frayed at the edge

Borderlands

I got up at 6.30 this morning, put on my walking shoes (and some clothes!) and headed out into a glorious summer morning.  It's almost three years since we moved to the Borders, and in answer to the question - why did we move here ....

 

Looking over to the Eildons

 

The Minto Hills in the early morning sunshine

 

The morning rush hour!

 

The sweet smell of honeysuckle and the hum of bees

 

This afternoon, of course, it was off to Borderland fabrics for the weekly patch'n'chat.  Do you remember way back I was working on Malcolm's chicken quilt?  Well, I thought I ought to make an effort to get it finished, before the plump chickens turn into stringy old hens!

 

Just a few of the blocks

 

Eggs for us, a worm for the chickens, or would you prefer

 

Annette's strawberry pavlova!

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a job where you could lie down?  Cathy, Annette's right hand woman, seems to think that she has one!

 

But as she re-upholstered the chaise longue with some of her wonderful patchwork, I guess she deserves to occasionally put her feet up!

 

Have a good weekend, love, Anne

Swallowtails

This week, I decided to have a change from working out to my dvd, and instead go out for early morning walks.  This morning, several swallows were sitting on the phone wire in front of the house, but as soon as I focused the camera on them, they flew off!

On Tuesday, I forgot to take the camera, so when I came across this poor little dead newt, I carefully lifted him with a tissue and brought him back home.  Here he is beside a 2p and two tiny conkers, knocked off the tree by torrential rain

 

I've never seen a newt up close, and I was delighted to find he had an orange tummy

 

You have seen a photo of the postbox at the bottom of our road, but there is also one in the other direction, although this one doesn't have royal initials

 

However later on in the morning, we passed this pillar box in Hawick - oh the excitement, my first ER one

 

Then even more excitement, when Malcolm spotted the manufacturer's name at the bottom

 

McDowall Steven & Co Ltd, London and Falkirk - so why the excitement - we used to live in Falkirk, indeed Stuart still lives there, so it was just one of little coincidences! ( Malcolm pretended he wasn't with me, when I knelt down to take the photo!)

 

And now to return to not just swallows, but swallowtails!  Yes - it's finished, although I didn't cast it off last night, as it was a fancy cast off, and again I was immersed in Torchwood (what do you mean I was just hoping John Barrowman would get his kit off again!!)  However, I sat after lunch today and cast off.  It is quite a small shawl (more of a scarf) although it will grow a bit when I block it

 

and why swallowtails - here is a detail of the edge that I pinned out

 

As well as the swallowtail shape, you can also see some of the nupps ( the little clusters of stitches).  I didn't always enjoy knitting this (nupps are a pain!), but I'm delighted how it has turned out, and it will look lovely with my good navy winter coat!

What could be better than......

going out for a cuppa on a summer Sunday morning!  Unfortunately, the weather didn't co-operate, and we had to sit in the car until the rain went off

 

We went to the Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells

 

As I believe in recycling, this is a photo from our last visit!

This afternoon we settled down to watch the tennis

 

I was finishing the hand-sewing on Stuart's cushions, and as the tennis went on ... and on...

 

I didn't just finish this one (do you like the fabric - it was a 25p remnant!) ....

 

I finished all four!  And still the tennis went on ......

Malcolm was busy cooking a leg of lamb for dinner - this is when is came out of the oven to be basted.  It has a coating of finely chopped rosemary (we have a big pot in the garden)

 

and still the tennis went on .... and then the lamb came out the oven to rest

 

and - all together now - the tennis went on ...... and we sat down to a wonderful Sunday dinner (I'm embarrassed to show this photo, it looks such an enormous plateful (and yes, I do love gravy!!)

 

so dinner was eaten, with a nice glass of wine

 

and yes, still the tennis went on - never mind the players, I was exhausted!  Malcolm lit a scented candle while I washed the saucepans

 

and we went through to the lounge to watch  --- yes, the tennis.  I had just transferred today's photos to my laptop and was about to start writing today's post, when ..... at last!!  In all the excitement of the afternoon, it's just amazing that Federer's wife didn't go into labour with their first child - that would have made for an interesting birth certificate - place of birth? - Centre Court, Wimbledon!

 

Journals (sort of!)

I was reading Sarah's blog, and in her post 'bits and pieces', she shows several amazing pages from her journal.  This made me think about my two 'journals'.  First I have this beatiful notebook, which was made by my very talented friend Alison for my birthday

 

This is my 'blog book' where I have lists of web/blog addresses for links - this was my page for last week's Woolfest

 

and I also have lists of (hopefully) interesting websites that I have seen in magazines

 

My other book is for my knitting notes - this was my first (and so far only) attempt to knit a cover for a notebook.  The yarn I used (can't remember what it was!!) was too soft, and I had to use some double sided tape to hold the cover in place

 

So, inspired by Sarah's journal, I have done this page on my wips.  I tried to channel my inner artist, but I think she must have been away watching the tennis!  Perhaps I should have cheated and got Malcolm to draw the pictures (I must remember to show you one of his pictures sometime).   Maybe next time I should use coloured pencils (or get a four-year old to do it for me).  So please, don't laugh too much .......

Lazy day!

I wasn't very well on Monday  (a bit of a nasty attack of neuralgia) and was up most of the night, so yesterday I didn't go with Malcolm to visit his Dad.  I didn't quite have a duvet day, but I did have an extremely lazy day!  As soon as Malcolm set off, I went for a lovely long soak in the bath

 

As you can see, it's a lovely big bath, but as I'm not very tall, I have a bit of a problem - my feet don't reach the end, so the first few baths resulted each time in my either floating or sliding down to the far end.  Much to my embarrassment, I had to solve the problem by sitting on a mat, as if I was a small child!!

 

Of course, no pampering session would be complete without my favourite Sanctuary Spa toiletries 

and now I have an even greater choice, since my lovely sister-in-law, Jennifer, recently gave me this gorgeous set of body butters

 

My favourite one is Zibu, on the left - I just wish I could let you smell them, mmmmm, just wonderful!

Next on the being good to me schedule was a mug of hot chocolate and a piece of cherry cake (don't be silly, of course I didn't bake it!)

 

The hot chocolate was an Options one - Turkish Delight.  If you liked Fry's Turkish Delight as a child, you will like this, as it's just like drinking a melted one!

Next was a spot of relaxation, listening to my hypnotherapy cd, wearing my lavender-scented mask

 

I have to admit, that sometimes I relax so much while listening that I fall asleep!

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch, and there was only one thing to have - this is what my Mum always gave me when I was poorly as a child, and I still love it

 

As Malcolm wasn't there, I could indulge in a bad habit - reading at the table - and as it was a lazy day, of course it had to be chick lit!

 

During the afternoon, I was entertained by mummy wagtail (or it might have been daddy) feeding a little one right in front of the lounge window.  They are so funny to watch, with their tails bobbing up and down

 

However, I wasn't entirely lazy, and had dinner ready when Malcolm got home .... I'll show you what we had another day!

The long and winding road

As we wound our weary way home on Saturday, Malcolm suddenly announced that we would stop for a cuppa.  There was no argument from his passengers!  He had noticed this place on our way to Woolfest and had thought it would be good for a stop on the way home - he was right!!

 

I took a photo of the menu, which desribes the place

 

It was a very welcome cuppa - and I loved the china cup and saucer - very delicate

  

However, there was one more delight to end our day out.  Upstairs from the coffee shop, there is a ...........

 

......... little shop called Quiltessentials (I wonder what it sells!).  What bliss- a day with all things wooly, topped off with a fabric hit!  Even better, I actually had some pocket money left, so I combined wooly things and sewing and bought this wonderful book

 

There are some wonderful projects - perhaps if I give up sleeping I could fit them in with all the other things on the to-do list!!

When we got home, Fiona headed off to have a soak in the bath, while Jennifer and I sipped on a glass of wine while Malcolm made a wonderful ham and asparagus risotto for dinner.  Altogether an enjoyable (and somewhat lazy) weekend for Jennifer and me!!

Big knitter!

I promised yesterday that I would tell you who the lady is with the big knitting.  She was just one of a cast of talented people at Woolfest.  Her name is Ingid Wagner, and you can read more about her here.  She produces amazing knitted items on enormous needles - great fun!

When we started shopping, of course our first stop was with Helen at  Ripples Crafts.  We hadn't seen Helen since she moved to Sutherland a year ago, so there was a great deal of squealing and hugging before we could think about shopping!

  

Jennifer was amazed at the range of colours that Helen dyes her wonderful yarn - and of course I had to buy some!

 

I also bought this wonderful little sheep - if you go over to Helen's website, you can read all about the sheep on her blog - it is a wonderful, heartwarming story

  

We had a short break from shopping to watch the sheep-shearing demonstration - it was such a warm day, I am sure the sheep were grateful to lose their wooly coats!

 

This little lamb didn't look to happy at what had been done to its mum!!

 

While browsing round the stalls - oh would you like an idea of how many there were?

 

this is just a fraction of the stalls - sorry it's not the best of photos - taken through a dirty reinforced window!

So, as I was saying, I was browsing, when I bumped into Kate, wearing one of her own creations

  

It is a lovely jumper - but will I let you into a little secret - I can't wear wool next to my skin (it makes me itch) and I don't think this would look the same worked in cotton - ah well .....

 

So - the important bit - what else did I buy?  Apart from Helen's lovely wool, everything else I bought is for needle felting  - lots of luscious colours - I am looking forward to working with it all.

 

And one last thing - this kit to make a funky frog!!

 

By mid-afternoon, we were hot and tired, with sore feet, so we decided to head for home.  But that wasn't quite the end of our wonderful day out - and you know what I'm going to say ...... yes, I'll tell you the rest tomorrow!

Girls' Day Out

My sister-in-law Jennifer arrived bright and early this morning, for our girly day out.  First, we headed over to Kelso to my friend Lizzi's (you've met her at Kist meetings!).  Lizzi recently qualified as a therapeutic masseuse (Lizzi - I hope I got that right!).  While Jennifer was having her massage, I had a potter round the shops in Kelso, including a look in the charity shops, where I bought not one, but two things!

We have fish for dinner on Wednesdays (the fishman comes in his van on Wednesday mornings!) but we have never had proper fish knives and forks - until I found this set today.  As you can see, they have never been used, still wrapped up in tissue paper.

I also succumbed to this lovely set of dessert forks and spoons - if you stand on your head you can see my reflection in the big spoon!

 

After I had my massage, we headed off to Under the Sun (where we go for knit'n'natter) where we continued with the healthy theme of the day and had delicious salads.  Then we may have had to indulge in a bit of shopping.......

 

Jennifer bought these wonderful red shoes

 

while I fell in love with this sweater

 

We then called in at Borderland Fabrics - after looking at all the wonderful fabric, the healthy lifestyle might have suffered a hiccup and something very sweet and chocolatey was consumed with a cuppa (but we did share it!).  We are now sitting sipping a glass of wine, while Malcolm cooks dinner -a perfect end to a great day out!

You know it's summer when ......

 

summer hay cut

 

summer hair cut

 

not one

 

not two

 

but three honeysuckles!

 

white harebells

 

blue harebells

 

another lovely clematis

 

And last but not least - Wimbledon is on!!

Meatball heaven!

This morning, we set of for Ikea on the outskirts of Edinburgh, as we wanted to get a new blind for the kitchen.  We went via Peebles - it was quite misty, that only added to the wonderful scenery.  Of course, you can't go to Ikea without having Swedish meatballs for lunch - complete with creamy sauce and lingonberry relish - heaven (and chips may have been eaten as well!).  We then had the strength to walk round and not buy all those tempting candles, coathangers, clocks, things you don't know what they are, but you're sure you need them!  Howvever, I did succumb to these

  

What are they?

 

Little spice jars, which I will use for buttons and beads

 

We came home via the A7, stopping off in Stow (rhymes with cow) for a cuppa.  We have been in the Cloudhouse Gallery and Cafe several times in the past, but we knew it was now under new management.  However, nothing has been changed yet, and we enjoyed our coffee, tea and fruit cake

 

When we got home, while Malcolm was busy putting up the new blind, I was cooking, using these ingredients ....

 

...... diced lamb, chopped onion, dates, spices, pomegranite juice, olive oil and salt.  Those of you who saw the programme or have the book, will know that this is Nigella's lamb tagine.  We will have one portion tomorrow, and the other one will go in the freezer.  I would have taken a photo once it was cooked, but it just looks like stew!!