frayed at the edge

A brief escape!

Snow, snow, snow and more snow - but the snow on the road melted a bit late morning, so after lunch we ventured out in the car.  It's only half a mile from the house to the main road, but it is down a long fairly steep hill, then up a short even steeper hill. It was a bit scary as the car slithered several times, but we made it out on to the main road and then on into Hawick.  There followed the quickest supermarket shop I have ever done (including a magazine - hooray) and with the boot full of fresh milk, veggies and other necessities, we set off home again.  Oh dear, not so easy to get back up the long hill, then ....... we met one of the neighbours coming the other way in his truck, which meant pulling over into the deep snow at the side of the road.  Much wheel spinning later, I got out and pushed the car, giving Malcolm enough of a help to get underway again.  Then ...... another neighbour in his big 4x4 and into the side again.  At least I was still walking behind the car and was able to use a bit of muscle to get Malcolm on his way again ....... and off he drove, leaving me to walk the rest of the way home (once he was home, he did walk back along the road to meet me!!)  So ..... we won't be going out again until the road conditions are much better.  As promised, no snow photos (don't worry Anne, there will be more tomorrow!), but the table measurement this morning was 18 inches!!

So, on to happier things

 

 

When I put this on the bookcase in the kitchen this morning, I realised that I hadn't yet shown you our new shelf.  It is actually an old shelf that I found in a charity shop.  The shelf was at an angle for books to sit on, so Malcolm took the saw to it, so that it would hang on the wall with a level shelf.  An added bonus was that the ends now have a funny heart shape!

 

 

The shelf is now home to Malcolm's collection of little owls - holiday and birthday presents from me (the one on the right wiggles when you nudge him!)

 

 

I also hung up our Advent Snowman (the photo is slightly confusing ...... there is a window between the back lounge and the hallway to the back door.  The table and the orchid are in the hall .... and you can see my reflection!))

 

 

The Gnome Sisters are delighted with their Christmas cushion ....

 

 

...... and their brothers love theirs too!

 

 

Now ...... if a recipe is in this magazine

 

 

then it must be low calorie and healthy .... mustn't it?

 

 

I'm sure 32 calories per piece must be a typo!  Preparing the strips was a bit of a faff, trying to remove all the pith

 

 

but dipping them in chocolate was easy - although I did have to resist the temptation to keep licking my fingers!

 

 

Mine might not look as pretty as the ones in the magazine, but they taste delicious ....... but with all those calories, we will have to ration ourselves to one or two pieces each day!!

 

Who stole the field?

We've had a foggy day .....when I looked out this morning, the field across the road had vanished!

 

 

However, the fog didn't stop the birds popping in for breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There hasn't been much craft work done this week!  I have done some more of the crochet shawl and hope to finish it over the weekend.  This afternoon at patch'n'chat, there was too much of the latter, and not enough of the former, but I did make a start to embellishing the houses on my row quilt, adding some curtains and blinds on the windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the weekend, I will be chained to my worktable, putting the finishing touches to all my goodies for the Fair.  Whatever you are doing, I hope it all goes well and you have a good time!  Love Anne

Not so exciting after all ......

Today's post was going to tell you all about my trip to Edinburgh to have my first lesson on my new sewing machine ..... but things didn't quite go to plan.  We had a good trip up, and after we got over the cost of parking (almost all parking in Hawick is free!) we popped into Starbucks - as much to have a toilet stop as a drink!  Malcolm then headed off to have a potter round the shops and I went for my lesson.  I'm not going to name the shop (I don't want to be sued!) ...... but lots of you will know where I went.  I met the woman who was going to give me my tuition - and then it all went rapidly downhill.  She waffled on about completely basic stuff concerning needles and threads and showed me how to switch the machine on(!).  I said I knew all of this, could she perhaps move on a bit.  She said she didn't know how experienced I was, so had to cover the basics ... I said I hardly thought my machine was an entry level machine (perhaps she should have asked how experienced I was and then pitched the lesson to that level?) She then finally got round to demonstrating a stitch to use ..... at which point it became clear that she was unfamiliar with the machine - I was telling her what to do!!  At that point I gave up, complained somewhat vociferously to the shop owner and said I would arrange with Janome to have my tuition elsewhere!! 

Never mind, things got better after that!  Thank goodness for mobile phones ..... I was able to get a hold of Malcolm and we went for a quick sandwich for lunch.  Then of course the camera came out ...... this was our first glimpse of the castle (sorry, it was a bit grey, and I only had the small camera, so not the best of photos!)

 

 

Those of you who have been to Edinburgh will know that the castle sits high above the main railway station.  There is a frequently told joke about a tourist (I'm not going to put in the nationality!!) who asked why they built the castle next to the railway (perhaps it was the same tourist who asked why the Queen built Windsor castle under the flight path to Heathrow Airport!!)  I took this next photo to show you one of the beautiful wrought iron balcomies - it was only when I looked at it on the laptop that I realised that there is a pigeon perched on it!

 

 

This magnificent building ......

 

 

...... is home to the national Archives

 

 

When we looked up the lane at the side of the building, we saw this quirly little building (it turned out to be a restaurant)

 

 

This next magnificent building belongs to the Church of Scotland

 

 

I was puzzled by the lighthouse on this building, until I saw that it is the offices of the Lighthouse Commission!

 

 

Do you think we should have a sphinx put on our roof (except it's probably bigger than the roof!)

 

 

Another glimpse of the castle

 

 

It is often said that we Scots have very bad eating habits, and that we eat too much (deep) fried food, and too many sweet things.  So you can indulge in both with one of these ....

 

 

Of course we would never eat anything like that - our tastes are much more sophisticated, as you can see from this 'plate to share' that we enjoyed with a cuppa at a garden centre on the way home ...... oh dear, that was a lie, these were all sweet and sticky and gorgeous (but just small pieces, honest!!)

 

 ....... the one at the back on the left had bits of Turkish Delight (the chocolate covered kind) in it - that made up for the rotten morning!!

 

 

 

 

 

A little bit of string .......

........ was all it took to transform my empty candle jars into pretty tealight holders

 

 

I bought these lovely coloured strings in a garden centre some time ago, certain that I could use them for something!  I stuck some double sided tape round the bottom of the jars, then wound the string round.  I added some tealights, some pretty packaging and a fun label ....... a quick and easy way to transform the jars

 

 

I also solved the problem of how to attach the pencils to the notebooks.  I stuck them to strips of card with that horrible gummy stuff that free gifts are stuck to magazines with, then attached the card strips to the notebooks with tiny clothespegs.  A fun tag, and the job was done!

 

 

I may have mentioned before that my crochet skills are decidedly rusty.  Years (and years!) ago, I used to crochet ..... I even crocheted dresses when I was in my teens.  But I always had problems with my tension, and with knowing where to work my first and last stitches, so my work tended to have rather oddly shaped edges.  But having seen so many lovely crocheted things on other blogs, I decided to have another go.  I saw a nice shawl pattern in this magazine ......

 

 

It was funny buying a 'People's Friend' publication, as I can remember my Granny reading the People's Friend when I was little.

 

 

Once I had read the instructions for the special stitches several times, I made a start .......

 

 

.... but I had to frog a few rows, as there is a mistake (third row from the top, there should be three double trebles in the centre!)  But after that, I made good progress, and I've finished the first section

 

 

Weather forecasters might keep saying that it is late autumn, but it was definitely winter when I went out this morning ...... as you can see, it was minus one degree ......

 

 

....... and the windscreen took a bit of scraping!! 

 

Turning into a mouse!

It was a bright clear frosty morning, so we stopped at the Carter Bar so that I could take some photos.  But it slightly hazy when we got there (and very, very cold!)

 

this is looking back into Scotland

 

 

the border runs into the distance

 

 

beautiful blue sky behind ....

 

 

....... The Beacon - I don't know if it has been lit since

 

 

I always cheer when we pass this sign on the way home!

 

When we picked Jennifer up, Malcolm suggested that we went to the Biscuit Factory for lunch.  He had discovered it some time ago, as it is near the Alfa Romeo garage where he got his car at the start of the year.

 

 

As we were a little bit late for lunch, we hurried in the door .....

 

 

... went upstairs to Cafe Byker Vista, and studied the menu - which had a lovely fabric cover

 

 

When my tea arrived, I was quite taken with my funny angled saucer

 

 

And now to explain why I am turning into a mouse ...... I decided to order a ploughman's lunch, thinking a little bit of cheese, some crusty bread, pickle.  This is what I got!!

 

This is as much cheese as I probably eat in a month - I swear I felt little mousey whiskers appearing and my nose twitching as I surveyed my plate.  However, you don't have to worry about my cholesterol levels, as Malcolm ate some of it!!

When we got home, we found a mysterious parcel from Italy on the doorstep ...... but I'll tell you about that tomorrow!

The continuing saga .......

Oh dear, just when we thought things were getting better ....... last night I was struck down with raging toothache again!  I was at the dentist's first thing this morning (even before the dentist arrived) and fortunately he saw me as soon as he came in.  He promptly wrote me a prescription for antibiotics, with instructons to take double doses today ..... so hopefully by the time I get up tomorrow, things will have improved!

But now for more cheerful things! Yesterday was glorious - cold and frosty, with a beautiful blue sky.  We went to Jedburgh for a walk along the river - I had to stop every few yards to take photos!  I took lots of shadow shots for next weekend, as of course with winter just about upon us (there was snow just down the road from us on the Carter Bar this morning) I have to stock up on them when I get the chance.  We were delighted to see not one, not two, but THREE herons.  One of them kept tucking its head down out of sight, but finally I managed to capture this shot

 

 

I love autumn colours, and this tree was beautiful in the sun

 

 

The carpet of leaves glowed under the trees

 

 

Of course after a long walk in the cold, we had to go for a cuppa - how could I not enjoy a cup of tea from such pretty china!

 

 

Back home, it hadn't got any warmer, and there was still ice on the windscreen of my car ...... this feathery shape would make a lovely quilting pattern!

 

 

There was lots more activity on the Christmas Fair front - here is a little taster - I'll show you the rest tomorrow!

 

Move over Winnie!

Poor Winnie the Pooh had to be moved from his bed this morning, as Stuart and Alison are visiting.  However, he wasn't too upset, as he still has his special cushions with him (and he has the koalas for company)

 

 

Once he was relocated, the next job was to take the various quilts off the bed and fold them

 

 

After that, I had to wrestle the cover onto the duvet - we don't have a duvet on our bed, so I'm not very good with duvets!

 

 

If they need some bedtime reading, they might just find something suitable on the bookshelves

 

 

Or they might want to start planning a little craft project

 

 

I hope they don't get scared by this fearsome dragon (this embroidery is even older than Stuart!)

 

 

They could spend some time laughing at the rogues' gallery

 

 

Of course, there is someone else in the bedroom who might enjoy the company - my rag doll Jemima.  She may look like a young thing, but she is older than Stuart too!

 

 

I had better finish now, as it is a bit rude sitting tapping away on the laptop and ignoring the guests!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

Lots of knitting .....

...... and a little bit of sewing!  The star of today's post is Maia - it may have taken me a while, but finally it's finished!  I think part of the problem was that the pattern has a twelve row repeat, so I kept getting bored, doing the same thing over and over (and over).  However, as you will see, it was definitely worth the effort!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gave my cable-cuff socks their first outing today.  They are very warm and I really like the colour

 

 

Now that I have finished Ishbel and Maia, I have been getting on with Malcolm's socks, and have finished the first one, except for the dreaded Kitchener stitch

 

 

As for the little bit of sewing ...... of course it was chat'n'patch this afternoon, and I was working on my owls (I know, there hasn't been much progress on them)

 

 

As always, there was cake - another of Annette's wonderful sponges, with raspberry jam.  I just wish I could share it with you!

 

 

I can't believe it's the weekend again - it hardly seems five minutes since the last one!  I hope you all have a good one, love Anne

A (very) mixed bag!

I was going to call this post 'When will I see you again?' ..... but you might have got upset, thinking I was taking a break- it was because when I went out this morning, it was three degrees, which always starts me singing ......'When will  ....... ok, terrible joke!!  We woke up this morning to the first frost - it was so cold, I took this photo of my car from the bedroom window - I wasn't going outside until I had to!

 

But it wasn't that surprising that it was cold, as it was very clear last night - I did brave the cold then to take this photo of the moon

 

Tonight's heading reflects the fact that I have a collection of photos that haven't made it into other posts, so I thought I would use them tonight before I forget that I have them!  It was my bloggy friend Sarah's birthday yesterday (this is an 'oops' moment - because we went away just after my birthday, I didn't post photos of my lovely bloggy presents .... sorry).  Sarah loves beachcombing and driftwood .... and Malcolm just happpened to have some driftwood in the garage, so he made these two lovely things for her ( I remembered as I wrapped them that I hadn't taken a photo - do you like the animal print tissue paper!)

 

Don't worry - he didn't use my best cutlery ..... we found some in a charity shop to use.  The lettering and decoration on the shopping list is done with a poker pen.

 

When we came back from our holiday, this clump of tiny mushrooms had appeared in the grass at the front of the house

 

 

Recently we were back at the Water Wheel cafe, where the eagle owls are still thriving

 

 

 

Yesterday, when Malcolm was going out, he asked if there was anything I wanted (meaning milk, bread, veggies).  I replied that he could bring me a present (ignoring my Mum's voice in my head saying 'people who ask don't get'!)  Well, I did get ...... he brought me this quilting magazine - complete with cd, which has lots of patterns and templates that can be printed out

 

 

I have finally finished Maia - well, almost ..... I have still to block it

 

 

For some months now, I have had company in the bathroom ........ a very leggy spider.  Usually it is hanging from the ceiling - but of course when I went to take a photo, it was hiding in  a corner!

 

 

As this last photo shows, we may have had frost, but the climbing rose is determined to behave as if it is still summer!

 
 

Picking lilies?

Malcolm : What do you mean, you're going to pick lilies, we don't have any in the garden.

Me : No dear, I said I'm going to make some piccalilli. 

Some weeks ago, I promised Tinky that I would share my recipe for piccalilli with her ...... so I thought I might as well share it with all of you!

I started yesterday, when I chopped up about 500g of cauliflower.  I put it in a colander, over a bowl, and covered it generously with salt.  I left this overnight for the excess moisture to drain out of the cauliflower

 

 

The original recipe for the piccalilli uses cucumber and pickling onions, but I prefer to use ......

 

I cut 100g onions in half and sliced 200g gherkins.  I rinsed the salt off the cauliflower and left it to drain.  The other ingredients are

 

300ml vinegar, 50g sugar, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 2 teaspoons dried mustard, 1 tbsp cornflour

 

The method is simple - put most of the vinegar, the sugar, turmeric, ginger and mustard in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add the cauliflower and simmer until it is almost cooked.  Add the onions and gherkins and simmer for a few more minutes.  Use the remaining vinegar to slake the cornflour, then add a little at a time, until the mixture has thickened.  Spoon into hot jars, cover and label.
This made four small jars - now I just need some cheese on toast .....

 

Once the piccalilli was ready, I finished my Ishbel shawl - I had blocked it yesterday, and today I sewed in the ends.  I had also knitted fingerless mittens with the leftover yarn and I finished them as well.  Then it was out to the studio to take photos  ......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was cooking, the postman arrived with two boxes.  One contained a roll of cellophane wrapping and some cellophane bages.  I popped two washcloths and a bar of soap into a bag and tied it with a scrap of ribbon - of course it will look better with matching ribbon and a pretty tag

 

 

When I saw these cardboard boxes, I thought hmm - what can I use them for?  Perhaps for the new baby sets, with some pretty tissue paper (this is just an odd piece from my stash)

 

 

And to finish - could you have resisted this bakers' string and these super tags, which I can stamp or embellish