frayed at the edge

Cows, lambs and knitty things!

It was such a lovely spring morning, we decided to head over to Jammy Coo  for lunch.  I had to get the camera out as soon as this was put in front of me ....

.... gorgeous spotty teapot, cute Jammy Coo mug - and of course that wonderful food!  It's a bacon, brie and cranberry panini, with a salad with a tangy dressing - and hidden at the back, some delicious homemade chutney.

After lunch as we drove down the hill to the house ...... hooray ...... some of "our" lambs have finally arrived!

 

This afternoon it was knit'n'natter, but despite my best efforts, I didn't quite finish sewing the I-cord on .....

 

However, last night I did do a bit more on my fingerless mitts ...

 

I did several rounds of stocking stitch so that the edge will roll over, then a textured stitch for the cuff.  I am now continuing in stocking stitch, still making it up as I go!  I'm starting to think 'beads'.......

 

 

     

Mother's Day

Stuart wasn't able to visit today, but he sent this card ....

 

...and when he phoned he said he has a present to give me, when I see him on Friday (oh good, I love presents!!)

I was still spoiled - Malcolm brought me a cup of tea in bed, then took me to Milestone Garden Centre (just off the A68 at Newtown St Boswells) for a delicious bacon roll for breakfast ....

   

.... and even as I write this he is cooking a wonderful Sunday dinner!

Altogether, a special day!

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll continue yesterday's tale.  The next stop on our way home was  the Borders Scrap Store (although Malcolm did accidently rename it when he missed out the 's' off scrap!)

   

It's very hard to describe exactly what this place is.  It's a treasure trove of all things crafty, which have been donated by local firms.  For a modest membership fee (Kist has a group membership) you can go in and fill your arms will all sorts of wonderful things, which is just what I did yesterday (Malcolm had to carry some of it).  You then agree on a price for what you have - and for the crafter it is definitely a bargain!  This was yesterday's haul.

 

I also got a packet of polystyrene balls, but they looked boring in the photo!  The fabrics are from Lochcarron and are of fabulous quality (if you leave a comment, I might just send you a little piece!)  The two bales at the back are knitted fabric...

Ideas so far - scarf/stole, perhaps with crewel embroidery or felt flowers; hot water bottle covers; bags; children's clothes (if I had an overlocker!) - I am sure you can think of more!!  It was lovely to come home and take the photo out in the garden in the sunshine.

 

Today is the first day of spring, but we woke up to a hard frost!  It was the usual Friday morning housework, then I had lunch before leaving for chat and patch.  Some days, you just get tired of all this healthy eating stuff, and just want a bit of comfort food, so this was today's lunch!

 

It has to be Heinz Mulligatawny - none of this posh stuff in a plastic carton, or even homemade soup - this is the stuff of childhood and I love it!!

After lunch, it was off to Jedburgh for chat and patch.  First I have to mention Anne, as she was most upset not to have been mentioned yet.  I will be mentioning her in detail soon, when she has her new website up and running!.  I was working on my swap piece, which of course I can't show you, but as there is only a week to go before I post it off to my swap partner, I thought I would leave you with this little view of it.

 

I will be busy in the studio over the weekend, as I am teaching a bag workshop next week, and have still to finish the samples (oops!)

And lastly, I just want to say 'get well soon' to Fiona.

Have a good weekend, love, Anne

 

 

Lunch and a bloody battle

Today got off to a good start, when this book arrived in the post, sent to me by Gayle - I won it in her recent giveaway.  There's lots of interesting stuff in it and I'm looking forward to reading it in detail.

 

We headed out for the day, as we were to be without electricity (again!).  We headed up to Galashiels for a spot of retail therapy - Malcolm had vouchers for money off wine in Tesco and I had a voucher for a discount at one of my favourite clothes shops, so it was a successful morning!

On the way back down the road, we turned off in Selkirk, along to Philiphaugh, to have lunch in the Waterwheel Cafe.

 

I remembered to take a photo of my lunch before I ate it - a delicious coronation chicken baguette with salad (and crisps!)

 

The cafe is part of the Philiphaugh Estate - a traditional Victorian Estate, now managed with the emphasis on sustainabilty.  As it was such a lovley day, we went for a walk round part of the estate.  Our first stop was at the waterwheel.  Around the time of the First World War, the waterwheel supplied power to a threshing barn.

 

Unfortunately the wheel is in shadow, but you can see from the water at the bottom that it was turning.  Our next stop was at the cauld (weir), which was built to channel water to power the mills in Selkirk.  This is the Ettrick Water, which is a tributary of the River Tweed.  When the cauld was built, it would have prevented the Atlantic salmon swimming upstream to spawn, so a fish ladder was built in the middle.  It is a spectacular sight when the salmon are leaping up the ladder.  Because the sun was shining on the water, I could only get a photo of the edge of the cauld, but it gives you an idea of the force of the water flowing over it.

 

There is a side channel from the main river, which runs down to power the waterwheel.  The water flows under a small bridge, which has sluice gates, which in the past would have been used to control the flow of water.

 

But the gates haven't been used for a while - we spotted this little tree growing out of the machinery!

 

It was very tranquil, with the ewes and lambs lazing in the spring sun.

 

But on the 13th of September in 1645, things were very different.  There was a fierce and bloody battle between the armies of the Covenanters (Scottish Presbyterians) and the Royalists.  The Covenanters carried the day, with many of the defeated army being put to the sword and prisoners taken to nearby Newark Castle and shot.

 

We made one more stop on the way home - come back tomorrow and I'll tell you about it!

Friday fun

As always, having been a good girl and vacuumed and dusted this morning, it was off to Jedburgh for chat and patch at Borderland Fabrics.  As I mentioned yesterday, I took my quilt top of farewell blocks, to start marking it ready to quilt.  There are lots of ways to mark quilts, but if it's a light coloured fabric, I just use an ordinary pencil (I have a stock of pencils from various hotels in Jakarta!).

 

As there is so much detail in the blocks, I am going to quilt the sashings with a simple cable.  You can see my template, which I drew out on a piece of paper then glued to a piece of cardboard.  On the back of the template, I glued two little pieces of sandpaper, so that the template grips the fabric.

However, there was an interruption to the marking, when we were each given a piece of floral fabric and a piece of a mystery fabric.  We were told to stitch the two together, using any kind of pattern we wanted.  I didn't think to take a photo of mine at that stage, so Pam let me take a photo of hers (she deserves a medal, as last week she read my entire blog!) 

Once we had stitched the two pieces together, all was revealed - the mystery fabric is called 'shrink' and when you blast it with steam from the iron it .... shrinks!!

 

This is the wrong side of mine - it's only a bit shrunk, but I think you can see that it has come in somewhat.

 

This photo doesn't clearly show how it has shrunk, but can you see the left-hand flower has some texture?

Of course, as usual, we had to stop mid-afternoon for a cuppa, and this time I remembered to take a photo before all the cake was all eaten ...

  

Doesn't that sponge look delicious ... would you like a closer look ...

 

It had apricot jam in the centre and was so light!!  Although I love cooking, I'm not much of a baker, so I am in awe of anyone who can produce a lovely light sponge like this - well done Annette!!

ps, I haven't heard from the owner of Fantoosh, so I still can't show you the photos, but no doubt we'll be there again sometime soon, so I'll ask again!!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Satisfied customers!

This morning we headed east again, this time to the Berwickshire town of Duns.  It's Wednesday, so of course that means we had lunch out.  Today, we went to Pearsons Garden Centre in Duns.  The coffee shop isn't overly pretty - but the food .....

 

As you can see, we thoroughly enjoyed our soup.  I had carrot and courgette, which was lightly spiced, and Malcolm had tomato and basil, and we both had a crusty brown roll, hot from the oven - delicious!

Before lunch, we had a walk round Duns, where we spotted this quirky house ...

 

I wonder if the people who live in it are tall and narrow too?

I can't go to Duns without visiting  a wonderful shop called Albany Courtyard, which sells all sorts of gorgeous things .....

 

As well as all these goodies, they also make curtains, upholster furniture etc ... and this means ... remnants!

 

I couldn't possibly have come home without this beautiful fabric, which is reversible - I think it will make wonderful cushion covers - or maybe a bag (or both!)

When we arrived in Duns, we popped into another favouite place for a quick cuppa - a gift shop/coffee shop with the wonderful name of Fantoosh.  The owner wasn't there, so the two lovely ladies who were serving let me take photos, which I promised not to post until the owner says I can.  I hope she does say it's ok, because it's another shop full of beautifully crafted goodies!

Last night was a wonderful moonlit night - or as we Scots might say - a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht (or something like that!)  This is the best of my many attempts to take a photo of the moon shining above the back garden wall ...

 

I have knitted a bit more of my cushion cover - which just wouldn't co-operate when I tried to arrange it artistically over the back of a kitchen chair!  Although I didn't use flash to take the photo, I think the colours look a bit washed out ...

 

I haven't quite decided how to make the cushion cover, but I think big buttons and I-cord could be involved ......

Change of plan

This afternoon I should have been heading to the hairdressers (what, you thought I'm a naturally stunning blond?)  However, that plan had to change when it started snowing while we were having breakfast .... and it forgot to stop!  Instead, I put the unexpected free time to good use, and finished my 2-at-a-time socks.

 

I am really pleased with them.  Helen's wool is wonderful to work with and the colours are lovely.  I enjoyed  doing the two at a time method.  You do have to be careful not to pull on the wrong loop as you move the stitches round, or you discover you have pulled them off the needle - yes, I found that one out the hard way!

Lunch today was a bowl of good rib-sticking homemade soup ....

 

... if I had known it was going to be so tasty, I would have taken photos as I made it - although it is a very simple soup (my soups tend to be made with what's in the fridge, rather than to a recipe).  It's roasted Romano peppers, sweet potato and red onion - peeled, deseeded, whatever, cut into chunks, sprayed with OneCal olive oil and roasted in a hot oven.  I then tipped them into a saucepan, added hot water, some salt and some veggie stock. I simmered it briefly, then blitzed it.  We both enjoyed it and it was just what was needed as the snow continued to fall.  Don't worry about the toast - I know it looks as if we were eating nasty white bread, but it is Hovis 'Best of Both' - looks like white, but with the goodness of brown!  (Could I get a job writing adverts?)

I may have mentioned that I like tea and you will have also noticed that I like patchwork, so my teapot will come as no surprise ...

 

..... I guess it would appeal to arty people too.

Don't forget that you have until teatime tomorrow (Friday) to post a comment if you want to be included in the draw for the giveaway (and there will be a little extra surprise in the parcel!).  I shall have to make sure my wonderful random number generator is fully fuelled - I think a large glass of wine will do the trick!

ps - it did eventually stop snowing and it's melting - but there's an awful still to go!

I love food!

 

This recipe is based on one in the February issue of the BBC's GoodFood magazine.  It should also have had capers (I forgot to but them) and parsley (I don't like it).

My ingredients were Romano peppers, olive oil, a slice of brown bread, pine nuts, grated Parmesan, a green chilli and a bag of spinach leaves.

 

Half and deseed the peppers, drizzle with oil and bake for 20 mins at 190degreesC.  While they're cooking, toast the bread then blitz into breadcrumbs.  In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, pine nuts, Parmesan, chilli and oil.  Put the spinach in a colander and pour a kettlefull of boiling water over it.  You will think you have far too much spinach until you do this and it wilts!  Squeeze out as much water from the spinach as possible.  After the peppers have had their twenty minutes, divide the spinach between them then top with the crumb mix.  Return to the oven for another 15 mins.

 

On their own, they would make a very good vegetarian meal, but we had ours with lamb chops.  I'm sorry they don't look a bit tidier on the plate, but I think it would have caused marital strife if Malcolm's dinner was cold because I had been taking pretty photos of it!!

 

Earlier this afternoon, I prepared this.  It's based on a Delia recipe and is very easy.  First, take a large freezer bag and add olive oil, salt, pepper and some dried herbs.  Peel and roughly chop your veggies - today I used sweet potato, butternut squash, red onion, mushrooms, carrots and baby roasting potatoes - just pop them in the bag and make sure they all get coated with the oil.  I made enough for two helpings, as it keeps for several days in the fridge (we think it actually improves with keeping).  To cook, simply put some on a heavy baking/roasting tray and cook in a hot oven.  But there is a little extra when you prepare this - instead of just shaking the bag to coat the veggies, get your hands in there and give them a good mix.  When you have finished you will have oil and salt clinging to your hands.  Give them a good massage and then wash them.  Your hands will be lovely and smooth and soft, having been exfoliated by the salt and moisturised by the oil ... now that's what I call muti-tasking!

A bit of fun!

 

We all know we have to eat lots of fruit and ....

 

.... lots of vegetables, but lets face it, it can get a bit boring.  So, here are some more interesting ways to eat your 5-a-day ...

We start with a blueberry muffin for breakfast and follow it for elevenses with a piece of carrot cake.  For lunch, a little piece of lemon meringue pie.  In need of an afternoon snack?  Why not have strawberry cheesecake.  For dinner, what could be better than chocolate and sweet potato brownies (trust me, absolutely delicious!)  Think you still need another helping?  Then settle down for the evening with a glass (or two or three) of wine .... it's made with grapes!

Well, I did tell you at the start it was just a bit of fun!