frayed at the edge

Steam ......

...... is coming out of my ears!!  I had got to the last photo of tonight's post, whenTypepad had a wobbly and wouldn't insert it, so I clicked on 'save', intending to exit Typepad, then come back and finish the post ....... and instead of saving the post, I got one of the awful 'error' messages, and the entire post vanished never to be seen again!!

I can't face doing the whole thing over, so here are the highlights ....... wonderful views ot the Mintos and Eildons, in the sparkly clear air, after all the rain

 

 

 

I finally made it to the bottom of the hill today .....

 

 

..... after being prevented by the rain yesterday, and these cheeky lambs on Monday

 

 

When I was at knit'n'natter this afternoon, the logs for the winter were delivered - what a shame I wasn't there to help Malcolm stack them in the log store!

 

 

So what am I knitting, now that the shawl is finished!  My lovely, fun sheep tea cosy!

 

Slightly damp!

When I looked out the window when I got up, it was a bit damp, but not raining, so I went out as usual.  I hadn't even got to the garden gate when it started to rain, but I thought it was only a little drizzle, it wouldn't last.  But it did last and got heavier and heavier, so I turned for home after a mile.  However, I did take some photos on the way (such dedication to you, dear readers, taking photos in the rain and then tucking the camera back under my jacket!)

This field is usually full of sheep, bu today it was full of seagulls ..... I have never seen so many in one place ....... then suddenly a cloud of them rose into the air

 

 

This toadstool has been nibbled on

 

 

as have these two smaller ones

 

 

The garden has been full of birds again - it is very entertaining to watch them ...... although sometimes they have to be told off for fighting, as there is plenty of food for all of them!  This adult robin has been coming to the garden for two or three days now - but it has been very difficult to get a photo, as he bobs about all over the place - just as you get him in focus, he has hopped off again.  However, I finally managed to snap him this morning

 

 

 

 

This collection of birds were well behaved, occasionally swapping perches as they tucked in

 

 

This little one decided to forego food, and shelter from the rain under the roof of the bird table

 

 

This morning, I went to visit my friend Ali, who was having an open day, selling lots of lovely fabrics and threads.  Also there with goodies was  Lindsay.  Did I buy anything - of course!  From Ali I got two lovely  bundles of fabrics and trims - new cushions for the lounge?

 

 

From Lindsay, some little charms

 

 

colourful bits for needle felting/embellishment

 

 

and some excellent, very sharp snips ..... with their own little hand quilted cover

 

 

When Malcolm was heading out this morning, I jokingly asked him to buy me a present ..... and he did!  He had his lunch here, and came home with two packets of gorgeous woollen fabrics

 

 

I finished the shawl last night (hooray) and blocked it this afternoon - I will leave it to dry for a couple of days

 

 

 

I sorted out all my stuff for my sales table - we have to take our own tables, as the village hall ones will be in use. As I can only fit a small table into my car, I thought I had better check that everything fitted on it

 

 

To finish ..... there was a bit of a power tool failure when Malcolm was drilling the holes for the string in this shopping list holder - the fabric caught in the bit and got somewhat mangled!

 

 

It's in the bag

Yesterday morning when we were out for a walk, we came across a plant that looked like a thistle, except for the leaves.  My trusty wildflower book tells me that it is lesser burdock ....... I wonder if that's what is used to make dandelion and burdock, a favourite childhood drink

 

 

Malcolm spotted these bright red berries , but I haven't yet found the tree in my new tree book!

 

 

And the berry theme continued this morning, with a new crop of raspberries

 

 

If you think they look like big raspberries ....... yes, they were (and they were also delicious)

 

 

The hedgerow apples are just about ready to pick

 

 

The rosehips are ripening - I just hope that I get the chance to pick them before the hedges are cut

 

 

If only you could eat conkers - they are abundant this year

 

 

Over the weekend, I have been working on a new design of lavender bags, for my sales table later in the month.  I started with some trial stitching on cotton tape

 

 

Having decided to use the font on the right, I stitched a batch, and then sewed them in the centre of the fronts of the lavender bags.  Then I stitched a 'frayed' label on the back

 

 

I stitched round three sides, then put the lavender in before stitching the fourth side.  I trimmed the edges with the pinking blade on my rotary cutter

 

 

When I showed Malcolm the prototype, he thought it was a coaster ...... so when I finished the lavender bags, I looked out some woollen fabrics and stitched some tape, using wonderful variegated Madeira threads - I plan to make the coasters tomorrow.

 

 

I forgot to do the knitting update last week - I had taken the photo, I just forgot to include it in last Monday's Post!  I have now finished the four sections of the shawl ........

 

 

........ and I've made a start to the miles and miles of edging!

 

Catching up!

Now that we are back home and the internet connection isn't disconnecting every couple of minutes, I can show you more of our weekend!  To finish off Friday, here are the little goodies I bought

 

lovely coarse wool to knit a bag, which should felt well

 

 

a kit to knit a very cute sheep teacosy

 

 

oops - another book

 

On Saturday, we headed first to Denbigh, to visit the castle.  We were a bit perplexed when the women who sold us our tickets said that the castle was closing for a year ..... as it was being knocked down and rebuilt.  Howver, she clarified what she meant - it is the visitor centre that is being replaced, not the magnificent ruins!

 

 

 

 

Next we went to Conwy, where there is an even bigger castle.  To reach it, we walked across the suspension bridge

 

 

This was when I had to be very brave, to climb long spiral staircases, and stand on top of very high walls and towers

 

we were standing on top of a matching tower!

 

 

yes, that's Malcolm's hand!

 

 

the enclosed bridge on the right carries the railway

 

 

the people are dwarfed by the walls

 

After leaving the castle, there were more heights to scale, as we went for a walk round the town walls

 

there is only a railing to stop you falling off!

 

 

we were above these wonderful old chimneys

 

 

looking down on the smallest house

 

But then - the reward for surviving all those stairs and heights ....... fish and chips for dinner (and bread and butter)

 

 

However, Saturday's heights were nothing compared to where we went yesterday!  Come back tomorrow to see just how brave I had to be!!

 

Please don't breathe on me!

 Recently, I read of a very good recipe on my friend Lee's blog ...... chicken cooked with forty cloves of garlic ...... which Lee had found here.  We decided to make it on Saturday for dinner with Stuart and Alison.  Not only did it sound delicious, but it could also be done in the slow cooker - ideal when you have visitors and don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.  I counted out the forty cloves of garlic ......

 

 

....... and picked the fresh herbs from the pot in the garden - getting soaked in the process in the heavy rain

 

 

While I was doing that, Malcolm browned the chicken ......

 

 

....... then we added the other ingredients and left it to cook

 

 

The result - delicious chicken, with a surprisingly mild garlic flavour.  We served it with dauphinois potatoes and broccoli (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the complete meal!)

 

 

Stuart and Alison headed off mid-morning yesterday, as they wanted to call in at Ikea on the way home (it was the last day of the summer sale!).  We went out to get the Sunday papers, then went for a cuppa at the Woodside Garden Centre.  We were able to get a table by the window, so that we could watch the birds on the feeders (the window was a bit dirty, so the photos aren't as good as I would have liked)

 

 

 

 

The weather over the weekend was miserable, but it didn't stop the bees balm finally flowering!

 

 

 

 

There's lots of colour in the next photo too - this morning's fruit shopping, freshly washed

 

 

To finish, the knitting update.  I have finished the first quarter of the shawl, and have made good progress on the second one

 

Give me a kiss ......

...... no, that's not me speaking to Malcolm, but what I imagined one of these calves was saying to the other one, as it licked the other one's face!

 

 

I am starting to think that some of the animals that I pass in the morning know what a camera is, and pose for me - after taking this photo .........

 

 

....... the horse on the left moved over to behind the other horse and put its head over its shoulder

 

 

and this ewe looked straight at the camera - or was she just keeping a beady eye on me, in case I was going to steal her lamb!

 

 

We popped over to Coldstream for lunch today, but I am keeping most of the photos for Shadow Shot Sunday! 

I just managed to capture this butterfly before it flitted away

 

 

This bridge crosses the River Tweed .... the left bank is Scotland, and the right bank is England!

 

 

On the way home, we stopped at the Teviot Smokery and Water Gardens for an icecream, but first we had a lovely walk through the water gardens

 

a beatiful pink water lily .....

 

and a white one

 

 

Malcolm looking mysterious behind a weeping willow

 

This photo isn't as clear as I would have liked ...... but can you see that it is the front of a very large koi carp?

 

 

I have neglected the pink and white Linus blanket since we got back from Woolfest, so I took it with me today, to knit in the car.  I was getting worried that I was going to run out of yarn before I finished it, so I kept working on it when we got home, and cast it off just as Malcolm was dishing up dinner

 

 

How much yarn was left ....... hardly any!!

 

 

A cool green walk

Yesterday morning, we parked at the Leaderfoot Viaduct, to go for a walk.  After a brief pause to take a quick photo of the magnificent structure.....

 

 

........ we set off along a path we haven't walked before.  There had been some serious tree felling

 

 

Malcolm lingered, admiring the wood!

 

 

Once we had passed the wood, we found ourselves in a heavily wooded, shaded, damp world, with running water on both sides.  There were ferns everywhere .......

 

 

..... some of which were putting out new shoots

 

 

 

There were also fungi growing on a fallen tree

 

 

 

 

I have been busy sewing over the weekend.  I quilted the third chicken wallhanging and added the binding.  Now I just have to sew in all the ends, sew on beads for eyes, and stitch down the binding by hand on the back

 

 

I also did some more prep for the Baltimore quilt, working on a very tricky shape

 

 

I had to cut very carefully round the twirly bit at the bottom, as there is very little fabric between the curves

 

 

It took quite a while to turn in the seam allowances round the curves, so I only got one done.  It's just laid on the background fabric, to see how it looks

 

 

Although I have temporarily halted the knitting project, I do have some knitting to show you - the progress on the baby shawl

 

 

A detail of the pattern

 

 

To finish, a photo of a wild flower I took this morning on my walk.  My wild flower book says it is a field scabious - which is a rather horrid sounding name for such a pretty flower!!

 

Dear Santa .......

........ I have been a very, very good girl, so please can I have one of these for Christmas?

 

 

The workmen had to bring in the digger today, as they needed to dig a hole big enough for this

 

 

Before they left for the day, they made good use of the hole as overnight storage for the spare digger buckets

 

 

While they were busy working, we went for a walk up the bridle path ...... we were delighted to come across this foal

 

 

The flies are very bad this year, and this poor horse was being tormented by them - if you click on the photo to enlarge it you will see them clustered round its eye and on its mane

 

 

Fortunately we weren't bothered with flies when we were out for a walk by the river yesterday morning

 

 

We were a bit surprised to see this lily growing on the river bank ..........

 

 

........ and even more suprised to see the remains of a motorbike in the river!

 

 

I spent quite a lot of time in the studio on both Saturday and Sunday..  I have a growing pile of things which are part done, so I thought I would make a determined effort to get them finished.  First off the pile was the third of the four chicken wallhangings (the first two are finished).  I layered it, ready to quilt

 

 

Next were the two knitted fronts for cushions, which I finished some time ago.  I got out one of my many sample curtains and took it apart.  I hemmed the two pieces for the back of the cushion and put them on the cutting board, overlapping them so that they formed a square

 

 

then put the knitted panel, backed with cutain lining, on top and pinned all the layers together

 

 

The last stage was to add binding.  One of the cushions is finished, and I just have a little bit of stitching to finish on the second one

 

 

I also finished to cushion which was last week's knitting project.  When I knitted the stripes on the back, I thought it looked a bit boring

 

 

so when I did the front, I knitted the stripes in garter stitch, rather than stocking stitch, to add some texture

 

 

I found some buttons in my stash

 

 

The finished cushion

 

 

I am taking a break from the project for a few weeks, as I want to concentrate on knitting the baby shawl to put into the Southdean show next month, and I also want to spend more time on my Baltimore blocks ........ I'll give you progress report tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

So, what did I buy .......

........ of course I bought some yarn!  And of course I bought it from my friend Helen

 

lusciuos sock wool (socks for me)

 

 

gorgeous plain colour (socks for Malcolm)

 

 

divine laceweight yarn

 

These are funny little egg-shaped balls of rug wool - I think I will use it to knit and felt stripey bags

 

 

The other bits and pieces ......

 

multi-coloured bags of wool tops for needle felting

 

 

baby camel hair and silk, for embellishing

 

 

pre felt for the embellisher

 

 

a wonderful Australian magazine

 

I also bought something very special when we were in Keswick - this may look like an ordinary bag .....

 

 

....... but is a padded bag for the camera!

 

 

On to the state of the front garden ........ yes, at last work has begun on our new sewage system.  It took quite a while to get all the permits organised - but finally the work is under way.  There are holes everywhere!

 

 

 

 ....... and just to make things more miserable for me, my bathroom has been tied in to the new pipework, so it's out of use until the whole system is up and running, so I will have to share Malcolm's shower room!!

 

 

 

Woolly thoughts!

Lots and lots to share with you about our few days away - so let's get going!  First of all, our teeny, tiny cottage.  It was part of a converted stable block on a farm.

 

 

The cottage was 'upside down' .... so we went in the door into the bedroom ........

 

 

....... then on up the stairs (past the door to the shower room) to the lounge/kitchen

 

 

 

It was a very cosy, comfortable little cottage - you can find out more about where it was here.  However, we had such a busy time, we didn't spend a lot of time in it.  Of course the main event was Woolfest - we went together on Friday, then I went again on my own on Saturday, as I was meeting friends (more about that later).  On Friday morning we only had a cuppa when we got up, as we knew that we would have the most delicious roll and sausage for breakfast when we got there

 

 

Suitably fortified, we plunged into the sights, sounds (and smells!) of the show floor.  When I reviewed my photos to decide what to include, I realised that on Friday, almost all the photos were of the animals - but I did take a shot of Jenny Pepper's stall (with permission) - lots of gorgeous felty things!

 

 

I tried earlier to make a mosaic of the sheep and alpaca photos, but the whole thing was taking so long, I gave up!!  So here are the individual photos ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mentioned that no doubt we would have fish and chips for dinner one night - and that's what we did on Friday ....... we went to Keswick - and tucked into a delicious meal ........

 

 

....... sitting by the lake

 

 

On Saturday morning, Malcolm dropped me off (he went off for a day out ...... and of course he took a camera - more about that later in the week).  I headed to my friend Helen's stall, to have a blether with her and our mutual friend Lizzi.  While we were chatting, someone else joined us ...... and she turned out to be Jill (no blog) from New Zealand, whom I had arranged to meet later in the day!  Jill is originally from Scotland - she still has her accent!  It was lovely to meet someone who until now I have only known through comments and emails.  I then did a spot of shopping, and returned to Helen's stall, where I had arranged to meet my blog friend Emily, who was there with her friend Emma.  They had yet to have breakfast, so we headed off to the restaurant, whre we met another of their friends, Tracey.  While they tucked into breakfast, I was very good and only had a cup of tea!  We had a lovely time chatting and swapping bloggy stories ...... then it was back to shopping!

After a while my feet were complaining, so I went to have a seat and listen to the musical entertainment ..... and had a lovely chat with a super knitter from Yorkshire, named Heather

 

 

Suitably revived, I returned to the fray, and stopped to watch Owen Jones making his wonderful baskets (photo used with permission)

 

 

Ingrid Wagner (fresh from being featured on the cover of Outlandish Knits) was happy to have her photo taken too

 

 

So ...... what did I buy?  I'll tell you tomorrow, as now it's time for the weekly knitting project update!

 

I am delighted with the scarf!

 

 

I've skipped the lavendar bags and baby hat, to do the cushion next!

 

ps, the front garden looks as it it has been invaded by giants moles - I'll explain tomorrow!!