frayed at the edge

At last!

Yes - we finally went out in the new car yesterday!!  As expected, it is lovely - very quiet, very comfortable and drives like a .... well I don't know that bit, because there's no chance I'll be driving it any time soon!!  We went to a garden centre for a bacon roll for breakfast (and to stock up on bird food) then went on to Galashiels for some food shopping, so altogether a good morning out!

On Friday, I decided to have an extra giveaway, to celebrate my 300th post.  After a rummage in the studio, I came up with this as a prize

 

it's a notebook that I bought in Singapore - the back is cute too

 

 

( there may be a little extra something in the parcel!)

I posted the parcels this afternoon, so hopefully they will be with the winners soon.

 

I mentioned that I thought 'octopus' when working on the 'circles' scarf.  This in turn made me think of an octopus knitting!  I had a go at drawing one on Saturday.  I wasn't entirely happy with it (we all know about my lack of drawing skills) so I asked Malcolm if he could tweak it for me .... he took one look at it, turned over the page and drew another one!  So here are are drawings (I coloured both of them in!!)

this is my offering ....

 

.... and this is Malcolm's

I thought for a bit of fun, I would ask you to say which one you prefer, and why .... there will be a little prize for the best comment!!

 

I read a delightful post on Lee's blog about how her daughter is famous in Germany - you can read it here and if you want to make the Christmas tree, you can see the tutorial here.  I decided to have a go last night while we were watching tv - I used a magazine from one of the Sunday papers.  My tree isn't as good as Lilly's - I should have used a magazine with far more pages - mine only made half a tree!!

 

We were watching the film 'Sleeping with the enemy', with Julia Roberts and Patrick Bergen.  It reminded of this book

.... it's a very moving novel, telling of the efforts of a battered wife to leave her husband.  I have read it several times, and every time I cry!!  I bought the book in Borders Bookshop in Singapore - I used to spend a lot of time (and money) in Borders!  I think I have told you this story before, but I'm going to tell you again!  When there was political unrest in Indonesia, I, along with another BP wife, had to go to stay in Singapore.  When we moved into our apartments, we went out to buy the necessities to make our stay comfortable ... she bought tonic for her gin ... and I headed to Borders to buy a book and a magazine!!

 

While I'm typing this, I am watching the news, and the terrible pictures from Haiti.  I am full of admiration for the people who go to help - I know that I couldn't do it ... all I can do is make a donation and hope that it helps to make a difference.
 
   
 
 

 

And the winners are .....

........ yes, the moment has arrived, for the draw for the anniversary giveaway!  So without further ado, Malcolm will you please draw the two winners ......

 

 

Our first winner, for the UK prize, is ........

 

the multi-talented Helen McCookerybook (artist, musician and prolific blogger .... oh, she also has a 'proper' job!)

and what, I hear you ask, has she won?

some beautiful pieces of silk, an 'orphan' ball of yarn, a selection of wooden beads, and a small pack of hand-dyed angora ... and that's not all!  After taking the photo I added some extra goodies!!

 

The other  winner, from overseas, is

Mattenylou from Massachusets - but in one of those funny little coincidences in life, her Granny was born in Hawick! 

Her prize is ...

... a Thistle Stitchery Kit (designed by me!!), a kit to make a scissor keeper, some cute little buttons, one of the tags I made for the Tuesday Tutorial (very special, as it is made from the card Malcolm gave me!) and a gift bag (that I also showed you how to make).  And, as with Helen, some more goodies sneaked onto the pile when I wasn't looking!

 

BUT ... that's not all ..... because (fanfare, roll of drums) this is post number 300!!!  So I tipped all the names into one bowl .......

and I drew out ......

Cathy, who lives in Italy, and is a fabulous artist!  As this was a last minute decision to have another prize winner, I don't actually know what her prize will be, but I am sure I will find something in the studio!

 

It has been wonderful to have so many people leave comments - not only from here at home, but from France, Holland, Italy, America, South Africa and Australia!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - we are hoping that the thaw continues and that we will finally be able to go out in the new car!!

Love, Anne
 

 
 
 

  

 

Reduce clutter, create space!

One day last week, I was reading one of my favourite blogs fra(a)ing, when I saw that Anairam had a new badge on her side bar - of course being a nosey kind of person, I clicked on it ......... and this is what I found reduce clutter, create space  .... a wonderful idea on Shannon's blog.  A lot of her ideas tied in with my New Year's resolutions, so I was happy to sign up to her campaign for people not only to physically declutter, but also to declutter their minds ....... I'm sure, like me, some days your head is just too full of stuff, and it would be good to clear out the unnecessary items.  As you know I have made a start in sorting out the studio, making a serious effort to finish longstanding projects and to use things from my stash instead of buying ever more stuff.  When tidying up I came across these little socks and two scarves

 

my sample socks from practising knitting 'two at a time'

 

 

left over stock from a craft fair

 

I took them, along with a cd I didn't want, into a charity shop this morning, where they were gratefully received.  I'll update you now and then on how the decluttering goes (and of course more will be leaving the studio soon, as prizes in the great anniversary giveaway!!).

 If I had slightly better computer skills, I too would have a badge on my sidebar, but for the moment, I'll just have to put one here 

And now for the weather update!  When snow first falls, it looks very pretty, but in Hawick this morning, we saw the other side of snowy weather

great piles of dirty snow

There are also problems with thawing snow coming down off roofs .... this is what happened when the snow came off our neighbours roof yesterday

a large section of gutter dislodged by the snow

We were woken through the night by the sound of snow coming off the roof at the back of the house, and this is what we found this morning

this is an olive tree (with a fleece tent round it) flattened by the snow

 

Both Malcolm and I had a narrow escape this morning - I was about to go out the back door, and Malcolm was about to come in, when another huge amount of snow came off the roof - I think we would have been badly hurt if we had been caught under it - it was like an avalanche.  Here is Malcolm starting to clear it

 

If you haven't yet seen the details of the anniversary giveaway, scroll down to the end of Friday's post to read all about it.

Remember to come back tomorrow for the first Tuesday Tutorial!!

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

  
  

What's today's date ........

........ let me just look at a calendar or two (or even three!!)

 

this gorgeous chicken thinks it's the 8th

 

 

the cute sock monkey agrees!

 

If you are of a sensitive nature, scroll past the next calendar quickly (Malcolm bought it for my Christmas ..... on the other hand you may want to click on it to enlarge it!!

 

this handsome chap also agrees that it is the 8th ....

 

..... which can only mean one thing ...... it's my first anniversary!!!!! (did I hear a fanfare and a roll of drums?)

I can't believe I have been doing this for a year and haven't yet run out of things to say (ok, I admit it, my friends will tell you that I never stop talking!!).  I thoroughly enjoy writing my blog, and I'm amazed at how many people now read it.  This is my 294th post and I have received over 1100 comments.  I have made many friends, mostly blog friends, but of course last year I met Sarah and Lee, and this year I hope to meet Meg, as she is moving from Idaho to Italy.  

Of course an anniversary means a giveaway!  To be included in the draw, which I'll make next Friday, simply leave a comment, mentioning if you live in the UK or abroad, as there are two separate giveaways, because of the cost of postage.  Multiple entries are welcome, so feel free to leave a comment every day!!

To finish, of course there has to be an update on the weather!  We have had another day without snow (hooray) BUT ...... it is still well below freezing, so the snow willl be here for quite a while yet (we've had snow here since the 17th of December - we remember because it was the day we went to Falkirk to see Stuart!!).  We went for a walk after lunch, and this is what our road looks like

 

It is passable with care - but the cleared bit is only wide enough for one car, and the ploughed snow at the edges is frozen hard, so it would be a bit hairy if you met a car coming the other way - or worse, a tractor!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - we will be staying in and keeping warm!

Love Anne

ps - Malcolm also bought a calendar for Jennifer.  When we were there on Christmas Day, her mother-in-law had a very good look at all the photos, then declared that she really didn't fancy any of the men (she's 92!!)
 

 

Don't mention global warming!!

Yesterday I showed you Malcolm's new car under a blanket of snow ...... today it has a duvet and an eiderdown as well .......

 

 

I've put together a collage of some of the photos I took this morning

 

 

After being out in the snow taking the photos, there was only one thing to have .....

 

a lovely mug of hot chocolate!!

 

I spent some time working on my cross stitch this afternoon, then I started a new knitting project.  Given the continuing bad weather (it snowed all afternoon!), I chose a scarf from this book

 

 

There are so many lovely scarves, it was hard to choose, but I finally decided on this one

 

 

 

And of course I selected yarn from my stash (although I couldn't have gone out to buy some, as there was at least a foot of snow on the road!)

 

 

Remember to leave a comment to go into the draw for the giveaway - especially if you haven't commented before - it would be lovely to hear from you!!

  

 

Winter wonderland

We woke up this morning to find that it had snowed heavily in the night - and it has been snowing off and on all day.  It looks really pretty ..... but as we live on a country road, we are snowed in!!  Malcolm was particularly upset, as he was supposed to be going down to Newcastle to pick up his new car (more about that in a future post - all I'm going to say is that it might be a case of a delayed midlife crisis...).  Fortunately, we usually stay at home for New Year, watching the cheesy Hogmanay programmes on tv and toasting the New Year with a nice glass of bubbles (and there is the annual competition to see who lands the first slap of the year .... I usually win!!)

So,  for the last photos of the year, it has to be snow, snow and even more snow .....

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we head rapidly to the end of the year, I would like to thank everyone for reading my rubbish drivel interesting and informative blog!  Be sure to come back next year, as there is going to be a very special giveaway ........ to celebrate the first anniversary of the blog on the 8th of January, and I have lots of things planned to entertain you!

Very best wishes to everyone for a peaceful and prosperous New Year, with lost of love from Anne (and Malcolm)

 
 
 
 
 

We've had the lot!

What a day - we've had rain, hail, sleet and snow!!  So there is one thing for it - I'm delving into the archives for a photo with SUNSHINE!!!!!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with my last post of 2009!
  
  

A cat on a hot ......

...... piece of fence!  I don't really like cats, but I couldn't resist taking a photo of our neighbours' cat sitting beside our back garden gate, enjoying the morning sunshine

 

At least while he was sitting there he wasn't trying to catch this robin, which was sitting on our roof

We may have had blue skies and sunshine today, but it is still bitterly cold - minus seven this morning!!
 
 

Homeward bound

We had a lovely time at Stuart's - an excellent dinner, and perhaps a glass or two of wine!  Old habits die hard, and I got up early to see Stuart off to work .... it was very cold and frosty - minus four degrees!!  Of course we went to Aromas Coffee Shop for the best bacon roll in the world, followed by a potter round the shops, then we headed off for home.  There was still a lot of snow, so especially for Lee and Tracy, who are sweltering in the Australian summer (poor things) here are some more snowy pictures .......  

 

 

 

 

it was threatening to snow again, which was bad news for .....

 

...... these sheep - even with their woolly coats they must be cold!

back home the Minto Hills looked good! 

 

And finally, for those of you who never experience snow and ice and frost ....... you might never have seen one of these

 

but what does it do, I hear you cry!

 

It spreads salt on the roads to melt the snow and ice - you can see the brown salt coming out at the back - and it can also have a plough on the front to clear the road of deep snow.  If you look at the road sign on the right of the photo, you may just see that it says Welcome to Scottish Borders - we always cheer when we pass the sign, as it means we're 'home'!!

I hope you have a super weekend - we have a lot more snow forecast ....

Love, Anne

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Let it snow!

We got up this morning to find it had snowed!  Just a sprinkle, but enough to make you think that Christmas really is almost here!  I didn't have time to take photos before we left to come up to Falkirk (I'm sitting in Stuart's lounge typing this!) ..... but I did take the following photos this morning on our way up - they're not too bad considering they were taken from a moving car!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that was all very pretty as we went up the A7, but then when we got to the outskirts of Edinburgh, the weather took a decided turn for the worse .....

 

and if you thought that was bad .....

 

 

the traffic was very slow going at this point!

 

Now that it is almost Christmas, it's time to 'send' you my Christmas card!  First of course is the envelope .....

 

 

....... and then the card .......

Malcolm spotted these in a local charity shop - pillar box, my favourite!!

and inside the card?

and the charity the cards are in aid of?

 

 

We may think it Christmas, but a shop we were in today thinks it's almost Easter!!!

Oh look, Typepad don't want to put this last photo in the middle!