frayed at the edge

A last batch!

 This is a very random last selection from the holiday photos.  As you go through, you will find some wonderful gnarly old trees, pigeons sharing a window with a tv ariel(!), a brilliant yellow jeep which Malcolm wouldn't let me steal borrow.  There are also two more of Malcolm's photos, which I have credited to him!  When you have staggered to the end, you will find three photos from yesterday

Malcolm #1

Malcolm #2

 

on our way up to the hairdresser in Kelso yesterday, we popped in for a cuppa, and shared a delicious cheese scone (we did miss our scones on holiday, no matter how many cakes we ate!)

 

I took this one from the car when we were stopped at temporary traffic lights (Malcolm was driving)

 

and to end, this is Jake the Salon Dog, working hard at guarding the premises!!

 

we will be heading home from Berwick tomorrow.  Malcolm will be busy over the weekend in the garden, and I hope to get lots of sewing done.  Have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A quick tour

I had hoped to have all the photos sorted out for today's post, but I was at The Quilt Shop all day yesterday teaching, and I was there again today for our usual Wednesday sewing day.  So here is just a quick look at our holiday

 

the front of the villa

 

the back of the villa and the wonderful swimming pool

 

the lounge area

 

the dining area, with the kitchen beyond

 

the Iron Cockerel in Pollensa

 

looking over to Puerto Pollensa

 

there are lots of these wonderful old gnarly trees

 

now this house has been refurbished, it has been screened from public view - most annoying

 

cute goats!

 

delicious food at the Sunday market

 

every year I offer to buy this boat for Malcolm!

 

a misty evening view of Puerto Pollensa

 

an old well, hidden in a neglected garden

 

one of Malcolm's photos

 

another of Malcolm's photos!

 

this car owner has a sense of humour!

 

I will try very hard to sort out more photos for Friday, as I still have some super ones to share with you!

I'm back!

Hello!  Did you miss me?  I missed you and I am looking forward to catching up with what you have been up to while we were away. I have been busy since we got back getting the laundry done and buying half the supermarket this morning to refill the fridge (I even did some gardening yesterday, as it was such a lovely afternoon).

I have yet to sort out all the photos that we took - yes, Malcolm has been bitten by the photography bug and took lots of photos too!  So for today, I shall share this one with you, which he thinks is his best one, taken in Cala St Vicenç

Sunshine!

When I came into the kitchen at quarter past six this morning, the sun was shining strongly through the window ......

 

......... creating some excellent shadow shots

 

I took this shot yesterday afternoon, when there was just a hint of a shadow

 

just look at the difference this morning!

 

those of you who pop in to see me on Instagram (@annetaydon) know that on Fridays I post a photo of the treat I have for breakfast because I have been good all week.  Well, that might have been a slight fib this morning, after enjoying this delicious chocolate brownie on Monday!

 

today's title of Sunshine doesn't just refer to this morning ........ ok, we need a roll of drums and a fanfare - we are off to Majorca tomorrow for our annual stay!!  I won't be blogging over the next 3 weeks, except for popping in on Monday with my April report for 6&6 in 2018, but I hope to pop a photo on Instagram each day (warning, there may be a lot of delicious cakes, and even the occasional glass of wine, as well as sea, sand and sun!).

I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

The last instalment

As a change to visiting castles, we headed to Scolton Manor.  As we walked from the carpark up to the house, we came upon this amazing carving

 

here is a small detail

 

further on, this owl was decidedly more weathered.  I think his talons are slightly out of proportion to his body!

 

then it was into the garden, which is being restored

 

this may look like a greenhouse for very small people

 

but when you go inside, you find that the floor level is much lower than the garden outside

 

these old straw bee skeps have been inset into the wall - I would love a feature like this in our garden ...... if only we had some skeps, and an old wall! 

 

this photo is for Kelly, a lover of old gates

 

there is a very productive kitchen garden

 

these freshly picked veggies were en route to the gift shop

 

as we continued our meander to the house, we then came across this carving, which depicts the French invaders surrendering to the women of Fishguard

 

the sign claimed that this is the Holy Grail ....

 

finally, we arrived at the house

 

it's always fascinating to see how people lived years ago

 

some things don't change - you could find a similar piece of embroidery in progress in our house

 

I have no idea what was kept in a Brain Jar!

 

"upstairs" dining was rather grand

 

"downstairs" was more informal

 

down in the cellar, even posh people have  a room full of junk

 

but they also have a room full of wine!

 

Malcolm wanted to take this clock home!

 

the next stop was the café for lunch

 

I had a cheese and pickle sandwich

 

and Malcolm had cheese and tuna.  We had expected dainty sandwiches with perhaps grated cheese - not great thick  slabs of the most delicious cheese ...... it's just as well we were doing so much walking to work off the calories!

 

on the way back to the car, we found more carvings

 

this one told a sad story

 

while this one

 

is symbolic of the struggles between Wales and England

 

this chap may have been a pirate

 

but he was a well-behaved one!

 

back at the car park we discovered this old engine ......

 

and signal box, which are hopefully going to be restored to their former gallery

 

we went for one last walk on the beach - no, this isn't us!

 

pausing to admire the scenery

 

do you prefer the sharp, jagged rocks

 

or the ones worn smooth by the waves?

 

the tide was out

 

so the boats

 

were high and dry on the sand

 

except for this one, which was nowhere near the sea!

 

it's Friday, so that means we have to have something tasty!  One morning I had the rare treat of hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream and marshmallows.  And we shared a Danish pastry, as there were no scones on the menu

 

but don't worry, we popped down to Heighley Gate garden Centre on Sunday to buy some bulbs for the garden to give us a show of colour in the spring, and while we were there we shared an exceedingly good cheese and spring onion scone

 

I was up early enough on Sunday morning to see the sunrise

 

ok - I was only up that early to go to the loo!

 

then later in the day, we had some heavy rain, followed by a double rainbow

 

it was so intense we could clearly see the seven colours

 

I'll be back on Monday with some sewing, and what I did with several kilos of plums from the tree in the garden.  Have a great weekend, love Anne

Some more holiday photos!

Today's report starts in Haverfordwest, where the water was so still .......

 

 

there were perfect reflections of the bridges

 

the ruins of the castle dominate the skyline

 

as we drove down this steep hill, it seemed that we would drive straight on to the beach!

 

I don't know why these three people had a quad bike on the beach, but I just liked the way their reflections were following them

 

the next stop was in St David's City, the smallest city in the UK

 

despite its tiny size, it qualifies as a city as it has a cathedral

 

next to the Cathedral are the ruins of the Bishops' Palace - they obviously lived in some splendour!

 

I liked this gate - perhaps it could become a quilting pattern?

 

now we are in Tenby - I was surprised to see the terraces of multi-coloured houses

 

this is where we had lunch

 

in a very old building

 

do come with me to the ladies' loo

 

wouldn't it be nice of modern loos looked like this one!

 

I love the name of this shop ........

 

........ and this street

 

you can just see the frogs on the shop windows

 

if only I could have brought this home to put in the garden!

 

 

another day, another castle!

 

this is Pembroke Castle

 

which is a magnificent structure

 

built by the English to subdue the pesky Welsh

 

but the ladies in the castle left the men to their fighting, while they got on with their needlework

 

on the drive back to the cottage. I spotted this line of sheep in the distance, walking up the hill

 

we had a small detour to look at this burial chamber

 

the top stone is actually only just resting on the upright stones

 

I took this photo ......

 

then took it again in B&W - which one do you prefer?

 

and to finish, a Welsh sheep - there are more sheep than people in Wales!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Boy!

Hello my lovely peeps!  Did you miss me?  I certainly missed you - no wifi for a whole week!!  We had a super, if at times rather damp, holiday, and spent the week celebrating Malcolm's birthday.  We stayed in the town of Newport, in Pembrokeshire, which was a good base for being out and about sightseeing.  On the day of the Big Birthday, we went for a pub lunch, which is something we rarely do.  Malcolm had the most delicious cod and chips, with light, crispy batter on the fish

 

and I tucked into a spicy lamb burger

 

later, we had a rather eclectic birthday tea, with sushi, cheese, a glass of fizz, and a chocolate cake, complete with candles.  I think Malcolm's poor ears have just about recovered from my rendition of Happy Birthday!

 

on Wednesday, we had planned to have dinner in this restaurant, but it was such a lovely day, we decided instead to have lunch, sitting outside in the sunshine

 

a lovely lady sitting at the next table offered to take our photo, when she heard us telling the waitress that we were celebrating Malcolm's birthday

 

Malcolm has smoked salmon terrine, with gravadlax and salad

 

oh dear, I had another burger - beef this time ....... and I very generously shared the chips with Malcolm

 

after lunch, we strolled back to the cottage, and I popped out to take some photos

 

 

I had to step back off the road to avoid being squashed by this tractor!

 

I have about 500 photos to sort through, so I will be back on Wednesday with ruined castles and beautiful beaches, and for today I will leave you with this one.  You know by now that I have a quirky sense of humour, so as soon as I saw this sign, I had to take a photo.  Of course it doesn't mean that it is an exit for people called Allan - it is a dual language sign ....... we now know about four words of Welsh!

Potty about plants!

Oh dear, the real world has intruded again, with the topsy turvy election results!  We were so amazed at the predictions of the exit polls that we stayed up all night watching the unfolding drama, before collapsing into bed at 6.30 for a couple of hours of much needed sleep!

 

but let us just think of happy things, with these photos that I took on holiday in the town of Alcudia, just along the coast from Pollensa.  The first thing I noticed walking round the town was the vast array of plants, in all sorts of pots

on windowsills

 

beside old doors

 

extravagant ferns

 

a row of matching pots and plants

 

all sorts of trees and shrubs

 

a lonely little pot

 

in contrast, a very old gnarled olive tree

 

and on to the Friday cake - we hade these sitting in the sun outside a coffee shop in Alcudia.  Malcolm had a slice of apple pie, which had a crumble mix on the top

 

and I had a piece of the most delicious mandarin orange cheesecake

 

we're up in Berwick, and we might have gone out for a walk if we weren't somewhat tired by our overnight tv marathon ....... and it is threatening to rain!  Back home tomorrow - weather permitting Malcolm will be working in the garden and I will be doing more quilting on the penguins!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

Quite a lot of trees!

One of our favourite walks on holiday is along the Pine Walk in Puerto Pollensa, where most of the trees lean out towards the sea

 

further along the walk is this little wooden jetty - I am sure I take a photo of it every year

 

I was intrigued by this deck chair, all alone on the sand - I wonder who left it there?

 

I wasn't tempted to try out any of these little boats ........

 

........ I would only go out on one as big as this

 

oops - one of the lovely twisted trees has sneaked in .........

 

........ and here it is from the other side!

 

I took this photo of the shadow of the tree, rather than the tree itself

 

these ones have a bit more growing to do

 

I expected a little elf or gnome to pop out of the holes in this tree!

 

I mentioned that there may be some food tonight ........

 

how about a delicious selection of tapas

 

or a freshly made pizza

 

perhaps washed down with a refreshing glass of wine

 

I couldn't finish my pizza, so they kindly popped it into a box for me to take away (we had it for lunch the next day)

 

and this was the view as I ate my pizza - more of the wonderful trees

 

we rarely eat burgers - but if you are going to eat a burger, then do it in style!

 

and to finish ...... are you tired of wishy washy pastel baby clothes?  Then how about these two fabulous outfits!!

I'm back!

Hello, my lovely peeps ........ did you miss me, because I certainly missed you!  I have about 270 photos to sort through, so here is just a quick taste of our holiday.  We were delighted with this year's villa - it's probably the best one we have rented over the years

 

we had breakfast sitting at this little table

 

lunch and dinner at this big table beside the pool

 

and we may have sat here to enjoy a glass of wine

 

the pool was excellent, and we swam quite a few lengths over the three weeks, especially in the last week when the weather turned very hot (even the locals thought it was hot!)

 

as always, I thought of you all, and raised a glass to say Cheers!!

 

I'll be back on Wednesday, with photos of the stunning scenery (and maybe some delicious food!)