frayed at the edge

Change of venue!

This afternoon, we were unable to have our patch'n'chat at Borderland Fabrics, as twenty eight quilters were visiting the shop, and there was no room for us!!  So ........ of course they came to spend the afternoon in my studio instead.  Anne D is for the moment living in a tiny cottage, while her new house is being made habitable, so she has nowhere to set up her sewing machine.  She had two things with her to do by machine and asked if I could help her out by putting the binding on this stunning quilt (she originally intended to make it for her friend's 60th birthday ....... her friend is now 63!!)

 

 

This details shows Anne beautiful applique - I love the tiny buttons in the centre of the pansy

 

 

Anne was adding borders to her stunning Thimbleberries quilt - the blocks are all hand stitched, but she decided to machine stitch the borders because of their size

 

 

Agnes was working on something just a little bit smaller - her log cabin blocks are only four inches square

 

 

Anne S (yes, it's confusing with three Annes in the room!) was also working on tiny log cabin blocks - she had her sewing things in this cute litlle bag

 

 

Once Anne finished using her sewing machine, Seonaid asked if she could play with it and had fun trying out some of the embroidery stitches

 

 

and she had even more fun when she discovered the elephants

 

 

I was working on the chickens .... I'm determined to get them finished.  I bought some sequins and beads for the eyes ...

 

 

Of course, Friday afternoon means cake, and you have seen over the weeks the wonderful cakes that Annette makes for us.  I had a look through this little book ....

 

 

and decided on a ginger cake, which has finely chopped stem ginger in it 

 

 

The recipe actually has the cake topped with a very rich ginger flavoured butter icing, but as there was already a lot of butter and sugar in the cake, I decided to simply dust the top with some icing sugar

 

 

As I very rarely bake, I was worried about how the cake would turn out, so Malcolm and I bravely had a slice to check it out!

 

 

Fortunately, it turned out well, and everyone enjoyed their slice with our afternoon cuppa!!

At the moment, we can't watch tv, llisten to the radio, or read the papers without being bombarded with the World Cup - but don't worry, that is the only reference to it that there will be on the blog - this is definitely a football-free zone!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend .... mine no doubt will include more work on those pesky chickens!!  Love, Anne

 

 

 

Please do not adjust your set ........

......... normal service will be resumed soon!  I'm sorry if you were expecting a Tuesday tutorial, but I've just got so much on the go at the moment that I thought I would take a few weeks to catch up with things, and to work on some new projects for future tutorials.  But don't worry, there will still be plenty of crafty goings on included in my daily ramblings!!

Of course I have been playing with my embellisher - this is the piece I produced at the weekend

 

 

I started with two layers of roving, with the fibres in the top layer at right angles to the bottom layer

 

 

After needling it into a rectangle, I added stripes in two colours, weaving them over and under each other.  The piece is about the size of a post card and is very firm - it would make a nice little mat to stand an ornament on.

 

Some time ago, I needled (by hand) this pink heart on to a piece of blue felt, intending to turn it into a little bag.  It was the work of minutes to use the embellisher to 'seam' the sides .......

 

 

It's the perfect size for my little i-pod shuffle - and one day it might even acquire a button!

 

 

I haven't mentioned my housegroup for some time.  We meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.  The group is called Kist, which stands for knit 1 stitch too ......... but kist is also a Scottish word for a chest, in particular the sort of chest that a girl would have stored her hand stitched household linens in, ready for when she married.  It is an informal affair, with everyone working on their own projects.  Today I was making a start to a quilt we are doing on Friday afternoons at Borderland Fabrics.  The quilt is made up of rows of different patterns.  The row I have started with has crazy patchworh hearts (I've got them in two rows to make it easier to take a photo!)

 

 

In the course of the day, copious amounts of tea, coffee and hot chocolate are consumed!  Today I was using this fun mug, which I bought some years ago in Houston

 

 

I have a matching t-shirt ...... but I don't think you will see me wearing it !!

 

Pure gold!

After the excitement of the hot air balloon yesterday, I was delighted to have something else special to take a photo of today!  It isn't the clearest photo, but it is of a goldfinch sitting on top of the birch tree in the front garden - the first time we have seen one in the garden!! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

Continuing with the nature theme, I didn't spend all of yesterday's walk looking upwards, which is just as well or I would have missed this gorgeous foal ......

 

 

..... and these two horses, who look as if they may have foals on the way

 

 

But for the last animal pictue, something very special, which I know will make you go aaaaah!  My friend Seonaid has just e-mailed this photo to me .... a little hedghog which has been coming into her garden to be fed.  In the last day or two, she has noticed the poor little thing has ticks - does anyone have any advice as to what she could do to help it - if you do, please leave a comment!

 

 

The garden continues to recover from the harsh winter, with splashes of colour finally appearing

 

this delicate flower would make a lovely embroidery

 

 

the clematis has just started to flower

 

 

the poppy is ready to open

 

Over the winter, most of my 'five-a-day' comes from vegetables, but in the summer I eat far more fruit, as you can see in this colourful selection

 

 

And fruit featured in our Friday afternoon cake at patch'n'chat ......

 

 

It has been another lovely day, and the forecast is good for the weekend - I hope you all have a good one, love Anne

 

 

 

Crash, bang, wallop!

I had some time to sit down and knit this morning, while the washing machine was on and my bread dough was rising.  Normally I would sit in the lounge at the front of the house .......

 

I wonder if you would guess this is where I sit!!

 

........ but we had workman making a tremendous amount ofnoise, as they prepared the drive for tarmac to be laid later in the day.  So instead I went and sat in the lounge at the back of the house ........

 

 

......... where I had lots of company

 

the gnome brothers

and the gnome sisters

 

As you can see from the last photo, the sun was shining today, so I took my scarf/shawl into the garden to take photos

 

you can see how fine it is

 

I had some advice from Rattling on ..., who told me that in Russia, women wear long pointy shawls in winter - they roll the top edge to shorten the shawl and to form a collar, which you can see I have done.

 

 

a detail of the beads

 

I have a confession to make ....... Malcolm finished my cracket just before we went on holiday, and I didn't have time to post about it then ....... and I forgot when we came back home!!  So here is my cracket - Judith's and Jennifer's are oak, but I chose pine for mine

 

the softer pine meant that Malcolm could cut a scalloped edge

 

I love the detail on the legs
 

 

I made egg mayo sandwiches for lunch ...... while the eggs were cooking, I finely sliced a spring onion and grated some cheese.  The rough guide to portion size for cheese is a piece the size of a matchbox ......... but which matchbox?

 

 

The matchbox from Cafe Batavia is a souvenir from when we lived in Jakarta.  We went there several times for a meal with a group of Malcolm's colleagues and their wives.  There was always a lot of laughter when any of the men had to go to the Gents, as rumour had it that the large mirror behind the urinal was actually a two-way mirror, that allowed anyone in the Ladies to have a view of the Gents!!  Of course we would never say if the story was true .......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too good to share!

This morning we had to go to Kelso, which meant we had to find somewhere to have our usual Thursday morning cuppa.  We decided to try a recently opened deli/coffee shop called Pharlanne, which turned out to be very nice indeed.  Usually we go to the Pickled Orange in Hawick, where we share one of their large scones, but Pharlanne didn't have scones ......... but they did have chocolate brownies.  I'm sorry, not even Malcolm gets to share my chocolate brownie - I ate it all myself!! (don't worry, he had a white chocolate and berry muffin - which he knew I wouldn't want to share as I don't like white chocolate!)

 

 

Since we moved here (almost four years ago) we have been regular customers of Almstrongs, a small department store in Hawick.  In that time the store has gradually declined, with departments and eventually whole floors closing.  Now, sadly, the shop is shutting for good and they are having a last sale, with 70% off everything.  While obviously wanting to take advantage of such good prices, I did feel a little bit guilty that I was hastening the end by buying some of the remaining stock!  Earlier in the week I had bought some lovely cotton thread for hand sewing, so I bought some more today, along with a packet of embroidery needles in a variety of sizes, and several packets of buttons which can be covered with fabric

 

 

I also got three balls of beautiful cotton yarn - I have a little project in mind - it might even be done in time for next Tuesday's tutorial.........

 

 

I finished knitting my scarf/shawl (should I call it a scawl or a sharf?).  I soaked it briefly in lukewarm water with a delicate handwash, then squeezed (remember, never wring) the excess water out and wrapped it in a towel and squeezed some more.  I  blocked it out on an old sheet, using my blocking wires - but you could just use pins.

 

 

I'm not altogether happy with the proportions - it has turned out a little bit longer than I had planned, so I will have to have a rethink on the increasing, but it only took 23gms of yarn, so I can have several more tries to get it right!!

 

 

It sits nicely at the front, but is just too long at the back

 

 

So ...... what's going to happen with all those ends?  I'll tell you tomorrow!!

 

 

Early morning delights

Yesterday, I crawled out of bed and was out the door at 6.40, determined to walk off some of those cake-calories.  It was a lovely clear, bright morning ....... but it was frosty!!  However I soon forgot about the unseasonal weather, when I saw these little cuties

 

they weren't too sure about someone taking their photo ......

 

 

...... but these two posed quite happily!

 

Those lambs were very young, unlike these two bold ones who were munching away on the verge, and stood watching me approach for some time (the photo is a little bit dark as we were in deep shade under large overhanging trees!)

 

 

I could see where they had squeezed through the fence to get in and out of the field, as they had left rather a lot of fleece behind!

 

 

It might be the middle of May, but the daffodils are still flowering in the verge

 

 

These primroses were a bright spot under the trees

 

 

The apple blossom is starting to appear - I hope there is a good crop of apples like last year, so that I will be able to make more jelly!

 

 

I had to take yet another photo of my favourite tree - if you click on it to enlarge it, hopefully you will see several birds in the holes - it looks as if they might be nesting

 

 

This afternoon, I abandoned the holiday laundry to head for patch'n'chat.  It was lovely to see all my friends and catch up with their latest projects ........ and of course there was cake!  Annette had made a wonderful lemon meringue pie for us ......

 

 

.......I'm going to have to do some more walking!!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

 

 

 

It will come as no surprise ..........

.......... to regular readers, if I start the tales of our holidays with some food!!  Before we left, I mentioned that no doubt cake would be eaten, and  on our first morning, these little beauties were consumed with great relish!!

 

 

Mindful of the amount of calories in cakes, we shared this one!!

 

 

When Stuart came out to join us for the second week ........ the cake eating continued

 

 

But we didn't eat cake every day ........ one morning we had icecream

 

this was mine

 

 

Stuart was delighted with his

 

 

I think this picture shows how good the icecream was!!!

 

It wasn't just us who were tucking into treats - Malcolm enjoyed giving these chickens in the orchard next to the villa some tasty things to eat

 

 

But don't worry - we did walk off a lot of those calories ....... tomorrow I'll show you some of the sights of Pollensa.

 

 

 

Hooray, it's the weekend!

Well, it has been a bit of a fraught week, with airports closed, then open, then closed again, open again ........ so fingers are still firmly crossed that our holiday goes ahead ok next week - especially as we have bought the sunscreen and got lots of euros!

It was forecast that we would have some spectacular sunsets because of the volcanic ash.  Although this sunset from the other evening looks dramatic, it isn't any more so than our usual ones

 

 

When I turned to go back into the house (before any of the neighbours saw me in my jammies!) I saw that the moon was already out

 

 

Last weekend, we had a trip to the garden centre to replace some of the plants that we lost because of the terrible winter.  There was a good choice of hellebores, and I finally chose this one

 

 

We also got a new cordyline - but it will be a few years before it grows to the size of the one we lost - it was obliterated when the snow came off the roof.  This time we choose a dark one, rather than the green of the previous one

 

 

Of course, we have to end with a photo of the Friday afternoon cake - another of Annette's light as air sponges - this time with apricot jam ...... delicious!

 

As it's Friday evening, I'm enjoying a very nice glass of wine - the weekend starts here!!  I hope you all have a good one, love, Anne

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Girl

All can now be revealed!!  Tomorrow, Jennifer has a 'significant' birthday, so I have been working on a quilt for her ........ I couldn't show you, as she reads the blog.  We went to visit her today, to take her out to lunch and give her her presents

 

 

While she is sitting with her feet up on her cracket, she can read her new book

 

 

and if it's a bit chilly, she can cuddle up under her quilt.  I couldn't decide where to photograph it - first in the garden

 

 

then in the studio

 

 

this detail shows the machine quilting

 

 

and this the hand quilting

 

 

The weather must have realised that it was a special day, as we had blue sky and sunshine for our day out

 

 

It was hard to decide what to have, when faced with this fabulous menu

 

 

Here is the Birthday Girl, trying to make up her mind

 

 

She decided on this wonderful butternut squash and ginger risotto

 

 

Malcolm had smoked haddock and spinach risotto, with a poached egg

 

 

and I had a warm salad of bacon, Stornoway black pudding, mushrooms and quail eggs

 

Of course, a special occasion means that you can have pudding as well .....

Jennifer had rhubarb brule with a ginger biscuit

 

Malcolm had fresh fruit salad with a ginger syrup

 

I had a beautiful lemon tart with raspberry sauce

  

The food was so good, this lovely dog wanted to come in

but had to be content with sitting outside

 

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Jennifer,  have a wonderful day!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Not quite so glorious!

This morning, Malcolm suggested we went over to Duns, despite the weather being decidely cooler, after a few glorious days.  However, we had a very enjoyable walk through the Duns Castle Estate.  The castle isn't open to the public, although you can have your wedding there!  We caught a first glimpse through this arch

 

 

However, we did get a better view further on in our walk

 

 

The castle has two man made ponds in its grounds, one of which is called Hen Poo - but I haven't been able to find out why!  You can see the pond in the background, beyond the sheep and lambs

 

 

It was a delight to walk through the woods and find primroses flowering

 

 

When I saw this piece of hollow tree trunk, I tried to persuade Malcolm to lie down in the mud and take an arty shot through it .... but for some reason he wouldn't do it!!  So you will just have to make do with this one I took by getting down on my knees

 

 

When we left the Castle Estate and followed the road back into town, we were greeted with this wonderful display of daffodils - there must be thousands of them

 

 

In front of our house, we have a new, boring, block wall ..... I wonder if I could persuade Malcolm to build a wall like this so we could have plants growing in the nooks and crannies

 

 

We know that Queen Victoria was very small, so perhaps that is why this postbox is only a foot off the ground, so that she wouldn't have to stretch up to post a letter

 

 

Tonight there is a very large jackpot on the lottery, and if we win, we are heading straight back to Duns to buy this house - well, really it's the fabulous conservatory that we want!

 

 

After all that walking, of course we had to have a cuppa, so we called into Hugo's

 

 

As always, I had tea and Malcolm had coffee.  I did think about trying to fit the teapot into my handbag, but fortunately common sense prevailed (no, I wasn't worried about being caught stealing the teapot, I was just worried that the leftover tea might spill!!)  We also shared some toasted bannock, which was delicious

 

 

When I'm out and about with the camera, I have got used to looking up, but it's just as well I was also looking down today, or I might have missed these two old doorways.  The first has a wonderful tiled step .......

 

 

........ and the second a metal name sign for a previous business on the edge of the step into the shop

 

 

You may have noticed that, apart from the Tuesday Tutorials, there has been a dearth of knitting and sewing ...... this is because I have been working on something very special ..... all will be revealed on Friday!!  (but there will also be a post as usual tomorrow)