frayed at the edge

Creating order out of chaos!

This is what the studio looked like on Saturday afternoon

 

 

 

I had dismantled a sample book of fabulous curtain fabrics, to cover the notebooks, then realised that I could use the backing board for another project involving 'shoppping list' notebooks.  There are several other ongoing projects on the tables as well!

The fabrics are gorgeous ........

 

 

........ but unfortunately have heavy paper frames stuck on the wrong side

 

 

I found this lovely rich remnant of 'silk' fabric in my stash to line the covers with

 

 

and soon had eight covers ready to sew, which took to me to the end of the afternoon

 

 

Yesterday morning was too wet to go for a walk, but we headed out to the Waterwheel cafe for a cuppa.  The scones looked so good, we got a fruit one and a cheese one, and had half each (we didn't have any lunch!)

 

 

We braved the rain and the mud underfoot to visit the eagle owls.  This one wasn't bothered by the horrible weather

 

 

but this one looked thoroughly miserable, barely opening one eye to look at us!

 

 

Malcolm has a very nasty, VERY itchy insect bite ....... but he rejected my suggestion that maybe the owl could scratch it for him!!

 

 

Back home, I finished the eight notebook covers

 

 

I happened to glance down at the carpet ....... oh dear, I think it's time for some serious cleaning

 

 

So, this afternoon I headed out to the studio determined to make it all neat and tidy again, putting things away, vacuuming the carpet - and even cleaning the windows!

 

 

The frogs are glad that they can now welcome people without having to apologize for the mess

 

 

Although we don't seem to have had a very good summer, it has been good for wonderful strawberries .......

 

 

....... and raspberries

 

 

To finish, the knitting update.  I have knitted miles and miles of edging and can now make up the shawl

 

 

Wagging his tale behind him!

Now that the breeding season is over, I have started filling the bird feeders again, which means we have had a lot of different birds in the garden.  This morning, I finally managed to take a photo of this wagtail - he kept jumping about catching flies!

 

 

Yesterday we had a robin

 

 

a female blackbird

 

 

a male blackbird

 

 

and a very fluffy young blue tit, determined to get at the last bit of food

 

 

There have been a lot more rabbits about this year ...... I think we have just about reached saturation point of photos of cute young rabbits!!

 

 

There has been little progress on the Baltimore block, as I have been concentrating on making things for my sales table.  I did do some stitching on it this afternoon, breaking off to enjoy Annette's delicious apple and sultana cake, which is a firm favourite with the patch'n'chatters!

 

 

I hope you have a good weekend - unfortunately the forecast for Sunday for us is rain, rain and more rain, so I don't think we will be going for our usual Sunday morning walk!  Love, Anne

It's in the bag

Yesterday morning when we were out for a walk, we came across a plant that looked like a thistle, except for the leaves.  My trusty wildflower book tells me that it is lesser burdock ....... I wonder if that's what is used to make dandelion and burdock, a favourite childhood drink

 

 

Malcolm spotted these bright red berries , but I haven't yet found the tree in my new tree book!

 

 

And the berry theme continued this morning, with a new crop of raspberries

 

 

If you think they look like big raspberries ....... yes, they were (and they were also delicious)

 

 

The hedgerow apples are just about ready to pick

 

 

The rosehips are ripening - I just hope that I get the chance to pick them before the hedges are cut

 

 

If only you could eat conkers - they are abundant this year

 

 

Over the weekend, I have been working on a new design of lavender bags, for my sales table later in the month.  I started with some trial stitching on cotton tape

 

 

Having decided to use the font on the right, I stitched a batch, and then sewed them in the centre of the fronts of the lavender bags.  Then I stitched a 'frayed' label on the back

 

 

I stitched round three sides, then put the lavender in before stitching the fourth side.  I trimmed the edges with the pinking blade on my rotary cutter

 

 

When I showed Malcolm the prototype, he thought it was a coaster ...... so when I finished the lavender bags, I looked out some woollen fabrics and stitched some tape, using wonderful variegated Madeira threads - I plan to make the coasters tomorrow.

 

 

I forgot to do the knitting update last week - I had taken the photo, I just forgot to include it in last Monday's Post!  I have now finished the four sections of the shawl ........

 

 

........ and I've made a start to the miles and miles of edging!

 

Weary legs

When I went out for my walk this morning, my legs just refused to pick up the pace ...... so I ended up strolling along finding interesting things to take photos of .........

 

a fallen conker in the middle of the road

 

 

raindrops on cleavers (goose grass)

 

 

a fly caught in a spider's web in the middle

 

 

a neighbour's chimneys, reflected in a tiny puddle

 

I have been working hard on my Baltimore block, and by yesterday afternoon had most of the leaves stitched

 

 

But before I could place the last four leaves in the centre, I needed to make a ruched flower.  I started by cutting a two inch wide strip, and pressing the two long edges into the centre

 

 

I marked one edge every inch

 

 

Then on the other edge, I started half an inch in from the edge, then marked every inch

 

 

Using a double thread I stitched across the end, then up to the first mark

 

 

At the edge, I took the thread over, bfore stitching to the next mark

 

 

After stitching several zigzags .........

 

 

........ I pulled the gathering thread - it is much easier to do this as you go, rather than waiting until you have done all the stitching

 

 

That was as far as I got yesterday, before I had to stop and make dinner (lamb rogan josh).  So I carried on this afternoon at patch'n'chat.  I finished the stitching and gathering ....

 

 

...... then curled the strip round to make the flower, stitching the loops in place.  I put it on the block and pinned the remaining leaves

 

 

By the end of the afternoon, the block was well on the way to being finished

 

 

Of course Friday afternoon means cake - this week it was one of Annette's delicious chocolate sponges, with lots of fresh cream in the centre

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

Hello deer!

No - I haven't got the spelling wrong ---- this morning I finally saw a deer again, having seen one some weeks ago, when I didn't have the camera with me

 

 

Altgough we are still in July, there was a decided autumnal nip in the air this morning, and some plants have already gone to seed

 

 

 

 

But other plants are still putting out buds and new growth

 

 

 

Next month I have a sales table at the Southdean Show, so I thought it was time to knuckle down and make some things to sell!  I looked out a pile of ready cut circles that I bought some time ago, with the thought that I could make something with them one day!

 

 

I sorted some of them into pairs

 

 

I took the first pair, and ran a gathering stitch round the edge of each circle, and pulled the stitches tight, to make yoyos (Suffolk puffs)

 

 

I stitched the two together and added a brooch pin to the back ......

 

 

......... and added a large button to the front to complete the brooch

 

 

I had an unexpectedly large meal at lunchtime yesterday, so I didn't want any dinner when I got home.  As Malcolm had already cooked it, that meant there were some leftover vegetables to use up when I made dinner tonight.  I also had a bit of stale bread to use up

 

 

I got out my trusty processor (it's about 12 years old!) and made breadcrumbs

 

 

Mashed the veggies

 

 

Mixed the veggies and breadcrumbs together, and added seasoning and a beaten egg

 

 

I divided the mixture into four portions, and formed it into potato and veggie cakes

 

 

I shallow fried them in sunflower oil - the trick is to get the oil quite hot, so that when you put the cakes in the surface cooks quickly and seals, so that they don't get oily

 

 

So what else were we having?  On Wednesday mornings, the fishman comes to the house in his van.  I'm usually in the bath when he arrives, so Malcolm gets to choose what fish we have.  Today he chose breaded haddock, which I cooked on the griddle, with just a spray of one-calorie oil

 

 

To complete the meal, I made a very quick sauce with low fat creme fraiche and blue Shropshire cheese - simply warmed until the cheese melted

 

 

After all that effort, I thought I should get out the fish knives and forks!

 

 

The verdict ....... delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

Catching up!

Now that we are back home and the internet connection isn't disconnecting every couple of minutes, I can show you more of our weekend!  To finish off Friday, here are the little goodies I bought

 

lovely coarse wool to knit a bag, which should felt well

 

 

a kit to knit a very cute sheep teacosy

 

 

oops - another book

 

On Saturday, we headed first to Denbigh, to visit the castle.  We were a bit perplexed when the women who sold us our tickets said that the castle was closing for a year ..... as it was being knocked down and rebuilt.  Howver, she clarified what she meant - it is the visitor centre that is being replaced, not the magnificent ruins!

 

 

 

 

Next we went to Conwy, where there is an even bigger castle.  To reach it, we walked across the suspension bridge

 

 

This was when I had to be very brave, to climb long spiral staircases, and stand on top of very high walls and towers

 

we were standing on top of a matching tower!

 

 

yes, that's Malcolm's hand!

 

 

the enclosed bridge on the right carries the railway

 

 

the people are dwarfed by the walls

 

After leaving the castle, there were more heights to scale, as we went for a walk round the town walls

 

there is only a railing to stop you falling off!

 

 

we were above these wonderful old chimneys

 

 

looking down on the smallest house

 

But then - the reward for surviving all those stairs and heights ....... fish and chips for dinner (and bread and butter)

 

 

However, Saturday's heights were nothing compared to where we went yesterday!  Come back tomorrow to see just how brave I had to be!!

 

Alas, no handsome prince ........

....... no matter how often I kissed him (no, not really)  ......

 

 

he remained a frog (or possibly a toad, I don't know which he is!)

 

 

Malcolm had a princess demanding his attention at lunchtime, when we visited Rachel - Lottie snuggled up to him and ended up sitting on his lap!

 

 

Fortunately, Flossie didn't try to sit on him, as she is just  a little bit bigger!

 

 

We were there for a very special lunch ......... next Monday Rachel is moving to Somerset, so it will be some time before we see her again.  We were going to take her out for a last lunch, but she just had too much to do, so instead we visited Marks and Spencers yesterday, and stocked up on some delicious food.  As the serving plates were packed, we simply put the food on the table in the packets!

 

 

Yes, that is a lemon meringue pie trying to hide on the left of the photo - it was delicious - lovely light pastry, very lemony filling and light-as-air meringue (it was so good, we had a second piece later with a cuppa!)

 

 

All too soon it was time to leave, and after several attempts, Rachel managed a smile for the camera.  We will miss her, but can look forward to going to visit her in her new home ....... and of course, following her adventures on her blog, which you can find here.

 

 

Please don't breathe on me!

 Recently, I read of a very good recipe on my friend Lee's blog ...... chicken cooked with forty cloves of garlic ...... which Lee had found here.  We decided to make it on Saturday for dinner with Stuart and Alison.  Not only did it sound delicious, but it could also be done in the slow cooker - ideal when you have visitors and don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.  I counted out the forty cloves of garlic ......

 

 

....... and picked the fresh herbs from the pot in the garden - getting soaked in the process in the heavy rain

 

 

While I was doing that, Malcolm browned the chicken ......

 

 

....... then we added the other ingredients and left it to cook

 

 

The result - delicious chicken, with a surprisingly mild garlic flavour.  We served it with dauphinois potatoes and broccoli (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the complete meal!)

 

 

Stuart and Alison headed off mid-morning yesterday, as they wanted to call in at Ikea on the way home (it was the last day of the summer sale!).  We went out to get the Sunday papers, then went for a cuppa at the Woodside Garden Centre.  We were able to get a table by the window, so that we could watch the birds on the feeders (the window was a bit dirty, so the photos aren't as good as I would have liked)

 

 

 

 

The weather over the weekend was miserable, but it didn't stop the bees balm finally flowering!

 

 

 

 

There's lots of colour in the next photo too - this morning's fruit shopping, freshly washed

 

 

To finish, the knitting update.  I have finished the first quarter of the shawl, and have made good progress on the second one

 

Fun!

Just a quick post, as Stuart and Alison have arrived for the weekend! 

There are a lot of rabbits about this year - much more than in previous years.  They are quite funny when you get near - they just keep very, very still, as if that means you can't see them

 

 

Annette wasn't in the shop today, so we didn't have our usual wonderful cakes - but we did have a very good rich fruit loaf

 

 

Then someone produced this packet of jelly babies, which had us all laughing!

 

 

I hope you have a good weekend - don't forget to pop back for Shadow Shot Sunday to see the rest of the photos from our trip to Coldstream!  Love Anne

 

The way to a man's heart ......

....... is definitely through his stomach - so why not look after his heart with a delicious, but healthy salad!

 

This was quick and easy to make - lettuce and rocket (from my friend Lizzi's allotment), chives (from the garden), basil (from the pot on the windowsill), a clementine (from the fruit bowl) and strawberries (from the fridge).  I also made a quick dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and chilli flavoured salt.

 

I have been impatiently waiting for the bees' balm to flower in the back garden.  Today I ran out of patience and took these photos - perhaps in a few days it will be fully in flower

 

 

 

We didn't have any birds using the nesting box this year .....

 

 

But some new tenants have moved in ..... wasps!  Well, at least it means they have stopped trying to invade the summerhouse!

 

 

Although the nesting box wasn't used, we have lots of little sparrow nests under the eaves at the front of the house - here are some of this year's crop

 

 

When I went into Hawick this morning, I took the camera and big lens, hoping to find the heron on the river.  I looked round all the places we usually see him but he was nowhere to be seen

 

 

The only bird I saw on the water was this seagull

 

 

In the studio this afternoon, I lightly pressed the Linus blanket.  I made the pattern up as I went along - 20 rows of garter stitch, then every row for the first half was k50, p40, k10.  Then for the second half, k10, p40, k50, then finishing with 10 rows garter stitch.

 

 

I also prepped the second piece of the wreath.  It didn't take so long to do this one ...... and amazingly it just about matches the first one!