frayed at the edge

Not quite so glorious!

This morning, Malcolm suggested we went over to Duns, despite the weather being decidely cooler, after a few glorious days.  However, we had a very enjoyable walk through the Duns Castle Estate.  The castle isn't open to the public, although you can have your wedding there!  We caught a first glimpse through this arch

 

 

However, we did get a better view further on in our walk

 

 

The castle has two man made ponds in its grounds, one of which is called Hen Poo - but I haven't been able to find out why!  You can see the pond in the background, beyond the sheep and lambs

 

 

It was a delight to walk through the woods and find primroses flowering

 

 

When I saw this piece of hollow tree trunk, I tried to persuade Malcolm to lie down in the mud and take an arty shot through it .... but for some reason he wouldn't do it!!  So you will just have to make do with this one I took by getting down on my knees

 

 

When we left the Castle Estate and followed the road back into town, we were greeted with this wonderful display of daffodils - there must be thousands of them

 

 

In front of our house, we have a new, boring, block wall ..... I wonder if I could persuade Malcolm to build a wall like this so we could have plants growing in the nooks and crannies

 

 

We know that Queen Victoria was very small, so perhaps that is why this postbox is only a foot off the ground, so that she wouldn't have to stretch up to post a letter

 

 

Tonight there is a very large jackpot on the lottery, and if we win, we are heading straight back to Duns to buy this house - well, really it's the fabulous conservatory that we want!

 

 

After all that walking, of course we had to have a cuppa, so we called into Hugo's

 

 

As always, I had tea and Malcolm had coffee.  I did think about trying to fit the teapot into my handbag, but fortunately common sense prevailed (no, I wasn't worried about being caught stealing the teapot, I was just worried that the leftover tea might spill!!)  We also shared some toasted bannock, which was delicious

 

 

When I'm out and about with the camera, I have got used to looking up, but it's just as well I was also looking down today, or I might have missed these two old doorways.  The first has a wonderful tiled step .......

 

 

........ and the second a metal name sign for a previous business on the edge of the step into the shop

 

 

You may have noticed that, apart from the Tuesday Tutorials, there has been a dearth of knitting and sewing ...... this is because I have been working on something very special ..... all will be revealed on Friday!!  (but there will also be a post as usual tomorrow)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glorious sunshine!

At last ...... lots of sunshine and not just a warm, but a positively hot Sunday, meant we had a wonderful day out yesterday.

We went to Coldstream to visit The Hirsel, home of the Home family (their name is pronounced Hume).  Malcolm had been there three weeks ago with his sisters, Jennifer and Judith (I couldn't go!) and he came home full of tales of the wonderful highland cattle - especially the calves.  

 

this cute little fluffy bundle will grow to look like this ........

 

 

....... this is an older calf with small horns ......

 

 

this is a young adult with medium horns

 

 

those horns are handy when you have an itch!!

 

 

the cattle come in all sorts of colours

 

But there was more to enjoy ....... lots and lots of daffodils

 

 

Beautiful buildings - in wonderful surroundings

 

 

A swan sitting in the sun, preening

 

 

After a cuppa and a scone, we had a browse round the wonderful craft shops.  There is a wide variety of gorgeous things to buy, all very reasonably priced.  I couldn't resist this little salt pig, with its cute spoon

 

 

I think you will have realised that Malcolm like all things wooden, so when I saw this beautiful bowl, I bought it for his collection

 

 

I took the last two photos in the garden this afternoon - it's wonderful to have such bright sunshine for taking photographs.  I also took this photo of the cracket that Malcolm has just finished for Jennifer

 

 

He was working on one for me this afternoon

 

 

Do you remember that the olive tree got flattened when the snow came off the roof?  It's not looking too good ....... and the ceanothus behind it is looking very sad as well

 

 

I lost one of my hellebores, and the other one wasn't looking to good, but suddenly over the last few days, it has shot up and (almost) flowered

 

 

 

 

  

You can't have too many .......

........ lambs!  I saw these two cuties when I was heading to Borderland Fabrics today.  I promptly reversed (having of course checked in my rear view mirror!), parked and even braved the muddy entrance to the field (I had on new shoes) to lean over the gate and snap them!!

 

 

This afternoon at patch'n'chat, Seonaid was working on a log cabin block ....... a very small log cabin block!  I took this photo on a cutting mat, so you can see just how small it is - a mere four inches square

 

 

Her aim is to make a lap quilt - she has made forty blocks, so she still has a long way to go (and she is doing it all by hand!)  However, she was fortified by a slice of Annette's wonderful sponge with our afternoon cuppa

 

 

Yesterday's photo of the dog in the shop window attracted several comments ....... I can reassure you that it is a 'toy' dog .... although it is amazingly lifelike.  I didn't include this photo yesterday, as it isn't as clear, but these two puppies hanging from the picture frame were moving too

 

 

The forecast for the weekend is for much better weather - I hope yours is good too.

Love, Anne

 

An election-free zone!

Here in Britain we are gripped by election fever ...... or maybe not!  I want a category on the voting paper saying 'none of the above' - they seem to think that having a wife who dresses nicely is a good reason to be elected.  That is the last time that the 'e' word will be mentioned on this blog!

 

I still haven't had much success finding lambs to photograph - they all seem to be in fields miles from the road, but I did manage to take this photo as we drove up the A7 this morning on our way to Selkirk

 

still not the best of photos, but at least the sky is blue!

 

Of course, Wednesdays mean going out for lunch, but when we got to Selkirk we were a bit early (we're always early!!), so we went for a walk.  We've passed this statue of Mungo Park many times, but I had yet to take photos of it, so I rectified that today

 

 

Like so many Scotsmen of that time, he qualified as a doctor, then went off abroad on various wonderful adventures - you can read more of his life and times here.  Unfortunately, as you can see from this plaque, he met an early death in Africa

 

 

When I started taking photos for the blog, I paid much more attention to my surroundings and was amazed at all the things that I saw that I had walked past numerous times before without noticing them.  An example is this wonderful tiled picture in the doorway of an empty shop (it's sad to think that it may be removed when another business moves into the premises

 

 

When we got back after lunch, I just had time to run in the door, grab my knitting bag and hurry off to meet Lorraine to go to knit'n'natter.  After parking, we were somewhat distracted by the new window display in the shoe shop ...... oh,oh,oh - shoes in all sorts of styles and colours for the summer, with beads and bows and flowers and ....... but the price tags ensured that we only looked!  OK, I have to tell the truth, on the way back to the car, Lizzi joined us and this time we not only looked in the window, but went in and examined the shoes in detail ...... but we were strong and resisted temptation (although I thought I saw Lorraine wipe away a tear as we made her leave the shop, she loves shoes so much!!)

 

So what was I knitting today?  I was working on ......... well, you'll have to wait until next Tuesday's Tutorial to find out - but here's a sneak peek

 

 

And to finish, a little bit of fun!  For those of you who don't live in Britain, you may not know that a bogie is something you find up your nose .........

 

I hurried past in case there was one close by!!

  

 

Back to nature

Yesterday we decided to head off to Harestanes, one of out favourite places for a Sunday morning walk .... although we hadn't been for some time because of the weather!  As soon as we arrived, we could see that the weather hasn't stopped work being done on the hedge behind the carpark

 

the original hedge, tall and straggly

 

 

cut almost through at the foot of the stems and bent over

 

 

a framework and woven top has been added - the hedge is already growing strongly

 

Although it is now spring, it still looked like autumn under these trees

 

 

But these daffodils were a welcome splash of colour on a dull morning

 

 

Before we went out, we only had a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea, so when we finished our walk, we were more than ready to tuck into delicious bacon sandwiches

 

 

We saw posters saying that there was a demonstration of green woodworking, so of course we went to have a look.  Malcolm was delighted to be given a go at shaping a piece of wood ......

 

....... helped by plenty of advice from this lady, who was shaping a leg for a stool

 

 

I think I will have to get Malcolm some specialist woodworking tools for his birthday and Christmas this year - it's all very different to the sort of stuff he usually does.

There are also some craft shops at Harestanes, and I bought this little oil drizzler for Malcolm - it is only three inches high!

 

 

I also couldn't resist these beads - now I just need to design a project for them

 

 

It was a very pleasant way to spend the morning - and in the evening, some Easter egg may have been eaten!!

 

 

 

 

 

It may be April ......

....... but winter just doesn't want to go away!!  This morning we woke up to a sharp frost, which was followed by freezing fog ...... just in time for all the people going away for the Easter Weekend.

Having fulfilled my domestic duties, as always it was off to Borderland Fabrics for patch'n'chat.  There weren't so many of us there, because of the holiday, but we still had fun!  Anne S was woking on a wallhanging of angels (yes, my angels)..  She is working them in purple, which gives them quite a different appearance to my red ones. 

 

 

Anne's daughter Roberta is visiting her, so she came along for the afternoon.  Unfortunately she didn't bring one of the beautiful teddies that she makes, but she did bring her knitting

 

 

But that's not all that they brought - they had a little treat to share

 

 

I was working on my runner for my chest of drawers.  After trying out several layouts for the main part, I eventually decided on this one

 

 

I really enjoy hand applique - there is something very relaxing about sitting stitching round the tulips and leaves

 

 

As always, come three o'clock, everything stopped for tea ...... which was kept hot in the pot by the super tea cosy knitted by Anne D

 

 

Annette wasn't there today, but in her absence Cathy had made more of her wonderful muffins (she got up at 7am to make them for us!)  Today's were orange and mixed fruit and they were absolutely delicious .......

 

 

I hope you all have a super weekend, love, Anne

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was raining again .....

 ...... this morning, wet, windy and horrible .... so when it came to lunchtime, I definitely needed some comfort food!

 

delicious - boiled eggs and toast soldiers

 

I love to have pots of herbs on the kitchen windowsill, so I was delighted to find this double pot in a kitchen shop earlier in the week - just the thing to put my basil and thyme in

 

 

The rain did finally ease after lunch, so when I went out to the studio to fetch my sewing to go to Borderland Fabrics, I was able to take some photos of more signs of spring!

 

these narcissi are a month late in flowering

 

 

one of my garden favourites - alchemilla mollis

 

lovely soft shades of green and purple leaves of aquilegia 

 

 

 

the forsythia is about to flower

 

 

 

The challenge for March was to clear out my wardrobe - I had already taken some woolies to a charity shop, but then I had a thorough clearout!

 

 

Don't worry, Winnie the Pooh didn't go to the charity shop .... he was just relaxing on the bed in the guest bedroom!  It was hard to part with some of the clothes - but they are too small for me and I know I will never be that thin again ....... and I did feel better when they were no longer hanging in the wardrobe looking reproachfully at me for not being able to wear them.

 

Of course, Friday means cake, and Annette produced one of her light-as-air sponges for us to have with our cuppa

 

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - we are supposed to have better weather tomorrow ...... but snow is forecast for next week!!!

Love Anne
 

 

 
 

 

  

 

 

 

Gorgeous!

Yesterday we headed off over the Border to County Durham, on our way to visit Helen, as she had an open weekend at her wonderful studio

 

 

It was lovely to finally meet Helen, as we have been blog friends for quite some time ..... but every time she had one of her open weekends, I was unable to go!  We nearly didn't get there this time, as she lives at the end of a very bumpy farm road.   Malcolm blanched at the thought of driving his new car over all the lumps and bumps as it has a low clearance .... but he just took it easy and we got there unscathed!  We had a cuppa and a chat with Helen, then before I got down to some retail therapy, I took some photos ....... first of the gorgeous merchandise

 

lovely things for Easter

 

where else would you keep cushions!

 

 

more gorgeousness outside

 

 

Malcolm made a new friend

 

 

even I found this cute!!

 

some of my purchases - I can't show you all of them as they are presents!

 

After we has successfully negotiated the farm road again, we headed into Durham.  We hadn't been there before, so we were looking forward to doing some sightseeing.  As I took lots of photos, I will save them for another post, and will end today with .... food!  We went to La Tasca, a lively Spanish tapas restaurant, for dinner.  We ordered a selection of dishes, which looked like an awful lot of food when it arrived

 

but we managed to eat it all! 

 

After another walk round Durham this morning, we meandered home, with a stop on the way in a very intersting village - but I'll save that for another time as well ........
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

  

Oh dear ....... more cake!

I know, there was rather a lot of calorific content yesterday ...... but it's Friday, which means more cake (sorry Lindsay!!)  This afternoon at Borderland Fabrics, Cathy had made chocolate chip muffins .......

 

 

Moving swiftly on ........ having forgotten to take a photo last Saturday of what I was working on - I forgot again this afternoon!!  But, I did remember when I got home.  I have finished the tulips on either end of the runner (I had originally intended to have various flowers, but I liked the tulips I did for the 'Spring' wallhanging, so I decided to use them for the runner too)

 

 

I then made a start to placing tulips and leaves round the main part of the runner

 

 

I am fed up waiting for some colour in the garden, so I have been to the garden centre for some plants to put in the pots at the studio door .... vibrant polyanthus

 

 

narcissi

 

 

and snake's head fritillaries

 

 

Have a good weekend (I don't think I'll have any more cake!!) Love, Anne

 

 

  

I could have sewed all night!

Well, not quite, but on Saturday I went to 'quilt till you wilt' at Borderland Fabrics .  We started arriving at 4.30, shortly before the shop shut and then we sewed ... and we sewed ..... finally going home at 11.30!! 

Cheryl was working on her add-a-row quilt

 

 

as was Helen

 

 

but they have to complete a few more rows to catch up with Cathy

 

 

Anne S. was working on a bag - this is one of the panels

 

 

and Anne D. was making a start to a very large quilt that she is sewing entirely by hand!

 

 

But we didn't sew all night .... we had a pause to enjoy delicious Chinese takeaway food (and a glass of wine may also have been enjoyed!)

 

 

I had my favourite .... chicken chow mein

 

 

Then it was back to the sewing, with Annette making this bright quilt for her granddaughter

 

 

Margaret was making gorgeous placemats

 

 

Sandra was finishing this enchanting quilt

 

 

and Jane was working on her tile quilt

 

 

So what was I doing ....... oh dear, I was so busy taking photos of everyone's work, I forgot to take a photo of my own!  I was working on an applique runner for the chest of drawers in my bedroom - I will have to show it to you another time!!