frayed at the edge

Cheese glorious cheese!

Despite the wind and rain, I joined my friends to visit Standhill Cheesery, which you can read about here and here.  We were made very welcome by the owners, Annie and Jimmy.  As soon as we sat down, we were given a glass of wine ..... well, you can't taste cheese without wine, can you!  Annie and Jimmy were very entertaining as they told the story of how they came to start the cheesery, and of some of the disasters along the way (the word 'rancid' was used!)   We were able to look into the room where the cheese is made (we couldn't go in because of hygiene regulations).  These cheeses had been made earlier in the day, and were scheduled to go into the chiller after we left

 

 

The soft cheeses are ready in a few weeks, the hard cheeses can take up to two years to be ready.  All of them were delicious........

 

 

 

 

........ and multi award winning

 

 

 

Then, of course, we had the opportunity to buy some cheese ....... and quite a lot came home with me!  These ones are produced on the premises

 

 

while these two are made for them with sheep and goat milk

 

 

It was  a very enjoyable visit and then we finished the evening by going for a meal ...... I had a mixed grill (yes, I had one of my rare treats of chips with it), but I declined the peas and tomato, neither of which I like.  (as I wasn't driving, I also had a very nice glass of wine!)

 

 

This morning, while we were enjoying our post-breakfast cuppa and reading our books, Malcolm noticed a rainbow.  I dashed out with the camera to capture it

 

 

I had hardly sat down and resumed reading, when Malcolm said that there was now a double rainbow (he faces the window, I sit at right angles to it, which is why he saw it and I didn't).  I rushed out into the garden again - just as a very heavy shower started!  But it was worth getting wet, as not only was there a double rainbow (the outer one is quite faint) ........

 

 

....... but the entire rainbow was visible

 

 

 

When we were in Hawick this morning, we had our usual detour to see if the heron was on the River Slitrig ...... I just had time to take a couple of photos before there was yet another heavy shower!

 

 

 

Back home, the feeders were crowded with birds, with the robin making use of the owl's head to wait for a chance to tuck in!

 

 

The long and winding road

 
On Saturday, I got up at 6.30, wished a sleepy Malcolm a happy birthday (I did offer to make him a cup of tea), got ready and headed off to meet up with 42 other ladies.  Our destination - the autumn quilt show at Harrogate.  Unfortunately, it is a rather long journey from the Borders to Harrogate ....... 3 hours by bus!!  However, it was worth every moment of the journey when we arrived to see the stunning 'best in show' quilt   - I'm always unsure about showing photos of quilts at shows, but this quilt will be featured in every p&q magazine over the next few months, so I don't think it matters if I show it to you here

 

 

There were some fabulous quilts (and one or two not quite so fabulous!) ........ here are a couple that particularly caught my eye

 

 

 

Of course a quilt show doesn't just mean quilts ...... it also means TRADERS!!  So did I buy anything? Yes, of course!!

 

delicious fabrics

 

 

co-ordinated linen

 

 

could this be a future project?

 

 

a replacement for Malcolm's flexible curve which I have lost mislaid

 

Of course you can't spend a whole day away from home without having something to eat!  The catering was excellent, and I really enjoyed my lunch

 

 

Later on I had a little icecream  - mandarin, with little chips of dark chocolate - superb!

 

 

Yesterday morning we went to a local garden centre for breakfast ...... and came home with another owl to add to the collection.  How could I resist this lovely rusty owl!

 

 

Having been worried about the lack of butterflies in the garden this summer ..... suddenly there are lots of them!

 

 

 

 

There have also been more bees about

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in the front garden, there were plenty of birds to watch ....... including the adult robin

 

 

and the young one, who is still just a little bit fluffy!

 

 

I spent most of the afternoon in the studio - I'll show you tomorrow what I have been busy with.  Malcolm was also busy being creative ........ he was going to keep this driftwood sculpture that he made this afternoon to give me for my birthday next month - but he was so pleased with it, he gave it to me before the glue was quite dry!!

 

 

I decided to put it through in the back lounge, beside a wooden and metal sculpture which he gave me for my birthday five years ago (when we had  lived here for a just few weeks)

 

 

The knitting update ....... I haven't had much time to work on the socks (and I had to take back several rows last night after dropping a stitch!)

 

 

To finish ..... it won't be long until I need to light the stove in the studio, so today Malcolm gave it a good clean and polish with 'black lead'

 

 

A little bit of history

On Saturday. on our way to visit Stuart and Alison, we decided to visit the House of the Binns, near Linlithgow.  However, as we were too early, we made a detour to visit Blackness Castle.  We didn't do the tour inside, but we did enjoy walking round the grounds, dwarfed by the vast structure

 

 

 

 

I am sure you will recognise these famous bridges, which can be seen from the castle grounds

 

 

Malcolm spotted this gate, which had been abandoned in a flower bed ......

 

 

....... then I spotted this very late flowering poppy (complete with hover fly)

 

 

Then it was on to the House of the Binns, which is the ancestral home of  Tam Dalyell (pronounced dee-ell)  His family has lived in the house since 1612, although it has been owned by the
National Trust for Scotland since 1944, on condition that the family are allowed to live in it, and if the missing family treasure is ever found, that it is returned to the family!  Tam was very much in evidence during our visit, chatting to the NT ladies and directing a coach driver to his parking space, and because it is still very much a family home, photography was not allowed inside.  However, I was able to take lots of photos outside

 

 

 

 

 

There is a tower on the highest point of the grounds - the views in all directions are stunning

 

 

 

 

This is the view down to the River Forth and Blackness Castle ...... at one time there was a tunnel from the house down to the river, for the occupants to escape their enemies during troubled times

 

 

We had lunch in a garden centre near the House of the Binns on Saturday, where we saw  wonderful stone owls, made with river stones.  Having picked up a small one to look more closely at, I then went to pick up a bigger one ... only to discover that it was so heavy that I needed both hands to lift it!  That owl ended up coming home with us, to add to Malcolm's collection.  He decided to put it in the remodelled front garden .....

 

 

...... where it was soon joined by this big wooden owl, which Malcolm bought in Indonesia (that one was the start of the collection) ........

 

 

...... and this smaller wooden one, which I gave him some years ago

 

 

I had a busy half hour in the kitchen this morning, turning this

 

 

into this

 

 

and this

 

 

into this

 

 

Later on in the studio, I transformed this

 

 

into this

 

 

and I have already started changing the ball of yarn (gorgeous stuff, 45% silk, 55% superwash merino) into these

 

Although it says child's sock, the pattern has been reworked from a vintage one to fit a small adult foot!

ps - I bought the owl on Saturday as an extra present for Malcolm's birthday, which is this Saturday .......... but I will be away all day at the autumn quilt show at Harrogate!  However I have a special dinner (and a bottle of fizz) planned for Friday night, when he will open his presents, so he isn't too upset!!

Did you notice ......

....... that the blog has had a bit of a makeover!  I thought it was time to have a new look - but I can't claim any credit, as I simply used one of the ready made layouts from Typepad.  I will have to reset my default font ..... I think I have the instructions written down in my notebook where I keep a note of things I might need again - it's all a bit technical for me!

After the disappointment of the chicken soup and dumplings last week, I decided to make my own version for dinner tonight.  I started by frying some chicken thighs in a large saucepan

 

 

and once the fat came out .......

 

 

..... I added 3 onions, which I had blitzed in the processor, using the grater attachment

 

 

I let this cook for a while, then added about 6 large carrots which I had also blitzed

 

 

I put the lid on and let the vegetables sweat, to bring out their flavour.  Then I added about 125g of long grain rice

 

 

I added boiling water until the consistency of the soup looked ok (remembering to allow for the rice swelling) and left it to simmer until the rice was cooked

 

 

Later I shredded the chicken (having removed the skin) and put it back in the soup.  Then it was time to make the dumplings.  OK, I admit it - I cheated and used a packet mix ..........

 

 

....... but I did add fresh herbs - basil, thyme and sage

 

 

Once the dumplings were made, I added them carefully to the soup, so that they sat on top

 

 

Twenty minutes later they looked like this

 

 

A delicious bowl of chicken soup and fresh herb dumplings - a quick, easy and economical dinner

 

 

The soup was even more economical to make than usual, as when I did the shopping this morning, I got the carrots half price - why?  Because there was a date on the label saying they had to be displayed until today and eaten by Thursday ...... ridiculous!!

 

 

I also got chantenay carrots (delicious roasted)

 

 

sweet peppers

 

 

and chillies

 

 

It is so annoying to see vegetables with these use by labels ....... the peppers and chillies will need to be used fairly soon (although I could freeze the chillies), but the carrots will keep for weeks.

 

To finish, the knitting update.  Last night I made up the sheep tea cosy, and had fun adding the curls! 

 

 

I put it on our everyday teapot for the photo, but when Malcolm came home, he got the posh teapot out - it filled the cosy out better!

 

Then and now

It's hard to believe that it is 25 years since we got married - the years have just flown by!  We were living in Hampshire at the time, and instead of weather like today's, which is a bit chilly, we had a beautiful sunny day.  Stuart was seven (it was second time around for both of us), and I am sure he would have preferred for us to wait a few weeks, so that he could then have had a day off school!  Looking back at the photos, I was amazed to say how blond Stuart was, and how dark Malcolm and I were (although mine had a little help!).  Now I'm blond, Malcolm is silver and Stuart is very dark!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think Malcolm would attempt this now!!

 

On Saturday, we went up to Falkirk to go out for dinner with Stuart and Alison.  Just before we went to get changed to go out, Stuart opened a bottle of fizz

 

 

 

and cheers from me too!

 

I just remembered at the last minute before we went out that I had to have my photo taken with my new dress on, so Stuart took this hasty photo

 

 

 

We went to Casa Espanola (I would have put in a link to their website, but it is somewhat out of date).  Sorry there is no photo of the outside of the restaurant, but it was absolutely pouring down, and we had a mad dash from the taxi to the door!  We were a little bit early, so had a drink in the bar, which of course has a Spanish theme

 

 

The food was fabulous, but it would take so long to show you all of it, I will just share my meal ...... calamares, venison and lemon meringue pie!

 

 

 

 

 

I still had the bill for the meal we had after our wedding, so I got it out to compare with Saturday's bill ....

 

We then went for a drink in La Banca (the building used to house a bank!), where we shared a very nice bottle of the house red

 

 

 

Stuart and Alison gave us two lovely presents ...... a very striking glass hotplate and gorgeous unusual crystal glasses (which are full of fizz at the moment!!)

 

 

 

We have had a lovely day today, with our cards on the mantelpiece ......

 

 

........ and lunch out - sorry didn't take photos, but it was wonderful lentil and bacon soup, then when we were lazing about this afternoon, I realised that we hadn't had a photo taken together ...... so I quickly set up the camera on a pile of books on the coffee table, set the timer, and threw myself onto the sofa beside Malcolm (where did those double chins come from!!)

 

 

To end ...... please tell me how my gorgeous little blond boy of 25 years ago turned into this joker??!!

 
 

Have you got Noah's phone number?

Yes, it has been raining again!  This was the view out of the back bedroom window this morning - the rain was bouncing off the ground, it was coming down so hard!

 

 

However, it did eventually go off, and by the time I came back from patch'nchat, the front garden was full of sparrows.  Don't worry about the lumps of concrete, they are just a temporary measure to hold the gravel in place until the path is relaid ..... but we need several dry days for that to happen!

 

I managed to get a lot of stitching done on my current Baltimore block this afternoon - I have finished one side of the wreath and made a start on the other side

 

 

Of course Friday afternoon means cake, and we were delighted to find that Annette had made our favourite apple and sultana cake

 

 

I thought I would do one of those roundups of photos that somehow didn't make it into this week's posts (yes, I may have forgotten to include some of them!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we are going out for dinner with Stuart and Alison to celebrate our Silver Wedding, which is on Monday.  No doubt there will be photos to share on Monday!  I hope you all have a good weekend, and that those of you who are threatened by Hurricane Irene stay safe and well.  Love Anne

The missing link!

I was finishing stitching the binding on the baby quilt last night when - shock horror - I realised that I had missed a bit of quilting.  You can see it here on the back of the quilt

 

 

So I nipped out to the studio before we went out this morning, to fill in the gap

 

 

My sewing machine plugs into a socket under the table, so my knees were complaining when I crawled under the table twice in a few minutes!

 

 

As I went back to the house, the sun was shining on the garden seat, so I paused to take a photo of the now finished quilt

 

 

We usually go out for lunch on Wednesdays, going somewhere local on knit'n'natter days, but heading out and about on the other Wednesdays.  Yesterday we had planned to go to Robert Smail's Printing Works in Innerleithen, but fortunately Malcolm checked the opening times and found that it is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  So we decided to go today.  As the premises don't open until noon, we thought that we would head to Peebles for lunch.  It got off to a good start, with a very stylish cup for my tea

 

 

and Malcolm was pleased with his flat white

 

 

Then Malcolm's lunch was put on the table - poached eggs and bacon on a muffin, with hollandaise sauce - perfect!

 

 

Next, mine arrived - oh dear ...... this is supposed to be chicken soup with herb dumplings

 

 

You may think the three white blobs are generous pieces of chicken ..... no, that's the dumplings!  I could have bounced them off the floor, they were so dense.  There was a generous helping of shredded chicken, but other then that there was a very small amount of diced carrot (which was uncooked) and a bit  of spring onion.  I ate the chicken, but when it came to supping the liquid, it had so little taste, I gave up.  After complaining, the waitress did return to apologise and give the chef's excuses.  She asked if I wanted anything else - I said no, I would rather they just didn't charge for the soup, so that's what happened.  I was very disappointd, as I had pictured a steaming bowl of traditional chicken soup, with lots of carrot, onion and rice, topped by fluffy dumplings.  (the waitress did also say that they had taken it off the menu)

However, a spot of retail therapy soon cheered me up, especially when I got a jam funnel ...... no more messy jars when I make jam

 

 

Then it was on to the printworks

 

 

We spent well over an hour having an excellent guided tour - including some hands on fun, preparing a line of type to have our own bookmarks printed

 

 

We learned that upper and lower case are called that because they were in upper and lower cases!

 

 

After learning how to set the type - from left to right and upside down! - we saw the machines still used to print all manner of things including calendars, which are based on old designs (they have full records of everything the firm ever printed)

 

 

They used to print a weekly newspaper, with each page taking 13 hours to typeset.  Now they print one edition a year.  The adverts are printed on the front, so you can't read the news without buying the paper!   (I love the use of the word 'effective' in the header!)

 

 

Do look at the link, as it is fascinating reading about the firm, which was owned by three generations of the same family, before passing to the National Trust 25 years ago.

To end our day out, we went for a cuppa, and to make up for the disappointment of my lunch, we had the most delicious treacle scone

 

A grand day out!

On Saturday morning, I headed off down the road to Chesters, for the Southdean Show.  I soon had my little table set up in the marquee

 

 

My friend Lorraine had a table laden with all sorts of delicious goodies

 

 

We had some entertainment watching the cask of beer being tapped

 

 

The beer is brewed here in the Borders - 'from plough to pint'.  You can read more here.  I didn't have any - not just because I was driving, but because I just don't like beer!!

 

 

However I couldn't resist the wonderful aromas coming from the barbecue, and had a naughty but nice roll, with a rasher of bacon, a sausage and onions (and brown sauce!!)

 

 

It wasn't just humans who were enjoying the afternoon ...... I could just have popped this little Westie into my backpack and brought him home

 

 

Outside, some brave volunteers were taking turns to hold this beautiful eagle owl.  He is a young one, and probably only half the size of the two that we see at the Waterwheel Cafe

 

 

I did very well with my sales table ....... and then the afternoon got even better when I went in to the hall after the judging of the industrial section.

 

1st and 2nd for the shawl and baby sandals

 

 

2nd and 3rd for the lavender bags

 

 

1st for my lap quilt

 

 

highly commended for the cushion

 

 

2nd for the bunting

 

 

1st for my melon, pear and strawberry jam

 

 

1st for 'best photograpic accident'

 

 

2nd for 'best photographic accident'

 

 

1st for portrait

 

 

3rd for portrait

 

 

1st for 'animal magic'

 

I won two other awards - but they didn't involve any skills!

 

1st for an old gadget - this was my Dad's

 

 

2nd for a photo of me as a baby with my Mum

 

At the end of the afternoon, when the awards were presented ........ I was delighted to receive two trophies!

 

 

 

the photography trophy

 

 

the Industrial trpohy

 

So, altogether, it was indeed a grand day out!!

 

A change of venue

This morning's post brought another exciting parcel from foreign lands .......

 

 

....... if you need another clue, this is the corner of the customs form

 

 

I was very excited to receive the parcel, as it contained the very first thing that I have ever bought on ebay!!  After wrestling with lots of sticky tape and bubble wrap, I finally reached the contents

 

 

Are you scratching your head, wonderfing what it is?  Here it is set up on the edge of the worktable

 

 

It is a ball winder, which winds the yarn from the swift

 

 

This is the start of the ball

 

 

And this is the end result

 

 

I stuck the label back on, so that I know what yarn it is when I use it

 

 

Now we come to the reason for the cake and the change of venue.  We couldn't have our usual Friday afternoon patch'n'chat at Borderland Fabrics, as there was a group visiting the shop, so I offered to host it in my studio.  Of course we can't have Friday afternoon without cake, so I got out my ancient, old M&S book 'Cooking for your Freezer', by Mary Berry.  The cake is so easy to make, even I can do it!!

 

 

You will need 150g of currants, 150g of sultanas, 150g of brown sugar, finely grated rind of 2 oranges, 300ml of hot tea, 275g self raising flower and 1 egg.

Put the fruit, sugar and orange rind in a bowl and pour over the hot tea.  Leave to soak overnight.  Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin with greased greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 150 degrees C, 300F gas mark 2.

Add the flour and egg to the fruit mixture.  Mix well, turn into the tin, then back for 90 minutes.  Leave to cool on a wire rack

 

Malcolm and I had a slice with our morning cuppa - purely to make sure that it had turned out ok!

 

 

The cake was declared to be very good by my three guests ...... Tricia, who was handquilting her gorgeous sampler quilt

 

 

Katy, busy with tiny foundation-pieced blocks

 

 

Anne S, with yet another of her tiny log cabin squares

 

 

I made a start to machine quilting a baby quilt (I'm supposed to have it finished for next Saturday!)

 

 

 

I've got all my things packed ready for tomorrow's show ....... including the photography cup, which has been on the mantlepiece for the last year.  Wouldn't it be good if it came back home with me!!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

Sparrows at both ends

It was still wet and miserable this morning, but I made the effort to get up and go for my walk (although I have to admit that I did two miles, instead of three!)  As I stepped out of the front door, I discovered that the sparrows had already arrived for breakfast - these are just a few waiting to return to the feeders when I went out the gate

 

 

It was so grey and miserable, even the little red tractor looked dejected!!

 

 

Our neighbour's horses were huddled against the wall, sheltering from the rain

 

Look again at the photo - did you notice that there are four horses, with the two smaller ones sheltering behind the bigger ones!

 

This snail didn't mind the rain - it looks as if it is aquaplaning along the road!!

 

 

To amuse myself as I trudged along, I imagined what this sheep was thinking : was it

a: if she doesn't put that camera away I'll jump over the hedge and butt her!

b: why is that woman thinking abour roast potatoes and mint sauce?     

c: hurry up and take the photo so I can eat this lovely grass for breakfast, before I have tasty grass for lunch, followed by delicious grass for dinner.

 

 

There's only one thing to do when it's miserable - go shopping!  I was a woman with a mission this morning - looking for a new dress to wear when we go out for dinner with Stuart and Alison to celebrate our Silver Wedding at the end of the month.  I found the perfect dress in the first shop I went into - but you will have to wait until after our special day to see it!  I popped into the garden centre on the way home, and had a very tasty bacon roll for lunch

 

 

Back home, I headed out to the studio.  As usual, I opened the back storm doors, and without looking, went to put the hook into the eye to hold the door open.  I felt something very strange on the door.  I didn't scream, but I did let out a loud squawk!!  On investigating, I found a snail on the door - that's my thumb beside it, to show just how big it was!!

 

 

I have been so busy making things for my sales table for the Southdean Show, that I have forgotten about making my entries for the craft competition.  One of the categories is a handmade lavender bag.  I can actually put in two entries, so I looked out some lovely pieces of scrap silk (which were given to me by my friend Anne S,)

 

 

I started with the two fabrics on the left, thinking that they would make a pretty hexagon lavender bag.  I was going to iron the silk onto vilene to make it easier to work with - but then I discovered that the vilene was sew-in, not iron-on - oops!  After a bit of a rethink, I got out some iron-on wadding, and marked the hexagons on it.  I then had to get out another pair of scissors, which I keep for cutting wadding

 

 

Having cut out the hexagons, I ironed them onto the silk, and then cut them out

 

 

I tacked the seam allowance with a fine needle and thread, so that the silk wouldn't be marked, then I got out my box of silk threads

 

 

Soon, I had the two sides stitched

 

 

While I was busy in the studio, Malcolm was working on the re-modelling of the front garden.  The birds certainly like what he has been doing ....... and here are the other sparrows, which were promised in today's heading