frayed at the edge

Emergency over!

Being a punctual person, I arrived at the dental centre 15 minutes early ...... and was taken after waiting for only five minutes.  Fifteen minutes later, my tooth was fixed, the bill was paid and I was heading for home.  Sadly Douglas, my dentist that I was so in love with, has now retired, so I was treated by my new dentist, Mr Prusek.  I think he is Eastern European ..... he sounds like a villain in a James Bond film 'you need a new fillink'.  He was very quick and efficient, and apart from the first prick of the needle, I didn't feel a thing - that's my kind of dentist!!

Back home, I made some apple and sultana chutney.  As so often happens, there was a little drop left over when I filled the jars ....... so what better way to try it than with a piece of crumbly extra mature cheddar and some slices of pear

 

 

We have had extremes of weather today - very bright sunny spells, mixed up with black skies and heavy rain.  So the birds were either sheltering .......

 

 

..... this little sparrow even had its head tucked under its wing

 

 

...... or tucking in before the next shower

 

 

For once the robin sat for long enough on the stone owl for me to take a photo

 

 

but he was determined to keep his back to me when he perched on the wooden owl

 

 

There haven't been any finches in the garden recently, so I was glad to see this one this morning

 

 

 

This afternoon I was out in the studio, continuing with my sporadic attempts to sort out my various stashes.  I have a lot of sample curtains, which I buy (very cheaply) from a shop in Hawick.  They take up a lot of room, so I have been gradually taking them apart, keeping the fabric, throwing out the little bits of header tape, and giving the lining fabric to Malcolm, who plans to use it as extra insulation in the loft.  So I reduced this pile ......

 

 

to this much smaller one

 

 

Now I have to resist the temptation to fill the empty spaces !!

 

 

To finish, some photos of last night's stunning sky

 

 

 

 

Dental emergency:part 2

I phoned the dental centre at 8.02am, and asked for an emergency appointment.  I had to give my name, what the problem was, and say if I was in pain (foolishly, as it turned out, I answered truthfully and said no).  I was then told that someone would phone me back to let me know if I could have an appointment today, but as I wasn't in pain it was unlikely - those in pain would have a higher priority. What??  I was told to phone back this morning for an appointment ...... no, the receptionist insisted, I wasn't told that at all.  I was very slightly cross after this conversation - did this mean that I would have to phone up every morning, and unless I lied and said I was in pain, there was little chance of getting an appointment?  I may not be in pain, but I am worried that the thin section of tooth where the filling fell out might break off.  Then, just after 9am, a bright and breezy phone call to say that I couldn't have an appointment today (no pain!), but I had an appointment for tomorrow (hooray).

On to happier things!  We went out for lunch to the Woodside Garden centre, which has a wonderful new website.  We sat next to the window, as usually there are lots of birds on the feeders, but because of the strong winds, there were very few birds about.  But I did manage to take some photos

 

 

 

 

After luch we had a stroll round the garden centre, which is set in an old walled garden.  There was a display of wonderful garden sculptures (there are details on the website) .......

 

 

 

......... and this large seedhead caught my eye - a cardoon

 

 

On the way home, we saw potatoes being harvested by large machines - very different from when the potatoes were harvested by hand, which was backbreaking work known as tattie howking

 

 

Back home, I went in to the lounge for something ..... and saw a nuthatch on the peanut feeder.  I rushed off and got the camera - but just as I got back to the lounge, a big bully-boy sparrow attacked the nuthatch and drove it off.  However it did briefly come back, and I took these (not very good ) photos

 

slightly blurred

 

 

a nice view of its bottom!

 

 

a slightly better view

When I googled nuthatch for a link, I discovered that there are dozens of them!!

 

I was out at knit'n'natter this afternoon, and this gave Malcolm the chance to have a go at baking a tarte tatin ...... and he took photos!

 

caster sugar and a little alcohol

 

 

bubbling away to turn into caramel

 

 

apples and brambles added ......

 

 

....... then dotted with butter

 

 

the puff pastry put on top and tucked in round the edges

 

 

after 30 minutes at 190 degrees

 

 

turned out on to the serving plate

 

 

the healthy option - low fat creme fraiche!

 

The tarte was delicious - I just wish you could somehow reach into your computer to have a taste!!

A small emergency

When I was brushing my teeth this morning, something didn't feel quite right.  A quick feel round with my tongue revealed that a filling had fallen out.  Unfortunately, this filling is in the back/down the edge of a front tooth (upper left two, to be precise) so it has left a gap.  Of course I immediately phoned the dentist ..... only to get a recorded message telling me that everyone was busy and to phone back later.  When this happened twice more, I said to Malcolm that I would just head down to the dental centre, in the hope of getting an emergency appointment.  When I got there, there was little sign of anyone being too busy to answer the phone!  I explained what had happened and asked if there was an appointment available for today.  The receptionist said no, and that I would have to phone tomorrow between 8am and 8.30, to ask for an emergency appointment.  I found this just a little bit puzzling - why couldn't I just make the appointment there and then?  Because you can only make an emergency appointment by phoning between etc.  So I will just have to hope that when I phone tomorrow morning, they aren't to busy to answer the phone!!

When I got home, things didn't get much better - there on the doormat was a cardboard envelope containing photos, clearly marked 'please do not bend' .......

 

 

Never mind, things then got better when I went out to the studio to do some sewing.  I finished the redwork block

 

 

Did some more work on the Baltimore block

 

 

Then I spent the afternoon watching an old film while I prepped more hexagons

 

 

When I transferred today's photos to the laptop before dinner, I realised that I had only taken the above four!  So after dinner, I settled down to take some photos of the sparrows on the bird feeders ....... but they preferred for some time to sit in the hawthorn tree

 

 

But eventually, this male decided to tuck in to the seed in the feeder

 

 

 

 

While this one had a look on the ground for food - you can see from his ruffled feathers that it is quite windy here!

 

A special day

I set off earlier than usual this morning for Borderland Fabrics, as we were having a very special day.  People all over Britain were today hosting coffee mornings for The Macmillan Fund - but instead of just a coffee morning, we had a soup, sandwich and home baking extravaganza!

Things got under way not long after we arrived, when we were presented with a plate of goodies to have with our morning cuppa

 

 

For lunch. there was a choice of sweet potato and parsnip soup, which I had (absolutely delicious) .....

 

 

...... and leek and potato - also declared delicious by those who chose it

 

 

Then a selection of sandwiches - I had mentioned to Malcolm that there would of course be  cheese savoury sandwiches.  He asked why I was so sure.  I replied that there would be a riot if there weren't any, as we all like them (they are the ones at the top of the photo)

 

 

Then more cakes appeared - but I have to admit I had an extra sandwich rather than a cake, as I prefer savoury things

 

 

We had just recovered from lunch, when afternoon tea was announced!!

 

 

Of course we all made a donation to the Macmillan Fund for such a wonderful day  ........ then Annette, the owner of Borderland Fabrics, said that she wasn't taking the usual payment for our Friday session, but perhaps we would like to donate that as well - which of course we did.   Many thanks to Annette and her helpers for providing us with such a wonderful day, in aid of a very good cause.

Back home, the robin was ousted from the bird bath by a sparrow!

 

 

 

 

While the sparrow was having his bath, a great tit was tucking into the peanuts (you can see that all the fat balls were eaten while I was out)

 

 

 

This is a special weekend ..... it's my birthday on Sunday!  Stuart is coming down on Sunday and staying until Monday, but unfortunately Alison can't come as she has to work on Monday.  For my birthday dinner, Malcolm is cooking venison (because Stuart likes it) and for pudding he popped up to M&S in Galashiels this morning for their wonderful lemon meringue pie (yes, you've guessed - it's Stuart's favourite!!)   I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

 

Tough love!

You may remember that some time ago, I had to give the orchids a good talking to, as they simply weren't earning their keep.  I had moved them off the kitchen windowsill this morning when I was doing the housework, and as I went to put them back, I thought you might like to see the effect that stern talking to had!

 

this is just a litttle one

 

 

this one still has more buds to open

 

 

this one has been flowering for weeks, and now a second shoot is about to flower

 

 

these three will flower soon

 

Inspired by this post by Rattling On, I took this photo this afternoon of the ivy in the front lounge.  As you can see, it has started twining round the candlestick!

 

 

I collected the little hare lino cut from Denise today - she has made a wonderful job of framing it, and if you have a look at her website, you will see that she also does wonderful pet portraits

 

 

The robin has been back in the bird bath - he is definitely the cleanest bird in the garden!

 

 

 

 

 

As well as being inspired by Rattling On's ivy, I had a moment of deja vu with her post today, as it shows butterflies on a sedum ....... I had taken similar photos yesterday - and I took some more today, as the butterflies enjoyed the sunshine

 

 

 

 

 

To finish - after taking the photos of the orchids, I replaced what usually sits on that spot on the shelf - my very cute holder for my mobile phone!

 

 

Sticky fingers

This morning, I measured the liquid from the apple/bramble pulp .........

 

 

....... poured it into a large glass bowl, and put it in the microwave on high to come to the boil.  Then I added the sugar - the ratio is a pound of sugar per pint of liquid.  Once the sugar had been thoroughly stirred in, I put the bowl back in the microwave for about five minutes.  By that time a scum had formed on the top, which I simply skimmed off

 

After boiling the jelly some more, setting point was reached, then I filled the jars and covered them

 

 

There was apause in the jelly making at that point, as we popped into Hawick for lunch.  We decided to go to the Damascus Drum

 

 

There is a small outside seating area, but since the smoking ban, these tables are generally used by smokers!

 

 

My lunch was delicious - a 'ploughman's bagel'.  Malcolm had a bagel spread with cream cheese, and the same tasty salad

 

 

Back home, I made the apple/rosehip jelly, but all did not go to plan!  It just didn't want to set.  First I added lime juice and boiled it again - still runny.  Then I got out the big guns - pectin!

 

 

I finally achieved a rather wobbly set - and I had decidedly sticky fingers from all the pokingof my samples to see if they were setting!  However, I ended up with another four jars of jelly.  The fruit was free, the electricity for the microwave was free, so all I had to pay for was the sugar.  I have eight jars of jelly for about £3!!

 

 

Years ago, I used to make curries from scratch, using Madhur Jaffrey's book (you can see I still have some recipes marked with bits of paper!)

 

 

I used to dry fry the spices, then grind them, and make a paste with onion, garlic and ginger.  These days, curry making is much simpler, with a ready made paste for my rogan josh

 

 

Soon it was simmering - enough for two meals.  We'll have one for dinner tomorrow and the other one will go in the freezer

 

 

When we got back from lunch, before I started on the second round of jelly making, I indulged in a bit of fun, inspired by Rachel.  It was very simple .... walk 132 steps from the front door, then take a photo.  I cheated slightly, as by the time I walked along the path, through the gate and down the drive, I would have used up quite a few of my steps, so I started counting when I stepped out on to the road.  The 132 steps didn't take me as far as I thought they would, and when I stopped to take my photo, it was a bit boring

 

 

So I went back to the house and walked 132 steps in the other direction - oh dear, it was even more boring

 

 

But then, back home ..... this was the view from the front door step

 

 

There was one last job to do after the jelly making - giving the 'jeely bag' a thorough wash and hanging it out to drip dry!

 

My poor thumb

When I was picking the rosehips, I had an unfortunate tussle with a very sharp thorn, which the thorn won, leaving a nasty gouge out of my thumb

 

 

It is a real nuisance, as the ragged edge keeps catching on things, so I have had to resort to putting a plaster over it, in the hope that it will heal underneath

 

 

However, I have still been able to get on with some sewing ...... although the needle keeps catching in the plaster!  I have done a lot more prep on the hexagons, with seven strips tacked over the papers, and another one part done.  Then I have cut the hexagons from another sixteen strips, and have another twenty six strips to go

 

 

I also got a bit of sewing done on the Baltimore block, stitching the birds in place

 

 

The redwork block is progressing - every time I look at it I laugh at the little lamb!

 

 

After leaving the the apple/rosehip mixture dripping overnight, I transferred the liquid to a jug.  After I put it in the fridge, I realised that I hadn't taken a photo.  As you can see the jug is rather full, so rather than risk spilling it, I took this rather strange photo of it in the fridge

 

 

The apple/bramble mix is now dripping through.  I will make jelly with both lots of liquid in the morning ..... it will be delicious to have on my porridge!

 

 

There has just been a slight pause in writing tonight's post, as I had to snatch up the camera and capture the robin in the birdbath!

 

 

 

Do you think I should put out little towels for him!!?? 

Foraging

We went for a walk yesterday morning, but we soon got distracted from the walk by these .....

 

 

..... lots and lots of wonderful rose hips.  And there were still some roses too

 

 

 

 

We picked lots of rose hips, and some brambles - more about them later.  But I wasn't so distracted by the picking that I forgot to admire the wonderful scenery

 

 

Malcolm dropped me off on the way home so that I could pick some more rose hips and some apples from the hedgerow, then I walked the rest of the way home, enjoying the warm sunshine.  The views have changed, now that the crops have been harvested, and some of the fields ploughed and replanted

 

 

 

 

The sheep were also enjoying the sunshine

 

 

 

Back home, I sorted out our foraged fruits

 

rosehips

 

 

brambles

 

 

The apples on the right are from the hedgerow, the ones on the left are crab apples, which Jennifer gave me.  This afternoon I washed all the fruit thoroughly, then I topped and tailed the rosehips and put them in a large saucepan, along with the crab apples and some of the hedgerow apples and added water.  I put the rest of the hedgerow apples and brambles in another suacepan and again added water.  Then, I left both lots to simmer

 

 

By the end of the afternoon, the first lot was dripping through the jelly bag

 

 

Malcolm, meanwhile, was working on his steps

 

 

The knitting update ....... the socks are finished

 

 

........ and the scarf is almost finished.  I have still to sew in the ends and block it.  I made a couple of mistakes - the first one was missing out a row of the cable ....... I had knitted quite a bit more before I noticed, so I didn't take it back.  Then I forgot to make two of the bobbles - but I simply picked up the stitch and worked the bobbles ..... it just means I have more ends to sew in.  BUT  as I arranged the scarf on the floor to take a photo ........ horrors, another missing bobble!!  I had planned to knit the scarf again in a different colour - maybe I'll just do it without the bobbles!  I can't show you what I am knitting this week, as I am taking part in a swap over at Mousy Brown's and of course I am knitting a little something for my swap partner Alyson.

 

To finish ...... I didn't just bring fruit home.  When I tipped the rosehips into the bowl, a spider appeared!  Don't worry, I rescued it and put it out in the garden!

 

Green machine .......

........ this is our inverter in the loft

 

which takes the direct current from the solar panels and turns it into alternating current, which we can use.  We don't actually need bright sunshine for the panels to start generating, just daylight.  If the panels generate more electricity than we are using in the house, then the excess is exported to the grid.  This little meter in the hall cupboard tells us how much we are producing

 

Now comes the good part - under a government scheme, we are paid for every unit of electricity that we generate, plus a little more for every unit we export to the grid ......... and every unit that we use means a corresponding decrease in our electricity bill.  I think that's what you call a win/win situation (although of course we did have to invest in the solar panels!)

 

 

While all the technical/electrical work was going on this morning, I popped the big lens on the camera and headed into Hawick.  I had noticed these figures on a chimney some time ago, and finally I remembered to take some photos.  The figures are rather grimy and in need of some tlc.  Unfortunately there was a tv aerial in the way ...

 

 

 

But the only angle which excluded the aerial meant pointing the camera at the sun

 

 

Still looking up, first I saw these old chimneys

 

 

 

then something special at the top of this building

 

 

a thistle on the right (symbolising Scotland)

 

 

and a rose on the left (for England)

 

 

I think this view along the river looks quite continental

 

 

The heron was enjoying the sunny morning, standing on the riverbank preening

 

 

It is such a handsome bird, I never tire of taking photos of it - and it very kindly showed me both profiles!

 

 

 

Back home, the birds are on a somewhat smaller scale!  I am still trying to get photos of them on the birdbath .... but these sparrows were just sitting in the hawthorn tree laughing at me!

 

 

Eventually a sparrow did pose prettily on top of the stone owl

 

 

and the robin was a bright spot among the sparrows

 

 

I'm off on another day out tomorrow - this time to the autumn quilt show, which is also the Scottish Championships.  As well as lots of quilts, there will also be TRADERS ..... but of course I couldn't possibly buy anything so soon after my trip to Harrogate .......

Sunshine on a rainy day

We are hoping for lots of sunshine ...... because we are having solar panels installed!!  The workmen were supposed to arrive between 9 and 11 this morning ...... so I was a bit surprised when I looked out of the window to see their van in the drive at 8!  In no time at all, they had the scaffolding up (I took these photos from the back bedroom, as I didn't want to get in the way)

 

 

 

It turned a bit showery and windy - the poor workmen looked cold and miserable on the scaffold (I took these photos from the back lounge)

 

 

 

By the time I got home from knit'n'natter, half of the panels had been installed ........ and the sun had come out!!

 

 

The work should be finished tomorrow, then we will have our fingers firmly crossed for lots of bright days ........ althought it doesn't have to be sunny for the panels to generate electricty.

 

Yesterday, Malcolm came home with an early birthday present for me - a pottery birdbath which I had admired in one of the local garden centres.  While I was doing last night's post, he managed to capture a robin on it .....

 

 

....... then this morning I snapped a sparrow

 

 

I did try to take some photos of the birds on the feeders, but they were swinging about too much in the wind.  So I had to content myself with these sparrows on the roof of the bird table

 

 

 

To finish, a bit of fun ...... this cartoon was in the paper yesterday.  Do you think Malcolm might start looking over my shoulder if I am having a browse on ebay??!!