frayed at the edge

Very Happy Mail!

 I was somewhat surprised today to receive an envelope in the post with a Guernsey stamp on it, as I don't know anyone there

 

but all was soon explained ...... the envelope contained a card made by one of those companies that you can upload a photo to, and they turn it into a card and send it out for you.  And what a lovely card it is, a thank you for the pink unicorn quilt, from the parents of the gorgeous Jasmine, seen here with her quilt

 

Stuart mentioned recently that two more of his friends are to become fathers soon, so of course that means I get to have fun making baby quilts.  Sue has a sale on at The Quilt Shop (it's only on until next Wednesday, so you will have to get your skates on if you want some excellent bargains)

 

so I bought two bundles of fat quarters - oh my, the quilts are going to be bright!

 

I also succumbed to this batik jelly roll .......

 

over the last few weeks, I have been a bit worried about my Christmas cactus, which has gone a funny purple colour, and looks somewhat limp

 

so imagine my surprise yesterday when I noticed flower buds

 

I am so pleased that it is going to flower, I won't tell it that there are still quite a few weeks to go until Christmas!

 

do you remember I showed you this ivy some months ago.  I had given it to my Dad, not long before he died, so it is about twelve years old.  As you can see it is thriving since Malcolm re-potted it

 

I have always had houseplants, and the current crop are doing well

 

the yucca is still home to my Parliament of owls

 

this one is probably about four times its original size

 

and the rubber plant will soon be touching the ceiling!

 

the orchids haven't been happy since we moved here, although that may be because I have had them for years

 

looking beyond them into the front garden, the dahlias are still flowering

 

this one is quite happy growing in an old coal scuttle

 

this fern has had to be moved to the side of the mantelpiece, because we are lighting the fire in the evenings

 

I also love to have a vase of fresh flowers too - they just somehow find their way into the trolley every few weeks when I do the weekly food shop

 

it's Friday, so that of course means food!  We were in Morpeth yesterday, and decided to have a bite of lunch in The Morpeth Larder

 

Malcolm went up to the counter to order a Coronation chicken sandwich for us to share

 

and when he came back, he had to confess that he couldn't resist adding this excellent cheese scone to the order!

 

to finish, this is yesterday morning's sunrise - spectacular!

 

I will be heading down the road to The Quit Shop tomorrow, to do a class with the lovely Lucie - I am sure it will be fun!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Much too intelligent ........

......... to be a cat!  I love the Garfield cartoon strip - yes, I know he is a cat, and I don't like cats, but he is so intelligent he must be a dog in disguise!  Remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it, if the print is too small for you to read

 

I frequently get "free gifts" with quilting magazines (surely, if it's a gift, you don't need to say it is free?!).  Anyway, here are some recent ones.  First, good quality templates for cutting scallops

 

then, in another magazine, paper pieces and .......

 

...... a booklet of patterns to add to the scallops

 

the owl is my favourite

 

these two good quality templates are for making Dresden Plates

 

and finally, a set of templates for fussy cutting shapes

 

and to finish ..... having quickly made a sample for the Funky Chickens class, I have been working on the full wallhanging,  When I was at the Quilt Shop today, I was delighted to hear from Sue that five people have already signed up ...... so hopefully more will sign up when the wallhanging is displayed in the shop.

History

 So, what was happening on the quayside last week?   You probably guessed that they were setting up to film a tv show or a film.  My first guess, which was also Anne's guess (I knew that was what you would think, Anne!) was an episode of Outlander, but a very helpful young man told us that they are filming scenes for a Netflix film, Outlaw King, which about Robert The Bruce

 

I did remark that I hoped that it would be more accurate than Braveheart!

 

we weren't allowed on to the quay for a closer look

 

but we were very impressed with what we could see

 

it's just a pity that they weren't going to be filming until today

 

so we didn't get to see any Hollywood stars

 

now we are going to travel just a little bit back in time - all the way to last Thursday!  We stopped off at Powburn for a cuppa, on our way up to Kelso (for my regular appointment with my hairdresser)

 

I wanted Malcolm to buy this little ride-on mower for me

 

or even better, this John Deere one ...... but he said no!

 

after my blonde gorgeousness had been restored (don't worry, I still have my pink streaks), we went on to the flat.  Later in the evening we had a good view of the Harvest Moon rising from the clouds

 

on Friday afternoon, there was a sudden flurry in the dock, as there was a rush to finish unloading this rather large ship, so that it would catch the tide

 

they use this little machine to scrape the cargo into a corner to unload the last of it

 

soon the holds were being covered

 

then we held our breaths as the ship turned in the confined space of the dock

 

and headed out through the small opening

 

followed by the Pilot Boat

 

the dogs weren't as interested in the happenings as their owners

 

back home on Saturday evening, we had a rather spooky view of the moon

 

yesterday we popped over to Alnmouth for a walk on the beach

 

there were lots of dogs

 

catching balls

 

running away with balls

 

or just sitting looking pretty

 

is this a piece of driftwood, or a whale emerging from the sand?!

 

the beach just goes on and on

 

I couldn't resist adding a couple of flying golf balls to go with the sign

 

and while we're being silly, how about the October page from my kitchen calendar

 

they say when you visit somewhere, you should take nothing but photos .......

 

and leave nothing but footprints ........ so we left footprints from the smart new walking shoes which Stuart and Alison gave us for our birthdays!

 

 

Walk this way!

Last Thursday, we set of for a stroll through the village, pausing to admire these fungi growing under a tree

 

I meant to look this tree up in my book, but I forgot, and as I am writing this at the flat, and my book is at home, perhaps one of you will know what it is!

 

a rather smart new house being built a few streets away from us

 

 

with another one being built behind it

 

the leaves are changing to their glorious autumn colours, which are my favourite

 

Malcolm shows the scale of this passing tractor and trailer

 

more fungi - as I don't know anything about them, I would never risk picking wild ones, in case they were poisonous

 

there's a surprise, our stroll has brought us to Nelson's

 

the sign on the window saves me from telling you!

 

it was quiet when we arrived (it soon filled up) so I was able to take some photos

 

where else would you hang your old tennis racquets and walking sticks!

 

and of course we all hang our bikes from the ceiling!

 

we walked round to see the rheas ........

 

which upset these geese, which were vociferous in their disapproval of our walking past!

 

it was rather hard to take photos of the rheas, as they were constantly twisting ......

 

......... and turning .........

 

.......... pulling feathers out!

 

of course we have to have a couple of arty photos.  First a cotoneaster growing out the top of an old stone wall

 

and then a fading hydrangea flower hanging over another old wall

 

as you can see, a lot of leaves have already come down

 

we regularly pass this garden, which has all sorts of quirky things in it

 

the current theme is owls

 

back home, I have been busy with the two little bits of garden that I am allowed to work on!

 

I have given the border in front of the house a thorough weed, and have planted some bulbs for spring colour

 

in the rockery, the bedding plants are still flowering, so I have left them for just now, and just had a good weed and deadhead

 

I have planted more spring bulbs in Malcolm's raised bed

 

when I was taking the photos, I spotted several different fungi

 

growing in what is supposed to be the lawn

 

I think the Head Gardener

 

will have a lot of work next spring to eliminate the weeds

 

I even discovered a late-flowering dandelion!

 

I promised you scones ....... when I went up to the counter in Nelson's to place our order, I couldn't make up my mind between the tasty cheese scones

 

and the delicious fruit ones, so we just had to share one of each ..... yum!!

 

to finish, what was happening on the quayside in Berwick this morning ........ had we slipped though a rip in the time-space continuum (or something like that!) and gone back several hundred years ........ I'll tell you on Monday!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

Secret sewing

When I posted about my lack of progress on my 17 UFOs, I didn't mention that I had been working on some other projects.  That's because I was making samples for classes at The Quilt Shop, and I had to wait for the class list being issued before I could show what I had made.  Obviously I can't show you all the workings of making them, because then you wouldn't sign up for the class!!  First, a tote bag which is made with a charm pack

then a sneak peek at one of the blocks of my Funky Chicken wallhanging

 

and finally, a little Japanese bag.  If you live near Morpeth and fancy any of these classes, email me and I will let you know the dates, and how to book a place

 

this stunning quilt has been made by Ros, after attending a class at the shop taught by Sue's main teacher Carole

 

Karen (who, like me, is from Airdrie, so we are best buddies) should be known as Lady Liberty, as she loves Liberty fabrics.  This piece, which will become a cushion, is made with little bits of leftover Liberty fabrics, and linen

 

Hollie (who is Sue's daughter) was working on a block from her sampler quilt, which she has been doing at classes with Carole.  I'm not generally a fan of Kaffe fabrics, but they work well in this Dresden Plate block

 

Sonia was working on her Snowman cushion, which of course she did at the classes with me

 

Hollie gave her these tiny beads to decorate her Christmas tree

 

the lovely Jill had a parcel for me, something which she had tracked down online and had then ordered for most of us Wednesday ladies ........ you might think this is a notebook

 

but open it up, and on one side there is a small cutting mat, and on the other a piece of velour-like fabric on which you can arrange the pieces of a block

 

and under the fabric is a piece of fine sandpaper, which holds your fabric in place when you are drawing round templates

 

and finally, if you have the fabric side uppermost, you can use it as a mini ironing board!  This will be very handy for working on small projects, both in the Attic and at workshops

 

I'll be back on Friday to take you on a stroll round the village (and scones may be involved!)

 

Happy birthday to .........

............  ME!!!!!

 

the day got off to a good start, with my favourite breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs

 

then lots of lovely pressies and cards

 

Malcolm gave me a super big tv for The Attic ........ and I enjoyed watching one of my favourites, Bruce Willis while I was doing some sewing this afternoon

 

of course there has to birthday cake ......... I know this one is really meant for children, but I couldn't resist it!

 

did I hear you mention candles?  I thought I had better not have one for each year of my age (29!!) in case the house burned down!

 

we had a piece of cake with our afternoon cuppa - it was delicious, light sponge, with lots of chocolate and a banana-flavoured buttercream topping

 

making my wish before I blew out the candles

 

Malcolm is taking me out for dinner this evening, and this bottle of fizz is now chilling in the fridge for when we get back home!

 

17 UFOs in 2017 : September Report

Oh dear, a very sparse report this month!  First, we were of course away for the first week of the month, and since we came back I have been a bit poorly (Malcolm very kindly gave me the terrible cough he had!!).  I almost lost my voice, and I am still croaking and squeaking - it's not fair, when Malcolm had the bug, his voice went all deep and sexy!  Anyway, enough of that, lets get on with the small amount of progress on my William Morris wallhanging.  Having finished sewing on the hexie flowers, I am now stitching the single hexies round the border.  I haven't yet decided which will be the top of the wallhanging ......

view #1

 

view #2

 

view #3

 

view #4

 

do let me know which view you prefer!  To see what everyone else has achieved this month, pop over to  Meredithe and scroll down to the linky thing ....... poor Meredithe has also being struck down with a nasty bug, so we have been sharing our misery!

 

 

A change of schedule!

I've just popped into say that I forgot that I will be posting the end-of-the-month update for the 17UFOs challenge tomorrow, so for today I will share with you the delicious cupcakes that I bought at an amazing bargain price.  I wouldn't have bought them at the full price, but I was happy to buy them for 30p!  We had them with our afternoon cuppa, and they were delicious!

Have a great weekend, love Anne

Just the ticket!

We had been invited to a financial seminar in Newcastle today (I strongly deny that I only went as a buffet lunch was included!).  As Malcolm wasn't overly keen on driving into the city and finding somewhere to park (which would probably be somewhat expensive), we decided to go by train

 

a pretty welcome to Morpeth station

 

I didn't expect to find a Victorian post box in the station!

 

many, many years ago, I worked in the Civil Engineers office of British Rail (and I have to tell you they were anything but civil!).  So I could give you all the technical details about the rail, the sleepers, the clips ....... but maybe not!

 

while we waited for our train (we are always early) this sleek intercity train whizzed through the station ......

 

then our clunky, rattling train arrived

 

20 minutes later, we were in Newcastle, admiring the grand entrance to the station

 

it was only a few minutes walk to our destination, the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, which you can read about here and here

 

the elegant carving is so much better than the brash signage on modern buildings

 

this is the library, which has a copy of every book on the subject of mining

 

the stunning roof

 

and the beautiful windows (sorry about the quality of the photo, but I was using the point-and-shoot camera)

 

some of the oldest books in the library

 

this is Nicholas Wood, the founder of the Institute, who was a great believer in education.  When the Institute opened, it trained more people to graduate level than Durham University.  To obtain a qualification from the Institute, you had to have worked in a mine - none of this learning from a book and thinking you knew it all

 

this translates as I advise and defend

 

there is a spiral staircase in each corner of the room

 

 this was probably used to emboss a stamp on the degree certificates

 

there are two large fireplaces in the library, but these days it is heated by radiators

 

after a delicious lunch, we were given a guided tour by the exceedingly knowledgeable chap at the podium.  The panelling and benches are Cuban mahogany, which he said is now so rare it is actually as expensive as gold

 

there is a lot of exploratory work going on under the floor, as they want to upgrade part of the building.  This hole is already 6 feet deep, and they haven't yet reached the foundations

 

this Victorian ceiling was boarded over for 50 years, but was recently uncovered and restored

 

another large hole

 

the tour continues outside

 

where we had the chance to admire the ornate carvings

 

which have survived city centre dirt and grime

 

but the main focus .........

 

......... was on this trench.  Although we couldn't see it, there are remains of Hadrian's Wall under the foundations of a building which pre-dates the Institute.  This had thrown up a dilemma - should they dig up more of the old foundations, to uncover more of the wall?  They have decided to extend the trench to the right of where is has already been dug out

 

we had some time to kill before we got the train home, but I will save them for another day.  So, to finish, a quirky doorway which caught my eye ........

 

........ did you notice the strange creature over the door?

A very busy weekend!

On our way to Stuart and Alison's on Saturday, we called into a garden centre for lunch ........ but what was this I spotted as we headed for the entrance?  EEK ....... it's 3 months until Christmas, but the garden centre was full of all things Christmas!

 

it's quite a few years since we last had lunch at this garden centre, so we were delighted to find that they still serve their delicious old-fashioned lentil soup

 

after lunch, we had a look round the outside plant area.  We were rather taken with this tree .......

 

until we saw the price, then we decided that we didn't like it that much after all!

 

of course you have all heard of/seen the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, but now there is a third bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, which the Queen opened at the start of the month.  It was very hazy, so the new bridge doesn't stand out against the two older bridges

 

the upright in the centre of the photo is the new bridge, with the Road Bridge behind it on the right

 

bits of all three bridges

 

the Road Bridge is dwarfed by the new bridge

 

driving on towards Grangemouth, you wouldn't think that just after passing this long row of trees ......

 

........ that this would come into view

 

if you want to know what all these things are .......

 

just ask Malcolm, as he spent the greater part of his working life here, when it was still BP Chemicals

 

it is now owned by a chap called Jim Ratcliffe, who is worth in excess of £3billion (yes, billion).  Why do I mention this?  Because Malcolm was at university with Jim!  OK, so Jim has a slightly bigger bank balance than Malcolm (!), but he still works long hours, whereas we have spent the last twelve years enjoying Malcolm's (early) retirement

 

we weren't the only visitors at Stuart and Alison's.  Stuart's stepsister Claire popped in to see us, with her two gorgeous children ........ and their new puppy, Purdey (named after the Joanna Lumley character, not the shotgun!)

 

she is a Border Terrier, and you can see here that she has the terrier instinct, as she savages her toy squirrel!

 

and she was doing her best here to bite Stuart's ears!

 

on Sunday morning we went out for breakfast with Stuart and Alison (sorry, forgot to take a photo of my delicious French toast with bacon and maple syrup).  Then it was on to the quilt show.  It was quiet when we arrived, so I was able to take some general photos

 

there were some stunning quilts

 

but I wasn't overly impressed with this miniature quilt, which had been chosen as Champion.  I think it's the scale of the different blocks that I don't like, with the anchor being as big as the house

 

however, I was delighted to see that this miniature had won a rosette, as I know the maker Mhairi (pronounced Varry, to rhyme with marry).  She was a member of the first quit group I joined, Greenpark Quilters in Polmont, way back in 1993.

 

look at all these luscious threads

 

did some of them come home with me?

 

yes they did!

 

the charming young man on the stall gave me a very helpful leaflet, with info about the thread, needle size to use etc

 

and a card with his website, should I wish to buy more

 

and of course I had to make some purchases at my favourite stall

 

some beautiful remnants of Japanese fabric, with a plain piece in the middle, to use for sashiko

 

to finish ....... look at these beauties, fresh from Stuart's garden.  I have used one already, slicing it thinly and putting it in the bottom of an oven dish, then sitting pork chops on top, then smothering the chops with finely sliced onions.  Some garlic salt and pepper, and a measure of cider, then into the oven ....... delicious!