frayed at the edge

Satisfied customers!

This morning we headed east again, this time to the Berwickshire town of Duns.  It's Wednesday, so of course that means we had lunch out.  Today, we went to Pearsons Garden Centre in Duns.  The coffee shop isn't overly pretty - but the food .....

 

As you can see, we thoroughly enjoyed our soup.  I had carrot and courgette, which was lightly spiced, and Malcolm had tomato and basil, and we both had a crusty brown roll, hot from the oven - delicious!

Before lunch, we had a walk round Duns, where we spotted this quirky house ...

 

I wonder if the people who live in it are tall and narrow too?

I can't go to Duns without visiting  a wonderful shop called Albany Courtyard, which sells all sorts of gorgeous things .....

 

As well as all these goodies, they also make curtains, upholster furniture etc ... and this means ... remnants!

 

I couldn't possibly have come home without this beautiful fabric, which is reversible - I think it will make wonderful cushion covers - or maybe a bag (or both!)

When we arrived in Duns, we popped into another favouite place for a quick cuppa - a gift shop/coffee shop with the wonderful name of Fantoosh.  The owner wasn't there, so the two lovely ladies who were serving let me take photos, which I promised not to post until the owner says I can.  I hope she does say it's ok, because it's another shop full of beautifully crafted goodies!

Last night was a wonderful moonlit night - or as we Scots might say - a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht (or something like that!)  This is the best of my many attempts to take a photo of the moon shining above the back garden wall ...

 

I have knitted a bit more of my cushion cover - which just wouldn't co-operate when I tried to arrange it artistically over the back of a kitchen chair!  Although I didn't use flash to take the photo, I think the colours look a bit washed out ...

 

I haven't quite decided how to make the cushion cover, but I think big buttons and I-cord could be involved ......

Be careful what you wish for!

Picture the scene.  It's September 1996, and Malcolm, Stuart and I are lying by the pool, enjoying some wonderful sunshine.  We have gone on holiday a bit later than usual, as Stuart has left school and is about to go to university at the start of October.  Knowing that we will be going back to decidedly autumnal weather, I ask Malcolm why he can't work somewhere warm and sunny ....

...... some weeks later, Malcolm came home from work and said 'remember you wanted me to work somewhere warm?' ... why did I know I probably wouldn't like what he said next!  BP had asked him to go and work in Indonesia - cue look in atlas to find out exactly where Indonesia is!

Malcolm spent the early part of 1997 going back and forward on business trips, then in August I went with him for a 'recce'.  Now I have to say, this bit was very enjoyable, as we stayed in a 5-star hotel for four weeks, and when Malcolm was working I was forced to spend time at the pool - this is the view of the pool from our room (on the 29th floor!)

 

and this is the lounger where I spent quite a few enjoyable afternoons ...

   

often sipping on an iced lemon tea. (a little historical footnote - I was in the Shuttle Lounge in Heathrow Airport, on my way home, when it was announced that Princess Diana was dead!)

Back home, the house was sold, a flat bought for Stuart to live in, and I flew back to Indonesia to start a new and very different life.  At first, we lived in a very smart apartment complex - this is part of the landscaped gardens and one of the swimming pools ..

 

... but in Indonesia, poverty is never far away, and this was the view from our 18th floor apartment ...

 

and although we were living in comparative luxury, we still had to have bottled water, as the tap water wasn't fit to drink ..

 

Malcolm's Indonesian colleagues were friendly and welcoming, and this was our first company event ...

 

My Indonesian never got past the basics, but I do remember that selamat datang means welcome.  This was a family day out, with fun and games, and I got roped in to one of the teams ...

 

It's a pity you can't see what we were doing - we were wearing what could best be described at multi-person skis!  We had to 'ski' across the room, turn and come back - of course we ended up in a heap on the floor, and I had some lovely bruises!!

Stuart came out to visit for Christmas and New Year, and we went to Bali for a few days ..

 

Late afternoons, these food stalls would appear in front of the hotel, ready to feed people on their way home from work.  Amongst ex-pats, these food stalls were known as 'cholera carts'!!  Of course, when we were celebrating New Year, we weren't to know that 1998 would bring massive political and economic changes to Indonesia, and change our life there as well ... but I'll save that for another day.

ps I have been doing a lot of sewing over the last few days, but I can't tell you about it, because it's for a swap - this is my first ever swap - I always seem to read about them on blogs when it's too late to join.  But I will give you just a little look at what I started with ...

Normal service has been resumed

Hello, did you miss me?  I know it's only been two days, but it seems so long since my last post.  Let me tell you all about it ...

On Tuesday we went down to Northumberland, to meet up with Malcolm's sister Jennifer at their Dad's house.  We are gradually clearing out all the accumulated junk and getting the house cleaned  and organised, ready for selling.  Jennifer and I had a session of sorting out curtains and bedspreads.  Almost everything is floral - wallpaper, curtains, carpets - so we are trying to introduce some plain fabrics to tone it down and in doing so make the rooms look more spacious.  I have moved house so ofter, I could do all this standing on my head - and perhaps even teach the 'House Doctor' a trick or two!  I'll take  some quilts and cushions to 'dress' the rooms and hopefully create the look of a wonderful home, so that someone will fall in love with it and want to buy the house.  It's not going to be easy selling it in the current economic climate, so fingers are firmly crossed.  In the afternoon we went in to visit Malcolm's Dad.  He is settling in well in the home, and has some of his own furniture and bits and bobs in his room.  Jennifer got him a tiny fridge, so he can even have somes cold cans of beer!!  His room looks out on to a busy road with a bus stop, so he can spend time people-watching (don't worry, the double-glazing keeps out the noise).

When we got back home, I just had time for dinner before I set off down the road to the village hall in Chesters for this month's 'Rural' meeting (Scottish sort of WI).  The speaker was a local GP, Emma, who told us about all the long years of studying and training you have to undertake before you become a GP - and if that wasn't enough, she gained a few extra qualifications along the way.  She and her husband also spent a year in India, he helping local businesses, she helping in the local hospital.  They finally moved here and she settled in to a part time job in one of the local surgeries - oh, and along the way she also found time to produce two children!  The thing that struck me most, though, was that she said it's not the academic qualifications that make a good GP, it's the ability to listen to your patients - and most importantly, to listen to what they're not telling you!  Very often people come to see her with a seemingly trivial complaint, but very often they hesitate on leaving, and that's when she knows there is something else to be said - that they have something much more serious to tell her.  On a lighter side, she then judged the competition - this month we had to bring along our favourite cup and saucer ...

 

... mine is the black and white set - I was most upset not to win!  It was too late when I got home to do a post, so ...

that brings us to yesterday ... we knew the power was going to be off for a large part of the day for maintenance work on the supply, but it was off much longer than expected, and when it finally came back on and I tried to log on to aol - it had gone awol.  Malcolm phoned up this morning and finally got it sorted out - the long break in the supply had done something to the broadband router - all too technical for me.  The aol account is in my name, so before the lady in the call-centre would deal with him, she had to speak to me, to get my security password - it's just as well it isn't a video phone, as I was lying in the bath at the time (reading a book and drinking hot chocolate!

So you are getting yesterday's post today - and here is the last bit.  Yesterday was knit'n'natter afternoon - I've been having a bit of a rest from knitting because of my sore arm and hand, so decided yesterday I would do something with bigger needles and thicker yarn, as it would be less of a strain ... so I started this cushion cover (another make it up as you go item!!) ...

 

I love the colours in the yarn and the random size of the stripes - and it's nice to do something which knits up quickly!

Now that I have caught up with my blogging duties, I have to go and do domestic stuff - especially the ironing.  If I don't reduce the mountain in the ironing basket soon, we won't be able to get into the utility room!

Woolgathering

Yesterday, it was off down the road to Chesters for another Woolgathering, organised by Lindsay.  There were 10 of us there, including Jennifer, who came along with her Mum.  We had a very productive day, with lots of knitting and sewing.  Of course, there was also constant pots of tea and coffee and Lindsay as always brought along some of her wonderful home baking. 

Fiona spent the day knitting a cardi for her aunt, but she had brought her felt ram for us to see.  She made him at a workshop with Moy Mackay.  Isn't he wonderful, he just needs a little bit more work, then he will be ready for Fiona to give him to her brother for his birthday.

   

Lindsay was embroidering small squares of felt - her stitching is exquisite.  She hasn't decided what she is going to do with the squares, but she is thinking about using them as pockets on a wallhanging/ organiser - maybe you'll see it soon in her Folksy shop!

 

Ali brought this wonderful piece with her, although she didn't do any work on it, as she was enjoying relaxing with her knitting.  Again, the future of this hasn't quite been decided, but it will probably be framed.

 

I was working on Sunset over the Bay.  I finished the basic quilting of the leaves, the started on the sand.  I am stitching curves, which I hope look like the ripples left in the sand when the tide goes out.

 

This detail shows the big stitches and raw edges - I'm enjoying working on this - it is just so completely different my usual work.

 

At the end of such a busy day, it was wonderful to get home to find Malcolm busy cooking dinner- how sensible was I, to marry a man who enjoys cooking!

Today, we went for a walk after lunch.  We were strolling past the fields, when suddenly the sheep started a commotion, running to one corner and making a great deal of noise.  The reason for the upset?  There were two deer running across the field!  I wasn't able to get a photo of them, but this photo shows their friend, who wasn't brave enough to run past the sheep and stayed in the middle of the field.  Eventually he (or she) about turned and left the field at the far end, but the sheep went on fussing for some time!

A short walk

It's Wednesday, so that must mean we were out for lunch - this time at Woodside Nursery, in nearby Ancrum.  Malcolm had colcannon soup, which he enjoyed, and I had a wonderful sandwich with local ham and apple and cranberry chutney.  On the way home, we stopped so that I could take this photo of a local landmark Fatlips Castle , a 16th century tower house, which is now a ruin.

   

When we got home, as it was such a lovely afternoon, I decided to go for a walk, so armed with my camera I set off for the local church.  It is only a short walk from the house, but by the time I got there, the sun had gone behind a very large black cloud!

This next photo shows a statue of a man, who in his day, would probably have been referred to as the 'village idiot'.  However, he made himself useful doing errands for the local 'laird' and endeared himself to the locals to such an extent that they had this statue made of him - unusually while he was still alive.

 

The story goes that he did not like the statue and kicked it, breaking off the ear of his dog!

 

I decided I would walk further on up the road, so that I could take a photo of this tree, which I think could have a place in a Harry Potter novel ....

 

... and it's even scarier when you see the other side ....

 

...do you think that could be a scary monster that comes out at night?

On the way back, I spotted these early lambs, but unfortunately I couldn't get any closer to take the photo (unless I squeezed through a hedge and climbed over a fence).  I know they are just two little shapes in the middle of the photo, but they are not just any old lambs, but Jacob's lambs.

 

As I meandered back down the hill, the sun came out again, so I stopped to take this photo of the view - unfortunately my little camera isn't at its best for shots like this, but is does give you an idea of our beautiful scenery.

 

I stopped again at the church, as it was now bathed in afternoon sun ...

 

.... and a final photo to show that spring is just about here, with not just snowdrops in the verge, but daffodils as well ...

 

I think that's the longest post that I've done so far - I think I will have to lie down in a darkened room to recover!

Implements of torture

Back in the dim and distant past, I was slim slender ok, just downright skinny!  I could eat what I wanted and never put on an ounce - I had a 22inch waist in my teens and early twenties.  Even when I had my son Stuart I didn't really put on weight and a week after his birth I was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes (eat your heart out celeb Mums, who need strict diets and personal trainers to achieve that).  But now every little over-indulgence means that the scales creep up (and up).  As I enjoy my food (and wine) too much to do proper dieting - I prefer to think of it as a lifestyle change - then I have to resort to the dreaded exercise.  Even more so as most of my hobbies seem to involve sitting down!  Before we moved here, we were members of a gym, but we couldn't find one we liked close enough to where we live to ensure that we would go regularly, so we decided to invest in our own implements of torture  gym equipment.

I leap spring crawl crawl out of bed at 6.45 Monday to Friday and until recently I would have started with the cross trainer ...

 

... watching breakfast tv while trundling along (I do distance rather than speed), then it would be on to the rowing machine ...

 

 ... it's a bit harder to watch tv from this one, as you slide back and forward!  Finally it would on to this aid to doing sit-ups, to work on my six-pack - although I think I have a whole case of beer lurking under my t-shirt .....

 

However, all that changed in the New Year, when I bought Coleen Nolan's latest fitness dvd.  So now you can find me strutting my stuff to the disco beat, doing the funky squat and the jiggly squat (don't ask!) and bouncing up and down doing the pony. 

 The result?  Well, not a lot of difference in my weight, but my shape is changing and my clothes fit better, so what I think I need to do now is combine the two kinds of exercise.  Of course I could be like Liz Hurley and survive on cabbage soup and five (or is it six) raisins, but as I am definitely someone who lives to eat, rather than eats to live, I shall just have to continue with the dreaded exercise.  And once the weather gets better, I can put on my gorgeous socks and my lovely bright walking shoes and stride out to get even fitter - and if I fall head first into a ditch, at least my shoes will be highly visible!

A mixed bag

  I spent quite a lot of today putting things in the 'dresser' in our new kitchen.  There had been a slight delay to this, as when the kitchen was delivered, the glass shelves were missing.  However, we finally got them, so I could start organising where everything was to go.  We simply didn't have enough cupboard space before, so it is lovely to have room not only to store things, but also to diplay our special bits and pieces.

 

Did you spot the cheeky monkey sitting on the dresser ...

 

Isn't he just so cute!  He was one of my Christmas presents from Malcolm and as well as being cute, he also is practical.  His tummy is made of chamois and can be used to clean computer and tv screens.

I thought you might like to see some more of the Woman's Realm.

 

I somehow don't think that boys today would wear a sweater like the one on the left (it isn't entirely clear, but those are apples on it!)

 

But this advert for Patons could be a current one.

I had hoped to finish my latest pair of socks last night, but I still have a few more rounds to go ...

 

This is the second pair from my Totie Toe sock yarn.  I don't think I have quite enough to finish the toes, so I thought for a bit of fun I would use the leftover sock yarn that I got from Lindsay .  I have made the pattern for these up as I've gone along, which is where the 2-at-a-time method comes into its own.  You don't have to write down what you did for the first sock to make sure the second one turns out the same!

Well, as I said in the heading, a bit of a mixed bag of meanderings today.  Tomorrow I'm off to the Spring Quilt Show at Ingliston (in Edinburgh) with my friend Lorraine.  Of course we are only going to look at the quilts and we wouldn't dream of buying any fabric ..... I'll tell you all about our day on Saturday, as no doubt I'll be too tired tomorrow night.

Who stole the sink!

 

For goodness sake ... you turn your back for a minute and someone steals your sink!  Just as well that by the time I got back from knit'n'natter this afternoon Malcolm had replaced it.

 

You might have noticed that things have been a little bit slow on the new kitchen front.  The reason for this is something that I haven't mentioned in the blog, as Malcolm and I decided this was not the place to write about it.  But it has caused, and is causing, such an upheaval to our family life, we decided that I would mention it briefly.  Maolcolm's Dad was in hospital - he was very poorly, with a chest infection and much reduced kidney function (he has ongoing problems with both his chest and kidneys).  As a result of this, he realised that he was no longer able to care for himself at home and decided to go into a residential care home.  Amazingly, two days after saying that's what he wanted, he had moved into the home - which is only a few streets away from where he lived.  He has been there now for two weeks and is gradually settling in.  Malcolm and his sister now have the sad task of sorting out the house ready to sell - but it's not all doom and gloom - when we were there yesterday, Jennifer gave me a magazine she had found ....

 

It's dated September 1985 and it's fascinating looking at the fashions, the adverts - and the fact that most of it is in black and white.  I guess we take colourful glossy magazines for granted!  Unfortunately, there was no sign of the free gift, or my next post might have had a host of gingerbread men running all over it!

Stir crazy!

After all the snow yesterday and the enforced day in the house, I was glad to get out this afternoon!  I headed off to Jedburgh, for 'chat and patch' at Borderland fabrics.  I thought I would have a rest from the chickens and took along some handquilting to do. 

 

This Amish wallhanging started out as sample blocks when I taught some ex-pat ladies in Indonesia patchwork and quilting, so it is a very long-term project!  Most of the ladies were Japanese and at first they were very formal, but as the weeks went on they gradually relaxed, although to the end they called me 'Mrs Anne'.  (I will tell you more about my time in Indonesia, but I will need to scan the photos into the computer, as I didn't have a digital camera then.)

 

On this detail, you might recognise the snowdrop (on the black border) - it is also on the sample piece that featured in a previous post.  You can still see traces of the white pencil I used to mark the design, but this will rub off.

But now, of course, we come to the main item of today's post.  Malcolm has had his glass of wine to fuel his number picking ability .... and the winner is .... Tracy.  (I'll e-mail you, Tracy, to get your details)  I'm sorry if you didn't win this time, but thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to leave a comment.  It was very scary when I started, but I am now really enjoying it and it's lovely to know that more and more people are reading it.

Tomorrow, I will tell you all about the exciting day I am going to have on Sunday, so do visit again.  Hope you all have a super weekend.

Change of plan

This afternoon I should have been heading to the hairdressers (what, you thought I'm a naturally stunning blond?)  However, that plan had to change when it started snowing while we were having breakfast .... and it forgot to stop!  Instead, I put the unexpected free time to good use, and finished my 2-at-a-time socks.

 

I am really pleased with them.  Helen's wool is wonderful to work with and the colours are lovely.  I enjoyed  doing the two at a time method.  You do have to be careful not to pull on the wrong loop as you move the stitches round, or you discover you have pulled them off the needle - yes, I found that one out the hard way!

Lunch today was a bowl of good rib-sticking homemade soup ....

 

... if I had known it was going to be so tasty, I would have taken photos as I made it - although it is a very simple soup (my soups tend to be made with what's in the fridge, rather than to a recipe).  It's roasted Romano peppers, sweet potato and red onion - peeled, deseeded, whatever, cut into chunks, sprayed with OneCal olive oil and roasted in a hot oven.  I then tipped them into a saucepan, added hot water, some salt and some veggie stock. I simmered it briefly, then blitzed it.  We both enjoyed it and it was just what was needed as the snow continued to fall.  Don't worry about the toast - I know it looks as if we were eating nasty white bread, but it is Hovis 'Best of Both' - looks like white, but with the goodness of brown!  (Could I get a job writing adverts?)

I may have mentioned that I like tea and you will have also noticed that I like patchwork, so my teapot will come as no surprise ...

 

..... I guess it would appeal to arty people too.

Don't forget that you have until teatime tomorrow (Friday) to post a comment if you want to be included in the draw for the giveaway (and there will be a little extra surprise in the parcel!).  I shall have to make sure my wonderful random number generator is fully fuelled - I think a large glass of wine will do the trick!

ps - it did eventually stop snowing and it's melting - but there's an awful still to go!