frayed at the edge

Warning : major boasting ahead!

Last Saturday was the Southdean Show, which meant a chance to show off some of my craft work, and hopefully win some prizes!  When I had a look round after the judging, I was amazed to discover I had three firsts, two seconds, two thirds and two highly commended.

 

 

First prize for my 'Celtic Wedding Rings' wallhanging, felt flower and a photo of a stunning window (which I took last year on holiday in Sydney)

 

 

Second prize for my felt picture and swallowtail shawl

 

Third prize for a photo of our huge snowman  and one of Malcolm's shed in our last garden

 

Highly commended for the chicken wallhanging and the octopus scarf.

 

I wasn't the only prizewinner in the family ....... Malcolm got a third prize for his cracket!  The best bit, though, is that the entry fees came to more than twice the prize money!!

 

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the Needle Museum and show you more of those wonderful rhinos (and there may even be something about my new sewing machine!!)
  

A little bit of shopping

On Thursday, once we had looked at lots of quilts, I produced the pocket money that I had saved up and we headed for the traders!  But in the end, I didn't buy a great deal ..... I think there was so much choice, I couldn't make up my mind!  But of course I did buy some fabric - a wonderful collection of eight fat-eigths (that's enough to make a small wallhanging)

 

 

There was a stand selling back issues of some of my favourite Australian magazines at very good prices, so I eventually decided on these four

 

 

On the practical side, I invested in this needle threader, which is very easy to use

 

 

I found this pattern in a 'reduced' basket - I do love a bargain!

 

 

OK, now I have to tell you what else I bought ........ I had been thinking for some time about buying a new sewing machine, as my main machine has a recurring fault, which will eventually need an expensive repair.  I knew that all the main sewing machine dealers would be at the show, ....... and of course, there would be big discounts to be had as they vied for business! 

Machines have come a long way since my first one (not that I am that old!!) .... it was given to me when I was sixteen by a friend of my Mum's - I took this photo at the Needle Museum on Friday - this is similar to the one I had

 

All it did was sew a straight stitch, no reverse, no zigzag, with only one extra foot - a zipper foot, but I made all sorts of things on it .... including a fetching peach satin bridesmaid's dress for my sister's wedding!!  I can't show you the new one yet, as it is being delivered on Wednesday, but it is an all-singing, all-dancing one   - I think it will take quite some time to get to grips with all the features.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for - who has won the prize?  I didn't even use my random number generator (aka Malcolm) .... I did it the old fashioned way with names on bits of papers ....... and the lucky winner is .......  Rattling On .  But you will have to Wait a few days to see what the prize is, so it will be a surprise for Rattling (I was glad that I had picked her piece of paper, as she has cut her hand badly and was in need of cheering up!)

 

To finish - some very good news!  I finally got the results of my MRI scan ...... the letter had been delivered to our neighbours' house by mistake, and as they were away, it lay on their doormat for a week before I got it!  The scan showed that there is nothing untoward in my head, so now I just have to hope that when this troublesome tooth is extracted next week, the pain will go!  (and yes, we've had all the jokes as to whether they found my brain rattling around somewhere in there!!)

 

 

Festival of Quilts

Sorry not to have done a post yesterday, but the hotel we stayed in last night wanted £15 for internet use (it was free in the hotel in Chester!).  This is just a quick post, as we had a long journey home, including crawling along in a huge tailback on the motorway and coping with torrential rain!

So yes, we went to the Fetsival of Quilts (I will sort out all the correct guesses later and pick a winner for the little prize that I bought at the Festival).  It was very busy, as you can see from this photo, with a great atmosphere as people oohed and aahed at the quilts

 

 

Of course I would love to show you photos of the quilts, but as always I can't because of copyright issues ...... but there were lots of stunning quilts, including some of the smallest miniatures I have ever seen (even Malcolm was impressed with them)

 

Tomorrow's post will as ever be my Shadow Shot Sunday (yes, I know that it's Saturday, but it will be Sunday in Australia, from where Tracy organises things) so you will have to wait until Mondayfor the rest of our adventure (including something very special that I bought!!)  But I'll finish with a photo to tell you where we went this morning.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

Anne and Malcolm's Big Adventure!

We set off bright and early (well, it was 9am, so fairly early) for the first stage of our trip.  We headed across the country to Dumfries and Galloway, then over the Border in to Cumbria.  Then ... after driving on single carriageway roads ..... motorway

 

 

and of course no motorway would be complete without miles of traffic cones .... and not a workman in sight!

 

 

After about three and a hlaf hours, we arrived at the first destination of our trip - the city of Chester.  We had a quick bite of lunch, then set out to walk round the city walls. (unfortunately the weather didn't co-operate. so no lovely sunshiney shots!)

 

 

This was our first view of the walls, looking up from street level

 

 

then looking down to the street

 

 

I laughed when I read the wording on this building, as it now houses a dentist - I think most people would have more fear of the dentist than the Lord

 

 

Further on , we saw this modern doocot - complete with pigeons!

 

 

Everywhere we went, we saw strange painted rhinos (I guess it's some sort of street art), but I'll just show you one just now, and save the others for a fiture post, as I'm just doing a quick post from our hotel room before we head out for dinner

 

 

Tomorrow we will be up early to travel to Birmingham ..... but why are we going there?  If you think you know, leave a comment and I will choose someone at random from the correct answers to give a little prize to (connected of course to where we are going!!)

 

ps - I hope to be able to post again tomorrow, but if not, we'll be home again on Friday.

 

Get up lazybones!

For once that wasn't me talking to Malcolm as I headed out for my walk, but what I thought the standing horse was saying to the other one!

 

 

....... and the friendly horse which usually pops its head over the hedge was having a lazy start to the day as well

 

 

The new house being built down at my turning point is coming along at a great rate ...... I am fascinated by this octagonal room on the front

 

 

On the way back up the hill, I had to search to find a raspberry ..... there are only a few left now

 

 

But never mind, soon there will be lots of plump, juicy brambles

 

 

Everytime I pass this gap in the hedge, I am startled by these green humps - have strange animals invaded?  Fortunately not, it is silage (animal feed) tightly wrapped in plastic, waiting to be collected and stacked for the winter.

 

 

I took this photo last week, but it never made it into a post.  The old donkey took exception when I walked past his field - I think you can see from his posture that he was vociferous in his objections!

 

 

We will be heading off early tomorrow morning on an adventure.  We will be away two nights ..... we should have internet access in the hotel, but if we don't then you will have to wait until Friday to find out all about our trip!

 

 

 

The start of a new season!

Don't worry, I don't mean that autumn has come early, but that the new football season has started (yawn).  So now when I come in from the studio on Saturday afternoons, Malcolm will be watching a programme in which several retired footballers sit watching matches on monitors and getting over excited at missed chances and bad tackles.  Then on Sunday afternoons, there is usually a match on ...... it's all about as exciting as watching my fingernails grow!!  Having said it's not yet autumn, I could have been persuaded when out this morning that it is well on the way.  It was very misty - so misty that when I got to my turning point, the hills had disappeared!!

 

 

Last year when there were lots of berries in the hedgerows, I said to Malcolm that it was a sign of a hard winter to come ..... he pooh-poohed that as an old wives' tale ..... then we had the worst winter in 40 years!  Oh dear, there are lots of hawthorn berries

 

 

and far more rosehips than last year

 

 

The heavy mist meant that these spiderwebs were visible in the hawthorn hedge

 

 

You can see the droplets of moisture on this one (the photo should enlarge if you click on  it)

 

 

The swallows are starting to gather in the mornings and evenings - a sign that soon they will head off south

 

 

Yesterday morning we went for a walk, then headed to The Main Street Trading Company for a cuppa (and a cake!).  Of course I had to have a browse round the books ..... and yes, I bought one.  (Actually I bought two - the other is for Malcolm's birthday next month)

 

 

There are lots of fabulous projects .... including making your own knitting yarn!

 

 

Much as I am enjoying knitting Maia, it does need a lot of concentration, so I thought I would start a pair of socks to do as well.  I chose a pair from this book

 

 

unusually, the cuff is knitted first, then stitches are picked up along one edge and the socks then knitted traditionally on four needles

 

 

ps - I was at the dentist this afternoon.  There had been a hiatus in my treatment, as my lovely dentist a) fell off her bike and broke her arm and b) decided to go back home to Greece.  So this was my first appointment with my new dentist.  He was very thorough, poking and prodding and taking xrays.  The outcome is that I need to have a tooth out, a bit of reconstruction on a tooth which has broken and the usual thorough cleaning (followed of course by the pain of the bill).

 

 

 

What do you mean .... 'on the way back'?

On Sunday morning we decided to go for a walk .... so of course we headed for our favourite place for Sunday walks.  There are several different walks, and there are two we usually choose, but this time we decided to try a new one.  The first thing I spotted to take a photo of was this oak tree - the leaves are already turning

 

 

This crop looked as if it is ready to be harvested.  We weren't sure what it is, but when Malcolm had a closer look, he found that it has lots of little seeds, so we think it is rape.  Given how small the seeds are, it must take a great deal of rape to produce oil

 

 

We would have gone through this gate, but for some reason it is several feet from the path!

 

 

When we passed this (very) large boulder, Malcolm thought it would look good in the garden.  He said I could just pop it in my backpack on the way back ........ excuse me, what do you mean on the way back, I thought all these were circular walks?  Oh no, we have to turn round and retrace our steps, he said, as we headed down a rather steep slope .....

 

 

And now ..... the mysterious tower.  Malcolm pointed and said 'I wonder what that is'

 

 

'What?' I said.  'That' he said

 

 

We scrambled up the hill to have a better look and discovered that it is a doocot  There was nowhere to stand to get clear photos, as it is fenced off due to its delapidated state, so these are the best I could manage

 

 

If you look through the door, you can just see the pigeon holes on the far wall

 

 

I haven't been able to find out anything about this doocot (Malcolm even spent some time online this morning looking at old maps), but I did find a photo of this one at Mertoun House  - it's not too far from here, but we didn't know about it!

 

 

After such a lovely walk on Sunday, the weather has gone somewhat downhill and this morning I got soaked on my walk.  But the strange thing was the rain stopped just short of the house, so Malcolm was a bit puzzled when I staggered in the door dripping wet!  However there was a brief break in the rain to allow me to take this photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

My magnetic personality!

I think perhaps I shouldn't stand next to anything metal, in case the scan has made me magnetic!!  It all went very well .... Malcolm as ever went with me - he knows how much I hate having to go to the hospital!  I didn't have to wait too long before I was called.  I had to answer lots of questions (which I had already answered on a form) as to whether I had any sort of metal implants.  Then I had to answer all the questions again for the next radiographer - it is just so important that you don't have bits of metal in you.  I had taken an eye mask to wear (thank you Jenny, for that piece of advice) so when I went into the room, I didn't look at the scanner, just lay down and put my mask on.  The radiographer then fitted ear defenders (the machine is VERY noisy) and gave me a panic button to press.  They then loaded me head first into the scanner - if I had seen that I would have run screaming from the room!  I had taken a cd with me which they played through the ear defenders and I concentrated on doing my deep relaxing breathing.  In the end, it wasn't as bad as I feared.  The results will be sent to Mr Moralee (short pause for a swoon) who will then get in touch with me.

 

I still went out for my walk this morning (I did think about claiming that I needed a long lie to keep up my strength for the afternoon!) and I was glad I did when I saw these two naughty lambs munching on the verge

 

 

Then I saw this third lamb, which obviously thought that if it stood very still, I wouldn't see it!

 

 

And that wasn't the end of runaway lambs - when I was almost back home, I spotted these two in front of the farm cottages

 

 

Do you remember some weeks ago I showed you a photo of a vey pregnant mare?  Today she was back in the same field, but this time she had company ......

 

 

I hope you all have a great weekend - Malcolm's sisters, Jennifer and Judith, are coming to visit tomorrow.  They plan to arrive in time for us to go out for lunch, and Malcolm has already started his prep for dinner!!  Love, Anne

 

Just the two of us!

After a bit of persuasion, Malcolm came with me on my walk this morning.  There is just one problem - he walks faster than me, so my legs are a bit sore this evening!  However, it was nice to have company - apart from the usual cast of animals!

 

 

I managed to snatch this photo of the Jacobs' sheep before they did their usual disappearing act to the other side of the field!

 

I've never seen a donkey with markings like this one - and he looks pretty good for being 30 years old!

 

The horse on the right looks as if he is in the huff with the other one!

 

When I was having my Wednesday morning leisurely soak in the bath, I heard a great deal of commotion outside.  All was soon explained - the load of logs which Malcolm had ordered had been delivered

 

He had hoped that they would be able to unload them at the back garden gate, but the lorry was too big to go up the lane past the back of the studio, so poor Malcolm had to shift them by wheelbarrow, to stack them in the log store (and quite a lot were left over and had to go in the garage!)

 

I like to be fairly well organised, but even I think it's too early to buy my Christmas cards ..... but the Red Cross don't think so - this has just arrived in the post!!

 

Thanks for all your good wishes and advice for my scan - I have been listening to my hypnotherapy cd and practising my deep breathing, so hopefully I can relax.  I will be able to take some music to listen too - I will have to have a look through my CDs for something suitable!!
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

A little bird told me ......

...... to watch out for this BIG bird, which we saw when we were out for lunch today

 

 

A magnificent specimen of eagle owl - this sign tells you more about him (click on it to enlarge it

 

 

I would not like to get too close - we were behind a fence, which kept us several feet away from the enclosure

 

 

He kept his eyes firmly on us!

 

 

However, this afternoon, I was quite happy to get up close to these birds!  I finished the quilting in the ditch, then started to free-motion quilt the chickens

 

 

I'm having fun, just 'scribbling' over the birds, then stitching several wavy lines round the outside of each bird

 

 

Every time I work on the chickens, I change my mind as to which one is my favourite - this was today's choice

 

 

I have recently been reading a super new blog .... The Cloth Shed ..... I would say that it is filled with gorgeous things - but of course Helen has first dibs on that description!  In a recent post, Julie showed some lovely toile cushions, which reminded me that I have a large piece of toile that I bought some time ago.  I got it very cheap, as it had a large dirty mark on it, but I knew that even if the mark didn't wash out, there was so much material it was still a bargain.  I was sure that my piece was terracotta, but when I got it out, it was brown!  Now this is where things get a bit weird - when I said to Malcolm about the colour, he said he thought it was terracotta too ...... but the even weirder bit is that it was the dirty mark that was terracotta!!  I very bravely put the fabric in the washing machine, and was delighted when the mark washed out.  Now I just need to decide which parts of the fabric to use for my cushions

 

this bit

 

 

or this bit

 

 

but then I like this scene too!!

 

I had a hunt through my stash of curtain samples and found this one, which will look good on the back of the cushions

 

 

This afternoon I got a phone call from the MRI department at the hospital.  The lovely lady said they had 'a wee space' on Friday afternoon, and if I wanted, they would fit me in for my scan.  Of course I said 'yes please' ....... I would cancel a date with George Clooney to get it over and done with!