frayed at the edge

Oh the pain ....

..... oh the agony - I was at the dentist this afternoon ..... but it wasn't the treatment that hurt, it was the fact that I finally had to pay the bill for six months' treatment!  I wouldn't have minded so much - but the amount ended with a penny .... and they made me pay it!!!

Never mind, on with the fun stuff!  Ulrika decided that she wasn't going to wait for her sisters, and sat up and posed nicely on top of the cushion on my favourite chair

 

She loves her skirt with its fluffy edge to match her scarf - especially as her sisters' skirts are plain!  But I did say yesterday she looked as if she was full of mischief .... I turned my back for a minute and this is what she got up to .....

Who ate all the panettone?  (I keep my stash of hot chocolate in this old tin!!)

 

If I promise to clean my teeth can I eat all this chocolate?  (No!!)

 

I don't like these satsumas - they clash with my hat!

 

 

My new best friend ..... Cheeky Monkey!

 

 

Tomorrow we are going up to Falkirk to see Stuart, and I'll be giving him this beautiful Christmas card that I made for him .....

 

 

Don't worry, he will be getting a proper card, this was just a bit of fun .... when I saw the badger card-making kit, I just couldn't resist it!

And finally - did I put up the tree?  Yes, I did!!

 

ps - I'm sorry the last two photos aren't centred, but Typepad has thrown one of its periodic wobblies and refuses to co-operate!!!

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Decorating

There have been two kinds of decorating going on in the house.  The first is the boring but necessary kind ..... we have been decorating the lounge - hooray, no more dull grey walls, instead they are a rich, warm stone colour, and the fireplace wall is going to be papered with a big bold patterned paper!

The other decorating is much more fun - starting with my little wallhangings, which I have made over the years.  They go on the doors in the hall, so that you see them every time you walk through the house.  The first one I made years ago - I designed it as a mystery wallhanging for a group I was Chairman of ... it was lots of fun, with people asking to see the finished one, so they would know what to do!!  It's looking a little worn now, and has lost the beads and bells that hung from the bottom edge ....

 

 

The next one was made from a kit - very simple, but pretty

 

This Father Christmas was also made from a kit - I love his fluffy beard and the little bell on the end of his hat!

 

And yes, this snowman was from a kit as well - the advantage of kits is that you don't have lots of fabric left over that you might not use

 

You have already seen the little elves that tell us how many days there are until Christmas, but they have now been joined by two little ornaments that can have a tealight in them - very pretty!

 

Our dining room windowsill is very deep - perfect for decorating.  It's a bit of a motley collection, but we like it .... first one side

 

and then the other

 

I made the runner for the dining table last year (and there are matching placemats) and I bought the napkin/salt and pepper holder just a few weeks ago

 

I had planned to put the tree up on Saturday, but things didn't go as intended, so hopefully you will get to see the tree tomorrow!
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht ........

...... morning!  I took this photo yesterday just before 8 o'clock

 

it was a lovely clear, cold, frosty morning.  You can see the lights of Hawick on the horizon.  I then tried taking another photo of the moon using the zoom .... the background has come out very dark, but I was amazed to see the detail of the surface of the moon!

 

Of course, Friday means cake, and Annette triumphed with another of her sponges - a chocolate one this time

 

Unfortunately, the weather today was back to damp and dreary, but when it started to rain this afternoon, the sky was brightened by this double rainbow

 

I know I shouldn't be thinking of starting a new sewing project when I have so many unfinished ones lurking in the studio, but for the last few weeks, I have been thinking about making a new runner for the chest of drawers in our bedroom.  So this afternoon I got out one of my many notebooks and did a little drawing

I haven't done any applique for a while, so I am looking forward to getting started!

 

I was tidying up before I came back into the house at the end of the afternoon - and thought I would take photos of the silly tin I keep odds and ends in ...

The foam shark is actually the top of a pen, which I got as a free gift in a shopping mall in Singapore years ago - I never use it, I just like it!  The back of the tin is also silly .....

 
  
 
 
 
 

Sisters!

Why should boys have all the fun?  Girls should get to join in too .... so next on the needles (big fanfare!) ...... girl gnomes, little sisters for the boys!!!  I've been looking through my stash and pulled out these girl gnome colours (don't worry, they won't have beards!)

 

The colours look slightly washed out, as I had to use the flash .... we were away all day visiting Jennifer, so it was dark by the time I took the photos. 

 

Even I can no longer deny that Christmas is almost here, so these little fellows have made an appearance on the kitchen bookcase, to remind me how little time I now have to get organised!

 

I'm off now to see if I can persuade Olaf and Gustav's big brother to stop hiding in my knitting basket, so he can be the star of tomorrow's post .......
 
 

Blowing away the cobwebs!

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out, although it is still very windy (but we don't mind, as it is helping to dry us out!!)  I went for a walk after lunch and by the time I got back home, the cobwebs had been well and truly blown away!!  Everything looked clean and sparkly after so much rain and I took lots of photos. I am keeping some of them for Sunday as they are good Shadow Shots, but here is a selection of the others ......

 

a clean and fluffy sheep after all the rain!!

 

 

the Minto Hills in the sunshine

 

 

Ruberslaw, also bathed in sun

 

 

I know you've seen it before, but I love this tree!!

 

 

the damp conditions are ideal for mushrooms!

 

 

the rose on the pergola refuses to believe that it's winter!

 

When I got home, I took off my boots at the back door, and as I walked through to the kitchen to make a reviving mug of hot chocolate ......

 

oh the embarrassment - a hole in the toe of my sock!!

 

Tomorrow, we will gather with family and friends to say our last goodbyes to Malcolm's Dad.  Of course there will be lots of tears, but I am sure there will be laughter as well, when we talk of our memories ... like the time I was demolishing a cupboard for him, to allow for new central heating to be installed.  When a batten on the wall proved to be somewhat stubborn to remove, I did what any sensible person would do ... I hit it very hard with a large hammer!!  He laughed about the day for years!!  I just want to say a last thankyou to everyone who left comments or e-mailed.  It is a comfort at such a sad time to know that so many people have been thinking of us.

 

 

 

 

Thank goodness for archives!

We have been away all day, helping with the arrangements for Malcolm's Dad's funeral, so I haven't taken any photos.

So. it was into the archives for some photos of a walk round Hawick two weeks ago, when the sun was shining!!

 

this may look like part of a French chateau, but it is the Town Hall

 

 

I have no idea why this anvil is here!

 

 

abandoned steps down to the river

 

 

we got back home to discover these two beauties had moved into the field across the road - they have been entertaining us with their antics!

 

It's raining again!!

The weather really has been miserable, and one of the casualties was my bird table, which was blown over and suffered abroken leg.  This little robin was very unhappy this morning, as he can't quite manage to use the fat-ball feeder!!

 

 

This afternoon, however, was considerably brighter (except for the pouring rain!), when I went down to Chesters for the Christmas Fair.  First stop was at Lindsay's stall

 

can't tell you what I bought (it's for Malcolm's Christmas!)

 

 

Fiona's lovely felted things (again, I can't tell you what I bought!)

 

 

Alison's lovely kitchen accessories - I bought a towel to match the chef's pad that I bought from her at the last Woolgathering

 

 

Janet and her wonderful fabric creations

 

 

gorgeous jewellery from 'Beautiful Beaders'

 

 

Lorraine with her delicious Christmas goodies - beautifully iced cakes, jams, chutneys ..... and her award winning speciality, marzipan petit fours.  I don't like marzipan, which has presented a problem in the past when it comes to decorating the Christmas cake, but that has been now been solved!  I only put icing on the cake, then put the lovely marzipan fruits on the top, so that Malcolm can have some marzipan with his cake.  Did you notice the crutches beside Lorraine?  She went over on her ankle last week and has damaged the ligaments in her foot - which is a bit of a hindrance at this busy time of year!!

Hope to see you tomorrow for Shadow Shot Sunday - but after the weather of the last few days, I think it will be some archive shots!!

 

Does anyone know where Noah is .....

..... because we could do with building another ark!!  We have had rain, rain and more rain, and although we haven't been as badly hit as some towns, there has been some flooding.  I took these photos this morning, when the river had gone back down quite a bit, but some of them show just how high the water got.

 

the river here is feet deep, where it is usually just inches deep

 

 

these trees are normally at the water's edge

 

 

if you look at the centre of the photo, you can see debris caught under the bridge

 

 

there is a small island under these trees!!

 

 

you can see the line on the bank where the river reached its highest level

 

 

this is a large tree trunk, jammed against the bridge

 

 

the noise of the water rushing past is frightening

 

But of course it's Friday, which must mean it's time for Annette's latest masterpiece!!

yes, it was as delicious as it looks!!

 

Finally, we just want to say a very big thankyou to everyone who has left comments and sent e-mails.  There have been tears reading them, but there has also been laughter - Malcolm hadn't ever thought of his Dad as a handsome man, but of course he thinks so now, when several people also said he looks like his Dad!!

Have a good weekend, love, Anne

 

What a beautiful baby .....

...... and Mia is gorgeous too!!  Yes, I know you can't really call a six-foot tall young man a baby - but he will always be my baby!!  Emma took these photos last night when Stuart called in to give Mia her quilt and shawl and forwarded them today so that I could pop them on the blog

 

Stuart, Mia and cute quilt

 

 

Stuart, Mia and her shawl

 

 

the two gorgeous babies!!

 

 

Sad, sad news

Malcolm's Dad passed away late last night.  Malcolm was with him at the end.  I thought I would share some photos of happier days......