frayed at the edge

A tale of two men in Morpeth

This morning, we headed south again so that I could meet another blog friend - this time is was Julie.  We were meeting so I could give her the third pair of socks.  They are for her daughter's birthday in May, but as her daughter doesn't read this, I can mention them!  We headed off for a spot of lunch, and amid much laughter, Julie handed me a paper bag from a bakers' shop.  Inside was a 'Morpeth Gadgie' bread (a gadgie is a man, perhaps of slightly dubious reputation!)

 

 

Julie also gave me some wonderful things in return for knitting the socks, but the light wasn't good enough to take pictures when we got home, so I will show you those tomorrow.  We had a lovely lunch, although perhaps we didn't do justice to the lovely food as we were talking so much

 

 

When Julie left, I had time for a little retail therapy before I met up with Malcolm and Jennifer, who had also been out for lunch.  There is a wonderful new shopping arcade in Morpeth, with some of my favourite shops.  First stop was .........

 

  I still have a beautiful dress and jacket that Malcolm bought me for one of our wedding anniversaries way back in the 80s.  It is somewhat too small for me now, but it is so gorgeous, I could never part with it (I must remember to take a photo to show you).  However, after a brief look at the clothes, I headed for my favourite part of the shop - the remnants basket.  I was very restrained, and only bought two pieces, which both cost £1!

 

 

The next stop was the one shop that I really miss, since we moved to the Borders

 

I have, for many years, bought my undies in Marks and Spencers, but today they let me down, as they didn't have the item I wanted in my size.

I decided to have a look round this shop ..........

 

...... although I was rather put off by the sign on the door which said something like 'we are open, but we keep the door closed to protect the environment' - but I won't have a rant about selling imported clothes (think of the fuel used to transport them) and all the lights used in the shop (all that electricity!).  The clothes were lovely, but as I didn't really need anything, I just had a look round, before going on to

 

 

This is where I encountered the second man of the tale ...... and he had designs on my gadgie!  I was looking at the craft books when one of the staff commented on the bread peeking out of my bag ..... he hadn't yet had his lunch, and was rather peckish.  When I showed him the gadgie, he had a good laugh at it - but said he wouldn't want to eat him, it would just be like eating a person!  I'm afraid I succumbed to a book - what can I say, I think I need a 12-step programme 'my name is Anne and I'm a bookaholic'

 

 

I was served by the same young man - very bright, cheeery and efficient,  I think he will go far.  He was delighted to tell me that as I had spent more than £10, I could have one of the books displayed on the counter at a (very much) reduced price.  Yippee - one of the books was the next in the 'No 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series.  I love these books - if you have never read them, get down to the library, or visit the dreaded Amazon and prepare yourself for delightful tales of Mma Ramotswe, a lady of traditional build, and her husband, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni

 

 

ps, my friend Lee in Sydney will be suffering from severe book envy - she is such a devotee of Martha Stewart, that her blog is called Just Like Martha!
pps - we ate some of the gadgie with dinner, and he was delicious!

Two adventures

 

I didn't have far to go last night for my first adventure - just down the road to Southdea village Hall, where I was Guest Speaker at the Rural (the Scottish version of the WI).  It is only a small group - and I used to be a member, so I wasn't too nervous!

 

they are looking at the Chairman, as she welcomes me

 

I knew they wouldn't be particularly interested in the technical ins and outs of quilting, so I just took along a big pile of quilts and wallhangings and blethered about them!

 

 

Then it was time for supper - never mind the savoury things, just feast your eyes on this gooey chocolate cake!

 

 

My last duty of the evening was to judge the two competitions.  First, choosing my favourite three brooches from the lovely collection that the ladies had brought along

 

 

Then, judging the knitted squares

 

 

This morning, we set off for Newcastle for the second adventure.  Now, you know we can't travel for more than five minutes without having to stop for a cuppa!  So when we got ot Belsay, we stopped here

 

 

When Malcolm ordered our cuppa, he somehow managed to order a cherry scone for us to share as well

 

 

I was lovely and warm, sitting in front of the stove - but on closer inspection it turned out to be a gas one!

 

 

Then, it was on to the The Biscuit factory

 

 

We were there to have lunch with Rachel, and to give her her socks.  While we waited for her to arrive, we had a look at the menu, and tried to ignore the special offer chocolate fondue!

 

 

When Rachel arrived, the socks were duly admired, then the food was ordered ........

 

a chicken pesto roll for Malcolm, broccoli and stilton soup for me

 

 

an egg mayo roll for Rachel

 

Having polished off that lot, we then went off to Rachel's house for pudding - a wonderful pear tart!

 

 

Then, the absolute highlight of both adventures ....... getting to meet the gorgeous Flossie

 

 

and the absolutely fabulous Tosca

 

 

There was one more delight to come - in return for my knitting skills, Rachel had used her baking skills to make these yummy treats for us

 

biscuits, two kinds of muffins - and the parcel at the front was unwrapped to reveal

 

 

the most wonderful rich, dark gingerbread

 

ps - don't worry, we won't be gorging ourselves, Rachel assured me that it can all be frozen!

 

 

All things woolly ......

....... with a bit of sewing in the middle!

On saturday, I washed the socks

 

 

rinsed them well, squeezed the water out (remember, never wring your knitting!), then rolled them in a towel

 

 

Once I had given them a good squeeze to remove as much water as possible, I took them out to the studio, put them on a dry towel and eased them into shape ...... then put them in front of the stove to dry

 

 

I'm still determined to finish the Christmas projects, so I layered up the Angel wallhanging

 

 

then free-motion quilted the background

 

 

When I was quilting round the letters, the foot was reluctant to move over the gold thread, and kept catching on the French knots (note to self, do the French knots after quilting!!)

 

 

Yesterday morning, although it was a bit grey and damp, we went out for a walk, and were rewarded with these two ponies posing for photos!

 

 

 

Remember I had started a pair of plain blue socks for myself, which were put aside while I was doing all the snazzy, jazzy ones.  I finished them yesterday ........

 

 

....... and then got everything ready to start the first of the fifty two projects this evening (I like to look after my books, so I have photocopied the pattern)

 

 

And now, for the last of the woolly things ...... yes, more photos of the lambs!  After lunch I wrapped up well, as there was a nasty cold wind, and set off up the hill.  I squeezed through a gap in the hedge, climbed over a fence, crept through the trees, got ready to get a reasonably close photo ....... and stepped on a twig which snapped, causing the ewes and lambs to trot off to the other end of the field.  So I had to backtrack and creep up a farmtrack to get close again - but then I was rewarded with these photos

 

 

 

While I was taking the photos, three pregnant ewes were keeping a careful eye on me

 

 

I walked on round to the other end of the field, where I saw two ewes, with what looked like a very big goose between them ......

 

 

........ but it turned out to be the gander and the goose!

 

 

Romance .......

........ when I did the shopping on Monday, I bought a tub of heart-shaped strawberry shortbread for Malcolm.  Although it's not quite Valentine's Day, when I made our morning cuppa, I got a bit carried away with a romantic look (the tray cloth was embroidered by my granny - probably more than seventy years ago!)

 

 

When I was heading for patch'n'chat, I had the camera ready on the front seat, in case the lambs were in the part of the field next to the road.  Unfortunately they weren't, but further down the road there was this consolation - rather handsome (if somewhat grubby) boys

 

 

I spent the afternoon working on my row quilt.  I had done a lot of work on the borders last weekend, so that I could sit and work blanket stitch this afternoon

 

the vines stitched and the flowers attached with steam-a-seam

 

 

then I added leaves

 

 

and finally I added hearts in the corner

 

While we were enjoying our afternoon cuppa, there was someone else tucking into a tasty treat

 

 

The squirrel might have been happy up his tree, but we were even happier to be tucking into one of Annette's delicious sponges

 

 

At last, we have a sighting of daffodils!  I noticed these two little green spikes as I went out this morning

 

 

In answer to those of you who asked about my iron ...... it is a steam generator iron.  The bit on the bottom is a tank of water.  There is a trigger on the iron which releases the steam - it is so powerful, that generally you only need to iron one side of a folded garment, as the steam penetrates right through, considerably reducing the time spent ironing!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - no doubt I will be sewing and knitting as usual.  I am planning to start the first of my fifty two knitting projects on Monday evening - I am looking forward to the challenge of finishing something every week!

Twice in one week!

Great excitement when the post arrived today ....... another handwritten envelope!

 

 

Inside, was a card that looked good enough to eat!  It was from Lynne, to say how much she had enjoyed our day out last week ...... and promising to post more often now she has gone home to Germany.

 

 

Having skived off yesterday afternoon, I thought I had better do the ironing today.  So I set up the ipod to listen to an American Country Music station .......

 

The song that was playing when I took the photo was by Kenny Chesney.  We first encountered him when we were living in Indonesia, and one of the satellite tv channels we had was CMT ...... the Australian Country Music TV channel.  At that time Kenny was asking 'Do you think my tractor's sexy?' - his songs have improved since then!!

One of the many things in the ironing pile was this t-shirt

 

 

I bought it in 2001, when I went to Houston for the quilt festival for the first time.  I now wear it in the morning when I am exercising

 

 

Malcolm was out today, so I had lunch on my own ..... I really didn't mind, as it meant I didn't have to share the delicious salmon which was left over from last night's dinner.  I had it on a toasted bagel with some (low fat) cream cheese and coleslaw

 

 

I know my windows need cleaned, but at least the big window in the front lounge isn't quite as dirty as the garden centre windows!  The birds were busy feeding when I finally finished the ironing and went through to sit down with a well-deserved cuppa

 

 

 

Who needs clean clothes ........

........ when there is something much more exciting than the ironing to do - such as taking photos of lambs!  But first, let's start at lunchtime.  We went to the garden centre, where we enjoyed delicious leek and celery soup

 

 

While we were having lunch, we were entertained by the birds on the large feeder outside the window.  Do you remember last time we were at the garden centre the window was a bit dirty .... well unfortunately it was even dirtier today, so the photos aren't that good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were leaving, I took this photo of one of the other feeders.  The bird at the top left of the feeder looks like a finch, but it is a lot bigger the others

 

 

There are some very old apple trees in the grounds of the garden centre - if you look carefully, you can see where the tree has grown round the supporting wire

 

 

When we were driving home past the field where the Jacob's sheep are, we thought we saw some lambs ...........I was shouting at Malcolm to stop, turn round, go back - but he ignored me!!  So when we got home, I put on my walking boots, got wrapped up against the cold wind, and walked up to see the lambs (just a mile, a mere stroll!).  On the way, I spotted this little snowdrop

 

 

And daffodils coming through in a neighbour's verge

 

 

OK, I've teased you enough, here are the beautiful lambs (I'm sorry I couldn't get closer!!)

 

 

 

 

 

The ewes and lambs had company in their field - the wonderful old donkey (I can't help it, every time I say 'donkey' I say it like Shrek!!)

 

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Today, Scots at home and abroad celebrate the birth of Robert Burns, whose poetry and songs are known and loved far and wide.  One of the things we do to celebrate is to eat haggis, neeps and tatties.  This may sound like a very exotic meal, but you will recognise two of the ingredients!

 

 

It is much more appetising when you see the meal on the plate!  Haggis with mashed potato (tatties) and mashed turnip (neeps).

 

 

Lots of people go to Burns' Suppers, where the haggis is brought to the table, with a piper playing the bagpipes.  The Master of Ceremonies will then address the haggis before cutting it open and pouring a dram of whisky over it.  As I don't like whisky, we don't do that bit, but Malcolm may have a nightcap later

 

 

When I was at Primary School, there was a competition run by the Burns Federation ....... we had to stand up on the stage in front of the whole school and recite a poem - and I won (of course I had an advantage because of those elocution lessons)

 

 

I have tried to find the poem that I recited, but Google has let me down!  But the first verse went something like this

 

There's a corbie sitting in yonder tree

And he's lookin' doon wi' his black, black ee

He's cryin' oot wi' a caw, caw, caw

If you shin up, you're sure tae fa'

 

Roughly translated, the crow in the tree is telling you that if you climb the tree, you will fall.

 

When the post arrived this morning, I was intrigued to receive an envelope with a hand-written address - most of my post seems to be official looking letters!  I was delighted to find it was from Sue, who was one of the winners of my giveaway.  She has sent me this wonderful card, inspired by the owl sticky tape that I used to wrap her parcel

 

 

The owl card was tucked inside this lovely card ......

 

 

....... which is especially delightful to me (and Malcolm) as it is so like our spaniel Honey, whom we still miss

 

 

But I can't show you a photo of Honey without showing you a photo of our other dog Bonnie, a tiny poodle.  This photo was taken in 1978, when she was just a few months old ...... and to paraphrase Princess Diana's famous statement - there are three of us in the photo!  Yes, Bonnie is hiding my (very small) baby bump!

 

 

ps - now that Sue has her parcel, I can show you what I sent her

 

 

A bouquet of daffodils ....

........ well, that's what it said on the label, but I don't think this bunch that I bought this morning quite qualifies as a bouquet!!

 

 

Yesterday we went out for a walk - although it was above freezing, it still felt quite raw, so we weren't in the least bit tempted to join these canoists on the River Tweed

 

 

On the bank of the river was this wonderful old mill

 

 

We think this must have been the water supply to the mill race, but it has been closed off

 

 

When you drive over this bridge, all you see is the small wall on either side of the road, and have no idea what a magnificent structure is underneath you (the man crossing the bridge gives you an idea of the scale)

 

 

Of course all that walking in the cold meant we had to go for a cuppa - we popped into the Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells.  As well as a cuppa, we shared a piece of cake - a delicious orange drizzle

 

 

I have sorted out the the yarn for the first twenty six projects ...... but I forgot to take a photo before I put them in these two boxes!

 

 

I have chosen this notebook to keep a record of my progress

 

 

I was at the dentist this morning.  My mouth is healing well where I had the tooth out on New Year's Eve ..... because it was such a big tooth, it will take some time until the socket fully contracts.  Because I have had several teeth out recently, I have to get partial dentures - oh dear, that makes me feel old.  The dentist took the first impressions today - and he also repaired a tooth that a bit came off recently, while I was eating my lunch.  He said it would be best not to chew anything on it for the rest of the day, so instead of a delicious dinner of left over roast pork, I had macaroni cheese!

When I came home, I found Malcolm was busy drawing - how I wish I could do this!!

 

It may look like snow ........

........ but it is very heavy frost - this was the front garden this morning

 

 

and of course the cold weather means lots of visitors to the bird feeders

 

 

 

 

I remembered finally to take a photo of the sock progress!  Julie's socks are still the same, waiting for the kitchener stitch on the second sock.  I finished Rachel's second sock last night - except for the kitchener stitch, and I have finished the first of Vee's socks.  I think I could now knit this sock pattern in my sleep!

 

 

As always, I spent the afternoon at Borderland Fabrics.  Cathy has been working on a design for a small wallhanging, which will form the basis for a workshop.  She has used my favourite sorts of fabrics and colours - perhaps I will have to sign up for the workshop?

 

 

Ruth was working on her Grandmother's Flower Garden, which is made with hexagons.  She is very organised, and has her prepared hexagons arranged by colour in a storage box, ready to sew

 

 

 the hexagons will make more flowers like these ones

 

 

There were two parcels delivered to the shop during the afternoon - which were opened to reveal ..... beautiful fabrics

 

 

 

Now to the best bit of the Friday post - cake!  Annette was a bit under the weather, having caught a very nasty cold from her grandchildren, so she hadn't baked for us.  But she knew there would be a riot if we didn't have cake, so she had bought not one, but two lovely cakes

 

rich fruit

 

 

raspberry and white chocolate

 

I've just seen the weather forecast for next week on television - very cold, but not quite as cold as in December ....... I think I will just stay in bed and pull the comforter over my head until the spring!!

I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Is yon the mune I see in the sky?

When I got up this morning and looked out the window, I thought of the above line, which comes from this poem, which I learned as a child when my Mum made me go to elocution lessons (I hated it at the time, but I appreciated it later when I didn't have a horrible accent!)  The poem is about a little boy travelling to Kirkcaldy (he calls it Kirkcaddy) to visit his granny.  When he says at the end that he knows that they have reached Kirkcaldy because of the smell, that's because linoleum was made there, causing a horrible smell to hang over the town!  (Do ask if you need a translation!)

The Boy in the Train

Whit wey does the engine say 'Toot-toot'?
Is it feart to gang in the tunnel?
Whit wey is the furnace no pit oot
When the rain gangs doon the funnel?
What'll I hae for my tea the nicht?
A herrin', or maybe a haddie?
Has Gran'ma gotten electric licht?
Is the next stop Kirkcaddy?

There's a hoodie-craw on yon turnip-raw!
An' seagulls! - sax or seeven.
I'll no fa' oot o' the windae, Maw,
Its sneckit, as sure as I'm leevin'.
We're into the tunnel! we're a' in the dark!
But dinna be frichtit, Daddy,
We'll sune be comin' to Beveridge Park,
And the next stop's Kirkcaddy!

Is yon the mune I see in the sky?
It's awfu' wee an' curly,
See! there's a coo and a cauf ootbye,
An' a lassie pu'in' a hurly!
He's chackit the tickets and gien them back,
Sae gie me my ain yin, Daddy.
Lift doon the bag frae the luggage rack,
For the next stop's Kirkcaddy!

There's a gey wheen boats at the harbour mou',
And eh! dae ya see the cruisers?
The cinnamon drop I was sookin' the noo
Has tummelt an' stuck tae ma troosers. . .
I'll sune be ringin' ma Gran'ma's bell,
She'll cry, 'Come ben, my laddie',
For I ken mysel' by the queer-like smell
That the next stop's Kirkcaddy!

Meaning of unusual words:
gang=go
haddie=haddock
sneckit=locked
'leevin=eleven
frichtit=frightened
pu'in a hurly=pulling a barrow
gey wheen=a lot
mou'=mouth
tummelt=fallen

 

I quickly got dressed and braved the freezing cold to take some photos (it was minus five when we went out later!)

 

 

 

Later, after breakfast, the moon started to go down

 

 

 

While the moon was going down in front of the house, the sun was coming up behind it, turning this funny little cloud pink

 

 

But there was one photo that didn't quite come out as planned ..... I couldn't see the settings in the dark, and had chosen the wrong one - but I rather like the result!

 

 

I went to the hairdressers in Kelso this afternoon.  I went early, so that I would have time to take some photos (lots of good shadow shots for the weekend).  I noticed this inscription over a doorway

 

As my O level Latin let me down, I googled it and got two translations 'tried fidelity enriches' and 'loyalty preserved enriches' ......... and the people being enriched?  Yes, the inscription is over the doorway of a bank!!