a little special something!  All you have to do is leave a comment between now and next Friday, when my random number generator (aka Malcolm) will select the winner.  You can leave a comment every day - the more you comment, the more chances you will have!

Today is special for another reason ........ earlier in the week, I had an email from Dawn in Durham (no blog), saying that when she was in Florida on holiday, she visited a quilting shop where she saw something that she knew I would like.  She asked if I would email her with my address, so that she could send the something to me.  Obviously knowing that I wouldn't give out my address to someone I didn't know, she did say that (Stitchin' Heaven) Anne could vouch for her.  So the parcel arrived this morning, along with an envelope from the College.  

 

I opened Dawn's parcel first, to find this

 

and look what was inside ........ John Deere fabric!!    Dawn has said that perhaps I could make something for Linus, but that hopefully there would be enough to make something for me - and that's just what I will do.  Thank you so much Dawn, for such a thoughtful gift!

 

the envelope from the College contained the latest Community Classes listings

 

with an article about ME!

 

we had a very special visitor at patch'n'chat this afternoon.  May I introduce you to Miss Molly

 

her owner is the delightful Seonaid (or perhaps it is Molly who owns Seonaid?!)  Sorry Seonaid, I was so busy concentrating on the adorable Molly I only got half of you in the photo!  Seonaid used to be a regular at patch'n'chat, but had lost her sewing mojo, so we were delighted to welcome her back today

 

no more photos please, I've posed enough

 

oh well, just one more for my adoring audience!!

 

but Molly didn't get to join us in tucking into Annette's delicious cupcakes

 

at last it looks as if we will be able to have a good long walk on Sunday, and of course I will be busy sewing.  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great weekend, love Anne

 

ps - last week, Maureen sent me a photo of a deer in her garden, but unfortunately I couldn't get the photo to co-operate to put it in the blog.  However, at the other end of the scale, today she sent me this one - what a brilliant photo!!

A post of two halves*

We start with last night's meeting at Abbey Quilters.  We had a delightful speaker, Vicky Mitchell, who was quite happy to have photos taken of her work, and of her!

 

a wonderful array of quilts

 

this large quilt is stunning

 

I love the landscape on the left

 

but my favourite exhibit was also the smallest - a delightful handstitched book

 

 

as we had a guest speaker, instead of just having a biscuit with our cuppa, Val (one of the committee) had made scones - her scones are fabulous, and it wasn't long before the plate was empty!

then we move on to today.  We picked up Maureen this morning, and set off to spend the day at Stitchin' Heaven.  Maureen hadn't yet been to the shop, so was looking forward to a day spent shopping stitching.  As always the ladies were working on all sorts of projects

Ros is now working on the outer borders of her fabulous applique quilt

 

Margaret is working on Robin's Nest, designed by Karen Styles, who also designed Mrs Billings

 

Annie was going to make a bag with these tiny squares, but has decided to use them as a background to an applique wallhanging

 

a new lady, Jill, was hand-quilting her sampler quilt

 

Maureen was finishing an Advent calender

 

Frances was making some tiny hexagon blocks

 

Carolyn was working on new stitchery patterns, which I can't show you as a naughty person has pinched one of her designs and someone has put it on Pinterest, so the new designs are under wraps

 

Anne's quilt is a combination of Mrs Billings and Robin's Nest

 

Sue was working on her Mrs Billings

 

to finish ....... this scruffy little robin was enjoying himself in the birdbath!

* football managers frequently describe a match as "a game of two halves" ....... all football matches consist of two halves, what they usually mean is that they were being beaten in the first half, but took the lead in the second half (or vice versa).

Raindrops keep falling ........

.......... not just on my head, but all over the place!  Yesterday morning, every time it looked as if the weather was improving - on came the rain again.  So we abandoned any hope of going for a walk, and settled for sharing an enormous scone.  Shock, horror, there were no cheese scones, but this plain scone, once butter and jam were added, was an acceptable alternative

 

I took this photo from inside the car when we parked at the Woolen Mill yesterday morning - I was worried that anyone seeing me comparing my nail polish to the colour of the car would think I was a bit strange!

 

I've just remembered that I should have started with the quilts from Saturday's coffee morning and exhibition for Linus.  When I saw the first quilt, I thought "oh, that's my cottages pattern" - then realised that I made the quilt!!

 

it rained for most of the day, but it has finally stopped and there is even a little glimmer of sunshine.  When it had almost stopped raining this afternoon, I popped out to the garden for some soggy photos.    We have a good crop of toadstools in the grass in the front garden

 

the peony has shot up

 

the flowering currant provides a splash of colour

 

in the back garden, there is new growth on one of the ferns

 

a raindrop on a tree

 

if you look closely at this raindrop, you can see a reflection of part of the house

 

this tree is bursting into leaf

 

whille I was busy in the house, Malcolm was busy in the garage, making driftwood trees.  He already has orders for next Christmas!

 

just some of his collection of driftwood

 

bits of seaglass, interesting stones and worn pieces of brick

 

we had a colourful visitor in the front garden this afternoon

 

you know I like big machines, and when I was in Hawick this morning, despite the fact that it was pouring with rain and I was soaked, I paused as I crossed the footbridge over the river to capture this one!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing.