frayed at the edge

Turning into a mouse!

It was a bright clear frosty morning, so we stopped at the Carter Bar so that I could take some photos.  But it slightly hazy when we got there (and very, very cold!)

 

this is looking back into Scotland

 

 

the border runs into the distance

 

 

beautiful blue sky behind ....

 

 

....... The Beacon - I don't know if it has been lit since

 

 

I always cheer when we pass this sign on the way home!

 

When we picked Jennifer up, Malcolm suggested that we went to the Biscuit Factory for lunch.  He had discovered it some time ago, as it is near the Alfa Romeo garage where he got his car at the start of the year.

 

 

As we were a little bit late for lunch, we hurried in the door .....

 

 

... went upstairs to Cafe Byker Vista, and studied the menu - which had a lovely fabric cover

 

 

When my tea arrived, I was quite taken with my funny angled saucer

 

 

And now to explain why I am turning into a mouse ...... I decided to order a ploughman's lunch, thinking a little bit of cheese, some crusty bread, pickle.  This is what I got!!

 

This is as much cheese as I probably eat in a month - I swear I felt little mousey whiskers appearing and my nose twitching as I surveyed my plate.  However, you don't have to worry about my cholesterol levels, as Malcolm ate some of it!!

When we got home, we found a mysterious parcel from Italy on the doorstep ...... but I'll tell you about that tomorrow!

The continuing saga .......

Oh dear, just when we thought things were getting better ....... last night I was struck down with raging toothache again!  I was at the dentist's first thing this morning (even before the dentist arrived) and fortunately he saw me as soon as he came in.  He promptly wrote me a prescription for antibiotics, with instructons to take double doses today ..... so hopefully by the time I get up tomorrow, things will have improved!

But now for more cheerful things! Yesterday was glorious - cold and frosty, with a beautiful blue sky.  We went to Jedburgh for a walk along the river - I had to stop every few yards to take photos!  I took lots of shadow shots for next weekend, as of course with winter just about upon us (there was snow just down the road from us on the Carter Bar this morning) I have to stock up on them when I get the chance.  We were delighted to see not one, not two, but THREE herons.  One of them kept tucking its head down out of sight, but finally I managed to capture this shot

 

 

I love autumn colours, and this tree was beautiful in the sun

 

 

The carpet of leaves glowed under the trees

 

 

Of course after a long walk in the cold, we had to go for a cuppa - how could I not enjoy a cup of tea from such pretty china!

 

 

Back home, it hadn't got any warmer, and there was still ice on the windscreen of my car ...... this feathery shape would make a lovely quilting pattern!

 

 

There was lots more activity on the Christmas Fair front - here is a little taster - I'll show you the rest tomorrow!

 

Move over Winnie!

Poor Winnie the Pooh had to be moved from his bed this morning, as Stuart and Alison are visiting.  However, he wasn't too upset, as he still has his special cushions with him (and he has the koalas for company)

 

 

Once he was relocated, the next job was to take the various quilts off the bed and fold them

 

 

After that, I had to wrestle the cover onto the duvet - we don't have a duvet on our bed, so I'm not very good with duvets!

 

 

If they need some bedtime reading, they might just find something suitable on the bookshelves

 

 

Or they might want to start planning a little craft project

 

 

I hope they don't get scared by this fearsome dragon (this embroidery is even older than Stuart!)

 

 

They could spend some time laughing at the rogues' gallery

 

 

Of course, there is someone else in the bedroom who might enjoy the company - my rag doll Jemima.  She may look like a young thing, but she is older than Stuart too!

 

 

I had better finish now, as it is a bit rude sitting tapping away on the laptop and ignoring the guests!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

What a fun day!

OK, I lied .... it has definitely not been a fun day!  This morning I had to tackle my least favourite domestic job - the ironing!  That was bad enough ..... but then it got decidedly worse when I went to the dentist.  You know that I have had bother with pain in my face/mouth/jaw off and on for some time.  Over tha last few weeks, the muscular spasm pain has been quite bad, but I also started to think that I had toothache.  Of course I was not at all happy about this, as I just had a tooth out a few weeks ago, and this is the tooth next to that one.  Fortunately I was able to get an appointment for this afternoon, so after lunch off I went to see my new dentist, Douglas (it's all very informal at the dentist these days!)

He duly poked, prodded, tapped and wiggled the tooth, and also poked the gum (that was a very sore bit!)  After taking an xray, he reached the conclusion that it was necrotic pulp and bacterial infection (I'm not sure if the necrotic pulp caused the infection, or the other way round).  Then, came the horrible bit, as he drilled into the tooth (he drilled so deeply I thought he was looking for marooned miners!!).  Next came that awful bit when he used things like miniature corkscrews to clean the tooth out.  He then packed it with antiseptic and put in a temporary filling.  It feels much better already, and I go back in three weeks time to (hopefully) have a permanent filling done.

 

With all that going on, there was no craft work done, but I did manage to take a few photos of the birds after I put food out for them!

 

waiting in the elder - you can see that they have eaten all the elderberries

 

 

the sparrows love the fat balls

 

 

you can see by how blurred the sparrows are, how quickly the were flying in to the table

 

 

this finch sensibly went to the other table

 

 

picking up the crumbs!

 

 

they've calmed down a bit now!!

 

I was a bit worried about my pet spider, as he had vanished from the bathroom.  However, I discovered him in the utility room ...... when I almost washed him down the plughole!  I just managed to grab one of his long legs before he vanished, and popped him on the draining board to dry out.  I'm delighted to tell you that he is alive and well and enjoying his holiday in the utility room .... I wonder where he'll go next!

 

It wasn't me .....

...... I didn't do it, it was like that when I got here.  (I think it's maybe Bart Simpson who says that!). 

 

I went into the Post Office in Kelso today to see about my new photo driving licence.  I had to stand in a booth and face the camera while the counter assistant adjusted it to the correct height.  After a couple of tries to get a photo that the computer would accept ....... everything went haywire, the camera shut down, her computer shut down, the computerised tills of the other assistants shut down, their National Lottery Terminal went offline ..... oh no, surely my photo wasn't that awful!!  But of course it wasn't me ... it seemed to be a repeat of a problem that had first occured on Friday night, when thousands of people lost their internet connection for seven hours.  When I phoned Malcolm to tell him what had happened, he checked and found that our internet connection was down.  However the good news is that I went back later and it all worked properly, so I should have my new licence soon (although I am dreading seeing the photo!

 

After what seems like years of sewing, I finally finished the buttonhole stitch round the owls.  So yesterday, I got out all my rows and put them on my design wall (ok, I don't really have a proper design wall - mine is a brushed cotton sheet I hang in place of a wallhanging).  The advantage of doing it like this is that the rows cling to the brushed cotton and you don't need to pin them in place.  This was my first layout - just the rows as they came off the pile

 

 

I wasn't particularly happy with this layout - I didn't like the look of the flying geese at the bottom, so I moved them to the centre

 

 

Still not right, so I decided to remove the flying geese

 

 

Getting better, but now I felt that the log cabin row looked too dark - it is the only row that doesn't have any background fabric in the blocks - so out it came

 

 

That's better!  Just one last tweak, and I was happy with the layout

 

 

I did think of making two more rows to replace the ones I removed (don't worry, they'll be used in something else), but I think I'll add an inner border, then a wider outer border, perhaps with some applique on it.  But of course the next stage is to sew the rows together ....... but that might have to wait until Sunday, as I've got quite a lot on over the next few days (including a trip to the dentist tomorrow).

Some things never change!

I bought this book in a charity some weeks ago, but somehow I've just not got round to sharing it with you!

 

I didn't know that she had written a needlework book too

 

 

even this reproduction is old!

 

 

I don't know how I've lived without one of these in the house - although I do remember antimacassars on the furniture when I was a child!  I wonder how many younger people would even know what an antimacassar is.

 

 

do you think Malcolm would like these for Christmas?

 

 

how many people have a hankie these days, never mind an embroidered one!

 

But some things haven't changed over the years - this beautiful shawl wouldn't look out of place in a modern book of patterns

 

 

Our clocks change this weekend, so it will feel as if winter has arrived ...... it will be dark by 5pm!  Sunday, of course, is Halloween.  We live too far out in the country to have children come to the door (we call it 'guising', not 'trick or treat')  When we were little, we had to recite a poem or sing a song, and we would then be given apples or monkey nuts.  We also had homemade costumes, not ones from shops, and we made lanterns from turnips, not pumpkins. 

I hope you all have a great weekend, love Anne

 

Do you like my painting?

 

No, I haven't miraculously been given a new talent - this is a postcard sent to us by Sarah from Rome, where she has just had a brief holiday.  I can't speak Italian, but I think the info on the back of the card says that it is a detail from the Creation of Adam by Micheangelo, in the Sistine Chapel.  Also on the back is this rather impressive stamp

 

 

I have been making more for the Christmas Fair - this time it was lavender hearts.  I started with linen fabric and a heart template

 

 

Then I got out some of the lovely red and white ribbon that I bought recently

 

 

I stitched strips of ribbon at random angles on the hearts

 

 

I added another strip of fabric at the back, pinned the hearts and cut them apart

 

 

I stitched round the hearts, inside the line, with red embroidery thread, leaving a small gap

 

 

and cut them out on the line with pinking shears

 

 

The next stage was to fill them with toy stuffing and lavender (from the garden)

 

 

To (almost) finish them, I added a loop of ribbon

 

 

and then the final touch ..... my own label!!

 

A welcome diversion

This morning I had to pop into the Health Centre to pick up a prescription, then, as usual, I went to cross the footbridge over the river to go back to the car park ....... just a small problem - the footbridge was closed!  So I had to head back up to the High Street - but using a different route to the one I had used on my way down.  I was very glad, though, that I did, as it gave me the chance to take photos of, first, this wonderful acer

 

 

then this rowan (mountain ash) ......

 

 

..... with beautiful golden berries

 

 

When I got home, the sun was shining and it was an hour until lunch, so I decided to go for a walk.  Typical though ..... I was about two hundred yards down the road and the sun went in!  So when I got to the bottom of the road, I thought I would head back home .... and, yes, about two hundred yards up the road, the sun came out again!!  Never mind, I still took lots of photos ....

 

after Monday's frost, a lot of leaves have come down

 

 

these trees are already bare

 

 

the sun had just come back out!

 

 

these two horses posed beautifully for me

 

 

I've not shown you the Minto Hills for a while!

 

The quality of this last photo isn't very good - I took it at dusk, so I think the camera couldn't cope with the level of light.  At this time of year, dozens (and  dozens) of crows flock to the field in front of us  - this is just a few of them

 

Rain rain go away ....

......come back another day!  That's what we used to sing as children, and I was singing it again today, when we got up to one of those dreary grey days.  However, the antics of the two horses in the field in front of us made me smile (sorry, more photos taken from indoors, it was much to miserable to go outside!)

 

look at me when I'm talking to you

 

 

go on, give me a kiss

 

maybe I'll just go and talk to the sheep in the next field instead!

 

It wasn't just the horses which were miserable in the rain - this sparrow was not a happy little bird!  (remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it - it is a very small sparrow!)

 

 

Malcolm has made a driftwood frame for the owl picture that I bought for him in Keswick

 

 

and another frame for the Christmas Fair

 

 

I think to finish we'll have, first, a photo from our walk on Sunday, with some rather handsome black cows .....

 

 

....... and then one with some lovely blue sky!

 

Morning has broken ......

...... Cat Stevens was singing on the radio this morning - and the sky looked like this

 

But the strange thing is .... this is where we normally see the sunset.  This is the sunrise reflected on the clouds.

This morning, I put Maia in a bowl of just-warm water and some delicate wash to soak for about twenty minutes

 

 

I then rinsed it well and squeezed (remember - NEVER wring knitting!) the excess water out.  Then I rolled it up in a towel and left it for a while for even more water to be soaked away.

 

 

The final stage was to block it (stretch it) to its full size (don't worry about the wrinkles, they are in the sheet, not the knitting!)

 

 

I have several 'Christmas' cacti.  During the summer they live on my bathroom windowsill and in the winter they sit at the end of the bath.  Every year they flower a bit earlier ...... but this year they have gone mad and are flowering already!

 

 

At the other end of the bath, I have a very special African Violet.  It was part of a group of plants in a basket that I gave to my Dad as one of the presents for his 80th birthday (Stuart celebrated his 21st birthday the day before!).  My Dad wasn't very good with houseplants, and when he died six and a half years later, only the African Violet survived - and it had only three leaves left.  I took it home and repotted it ...... and it flourished.  Within weeks, it had not only put out more leaves, it had also flowered - and it then flowered continously for about two years!  After that, it flowered off and on, but over the summer it looked a bit sickly.  However, after being moved to its winter home on the bath, it has suddenly perked up .... and today I noticed flower buds on it!