I didn't have a bike as a child, but when I spent four weeks at a school camp at the end of my last year of primary school, I managed to pass my Cycling Proficiency Test, and was awarded - yes, you've guessed, a certificate
these photos show me from just before starting school (top left), then clockwise through primary school, ending with my first year at the Academy. The triangular badge on my lapel is my Cycling Proficiency badge, worn with great pride!
Some months after my first elocution exam, I stood up on the stage in front of the whole school to recite a poem, and was rewarded with this certificate (you may have noticed by now various spellings of both my names - the correct version is Anne MacKenzie!)
the poem was about a corbie (a crow) sitting in a tree telling me that if I climbed up I would fall ..... I am not going to attempt to reproduce the Scots version that I recited!
On Monday I mentioned that I went to elocution lessons, and this is the entry form for my first exam, when I was seven!
I was a shy child, and I didn't like having to recite poems in front of strangers!
for many years my elocution and school certificates have been kept rolled up, and despite trying to flatten them under a pile of heavy books, so that I could show you one of each, they still curled up. So to take photos, I resorted to using washi tape, which peels back off, to stick the certificates to the wall (the school certificate will appear in a later post)
As there was a lot of response to my old books, I thought I would share some more of my childhood memories with you. So first, the cetificate that I was given when I officially became a Brownie. I had been attending the meetings for some time, as my sister was already in the pack, and Brown Owl was the sister of my elocution teacher, so they let me be an unofficial Brownie until I was old enough to join officially!
I found this photo of me in my Brownie uniform. Our tie was a thing of wonder - it was actually a large triangle, with which I could have put your broken arm in a sling, or with the addition of two sticks put your broken leg in a splint. But best of all, I could have used it to drag your unconscious body from a burning building. I don't quite know how to describe the method, as it sounds a bit "50 Shades of Grey", but basically it involved lying you on your back, tying your hands together and looping your tied hands round my neck. I would then kneel astide you and crawl forward, dragging you with me. This may have worked dragging a fellow small Brownie, but I doubt I could drag a large adult that way!
........ see the eclipse?! The weather forecast last night wasn't very encouraging, with talk of clouds. When I got up at 6.30 it was misty, then as the mist cleared it was indeed cloudy, but with little bits of bue sky showing through. By 8.30, the sky looked like this
we waited anxiously as the cloud came and went, then we had just the right amount of cloud to let us see the eclipse and take photos
a few minutes later, you could see that the moon had moved further on past the sun
the birds were discombobulated - they stopped feeding and returned to their roosts. This sparrow landed on the roof before disappearing into the ivy where it usually spends the night
the little baby cardi is coming along nicely. I have knitted the back, both sleeves and one front. Once I have knitted the other front, I will knit the yoke. It has been a very quick knit, and I will have to see if I have other neutral-coloured yarns in my stash to knit another one
at patch'n'chat this afternnon Katy was auditioning fabrics. She had originally made this sample log cabin block with plain navy on the other side, but had decided that she wanted a different colour. I don't know how many bolts of fabric we looked at before she decided on this pink one
Annette was back from her holiday, and had made her light-as-air cupcakes for us. It was hard, but I resisted having a second one!
the weather looks promising for the weekend, so there may be some beach combing! I hope you hav a good weekend, love Anne
We had hoped to go for a little jaunt today, and perhaps find an old church to take photos of. However the weather didn't co-operate, so we went for lunch at the Waterwheel Cafe, just outside Selkirk. I had the coronation chicken baguette
and Malcolm had the egg mayo
back home, I headed out to the studio ....... but not just to sew! Yesterday - oh joy - I bought the box set of season 4 of Game of Thrones
with my most, best, favourite character, the devious, manipulative and conniving Tyrion
as we had to change our plans, instead of photos of a charming old church, we will have a sewing update! On Saturday, I thought I ought to make a start to this year's challenge for Abbey Quilters. We were given two fabrics, the white one and the one on the left, to make a block with. I added the one on the right
I marked out large large circles to fussy cut
then marked out small circles from the remaining fabric
I got out one of my bias tape makers
and after cutting strips on the diagonal
had several lengths of bias ready to use, along with the circles
I used the lid of a tin to mark a circle on my background fabric
and pinned the bias in place
I played with the layout
finally deciding on this one. All I have to do now is stitch it all in place - and perhaps add some embellishment!
I also finished the Linus quilt, and inspired by the knitting book that I reviewed last week, I thought I would stage a photo. But this led to the familiar dilemma - should the chair be on the left
or on the right?
when we were over at the flat, I was working on my stitcheries. I am now on the 7th one
with the other six looking good on the design wall
I have also being doing a lot of work on Mrs Billings, but at the suggestion of Meredithe I am going to do a report at the end of each month on my progress, so you will have to wait to what I have been doing!
I hadn't weighed myself recently, as the scales needed a new battery, but Malcolm bought a battery yesterday, so this morning I stepped on the scales .......... and turned round to see if the Wicked Weight Witch was standing behind me with a foot on the scales! Oh dear, recently there has been too much of this
and not enough of this
so I will have to up my fitness regime on the instruments of torture
when we were in Berwick last Saturday, I saw this piece of beautiful blue woollen fabric in a shop window. As it was very reasonably priced, I popped into the shop and bought it .....
.......as I knew it would be perfect for this pattern, which I bought in Australia, along with the book and assorted woolly bits
Margaret has started to put her latest quilt together - every time she makes a new quilt I ask if I can have it!!
I may have had a shock when I stood on the scales this morning, but that didn't prevent me tucking into my Friday cake! Annette had tried out a new recipe - raspberry and yogurt muffins ...... delicious!!
we're off to Berwick in the morning, and hopefully will be able to have a walk on the beach in the afternoon, no doubt collecting more driftwood! I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne
Woo hoo, we finally got our keys today - we had a longer than usual wait for the sale to go through as the sellers were having a new house built, and wanted to give themselves extra time to allow for the build being delayed. So off we went to Berwick after lunch and collected the keys. Slight trepidation as we unlocked the door - would we still like the flat? There was no need to worry, as soon as we stepped into the lounge, which was flooded with light (despite it being a dull afternoon), we knew that we had made the right choice. I took photos from the four corners of the open plan lounge/kitchen
it was hard to take a photo of the master bedroom - it is bigger than it looks here, and you can see that there is a good sized wardrobe on the right
yes, it's me again, popping up in a reflection ....... this time in the ensuite shower room mirror
this will be the guest bedroom - have you spotted that I will have lots of curtain-making to do?
I am looking forward to having a long soak in the luxurious bathroom
and, of course, there are the views to enjoy. First, looking out to sea
then, over to the town
later in the afternoon, the swans put on a show for us, swimming into the harbour
we'll be heading back over tomorrow, but we won't be staying the night ......... as we have yet to buy a bed!!
I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne
........ scroll quickly past the first photo! I had a slight accident when I was sewing last night - oops
perhaps I was distracted by this super cute baby monkey on tv. The babies have red hair to make it easy for the adults to see them if they need to run to safety (the big leaves on the right aren't part of the jungle, they are on our rather large rubber plant, which sits beside the tv!)
did I mention yesterday that I bought one or two little things at Stitchin' Heaven? First, a posh needle threader. When I am using very small needles, by the end of the evening I struggle to thread them. I have in the past just used little metal needle threaders, but they soon become bent and often break, so I have invested in this one
you have seen the little red clips that I use, but when I saw these purple ones yesterday, I was delightd to find that they are almost half the price of the red ones
I bought this fat quarter to do some sashiko, although it is a tighter weave than traditional sashiko fabric
I have to admit to an online purchase of fabric ........ I get regular emails from here, telling me about their latest fabrics. They don't just sell patchwork fabric, and when I saw this furnishing fabric, I thought it woud be perfect for cushions for our holiday home
I did some more work on blocks for the sampler quilt this afternoon. This is the start of the Rose of Sharon block
once I have stitched those pieces in place, I will add these pieces
I prepped this circle for the centre ........
........ but I think it is too dark. I might use this fabric instead
next was a Dresden Plate block
I have to turn under the seam allowance round the points, then stitch the plate to the background fabric. The last stage is to add a circle to the middle. The dark red fabric works better here
to finish - while I was busy sewing, Malcolm was working in the garden. When I went back into the house at the end of the afternoon, I saw that he had removed the protective fleece from the olive tree, revealing this little beauty
Now that we are just over two weeks into the new year, I thought it was time for my first report of work on my collection of kits. Before starting anything new, I decided to finish up various kits, one of which only needed its little hanging loop made and attached
next to be finished were these two little cross-stitch kits, which Malcolm gave me for my birthday last year. I haven't yet decided to do with them ....... but I will probably incorporate them into some sort of needle case or sewing bag
I had made a start to this sashiko pincushion last year (after having the kit for about ten years!)
I marked out the sashiko pattern using a special pen - the marks vanish when ironed
it didn't take long to do the stitching, then I popped it on the ironing board, ready to remove the marking pen
the marks vanished as soon as the iron touched the fabric - so much easier than any other sort of marking pen or pencil that I have tried in the past (but of course I always do a test first, so make sure it will come off the fabric)
I had already made the little pincushion to go inside the cover, so it didn't take long to sew it all together
I shall use the pincushion when I finish this sashiko sample, which I started at a recent Abbey Quilters' meeting
the next kit to to be tackled will be this one - it shouldn't take too long to make the two birdie brooches
when we were in Hawick this morning, we had a potter round the Oxfam shop, and came home with these goodies, which were all on the "reduced" table. The serving plate was 50p, the mirror (which will be decorated with driftwood or corks) was £1, and the knitting needle box was 99p