frayed at the edge

Bedazzled!

I wish you could have been at Abbey Quilters' meeting last night, to see Kay's stunning work!  It was only after her presentation that we learned that this was the first time she had done this ..... perhaps that explains the frown of concentration as she set up her laptop and projector (sorry, there are bits of heads and bodies in most of the photos, as I was at the back of the room!)

 

but it wasn't just the stunning quality of Kay's work that has us ooohing and aaaahing ........ it was also the fact that she has only been  quilting for a few years!  (that's Sandra, Linus Lady and vice-chairman of Abbey Quilters on the left)

 

this quilt is made with Liberty fabrics ...... it is gorgeous/fabulous/delicious

 

this is her 2012 Scottish Championship winning quilt

 

a detail of one of the feathers

 

but the most amazing thing is that Kay doesn't do her quilting on an ordinary sewing machine, but on a vast longarm machine

 

these details are from one of her many award winning quilts.  It is amazing that she can produce such tiny detailed stitching with such a large machine!

 

Charlie brought along this quilt, which Kay had quilted for her .......

 

........ do you recognise the stitcheries?  Yes they are the same ones that Anne did for this quilt

 

we went to Jedburgh this morning, for some shopping and a spot of lunch.  Malcolm had a haggis and cheese toastie, which was delicious, with a tasty salad

 

I had nachos, which were also delicious

 

.......  the jalapenos were served on the side - the cafe owner thought I was brave to eat them!

 

three of the clematis in the back garden are still flowering

 

and there are still flowers on the hellebore ..... at this rate it will go from being a Lenten (Easter) rose, to being a Christmas one!

A very busy weekend!

Despite talking more than sewing, I did get quite a lot done on Friday, sewing quite a few more clamshells (sorry, forgot to take a photo!) and making a start to the embroidery on the Needle Nookie

 

Katy brought in her chicken wallhanging - it is just so cute!  The chickens are called Clara, Doris and Ethel

 

the wallhanging has an amazing edging

 

and the chickens look appealing with their ricrac topknots

 

as always there was the Friday cake - Annette's delicious cupcakes

 

this Saturday we are having a "Linus Day" at Borderland Fabrics, where we will work together to make as many quilts as possible.  Katy made a start to one, using this Jelly Roll of Christmas fabrics ......

 

sub-cutting some of the strips and deciding on a layout for them

 

later, we ordered Chinese food

 

I had my favourite chicken chow mein

 

yesterday morning we went for a walk in Kelso.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue - a perfect background for these old chimneys

 

I want a window like this one!

 

Malcolm took this photo (the boy has talent!)

 

as well as tractors and rusty things, I also like boats!

 

and you know I love herons

 

this is Floors Castle, home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe

 

I finished the baby quilt.  These aren't the best of photos, as it was another dull, grey day

 

I also finished my ripple rug!

 

I also made a start to quilting the little teddy bear quilt for Linus

 

on Friday, I got these fabrics from Sandra, our wonderful Linus Lady - I'll show you tomorrow wwhat I have done with them!

Driftwood creations

No - I haven't taken up yet another craft, it is of course Malcolm who has been making things with driftwood.  First was the C*****mas tree on canvas, with some stamping to add that little extra something

 

then this fabulous tree ...... I want one, but that was the last of the driftwood, so we will have to try to get to a beach to find some more (Malcolm has just said he will sell that one to me!!)

 

as always happens at this time of year, I have received some cards, wrapping paper and a calendar from the Red Cross (and of course a request for a donation!).  In the past I haven't used these cards, as I thought that friends might be offended if I gave them a "free" card, but I now use them, as they advertise the good work that the Red Cross does, both at home and abroad

 

this morning I met my friend Lorraine in Jedburgh, as we were going to a charity craft fair.  As it was held in someone's home, I couldn't take photos, and as most of the stuff was frightfully expensive (and most of the ladies there were frightfully posh!) we didn't buy anything, although I did make a hefty donation to the charity for our cuppas and tiny mince pies.  We then went for lunch ...... we used to meet reguarly for lunch, but for various reasons, we haven't done so for months.  Lorraine is so used to my taking photos, that she doesn't start eating until I have snapped the food!  She had brie and cranberry sandwiches ........

 

...... while I couldn't resist the coronation chicken

 

I had taken along the two photo books that I got here, one with photos from Australia, and the other with photos from Singapore (click on the photo to have a closer look)

 

so why did I take a photo of the street sign?  Because there is a Cairnhill Road in my home town of Airdrie.  I didn't realise how interesting my home town is until I found it on Wikipedia - I shall have to read all about it later!!

As well as getting the photobooks, I also had one of my photos turned into a canvas ......

 

..... and another one made into this, which is described as an aluminium mounted print, but looks like it is covered in acrylic

 

that one is on the wall in the kitchen, and when I was taking a photo of it, I noticed the fruit bowl was looking good!

 

 

 

Our favourite cake!

With all that happened last weekend, I forgot to show you the progress I made with the clamshells at patch'n'chat last Friday.  I used the card template that I had made to mark the clamshells on strips of fabric, then cut them out

 

the next stage was to use temporary fabric glue to stick the top edge of the fabric to the paper clamshells

 

the first one done ...... only another 76 to go!

 

having been busy all weekend with the Sheena Norquay workshop, then away from home on Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn't do any more work on the clamshells until this afternoon's patch'n'chat.  I finished prepping the last batch, and chose the first six to form the top row (I took the next two photos when I got home)

 

the fold in the fabric is there as a guide to stitch the shells in a straight line.  Once they are stitched down, I will remove the papers, then add the second row

 

after we had lunch in the garden centre on Tuesday, we had a little potter round all the lovely things in the shop.  I saw ribbon which looked a measuring tape, so of course I decided to buy a reel.  I went to the checkout, where two members of staff were discussing some stock sheets.  I put the ribbon on the counter and got out my purse ...... and stood there while they went on with their conversation.  They  both then walked off!!  You can guess what happened next .... yes, the ribbon was left on the counter.  On Wednesday night I had a quick google search and promptly found this company - I love their postal address!

 

 ordered on Wednesday night, it arrived this morning ........ much better service than the garden centre.  It's a pity that the staff don't have the manners of the lady owner - she said hello and held the door open for us when we passed her on the way back into the main part  of the building after lunch (no airs and graces, although she is a very well known star of a gardening programme on BBC Scotland!)

 

and that little extra something which makes all the difference ......

 

a length of ribbon with quite a few repeats of these little messages

 

the Friday cake was our favourite apple and sultana cake - there was silence as we all tucked in!

 

we weren't the only ones tucking in - these sparrows were feasting on the fat balls!

 

 

I don't know where this week has gone!  I'll be busy over the weekend sorting the cards into packs and labelling them, ready to take to the gallery on Tuesday (it's closed on Mondays), and of course getting on with lots of sewing!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Day 31 ....... and it's Halloween!

Here are some things you might not know about Halloween (taken from today's "i" newspaper).  The most suprising thing is that dressing up probably started in Scotland! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

when we left Stuart and Alison's this morning, we popped in to Torwood Garden Centre, which is just along the road from them.  We were faced with a dilemma - would we have the very reasonably priced, but somewhat naughty, cooked breakfast, or would we just have a cuppa and save ourselves for meatballs for lunch when we called in to Ikea ........

 

yes, the breakfast won!  Sausage, black pudding and mushrooms ...... and I got scrambled eggs and Malcolm got a hash brown, which we then shared.  And as if that wasn't enough, we also had a slice of toast!  (and as always, tea for me and coffee for Malcolm)

 

we used to visit this garden centre regularly, as it was near where we used to live before we moved here (S&A now live about halfway between our old house and the garden centre).  However since we moved, they have done away with the old coffee shop, and added a much larger one - possibly because a new hospital has recently opened just a short distance away ....... I am sure a lot of the staff will lunch there

 

 

one wall is covered with paintings done by local artists.  A portion of the money made is given to The Macmillan fund and a lot of money has already been raised

 

suitably fortified, we went on to Ikea, where we managed NOT to buy a packet of tealights!  I bought some storage boxes for the studio, but couldn't persuade Malcolm that he wanted to replace the kitchen that he fitted a few years ago with shiny red one!  Going to Ikea meant that we came home through Peebles, where we would noramlly have stopped for a cuppa and a walk round the town ....... but it was pouring with rain the whole way home, so no photos of Peebles and no photos of the stunning autumn colours (sorry!)

So all I have left  show you is some knitting!  First, my ripple rug, which is finished except for darning in the ends.  I just kept knitting until I ran out of yarn, but it has turned out to be quite a bit wider than longer, so I will use it this way round

 

I have now started one for Malcolm, in softer colours than mine.  As it is a very simple pattern, I was able to do some in the car.  I've just started to repeat of the colours

 

well ....... that's the last post for Blogtoberfest!  But of course I will be back as usual tomorrow, when hopefully the rain will have stopped - and maybe the sun will come out!

I'm starting today with some photos from yesterday ....... first a cheeky little robin having a good time in the birdbath

 

then, on the way to bed last night, I noticed the moon ........ there were hazy rings round it, making it very spooky!

 

it was frosty ..... the roof of the house next door was glittering - you have to look hard at the bottom right hand corner to see it!

 

this morning we headed up the road to visit Stuart and Alison.  Of couse this meant stopping for lunch!  I had the most delicious cream of mushroom soup

 

Malcolm had pea and mint ....... but when he tasted mine, he wished he had chosen the mushroom too

 

there was a good selection of rolls, so we chose two different ones, and then as usual had half each

 

so, just one more post to go, and I will have posted every day in October ....... I may have to go and lie down in a darkened room to recover!!

Last night I drove over to Eckford, where Sheena Norquay was scheduled to give us a talk, illustrated by a Powerpoint presentation.  As I drove into the village, I noticed that the street lights were off (as we don't have streetlights, I was thinking huh, if we had streetlights, I would never switch them off!)..  I parked and walked over to the hall, wondering why the outside lights weren't on (yes, I was a bit slow on the uptake!) .......  there had been a power cut.  The hall was lit by camping lights and candles

 

so in the absence of her Powerpoint presentation, Sheena gave us an off the cuff chat about her life in sewing, and held up her samples above the camping light for us to drool over.  We had a cuppa (thanks to someone in the village who heated water on their gas cooker for us!) ....... then just as we were thinking about going home - the lights came on!  Sheena prompty fired up her equipment, and gave us her scheduled presentation ....... so we had a rather late night!

 

Then this morning, it was off to the Abbey Row Centre in Kelso for the first day of our 2-day workshop.  As I had my sewing machine and workbag, I thought I would use the lift (which I usually avoid, as I don't like small spaces) and I was joined by two of our older members.  It's actually a bit of an exaggeration to call it a lift - it is really just a platform which goes up inside a metal shaft.  We had only risen a few feet when it ground to a halt (gulp!!).  We pressed the alarm button - it turned out that this then dialled the emergency hotline, where after a rather difficult shouted converation with a young man who couldn't understand us ( and we couldn't understand him) we eventually grasped that it would be about 45 minutes until an engineer arrived.  We could here people both above and below us complaining that they were having to wait so long for the lift to arrive ..... so after some very loud shouting (by me!) they got the  message that we were stuck, and one of them sensibly went off to phone the Fire Brigade.  To cut the long story short ...... we were rescued by these gorgeous hunky men!  (who offered us a fireman's lift - we were tempted!)

 

so, on to the sewing!  Sheena gave us a pattern to use, or we could draw our own - I decided to use her pattern.  Here is the first stage, with the pieces ready to sew

 

stitched and trimmed

 

Sheena mentioned that as yet no-one in a class had split the scene ....... so of course I decided to be teacher's pet and split mine (another Scottish work for you - I was a "sook" ....... as in sucking up!)  Here it is with the outer borders added

 

I was sharing a table with Charlie, who, using the same basic pattern, produced this stunning black and white version

 

of course we didn't work all day without refreshment ...... some of the group members very generously gave up their day to make us cuppas, and to serve lunch which was supplied by a local pub.  The most delicious  lentil soup and a vast platter of assorted sandwiches

 

 

I should have mentioned that there was a minor drama this morning when we woke up to this ...... the first snow of the winter!!

 

and what did the engineer do when he finally turned up? (long after the handsome chaps had rescued us)

Finally, all is revealed!  I am off tonight to a talk being given by the award-winning quilter Sheena Norquay.  The talk has been arranged by Abbey Quilters ....... and you know by now that if quilters are involved, there will be food!  The talk is also open to non-members, so all the members are taking along cakes/biscuits/traybakes to share for supper after the talk.  Meredithe's recipe for hedgehog was ideal for me to make, as it can be made in advance ....... all I have to do is remember to take it!  Then, over the weekend, I am doing a two day workshop with Sheena, which I am really looking forward to.  I had great fun last year when I did the dotty bird workshop with her

 

there is quite a long requirements list for this weekend's workshop, when we will be stitching a little landscape

 

I got our my big workshop bag, which I designed some years ago as a project for beginners, as it is made from two small quilts which cover the basics of piecing, applique and quilting.  The two quilts are then sewn together with a deep gusset to make a roomy bag

 

 

there is a pocket inside for a cutting mat and ruler

 

there are also two zipped bags, which are attached to the inside with velcro

 

these take all the sharp pointy things, like scissors and needles, so that you don't accidently stab yourself when you reach  into the bag, and other odds and ends that would otherwise get lost at  the bottom of the bag

 

all packed up ready to go

 

when I was looking for the needles I need, I found this packet, which as you can see from the price is somewhat old!

 

my Dad bought the needles for me way back in the early 70s.  I had been off work ill, and although I wasn't well enough to go back to work, I was well enough to go out for the day with Dad, who had a day off.  He took me to Glasgow to show me where my grandparents had a shop on the 30s, then we went into the city centtre, to go to the Singer sewing machine shop.  I can't remember now what I bought there, but I do remember that Dad bought these needles for me

 

of course Friday means cake at patch'n'chat, and today it was Annette's wonderful cupcakes.  I usually have a pink topped one (for no particular reason) but this afternoon I went wild and had a purple topped one

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, while I am havinng fun with fabric!  Love, Anne

 

ps, it is trying very hard to snow!!

 

It was another grey, dreary morning when we set off for Longframlington this morning, but I still managed to take some photos of the autumn trees

 

 

 

we were a bit worried when we saw this lorry with a snow plough blade on the front - has the driver had access to a weather forecast we don't know about?

 

arriving at Anne's shop, I recognised one or two of the quilts on the walls!

 

 

 

feast your eyes on all these lovely fabrics (the colours aren't true for some of them, as the dull day meant the lights were on, which affects the colour)

 

 

 

there was a new stand filled with gorgeous patterns

 

these are just some of Anne's collection of old sewing machines

 

through in the kitchen area is a bookcase full of extra patterns and fabric bundles - I got sidetracked when I was supposed to be making a cuppa!

 

Anne's website isn't fully up and running, but do have a look at it here, to see what goodies she has on offer, or if there is something in the photos that you like, then phone her at the shop (the phone number is on the website - down at the bottom right, click on the contact details)

 

When Malcom came back for me, he had a cuppa (and a piece of hedgehog!) and a blether with Anne, then we set off for home.  The closer to home we got, the better the weather was, until eventually there was blue sky ...... the first we have seen since Sunday!

 

this is the first house on the Scottish side of the border - it looks as if they had just lit the fire

 

we passed a sign at the side of the road saying "hedge cutting in progress " ...... and this is what was round the next bend!

 

and on round the next bend

 

while I was at Anne's, Malcolm went out for lunch with his sister Jennifer.  She gave us a very special birthday present

 

so ....... what work did I came home with?  You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what is in here!!

Some of you wondered in your comments yesterday what kind of fruit was in cola (in the jubblies).  I unearthed the box from the recycle ...... so you can see just what is in the jubblies - and I noticed that that there are even fewer calories than I thought, I had looked at the calories per 100g, not per jubbly!

 

I was interested to see that there is hibiscus in the jubblies, as when we were in Singapore, we popped into Starbucks one day for a delicious iced hibiscus tea.  In the interests of equality, over the holidays we also visited McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and KFC  ...... of course we had the healthy option menu in each establishment!

 

I had to pop into Hawick this morning, and took a rather circuitous route from Sainsbury's carpark to the High Street, crossing the River Teviot by one footbridge, then recrossing by another, in the hope of seeing a heron, but all I saw was a duck!  However I did pause on the second bridge to take these two views of the river

 

 

when I returned to Sainsbury's, I handed in this pile of books.  The shop has come up with a novel way (sorry, bad pun) of raising money for a local charity.  There is a table of books which have been donated, and for 50p, you can borrow a book to read, returning it for someone else to borrow.  The scheme has already raised a lot of money, and as the pile of books was somewhat depleted when I was in yesterday, I thought I would have a look through my bookshelves for books I know I won't read again

 

I have borrowed this one - I really enjoy the Inspector Lynley books, although I haven't watched the tv series, as not just the actor playing Lynley is wrong for the part, but the actress playing Barbara Havers is absolutely nothing like her description in the book

 

this afternoon I was busy in the kitchen, turning these ingredients

 

into "hedgehog", a delicious traybake, using a recipe I got from Meredithe.  The bits on the plate are the raggedy offcuts, the rest is in the two tubs, one of which I will take when I go down to Longframlington tomorrow to see Anne, now that she has recovered from last week's illness, and the other tub is for Friday night (but you'll have to wait to find out about that!)

 

so, would you like to guess what this is?

 

the recipe came from here, as did the bottles.  It is apple, cider and sage sauce, and according to the recipe it should last for two moonths (I think it will be eaten long before that, as it is delicious!).  I also finally made some rosehip syrup, with the rosehips that we picked last week.  Here are all the bottles, waiting for their labels

 

and how was my soup for lunch - delicious, with a spoonful of half-fat creme fraichhe stirred in!

Day 30 ....... and October is almost over!

I'm starting today with some photos from yesterday ....... first a cheeky little robin having a good time in the birdbath

 

then, on the way to bed last night, I noticed the moon ........ there were hazy rings round it, making it very spooky!

 

it was frosty ..... the roof of the house next door was glittering - you have to look hard at the bottom right hand corner to see it!

 

this morning we headed up the road to visit Stuart and Alison.  Of couse this meant stopping for lunch!  I had the most delicious cream of mushroom soup

 

Malcolm had pea and mint ....... but when he tasted mine, he wished he had chosen the mushroom too

 

there was a good selection of rolls, so we chose two different ones, and then as usual had half each

 

so, just one more post to go, and I will have posted every day in October ....... I may have to go and lie down in a darkened room to recover!!

Day 27 ...... and a tale of two dramas!

Last night I drove over to Eckford, where Sheena Norquay was scheduled to give us a talk, illustrated by a Powerpoint presentation.  As I drove into the village, I noticed that the street lights were off (as we don't have streetlights, I was thinking huh, if we had streetlights, I would never switch them off!)..  I parked and walked over to the hall, wondering why the outside lights weren't on (yes, I was a bit slow on the uptake!) .......  there had been a power cut.  The hall was lit by camping lights and candles

 

so in the absence of her Powerpoint presentation, Sheena gave us an off the cuff chat about her life in sewing, and held up her samples above the camping light for us to drool over.  We had a cuppa (thanks to someone in the village who heated water on their gas cooker for us!) ....... then just as we were thinking about going home - the lights came on!  Sheena prompty fired up her equipment, and gave us her scheduled presentation ....... so we had a rather late night!

 

Then this morning, it was off to the Abbey Row Centre in Kelso for the first day of our 2-day workshop.  As I had my sewing machine and workbag, I thought I would use the lift (which I usually avoid, as I don't like small spaces) and I was joined by two of our older members.  It's actually a bit of an exaggeration to call it a lift - it is really just a platform which goes up inside a metal shaft.  We had only risen a few feet when it ground to a halt (gulp!!).  We pressed the alarm button - it turned out that this then dialled the emergency hotline, where after a rather difficult shouted converation with a young man who couldn't understand us ( and we couldn't understand him) we eventually grasped that it would be about 45 minutes until an engineer arrived.  We could here people both above and below us complaining that they were having to wait so long for the lift to arrive ..... so after some very loud shouting (by me!) they got the  message that we were stuck, and one of them sensibly went off to phone the Fire Brigade.  To cut the long story short ...... we were rescued by these gorgeous hunky men!  (who offered us a fireman's lift - we were tempted!)

 

so, on to the sewing!  Sheena gave us a pattern to use, or we could draw our own - I decided to use her pattern.  Here is the first stage, with the pieces ready to sew

 

stitched and trimmed

 

Sheena mentioned that as yet no-one in a class had split the scene ....... so of course I decided to be teacher's pet and split mine (another Scottish work for you - I was a "sook" ....... as in sucking up!)  Here it is with the outer borders added

 

I was sharing a table with Charlie, who, using the same basic pattern, produced this stunning black and white version

 

of course we didn't work all day without refreshment ...... some of the group members very generously gave up their day to make us cuppas, and to serve lunch which was supplied by a local pub.  The most delicious  lentil soup and a vast platter of assorted sandwiches

 

 

I should have mentioned that there was a minor drama this morning when we woke up to this ...... the first snow of the winter!!

 

and what did the engineer do when he finally turned up? (long after the handsome chaps had rescued us)

Day 26 ....... and a big night out!

Finally, all is revealed!  I am off tonight to a talk being given by the award-winning quilter Sheena Norquay.  The talk has been arranged by Abbey Quilters ....... and you know by now that if quilters are involved, there will be food!  The talk is also open to non-members, so all the members are taking along cakes/biscuits/traybakes to share for supper after the talk.  Meredithe's recipe for hedgehog was ideal for me to make, as it can be made in advance ....... all I have to do is remember to take it!  Then, over the weekend, I am doing a two day workshop with Sheena, which I am really looking forward to.  I had great fun last year when I did the dotty bird workshop with her

 

there is quite a long requirements list for this weekend's workshop, when we will be stitching a little landscape

 

I got our my big workshop bag, which I designed some years ago as a project for beginners, as it is made from two small quilts which cover the basics of piecing, applique and quilting.  The two quilts are then sewn together with a deep gusset to make a roomy bag

 

 

there is a pocket inside for a cutting mat and ruler

 

there are also two zipped bags, which are attached to the inside with velcro

 

these take all the sharp pointy things, like scissors and needles, so that you don't accidently stab yourself when you reach  into the bag, and other odds and ends that would otherwise get lost at  the bottom of the bag

 

all packed up ready to go

 

when I was looking for the needles I need, I found this packet, which as you can see from the price is somewhat old!

 

my Dad bought the needles for me way back in the early 70s.  I had been off work ill, and although I wasn't well enough to go back to work, I was well enough to go out for the day with Dad, who had a day off.  He took me to Glasgow to show me where my grandparents had a shop on the 30s, then we went into the city centtre, to go to the Singer sewing machine shop.  I can't remember now what I bought there, but I do remember that Dad bought these needles for me

 

of course Friday means cake at patch'n'chat, and today it was Annette's wonderful cupcakes.  I usually have a pink topped one (for no particular reason) but this afternoon I went wild and had a purple topped one

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, while I am havinng fun with fabric!  Love, Anne

 

ps, it is trying very hard to snow!!

 

Day 24 ...... and it's back to work

It was another grey, dreary morning when we set off for Longframlington this morning, but I still managed to take some photos of the autumn trees

 

 

 

we were a bit worried when we saw this lorry with a snow plough blade on the front - has the driver had access to a weather forecast we don't know about?

 

arriving at Anne's shop, I recognised one or two of the quilts on the walls!

 

 

 

feast your eyes on all these lovely fabrics (the colours aren't true for some of them, as the dull day meant the lights were on, which affects the colour)

 

 

 

there was a new stand filled with gorgeous patterns

 

these are just some of Anne's collection of old sewing machines

 

through in the kitchen area is a bookcase full of extra patterns and fabric bundles - I got sidetracked when I was supposed to be making a cuppa!

 

Anne's website isn't fully up and running, but do have a look at it here, to see what goodies she has on offer, or if there is something in the photos that you like, then phone her at the shop (the phone number is on the website - down at the bottom right, click on the contact details)

 

When Malcom came back for me, he had a cuppa (and a piece of hedgehog!) and a blether with Anne, then we set off for home.  The closer to home we got, the better the weather was, until eventually there was blue sky ...... the first we have seen since Sunday!

 

this is the first house on the Scottish side of the border - it looks as if they had just lit the fire

 

we passed a sign at the side of the road saying "hedge cutting in progress " ...... and this is what was round the next bend!

 

and on round the next bend

 

while I was at Anne's, Malcolm went out for lunch with his sister Jennifer.  She gave us a very special birthday present

 

so ....... what work did I came home with?  You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what is in here!!

Day 23 ...... and the fruit in cola!

Some of you wondered in your comments yesterday what kind of fruit was in cola (in the jubblies).  I unearthed the box from the recycle ...... so you can see just what is in the jubblies - and I noticed that that there are even fewer calories than I thought, I had looked at the calories per 100g, not per jubbly!

 

I was interested to see that there is hibiscus in the jubblies, as when we were in Singapore, we popped into Starbucks one day for a delicious iced hibiscus tea.  In the interests of equality, over the holidays we also visited McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and KFC  ...... of course we had the healthy option menu in each establishment!

 

I had to pop into Hawick this morning, and took a rather circuitous route from Sainsbury's carpark to the High Street, crossing the River Teviot by one footbridge, then recrossing by another, in the hope of seeing a heron, but all I saw was a duck!  However I did pause on the second bridge to take these two views of the river

 

 

when I returned to Sainsbury's, I handed in this pile of books.  The shop has come up with a novel way (sorry, bad pun) of raising money for a local charity.  There is a table of books which have been donated, and for 50p, you can borrow a book to read, returning it for someone else to borrow.  The scheme has already raised a lot of money, and as the pile of books was somewhat depleted when I was in yesterday, I thought I would have a look through my bookshelves for books I know I won't read again

 

I have borrowed this one - I really enjoy the Inspector Lynley books, although I haven't watched the tv series, as not just the actor playing Lynley is wrong for the part, but the actress playing Barbara Havers is absolutely nothing like her description in the book

 

this afternoon I was busy in the kitchen, turning these ingredients

 

into "hedgehog", a delicious traybake, using a recipe I got from Meredithe.  The bits on the plate are the raggedy offcuts, the rest is in the two tubs, one of which I will take when I go down to Longframlington tomorrow to see Anne, now that she has recovered from last week's illness, and the other tub is for Friday night (but you'll have to wait to find out about that!)

 

so, would you like to guess what this is?

 

the recipe came from here, as did the bottles.  It is apple, cider and sage sauce, and according to the recipe it should last for two moonths (I think it will be eaten long before that, as it is delicious!).  I also finally made some rosehip syrup, with the rosehips that we picked last week.  Here are all the bottles, waiting for their labels

 

and how was my soup for lunch - delicious, with a spoonful of half-fat creme fraichhe stirred in!