frayed at the edge

Will you please keep still!

For the past few mornings, I have been trying to take a photo of a tree sparrow, which shouts at me as I go past its territory across the road from the church.  Most of the photos have turned out like this .......

 

 

....... because it just won't keep still, but finally, this morning, I managed to take two passable shots

 

 

 

The thistles are now flowering in the verge, with two distinct varieties.  This one has a small flower

 

 

while this is the one which is more familiar

 

 

I took several random photos of flowers this morning, with a vague idea of using the colours in a quilt

 

 

 

 

 

I could also include this beautiful raspberry colour (yes, I ate it!!)

 

 

Just after taking the photo of the raspberry, I had to stand on the verge, out of the way of our neighbour Billy the Farmer, as he came down the hill in his horse transporter (he was very considerate, and is marginally over to the wrong side of the road to pass me!)

 

 

As always for a Friday afternoon, I was at patch'n'chat.  I pinned out the pieces for the next block, and made a start to stitching it (the stray leaf at the bottom is just pinned there out of the way while I stitch the stem on the left)

 

 

And of course (I'm sure that's bad grammar!) we had cake!  Annette is so good to us - we had her wonderful strawberry and fresh cream cupcakes again -delicious!

 

 

 A little silly something to end with ...... I think it's lucky if a black cat crosses your path (but if it's unlucky, then of course I'm not superstitious!!)

 

 

I hope you have a super weekend - no doubt there will be sewing and knitting on the agenda here!!

Love, Anne

I told you there were two!!

I quite often show you photos of the Minto Hills - but because of the angle we see them at, you actually only see one.  But we went for a walk after lunch round a different route ....... and there they were, the two Mintos!

 

 

We also saw Ruberslaw from a different angle

 

 

But to go back to the start of the morning  ........ it was grey and threatening to rain, but as always the roses in the hedgerow provided some lovely colour

 

 

 

When I stopped to take a photo of these two horses, they were both lying down, but one of them stood up, making a much better composition!

 

 

The shorn sheep look comical

 

 

I hope you like animal photos, as here is another one!  A beautiful new horse in the field across the road

 

 

Then during our after-lunch walk ....... well, could you resist this gorgeous beastie?

 

 

....... or this one?

 

 

I am still enjoying playing with the new lens - I didn't have to bend down to take this photo of a tiny feather on the road!

 

 

To finish ....... no, not another animal, but a little sparrow!!

 

 

 

Come on Andy!

I can hardly concentrate on doing today's post, as I am watching Andy Murray playing Rafael Nadal in the semi-final at Wimbledon!!

You may have noticed that there hasn't been a lot of sewing happening recently ....... so yesterday afternoon saw me chained to the work table in the studio, doing more prep work for my Baltimore quilt.  Having cut out the vase and some flowers, I arranged them roughly with some stems on the background fabric

 

 

This is what the block should look like when it's finished

 

I also made another four petals to replace the ones that the freezer paper stuck to ...... and this time I made them in a contrasting fabric

 

 

When we were in Hawick yesterday, Malcolm pointed out this workman ........

 

 

........ and this is where he was working!!

 

 

To finish, I thought I would show you a last lot of photos from our Woolfest trip ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops - nearly forgot the Friday cakes ...... Annette really spoiled us this week, with strawberry and cream cupcakes!

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

No wool in sight!

On Saturday, while I was enjoying all things woolly, Malcolm took the small camera and headed for Whitehaven, where he found a great variety of things to take photos of. 

 

the harbour

 

 

an unusual bench!

 

 

quayside sculpture

 

 

spiking the cannon when the Americans tried to invade

 

 

part of a sculpture marking the end of mining

 

 

a plaque, set in a seat, showing the tax due on tobacco imports

 

 

a little bit of history

 

On Sunday, we went into Cockermouth ....... we had hoped to find a coffee shop to have breakfast, but there was nowhere open.  Fortunately, good old Greggs came to the rescue, and we were able to enjoy take-away bacon rolls, sitting on a bench in the street (several people stopped to ask where we had got our food, as they too couldn't find an open cafe!)

In November 2009, Cockermouth suffered dreadful floods ...... Malcolm stood under the mark which shows the flood level - it must have been terrifying for the residents

 

 

We visited Wordsworth House, which was the childhood home of the poet William Wordsworth.  The house didn't actually belong to the Wordsworth family, so it doesn't have personal items, but is furnished in the style of the time when Wordsworth lived there.  My favourite room was the kitchen

 

 

 

The garden was devastated by the floods, but as you can see from the following photos, a lot of very hard work has restored it

 

 

 

 

 

This morning, I was meandering striding along, when I heard very loud munching from the other side of the hedge.  I was a bit concerned that a family of mutant giant sheep had moved in to the field ....... so I was quite relieved when I came to the field gate to see these beauties!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can see clearly now!

Yes - at last I have my new glasses ....... but more of that later!  Instead, I'll start at the beginning of the day, with some photos from my morning walk

 

another of the scary triffid-like plants

 

 

a slightly ruffled blackbird

 

 

a tranquil early morning scene

 

Back home, I had my breakfast, showered and got dressed up, as I was heading south to meet Rachel for lunch.  I left early to get away from the mayhem in the garden, so I thought I would stop at the Carter Bar (the border between Scotland and England) to take some photos.  That was a big mistake - indeed it was a VERY big mistake, as the place was heaving with tourists ......

 

 

....... these are just two of a row of coaches

 

 

I know this is very unpatriotic, but I did feel sorry for the tourists being subjected to the bagpipes!!  (I think it sounds like a cat being strangled!!)

 

 

But it was worth it to take these photos

 

 

 

There are no photos from lunch with Rachel - probably because we don't want friends and relations saying 'you ate what??!! ...... whatever happened to the healthy eating plan?'.  But we had a lovely time catching up with all the news (don't tell them, but of course we talked about our lovely sons and their gorgeous girlfriends!!).  Then it was out to our cars, to transfer lots and lots of boxes which I had brought for Rachel - if you don't read her blog, do pop over to find out about all the ups and downs of her on again/off again house selling/buying.
On the way home, I decided that I had time to make a rather large detour to Kelso, so that I could pick up my new glasses (the opticians phoned on Monday to say that they were ready).  Malcolm took so long to take this photo, you might notice that my smile is slightly strained!

 

 

The state of the garden when I got home ......

 

 

...... but an ingenious solution was found to look after the beech hedge until it can be replanted!

 

 

ps - I haven't forgotten about Malcolm's day out on Saturday, and also what we did before heading for home on Sunday - I'll tell all tomorrow!!

Woolly thoughts!

Lots and lots to share with you about our few days away - so let's get going!  First of all, our teeny, tiny cottage.  It was part of a converted stable block on a farm.

 

 

The cottage was 'upside down' .... so we went in the door into the bedroom ........

 

 

....... then on up the stairs (past the door to the shower room) to the lounge/kitchen

 

 

 

It was a very cosy, comfortable little cottage - you can find out more about where it was here.  However, we had such a busy time, we didn't spend a lot of time in it.  Of course the main event was Woolfest - we went together on Friday, then I went again on my own on Saturday, as I was meeting friends (more about that later).  On Friday morning we only had a cuppa when we got up, as we knew that we would have the most delicious roll and sausage for breakfast when we got there

 

 

Suitably fortified, we plunged into the sights, sounds (and smells!) of the show floor.  When I reviewed my photos to decide what to include, I realised that on Friday, almost all the photos were of the animals - but I did take a shot of Jenny Pepper's stall (with permission) - lots of gorgeous felty things!

 

 

I tried earlier to make a mosaic of the sheep and alpaca photos, but the whole thing was taking so long, I gave up!!  So here are the individual photos ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mentioned that no doubt we would have fish and chips for dinner one night - and that's what we did on Friday ....... we went to Keswick - and tucked into a delicious meal ........

 

 

....... sitting by the lake

 

 

On Saturday morning, Malcolm dropped me off (he went off for a day out ...... and of course he took a camera - more about that later in the week).  I headed to my friend Helen's stall, to have a blether with her and our mutual friend Lizzi.  While we were chatting, someone else joined us ...... and she turned out to be Jill (no blog) from New Zealand, whom I had arranged to meet later in the day!  Jill is originally from Scotland - she still has her accent!  It was lovely to meet someone who until now I have only known through comments and emails.  I then did a spot of shopping, and returned to Helen's stall, where I had arranged to meet my blog friend Emily, who was there with her friend Emma.  They had yet to have breakfast, so we headed off to the restaurant, whre we met another of their friends, Tracey.  While they tucked into breakfast, I was very good and only had a cup of tea!  We had a lovely time chatting and swapping bloggy stories ...... then it was back to shopping!

After a while my feet were complaining, so I went to have a seat and listen to the musical entertainment ..... and had a lovely chat with a super knitter from Yorkshire, named Heather

 

 

Suitably revived, I returned to the fray, and stopped to watch Owen Jones making his wonderful baskets (photo used with permission)

 

 

Ingrid Wagner (fresh from being featured on the cover of Outlandish Knits) was happy to have her photo taken too

 

 

So ...... what did I buy?  I'll tell you tomorrow, as now it's time for the weekly knitting project update!

 

I am delighted with the scarf!

 

 

I've skipped the lavendar bags and baby hat, to do the cushion next!

 

ps, the front garden looks as it it has been invaded by giants moles - I'll explain tomorrow!!

 

 

 

Here, piggy piggy!

It's almost time for Woolfest, so at the weekend I got out my assorted piggy banks, to count out the money I have saved up to spend on all things woolly  (the piggy with the blue bow oinks when you put money in it!)

 

 

I soon had all the small change counted, and in bags ready to change at the bank, which I did on Monday morning

 

 

Although Woolfest doesn't start until Friday, we are heading over to Cockermouth tomorrow, as we are renting a (very tiny) cottage until Sunday, so that we can get out and about and make the most of our stay.  Malcolm has just made one of his fabulous lasagnes to take with us for dinner tomorrow night, but I think fish and chips could be on the menu for either Friday or Saturday!

Although it was a bit grey this morning, I took the camera with me, to have another play with the new lens.

 

I was far enough away from this lamb not to scare it!

 

 

the horse stopped and posed for me!

 

 

what is the dark shape on the horizon?

 

 

a cow!

 

On Sunday, I had remarked to Malcolm that I would need to get the stepladder out to take photos of the clematis, as the flowers were all above my head.  However, this afternoon, with the help of the new lens, I was able to take these photos, without the aid of the ladder!

 

a bud just starting to open

 

 

this bud is half open

 

 

a glorious flower

 

The climbing rose on the back wall has also started to flower

 

 

When I stopped to take this last photo, I thought it was of a bee - there were a lot of them buzzing about.  But when I looked more closely, I decided that it was a wasp - and moved on swiftly!

 

 

As far as we know, there isn't an internet connection in our cottage, so this may be my last post until Monday - but hopefully I'll find somewhere with wi fi, so that I can let you know what we're up to on our little holiday!!

 

Abandoned!

I had more or less planned today's post ....... but then a very special parcel was delivered!!  I have mentioned that we will celebrate our Silver Wedding at the end of August.  Malcolm got his present from me last week - a Kindle (sorry, I haven't taken a photo, as it's not very exciting to look at!)  My present isn't just for our anniversary, it's also for my birthday and my Christmas ....... a new lens for my camera. As I'm not at all technically minded, I'll just let the photos do tho the talking!

I was so excited, I didn't even go outside - I just took some photos through the lounge window.  The first one shows the garden seen through the existing lens

 

 

This is with the existing lens extended

 

 

Next is the new lens  ........

 

 

......... then with the lens extended

 

 

The next photo had me jumping up and down and sqealing with delight (after putting the camera down!)  This is with digital zoom .......

 

 

The photos were all taken standing in the same place - except for the last one ...... I had to kneel down and lean my elbows on the coffee table to keep the camera steady, as the least movement is hugely magnified!
I don't want to turn into a camera bore, so I'll just show a couple more photos which I took during a quick walk this afternoon

 

I took this 'close-up' from about eight feet away.  I am amazed at the clarity - the apple is only the size of a cherry ...... and did you spot the fly?

 

 

I was leaning on a gate to capture this thistle, which was about six feet away - I love how the background is hazy, and you can see the little bit of spiderweb.

 

Back now to a quick roundup of what should have been the main events of today's post!  As I mentioned on Friday, I took Malcolm out for breakfast yesterday morning

 

absolutely naughty, but very delicious (I couldn't finish mine!)

 

Monday means the knitting update.  On Saturday I pressed the pencil case, and chose a fabric for the lining

 

 

Then yesterday I made it up

 

 

I quite often have a mug of hot chocolate when I'm busy in the studio at the weekend, but on Saturday I forgot to take my mug back into the house, so yesterday I used this mug

 

 

This week's project is one that I have been looking forward to - a lacy scarf

 

 

I have also made a start to the pink blanket for Linus ........

 

 

....... and a baby shawl, which I hope to have finished in time to put into the Southdean Show in August

 

 

To finish, one more photo taken with the new lens.  This is our neighbour's tiny horse (it's about the size of a sheep).  It lives in a paddock way back from the road, so up to now, any photo I took of it wouldn't show what a cute little thing it is!!

 

 

 

 

 

Early to bed and early to rise .......

........ means that you can be out on your tractor at a very early hour

 

 

and these early birds might not be getting the worm, but they are getting a feed of the seeds being planted

 

 

As I trundled up the hill, I realised that I was being watched ........ by some of the bullocks in the field

 

 

 

As soon as I had taken the photos and started to walk on up the road, they ran off to the middle of the field ..... well, given what has happened to them, perhaps they are right to be wary of humans!

 

 

Yesterday, when I didn't have the camera with me, I saw that a little yellow flower, which I think is a vetch (I must get a better book!) had started to flower.  Fine, I thought, I'll get photos tomorrow.  Then - horrors - the verges were cut yesterday afternoon!!

 

 

But fortunately the verges are only cut to the width of the mowing arm on the tractor, so my little yellow flower survived, as it is on a wide stretch

 

 

This thistle also survived - there are hardly any thistles in the verges here this year

 

 

 

Further down the hill, I saw this rose, which will provide rosehips in the autumn

 

 

and also by the autumn, these funny little things will be hawthorn berries

 

 

but before that, these flowers will have turned into raspberries

 

 

I had a little accident this morning when I was taking some mugs back out to the studio - oops

 

 

Fortunately it wasn't my haggis mug

 

 

 

Maybe I'll see a little haggis like this one morning when I'm out for my walk!

 

A very VERY busy weekend - part one

Saturday morning found us standing in Hawick High Street, waiting to see part of the spectacle of the Common Riding, which you can read about here.  We knew the proceedings were about to start, when the band formed up on the road

 

 

The band moved off, as the Cornet, with his right-hand and left-hand men, came into view

 

 

Following them were horses of all sizes and colours, with riders of all ages

 

 

The bearded chap on the left is our neighbour, Billy the Farmer

 

 

After all the horses had passed, we followed them up the High Street

 

 

There was an entertaining moment, when this horse was determined to head back down the High Street

 

 

And of course, the the most essential part of the parade wasn't far behind!

 

 

After all the excitement, we walked round to where we sometimes see a heron, on the River Slitrig ....... and there he was (for some reason, we have just assumed that it's a male!)

 

 

He was sitting minding his own business, when a crow swooped past him, causing him to raise his head at glare at the offending bird!

 

 

Back home, I headed out to the studio, and turned the tv on ...... to find there was an even grander spectacle to watch - the annual Trooping the Colour, to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday - you can read about it here

 

 

 

 

 

I then spent the rest of the afternoon quilting the other Linus quilt that I made recently - but I'll save the photos for tomorrow, along with what we did yesterday.

 

Of course, Monday means the knitting update.  Last week's project was a string bag.  Straightforward to knit ..... but the pattern said it took 150g of double knitting cotton ...... and I only used 50g!  The pattern said to put fabric binding round the handles, but as I'm just going to hang the bag up in the utility room cupboard to put carrier bags in, I didn't bother

 

 

 

I wouldn't put anything heavy in it - this is how much it stretched with just a tin of tomatoes in it!

 

 

I am getting a bit fed up with the poorly written patterns and the vague making up instructions.  I have eight more projects bagged up ready to do, but I think after that I will just do the ones that appeal, rather than working my way through the rest of the book

 

 

This week's project is a pencil case, knitted in two colours

 

 

I was at the dentist this morning ....... and there was some very bad news!!  No, no, nothing wrong with my teeth, they are doing well ......... but shock, horror, my dentist is retiring!  I said to him 'you can't retire, I'm in love with you (in purely a dentistry way)'.  He said he may come back and work part time, so maybe I'll get to see him again - he has been such a help with all my dental trials and tribulations, that it is quite upsetting to lose him!!

So do remember to come back tomorrow for part two - including a visit to a quilt show .......