frayed at the edge

The rest of the tale .......

Amazingly, by teatime yesterday, the new boiler was installed and running ........ oh the joy of having heating again!  Normally we would have turned the heating off for the summer by this time, but several days since we came home have been chilly - it as been the coldest spring since 1979.

 

after the workmen left, it didn't take long to restore the kitchen to its usual state

 

but we still have a rather large hole in the wall outside, as the flue had to be moved

 

while all the work was going on, I went off to the local garden centre for lunch.  I had intended to have a healthy sandwich, but when I got to the counter ....... oh no, there was delicious looking  macaroni cheese, which was whispering to me "eat me, eat me, you know you want to"

 

so, now to the donkeys!  The donkey sanctuary is just across the road from the garden centre, so after lunch I walked across to take some photos of the lovely, cute, gorgeous donkeys (can you tell I like them!)

 

it wasn't just donkeys looking cute and cuddly in the fields .....

 

there was also some wonderful scenery to admire

 

then, as I walked back to the car, I spotted some more cuties ....... Jacobs sheep

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some more holiday photos.

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I'm late, I'm late .......

Just a quick post tonight, as we have had some major disruption today!  For some months Malcolm has been nursing our central heating boiler along, as it came to the end of its life.  He had already consulted with the company who service the boiler and they had sorted out what sort of replacememnt they would fit.  We did look into a "green" heating system, but it was about four times the price of a conventional boiler ....... and would only supply heating, so we would also have had to put in a separate hot water system.  When we got home from Majorca, the boiler was in an even worse state, and we have had no heating, just hot water.  So we were delighted that the new boiler could be fitted today.  This shows the insides of the old boiler, and the cupboards with the doors off ready for the work to be started

 

when we first came to view the house, we came in the front door into the kitchen, and immediately nudged each other to indicate that we loved the kitchen.  But we had got used to the size, and it was only when we moved the table out of the way that we were reminded just how big the room is (the spotty bag doesn't usually hang on the back of the chair!)

 

before too long, the kitchen looked like this

 

and the front garden looked like this!

 

I'll tell you the rest of the tale tomorrow .... but to finish, I'll give you a sneak peak of what I was doing while the work was going on

 

Old wives' tale

Did you, like me, learn this saying when you were little

Red sky at night, shepherds' delight

Red sky at morning, shepherds' warning

 

So after this sky on Friday night .......

 

....... I didn't expect this on Saturday!

 

We went for a walk in Melrose yesterday morning.  After the heavy rain, the river was full - the noise was amazing as the water poured over the rocks

 

the blossom still isn't fully out

 

but there are plenty of signs that plants are catching up after the cold spring delayed growth

 

I took this photo not because I want the jacket, but because I was thinking about how it would look as an applique block!

 

Malcolm is having his annual battle to stop the swallows nesting in the garage ...... every time he opens the garage door they swoop in.  I went out this afternoon to sort through the contents of the chest freezer, to make sure there wasn't a fossilised, unrecognisable lump of something languishing at the bottom.  No sooner had I made a start to the sorting out, when the swallows appeared.  So, I came up with a cunning plan to deter them ......this is the fleece that Malcolm wraps tender plants in for the winter.  I think he will be using it in the days to come, as clipping it to the garage door is a lot less bother than having to constantly open and shut it when he is busy in the garden

 

this might look like a somewhat boring photo of ivy on our neighbours' wall...... but I think there are several sparrows nesting in it.  They are also nesting as usual under the roof at the front of the house - but we now have so many sparrows that I guess they have had to find more places to nest

 

some good news to finish - it was much warmer today and the bees were buzzing about the garden!

 

 

Murder most horrid!

Don't worry, I haven't set about Malcolm with the frying pan!  This is the sight that greeted us when we got up this morning.  Looking at the feathers, I think it was a pigeon ...... and of course next door's cats are the prime suspects.*

 

at least the swallows are safe on the phone wire

 

when we had a rainy day on holiday, dozens of swallows suddenly appeared and settled on the electricity wires just beyond the garden

 

I mentioned that growth is lagging way behind in the garden.  This little tree is usually smothered in blossom by now

 

but it is only just starting to flower

 

there is no blossom on the cherry tree, and although the quince is smothered with flowers, there are no bees or insects because of the cold, so we probably won't get any quince again this year

 

but there are a few splashes of colour

 

when we were out and about yesterday, Malcolm bought this little jug for me

 

then I spotted this large oval serving plate in a junk antique shop

 

this morning in Hawick we had a browse round the Shelter charity shop.  Malcolm spotted this rustic casserole dish.  It is very heavy ..... and it looks as if it has never been used

 

*you know that this is normally a cat-free blog, but even I had to take photos of these cats on holiday!

 

Jessica got in touch to say that she has been having problems leaving comments, as sometimes they simply disappear.  On investigating, I discovered that Typepad has been randomly putting comments into a spam folder.  I haven't yet discovered how to stop that happening, so until I do, I'll check the spam every day and retrieve any that shouldn't be there, so please do keep leaving comments, as I love to get them!

 

The big night out

On Friday, we headed to north to Stuart and Alison's and after getting dressed up, Stuart ran us through to The Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, for an evening of eating French food, and drinking French Wine.  Stuart and Alison had given us a gift voucher for a food and wine evening for our birthdays last year, and we had decided to wait until the spring to book our places.  The evening was co-hosted by Great Grog, and we were greeted by a rather handsome young man from the wine merchants.  This is the menu and wine list

 

I don't have a photo of the canapes, as we had them when we were standing chatting with the other diners (there were fourteen of us) in the entrance hall, so first we have the scallop St Jacques

 

then the delicious coq au vin.  This was such a generous helping that I couldn't finish mine, and even Malcolm, who would normally have eaten my leftovers, couldn't find room for any more!

 

next was cheese, with oatcakes and pear chutney (I was slightly critical of the chutney, which was more like stewed pear)

 

then ....... the most amazing tarte au citron.  There was silence as we ate it, apart from occasional little sighs of pleasure!

 

before each course, young James the wine merchant described the wines, and we had to hold the glass up to the light to check the clarity, swirl the wine round the glass then sniff the bouquet ...... then finally we got to taste it!  At the end of the meal he quite happily agreed to have his photo taken, but then went all shy!

 

Stuart came back for us, and on Saturday morning we had recovered enough from eating all that food to enjoy the breakfast which he cooked for us.  On the way home, we decided to stop in South Queensferry, to have a stroll in the sunshine.  I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that this is the Forth Bridge

 

although the sun was shining, the views over the river were hazy.  This is Inchcolm Island, framed by the bridge

 

the tide was out!

 

I love the pirate flag (and the plastic seagull!)

 

blue sky and old chimneys - a great combination

 

when I saw the stretch limmo, I thought Malcolm had arranged a treat for me ..... sadly it drove on by!

 

I have lots more photos from South Queensferry, which I will keep for another day, as I also have photos from yesterday.  We weren't able to go for our Sunday morning walk, as it was raining, so instead we headed here for a cuppa.  The sconnage was of the highest quality ........

fruit, with jam and cream

 

cheese, with butter

 

out in the grounds of the visitor centre, a new children's play area has been built (we were very tempted to have a go!)

 

perhaps Malcolm could make me a wooden cart and horse?!

 

Brave!

This was my hair first thing this morning

 

then I spent the afternoon at the hairdresser.  This is stage one, having my colour done

 

then stage two, some highlights using foils

 

my hair on the floor after having it cut (hmmmm - that's an interesting colour)

 

my usual hairdresser, Melissa, has been off work, so the lovely Kerry has been looking after me.  Here she is showing me the back view

 

I had told Malcolm that I was going to have highlights done ...... he assumed that it would be my usual pink or purple.  So he was slightly surprised when I came home with bright turquoise!

 

I won't be here tomorrow, as we are having a very special night out here.  So you will have to wait until Monday to read all about it!  So, a day early, I will wish you all a good weekend, love Anne

The big night!

After all the preparation, my big night teaching textured applique at Abbey Quilters has arrived.  So just a quick post before I have my dinner and head out for Kelso.  I didn't finish all the quilting, as I wanted to leave some ares free of stitching, to show the difference that quilting makes.  I also used several different stitches to show how that can change the look of the work as well

the almost finished piece (which still doesn't have a name!)

 

echo quilting

 

continuing a section of quilting out in the sashing

 

cross hatching

 

seed stitch - time-consuming, but effective

 

echoes of the tendrils

 

turkey tracks - another time-comsuming stitch

 

tiny leaves

 

the only lines that I marked were the ones for crosshatching (I didn't have a ruer in the house, so I just used the edge of a bookmark, which is why the spacing is a bit uneven!).  I don't generally use any fancy sort of marking pencil, unless I need a white pencil to show up on dark fabric.  I like mechanical pencils .... and shock, horror, yesterday I used up my last one!  But look what Malcolm got for me when he was out this morning

 

ps - the fabric the pencils are sitting on is the one I got to use as a background for the cottages.

My life in clothes

Until recently, I hadn't heard of Yvette Jelfs, then I found her wonderful new hat shop in Hawick.  Shortly after that there was a big article about her in the paper, then she popped up again on Saturday (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

I thought it would be fun to give you my answers to the questions!

q: what's the last piece of clothing you bought

a: these two summer dresses which I bought on Monday - not from a fancy designer shop, but from Sainsbury's!  I am perhaps being somewhat optimistic that we will have a good summer!

 

q: best ever bargain

a: I bought this jacket some years ago when we were on holiday in Hampshire.  I can't remember what I paid for it, just that it had been very expensive, but I got it for about a quarter of the original price.  It is a silk/linen blend, with beautiful embroidery and beading

 

q: who has great style

a: the Queen!

 

q: name your favourite High Street shop

a: does M&S count as a High Street shop?

 

q: what are you addicted to buying

a: cute little cardigans

 

q: any fashion disasters that you'd care to tell us about?

a: that would have to be the electric blue platform boots from the mid 70s.  Sadly I don't have a photo of them .... I think they were abandoned to the back of the shoe cupboard as I couldn't walk properly in them!

 

q: what's your favourite item in your wardrobe?

a: I am embarrassed to admit that my favourite is my comfy everyday trousers from M&S.  To make it worse, I remember my Mum wearing them years ago!  I am probably wearing them in most of the photos you see of me - I have them in black, navy and brown.

 

It has been snowing again ...... this was the front garden this morning

 

the garden has been full of birds

blue tit

 

blackbird

 

sparrow

 

robin

Thinner!

You may think that eating this for lunch ......

 

(while Malcolm ate this)

 

wouldn't be conducive to weight loss!  But for the last six weeks, I have been following the Fast Diet.  The basic idea is that for two days a week, you have very restricted calories, and the rest of the week you eat normally.  I have lost about seven pounds, and have already fitted back into clothes that have been languishing in the back of the wardrobe.  But the best thing is that my engagement ring fits me again ..... I hadn't worn it for quite some time as it was too tight

 

we had lunch in Jedburgh, and on the way home, I took a few scenic photos

 

I took these bird photos recently, but somehow didn't get round to including them in a post

 

when I was sewing yesterday, I didn't just have my stove to keep me warm ....... I also had some music!!

 

Tomorrow, I'll show you my multi-pocketed bag, but to finish, I'll give you this little sneak peek - what am I doing?

 

The Maureen show and tell ......

Maureen has been a very busy girl!  First, she had four quilt tops for Linus ....... this is the one I liked best

 

next, she had finished her redwork Santas

 

and finally ..... she has finished her multi-pocketed bag!

 

Margaret didn't want me to take a photo of her latest quilt, as it isn't finished ....... but after a little persuasion a lot of nagging, she let me take this photo

 

as always, Annette had baked a little tasty something for us to have with our afternoon cuppa ...... her light-as-air cupcakes (it was hard, but I managed to resist having a second one!)

 

when we were doing the housework this morning, Malcolm shouted for me to come through to the back lounge.  We had bought this bunch of pussy willow wands before Christmas

 

and this morning he noticed one of the wands has tiny leaves emerging!

 

tomorrow I'll be heading to Kelso for Abbey Quilters' 25th birthday party.  I will be taking a platter of sandwiches to share, and of course showing the others members how to make the love birds.  Sandra (the vice chairman) was decidedly unforthcoming about all the surprises she has organised for tomorrow - it promises to be a fun day!

I hope you too have a fun weekend, love Anne