frayed at the edge

Summer at last!

It was glorious this morning when I went out for my walk - a little bit of high cloud, but lovely and warm.  I know I keep showing you photos of the Minto Hills, but they look different every day!

 

 

It is just about time for the sheep to be shorn, but this one is already moulting

 

 

I was entertained by this pheasant, which looked as if it was creeping up to scare the horses

 

 

I've said before that we regard as a neighbour anyone living within walking distance - so the people building this house will just qualify, as this is where I turn round to come home!

 

 

The roses in the hedgerow are just starting to flower - hopefully there will be a good crop of hips come the autumn

 

 

When we moved here, there were three old sinks in the drive.  It turned out that they belong to our next door neighbour, with whom we share the entrance.  As they were obviously neglected, full of weeds, we offered to replant them - our neighbour was quite happy for us to do this.  However,  after the winter, most of the plants were dead, so now that we have our  new drive, we have been smartening them up again.  We got a lot of bits of broken slates from the man who is building the house beside us, and Malcolm arranged them, then planted alpines in the spaces.  We will have to get some grit and a few more plants to finish them off, but they are already looking good

 

 

 

 

It was 23 degrees this afternoon - fingers crossed that the second half of June is going to be glorious!!

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the heavens opened!!!!!

I spent lots of time in the studio over the weekend.  Some of the time was spent on the chickens

 

 

 

and some on the 'row' quilt.  I satin-stitched the hearts onto their background fabrics

 

 

then I made my log cabin blocks

 

 

so I now have two rows completed

 

 

The garden is now just about recovered from the severe winter ........ but this iris should have flowered about eight weeks ago!

 

 

I love poppies - this one in the front garden is stunning (it would make a lovely applique block!)

 

 

I have loved lupins since I was little - this one is a gorgeous colour

 

 

Malcolm's vines are flourishing - you can see the tiny grapes on this one

 

 

so, to return to today's heading ....... we had just finished dinner last night, when we had a torrential downpour .......

 

the rain was so heavy, there was a waterfall from the gutters!

 

 

you can see the rain bouncing back up!!

 

Much as I enjoy my morning walks, there is one unpleasant aspect ....... sometimes I encounter dead animals!  The past few days have been particularly bad - in order of size, there have been : several newts, a mole, a crow, a badger and a lamb.  I had an idea this morning for a film, where I float along the country lanes, talking to dead animals (Dr Doolittle meets Sixth Sense?).  Obviously, Julia Roberts would star as me - but I would stand in for her when it came to the romantic scenes with Bruce Willis (as long as he promises not to wear his vest!!).  Of course George Clooney would have a cameo role as Malcolm .......

 

 

 
 

Change of venue!

This afternoon, we were unable to have our patch'n'chat at Borderland Fabrics, as twenty eight quilters were visiting the shop, and there was no room for us!!  So ........ of course they came to spend the afternoon in my studio instead.  Anne D is for the moment living in a tiny cottage, while her new house is being made habitable, so she has nowhere to set up her sewing machine.  She had two things with her to do by machine and asked if I could help her out by putting the binding on this stunning quilt (she originally intended to make it for her friend's 60th birthday ....... her friend is now 63!!)

 

 

This details shows Anne beautiful applique - I love the tiny buttons in the centre of the pansy

 

 

Anne was adding borders to her stunning Thimbleberries quilt - the blocks are all hand stitched, but she decided to machine stitch the borders because of their size

 

 

Agnes was working on something just a little bit smaller - her log cabin blocks are only four inches square

 

 

Anne S (yes, it's confusing with three Annes in the room!) was also working on tiny log cabin blocks - she had her sewing things in this cute litlle bag

 

 

Once Anne finished using her sewing machine, Seonaid asked if she could play with it and had fun trying out some of the embroidery stitches

 

 

and she had even more fun when she discovered the elephants

 

 

I was working on the chickens .... I'm determined to get them finished.  I bought some sequins and beads for the eyes ...

 

 

Of course, Friday afternoon means cake, and you have seen over the weeks the wonderful cakes that Annette makes for us.  I had a look through this little book ....

 

 

and decided on a ginger cake, which has finely chopped stem ginger in it 

 

 

The recipe actually has the cake topped with a very rich ginger flavoured butter icing, but as there was already a lot of butter and sugar in the cake, I decided to simply dust the top with some icing sugar

 

 

As I very rarely bake, I was worried about how the cake would turn out, so Malcolm and I bravely had a slice to check it out!

 

 

Fortunately, it turned out well, and everyone enjoyed their slice with our afternoon cuppa!!

At the moment, we can't watch tv, llisten to the radio, or read the papers without being bombarded with the World Cup - but don't worry, that is the only reference to it that there will be on the blog - this is definitely a football-free zone!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend .... mine no doubt will include more work on those pesky chickens!!  Love, Anne

 

 

 

Not so flaming June!

It was decidedly chilly when I set out for my walk this morning, so I wasn't surprised to see these horses huddled together

 

 

These lambs may be getting big, but they were still happy to cuddle mum for warmth

 

 

However, a mile down the road, these horses were unaffected by the cold wind blowing from the north

 

 

Usually the horses just ignore me when I take photos, but this morning, they decided to come over to the gate

 

 

This foal is getting big - and a typical boy, he is turning into a bully ....... he pushed and shoved and even bit some of the mares to get nearer to the gate

 

 

He is looking a bit scruffy - I think he must be shedding his baby hair!  No doubt soon he will look like this beauty

 

 

It may have been a cold gloomy morning, but it did provide me with this misty photo

 

 

But it wasn't all gloomy ..... this rhododendron was a bright splash of colour

 

 

I spent the afternoon ironing .......it's the one household chore I really don't like, and one that Malcolm absolutely refuses to do!!  I know I should do it as soon as the washing is dry and not wait until the basket is overflowing and I've run out of clean clothes ..... but I did finally get to the bottom of the pile!  I also baked a cake this afternoon ..... but I'll tell you about it tomorrow!

 

Please do not adjust your set ........

......... normal service will be resumed soon!  I'm sorry if you were expecting a Tuesday tutorial, but I've just got so much on the go at the moment that I thought I would take a few weeks to catch up with things, and to work on some new projects for future tutorials.  But don't worry, there will still be plenty of crafty goings on included in my daily ramblings!!

Of course I have been playing with my embellisher - this is the piece I produced at the weekend

 

 

I started with two layers of roving, with the fibres in the top layer at right angles to the bottom layer

 

 

After needling it into a rectangle, I added stripes in two colours, weaving them over and under each other.  The piece is about the size of a post card and is very firm - it would make a nice little mat to stand an ornament on.

 

Some time ago, I needled (by hand) this pink heart on to a piece of blue felt, intending to turn it into a little bag.  It was the work of minutes to use the embellisher to 'seam' the sides .......

 

 

It's the perfect size for my little i-pod shuffle - and one day it might even acquire a button!

 

 

I haven't mentioned my housegroup for some time.  We meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.  The group is called Kist, which stands for knit 1 stitch too ......... but kist is also a Scottish word for a chest, in particular the sort of chest that a girl would have stored her hand stitched household linens in, ready for when she married.  It is an informal affair, with everyone working on their own projects.  Today I was making a start to a quilt we are doing on Friday afternoons at Borderland Fabrics.  The quilt is made up of rows of different patterns.  The row I have started with has crazy patchworh hearts (I've got them in two rows to make it easier to take a photo!)

 

 

In the course of the day, copious amounts of tea, coffee and hot chocolate are consumed!  Today I was using this fun mug, which I bought some years ago in Houston

 

 

I have a matching t-shirt ...... but I don't think you will see me wearing it !!

 

I want a new garden .......

........ and I want it now!!  Why?  Well, yesterday, we had a trip up to Edinburgh to visit Gardening Scotland  It wasn't quite on the same scale as the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show, but we saw some wonderful gardens

 

we liked this low maintenance garden

 

 

 a place to relax, surrounded by water

 

 

an eco-friendly garden

 

 

this little water feature looked as if it had been there for years, not days!

 

 

planting to attract bees

 

There were also tiny gardens, which were entries in a schools competition

 

I hope they dried the sewing machine afterwards!

 

 

time for tea?

 

There were other things to admire

 

this was a rather scary bird .......

 

 

..... unlike this fluffy chick!!

 

But the best bit of the day for me didn't involve gardens or cute baby birds ......... it was seeing my lovely friend Helen, who had a stall selling her beautiful yarns, as I hadn't seen her for almost a year!

 

 

If you look at two wraps hanging behind us, you may recognise the one on the right as the kit I bought recently ....... and yes, I succumbed to the kit for the other one, the gorgeous Alina, which can be knitted as a wrap or a triangular shawl (I think I'll do the wrap)

 

the kit comes in a lovely little bag

 

 

Helen's colours reflect her surroundings in beautiful Sutherland

 

I have been busy knitting, as I hope to have a stall at a Christmas fair

 

lots of baby gift sets

 

 

I could knit these washcloths in my sleep!!

 

This afternoon, I had a break from knitting and did some sewing ...... on the chickens!!

 

 

I still haven't finished embroidering the legs and beaks, but I thought I would be encouraged to get on if I started assembling the blocks!!

 

A very spoiled girl!

Earlier in the year, I had to go to the Court Offices in Newcastle to swear an oath that I would carry out my duties as Malcolm's Dad's executor.  Afterwards, we went for a wander round the shops, and I saw an embellisher (for those who don't know what that is, it looks like a sewing machine, but has a cluster of special needles for needle-felting).  I have wanted one for some time now, but couldn't really justify the expenditure .......... so I was delighted when Malcolm said that once he received his inheritance, he would buy one for me!!  So yesterday we set off for Newcastle, going via Morpeth to pick up Jennifer (who treated us to a lovely lunch!).  After another look at the embellisher, I said yes please, I really would like one - so I now have my lovely new toy

 

you couldn't mistake it for a sewing machine .........

 

 

......... when you see the cluster of five needles

 

The embellisher wasn't the only  machine we saw yesterday - we were amazed at this shop window, which was full of old sewing machines

 

I have never seen so many machines in one place!!

 

 

and I've never seen some of the makes before!!

 

When I went out the front door this morning for my walk, I could hear birds chirping away.  I realised that they were very young birds, but where was the nest!!  Following the sound, I eventually saw the nest - it is tucked between the top of the house wall and the wooden board under the the roof - but I didn't see the parents, so I don't know what kind of bird the nest belongs too.

 

 

I found this little bit of fir tree in the middle of the road!!  I guess it must have caught on a lorry and had dropped off later, as there are no trees like that where I found it.  I immediately thought ........ embroidery!!

 

 

I would have loved to finish with a beautiful piece of needlefelting that I made on my lovely new toy ....... but I've been out most of the day, so you will have to wait until tomorrow!!

 

Crash, bang, wallop!

I had some time to sit down and knit this morning, while the washing machine was on and my bread dough was rising.  Normally I would sit in the lounge at the front of the house .......

 

I wonder if you would guess this is where I sit!!

 

........ but we had workman making a tremendous amount ofnoise, as they prepared the drive for tarmac to be laid later in the day.  So instead I went and sat in the lounge at the back of the house ........

 

 

......... where I had lots of company

 

the gnome brothers

and the gnome sisters

 

As you can see from the last photo, the sun was shining today, so I took my scarf/shawl into the garden to take photos

 

you can see how fine it is

 

I had some advice from Rattling on ..., who told me that in Russia, women wear long pointy shawls in winter - they roll the top edge to shorten the shawl and to form a collar, which you can see I have done.

 

 

a detail of the beads

 

I have a confession to make ....... Malcolm finished my cracket just before we went on holiday, and I didn't have time to post about it then ....... and I forgot when we came back home!!  So here is my cracket - Judith's and Jennifer's are oak, but I chose pine for mine

 

the softer pine meant that Malcolm could cut a scalloped edge

 

I love the detail on the legs
 

 

I made egg mayo sandwiches for lunch ...... while the eggs were cooking, I finely sliced a spring onion and grated some cheese.  The rough guide to portion size for cheese is a piece the size of a matchbox ......... but which matchbox?

 

 

The matchbox from Cafe Batavia is a souvenir from when we lived in Jakarta.  We went there several times for a meal with a group of Malcolm's colleagues and their wives.  There was always a lot of laughter when any of the men had to go to the Gents, as rumour had it that the large mirror behind the urinal was actually a two-way mirror, that allowed anyone in the Ladies to have a view of the Gents!!  Of course we would never say if the story was true .......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern shepherding

When I was out for my walk this morning, I helped one of the neighbouring farmers deal with a runaway ewe and her lamb.  But this wasn't traditional shepherding with a crook and a dog ........ his preferred method of rounding them up was to use his ....... Mercedes!!

 

 

He had been herding them along the road, when they were able to escape through an open gate into a field - he drove in after them and encouraged them to come back out - I took this photo just as they emerged.  He parked across the road so that they couldn't go back that way and started shouting orders at me to drive them back towards him (I was still a fair distance away, the photo was taken with the zoom lens!).  Just as he shut the gate, the ewe made a run for it past me, with the lamb trotting behind, and they legged it on up the hill.  At that point I left the farmer to get on with it and continued with my walk!!

I walk for a mile and a half, which brings me to a road junction.  I stand at the junction and admire the view, before I turn and walk back up the hill - the first two thirds of the road home is uphill - I am always glad when the final downhill stretch comes into view!!.  This morning I lingered to take some photos -  in this one, on the left you can two of the three Eildon Hills (Trimontium) and on the right you can see one of the two Minto Hills (and lots of beautiful blue sky)

 

 

Can you see a little creature in the middle of this photo - its companion had run away, but it must have thought that if it kept very still, I wouldn't see it!! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

One of our neighbours has an old donkey - he is now thirty!  I usually only hear him in the morning as he is in the paddock at the back of their house, but today he was out in the field.  As you can see he has rather unuaual colouring!

 

 

As usual for Fridays, I was busy this morning doing the housework, but then it was off to Borderland fabrics for an afternoon of sewing.  I had finished the applique on the runner, so took my sewing machine with me to sew on the binding.  All I have to do now is handstitch the binding on the back (I took this photo when I got back home)

 

 

I haven't forgotten that I said I would tell you my plan for all those ends on the shawl/scarf ...... I am going to thread beads on them.  I would have shown you, but despite having hundreds of beads in my stash, I don't have in the right shade of pink!!

I hope you all have a super weekend, love, Anne

 

 

 

Too good to share!

This morning we had to go to Kelso, which meant we had to find somewhere to have our usual Thursday morning cuppa.  We decided to try a recently opened deli/coffee shop called Pharlanne, which turned out to be very nice indeed.  Usually we go to the Pickled Orange in Hawick, where we share one of their large scones, but Pharlanne didn't have scones ......... but they did have chocolate brownies.  I'm sorry, not even Malcolm gets to share my chocolate brownie - I ate it all myself!! (don't worry, he had a white chocolate and berry muffin - which he knew I wouldn't want to share as I don't like white chocolate!)

 

 

Since we moved here (almost four years ago) we have been regular customers of Almstrongs, a small department store in Hawick.  In that time the store has gradually declined, with departments and eventually whole floors closing.  Now, sadly, the shop is shutting for good and they are having a last sale, with 70% off everything.  While obviously wanting to take advantage of such good prices, I did feel a little bit guilty that I was hastening the end by buying some of the remaining stock!  Earlier in the week I had bought some lovely cotton thread for hand sewing, so I bought some more today, along with a packet of embroidery needles in a variety of sizes, and several packets of buttons which can be covered with fabric

 

 

I also got three balls of beautiful cotton yarn - I have a little project in mind - it might even be done in time for next Tuesday's tutorial.........

 

 

I finished knitting my scarf/shawl (should I call it a scawl or a sharf?).  I soaked it briefly in lukewarm water with a delicate handwash, then squeezed (remember, never wring) the excess water out and wrapped it in a towel and squeezed some more.  I  blocked it out on an old sheet, using my blocking wires - but you could just use pins.

 

 

I'm not altogether happy with the proportions - it has turned out a little bit longer than I had planned, so I will have to have a rethink on the increasing, but it only took 23gms of yarn, so I can have several more tries to get it right!!

 

 

It sits nicely at the front, but is just too long at the back

 

 

So ...... what's going to happen with all those ends?  I'll tell you tomorrow!!