frayed at the edge

Please don't eat the daisies!

When I resumed my early morning walks last week, I decided that I wouldn't take the camera every morning, for two reasons:- first, it adds about 15 minutes to the walk if I keep stopping to take photos, and second, I should keep up my pace to get the exercise, not meander along taking photos.  So having taken the camera on Tuesday, that should have been it for this week, but it was such a nice morning, I took it again today ...... and was rewarded with this little rabbit enjoying its breakfast

 

 

The blossom may have gone over, but come the autumn, there will be apples in its place

 

 

These flowers are tiny - about the size of glass-headed pins

 

 

We had a change this afternoon for our Friday cake at patch'n'chat - a selection of cupcakes

 

 

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend - although as it is a Bank Holiday here, no doubt it will rain!  Love, Anne

 

 

 

International cuisine

When we were in Hawick this morning, we popped into Lidl, to see what was on special offer.  We came home with a rather mixed bag!

First, French potatoes ...... I know it seems strange to buy potatoes in a tin, but these are quite tasty, and handy to have in the larder for one of those busy days when you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen

 

 

Next, some Greek cheese - good for grilling

 

 

Spanish chorizo - delicious diced and added to an omelette

 

 

And last, some French salami - tasty when thinly sliced and added to a salad (or put on top of a homemade pizza)

 

 

After lunch I did the ironing.  I often watch a DVD while ironing, so as there was rather a large pile to get through, I put on Lords of the Rings

 

 

While I was ironing, Malcolm was busy cleaning up a little coal scuttle that he bought in an antique shop yesterday (he was too efficient and I didn't get a 'before' shot!).  He then put a plant, which we bought this morning, in it

 

 

He also repotted the rubber plant, which has doubled in size since last year!  As you can see, he was watching the cricket - which had a delayed start because of rain

 

 

He also found pots for two other plants which we bought this morning(they were much cheaper if you bought two!)

 

 

 

 

Through in the back lounge, the yucca just gets bigger and bigger.  Soon we will be afraid to go in there, in case it turns into a plant from a horror film and attacks us!

 

 

This orchid flowered just before Christmas.  The last flower dropped off several weeks ago - but before I got round to cutting back the flower stem, two undeveloped buds suddenly filled out, and have now flowered (hooray, because this is my favourite orchid!)

 

 

........ although this one is a close second

 

A change to the routine

There was no patch'n'chat this afternoon, as a quilting group from Dunfermline was visiting the shop (it's that time of year, when groups have day trips to far flung shops before the summer break!).  So after our usual Friday morning doing the housework, we had some lunch, then headed off to the garden centre to get some plants to put in the pots at the studio door - hopefully I will get the planting done tomorrow.  The herbs that we planted before we went on holiday have grown rapidly ..... Malcolm is attributing this to his homemade compost, which he put in the bottom of the pot!

 

 

The plant that we think is a wisteria has also grown a lot  ....... but it doesn't look as if it will flower

 

 

However, there will soon be lots of colour just to the left of it, as the lupin is starting to flower

 

 

One of my favourite flowers is also providing lots of colour - deep pink osteospermums.  The sun was shining on the flower, and as I took the photo from directly above so that you can't see the stem, it looks as if it is floating over the garden!

 

 

I thought you might like to see how Malcolm's poor sore finger is now, three weeks since he hurt it.  It no longer painful to use it, but he thinks there is a good chance he will lose the nail (yeugh!)

 

 

Of course, usually at this point in Friday posts I show you the cake we have had at patch'n'chat ........ so as there wasn't one today, I'll show you two more of the delicious ones we had on holiday

 

 

 

I hope you all have a good weekend - I haven't done any sewing since we got back (too busy with washing and ironing!) so I hope to get into the studio tomorrow.  Love, Anne

You may not know .......

........ but there was a very important event here today.  Yes, we had a party at Borderland Fabrics.  Why?  To celebrate the other big event, the Royal Wedding!  We were able to watch the wedding on Annette's laptop.  This was our first look at the beautiful  bride, in her stunning dress

 

 

Her father looked so proud, and her sister gorgeous!

 

 

Then it was on with the most important part of the day - lunch!  We had all brought tasty things to share

 

 

And we had a glass plastic cup of fizz

 

 

But anything the Royals can do, we can do too - if they were having two receptions, we were having two parties.  So we did it all again in the afternoon ..... and this time we had cakes!!

 

 

We had our very own love birds in the garden this morning ...... a pair of swallows, romancing on the phone wire!

 

 

We have a busy weekend ahead, with clothes to sort out ready to pack for the holiday, and a quilt show to go to on Sunday.  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

 

We are always early .......

....... and this morning we were very glad when we arrived early for our visit to Paxton House.  We got there twenty minutes before the first guided tour round the house.  We paid for our tickets, and the woman on the desk told us about all the things we could see.  However, she didn't mention The Prestonpans Tapestry, which was the main reason for our visit.  When we asked about it, she said that the exhibition had finished yesterday.  No, no, we said, the advert that we had said it finished today.  At that point, the woman who was going to be our guide for the tour arrived, and said she would take us up to the gallery to see if the tapestry was still there, as she wasn't sure when the exhibition was being removed.  Hooray, it was still there, and we just had time to see it before the curators arrived to remove it!  Photography wasn't allowed, but you can see the whole thing if you click on the above link.  Meanwhile, here is a little taster from the fund raising leaflet ....

 

 

...... and the leaflet about the summer tour.  Check out the link to see if it is going to be anywhere near you - it is a fabulous piece of work - I could have spent hours looking at it!

 

 

We enjoyed our tour of the house ..... but photography wasn't allowed.  Our guide was very entertaining and showed off the house well, with interesting anecdotes about previous owners.  The next stop was for lunch in the coffee shop, which is in what was the stable block (don't worry, it had been cleaned!).  We both had pan haggerty - you can find a recipe here.  I could tell you that this was Malcolm's portion with the cheese on top, but it's mine!

 

 

After lunch, Malcolm took the one photo that is allowed indoors ..... however I declined to sit on the chair to show its size!

 

 

We then went for a walk in the grounds.  Paxton is probably the finest Palladian house in the country.  The style is strictly symmetrical ......

 

 

....... even the swallows have built matching nests!

 

 

The pink sandstone looked lovely, bathed in sunshine

 

 

Down by the river, we found this fish house, where fish could be stored for several days in the cool, damp conditions, to keep fresh

 

 

Just past the fish house was this wonderful boathouse

 

 

Inside, there was an unusual staircase, which was folded flat against the wall, so that there was more space for the boat

 

 

We don't know what this strange edifice is - some sort of folly?

 

 

As we walked over to admire the Highland cattle, we were getting a bit worried as there wasn't a fence.  However, once we were up close, we saw that there was a deep ditch between them and us!

 

 

This one kept turning his head away (has he been talking to the owls at the Waterwheel cafe?), but eventually I got a good shot!

 

 

We had a look round the gift shop before we left (I resisted buying  a book about recycling textiles!).  The woman who had sold us our entry tickets told us that three ladies had arrived to see the tapestry just after it had all been packed away - they should have been early like us!

 

 

Standing guard

Usually I go to the hairdresser on a Thursday afternoon, and I should have been there last week, but my hairdresser was on holiday.  I wasn't able to get an appointment for tomorrow, so I had one this morning.  My hairdresser is in Kelso, and I would have been going there today anyway, as this afternoon was knit'n'natter.  So I ended up being out from 9.30 this morning, until 5 this afternoon!  Of course the camera went with me, and I had time to take some interesting photos.  The first was of these two handsome chaps, standing guard outside an art gallery

 

 

Then round the back of the gallery, there is this strange sight

 

 

To the right of the boat, is this amazing dolphin ......

 

 

....... made from all sorts of bits of metal

 

 

After the hairdresser, I popped into the garden centre for lunch, then had a walk down to the river, where this swan was gliding along

 

 

On the way to the cafe where we meet for knit'n'natter, I walked through the old grave yard.  I paused to read this gravestone, which tells a sad story (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

The blossom was beautiful in the sunshine

 

 

 

 

Even in the centre of Kelso, there is no escape from large trucks!

 

 

After all that hard work in the sun taking photos, I decided not to have tea when I got to knit'n'natter, but instead to have a refreshing bottle of ginger beer

 

 

A bit of fun to finish ..... is this Mars, and its so-far unseen twin?

 

Gold!

Our morning routine, Monday to Friday, is to eat breakfast at the kitchen table, then take our (very large) cups of tea through to the lounge.  We then read for a while.  However, that routine was thoroughly disrupted this morning, with the arrival of these two birds on the peanut feeder

 

 

Yes, goldfinch!  I didn't need to use my new bird book to identify them

 

 

The book I have been using is a childs' book (yes, I stole it from my own son!!) and the drawings in it aren't always clear.  However this book, as well as drawings, has stunning photos of birds, and lots of information

 

 

Usually when we get an unusual bird in the garden, I am lucky to get one blurry photo before it flies away, but they stayed for most of the morning, so I ended up taking dozens of photos ..... here are a few of them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The collared dove appeared later in the day, posing prettily on the other bird table

 

 

Later in the afternoon, Malcolm was working in the front garden, when he came to the door to let me know that the first swallow had arrived!!  We think this is at least a week earlier than last year.

 

 

But I wouldn't want you to think that all I did today was take photos of birds!

From the fridge, I assembled these ingredients

 

red onion, mushrooms, sweet red peppers and leftover lamb (from Sunday dinner).  To these I added

 

tomato puree, ground cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, garlic - and apricot jam.  As always, I had to get out my special tiny measuring spoons, as the smoked paprika is very strong, and I only need to add a smidgen!

 

 

I started by gently frying the onions and mushrooms in some olive oil

 

 

then added the garlic and the seasoning, and cooked it a little bit more, then added the jam and the meat.  Finally I added the tomato puree, and a little bit of water

 

 

This is when I realised that I had forgotten to include the next ingredient in the earlier photos!

 

 

As you can see, Sainsbury's are very precise and don't call this cheese 'feta' - but that's what it looks and tastes like!  I diced it and stirred it on to the mixture, then spooned it into the peppers

 

 

Then it was into the oven for thirty minutes.  I wish you could smell this ....... delicious!

 

 

Thank you for all the advice and good wishes for my poor sore wrists.  I have almost finished the gardening gloves, and won't do any more knitting this week!

 

 

The four Maries

Last Saturday, when Stuart and Alison were here, we visited Mary Queen of Scots house in Jedburgh.  In one of the rooms, there are paintings on the wall panels.  This Is Mary

 

 

and these are the four Maries (or Marys), who were the ladies-in-waiting.

 

 

If you google the four Maries, you actually discover that there were up to eight different Maries, but according to the song I learned many years ago

The Queen, she had four Maries

Tonight, she'll have but three

There was Mary Beaton, Mary Seaton

Mary Carmichael and me.

 

The singer of the song was Mary Hamilton, who was about to be executed. Mary had an amazing and complicated life, before she was executed on the order of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth of England.  You can read more about her life here.

Mary must have had tiny feet - this is one of her shoes, and looks as if it is only big enough for a child

 

After looking round the house, we went on to see the Castle Jail.  This inmate didn't look very happy about being incarcerated for debt

 

 

And this poor woman had the added misery of a very bad hair day

 

 

I came across this amazing quilt, which was made on 1901.  It is rather badly hung, in a narrow corridor, so I couldn't get a good photo of it

 

 

Friday, as ever, means cake at patch'n'chat.  We had our favourite apple and sultana cake - there was silence as we all tucked in!

 

 

And to end, a little aaah moment ....... another very cute calf, snuggled up to its Mum.  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

  

 

 

 

Birthday girl!

It is Jennifer's birthday in a few days time, so we we went down to Morpeth this morning, to take her out for lunch.  I can't tell you what we gave her for her birthday, as she hasn't opened her present yet ..... but I can tell you all about lunch!  We went to The Country Barn at Widdrington, where there is an excellent coffe shop and farm shop.  As it was a special occasion, we had a bottle of wine with lunch.  Both Malcolm and Jennifer hate having their photo taken so this was the best I could do!

 

 

There is a wide choice of food, so it took us some time to decide what to have.  Jennifer and Malcolm both decided to have quiche .....

 

 

..... while I plumped for the baked potato with coronation chicken

 

 

The food was delicious, and we lingered over cups of tea and coffee (of course you know that the tea was for me!!)

On the way back to Jennifer's, we passed this wonderful sculpture, which has been nicknamed 'Robin of Pegswood' - you can read about him here.  I'm sorry it is not the best of photos, but as I was sitting in the back seat of the car, it was rather difficult to capture Robin in all his glory!

 

 

Before we left this morning, I had to take these photos in a bit of a rush.  This explains why the bathroom cabinet, which Malcolm has made for his other sister, Judith, is standing on the kitchen worktop!  We were taking the cabinet to Jennifer's, as Judith will collect it next time she visits her.

 

 

Judith had given him the measurements, and a rough description of the style she wanted

 

 

I don't have a cabinet in my bathroom - I shall have to put in an order for one!!

 

Alien invasion!

Just a quick post tonight, as Stuart and Alison are here.  We have just finished dinner....... Malcolm's wonderful pot roasted brisket, and for pudding, we made the supreme sacrifice and shared (some of) the lemon drizzle cake which Rachel gave us yesterday.

 

Last night, we thought that we had been invaded by aliens, when we saw this hovering in the sky

 

 

Had they arrived from the moon?

 

 

Or from Mars?

 

 

Did they just park to walk the dog?

 

 

However, the sheep weren't bothered!

 

 

Have a good weekend, love, Anne