frayed at the edge

It's beginning to .......

........ smell a lot like Christmas!  On Monday I baked the Christmas cake.  I don't do much baking, but I do always bake our cake.  First, I assembled all the ingredients - the fruit had been soaking in brandy for two days, and smelled wonderful.  When I got the packet of soft brown sugar out of the cupboard, I discovered that it had formed a rather solid lump, but fortunately I remembered a tip that someone gave me many years ago - put it into a container and cover it with damp kitchen paper, and it will soon soften and run freely again.  I think I have had my little cake book since the 80s!

 

after all those years of cutting up greaseproof paper to line the cake tin and slathering both it and the tin with butter - now I just use one of these paper liners

 

as I always make the same size of cake, I have highlighted the column of ingredients

 

I love my scales - I sat the bowl and the sieve on them, turned them on, and they were set at zero, ready for me to tip the flour into the sieve to weigh out the correct amount

 

I do have proper measuring spoons, but for the cake I always use this demitasse spoon, which may have fallen into my pocket many years ago on a Singapore Airlines' flight!

 

did I say I love my scales? They give me another easy way to weigh something - put the tub on the scales and remove the required amount

 

the cake ready to go in the oven - and here is another tip I was given many years ago - make a hole in the middle, and you will have a level top on the cake (and you get to lick the delicious cake mixture off your finger after you have made the hole!)

 

and while the cake was in the oven I had the less enjoyable job of washing up!

 

and here is the cake, ready to be wrapped up for the next two weeks, during which time I will feed it with brandy, before icing and decorating it

 

I also said I would tell you what I was up to in the Attic ...... I was quilting the night time snowman which I made when I taught the class at The Quilt Shop

 

the thread selected and the quilting gloves at the ready

 

all quilted and trimmed

 

the cushion cover assembled, just needing the binding hand stitched on the back, sitting on top of the cushion pad - amazingly I had one the right size

 

the new cushion on the couch with the original one - you may notice that the new snowman doesn't yet have any eyes ....... I can't find the small black buttons that I used on the first cushion - but I am sure I will find them soon!!

 

I'll be back on Friday with some more Christmas decorations, which are slowly appearing around the house!

Snow!

Yes, I know that snow looks pretty, and people who live in places where it doesn't snow wish it would ....... but is a pain in the bahookie when plans have to be changed because driving conditions are bad.  I briefly opened the door to take this photo

 

but the other photos were taken through the window

 

it snowed off and on all day, and was quite a bit deeper than this later on

 

no sitting out in the garden!

 

however, before the snow got too bad, we went along to Nelson's to meet up with Lucie and her lovely daughter Sarah.  There were no other customers in when we arrived, so we bagged the table next to the heater!

 

Malcolm and I tucked into cheese scones

 

while Lucie and Sarah both chose chocolate brownies

 

and I have to admit that wasn't the only scone that I ate this week.  I popped up to Alnwick on Monday to do some Christmas shopping, and treated myself to this wonderful fruit scone

 

we had planned to go the Berwick after our cuppa with Lucie and Sarah, but the weather changed that plan!  So as long as we don't get any more snow, we'll go up on Sunday.  Right now, the log burning stove is lit, and we are planning a cosy evening watching tv!  Whatever the weather, have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Jumping up and down .......

......... and squealing with excitement!!  We were walking over the old bridge into Berwick this morning, when Malcolm spotted this little bird on a buttress.  We were so excited, as it is the first time that we have seen a kingfisher in real life rather than in a photo or on tv!

 

you would normally expect to see kingfishers sitting on a branch overhanging a river, so I don't know why it had chosen to sit on the bridge.  As we crept closer to get a better look, it flew off - but landed on the next buttress, which gave us a better view of the colour on its side

 

so, after all that excitement, let's have a bit of sewing!  When I was at The Quilt Shop on Wednesday, I was working on my Christmas Whimsy wallhanging.  Having added the prairie points and the binding, I auditioned little bits of bling to add to the blocks

 

as I knew I wouldn't have time to sew the bits on

 

I took a photo of each block

 

to remind me what to put where

 

it was good fun

 

going somewhat over the top

 

with the bling - and I still have more to add!

 

it's Friday, so of course that means a little foodie treat!  This is the Potting Shed

 

which is part of the Treehouse in Alnwick Gardens

 

where on Sunday we shared an excellent fruit scone with jam and clotted cream

 

then this morning we shared a tasty cheese and sun dried tomato scone in Café Crema

 

but just feast your eyes on the last two photos - and that's all I got to do, I didn't get to tuck into these delights!  We popped along to Nelson's in the village yesterday for a bite of lunch, and we were entertained by two of the ladies who work there setting up and taking photos for their website

 

so of course I asked if I could take photos too.  I also volunteered to pose eating the chocolate cake, but sadly they said no!

 

whether or not chocolate cake features on your menu, I hope you have a great weekend, love Anne

Night and day

Yesterday, we went up to Kelso, as I had an appointment with my lovely hairdresser Melissa.  While she restored my blonde gorgeousness, her puppy Jake snoozed in his bed beside me

 

we then went on to the flat, walking over to the town in the evening for a pub supper

 

the electrical shop was still lit up, showing off its wares

 

one of our favourite restaurants, Audela, has recently moved to new premises.  It looks very smart inside - I think we will have to go for dinner one night before Christmas

 

I just liked this doorway!

 

a rather tasty dinner - slices of roast beef, wrapped in Yorkshire pudding, with chips, peas and gravy (Malcolm ate my peas as I don't really like them)

 

as we walked home, I tried to take a photo of the railway bridge, which is lit up under the arches - as you can see, it was a bit of a failure!

 

this morning, we walked over to town, pausing to check out the progress of the work on this new restaurant

 

this is looking through to the courtyard behind a hotel, which is also having work done on it

 

and then we spotted this - an empty shop being turned into a coffee shop - no doubt we will try it out, so that I can tell you about it

 

after lunch we went for a walk on the beach, where I had a little play with B&W photos

 

Malcolm, as usual, wanted to take this stump home!

 

I switched back to colour when I found this little bit of china

 

the beach is littered with detritus after the recent storms, but nature has already moved in

 

there were lots of bricks on the beach - I could probably have collected enough to build a wall

 

this is just a small tyre, unlike the massive one that was on the beach for a while

 

looking over to Bamburgh Castle in the hazy distance

 

the tide was coming in

 

so I had to beat a hasty retreat ......

 

 

........ several times while taking photos at the water's edge

 

looking back to the lighthouse

 

I still have lots of photos left, so I will save them for Monday.  When we were in town this morning, we popped into Café Crema ......

 

...... for a cuppa, and we shared an excellent cheese and red onion scone

 

we will be heading back home in the morning, and are hoping for good weather over the weekend, as we still have the last of the spring bulbs to plant.  Whatever the weather, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

Just for you .......

 There were some of you (you know who you are!) who thought that they were going to see handsome young men with rippling muscles when they saw the word Chippendale in Wednesday's title.  So to make up for your disappointment, here is such a young man - but I won't make you envious by also showing you the photo of the two of us with our arms round each other!

 

there was great excitement this afternoon when Malcolm's new shed arrived

 

the sun decorated it with a super shadow shot

 

the three windows will give him plenty of light.  The first job will be to build a large workbench across the back wall, where he can set up his big saws and his lathe

 

I have been doing a lot of sewing, but I can't show you until next week, when I do the next report on my progress on my  17UFOs.  But I can show you this - remember I put the top heart the wrong way up on the right hand block?  Well, I made another one with the heart the right way up, but I can't decide which one I prefer

 

when I was at the class with Lucie, I invested in this gadget to make yo-yos (or if you are old-fashioned like me, you will call them Suffolk puffs)

 

and this afternoon I made my first yo-yo with it,  It is a lot easier making yo-yos with it, so I may even invest in some other sizes 

 

I had looked and looked for this Sue Spargo book on my shelves, and in the end thought maybe I hadn't bought it after all.  But of course, as soon as I stopped looking for it, I found it when I was looking for something else!

 

I had already sorted out fabric and threads (and worked a sample)

 

and more threads and needles

 

and I bought these gorgeous pieces of woollen fabric when we were in Wales.  I gave them a hot wash to lightly felt them.  But I will have to wait until next year to make a start, as I have a lot of sewing to do over the last two months of this year!

 

when I was taking the photos of the shed this afternoon, a microlight flew over ..........

 

at the same time as a jet, far above it, but I couldn't get them in the one photo

 

and now, the Friday food!  Today we have a cheese and bacon scone, which was served with some onion chutney - delicious!!

 

we will be heading up to the flat tomorrow, so hopefully we will be out and about, walking on the beach!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

 

 

Worth getting up for!

I know some of my friends think I am mad getting up early, but if I had stayed in my bed this morning ........

 

....... I would have missed this wonderful sunrise

 

in the end, Storm Brian didn't reach us, so yesterday morning we headed over to Amble for a walk

 

we have never been there when the tide is out - it was strange seeing an waterless harbour

 

I think this was once a pier

 

I felt slightly seasick taking this photo - as I looked through the viewfinder, focussing on the gull, the water was  rushing past in the background

 

one of the cormorants obligingly assumed the classic pose with outstretched wings for the photo

 

not quite as impressive as the Berwick lighthouse!

 

we were concerned to see all these men in hi-viz scrambling over the rocks, but fortunately it turned out to be a Coastguard training exercise

 

you can rent these little beach huts

 

a quick pause for a couple of arty photos ....... first some rust

 

then a large, strange piece of machinery

 

this piece of landscaping has recently been weeded and tidied

 

but this stretch is still neglected

 

heading for a cuppa after our walk, we were a bit bemused by all these pigeons on the roof.  We came to the conclusion that there can't be any loft insulation in the building, so the roof is warm for them to sit on

 

we had to avoid men with long ladders, who were stringing Christmas lights across the street

 

I remembered my own advice to look up, to find unusual things for photos

 

inconsiderate motorists, parking right in front of the tea rooms and spoiling my photo!

 

just for a change, we shared a toasted teacake - delicious!

 

I think I mentioned before that Stuart and Alison gave us walking shoes for our birthdays.  Manly ones for Malcolm ......

 

and girly pink soles for me.  It must be getting colder ........ note the hand knitted socks!

 

I'll be back on Wednesday with a report on Malcolm's wine rack!

I thought it was an oops!

When I was putting clean sheets on the bed this morning, I noticed these strange marks

 

what had happened?  Had I perhaps splashed the sheet with bleach?  No, it was the sun shining through the net curtain and casting the opposite of a shadow!

 

I have been meaning to show you these tray cloths and table cloths for some time, and today I finally remembered.  The tray cloths were embroidered by my Granny (I only had one Granny, as my Mum was an orphan)

 

it is hard to believe, but the tray and table cloths are older than me!

 

when I was about five, Granny showed me the basics of embroidery

 

and I have been sewing ever since!

 

I had thought that Granny embroidered these white-on-white table cloths as well, but some years ago my Dad's cousin Margaret told me that they had been embroidered by Granny's sister, Great-aunt Jemima

 

a detail of the flowers

 

and a butterfly

 

this one is kept safely in a cupboard now

 

as it is very thin, and has a small hole

 

this one is different to the other two, with a straight hemmed edge

 

and a different style of embroidery

 

somewhere on my to-do list is a white-on-white embroidery!

 

this last cloth was made for my Mum by our next-door neighbour Mrs Quinn.  It is a simple square of muslin

 

with circles of chain stitch in the corners.  It was used to cover the table when it had food on it, ready for visitors arriving

 

of course, at the end of Friday posts, our thoughts turn to food.  On Monday morning, we popped into the new deli/coffee shop in Berwick.  I am sorry I didn't take a photo of the outside, but it was raining!

 

there are just a few tables downstairs, but a much bigger space upstairs.

 

 

hopefully the views from the windows

 

will be sunlit next time we are there!

 

as always, coffee for Malcolm and tea for me ....... and an excellent cheese scone

 

sadly, we had missed the filming, but this is a report in the local paper (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

as bad weather is forecast for the weekend, we are staying at home.  Malcolm is planning to turn a wine rack in the kitchen into a piece of bespoke furniture (I must remember to give him a camera to record the process!) and no doubt I will be sewing!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

A fun weekend!

 On Saturday, I headed off down the A1 to The Quilt Shop, ready for a day of fun!  The wonderful Lucie had designed this wonderful whimsical wallhanging for us to sew (the photos are used with Lucie's permission)

 

every block is just so cute

 

and I will have lots of fun  ........

 

........ adding all sorts of embellishments

 

I started by tracing the shapes on to fusible web

 

then having cut out the pieces, I checked that they were centred in the block

 

unfortunately I wasn't paying attention, and put the top heart the opposite way up to the pattern - oops!  The other ladies thought it would look ok with the addition of a star on the top, but I have plenty of fabric, so I might make another one

 

of course there was cake to keep up our energy levels

 

working a zigzag stitch round the edges.  There is another class next month, so we have to finish our blocks, ready to add the sashing and borders

 

yesterday morning we went up to the flat, and as the weather was reasonable, we went for a walk on the beach.  The sand has moved again, so that this wooden post now only comes up to my hip, whereas last year it was above head height!

 

fortunately the interesting rusty bolts are still visible

 

there were several large stumps

 

all much too heavy to bring home

 

this wooden beam is about 15 feet long, and probably came from an old barn

 

I tried to pull out the bolt, but although I could turn it, I couldn't free it from the beam ....... I am sure Malcolm could have used it to create a feature in the garden

 

there was a lot of sea glass, so I have come home with a nice pile to add to my collection

 

dark clouds were appearing beyond the lighthouse

 

and there were no customers for the ice cream van

 

but it was mild enough to sit outside the café on the promenade for a cuppa

 

I went back to the car while Malcolm fetched a smaller piece of tree trunk that he had spotted

 

and here it is in a temporary place in the front garden.  The photo looks a bit fuzzy, but that's because it is very misty.  Storm Ophelia is due to reach us about midnight, so fingers crossed that she has run out of steam by then!

 

 

 

Very Happy Mail!

 I was somewhat surprised today to receive an envelope in the post with a Guernsey stamp on it, as I don't know anyone there

 

but all was soon explained ...... the envelope contained a card made by one of those companies that you can upload a photo to, and they turn it into a card and send it out for you.  And what a lovely card it is, a thank you for the pink unicorn quilt, from the parents of the gorgeous Jasmine, seen here with her quilt

 

Stuart mentioned recently that two more of his friends are to become fathers soon, so of course that means I get to have fun making baby quilts.  Sue has a sale on at The Quilt Shop (it's only on until next Wednesday, so you will have to get your skates on if you want some excellent bargains)

 

so I bought two bundles of fat quarters - oh my, the quilts are going to be bright!

 

I also succumbed to this batik jelly roll .......

 

over the last few weeks, I have been a bit worried about my Christmas cactus, which has gone a funny purple colour, and looks somewhat limp

 

so imagine my surprise yesterday when I noticed flower buds

 

I am so pleased that it is going to flower, I won't tell it that there are still quite a few weeks to go until Christmas!

 

do you remember I showed you this ivy some months ago.  I had given it to my Dad, not long before he died, so it is about twelve years old.  As you can see it is thriving since Malcolm re-potted it

 

I have always had houseplants, and the current crop are doing well

 

the yucca is still home to my Parliament of owls

 

this one is probably about four times its original size

 

and the rubber plant will soon be touching the ceiling!

 

the orchids haven't been happy since we moved here, although that may be because I have had them for years

 

looking beyond them into the front garden, the dahlias are still flowering

 

this one is quite happy growing in an old coal scuttle

 

this fern has had to be moved to the side of the mantelpiece, because we are lighting the fire in the evenings

 

I also love to have a vase of fresh flowers too - they just somehow find their way into the trolley every few weeks when I do the weekly food shop

 

it's Friday, so that of course means food!  We were in Morpeth yesterday, and decided to have a bite of lunch in The Morpeth Larder

 

Malcolm went up to the counter to order a Coronation chicken sandwich for us to share

 

and when he came back, he had to confess that he couldn't resist adding this excellent cheese scone to the order!

 

to finish, this is yesterday morning's sunrise - spectacular!

 

I will be heading down the road to The Quit Shop tomorrow, to do a class with the lovely Lucie - I am sure it will be fun!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Walk this way!

Last Thursday, we set of for a stroll through the village, pausing to admire these fungi growing under a tree

 

I meant to look this tree up in my book, but I forgot, and as I am writing this at the flat, and my book is at home, perhaps one of you will know what it is!

 

a rather smart new house being built a few streets away from us

 

 

with another one being built behind it

 

the leaves are changing to their glorious autumn colours, which are my favourite

 

Malcolm shows the scale of this passing tractor and trailer

 

more fungi - as I don't know anything about them, I would never risk picking wild ones, in case they were poisonous

 

there's a surprise, our stroll has brought us to Nelson's

 

the sign on the window saves me from telling you!

 

it was quiet when we arrived (it soon filled up) so I was able to take some photos

 

where else would you hang your old tennis racquets and walking sticks!

 

and of course we all hang our bikes from the ceiling!

 

we walked round to see the rheas ........

 

which upset these geese, which were vociferous in their disapproval of our walking past!

 

it was rather hard to take photos of the rheas, as they were constantly twisting ......

 

......... and turning .........

 

.......... pulling feathers out!

 

of course we have to have a couple of arty photos.  First a cotoneaster growing out the top of an old stone wall

 

and then a fading hydrangea flower hanging over another old wall

 

as you can see, a lot of leaves have already come down

 

we regularly pass this garden, which has all sorts of quirky things in it

 

the current theme is owls

 

back home, I have been busy with the two little bits of garden that I am allowed to work on!

 

I have given the border in front of the house a thorough weed, and have planted some bulbs for spring colour

 

in the rockery, the bedding plants are still flowering, so I have left them for just now, and just had a good weed and deadhead

 

I have planted more spring bulbs in Malcolm's raised bed

 

when I was taking the photos, I spotted several different fungi

 

growing in what is supposed to be the lawn

 

I think the Head Gardener

 

will have a lot of work next spring to eliminate the weeds

 

I even discovered a late-flowering dandelion!

 

I promised you scones ....... when I went up to the counter in Nelson's to place our order, I couldn't make up my mind between the tasty cheese scones

 

and the delicious fruit ones, so we just had to share one of each ..... yum!!

 

to finish, what was happening on the quayside in Berwick this morning ........ had we slipped though a rip in the time-space continuum (or something like that!) and gone back several hundred years ........ I'll tell you on Monday!  Have a great weekend, love Anne