frayed at the edge

Early one morning .....

....... just as the sun was rising - oh, ok, the sun had already risen and I didn't hear a maiden singing in the valley below, but it was still quite early!!  But to continue, on Monday when I went out for my walk, I took the camera with me as it was a lovely morning.  When I start the walk I'm still half asleep and the verges are just a blur of green, but by the time I have eaten my piece of fruit and have hit my stride, I start to see all the wonderful colours in the verge

 

 

Unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable about the names of wildflowers, I just enjoy looking at them!

 

 

I love ferns when they are just uncurling (is that a word?) - I think they look like something from a sci-fi film

 

 

There is a saying ........ ne'er cast a cloot till may is oot........ which roughly translated means don't take off your thermal vest until .... ah, but is it when the month of May is over, or when the the may blossom on the hawthorn is out?

 

 

This next little flower is tiny - not even as big as the nail on my pinkie.  I think I will have to print out this picture to turn it into a pattern for applique

 

 

There have been vast amounts of dandelions this year - seemingly because of the severe winter.  This one has already gone to seed.  When we were children, we used to blow on the seedheads, believing that the numbers of puffs it took to blow away all the seeds would tell us the time!

 

 

When you were little, did you hold a buttercup under your chin to see if you liked butter? (if you did, the buttercup would cast a golden light!)

 

The lambs are much more independent now, and spend more time away from the ewes, with the bolder ones squeezing through the fences to feast on the lush growth in the verges.  The lamb in the field looked anxious when I stopped to take this last photo, but the one on the verge wasn't going to leave the tasty morsels it was tucking into!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The magic of technology

Yesterday's post may have appeared as usual ....... but I wasn't here!  I wrote it on Wednesday and scheduled it to be posted yesterday evening, as I was away from home from 7am to 9pm!!  So, what was I doing?  I went on an outing to the city of York, to see a quilt exhibition .... but let's go back to the beginning ...... last Friday, my friend Anne said that she was going with Kelso Embroiderers to York.  There were spare seats on the coach and would I like to go - of course I said yes.  So it was up at the crack of dawn to head to Kelso to meet up with the Embroiderers Group.  We set off in our comfortable coach and were soon crossing over the River Tweed at Coldstream

 

 

On of the good things about travelling by coach is that you get a good view over the hedges.  This is a field of potatoes

 

 

The fields are ablaze with rape - even on dull days it looks as of the sun is shining!!

 

 

When we arrived in York, of course the first thing we did was have a cuppa, then we headed for the exhibition, which is in the Quilt Museum of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.  We arrived at the door .....

 

 

....... and the camera had to be put away, as no photography is allowed, not even a general view of the wonderful room that the exhibition is in (it's because of copyright issues).  So please click on the above links to see more of the exhibition!!

However, I can show you the wonderful gardens round the museum .....

 

the wrought iron and old bricks show off the plants beautifully

 

 

the old buildings provide a wonderful backdrop for the gardens

 

After a delicious lunch, it was time for a little sightseeing

 

wandering through the maze of streets in the Shambles ........

 

 

I remembered to look up

 

 

I wonder who Mad Alice was

 

We met up back in the gardens at the museum, and enjoyed a cuppa in the sun before heading for home

 

 

On the way to York, I was sitting on the wrong side of the coach to take a photo of the Angel of the North, but I was ready to capture one on the way home

 

You can read about the Angel here and see more photos  here.

 

The forecast for the weekend is for good weather, but whatever the weather is, I hope you all have a good one!!  Love, Anne 

 

A quick history lesson

Yesterday, we went over to the village of Newstead, where you can see a slice of history in one short walk.  The first stop was at Trimontium, the site of a Roman Fort.  We are taught in school that the Romans were an all-conquering nation - but they met their match in the Scots, and had to build forts and walls to protect themselves!

 

 

As we continued our walk, I was distracted by a cute animals photo opportunity ........

 

 

........ then Malcolm spotted these strange fungus (fungi?)

 

 

We got back on track, and reached our next stage in history ...... the old road bridge over the River Tweed.  You can see that the river is very low at the moment.

 

 

Next to the road bridge is the Victorian Leaderfoot Viaduct.  Unfortunately, the viaduct is no longer in use, as train services to the Borders were axed years ago

 

 

Next to these two magnificent structures is the modern road bridge (that man got in my photo again!!)

 

 

This detail of the old road bridge shows that things can look good as well as being functional

 

 

unfortunately, the modern bridge is merely functional

 

 

I know there has been a distinct lack of all things crafty since we got home from our holiday - however, it's back to normal tomorrow with the Tuesday Tutorial, and I am working hard on a knitting design which I hope to share with you soon!

 

 

Early morning delights

Yesterday, I crawled out of bed and was out the door at 6.40, determined to walk off some of those cake-calories.  It was a lovely clear, bright morning ....... but it was frosty!!  However I soon forgot about the unseasonal weather, when I saw these little cuties

 

they weren't too sure about someone taking their photo ......

 

 

...... but these two posed quite happily!

 

Those lambs were very young, unlike these two bold ones who were munching away on the verge, and stood watching me approach for some time (the photo is a little bit dark as we were in deep shade under large overhanging trees!)

 

 

I could see where they had squeezed through the fence to get in and out of the field, as they had left rather a lot of fleece behind!

 

 

It might be the middle of May, but the daffodils are still flowering in the verge

 

 

These primroses were a bright spot under the trees

 

 

The apple blossom is starting to appear - I hope there is a good crop of apples like last year, so that I will be able to make more jelly!

 

 

I had to take yet another photo of my favourite tree - if you click on it to enlarge it, hopefully you will see several birds in the holes - it looks as if they might be nesting

 

 

This afternoon, I abandoned the holiday laundry to head for patch'n'chat.  It was lovely to see all my friends and catch up with their latest projects ........ and of course there was cake!  Annette had made a wonderful lemon meringue pie for us ......

 

 

.......I'm going to have to do some more walking!!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

 

 

 

Hooray, it's the weekend!

Well, it has been a bit of a fraught week, with airports closed, then open, then closed again, open again ........ so fingers are still firmly crossed that our holiday goes ahead ok next week - especially as we have bought the sunscreen and got lots of euros!

It was forecast that we would have some spectacular sunsets because of the volcanic ash.  Although this sunset from the other evening looks dramatic, it isn't any more so than our usual ones

 

 

When I turned to go back into the house (before any of the neighbours saw me in my jammies!) I saw that the moon was already out

 

 

Last weekend, we had a trip to the garden centre to replace some of the plants that we lost because of the terrible winter.  There was a good choice of hellebores, and I finally chose this one

 

 

We also got a new cordyline - but it will be a few years before it grows to the size of the one we lost - it was obliterated when the snow came off the roof.  This time we choose a dark one, rather than the green of the previous one

 

 

Of course, we have to end with a photo of the Friday afternoon cake - another of Annette's light as air sponges - this time with apricot jam ...... delicious!

 

As it's Friday evening, I'm enjoying a very nice glass of wine - the weekend starts here!!  I hope you all have a good one, love, Anne

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fabric of my life

Having shown you my South African fabric (which I bought here!), I thought I would show you some of the fabrics that I have collected over the years on my travels.  I brought lots of fabric back from our three years in Indonesia - these are two of my favourites

 

 

The gold paint on the black fabric is applied by hand

 

 

One day I may fussy cut these flowers for applique

 

 

I bought this fabric in Kuala Lumpur, when I accompanied Malcolm on a business trip

 

 

This next fabric has a rather large carbon footprint ..... it is African fabric, which I bought in America and brought back home!

 

 

Some years ago we went to the Netherlands for a short holiday.  We had a few days in Amsterdam, then we went to The Hague for ...... a quilt show!  I actually have a project lined up for this fabric - it's just a long way down the list

 

 

This fabric came from, oh dear, where was it, I'll remember in a minute - oh yes, it was New Zealand

 

 

For several years before he retired, Malcolm worked abroad a lot, and sometimes I didn't see very much of him.  He had a spell of working in the South of France, coming home late on a Friday night and leaving again on Sunday morning.  Eventually I went out to Aix en Provence to spend a week in the sunvisit him, so of course I came home with fabric

 

 

You know I like fun, so as soon as I saw this fabric in Australia, I had to have some!

 

 

I definitely agree with this sentiment

 

 

But I'm not the only one to bring home fabric from abroad ......... when Malcolm came home a trip to India (I didn't get to go on that one) he handed me a gift bag and said - I thought maybe you could cut that up for cushions or something.  I don't think so ..... the bag contained six yards of sari silk!!

 

 

 

Beware of the geese!

Today has been chilly, but bright, so after lunch, I set off for a walk to take some photos for today's post.  Usually I turn up the hill past the church, but today I went downhill and along the main road, walking quite a bit further than usual.  It was worth the extra distance to capture this photo ......

 

 

I decided not to take the chance of encountering either the loose dogs or the geese, and hurried on past!  I make no apologies for the next 2 photos - as far as I'm concerned, you can never have too many photos of lambs 

 

if you think this is a cute photo ....

 

 

if only you could see the little tails wagging!

 

There was one annoying thing to see - who dumped this toilet here?  If they could make the effort to drive out of town and heave it down the bank, couldn't they just have taken it to the tip?

 

 

You know that I like old, dilapidated buildings, especially if rust is also involved, so this one ticked all the boxes!

 

 

When I saw (and heard) the water trickling down through this wall, I stepped forward to take a photo ..... squelch!!

 

 

Of course, along with everyong else, we have been watching the news about the disruption to flights because of the volcanic ash - but we have to admit to being somewhat selfish in our concern ........ we are supposed to be going to Majorca next Tuesday, with Stuart coming out to join us the following Tuesday.  The news tonight is more hopeful, so we have fingers firmly crossed!!

 

 

 

Birthday Girl

All can now be revealed!!  Tomorrow, Jennifer has a 'significant' birthday, so I have been working on a quilt for her ........ I couldn't show you, as she reads the blog.  We went to visit her today, to take her out to lunch and give her her presents

 

 

While she is sitting with her feet up on her cracket, she can read her new book

 

 

and if it's a bit chilly, she can cuddle up under her quilt.  I couldn't decide where to photograph it - first in the garden

 

 

then in the studio

 

 

this detail shows the machine quilting

 

 

and this the hand quilting

 

 

The weather must have realised that it was a special day, as we had blue sky and sunshine for our day out

 

 

It was hard to decide what to have, when faced with this fabulous menu

 

 

Here is the Birthday Girl, trying to make up her mind

 

 

She decided on this wonderful butternut squash and ginger risotto

 

 

Malcolm had smoked haddock and spinach risotto, with a poached egg

 

 

and I had a warm salad of bacon, Stornoway black pudding, mushrooms and quail eggs

 

Of course, a special occasion means that you can have pudding as well .....

Jennifer had rhubarb brule with a ginger biscuit

 

Malcolm had fresh fruit salad with a ginger syrup

 

I had a beautiful lemon tart with raspberry sauce

  

The food was so good, this lovely dog wanted to come in

but had to be content with sitting outside

 

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Jennifer,  have a wonderful day!

 

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

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Not quite so glorious!

This morning, Malcolm suggested we went over to Duns, despite the weather being decidely cooler, after a few glorious days.  However, we had a very enjoyable walk through the Duns Castle Estate.  The castle isn't open to the public, although you can have your wedding there!  We caught a first glimpse through this arch

 

 

However, we did get a better view further on in our walk

 

 

The castle has two man made ponds in its grounds, one of which is called Hen Poo - but I haven't been able to find out why!  You can see the pond in the background, beyond the sheep and lambs

 

 

It was a delight to walk through the woods and find primroses flowering

 

 

When I saw this piece of hollow tree trunk, I tried to persuade Malcolm to lie down in the mud and take an arty shot through it .... but for some reason he wouldn't do it!!  So you will just have to make do with this one I took by getting down on my knees

 

 

When we left the Castle Estate and followed the road back into town, we were greeted with this wonderful display of daffodils - there must be thousands of them

 

 

In front of our house, we have a new, boring, block wall ..... I wonder if I could persuade Malcolm to build a wall like this so we could have plants growing in the nooks and crannies

 

 

We know that Queen Victoria was very small, so perhaps that is why this postbox is only a foot off the ground, so that she wouldn't have to stretch up to post a letter

 

 

Tonight there is a very large jackpot on the lottery, and if we win, we are heading straight back to Duns to buy this house - well, really it's the fabulous conservatory that we want!

 

 

After all that walking, of course we had to have a cuppa, so we called into Hugo's

 

 

As always, I had tea and Malcolm had coffee.  I did think about trying to fit the teapot into my handbag, but fortunately common sense prevailed (no, I wasn't worried about being caught stealing the teapot, I was just worried that the leftover tea might spill!!)  We also shared some toasted bannock, which was delicious

 

 

When I'm out and about with the camera, I have got used to looking up, but it's just as well I was also looking down today, or I might have missed these two old doorways.  The first has a wonderful tiled step .......

 

 

........ and the second a metal name sign for a previous business on the edge of the step into the shop

 

 

You may have noticed that, apart from the Tuesday Tutorials, there has been a dearth of knitting and sewing ...... this is because I have been working on something very special ..... all will be revealed on Friday!!  (but there will also be a post as usual tomorrow)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glorious sunshine!

At last ...... lots of sunshine and not just a warm, but a positively hot Sunday, meant we had a wonderful day out yesterday.

We went to Coldstream to visit The Hirsel, home of the Home family (their name is pronounced Hume).  Malcolm had been there three weeks ago with his sisters, Jennifer and Judith (I couldn't go!) and he came home full of tales of the wonderful highland cattle - especially the calves.  

 

this cute little fluffy bundle will grow to look like this ........

 

 

....... this is an older calf with small horns ......

 

 

this is a young adult with medium horns

 

 

those horns are handy when you have an itch!!

 

 

the cattle come in all sorts of colours

 

But there was more to enjoy ....... lots and lots of daffodils

 

 

Beautiful buildings - in wonderful surroundings

 

 

A swan sitting in the sun, preening

 

 

After a cuppa and a scone, we had a browse round the wonderful craft shops.  There is a wide variety of gorgeous things to buy, all very reasonably priced.  I couldn't resist this little salt pig, with its cute spoon

 

 

I think you will have realised that Malcolm like all things wooden, so when I saw this beautiful bowl, I bought it for his collection

 

 

I took the last two photos in the garden this afternoon - it's wonderful to have such bright sunshine for taking photographs.  I also took this photo of the cracket that Malcolm has just finished for Jennifer

 

 

He was working on one for me this afternoon

 

 

Do you remember that the olive tree got flattened when the snow came off the roof?  It's not looking too good ....... and the ceanothus behind it is looking very sad as well

 

 

I lost one of my hellebores, and the other one wasn't looking to good, but suddenly over the last few days, it has shot up and (almost) flowered