frayed at the edge

Second attempt!

So ....... the sun lotion rant!  Yesterday we headed up to Galashiels in search of sun lotion.  Yes, we could have bought some in Hawick, but we couldn't get anything lower than factor 10.  We are well aware of looking after our skin in the sun, but after many years of living and holidaying abroad, Malcolm and I never lose our tans, so we are quite content to start off with factor 8, then have a few days at the end of the holiday on factor 4.  But most places now only stock factor 10 and higher - with an awful lot of factor 50.  I remarked to Malcolm when we were in Asda that we could buy as much alcohol and cigarettes as we wanted, to damage our health, but we couldn't be allowed to get a suntan!  And of course there are now reports of children suffering from rickets because they don't get enough vitamin D, because they are constantly slathered in high factor lotion, and women developing osteoporosis for the same reason.  Can't we be allowed to show a bit of common sense in looking after ourselves?

OK, rant over!!

After shopping, we went to the Waterwheel Cafe for lunch

 

 

This of course meant we had to visit the owls.  Two elderly gentlemen were highly amused at the way the owls would turn their heads away, every time I tried to take a photo!

 

 

Back home, we went out for a walk - but not just a leisurely stroll, but a walk with a mission ...... to find and follow the course of an underground stream that runs through the valley in front of us.  Jim the Farmer had given Malcolm information about where our storm drains discharge - into field drains, which in turn go in to the underground stream.  Malcolm has had new discussions with the Planning Department at the Council, and with SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency), who seem to be happy for us to tie the new sewage system into this set-up.  This was the view as we walked up the hill .... although it was a lovely hot afternoon, it was very hazy.  The swathe of yellow is oilseed rape, which has just started to flower (bringing misery to hay fever sufferers!)

 

 

We had to walk down the side of a field (on a 'right of way' path) disturbing a ewe and lambs ..... the ewe was determined to keep her bottom pointed at the camera!

 

 

These two horses were enjoying the sunshine so much, that they didn't stir when I took their photo - normally they would wander over to see if any food was on offer

 

 

We could see the course of the stream through the valley, then we found where it emerges, to flow on above ground

 

 

Last spring, I had some snake head fritillaries in a pot at the studio door.  I planted them out in the raised border when I later put summer plants in the pot.  When they didn't appear, I though they had fallen victim to the harsh winter ....... but then Malcolm took the protective fleece off the bottle brush - and there, growing away happily under the fleece, were the fritillaries!

 

 

We sat in the garden for a while when we got back from our walk, enjoying a cold drink.  My new herb garden is growing nicely in its pot ...... I can't have herbs in the borders, as the neighbour's cats think our garden is their toilet!

 

 

I have a small stall at a 'market day' tomorrow.  I'm hoping to sell the leftover stuff from the Christmas Fair!!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Standing guard

Usually I go to the hairdresser on a Thursday afternoon, and I should have been there last week, but my hairdresser was on holiday.  I wasn't able to get an appointment for tomorrow, so I had one this morning.  My hairdresser is in Kelso, and I would have been going there today anyway, as this afternoon was knit'n'natter.  So I ended up being out from 9.30 this morning, until 5 this afternoon!  Of course the camera went with me, and I had time to take some interesting photos.  The first was of these two handsome chaps, standing guard outside an art gallery

 

 

Then round the back of the gallery, there is this strange sight

 

 

To the right of the boat, is this amazing dolphin ......

 

 

....... made from all sorts of bits of metal

 

 

After the hairdresser, I popped into the garden centre for lunch, then had a walk down to the river, where this swan was gliding along

 

 

On the way to the cafe where we meet for knit'n'natter, I walked through the old grave yard.  I paused to read this gravestone, which tells a sad story (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

The blossom was beautiful in the sunshine

 

 

 

 

Even in the centre of Kelso, there is no escape from large trucks!

 

 

After all that hard work in the sun taking photos, I decided not to have tea when I got to knit'n'natter, but instead to have a refreshing bottle of ginger beer

 

 

A bit of fun to finish ..... is this Mars, and its so-far unseen twin?

 

The four Maries

Last Saturday, when Stuart and Alison were here, we visited Mary Queen of Scots house in Jedburgh.  In one of the rooms, there are paintings on the wall panels.  This Is Mary

 

 

and these are the four Maries (or Marys), who were the ladies-in-waiting.

 

 

If you google the four Maries, you actually discover that there were up to eight different Maries, but according to the song I learned many years ago

The Queen, she had four Maries

Tonight, she'll have but three

There was Mary Beaton, Mary Seaton

Mary Carmichael and me.

 

The singer of the song was Mary Hamilton, who was about to be executed. Mary had an amazing and complicated life, before she was executed on the order of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth of England.  You can read more about her life here.

Mary must have had tiny feet - this is one of her shoes, and looks as if it is only big enough for a child

 

After looking round the house, we went on to see the Castle Jail.  This inmate didn't look very happy about being incarcerated for debt

 

 

And this poor woman had the added misery of a very bad hair day

 

 

I came across this amazing quilt, which was made on 1901.  It is rather badly hung, in a narrow corridor, so I couldn't get a good photo of it

 

 

Friday, as ever, means cake at patch'n'chat.  We had our favourite apple and sultana cake - there was silence as we all tucked in!

 

 

And to end, a little aaah moment ....... another very cute calf, snuggled up to its Mum.  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

  

 

 

 

Birthday girl!

It is Jennifer's birthday in a few days time, so we we went down to Morpeth this morning, to take her out for lunch.  I can't tell you what we gave her for her birthday, as she hasn't opened her present yet ..... but I can tell you all about lunch!  We went to The Country Barn at Widdrington, where there is an excellent coffe shop and farm shop.  As it was a special occasion, we had a bottle of wine with lunch.  Both Malcolm and Jennifer hate having their photo taken so this was the best I could do!

 

 

There is a wide choice of food, so it took us some time to decide what to have.  Jennifer and Malcolm both decided to have quiche .....

 

 

..... while I plumped for the baked potato with coronation chicken

 

 

The food was delicious, and we lingered over cups of tea and coffee (of course you know that the tea was for me!!)

On the way back to Jennifer's, we passed this wonderful sculpture, which has been nicknamed 'Robin of Pegswood' - you can read about him here.  I'm sorry it is not the best of photos, but as I was sitting in the back seat of the car, it was rather difficult to capture Robin in all his glory!

 

 

Before we left this morning, I had to take these photos in a bit of a rush.  This explains why the bathroom cabinet, which Malcolm has made for his other sister, Judith, is standing on the kitchen worktop!  We were taking the cabinet to Jennifer's, as Judith will collect it next time she visits her.

 

 

Judith had given him the measurements, and a rough description of the style she wanted

 

 

I don't have a cabinet in my bathroom - I shall have to put in an order for one!!

 

A well trained son!

We had a relaxing evening on Friday, with Stuart and Alison quite happy to watch tv, after a busy week for both of them at work.

 

 

Stuart and I got up early on Saturday morning, and headed out for a walk.  Unfortunately, it was very misty, but this little creature was happy with the damp road!

 

 

We stood well back, as this tractor and trailer appeared out of the mist, taking ewes and lambs out to the field from the lambing shed

 

 

Once we were all finally up and showered, we headed to Jedburgh for breakfast, after which we visited Mary Queen of Scots' House and Jedburgh Castle Jail - but I'll save that for another post.  On the way home, Stuart was driving ...... and being well trained in my blogging requirements, he didn't need to be asked to stop when we saw this cow and her contented calf!

 

 

 By lunchtime the mist had lifted and we enjoyed lunch sitting out on the deck.  Stuart was having fun playing with my camera, and very patiently took a lot of photos of this little beetle, trying to get it in focus (if you compare it to the size of the print, you will see just how small it was!)

 

 

Having enjoyed another lazy evening, on Sunday morning I made breakfast (French toast, bacon and maple syrup) before Stuart and Alison headed off for Falkirk.  As it was a glorious morning, Malcolm and I went over to Harestanes for a walk.  The recent rain and the much warmer weather means that there is a lot more growth.  This is a chestnut tree - the buds will soon open into either pink or white flowers

 

 

The flowers on this mahonia are very bright

 

 

The air was full of the scent of wild garlic

 

 

Best of all, the beautiful blossom on an old apple tree

 

 

Now, the weekly knitting update!  The needle case was another very simple project ........

 

 

........ which only took an evening to knit - and about thirty minutes to stitch the lining fabric and felt on

 

 

This week's project will take a bit longer - a baby cardigan, knitted in 4-ply on 3.25 needles!

 

 

 

 

Alien invasion!

Just a quick post tonight, as Stuart and Alison are here.  We have just finished dinner....... Malcolm's wonderful pot roasted brisket, and for pudding, we made the supreme sacrifice and shared (some of) the lemon drizzle cake which Rachel gave us yesterday.

 

Last night, we thought that we had been invaded by aliens, when we saw this hovering in the sky

 

 

Had they arrived from the moon?

 

 

Or from Mars?

 

 

Did they just park to walk the dog?

 

 

However, the sheep weren't bothered!

 

 

Have a good weekend, love, Anne

Admitting defeat!

It was a lovely morning, as we set off south to Newcastle.  We had a quick stop in Belsay for a cuppa (you know I can't be away from a teapot for too long!)  I was very glad we stopped, because it gave me an opportunity to take photos of more lambs!

 

 

 

 

You probably noticed that the ewes have both black and white lambs.  The first time I saw this when we moved here, I asked a sheep farming friend why the ewe had different lambs.  Her answer was straight to the point - she said 'the ewe was obviously a hussy, and the lambs have different fathers'!

 

When we got to Rachel's, we had a cuppa, with a piece of the most wonderful lemon drizzle cake, then we left Malcolm to wrestle with the dishwasher, while we took the dogs for a walk.  We walked under the amazing Armstrong Bridge

 

 

Then Flossie posed in front of the new footbridge (it was rusty from installation, as a design feature!)

 

 

We passed the pet cemetery (which made me think of the very scary Stephen King book)

 

 

Spring is far more evident there - the blossom is already out on these trees ........

 

 

....... and the rhododendron is flowering

 

 

However Flossie wasn't in the least interested in such things, much preferring to run in and out of the river with a big stick (sorry the photo is blurred, but it's the only 'action' shot that I managed to take of her!)

 

 

In case you're wonderfing where Tosca is, she only went with us on the first part of the walk, as her little old lady legs aren't up to running round the park, so we popped her back home to supervise Malcolm.

When we eventually returned, Flossie was suitably wet and muddy, and had to be hosed off before being allowed back in the house.  Malcolm, meantime, had dismantled large amounts of the dishwasher.....

 

 

........ but despite his best efforts, he was unable to find what was wrong.  (don't worry, he did put it all back togehter again!)  Rachel then fed us a lovely lunch, with more of her wonderful homemade bread, and sent us on our way laden with lemon dizzle cake, ginger biscuits and homemade red gooseberry jam.

On the way home, we were stuck for a while behind this .......

 

 

........ fortunately he eventually turned into a farm.  Then later, this rather large timber lorry pulled out of a side road in front of us

 

 

As you can see from this next photo, the driver wasn't content with just his own side of the road!

 

 

We weren't looking forward to being stuck behind him on the long uphill climb from Bonchester Bridge, when, oh joy, he turned off!

Rachel and I now have to co-ordinate our diaries, so that she can come up to visit us!

 

 

 

 

A busy weekend

There was great excitement on Saturday when the post arrived, bringing a very special book

 

 

So why was I getting so excited about a children's book, I hear you ask?  Because the author is my lovely bloggy friend Gretel.  Would you like a little peek inside?

 

Oh dear, Mrs Mouse has burned the cake .........

 

 

........just as her friend Kitty Blue was due to arrive for tea

 

 

but the day is saved, as Kitty has brought a wonderful cake to share!

 

It's a charming book, but it is even more special when you look closely ....... Gretel needle-felted Mrs Mouse, Kitty, the cakes and lots of other bits and pieces.  And if that wasn't enough, she also did the illustrations - she is just so talented.  Of course I bought my copy from Amazon (it's the dreaded 'one click'!) ..... and I've got my name down to be told when the next book is available.  (The photos are used with Gretel's permission).

 

Yesterday was Mothers' Day.  Stuart wasn't able to visit, as he had another engagement (Alison's nephew's 1st birthday party, complete with bouncy castle - I couldn't compete with that!!).  But he sent me my present - gorgeous Kath Kidston gardening gloves (much too pretty to wear in the garden!)

 

 

I also got a card - I would like to think that he sent it because I look just like the slim, elegant lady on the front (apart from the cigarette!) ...... but no, it's because it's the cheekiest card he could find!

 

 

At first glance, the wrapping paper has cupcakes on it ..... but on a second look, the cupcakes are made from fabric and knitting!

 

 

In Stuart's absence, Malcolm took me out for breakfast - but I am much too embarrassed to show you a photo of the rather large breakfast that I ate!  We went to Selkirk, and I took some photos from the car - it's funny you don't realise how bumpy the road is until you are trying to focus the camera!

 

 

 

 

I was busy in the studio on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but I'll tell you all about that tomorrow.  To finish, of course, it's the update on the knitting project.  As the belt was just a little bit small for me (I knew I wouldn't wear it, so I just made it the size given in the pattern), I had to call on my lovely mannequin to model it

 

 

It ties at the back with a bow - very pretty

 

 

This week it's a needle case.  I found the perfect piece of fabric for the lining in the scrap basket!

 

Interruptions!

I was busy writing Friday's post, when I had to temporarily abandon it, to rush out into the front garden to take photos of the stunning sunset (a welcome interruption!)

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, we stayed longer in Hawick than usual, so that we could see the parade which is part of the Reivers Festival.  While we were waiting, I snapped these fine fellows

 

 

 

Then the parade came into view and I took the next photo.  But then there was an unwelcome interruption, as I must have accidently pressed the wrong button on the camera, and it refused to take any more!

 

 

I'll come back to the Festival later, but now for the third and last interruption.  I was walking down the hall on the way to the kitchen yesterday morning, to make breakfast, when I glanced through the door of the lounge - and there on the peanut feeder was a woodpecker.  I ran to the kitchen to get the camera, then took the first photo through the door and the window.  I then slowly opened the door and crept into the room, but the woodpecker must have seen the movement and flew off to the other feeder.  I managed to take one more photo before it flew away

 

 

 

So, to get back to the Festival - on Sunday morning we went for a walk in the park, ending up at the next event ....... an encampment and re-enactment.  We were a litle bit disappointed, as the last time we went it was a much bigger affair, with lots of horses, but we still enjoyed what was there

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we saw lots of people tucking into stovies, we decided we would have some too!

 

 

When I told you about our walk up to the Waterloo Monument last week, I said it is on the highest point for miles around.  If you look at the horizon in the centre of the photo, you can see the tower (if you click on the photo, it should enlarge)

 

 

It's Monday, so that means the knitting update.  Last week's project was very simple - I know the book has to cater for all levels of ability, but these bookmarks could have been knitted by a 5-year old!  The other colours are simply woven in using a darning needle, and the ends tied together

 

 

This week's project is very simple too (there are some more interesting ones coming in the next few weeks!).  A simple knitted belt with ribbon stitched round it, and a contrasting bow.  As it won't take long to do, it will mean more time to get on with the blanket for Linus

 

 

ps - several of you wondered why I hadn't just picked the lamb up to put it back in the field.  I couldn't catch it!  Every time I got close, it ran off again, and each time it was getting further and further away from its field!!

 

A damsel in distress

On my way to patch'n'chat at lunchtime, I had to stop the car, when this tiny lamb walked into the middle of the road (this photo was taken from the car)

 

 

She came running up to the car, so I got out to try to get her to go back into the field

 

 

She was calling for her mum, and I could hear the ewe in the field, calling back to her.

 

 

When I couldn't get her back in the field, I got in the car and drove away slowly, only to find her trotting down the road behind me!  So I went to the nearest farmhouse - the farmer who came to the door said he would go and rescue her

 

 

So, after all the cute lamb photos, back to the planned post.  When we had our cuppa out in the garden yesterday afternoon, I was, unusually, drinking rooibos tea.  Why?  Well, it started with this book, which I bought recently, and started reading yesterday morning

 

 

The main character, Mma Ramotswe (a lady of traditional build) is very fond of redbush (rooibos) tea.  I don't normally drink it, but I have two types in the tea and coffee supplies that I keep for the friends who come to my housegroup

 

 

The book is set in Botswana. so it seemed appropriate to make the tea in my 'zebra' teaset

 

 

A delicious refreshing cuppa, which I enjoyed sitting in the sun

 

 

The garden is waking up from the long hard winter

 

ornamental quince

 

aqualegia

 

astilbe

 

hosta

 

It's Friday, so of course that means cake!  Today's delight was the delicious apple and sultana one that we all are very partial to

 

 

I didn't mean to tease you yesterday by showing you the box and not telling you what was in it!  It was a case of wine!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne