frayed at the edge

Disgruntled gnomes!

Did you notice on Monday that there was no mention of lunch when we were in Berwick?  That, of course, was because it was a "fast day" (after several weeks of "normal" eating over Christmas, I am being a good girl and sticking to the diet!).  However we had a delighful lunch in The Damascus Drum today.  Malcolm had delicious broccoli and Stilton soup

 

which came with rustic bread and butter

 

as for me, I had my usual, the ploughman's bagel ....... wonderful sharp cheddar, rich homemade chutney, little pickled onions and a refreshing salad

 

back home, I sorted out some cushions to take with me on Saturday to give the Abbey Quilters members some ideas for their cushions

machine quilted, with apple fabric to echo the quilting

 

handquilted, and edged with cord

 

this beautiful fabric didn't need anything fancy done to it

 

I added this knitted panel to an existing cushion

 

handstitched Hawaiian applique, and hand quilted

 

my very first hand quilted cushion, from 20 years ago!

 

this counted cross stitch cushion is even older ........

 

......... perhaps the quilt started my interest in patchwork?

 

and as for those disgruntled gnomes ....... they were most annoyed that I used their chair to take the photos!

An unexpected day out

This week is a bit topsy turvy, so we had our Wednesday day out today (did you follow that?!).  On the way, we were stuck for a while behind a lorry which had a strange looking cargo ....... was it perhaps a satellite that they were going to launch into space?  Alas, it was nothing exotic, but merely a silo, possibly for grain

 

I, of course, was a happy bunny when we passed this tractor

 

when we arrived in Berwick, we parked near the "new" road bridge across the River Tweed

 

we walked part of the way across the old bridge, and looking down at the river, saw this flock of pigeons on the shore

 

Malcolm's sharp eyes spotted this heron, just before it disappeared behind the bottom of the bridge (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

then he spotted this one

 

and this one

 

I spotted this one - although you may have to squint a bit to see it in the middle of the photo

 

we were still expressing our amazement at seeing so many herons in a short stretch of river, when we looked over the other side of the bridge ...... and there was another one!

 

I think this is a cormorant ......

 

........ and I know these are ducks

 

........ and this is a swan!

 

on the way home, we were stuck behind this JCB for a while - but I didn't mind too much

 

it was too miserable to go for a walk yesterday morning, but we still went out to buy the Sunday papers ....... and to share this magnificent scone, which was lemon and ginger flavoured.  That may sound a weird combination of flavours for a scone, but was delicious!!

 

then in the afternoon, we had  the last of the Christmas cake with our afternoon cuppa

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing!

 

 

 

A puzzling photo

Why is this mug sitting on the chair in the hall?

 

was it fed up living in a cupboard?  Did it feel tired and needed to sit down for a minute?  Perhaps it liked the cushion and wanted to sit next to it?  OK, I'll stop being silly!  You might recognise it as the mug I had my cuppa in on Tuesday evening at Abbey Quilters.  When I went to get the mugs out of the cupboard for our cuppa this morning, I found that Malcolm had put it away when he had emptied the dishwasher, but I like to put it back in my bag ready for the next meeting.  So I put it on the chair, which is where I put things which have to be taken out to the studio. 

 

There are more signs of growth out in the garden.  This lupin shoot was full of rainwater

 

the winter jasmine has finally flowered

 

these tiny buds on the ornamental quince are just the size of pinheads

 

for our Friday cake we had chocolate cupcakes - yum!

 

as you know, I don't like white chocolate, so I gave my little bits off the top of the cupcake to Maureen!

 

the forecast for Sunday isn't too good, so we may not get out for our walk - although I am sure we will still have our sconnage!!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

You've seen Gorrillas in the Mist* .........

........ so now I bring you Donkeys in the Mist!!  Yesterday we awoke to the hardest frost of the winter so far, and a heavy mist, but we still headed out for a walk. We decided to have a stroll past the donkey sanctuary.  As you can see, the frost was so heavy it almost looks like snow

 

aas soon as they saw us, the two donkeys and the horse in the first field came over to the fence, no doubt hoping for something to eat

 

in the next field, this donkey was looking quite magnificent

 

as we walked on down to the river, I was sidetracked by frosted seedheads ........

 

......... and icy puddles

 

the footbridge across the river was decorated with beautiful spiders' webs

 

on the way back to the car, wwe passed the donkeys and horse in the first field, busy munching on hay

 

we went to the Woodside Garden Centre for some delicious sconnage

fruit

 

cheese

 

while we ate our scones, we were entertained by finches on the bird feeder stuck to the window.  Sorry about the quality of the photos - but the window was dirty!

 

on the way home, the mist had mostly lifted, but there were still some low lying pockets

 

Fatlips Castle seemed to be floating in the air

 

in contrast to the mist, it was nice to see some blue skies and sunshine when we were out on Saturday

 

* I have to admit that I haven't seen Gorillas in the Mist - and having read about it, I think it is a bit too serious for me!

More leftovers ........

........ but this time they aren't fabric.  Malcolm had several things left over from his Christmas Fair, so when Stuart and Alison were here, they had first pick and went off home with a driftwood mirror, a cork notice board and a cork clock.  I then acquired a cork clock for the studio

 

a cork notice board, also for the studio

 

my dislike of cats has been well documented here, but although he is a cat, I love the Garfield cartoon strip

 

and lastly I acquired this fabulous driftwood mirror for my bathroom

 

when I was taking the photo of the mirror, I realised that I had forgotten to include this little owl in yesterday's post.  Why is he in the bathroom?  Because he is an emery board!  The delicious, gorgeous, fabulous toiletries in the bowl behind him were in the tin that is now filled with my Mrs Billings stuff

 

when I was looking back through my photos for the clock photos, I found photos of my laundry bag, and realised that I hadn't shared them with you.  The bag turned out to be a bit bigger than I had originally intended ......... I had planned to make a bag which we could pop our laundry into when we were away for a few days, but at 36" long, it is just about big enough to hold laundry from a two week holiday!!

 

I had a very enjoyable afternoon at patch'n'chat, catching up with everyone's news and sewing ......... and then there was the Friday cake.  Today's offering was the delicious Norwegian apple cake ....... and there were also tiny doughnuts!

 

as always I will be in the studio over the weekend (leaving Malcolm to enjoy football on tv, without my complaining that it is boring!).  The forecast is reasonable for Sunday, so hopefully we will get out for a walk ......... and some sconnage!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Happy New Year!

I requested a photo of braw laddies in kilts to wish you a Happy New Year, but instead I got this photo of Stuart (on the left) and three of his friends!  Stuart apologisies for the quality of the photo, but it was taken with his phone in poor light

 

casting my mind back to before Christmas ......... Stuart and Alison came for the weekend, and on the Sunday morning we decided to go to the Waterwheel cafe for a cuppa.  But first we went to have a look at the archimedes screw.  There was a tremendous amount of water going over the cauld ......

 

...... which had caused some problems leading to the screw being stopped.  The doors to the building housing the workings for the screw were open, and several men were standing about discussing the probblem.  Of course, Malcolm and Stuart, as engineers, immediately fell into a very technical conversation with one of the men, while Alison and I looked as bored as this little dog!

 

the vast volume of water meant that some was diverted into the old mill race, and the wooden wheel was turning - in seven years that is the first time that we have seen it turn

 

on our way home, we stopped to take photos of the snow on the hills.  Fortunately, we haven't had any here

 

 

 

the weather has been awful - although not as bad as some parts of Britain, which have suffered storms and flooding.  But in between the showers, we have been out and about.  Can you see what Malcolm spotted?

 

a heron on the tree, high above the river

 

looking out over Hawick

 

a rather handsome duck

 

a walk in the park in Hawick

 

back home, the nuthatch has returned to the garden, but I haven't managed to get a good photo yet

 

of course we have to have some food!  There hasn't been much sconnage consumed

 

but we are enjoying having a piece of Christmas cake with our afternoon cuppa

 

I still have lots more to share with you, which I'll do over the rest of the week.  To finish, I must have been a very, very good girl, because Santa brought me my very own tractor - and not just any tractor, but a John Deere

 

Winding down

I have ticked most things off my Christmas to-do, and this morning saw another one done.  I assembled these .......

 

....... ready to ice the Christmas cake.  I brushed the cake with warmed apricot jam and unrolled the icing

 

I don't like marzipan, but Malcolm does, so we compromise with marzipan fruits, so that Malcolm gets one with each slice of cake.  After years of cutting out fabric leaves for applique, it didn't take long to cut out some in the leftover icing

 

safely stowed away ready for Christmas Day

 

then it was off to patch'n'chat for our party.  We were welcomed with a glass of mulled wine, and the latest Australian magazines , which had just been delivered to the shop

 

Margaret had decorated the tables (that's Katy sitting at the table)

 

and of course there was food - lots of food

 

Cathy's husband Colin played carols for us

 

we had fun pulling our crackers and letting off the party poppers ....... and of course eating far too much

 

Margaret's hat played a tune, and the end danced about!

 

Kay had brought in two quilts that she had longarm quilted.  First was Maureen's lovely applique quilt

 

in contrast, Cath's quilt is a riot of colour

 

I took a set of notecards for everyone

 

and Sheena had chocolate for everyone - as I had eaten so much, I gave mine to Malcolm

 

over the course of the afternoon, everyone who visited the ladies came back through giggling, but wouldn't say why ...... but they all said to take the camera when I went.  Margaret had decorated the toilet seat!  And when you lifted the lid, the bell on Santa's hat jingled!

 

Well, that's it for this year!!  I am taking a break and will be back on Monday 6th of January.  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.

Love Anne xx

 

Party #1*

Just a quick post, as it has been a long day!  We left at 9am, and didn't get back until after 5pm.  So where were we?  You have probably guessed that we were in Northumberland!  Malcolm spent the day in Alnwick, while I was having fun at the Stitchin' Heaven Christmas Party!!  You know by now that whenever quilters get together for a party, food is involved

 

but I wouldn't want you to think that all we did was sit about drinking cuppas, eating and blethering (although we did do rather a lot of that!).  Annie had this box of tiny scraps .........

 

........ which she had turned into "fabric".  She had intended to make a bag, and had made a big piece of fabric and two smaller pieces for pockets.  But when she went to assemble it, she couldn't find the pockets.  So yesterday she decided to enalrge the bigger piece to make a table runner, got out the box of scraps ....... and there were the pockets!

 

Ros had just started an applique block

 

Sue was rushing to finish the binding on this quilt, which is a present for her son's girlfriend

 

Carolyn was busy stitching a sample of one of the range of stitcheries she has been designing - hopefully by the time I see her again the patterns will be available to buy and I will be able to give you the details

 

Lucy was finishing the binding on a quilt which she had longarm quilted - the quilt is a sampler which was made at a beginners' class in the shop

 

Frances too was starting an applique block

 

I may have come home with one or two little purchases - I'll show you tomorrow .........

* Party #2 is on Friday at Borderland Fabrics

 

Only for you, dear readers ........

........ would I go out into the garden at 7.15 on a rathjer chilly morning!  I was hoping to capture the full moon, but between camera shake from the long exposure time, and shiver shake because it was so cold, the photos are a bit blurry!

 

I do like getting post, so I was delighted witth today's delivery! 

 

the red envelope contained a Christmas card, the Australian one was a present from Meredithe, which is now under the tree ........ and the pink one was another kit from the wonderful Kate.  The handsome dog is Bruce

 

out in the studio, I was listening to some seasonal music

 

I was given these lovely poppy fabrics by Margaret, as a thank you for lending her some patterns and some books.  I will probably make a runner for the kitchen table with them

 

while Malcolm was out, I wrapped his presents and put them under the tree.  I had a litle bit of present sewing to finish, then I was able to make a start on the laundry bag, using these fun fabrics that I bought at Stitchin' Heaven

 

after cutting the fabrics to size, I stitched the peg fabric to the top of both sides

 

then stitched the iron fabric to the bottom

 

next, I needed some laundry!  I drew some shapes, and looked out some odds and ends of fusible web

 

as I have just put a new cover on the ironing board, I used a piece of baking parchment to protect it while I ironed the fusible web on to the wrong side of the fabrics

 

it's amazing what you can find in your stash ...... pretty coloured strings to use as the washing lines

 

I've been making more fudge!  However this isn't for us (well, we might just have to eat a square or two for quality control), it's for presents

plump, slightly sour, cherries

 

seasonal cranberries

 

I have a special day out tomorrow - do come back to find out all about it!

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