frayed at the edge

Will you please keep still!

For the past few mornings, I have been trying to take a photo of a tree sparrow, which shouts at me as I go past its territory across the road from the church.  Most of the photos have turned out like this .......

 

 

....... because it just won't keep still, but finally, this morning, I managed to take two passable shots

 

 

 

The thistles are now flowering in the verge, with two distinct varieties.  This one has a small flower

 

 

while this is the one which is more familiar

 

 

I took several random photos of flowers this morning, with a vague idea of using the colours in a quilt

 

 

 

 

 

I could also include this beautiful raspberry colour (yes, I ate it!!)

 

 

Just after taking the photo of the raspberry, I had to stand on the verge, out of the way of our neighbour Billy the Farmer, as he came down the hill in his horse transporter (he was very considerate, and is marginally over to the wrong side of the road to pass me!)

 

 

As always for a Friday afternoon, I was at patch'n'chat.  I pinned out the pieces for the next block, and made a start to stitching it (the stray leaf at the bottom is just pinned there out of the way while I stitch the stem on the left)

 

 

And of course (I'm sure that's bad grammar!) we had cake!  Annette is so good to us - we had her wonderful strawberry and fresh cream cupcakes again -delicious!

 

 

 A little silly something to end with ...... I think it's lucky if a black cat crosses your path (but if it's unlucky, then of course I'm not superstitious!!)

 

 

I hope you have a super weekend - no doubt there will be sewing and knitting on the agenda here!!

Love, Anne

Raspberry delight!

Here it is, the first foraged raspberry of the summer!!

 

 

That one was eaten as soon as the photo was taken, but I did pick some more to take home to share with Malcolm

 

 

The hedgerow apples are coming along nicely.  They are about the size of golfballs, and won't get much bigger, but will make good jelly in the autumn

 

 

 

The flies were bad again this morning, so I thought I might invest in a fly coat and hood, to match these horses ....... although I would have to have my ears relocated to the top of my head!!

 

 

I wasn't able to take any photos of the big hole today, as there was too much going on ........ but we're not the only ones digging holes - from the size of this one in the verge, I think it has probably been dug by a badger

 

 

Back home, when the post arrived, I was delighted to see an envelope with this stamp on it ......

 

 

...... as it meant the prize I won in Meredithe's recent giveaway had arrived.  I opened the envelope to find a prettily wrapped parcel

 

 

Inside ...... a set of Meredithe's templates.  I haven't done any hand piecing for a while, so I am looking forward to making this project!

 

 

As promised, an update on the Baltimore blocks.  I added the three buds

 

 

 

 

Next, I worked on the centres of the four main flowers.  I used a reel of thread as a template to draw a circle on card and on four fabrics.  I cut the card circle out on the line, but added seam allowance to the fabrics

 

 

I ran a tacking thread round the edge of one of the circles, put the card on top, then pulled the thread tight.  Then I pressed the fabric, to give a crisp edge for sewing

 

 

Once the card cooled, I removed it and used it to prepare the other three circles.  I then marked circles on a scrap of wadding

 

 

I padded each circle of fabric with wadding, then stitched them in the centre of the flowers

 

 

That only leaves the eight-petal flower on the left, but I think I will fill the centre with French knots, so I won't do them unitl I have washed the block to remove the fabric glue.  The next block has a lot of leaves.  I had already prepped some of them, and did the rest this afternoon

 

 

Rain is forecast, but hopefully it won't be too heavy in the morning when I go out for my walk, and I will be able to take photos of the ongoing work!

 

 

Abandoned!

I had more or less planned today's post ....... but then a very special parcel was delivered!!  I have mentioned that we will celebrate our Silver Wedding at the end of August.  Malcolm got his present from me last week - a Kindle (sorry, I haven't taken a photo, as it's not very exciting to look at!)  My present isn't just for our anniversary, it's also for my birthday and my Christmas ....... a new lens for my camera. As I'm not at all technically minded, I'll just let the photos do tho the talking!

I was so excited, I didn't even go outside - I just took some photos through the lounge window.  The first one shows the garden seen through the existing lens

 

 

This is with the existing lens extended

 

 

Next is the new lens  ........

 

 

......... then with the lens extended

 

 

The next photo had me jumping up and down and sqealing with delight (after putting the camera down!)  This is with digital zoom .......

 

 

The photos were all taken standing in the same place - except for the last one ...... I had to kneel down and lean my elbows on the coffee table to keep the camera steady, as the least movement is hugely magnified!
I don't want to turn into a camera bore, so I'll just show a couple more photos which I took during a quick walk this afternoon

 

I took this 'close-up' from about eight feet away.  I am amazed at the clarity - the apple is only the size of a cherry ...... and did you spot the fly?

 

 

I was leaning on a gate to capture this thistle, which was about six feet away - I love how the background is hazy, and you can see the little bit of spiderweb.

 

Back now to a quick roundup of what should have been the main events of today's post!  As I mentioned on Friday, I took Malcolm out for breakfast yesterday morning

 

absolutely naughty, but very delicious (I couldn't finish mine!)

 

Monday means the knitting update.  On Saturday I pressed the pencil case, and chose a fabric for the lining

 

 

Then yesterday I made it up

 

 

I quite often have a mug of hot chocolate when I'm busy in the studio at the weekend, but on Saturday I forgot to take my mug back into the house, so yesterday I used this mug

 

 

This week's project is one that I have been looking forward to - a lacy scarf

 

 

I have also made a start to the pink blanket for Linus ........

 

 

....... and a baby shawl, which I hope to have finished in time to put into the Southdean Show in August

 

 

To finish, one more photo taken with the new lens.  This is our neighbour's tiny horse (it's about the size of a sheep).  It lives in a paddock way back from the road, so up to now, any photo I took of it wouldn't show what a cute little thing it is!!

 

 

 

 

 

Blurred at the edge

This tale of woe started back in March.  I went to have my routine eye test, and although I was surprised when the optician said that my right eye had changed a great deal (he actually said it had gone from being short sighted to long sighted), I assumed that he knew what he was doing.  The new glasses duly arrived, and after struggling with them for a few days, I decided they just weren't right and took them back.  To shorten a very long story, I got a refund and went to another optician, who completely disagreed with the first optician.  So today I went to collect the new glasses ..... and they have to be sent back, as they have not been given the proper coating ........ aaaargh!! 

On to happier things!  The other day, when I was reading Meredithe's blog, she mentioned the town of Tyabb.  I then had this conversation with Malcolm

me : we went to Tyabb when we had our Melbourne holiday, didn't we

him: yes

me : that's where Magic patch Quilting was

him : if you say so, I don't remember what all the quilting shops you visited were called

So I googled Magic Patch Quilting - up came its entry in Yellow Pages - and yes, it is in Tyabb.  So I left a comment for Meredithe saying I had been in the shop and had bought a kit.  Meredithe replied, asking if I had made the kit ........ well, almost!!

 

I liked the box so much, I kept it!

 

 

I have done all the stitching, but haven't made anything yet!

 

 

a closer look at the friends shopping

 

 

I used French knots for two of the flowers  ........

 

 

and tiny beads for the eyes

 

 

I wonder how much fabric she has in her shoppping bag!

 

I hadn't done any work on my Baltimore block since last Friday, so this afternoon, I stitched and stitched until I finished the petals on the big flower

 

 

Of course I had to have a short break for my cuppa and cake ....

 

 

....... I chose this one with little sugar hearts

 

 

As you enjoyed last week's round-up of sundry photos, I thought I would do the same again this week

 

honeysuckle in the front garden

 

 

an interesting piece of bark and lichen I found the other morning

 

 

this lovely grass escaped the verge mowing

 

 

this is the first foxglove that I've seen in the verge!

 

I hope you all have a great weekend - it's Fathers' Day on Sunday, so I will be taking Malcolm out for a full Scottish breakfast!  Love, Anne

Mind the gap!

Yes - the flower should have been on the stem, not an inch above it!  I was so busy arranging the petals that I forgot about where it was supposed to go.  So I arranged all the petals again, took another photo ......

 

 

........ then noticed that two petals were lying to the right of the flower.  I put them in place  ........

 

 

........ but I hadn't noticed the petal to the left!  (I just won't mention that I then found another petal on the floor!)  Hower, eventually the petals were all pinned in place, and this afternoon I got half of them stitched

 

 

Once all the flowers are in place, I will do centres for them.  Some will just have circles, but I think for this big flower I will either make a small ruched flower similar to this one

 

 

or a Suffolk puff (yoyo) like this

 

 

I also have to confess a problem with the flower on the left of the block - you will see that at the moment it only has four petals, instead of eight.  That's because I had a problem with the freezer paper - it simply refused to peel off the fabric (maybe I had the iron too hot), so I will have to prep another four petals.

Friday of course means cake - today we had a choice between Selkirk Bannock

 

 

and Annette's delicious tray bake

 

 

To finish, I thought I would show you some photos from through the week, that didn't make it into a post!

 

it was very hazy on Monday morning

 

 

Tuesday's sunset

 

 

on Wednesday I spotted these tiny apples

 

 

and on Thursday, raspberries

 

 

rose buds in the hedgerow this morning

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, Love Anne

That tastes good!

I'm not talking about my soup and bread that we had for lunch with a friend (more about that later), but about something which was so delicious, these lambs had escaped from the field to eat it

 

 

They were so engrossed in their munching, that they let me get really close to them

 

 

So what was so delicious?  Beech hedge ..... you can see where they have strippped the lower branches.

 

 

The lambs weren't the only ones enjoying the taste of the hedge ....... further down the road, this horse was tucking in too!  (It doesn't have a coat on because of the chilly weather - it's a fly coat)

 

 

So, back to the soup and bread!  I took two lots of soup out of the freezer last night - and couldn't understand why one lot looked brown, rather than red like the other one

 

 

My first thought was that perhaps it had gone bad (depite being in the freezer).  However, common sense prevailed, and reading the labels, I discovered that one lot was 'tomato and veggies', while the other one was 'tomato and roasted veggies'.  I simply stirred the two together!!  I also baked some cheese and onion bread (oh. alright, I confess ........ I put a packet mix into the bread machine and an hour later I had a delicicious loaf!)

 

 

I took these next photos yesterday, but they got bumped down the schedule by Warkworth!  On my walk yesterday, I had a detour down this farm track .......

 

 

........ as I could see these lovely fellows in the field

 

 

As I approached the gate, I saw this rabbit ........

 

 

......... which obviously thought that if it didn't move, I couldn't see it!  It sat there while I took several photos, and only moved when I turned away

 

 

I would have looked in the next field to see the Jacob's sheep ......... but the gap in the hedge that I usually go through to reach the field gate is completely overgrown with stinging nettles!

 

 

After my visitor left, I did some more work on the Baltimore block.  I had arranged the big flower on the right, taken this photo ........ and realised there was slight error

 

 

If you can't spot the error, I'll tell you tomorrow, and show you what else went wrong!!

Real chips!

We very rarely eat chips - if we do have chips at home, they are oven chips ........ ok, but not as good as real chips.  So when we were out for lunch with Jennifer today, we shared a bowl of real, proper, delicious chips (with salt and vinegar, of course!)

 

 

So where did we have this feast?  In this pub in Warkworth .......

 

 

........ and of course we ate more than chips!  I had this delicious stottie, with ham and pickle

 

 

Malcolm and Jennifer both had spicy chicken skewers

 

 

We went for a walk round the town after lunch - and the first sight we saw was somewhat unexpected - a window displaying a knitted Royal Wedding!

 

 

On the river bank, this seagull was happy to pose for a photo ......

 

 

........ but these ducks turned their backs!

 

 

As we came up the footpath from the river, we arrived at the back door of the castle

 

 

The castle must have been an impressive sight before it fell into ruin

 

 

Of course a visit to Warkworth has to include walking over the old bridge

 

 

It's just a pity that the replacement bridge is rather ugly!

 

 

As usual, I didn't just look around me, I also looked up ........ and was rewarded with this striking piece of wrought iron

 

 

There was more wrought iron on these front door steps

 

 

and a beautiful climbing rose round this door and window

 

 

All too soon it was time to head for home - but we did have one more stop to make.  We pass this postbox every time we go to see Jennifer ....... and every time we mean to stop on the way home (as it's on that side of the road).  So finally today, we remembered to stop.  This is the only postbox I have ever seen in a hedge!!

 

 

Honey!

On Saturday, I had a wonderful day out with the ladies of Southdean Rural (the Scottish version of the WI).  I used to be a member, and they very kindly invited me to join them on their annual day out.We were picked up by bus at the village hall, and headed for Northumberland, to visit the Chainbridge Honey Farm - you can read more here.  As we didn't leave until eleven, we arrived just in time to have lunch!  They have a very unusual tearoom - an old double decker bus ......

 

 

They had reserved the upstairs seating for us, and I was able to nip up the stairs ahead of the others to take a couple of photos

 

 

 

We were all so busy chatting when the food arrived, that I forgot to take a photo of my delicious cheese savoury baguette (but don't worry, there will be cake later!).  After lunch, we were given a guided tour by Heather, one of the daughters of the farm owners, who took us through the whole process from hive to the finished products that they sell (if you click on the link above, you can see the wide range of goodies, which you buy online!)

After seeing the large pieces of gleaming machinery where the combs are processed, we moved on to the workshop where all sorts of things are made with the beeswax

 

 

 

After seeing the working side of the business, we headed for the visitor centre and shop.  First stop was a taste of the honey .......

 

 

...... then some shopping!  For me, soap, handcream and a block of wax to run my thread through for handsewing

 

 

 

 

For Malcolm, a tub of heather comb honey and a beeswax owl candle (which is beside the owl I bought for him in Majorca for his collection)

 

 

 

In the visitor centre, when I saw this wasps' nest, I was very glad that we spotted the small ones in the summerhouse - this one is about two feet long!

 

 

The last stop of our visit was back in the bus, where we enjoyed a cuppa and cake - I had an exceedingly delicious piece of border tart

 

 

It's Monday, so that means the knitting update.  Because I decided to knit a second cushion cover, I only finished knitting last night, so I haven't made up the covers (I also need to get foam pads).  So for the photo, I put them over our footstools

 

 

This week's project won't take long - a string bag, the main part of which is knitted on 9mm needles!

 

 

More fun in the sun!

It was another beautiful morning (although the forecasters are now saying that they got it wrong when they said the hot weather would last until Saturday).  After deciding not to take the camera every morning ....... how could I leave it at home when there are still so many things to take photos of!  After taking lots of photos of the flowers in the verges earlier in the week, today I concentrated on the different grasses

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I came back down the hill, there was a ewe peering through the fence, as if she was keeping an eye out for me!

 

 

In the front garden, this iris is about to flower ....... but it should have flowered months ago!

 

 

Last week I gave my orchids a good talking to, as they have been sitting on the kitchen windowsill, eating me out of house and home, without a flower to show for it (oh, ok, they only get a litle water every now and then)  Thye were told in no uncertain terms that if they didn't pull up their socks and do their job, they were heading for the compost heap.  Well, it worked, and two of them had new flower shoots this morning!

 

 

 

I have finished knitting the cushion cover (although I haven't made it up yet)

 

 

I had enough yarn left to do another one, although I have had to change it slightly, and swap the blue and white yarns in the second one

 

 

Of course Friday means patch'n'chat ....... and that means cake!  This week it was our favourite apple and sultana

 

 

Just in case you haven't had enough of cute animals this week, I'll finish with this beautiful calf - it wandered over to see what this strange woman was doing, stopping in the middle of the road and sticking a camera out of the car window!!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

  

 

Flowers of Scotland

It was a much better morning when I headed out for my walk, so the camera came too!  The verges are now full of plants of all shapes, sizes and colours .........

 

dark pink clover

 

 

white clover

 

 

a fern unfurling

 

 

purple vetch

 

 

cow parsley

 

 

an aqualegia seed head

 

On a larger scale, the countryside is green and lush

 

 

 

Back home, I finished the little Linus quilt

 

 

Later, I organised the ingredients to make dinner - pork chops, onion, sage (freshly picked from the garden) and seasoning

 

 

A closer look at the seasoning - the inspiration for today's heading came from!  You can find it and other delicious seasonings here

 

 

I sliced the onion finely

 

 

and chopped the sage

 

 

I put the chops in an oven dish and put the sage on top

 

 

I spread the onion over the sage, then seasoned it well - doesn't it look lovely!

 

 

Then it was into the oven for about 30 minutes.  I served it with carrots and broccoli - delicious!

 

 

To finish, I thought I would show you the difference it makes to zoom in on the subject of the photo.  First, the field gate framed by hawthorn trees

 

 

But if I hadn't zoomed in, this would have been the photo - not quite so pleasing with Hawick in the background!