frayed at the edge

A special quilt

This afternoon, Katy brought in the quilt she is making for her husband's birthday - a very special quilt.  She printed photos of his magnificent Highland cattle on to fabric, then made them up into the centre panel of the quilt.  A friend embroidered the wording for her.  (Highland cattle are kept in folds, not herds)

 

 

Then Margaret, who isn't a regular patch'n'chatter, called in for a little while.  She does the most wonderful quilts, all by hand.  This is her latest one - work came to a halt as we all ooohed and aaahed!

 

 

There is so much beautiful stitching, it was hard to pick a detail to show you, but I settled on this very cute little fellow

 

 

Since I got my big camera, I have struggled with  taking close ups, whether using the intelligent auto or macro settings.  Then when I was out for a walk recently, I took a very good close up ..... then realised that I had the camera on the 'wrong' setting.  Since then I have been taking all sorts of photos .......

 

a tiny feather caught in the mud

 

 

a hawthorn leaf (and thorns)

 

 

a dried weed in the verge

 

 

a helebore flower

 

But now, the most important photo of the post - yes, it's the Friday cake ...... a delicious chocolate sponge

 

 

Our weather was supposed to improve this afternoon - but it is rather cloudy and windy this evening.  Hopefully it will improve for the weekend.  Whatever the weather, I hope you all have a good weekend.  Love Anne

Yellow is the colour ........

....... that is appearing in the hedgerow.  When I went for my walk yesterday, I spotted the first dandelion of the year.  While dandelions look lovely in the verge, they are a pest in the garden.  Malcolm has to wage war on them every summer to remove them from the lawns.

 

 

A little further on, in a shady damp area under the hedge, I found some clumps of marsh marigolds.  These are very pretty little flowers - I had some in our last garden, in a shady bed with other damp-loving plants

 

 

Then, one of my favourites - a little primrose, just starting to flower

 

 

But it wasn't all yellow ..... there were also lots of tiny violets 

 

 

If you are fed up with photos of lambs, look away now!  But who could resist this little one watching me as I took its photo!

 

 

There was also a ewe keeping an eye on me - she is a Herdwick.  I shall be keeping an eye out for the Herdy lambs arriving - we are now in the main lambing season

 

 

Back home there were more yellow flowers - but there are only two left on this orchid, which started to flower just before Christmas

 

 

However, this slightly paler one has just started to flower - and it has lots of buds on it

 

 

I have almost finished the belt (it is all knitted in garter stitch, so not exactly taxing!).  I'll knit the last few rows tonight, then I'll get on with the Linus blanket.  It is so good to be able to photos outside in the sunshine - I took this one this afternoon

 

 

To finish, a bit of fun!  When I spotted this chocolate owl while I was doing the food shopping yesterday, I just had to buy it for Malcolm (he did let me have a little taste - but not of the white chocolate, which I really don't like!!)

 

A damsel in distress

On my way to patch'n'chat at lunchtime, I had to stop the car, when this tiny lamb walked into the middle of the road (this photo was taken from the car)

 

 

She came running up to the car, so I got out to try to get her to go back into the field

 

 

She was calling for her mum, and I could hear the ewe in the field, calling back to her.

 

 

When I couldn't get her back in the field, I got in the car and drove away slowly, only to find her trotting down the road behind me!  So I went to the nearest farmhouse - the farmer who came to the door said he would go and rescue her

 

 

So, after all the cute lamb photos, back to the planned post.  When we had our cuppa out in the garden yesterday afternoon, I was, unusually, drinking rooibos tea.  Why?  Well, it started with this book, which I bought recently, and started reading yesterday morning

 

 

The main character, Mma Ramotswe (a lady of traditional build) is very fond of redbush (rooibos) tea.  I don't normally drink it, but I have two types in the tea and coffee supplies that I keep for the friends who come to my housegroup

 

 

The book is set in Botswana. so it seemed appropriate to make the tea in my 'zebra' teaset

 

 

A delicious refreshing cuppa, which I enjoyed sitting in the sun

 

 

The garden is waking up from the long hard winter

 

ornamental quince

 

aqualegia

 

astilbe

 

hosta

 

It's Friday, so of course that means cake!  Today's delight was the delicious apple and sultana one that we all are very partial to

 

 

I didn't mean to tease you yesterday by showing you the box and not telling you what was in it!  It was a case of wine!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Basking in the sunshine

When we came back from our usual Thursday morning visit to Hawick, there was a large box on the front doorstep - either the delivery driver didn't read the instruction on the label, or chose to ignore it!

 

 

It was such a beautiful day, I had an early lunch and headed out for a walk.  I wasn't the only one enjoying the sun ...... these ewes and lambs were making the most of the warmth

 

 

Further down the hill, there were some new lambs, having fun playing round the bottom of a tree

 

 

Their mum was keeping an eye on me .........

 

 

......... even when the lambs ran back to her

 

 

After a few days of milder weather, plants are shooting up - whether it's a weed .......

 

 

....... or a much prettier daffodil

 

 

However, not everything I saw on my walk was welcome - fortunately I saw this truck coming, and stood well out of the way!

 

 

I didn't mind this tanker passing me at the bottom of our road - but as you can see, there isn't much room to pass if you are in a car

 

 

Fortunately this fine fellow had safely crossed the road before the tanker appeared

 

 

This may look as if the truck and tractor are about to crash ...... but the truck had already stopped at the end of the road, as the tractor went past

 

 

In the garden, Malcolm was busy cleaning the cobbled area under the pergola (sporting his new boiler suit!)

 

 

I took advatge of the sunshine to take photos of my new knitting  (the bookmarks are done!).  This is a baby blanket for Project Linus

 

 

I am using two balls of 4 ply, as I didn't have any double knitting.  The pattern is a simple basket weave, with a garter stitch border

 

 

The sun has just set, with a pink glow lingering on the horizon.  Unfortunately, the forecast isn't quite so good for tomorrow, and it is to get colder at the weekend ....... ah well, at least we were able to sit out in the garden for our afternoon cuppa!

I'm still smiling!

So why am I smiling - because I've got my lovely new teeth!  I had a rather long visit to the dentist yesterday afternoon, during which he did the final fitting for my new partial dentures.  He thinks that the support that they will give to my own teeth, and the help they will give to aligning my bite properly, will finally sort out my 'face-ache'.  So here I am this morning, smiling!

 

 

Malcolm took the photo of me when we were out for a (long) walk this morning.  We parked the car at the Woodside Garden Centre, then set off along a path, which led us to another, steep path.  We toiled on and on up the slope (my poor legs were complaining!), then at last our destination came into view

 

 

What, you don't think that looks as if it was worth a long slog - perhaps you'll change your mind when you see the whole thing (with Malcolm, as always, providing the scale!)

 

 

This is the Waterloo Monument, on Penhiel Heugh.  The tower is 150 feet tall, and this sign over the door tells you some more about it

 

 

This is the highest point for miles around, and the views are spectacular

 

the Eildons

 

 

Ruberslaw

 

 

looking down to the River Teviot

 

Although we hadn't carried a stone up the hill with us, Malcolm used one that was lying around to add to the small cairn

 

 

On the way back down, Malcolm spotted this - it is a viewing point, but we don't know what for

 

By the time we got back to the garden centre, it was lunchtime.  A big bowl of soup was just the thing to have after our two hour walk - I chose the celeriac and pear

 

 

Back home, I headed out to the studio, to have a quick session working on the tractor quilt.  I decided to do the border with a leaf pattern.  This is the front .........

 

 

....... and this is the back

 

 

I finished one side, and hope to do some more work on it tomorrow.  This evening, I will be sitting with my poor weary legs up on my footstool, sipping on a glass of white wine (the bottle is in the fridge chilling) and doing, as always, some knitting!

 

 

With apologies to Miss Florence!

Oh dear - Flossie was most upset to find that Tosca and Lottie were featured in yesterday's post, but there wasn't a photo of her, the most beautiful dog in Newcastle (if not the whole world!).  So to put matters right, here she is, looking gorgeous

 

 

So , to return to the story, while Rachel and I indulged in a spot of kntting and crochet (and a lot of blethering), Malcolm had patched in the floor and put the carpet back down

 

 

We might have had a wonderful lunch, but when Rachel gave me a quick lesson in how to produce the most delicious cheese scones .........

 

 

......... Malcolm managed to eat two of them, hot from the oven!  It was a lovely sunny late afternoon, as we set off back home ........ but as soon as I got the camera out, a big black cloud blotted out the sun.  Then, every time I went to take a photo, there would be a bump or a dip in the road - I took a lot of photos of the sky and the dashboard!  But finally I managed to capture this shot - you can see how much greener the landscape is looking, as the weather finally warms up

 

 

Of course the other thing that was left out yesterday was the knitting update.  I finished the knitted beads - there are wooden beads inside the knitted covers, which makes the necklace a bit heavy - the beads swing forward and hit things!  So I don't think I'll wear it - but it looks good decorating the mannequin

 

 

This week's project is another simple one - bookmarks

 

 

I bought this book last week in a charity shop

 

 

The book was published in 1974, and the illustrations are a wonderful reminder of the styles from that decade

 

 

The look on this little boy's face shows quite clearly how he feels at being made to wear such an awful outfit

 

 

I'm smiling while I am typing this ......... why?  I'll tell you tomorrow!

No progress on the dishwasher .....

This morning we set of south to Newcastle, to visit Rachel.  Malcolm was going to have another go at fixing her dishwasher, but first he sorted out a dip in the floorboards on the landing, which was spoiling the lie of the new carpet.  Lottie made sure that the work went well

 

 

This is Malcolm puzzling over what had been used to cover the raggedy floorboards - he eventually decided it was a bit of mounting board (the sort you use for framing pictures)

 

 

Tosca took over as gaffer, making sure Malcolm was making a proper job of things

 

 

Then everything stopped for lunch - first delicious pea, cougette and mint soup (sorry, had almost finished when I remembered to take the photo)

 

With the soup, we had excellent homemade bread - if you pop over to Rachel's blog and scroll back through several posts you can read about the bread

 
 
 

Then we had open sandwiches and salad

 

 

While Malcolm went back to his floor levelling, Rachel and I did some knitting and crochet

 

 

Meanwhile, Malcolm had finished his levelling .......

 

 

Oh dear, there is something seriously wrong with things tonight - it is taking two or three attempts to put in each photo, and it is taking forever ........ so I think I will save the rest of the story for tomorrow, along with the weekly update on the knitting project.

 

 
 
 

 

Love is in the air!

The garden is full of birds sorting themselves out into couples, but the only ones I managed to capture this morning were these two pigeons, who were billing and cooing on the phone wire

 

 

Down below them in the garden, Malcolm was deep in conversation with the man who is hopefully going to install our new septic tank.  Holes were dug, water poured in and drainage time was noted

 

 

Borderland fabrics has had a sale on for the last week, so this afternoon, business was brisk as stashes were enhanced and new projects planned.  These fabrics were waiting to be restored to the shelves after the required lengths had been cut

 

 

 

As ever, there was cake to go with our mid-afternoon cuppa - a lovely light chocolate sponge

 

 

It is a week since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and many bloggers today are either not blogging, or are observing a minute's silence, to show their support for all those affected.  This miniature fan (it is only 3 inches high) was given to me by a lovely Japanese woman whom I taught to quilt when we were living in Indonesia, so perhaps you may like to pause and admire it, while thinking of those who died, and those whose lives will never be the same again.

 

 

I hope you all have a good weekend - Malcolm's sisters are coming to visit, so no doubt we will be out and about with them.  Love Anne

Cutting the mustard

When I was in the studio on Sunday, I was watching Jamie's '30 minute meals' while I was quilting the tractor quilt.  There was one dish that he made that I thought looked quite tasty, so today I had a go at recreating it.  I assembled the ingredients (except for the chilli, which I remembered later!) - celeriac, pears, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper

 

 

Next, I set up the food processor with the grating attachment (I bought this processor in Jakarta, so I must have had it for 12 or 13 years!)

 

 

I only used half of the celeriac.  Using a large knife, I trimmed off the ends then cut it into slices

 

 

It was easy then to trim off all the knobbly bits, cut it into chunks and pop it into the processor

 

 

I peeled and cored the pears and added them - and that's when I remembered the chilli!  In a small jar, I put some salt and pepper, mustard, olive oil and vinegar

 

 

I popped the lid on and gave it a good shake, until the ingredients had emulsified

 

 

All that remained was to mix everything together

 

 

The verdict - I thought the dressing overwhelmed the other ingredients (and I didn't use anywhere near as much mustard as Jamie!) and I couldn't taste the pear (although Malcolm thought he could taste it).  I think if I was making it again, I would make a simple dressing with lemon juice and olive oil.

 

Things are finally starting to grow in the garden, after the long hard winter.  The flowering current is just starting to put out leaves and flowers

 

 

 

However another casualty of the weather is the winter-flowering jasmine.  At this time of year, it should be covered in flowers - but there is only this sad little one!

 

 

To end - yet something else that I want, really really want.  I don't suppose it does very many miles to the gallon, but I would be quite happy to just drive up and down our road!

 

 

 

Almost a change of plan!

We got up this morning to discover it was snowing!  This was the view from the kitchen at 7am - no, it's not a blurred photo, that's heavy snow!

 

 

We were worried we would have to change our plans for the day, but an hour later, this was the view from the front doorstep

 

 

As we headed down the A68 towards the Border, there was more and more snow lying - until it was at its deepest as we crossed into England

 

 

Our first stop was at Jennifer's, to give her a stool that Malcolm had made for her

 

 

Jennifer had given Malcolm the piece of needlework, which had been done by her mother-in-law, and asked him to make a stool - she was delighted with the result!

 

 

There was a rather unusual sight in Jennifer's back garden - a female pheasant (unfortunately the male was nowhere to be seen, as he is much more colourful!)

 

 

Next on the agenda was ........ lunch!  We went to the Milkhope Centre, where we enjoyed some rather tasty sandwiches

 

 

But we were under strict instructions not to eat too much, as next we went to visit Rachel, who had promised us a feast of baking!  First we had the most delicious cheese scones, hot from the oven

 

 

You know that Malcolm and I usually share a scone when we are out, but these were so delicious, we disgraced ourselves and ate two each (as did Jennifer!!).  Then we somehow found room for a slice of this wonderful, delicious, gorgeous (you get the idea) mocha cake (yum, yum, yum)

 

 

But of course there then followed the quid pro quo ........ those of you who regularly read Rachel's blog will know the tale of woe about her dishwasher.  Although she had sourced and fitted a new circuit board herself, it still wasn't working.  Malcolm delved into the innards, and promptly produced a large piece of glass (from a broken wineglass) that the repairman hadn't noticed.  We all held our breath as he pressed the start button ...... drat, it still wasn't working!  Unfortunately, to do any further investigation required a specialist tool, which Rachel didn't have, so we will pop down again sometime soon (Malcolm hates to be defeated!)

My part of the baking/skills swap is much easier ....... to knit a cushion cover to sit on a chair with this cushion, which was made by Rachel's Mum

 

 

It is now 7pm, and we are still so full of cake and scones that we haven't had any dinner!  However, Rachel gave Malcolm the last two scones, which he will have later for supper.  She also gave Jennifer and me a large slice each of the mocha cake - I might share mine with Malcolm with our afternoon cuppa tomorrow ........ although I could be like Nigella and get up in the middle of the night and guzzle it (except I don't have the required red satin dressing gown to do that!)