frayed at the edge

A chip off the old block .....

..... or like father like son!  Remember my gorgeous boyfriend

 

 

I am sure this must be his son, who was in the field with him today 

 

 

If they get fed up with each other, they could always sneak into the field next door, where they could join ... this cute cow

 

 

or these little ones

 

 

or my favourite one!

 

 

We went out for lunch today and I had a delicious bowl of wild mushroom soup ......

 

 

..... but I don't think I would cook any of the mushrooms we have found on recent walks

 

don't worry, I washed my hands well, just in case!

 

 

this one was the size of a tea plate

 

 

something found this one tasty - it had been well nibbled on!

 

 

if you're really hungry, this would make lots of soup!!

 

 

this definitely looks like one to avoid! 

 

To end, a reminder of the winners of the giveaway.  First was WandaFish, and second was Leenie.  I've already heard from Leenie to organise sending her parcel ..... can WandaFish please e-mail me with her postal address.

   

 

 

 

 

 

  

A bunny flop!

On Saturday, I (almost) finished my bunny pincushion ..... bit it didn't all go quite to plan (in future I'll read the instructions properly!).  I had pinned the front and back together, with all the limbs and the head tucked inside .......

 

 

But I should have left a gap in one of the seams so that I could turn it right side out after stitching right round the edge!  When I did turn it through, I found that I hadn't made a very good job of positioning the various bits.  I've stuffed it so you can see how it looks, but I will have to unpick it and do it again (I have actually pinned the head, as I hadn't tucked it in far enough and it just flopped forward!)

 

 

While I was sewing, our neighbour 'Jim the farmer' popped in with some more fruit.  He used to own the farm steading which our house is part of - my studio was the milking parlour!  He was amazed at the transformation from when he used to mik the cows!  I made plum jam today with the first lot of plums that he gave me ........ I think I might run out of jars before I use all this!

 

 

I had to go to the dentist today to get my broken tooth repaired.  It feels great not to have a ragged edge anymore!  The dentist also finished the cleaning and scaling while my mouth was numb (he's very considerate of my fear of pain!!).  Then on my way home, I called in to collect this .......

 

 

It's the first pair of Kylie's paintings, which I have just had framed. 

 

 

Aren't they gorgeous!!  (I'm sorry about the quality of those two photos, but it has been such a miserable grey day, it was hard to find somewhere in the house with a decent amount of light to take them!)   The pictures are the same size - it's just the way I propped them on the couch to take the photo that makes them look different!

 

And now ..... roll of drums, fanfare etc.  The big moment, the winners of the giveaway.  I know lots of bloggers use online number selectors, but I use the low-tech method, as in ' Malcolm, give me a number between one and whatever!'

The first winner is ...... WandaFish

The second one is ..... Leenie

Can you both please email me with your addresses ..... I have two little pile of goodies ready to send to you!

A nice surprise!

I arrived home from patch'n'chat to find this in the kitchen

 

 

I knew what was in it ....... but I wasn't expecting it until next month!  

 

 

It's the carrying case for my new sewing machine.  It was part of the special offer I got when I bought the machine, but they didn't have any in stock and said I wouldn't get it until October.  It has a thick padded inner to protect the machine in travel (but I will have to practise more before I take it with me to workshops!)

 

 

I was working on my row quilt this afternoon (I have to admit that I hadn't done any work on it since last Friday!)  I am now working on a row of flowers, and have completed two

 

 

 

Of course Friday afternoon wouldn't be complete without cake - today's was one of Annette's light as air sponges, sandwiched with delicious raspberry jam.

 

 

Well, that's it, my 499th post - I find it hard to believe I've done so many!!  Tomorrow, of course, is Shadow Shot Sunday, so I won't tell you who has won the giveaways until Monday ..... by which time I should also have found something to give away!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - I will be catching up on my neglected sewing!  Love, Anne

  

 

 

Ah - so that's what it's for!

We're sitting relaxing after dinner at Stuart's.  It was a special dinner, to celebrate Malcolm's and Alison's birthdays (hers is this Friday).  But first, what was the felt coaster for?

 

 

It was to sit on the cracket under his candlestick

 

 

Now that I have seen what it is for, I will make another one, slightly wider, with the pattern round the edge.

 

I also had his new curtains to hang - after making them several weeks ago, this was the first chance I had to put them up

 

 

For dinner, Malcolm had made lasagne (it's his signature dish!)

 

 

and pudding came from Marks and Spencers

 

 

would you like a better look (of course you would!!)

 

 

Must go, I'm missing out on the conversation (and perhaps a glass of wine!!)

  

 

Now it's official ......

........ it's my room!  This parcel arrived in the post this morning - a present from Sue

 

 

We had decided to do a little swap (oops, I forgot to take a photo of the things I sent to Sue) ....... I was thrilled to open my parcel and find this super cross stitch - so there is no arguing, the studio is mine!

 

 

 

I found the perfect spot for it this afternoon

 

 

 

I had gone out to the studio to use the embellisher, as Stuart had asked me to make something for him, and as we are going to visit him tomorrow, I thought perhaps I should get on with it!  He had asked for a coaster, six inches in diameter, with a two inch hole in the centre.  He wouldn't say what is it for, so like me, you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out!  The only other requirement is that it matches the colour scheme of his hall.  I pulled this unpromising lump out of the storage box ......

 

 

 

I carded some of the off-white stuff, and soon had made a start to the needlefelting

 

 

 

A quick look in the kitchen produced a plate and an egg cup to use as templates for the circles

 

 

 

so that I would know where to add my design

 

 

 

and then ..... oops - I got so engrossed in what I was doing (as I was working the design freehand) I forgot to take more photos - so we go straight to the finished article!!

 

 

 

Yesterday I mentioned jam - I've made more plum and bramble jam (although as this batch has fewer brambles it is paler)

 

 

 

I also started a batch of apple and rosehip jelly

 

 

 

Which I left overnight in the jellybag to drip through

 

 

 

Then boiled up with the sugar this morning, to give two big jars, which will be delicious with our porridge over the winter

 

 

 

And of course you have still to see the rosemary jelly.  It turned out really well, producing a full jar and some left over which we had with roast lamb for Sunday dinner - it was very good!

 

 

 

ps - there may be more jam/jelly/chutney posts to come ..... while I was writing this, our neighbour 'Jim the Farmer' came to the door with a big bag of plums, with offers of more plums AND cooking apples!!
 
  

   
  

 

 

 

Birthday Boy!

I didn't go out for a walk this morning, as I had something far more important to do ... I had to bring Malcolm a cup of tea in bed while he opened his presents - yes, it's his birthday today!!  (I didn't want to shock you by taking a photo of him in bed, so I took this later!!)

 

 

Here is the birthday boy checking his emails

 

 

He may have graduated in 1974, but his university haven't forgotten him!!

 

 

On your birthday, you are allowed to forget about healthy eating, and have this for breakfast!

 

 

And of course you have to celebrate in style

 

 

The sun shone on the birthday boy, and we were able to dine al fresco ..... steak cooked on the BBQ, my coleslaw and loaded potato skins!

 

 

Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be included in the draw for my giveaway to celebrate my 500th post!  I'm off tomorrow on yet another adventure - I'll be having lots of fun and I hope you have a fun weekend too!!  Love, Anne

Jam, jelly and coleslaw......

...... and some butterflies!  I had to stay at home this morning waiting for a parcel to be delivered, so I decided to make some jam and jelly.  I bought this book some time ago in a charity shops - it has plenty of good, basic recipes

 

 

For the jam, I first stoned and chopped up some plums, which I had been given by Annette, the owner of Borderland Fabrics.  As I was only making a small amount, I decided to make the jam in the  microwave.  I added a little water, then popped the bowl in the microwave for about three minutes

 

 

I added these wonderful brambles (I have to admit I bought them in the supermarket, as the hedgerow ones aren't ready) and cooked the fruit for another two minutes. 

 

 

The next stage was to add the sugar and further cook the jam until it reached setting point

 

 

To finish, I put the jam into jars, covered and labelled it

 

 

Next came the jelly - but this is a savoury jelly, made with apples and rosemary.  Over the last few mornings, I have been picking apples in the hedgerow, so the first job was to wash them

 

 

Our new rosemary plant in the garden isn't yet big enough to pick a large amount from, so this is from the supermarket (the smell was wonderful as I stripped the leaves from the stalks!)

 

 

The chopped-up apples and rosemary went in a saucepan with some water and were left to simmer until the apples were soft

 

 

The next stage was to put the apple/rosemary mixture into a jelly bag, to let all the liquid drip through

 

 

That process is still happening - tomorrow I'll heat the liquid, add sugar and some finely chopped rosemary, and boil it until it reaches setting point, when it will go into jars.  

 

I bought this food processor when we lived in Indonesia, so it must be twelve years old!

 

 

It's great for making coleslaw, with a grater attachment for doing the onion and carrot

 

 

Then a slicing attachment for the cabbage

 

 

I added some sultanas

 

 

And last - my secret ingredient

 

 

Delicious - and it will keep for two or three days in the fridge!

 

 

And finally, the butterflies .... don't worry, I didn't cook them!  The buddleiia was covered in butterflies this afternoon - I managed to capture these ones as they fluttered by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops - nearly forgot something very important!  If I have counted properly, Saturday the 11th should be my 500th post (no, I can't believe it either!!).  Of course that means a giveaway.  I think I will do the same as last time, and have a UK giveaway and a 'rest of the world' one, because of the cost of postage.  So all you have to do is leave a comment  (or comments, the more you leave, the more chances you will have in the draw) between now and the 11th (and I will have to have a rake in the studio to find things to give away!)

 

Anything ewe can do .......

....... I can do too!  The other morning, I paused to watch these sheep in the field next to the church

 

There was a line of them walking across the bottom of the field from right to left - there were even some coming through the gate from the next field to join the end of the line.  Then this morning, there was a line of them walking the other way across the field, with a group in the next field heading down to the gate to join in - maybe they just wanted to keep me company?

 

 

On the other side of the church, the old manse has the remains of an apple orchard in the gardens.  This morning, there were two horses kicking up their heels and generally having fun - but when one of them spotted me, it ran and stood between two trees - did it think I couldn't see it, if it couldn't see me?

 

 

It is now much cooler in the mornings and autumn is definitely drawing closer.  It is just about time to pick some rosehips - they are like jewels in the hedgerow

 

 

Of course it's Friday, and that means cake!  Annette treated us to another of her strawberry and cream sponges - but these are probably the last of this season's strawberries!

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - I think you can guess what I will be doing!!  Love, Anne

   

Rained off!

I got up as usual at 6.30 this morning, looked out the window, saw it was wet, windy and miserable ....... and got straight back into bed!  However I've only missed a couple of my walks since I started them in the middle of May, so I didn't feel too guilty.

I have had another go at wet felting.  This one wasn't quite so successful - it hasn't quite all felted together, and is a bit see-through in places.  Also a lot of the colour came out, so instead of a bright pink and lemon flower, it is now pale pink - the lemon has disappeared!  However, the green that I added on what will be the outside of the flower worked quite well

 

 

As a temporary measure, I have just used some thread to tie the flower into shape

 

 

and like my previous flower, I have put some little strands in the middle

 

 

I will have to get some green plant sticks to use for flower stems, but just for the photo I used a bamboo knitting needle!

 

 

I'm not the only one making flowers - Malcolm made this origami one yesterday

 

 

I haven't got much work done on my row quilt recently, so I made a special effort this afternoon at patch'n'chat to finish the cuties

 

 

You might have noticed that only one of them has her headscarf!

 

 

I have also been working on Maia in the evenings - I have now done about half of it

 

 

Of course, Friday afternoons mean cake ...... today's was a wonderful apple and sultana sponge - delicious

 

 

I will have to make sure I go out for my walk on Monday morning, to walk off the cake calories - although we will probably go for a walk on Sunday (weather permitting!!)  Whatever the weather, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

 

 

One down, one to go

Yesterday, Malcolm moved my fuchsia for me, putting it in the niche in the back wall of the garden

 

 

You can see the new flowers are pale, but as they open out, they become much darker, as you can see from this flower which fell off when Malcolm moved the pot

 

 

It was wet and windy again for my walk - but there was one bright spot ...... the raspberries in the hedgerow are starting to ripen

 

 

Of course, Friday means cake, and Annette certainly didn't disappoint us today with this beautiful light sponge, sandwiched with tasty raspberry jam

 

 

I have finished the first of Kylie's cushions and hope to finish the other one over the weekend, so I will be able to post them off to Australia at the start of the week

 

 

After such a wet start to the day, the sun is now shining ......right in my eyes as I'm typing this!!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne