frayed at the edge

A very handsome fellow!

On Saturday when we were in Hawick, we had a walk round to where we quite often see a heron, on the River Slitrig.  Yes, there he was, looking splendid, with the river roaring over the rocks behind him

 

after taking a couple of photos, I walked to my right, to take more from a different angle ....... and he turned his head, to face the other way!

 

back home, I got ready to strain and bottle my first attempt at fruit vinegar, lining a nylon sieve with a coffee filter

 

this is the raspberry vinegar, dripping through - it took quite a while

 

all bottled and labelled!  I am reasonably pleased with my first attempt.  I think next time I will use more fruit to increase the fruity flavour

 

Yesterday morning we went for a walk along the river in Jedburgh.  The ducks were all up on the bank, enjoying a brief glimpse of the sun!

 

I always take photos of this old bridge!

 

 

walking back into town we passed one of my favourite places - the John Deere dealership!  I like the way this tractor looks as if it is parked on top of the hedge

 

a brand new tractor - there isn't even any mud on the wheels

 

this engine is about half the size of my car!!

 

this afternoon, we went for a walk in Hawick.  We followed a path through the  Violet Woods ...... but this was the only one that we saw!

 

It was quite  a steep climb, but it was worth it to have these views over Hawick

 

 

 

parts of the path were muddy, and as we reached to to of the downhill section, an elderly man who was walking his dogs advised us to walk down the road, rather than the path, as he said that the mud had made it very slippery, and we would probably end up on our backsides!  However, walking down the road wasn't without its perils, when this horsebox went past with little room to spare

 

We stopped to admire this new wall ....

 

....... and this rebuilt section of dry stone wall

 

I wonder how long it will take until it is covered with moss like this old section

 

the last part of our walk took us through the park, where we stopped at the little tearoom for a cuppa and an empire biscuit

 

this cute little dog is a Border terrier

 

I almost changed my mind about getting a tractor this afternoon, when I saw this wonderful machine.  Just think of the fun I could have demolishing buildings!!

 

I'm going to be on my own for the rest of the week ...... something which happened regularly when Malcolm was working.  However this time he isn't off abroad, to stay in smart hotels.  Tomorrow night he will be staying with Stuart and Alison, then on Wednesday he is driving up to Aberdeen, where he will be staying with David and Mary ...... Malcolm and David were at Birmingham University together, and another of their fellow students will also be there with his wife.  Then on Friday, he will stay with Stuart and Alison again (it's just a bit far to drive in one go from Aberdeen to Hawick).  I should have gone too, but unfortunately the visit clashed with Abbey Quilters exhibition.  I will be busy on Thursday helping to set up the exhibition, and then doing various duties on Friday and Saturday ...... and I will also be busy on Wednesday, when I go down to Longframlington to take Anne the latest batch of samples.  But of course the best bit will be that I will have possession of the remote control for the tv!!

 

To finish ...... a hastily snatched photo of a squirrel, which we saw in a garden this afternoon.  I had no sooner snapped it when it raced off

 

Running late!

When I arrived home this morning, I was decidedly out of breath after sprinting running walking quickly down the last leg of my walk.  Malcolm had assumed that I was gossiping blethering having an erudite and intellectual conversation with a neighbour.  So why was I late home ....... because of this gorgeous deer!

 

I was so glad that I had put the big lens on the camera, and was able to zoom in, as she stood there keeping a wary eye on me

 

 

 

I spent quite a long time just standing watching her through the camera ........ her ears kept twitching as flies buzzed round her.  It was only as I resumed my walk that I realised that I had been so engrossed that I had been standing in the middle of the road, on a bend ....... so it's just as well there is hardly any traffic at that time of the morning!!

 

At patch'n'chat this afternoon, Anne S had just finished this very striking quilt top

 

Katy was working on another miniature quilt (when she wasn't showing off the latest photo of her adorable new grandson Aaron)

 

Maureen was somewhat concerned about hanging this stunning peacock wallhanging in her home, as she had been told that it was unlucky to have anything to do with peacocks in the house (my Mum believed that).  But then she was told that it would be fine as long as she hung it next to a door, as the bad luck would be reflected back out the door ........ aren't we funny with the things we believe!

 

Annette wasn't in the shop today, so we were concerned about our Friday afternoon cake ...... but she had left us a delicious dumpling, and some of her daughter's wonderful shortbread biscuits.  For once I was good, and only had a piece of dumpling despite being twice offered the biscuits

 

 

It's Abbey Quilters exhibition next Friday and Saturday, so over the weekend I will be sorting out my entries, making sure that they are all properly labelled and writing out the information cards.  I will be helpingto  set up the exhibition on Thursday, then undertaking various duties on Friday and Saturday.  However, Malcolm won't be at home missing me, as he will be in Aberdeen ...... I'll tell you all about his trip next week!

I'm not going to mention the weather, but simply hope that you all have a good weekend ........ I shall be bottling my first attempts at fruit vinegar!!  Love Anne

Perhaps not quite a sunset ......

......... but there was definitely a bit of colour in the sky as we headed to bed last night!

 

 

and there was a wonderful colour this morning ....... blue!!

 

this ewe looked much happier, surrounded by DRY grass

 

and the view over to the Mintos was even clearer

 

I think this Jacob's ewe was probably in a show, as she is clean and clipped

 

the cows in the same field are very keen to pose at the gate!

 

 

recently, despite the fact that I don't bake, I seem to have acquired several books on the subject (I blame Sainsbury's, which sells them at half price!)

Marion used baking to fight off depression

 

the delightful Rachel with her take on classic French recipes

 

the very skilful Jo

 

the king of baking, the gorgeous Paul

 

but now, I really will have to knuckle down and actually bake cakes, instead of just drooling over the pictures, because I have just bought this beautiful glass cake cloche and stand (from here)

 

until I have a cake to put in it, I have put it on the dining room windowsill

 

and next to I have put a little glass butter dish, which is Italian ....... but I bought it in Jakarta!

 

there are other things on the windowsill from Indonesia.  This is a becak (pronounced bay-chack), a bicycle taxi

 

this chicken man is carved from a single piece of wood

 

with amazing detail on the man's face

 

and on the chicken

 

to finish ........ I'm used to encountering large lorries out on the main road when I go for walks after lunch - but I was suprised to meet this one this morning!

 

I had just taken the photo, when the lorry stopped and the driver jumped out.  Oh dear, was he shy and didn't want his photo taken?  No, he was lost!!  He was looking for our neighbour Billy the Farmer.  I had to tell him that unfortunately he had passed Billy's yard ...... and he would have to go a mile up the road before he would be able to turn!  It's just as well that he was unlikely to meet anyone else on the road that early, as he took up most of it

It stopped raining ......

........ for about five minutes this morning, and for the first time in days, the Mintos weren't hidden by mist and low clouds

 

but the Eildons were only just visible

 

I stopped at the church to take photos of the new information notice (click on the photos to enlarge them)

 

 

and here is the man himself!

 

since the morning that we saw the fawn, I have kept a lookout as I have come past that field, and this morning I was rewarded with a glimpse of an adult deer in the long grass

 

I must have made a noise as I leaned on the field gate to take photos, as the deer's head came up, and I just had time to snap one more photo before it leapt off back to trees

 

the new owners of the neighbouring farmhouse are having some groundworks done.  Does anyone know how to hotwire a mini digger ......

 

....... or even better, a big dumper truck!!

 

by the time I got back home, the rain was on again, and this spider web in the front garden had captured some raindrops

 

later in the morning, we drove up to Selkirk, to have lunch at Lochcarron.  The closer we got to Selkirk, the heavier the rain came down, so a large bowl of spicy Thai chicken soup with delicious bread was very welcome

 

back home, we settled down to watch cricket on tv ..... the West Indies v New Zealand.  They were playing on the island of St Kitts, and we delighted in seeing lots of blue sky and sparkling seas!!  While Malcolm wrestled with the crossword, I got on with my knitting, finishing the body of the tea cosy

 

the pencil is through the steek stitches for the spout

 

I have just pushed the steek through to the inside, but it gives you an idea what it will look like once it is cut to make the opening

 

the next stage is to work another vikkel braid, before shaping the top of the cosy,then finishing the edges with i-cord ...... and there should be enough wool left to make one in the reverse colourway!

 

to finish, I assumed the sheep in the old orchard were ewes (they are usually lying down when I see them), but after taking this photo this morning, I'm not so sure .........

If only looking really silly .........

....... had helped Andy Murray win.  I wore this stupid hat - folded up from a page of yesterday's newspaper - all afternoon in the hopes that it would have some magical influence on the result.  Ah well, there is always next year

 

Moving swiftly on!  When we were walking through the Saturday market in Hawick, we saw that the fruit and veg stall had some very cheap strawberries, so on Saturday afternoon I started on a marathon of jam making, which finished today!

 

This is basic strawberry jam, looking good in my fancy jars that I got here

 

I also made strawberry and nectarine jam - delicious

 

I make jam in small batches in a large glass bowl in the microwave

 

using a pound of fruit and a pound of sugar.  I use jam sugar, as I find it gives a better set

 

today I made strawberry and pear, and strawberry and melon - and still had a pound of strawberries left!  So I finished with another batch of plain strawberry jam, which I put into smaller jars to give away to friends

 

I bottled the new batch of sloe gin, and also sloe port, which we had made with the sloes from the first batch of gin.  This is the gin being strained

 

When Stuart and Alison tasted the first batch of sloe gin, they immediately demanded said they had better get another bottle or else said please could they have a bottle from the second batch (sorry, this is a poor photo!)

 

the rain stayed off long enough yesterday morning for us to go for a walk.  We thought we would go somewhere different, and walked up the road that passes the back of the donkey sanctuary.  There is just something so appealing about donkeys .... it is hard to pick just a few photos to share with you!

 

 

 

 

 

the road took us down to the suspension bridge over the River Tweed, which was running full and hard

 

 

usually we approach the suspension bridge from the other side of the river, coming down this road

 

on the way back to the car, I paused to take one of my favourite arty shots

 

I wan't so lucky with the weather for my walk this morning - yes, more rain!  This leaf had obviously had enough of the dreadful weather and dropped off the tree early!

 

but even on a wet grey morning, there is always something to brighten the day!

 

 

 

ps, when we were on the way home yesterday, we saw three different means of travel

horse power

 

pedal power

 

easy rider!

 

Can I have my coat back please?

I had to turn back early again this morning when I was out for my walk, as the rain got steadily heavier, so the only photo I took was of this forlorn ewe, looking very miserable without her woolly coat!

 

At patch'n'chat this afternoon, Anne S. had a present for me, that she and her husband Bobbie had found in a charity shop while spending a very wet week in Yorkshire. As soon as they saw this book, they thought of me ....... so now I should be able to identify wildflowers all over the world

 

it is beautifully illustrated and brim full of information

 

Don't tell Malcolm, but I bought this super new magazine this afternoon ...... not so much for the bags, as I have one two three books on bags, but I want to make these birds

 

and I know I have some ultrasuede in my stash, so these flowers are definitely going on the to-do list!

 

today's cakes were Annette's light-as-air cupcakes - some people (who, me?) might have eaten two!

 

I have put my lovely crochet butterfly from Ali in the studio.  You can't quite see in the photos, but it just landed on a branch above my big felt flower.  If you pop over to Ali's blog, you can see the rest of the things that I sent her that I forgot to take photos of!

 

 

I can hardly concentrate on typing this, as Andy Murray is playing his semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ...... it's on-the-edge-of-the-seat stuff!!  We have both finals to look forward to over the weekend, but no doubt I shall be sewing and knitting as well.  Love Anne

Please come back Rafael ......

....... and take your shirt off one more time!  What are we girls going to do now that Rafael Nadal is out of Wimbledon ....... the perfect manners when he is interviewed, the funny little smile, and best of all, that beautifully honed body.  I was very impressed last night that he still took time to sign autographs after his defeat, when he probably wanted to just go home and be miserable!!

 

I realised that I forgot to show you the other cute animals from Woolfest - so I'll now rectify that!

a very fluffy bunny!

 

very cute alpacas

 

can I please have one for Christmas?

 

an inquisitive goat

 

a Bedlington terrier pup

 

When we were in Keswick last Saturday afternoon, we went into possibly the poshest ever Oxfam shop.  I was delighted to find this little book ......

 

each design introduces a new stitch

 

Do you remember the bottle of wine with the "carry on" label?  This is the cork - such good advice!

 

I had to abandon my walk this morning when it started to rain ...... but not before capturing a fat little lamb

 

two horses that were obviously not speaking

 

and the new stream which has now spilled over into the road

 

By the time I walked back home, the rain had got heavier, and these sheep were huddling together

 

but after breakfast things brightened up and a rainbow appeared

 

and things definitely got better this afternoon, when Annette served up her wonderful chocolate sponge topped with cream and strawberries

 

The weather has been so awful, I think I will declare next week's posts a weather free zone!  Whatever the weather, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

 

In the pink!

After a lot more rain (surprise, surprise!) it was a damp when I went out for my walk this morning

 

with a new stream appearing in the verge!

 

But then rain means that I get to play with taking photos of raindrops on plants!

 

The next three photos show how luxuriant the plants in the verge are - I just moved a little bit closer for each one

 

 

 

Usually when we go out, we either go for a cuppa and scone, or for lunch ......... but when we go to Duns, as we did this morning ....... we do both!

We could just have a cuppa when we go to Hugo's, but their scones are amazing!  Today we had a blueberry one

 

which was bursting with fruit

 

after a stroll round the town, we headed off to Pearson's Garden Centre for lunch.  I had intended to have soup, but then I saw that I could get a small portion of macaroni cheese ....... possibly my favourite garden centre lunch!

 

Malcolm had tomato and pesto soup, which was excellent

 

Back home, I finished stitching  Love, Hope and Friendship, but didn't get the chance to take a proper photo before dinner, so here is a little sample

 

Yesterday I started sewing the stitcheries on to Life is Beautiful.  I pinned the stitchery in place .....

 

...... with stabiliser on the back

 

I used Dawn Cameron-Dick's method of invisible machine applique

 

 

By the end of yesterday afternoon I had sewn fourteen stitcheries .....

 

........ just another eighteen to go!

 

 

Raindrops kept falling on my head!

It's so good to be back home with my reasonable internet connection - I've got lots to show you, so let's get started!

We got to Woolfest early, and headed off to have breakfast before the show opened.  Suitably fortified, we headed straight to Kate's stall, as I had told her that I had intended to be first in the queue to buy her wonderful new design, the sheep carousel tea cosy.  Malcolm wielded the camera, as Kate and I tried to smile nicely!

 

Not only did I get the tea cosy kit, but it came in a super cotton bag

 

 

It's a long time since I did colour work, and I haven't worked steeks or braids  before, but I'm looking forward to getting started

 

My next purchase was this yarn bowl, which I bought from Willofibre.  You sit the yarn in the bowl, feeding it through the spiral.  Then when you knit, the yarn stays in the bowl and doesn't roll about all over the floor

 

I had said to Malcolm that I wasn't going to buy any yarn, as I am trying (!) to reduce my stash.  However when I stopped at Helen's stall for a blether (Helen, second from the left, used to live here in the Borders, before she went off to the other end of the country) .......

 

......... I succumbed to this rather tasty skein

 

It was hard to capture it in a photo, but can you just see that it has a sparkle running through it

 

I bought one or two other things, but I'll save them for tomorrow, so that I can show you some other photos.  I may have mentiooned that it rained rather a lot ...... this was the view from our cottage, looking out on to a section of flooded road.  It was quite entertaining watching the different methods employed by drivers to deal with the problem - drive slowly, drive fast, through the middle, along the side

 

 

 

The rain might have been pouring down, the road may have been flooded - but if the verge had to be cut, it was going to be cut!!

 

On Saturday Malcolm went in to Cockermouth - these are some of his dramatic photos of the river in the town centre

 

 

 

When Malcolm picked me up on Saturday afternoon, we headed off to Keswick - where it was still raining!  When we walked down to the lake, we found that the rowing boats had been pulled up on to the road ....

 

....... as the strip of shingle where they usually sit was under water - as were the wooden jetties - you can see the lines of poles showing where they are, usually with pleasure boats moored alongside

 

Usually when we are in Kewick, we get fish and chips for dinner, sitting down by the lake to eat.  However this time we had to eat indoors!  Haddock and chips - delicious!

 

But, I hear you cry, where are the stars of the show, where are the sheep

 

 

 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with more of my purchases, more cute animals ....... and I'll tell you whom I had a cuppa with, and whom I had lunch with!

 

 

A busy weekend!

It was Fathers' Day yesterday, and I took Malcolm out for breakfast to celebrate ....... but we actually went on Saturday, as I wanted to take him to the new cafe at the mill, but it doesn't open on a Sunday at the moment (it starts opening on Sundays next month).  Malcolm had a roll with links sausages

 

and a large americano, to which he added hot milk

 

I had a bacon roll

 

and my usual pot of tea

 

It may only have been about 9.30, but other customers were already ordering cakes and scones!

 

 

 

Back home when I put the tv on in the studio, I became engrossed in the Trooping the Colour ceremony.  It is an amazing spectacle ......

 

 

 

 

I wonder if the Queen ever wishes she could just stay at home with her feet up watching a dvd and eating chocolate?

 

but at least on Saturday she had her beloved Duke back at her side

 

Yesterday we went to Melrose for a walk

 

As there had been so much rain on Saturday, we decided not to have our usual walk along the river, as it would be muddy underfoot.  So instead we walked through the town, enjoying glimpses of beautiful gardens ...... and unusual buildings.  This first photo is a bit out of focus, but you need to see the back of this rough wooden building ......

 

....... to appreciate the surprise we got when we saw the front, with its delightful leaded windows

 

I liked this urn on the top of a gatepost ...... unfortunately we don't have gateposts to put something similar on!

 

A wonderfully dilapidated barn!

 

I went out for a walk after lunch (having already had my usual early morning walk!)  When I went to take a photo, the camera promptly beeped at me and switched itself off!  Fortunately I hadn't gone far, so I nipped back home, put the battery on charge, and collected my little Fuji Finepix, which I haven't used for months!  I was able to take lots of shadow shots, which have been in short supply here recently!

As I strolled along, I heard a bellow, but couldn't see the animal responsible for it.  Then minutes later I heard the thunder of hooves ..... I turned to see a large black bull galloping down the field .......

 

....... startling not only me, but also these sheep, which had been peacefully grazing

 

big bull(y)!!

 

Back home, the battery for the big camera had recharged, and I set it up on the tripod in the summerhouse, to take photos of the tits feeding the chicks

 

 

I decided to move the camera, to take shots from a different angle .......

 

...... so of course the birds disappeared!  So I went over to the back gate, and had a look at the swallows' nest

 

 

Then, oh joy, oh bliss ..... look what rumbled into a view - a gorgeous tractor, cutting the hay

 

Malcolm hasn't spent the whole weekend sitting in the sun, reading the paper - I'll tell you tomorrow what he has been making!