frayed at the edge

Life in the slow lane

After all the years Malcolm spent working, especially the five years before he retired, when he was abroad more than he was home, he now enjoys the slower pace of life.  Although we have yet to decorate and furnish the summer  house, he has already claimed it as a place to sit and listen to cricket on the radio - definitely life in the (very) slow lane!!

 

 

Today was a Kist day, and we had a lovely time sitting round the table sewing and chatting (although perhaps sometimes there is more of the latter!)  I was working on Kylie's cushions.  I put them on the cutting board and used two rulers to make sure they were square

 

 

Then I cut the excess off (after checking several times that I was cutting on the correct line1)

 

 

I then forgot to take photos of the next stages (yes, too busy blethering!!).  I added binding round the edges, which now just has to be turned over and handstitched in place

 

 

I also trimmed the flap on the back with the binding fabric

 

Seonaid was unable to join us until after lunch, but when she arrived she had great fun playing experimenting with  exploring the capabilities of both my and Anne's sewing machines.  She also brought me the most wonderful present .... a scissor keeper, which I have put on my little embroidery scissors (can you see the points curve up, so that you don't accidently cut the fabric when snipping your thread)

 

 

The fob is only an inch and a half square - the work is fabulous!!

 

To end, I thought I would give you a little sneak peek at tomorrow's  subject!!

 
 

 

 

A busy weekend

We were both busy over the weekend ....... Malcolm in the garden and me in the studio.  While I was stitching, Malcolm finished the new path to the summerhouse

 

 

He used slate chips to match the path that runs up the other side of the grass (he made that path because the grass was very wet and muddy at the edge!)

 

 

The slate chips continue round to where we have our compost bins

 

 

As well as the path, he also dug out a new border to finish the landscaping round the summerhouse (we just have to get some plants!!)

 

 

I was working on my cuties - I should have put these contrasting corners on before I did the girls, but I was so anxious to see what they looked like that I did them first!!

 

I also did another row - flying geese, which is the bottom row in the next photo.  I laid it all out, so that you can get an idea of how it is going to look.  (I am also going to do a row of owls - Malcolm is going to draw one for me!)

 

I also finished the quilting on Kylie's second cushion - now I just need to make them up!

 

A detail of the quilting

 

When I was out for my walk this morning, I picked up some bits and pieces ...... and this afternoon I arranged them and took this photo - when Malcolm saw it he said he thought it looked like a bird of prey with a fish in its talons .... what do you think?

 
 
 

 

 

I'm going to stop making plans ......

...... because I have to keep changing them!  Today, I was going to work in the studio in the morning, have lunch, then work in the studio in the afternoon ....... but .......  the firm who installed the summer house and did the paving last week arrived this morning to finish the job.  First some panes of glass had to be fitted to the summerhouse, then a special coating was applied to the paving slabs.  This meant that I couldn't walk on them to get to the studio until later in the day.  So I spent the morning hand quilting instead.  Kylie's first cushion is done and I have started on the second one

 

 

Eventually, I was able to get into the studio and made a start to the next row of my quilt.  I am looking forward to doing this one - six cute little girls

 

 

I am going to use bondaweb to attach the girls to the background fabric, then blanket stitch round them, so the first stage was to trace all the parts

 

 

I raided my stash for some small pieces of reproduction fabrics for the dresses and pinafores (I bought them in Singapore in 1998, when I had to stay there when there was trouble in Indonesia!)

 

 

I also found some black fabric for the bodies and a variety of plain fabrics for their shoes.  Here is the first cutie

 

 

While I was busy in the studio, Malcolm replaced my flower pots and welcome frogs at the door

 

 

It turned a bit wet and miserable at dinnertime, but it is drying up again, so I hope it will be dry for my walk in the morning ..... although we do need some rain, as we have had very little for weeks - if only it would rain overnight and be gloriously sunny through the day!!

 

Yet another change of plan!

We had intended to go for a walk yesterday morning - but not long after we got up it started to rain ...... and rain and rain.  The rain did go off later, but then it got windy .... and windier.  After one of my flower pots blew over, I moved them to the shelter of the log store

 

 

This morning when I went for my walk, I spent quite a lot of time lifting branches off the road - it must have been even wilder during the night!!  I also picked up some little bits and pieces and had fun making this 'still life' when I got home

 

 

I mentioned last week that I had won Rattling on's giveaway.  My prize was a voucher to spend online on something for the kitchen.  Unfortunately the voucher wasn't quite enough to buy an Aga!!  After a bit of thought, I decided to buy something I wanted, rather than something basic.  So what did I get ..... a gorgeous tagine, which arrived at lunchtime

 

 

I spent the afternoon both yesterday and today in the studio, working on the houses for my 'row' quilt.  Here they are waiting to be trimmed .......

 

 

....... then stitched together

 

 

I've had another play with the embellisher ..... and again I  wet the felt, then molded it - this time round a glass which had held a scented candle.  However, as last time, it is just a bit too soft - I think I will have to use proper wet felting to produce a felt with more body.  Never mind, it is very pretty!

 

 

I have almost finished the quilting on the first of Kylie's cushions ......

 

 

..... so this afternoon I marked out the second one.  This is a detail of the centre

 

 

So ...... how did the visit go?  Very well!!  Alison is lovely and we got on fine.  Malcolm cooked a new recipe - boneless pork loin coated with a mixture of maple syrup and cajun seasoning - it was delicious!  We went out for breakfast on Saturday, before they headed back to Falkirk via Ikea ..... amazingly they didn't buy anything (not even a bargain bag of tealights!) but of course they did have meatballs for lunch (we always have them too!!)

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Lazing on a sunny afternoon!

When I arrived home from patch'n'chat, I would have rushed out into the garden to see the summerhouse ........ but first I had to meet a very special visitor!  Stuart and his new girlfriend Alison  arrived just minutes before I got home, so I thought I had better meet Alison before disappearing into the garden to take photos!

 

if you can't find me - I'll be here!  

 

 

we were glad that we could keep the tree!

 

 

I'm looking forward to getting my flower pots back at the door

 

When Malcolm was giving Stuart's cracket a final polish this morning, I realised that I hadn't taken a photo .......

 

I should have got Stuart to sit on it for another photo!

 

It's Friday, which means cake, and Wimbledon, which means strawberries ......

 

I accidently sat in the seat with the biggest slice!!

 

No doubt for the next two days I'll be in the summerhouse, enjoying the weekend .... I hope you have a lovely weekend too, love, Anne

 

Minor and major changes

The plan for today was to go into Hawick this morning, then I would spend the afternoon in the studio, while Malcolm finished a cracket he has made for Stuart.  However, there was a minor change to that plan when we met Lorraine as we left The Pickled Orange, where we had just enjoyed a cuppa and an excellent date and walnut scone.  So the minor change to the day was that I went to visit Lorraine this afternoon, to help her with laptop/printer issues.  Lorraine won't be at all offended if I tell you that she is a complete technophobe (actually, I could say what I like about her, as she doesn't read this!!)  She was recently given a laptop by her brother, and her son had set up internet access on it, but she was struggling to cope with it.  Then her brother gave her a printer, which was just a piece of technology too far for her!!  So I spent the afternoon taking her through the steps for her to access her e-mails and to use the printer .... she was delighted to discover it is also a copier!  And as an extra, I installed the software for her camera, so she is all set (maybe!)

Meanwhile, at home, the major change was happening ..... we had a summerhouse in our last garden, which we used a lot, and since we moved here we have talked about getting another one.  Several weeks ago, we finally took the plunge, bought a summerhouse and arranged to have it installed, along with some associated hard landscaping.  So this is what I came home to ....

 

The paved area outside the studio door had sunk in places, and we got puddles when it rained, so we chose to have the blocks lifted and paving slabs laid instead  This gives a nice defined area outside the studio, where I can have my flower pots.

 

the slabs have a nice texture

 

The paved area has been extended to take the summerhouse, and the slabs will come along the front to provide a path.  The work should be finished tomorrow!

 

I've been working on Kylie's cushions ....

 

 

cutting the fabric

 

 

 

 

the fabric and pattern on the lightbox, ready to mark

 

 

 

 

the layers basted together and ready to quilt

 

 

 

 

the quilting is going well

 

It is probably just as well that I shall be at patch'n'chat tomorrow afternoon when Andy Murray plays Rafael Nadal in the semi finals at Wimbledon - I think I would have to watch it from behind the sofa!!

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Gardening in miniature

Malcolm has finished planting the old sinks with alpines and has added a top dressing of grit.  We are delighted with how they have turned out - they look very pretty to welcome people arriving at the house - miniature alpine mountains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have planted up the pots at the studio door with summer plants - I think I will be taking lots of photos of the pansies to use in applique blocks!!

 

 

The colours of these two geraniums are gorgeous

 

 

 

 

It's amazing how this border has recovered  ........ do you remember when it was buried under several feet of snow which slid off the roof? 

 

This last photo shows a plant that was in the garden when we moved in.  It was planted in front of the pergola and each year put out a few spindly shoots.  Malcolm moved it a few weeks ago and pruned it back quite hard.  It has suddenly put out a lot of new growth ..... we think it's a wisteria - what do you think?

 

 

Definitely worth waiting for!

The iris have finally flowered ....... and they are so glorious, I will forgive them for keeping me waiting so long!

 

the colours are gorgeous

 

 

this one hasn't fully opened

 

 

the markings are striking

 

Yesterday morning we went for a walk at Harestanes, one of our favourites.  A lot of the photos I took will probably appear soon in Shadow Shot Sunday, but I thought you would like this one ........ why?

 

.......look carefully - there is a robin perched on the end of the bridge!

 

Back home I was busy again in the studio, working on my next row.  If you scroll down to Cathy's quilt, you will that her row of houses has four large houses.  However I like symmetry/proportion,whatever, so I decided to do six houses, to match up with the six hearts and the six log cabins.

This was my first effort - which I wasn't entirely happy with

 

 

So I drew out another block

 

 

This is a better proportioned block, so I will use this one - as you can see it still has to be trimmed to size

 

 

It has been a lovely day here, and I was able to get three loads of washing hung out and dried ........ if only I knew an ironing fairy!!

 

I'm shy ......

........ no, not me (although I was painfully shy as a child!), but this heron which we saw on the riverbank this morning - he (or she) just wouldn't turn round and look at the camera!

 

 

The lovely weather of the last two days has encouraged more poppies to flower - I love the colour, the markings on the petals, the centres - yes, I really like poppies

 

 

the iris are almost ready to open now - you can see the colours

 

 

I was in the studio for a little while this afternoon (the rest of the time I was sitting in the sun reading a book!).  I had another play with my embellisher.  I started with this ......

 

 

........ shaping it into petals

 

 

....... the flower needs some more work, but I am pleased with what I have done so far!

 

 

When I came back from my walk this morning, Malcolm was puzzled by the bits and bobs that I was carrying ....... but I thought they would make a nice 'still life' ........

 

 

The piece of wood at the back is all dried out - it hardly weighs anything.  I liked this end - it looks like a scary creature

 

 

The verges are full of beautiful grasses - I picked just a few.  At the moment it is grass pollen season, so we are both sneezing and sniffing!!

 

ps - I shouldn't have had that thought about Dr Doolittle ....... when I turn for home and start up the hill, I often start singing (just in my head - you wouldn't want to hear my singing, I make the crows sound tuneful!) to get my rhythm going for the long uphill stretch.  Usually I sing ..... I love to go a-wandering, along the mountain track ........ but now this is stuck in my head ....... if I could talk to the animals, grunt, sqeak and squawk with the animals ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer at last!

It was glorious this morning when I went out for my walk - a little bit of high cloud, but lovely and warm.  I know I keep showing you photos of the Minto Hills, but they look different every day!

 

 

It is just about time for the sheep to be shorn, but this one is already moulting

 

 

I was entertained by this pheasant, which looked as if it was creeping up to scare the horses

 

 

I've said before that we regard as a neighbour anyone living within walking distance - so the people building this house will just qualify, as this is where I turn round to come home!

 

 

The roses in the hedgerow are just starting to flower - hopefully there will be a good crop of hips come the autumn

 

 

When we moved here, there were three old sinks in the drive.  It turned out that they belong to our next door neighbour, with whom we share the entrance.  As they were obviously neglected, full of weeds, we offered to replant them - our neighbour was quite happy for us to do this.  However,  after the winter, most of the plants were dead, so now that we have our  new drive, we have been smartening them up again.  We got a lot of bits of broken slates from the man who is building the house beside us, and Malcolm arranged them, then planted alpines in the spaces.  We will have to get some grit and a few more plants to finish them off, but they are already looking good

 

 

 

 

It was 23 degrees this afternoon - fingers crossed that the second half of June is going to be glorious!!