frayed at the edge

Fun in the sun!

Just a quick post ....... as this is the second attempt - I wrote the first one, clicked on 'publish' ....... and it vanished, never to be seen again!

So - we had lots of fun, lots of sun, lots and lots of delicious food, wine and, of course cakes!!  The sun was shining when we arrived at the villa

 

 

Stuart and Alison didn't arrive until much later, so didn't see the sun until the next morning, when we headed into town for a cuppa and cake.  Malcom's cake didn't fit in the box, and unfortunately my photo was blurry, but these tasted every bit as good as they looked!

 

 

On the way back to the villa, we were glad that this tractor was going the same way ..... the road wasn't wide enough to pass a car, never mind squeeze past a large tractor!

 

 

Thank you for visiting and leaving comments while I was away - I have read all the comments, but it will take me a few days to visit all of you in return.  We missed the last of the electioneering here (we voted by post) ..... then we discovered that there are elections soon in Majorca!  Do you think that this Julia Roberts look-alike will get lots of male votes?!

 

A little light reading

We buy books in charity shops to take on holiday - by the time you read this post, I will probably have read most of these!

 

 

Excess baggage

Do you remember when all you needed to take on holiday were a few clothes, swimwear and lotion.  But now packing has to include this little lot!

 

Be prepared!

After all those years of being prepared when I was in the Brownies and the Guides, I still like to have and not need, rather than need and not have ..... so these always go in my holiday packing!

 

 

ps - the little orange gizmo is for zapping insect bites!

A leisurely weekend

I promised to tell you today where we are going on holiday - so I won't keep you waiting any longer!!  We are off tomorrow to Majorca, back to Pollensa, where we have now had several holidays.  Stuart and Alison are joining us, although we are travelling separately .... we fly from Newcastle, and they fly from Edinburgh.  We have a very early flight tomorrow, so we will get there well before them, giving us time to shop for essentials ....... beer and wine bread, milk, tea, coffee etc.

We pottered about on Saturday, getting things tidied up, sorting out what we want to pack.  Then on Sunday we headed first to Jedburgh, to get the Sunday papers.  On the way, the drivers of two cars which were coming towards us flashed their lights and gestured for us to slow down.  I just had time to get my camera out to take photos of the problem

 

 

 

It was another glorious morning, so we went for a walk round the town, calling in first at the gardens at Mary Queen of Scots' house.  This old apple tree was delightful, clothed in blossom

 

 

 

As we walked on round the town, I found another postbox to add to my collection.  This is a Victorian one.

 

 

We sat by the river and enjoyed an icecream - sorry no photo, as we had to eat quickly before it melted!  Then we had a short journey to the Oxnam Quilt Show.  Among the members of the group are Annette and Cathy from Borderland Fabrics - you will recognise this first quilt ...... it is Cathy's version of the 'row quilt', which inspired several of us to make similar ones

 

 

Annette made this quilt for her grandson Harry - he doesn't just like tractors ...... he likes John Deere tractors!

 

 

Another tractor quilt ....... the one that I made for Linus.  It was included in a display of quilts which have been donated (after the exhibition it will be given to a sick child)

 

 

On our way home from Oxnam, we were stuck behind a slow-moving car and horsebox.  But that gave me more time to take these photos

 

 

 

It's Monday, so of course that means the knitting update.  This week's project was a pair of baby sandals.  Not having a baby about the place to model them, I had to stuff them with some wadding to take the photos!

 

 

 

I've sorted out two small projects to take with me

 

 

 

I have done some posts to appear while we are away - including Shadow Shot Sunday.  They are just little posts, but I hope you will visit ...... the blog would be very lonely without you!  Please still leave comments (I love getting comments!), and I'll catch up with them when we get back.

Trying my patience!

We went into Hawick this morning, to collect our euros from the bank.  However the teller informed us that not only did she not have them, but she couldn't trace our order.  We said that we would go for a cuppa, while she sorted things out.  So we had a very nice cuppa and shared a delicious piece of cake and strolled back through the sunshine to the bank.  The good news was that the teller had tracked down our order ..... the bad news was that she still didn't have our euros.  OK, we said, we have some shopping to do, we'll come back later.  However, we were half way to the supermarket when she phoned to say that she finally had the elusive euros!  So we have money to spend when we go on holiday next week ....... I'll tell you on Monday where we are going!

 

(photo from Wikipedia)

 

This afternoon I popped out to the studio to do some more prep on my Baltimore block.  I have finished stitching the first pieces in place ......

 

 

..... so I started to position some more pieces under my polythene topsheet - and that's when my patience got tried again!  I was placing some leaves on the left hand stem - as you can see in the photo from the pattern, the leaves are separate from the stem ......

 

 

........ but the placement guide, from which I traced my topsheet, shows the leaves overlapping the stem

 

 

Then I noticed something else.  On the template sheet. only one template is given for leaf 'L', unlike the petal below it, which also has a reversed (r) template

 

 

But, as you can see, the leaves that I have marked with asterisks are reversed (there are more on the other side of the pattern).  Not a great problem, but just a little annoyance that the pattern (or the photo) isn't accurate

 

 

Never mind, I now have the next stage ready to stitch.  The ends of the leaves will be tucked in under the vase.

 

 

However, I had plenty of patience this morning, when the goldfinches reappeared in the garden!  I stood for some time taking photos - the are just such striking little birds

 

 

 

 

To finish, a strange little thing!  When we were having our cuppa this morning, Malcolm checked the solution to yesterday's crossword, as we hadn't quite finished it.  When he looked at the answers, he noticed that the letters at the bottom spell 'frayed' ..... and they are at the edge of the puzzle!  Could this be an omen of something good going to happen - just in case it is, we bought a lottery ticket for tonight's draw!

 
 

 

Here's one (or two) ........

......that I made earlier!  As promised, collages of some of the many holiday photos ......

Oops - I got a bit carried away playing with the coloured borders!  I love the little red toadstool in amongst the plain mushrooms.

 

 

More of those coloured borders - maybe I won't use them next time!

 

On one of our walks, we were walking on a hillside ......

 

 

...... with the sound of water below us

 

 

It made me think of a poem I learned at school, but I could only remember the first two lines.  But with the wonders of Google, I found it.  It was written by William Allingham . This is the first verse - it's quite a long poem!  You can read the rest here. 

The Fairies

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushing glen
We daren’t go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk
Trooping all together
Green jacket, red cap
And white owl’s feather.

 

After a busy week, I am looking forward to the weekend - I hope you all have a good one!  Love, Anne

Some of the best bits!

I've sorted through some of the holiday photos, to bring you some of the highlights!  Of course we had lots of cuppas when we were away, but the quirkiest coffee shop had to be this one in Keswick

 

The shop is full of all sorts of gorgeous things .......

 

 

I couldn't resist buying this card for Malcolm

 

 

Did you notice the little rabbit hiding under the plant?

 

 

We also visited Ambleside, where we found the smallest house in England

 

 

And in Grasmere, we visited William Wordworth's grave

 

 

Which brings me to this, which we spotted in an underpass in Keswick ....... is it art, or is it graffiti?

 

 

 

If it was graffitti, then at least the vandal is educated!!

 

I also added to my collection of pillar boxes, with an Edwardian one (Edward VII)

 

 

And a Georgian one (George VI)

 

 

We were in so many places, we might have got lost ...... but this wonderful old signpost showed us where to go!!

 

I might not eat here .....

...... just in case the ingredients came from the shop next door!!

 

 

Oh dear, I just had to start with that one!!  We are back home, after having had a wonderful holiday!  The weather was a little bit mixed, but not bad for this time of year.  We have walked for miles (I think we did 10 miles on Tuesday!), eaten far too much, had the odd glass of wine ...... and taken lots and lots of photos!

When we have been on holiday, we always ask each other what was the best bit .... and this time I think just about the whole holiday qualified as a best bit!  I showed you my super kit that Malcolm bought for me at the Quaker Tapestry exhibition, but I forgot to show you the pencils I got for him at the Pencil Museum

 

water colour pencils

 

 

pastels (and a helpful booklet, which was a free gift!!)

 

Other little bits and bobs were also bought (some may involve chocolate!) - I will have to organise them into collages to show you next week.  On the way home, first we stopped here (with blue sky and sunshine) - I got a beautiful skein of angora yarn in the upstairs craft gallery

 

 

Then we stopped here for lunch, at the highest cafe in England.  As you can see, the weather had changed just a little bit!  We had a really good lunch - Malcolm ordered a roll with turkey and stuffing and a roll with roast beef and gravy for me - they were so good, we cut them in half and swapped bits.  I would have taken a photo, but the place was full of macho male cyclists in very tight lycra shorts .... if I had accidently included them in a photo they would have made the 'braw laddies' look like choir boys!!

 

 

Our last stop wasn't far from home - despite having lived here for four years, we still hadn't visited here

 

 

And I still haven't visited, as it was closed for the winter!  Malcolm may have climbed over the gate to take some photos (!), while I stayed on the road (on the other side of a stream) ....

 

 

Malcolm's tiny figure in the bottom right hand corner gives you an idea of the size of the castle.  He particularly liked this photo - attackers creeping up would get a surprise when they got to the top of the slope and found just how big the castle was!!

 

 

Malcolm also had to screech to a halt (as always, he did of course check for other cars) when we spotted these cuties

 

 

Do make sure to come back for Shadow Shot Sunday ...... you will see concrete as you have never seen it before!!

Have a good weekend - Jennifer is coming to stay, so we will be out and about .... fingers crossed we get the wonderful weather that has been forecast!!  Love Anne

How much is ......

....... that doggie in the window?

 

Sorry - couldn't resist starting with that one!  This morning we went to Kendal to see the Quaker Tapestry (sorry, no link, as it has been a long day and I forgot!!)  I couldn't take photos in the exhibition, but I bought a book, and have taken a couple of photos to let you see what a wonderful work it is - if you are ever in the Lake District from April to October, make sure you go to see it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stitching is amazing (click on the photos and they should enlarge).  I just hope I can make a good job of this kit which Malcolm bought for me

 

 

On the way back, we stopped at Townend

 

 

 

 

 

 

This evening, we bought fish and chips, and went down to the lake to eat them ..... and watch the sun go down


 

 

I still have about 200 hundred photos that I have taken over that last four days - I will have to sort them all out over the weekend and share more of our adventures with you next week.  We'll be heading home tomorrow - no doubt with a stop or two on the way!!