frayed at the edge

The joys of non-planning

I bought this non-planner in the old bookshop in Alresford.  As someone who forgets to put things in her diary, and forgets to check if there actually is anything in the diary, this is the one for me!

 

I think that describes me!

 

I think I am still waiting for some of my good things to arrive ......

 

a girl can never have too many bags, and this one is an excellent addition to my collection.  Maybe I'll keep some knitting in it (I should write that in my non-planner to remind me)

 

when I spotted this little shop in Alton, Malcolm was resigned to fabric coming home with us.  It was a tiny place, selling more dressmaking fabric than quilting fabric 

 

there was the bonus of this beautiful tiled floor - I feel a quilt coming on

 

I was very restrained and only bought four scrap bags, with the money going in a charity collection tin.  I know I have lots of scraps, but these are all colour coordinated, ready to use, saving me the bother of tipping out my scraps and sorting through them

 

I also popped into a curtain shop, with the enticement of a large remnant basket.  I found four pieces of this beautiful heavy weight linen, which altogether measure about a metre.  If I had bought a metre off the roll, it would have cost me £48 ....... but my remnants cost £4, which has to be a bargain!

 

I also bought something in this wool shop, but you will have to wait until next week to see what I got

 

then, when we were in Petersfield, I saw this shop - oh bliss, a proper quilt shop

 

so much loveliness - we were in there for some time!

 

and don't you just love how my purchases were wrapped, in a sheet from an old dressmaking pattern

 

but again I was quite restrained, buying this patterns for fabric bowls

 

and this colourful panel to make an advent calendar with a little pocket for each day (which may have to contain chocolate!)

 

this is just a little bag, maybe about 6" tall.  Malcolm bought it for me at one of the National Trust properties that we visited ........

 

and look at what it contains - a lovely panel to embroider, with instructions at the top and bottom for working the different stitches

 

I just love the colours ....... this might have to sneak in near the top of the to-do list!

 

OK, must dash, as tonight is the first meeting of the new session at Abbey Quilters, and as always I will be picking Maureen up.  I am taking along lots of samples of how to use fusible web and freezer paper for applique, as our challenge block this year is an applique one.  I hope to have some photos for you tomorrow.

A lazy (long) weekend!

We went over to Berwick on Thursday, and just as it was starting to get dark, a very large lorry drove onto the dock (it is used as an overnight lorry park) with a very large dumper truck on the back.  I was planning to get up in the night and steal it ....... but I slept in!

 

when we walked over to town on Friday, the salmon fishermen were out on the river

 

it must be hard work hauling the net in

 

work continues on the Money Pit.  The worn stone under the window had been replaced

 

and the pillar on the left has been plastered

 

there didn't seem to be much happening at the Big Money Pit, although some piles of rubbish have appeared in the back yard

 

seeing these coins lying on the pavement, of course I bent to pick them up ........ but they were glued in place!  I wonder if someone was filming all the people who tried to pick them up ....... maybe I'll be a star on social media!!

 

on Saturday, we stopped for a chat with the man on the sausage stall at the Saturday market.  OK, I meant we stopped to have a sample of sausage which he had just cooked (despite having just had breakfast!).  The sausages are so delicious, we regularly buy a pack - but on Saturday we succumbed to the "buy three, save money" offer.  Don't worry, we won't be guzzling them in one go, they have gone in the freezer

 

on the beach on Saturday afternoon, I thought I could see a face on this stone

 

and I am sure there is an angry bird on this rock, with his eye in the middle, and his big beak pointing to the right

 

if you are romantic, you will see a heart, if not you might see a little fat bird

 

there are still flowers growing in the sand

 

and of course we have to have a photo of the lighthouse - I decided to put it to the left of the photo this time

 

they say when you visit somewhere you should only take away memories, and only leave footprints ...... but I did take away my heart shaped stone

 

on our way home yesterday, we popped into the Mill in Jedburgh for a cuppa and sconnage ........ a very good cheese scone

 

I'll be back tomorrow to show you the one or two little things I brought home from our holiday (in addition to all the happy memories!!)

Going for gold!

When we saw this gold pillar box, Malcolm didn't quite screech to a halt, but he did turn the car round and drive back so that I could take photos 

 

we were surprised that 4 years on, it was still gold, and hadn't returned to being red

 

we visited several National Trust properties, all of which had wonderful gardens.  Some of them had ponds with beautiful water lilies

 

all of them had apple trees

 

this chap and his dog were having a well deserved rest from looking after the garden

 

to me, this is just typically British ....... having a picnic sheltering under umbrellas.  Why let a little bit of rain spoil your fun!

 

so who is this fine fellow?

 

the sign gives a potted history of King Alfred

 

this painted bollard was in Winchester - there were several of them, featuring different artists

 

Winchester Cathedral - with some tourists to give you the scale

 

the old buildings in Winchester look good in B&W

 

this is a section of mosaic floor in the Roman Villa at Bignor.  Some other photos of the floors will feature in a later post, as the patterns are just perfect for a quilt!

 

no, not somewhere that we ate even more food ....... I took this photo for the wonderful higgledy piggledy roof

 

everywhere we went, we saw beautiful old buildings

 

and lots of gnarly old trees

 

a little fairy door

 

all you need to know about folding table napkins!

 

this little quilt may look very faded and old, but I am sure lots of you will recognise the Laura Ashley fabrics, so it was of the wrong era for this room setting

 

woohoo, I found another money pit!  This one is a recently closed hotel in the village of Selborne, which of course as always I wanted to turn into a quilting retreat!

 

it may have a different name, but this is the pet shop where Stuart got his hamster when he was about eight!

 

I wouldn't want to meet this chap when having a paddle!

 

of course there has to be an arty photo.  I just liked the look of this old watering can hanging on a wooden peg

 

and of course we have to have some animals - these are from the Home Farm at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.  This beautiful bull was making eyes at the camera!

 

it was feeding time for the pigs

 

and they were getting very excited - there was a great deal of squealing

 

perhaps this one was thinking that if she ate up all her food ........

 

she would get to be this size (I was thinking ........ mmmmm bacon sandwiches!)

 

a rare breed calf

 

these Shetland ponies aren't big enough to see over their stable door!

 

I think the one on the right is a boy!

 

not one .......

 

......... but two beautiful donkeys

 

this is Wimpole Hall - front

 

and back

 

normal blogging will resume on Monday - but there will be the odd holiday photo sneaking in.  And so to the Friday cake.  This afternoon, we went to Miele, where we had half each of a raspberry brownie

 

and a tarte au citron

 

as always, we are hoping to go for a walk on the beach tomorrow, and we may also visit some of the town's heritage buildings, which are open to the public this weekend.  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A tale of two houses

Although it is officially known as New Alresford, it is just call Alresford by the locals (it's pronounced Allsford).  This looks slightly hazy as it was taken through the car windscreen

 

we parked in the town, and walked up the hill to the street we lived in.  When we moved in, the houses were newly built, with bare front gardens

 

this was our house.  It hasn't change much ....... there is a new front door, and the garden has been altered - they have dug up my lovely lawn!

 

this bookshop looked as old and dilapidated 30 years ago ....... and I think it is still selling some of the same books!

 

the Swan Hotel, where for some weeks I went with my two neighbours Jo and Jane, for a restorative glass of wine after we had been at a keep fit class.  Why do I mention this?   Because we passed the end of our street to walk down into town to the hotel.  We probably expended more energy walking to and from the hotel than we did in the exercise class!

 

this used to be the Post Office.  At that time, we had two dogs, and one of them, the spaniel Honey, often went for a walk to town with me.  She knew all the shops that she was allowed to go into ........ some of them may have had "no dogs" signs, but that was generally disregarded.  She didn't like going into the chemist shop, and we eventually decided that it was because she mistook the pharmacist in his white coat for the vet!  She also growled somewhat threateningly at a man who dared to stand next to me in the Library - she was very protective of me (we won't mention the time she nearly got through the dog guard in the car to attack a policeman who had leant on the car while explaining to me that there was a diversion in operation!)

 

I used to spend many a happy Thursday morning at the WI market which was held in the Community Centre, usually going home with another plant for the garden, bought from a very knowledgeable chap who sold the plants very cheaply (and cake may have been purchased as well)

 

I don't think I was ever in this pub, but Malcolm says that I was!

 

one of several smart new shops

 

and I think you can guess what this one sells

 

lots of the houses had amazing hanging baskets

 

this house is called The Fulling Mill.  The stream that was used to full the woollen cloth runs underneath the house.  The main drawback with the house if that everyone stops to take photos, but then the advantage is that from the windows you can see .......

 

......... swans

 

......... cygnets

 

........ and ducks

 

there are so many wonderful houses .......

 

........ that I bought a lottery ticket, in the hope of buying one

 

but as you can see from this photo of a house in the estate agents' window, I would need to win an awful lot! (click on the photo to enlarge it if you can't read the price in the bottom right hand corner)

 

this used to be a little restaurant, where I briefly had a part-time job ........ I had been seduced by some beautiful (very expensive) cushions in the posh interior design shop, and realised that I had better earn some money to replace what I had spent, or we would have been eating beans on toast for the rest of the month!

 

I was amazed to see that this little children's clothes shop was still going strong - I had a part-time job there as well, but I think I spent most of my wages on posh clothes for Stuart (not that long ago he confessed that he didn't like the beautiful French clothes, he would rather have had a track suit!)

 

so, talking of Stuart, this is the first school he went to in Alresford

 

he was there for a year, before he moved up to ........

 

the Junior School

 

fortunately the pupils hadn't yet returned from the summer holidays, so I was able to sneak in to take photos

 

when we left Hampshire and drove to Cambridgeshire, we stopped at the school Stuart went to.  Reading the sign, it appears to have gone somewhat upmarket

 

but the buildings looked the same!

 

and so on to East Hatley, which consists of one street

 

how inconsiderate of the present owners of our house to have such a high hedge, so I couldn't get a better photo as we drove slowly past

 

there is slightly more in neighbouring Hatley St George ........ but the Post Office is only open a couple of mornings each week

 

I used to go to a regular coffee morning in the village hall.  We would end the morning with a little raffle - I think most of the prizes were what had been won last time, and had then been put in the next one!

 

the sign may say village, but at most it is a hamlet

 

there hasn't been much food on the blog this week, so let's put that right.  There were several new cafes/coffee shops in Alresford, and we chose this one to have lunch in

 

I knew we had picked a good one when my tea arrived

 

we had asked for one sandwich to share ...... and were delighted when we were given a plate each, with our own little cup of crisps and some salad

 

when we were in Winchester, we popped into a café next to the Guildhall for a cuppa.  I didn't take a photo of the café, and the Guildhall is so big I had meant to cross the road to take a photo, but forgot.  So here is a photo of its grand entrance

 

we were only going to have a cuppa, but when Malcolm went up to the counter to order, he saw that they had a special offer on cheese scones with chutney, so of course we had to share one

 

the Long Barn is just outside Alresford.  We were going to sit outside for lunch, but it was threatening to rain, so we sat inside which was the right choice as there was a short, very heavy shower (I think we had a shower one other day, but other than that the weather was glorious)

 

Malcolm had mushrooms in a creamy sauce on toasted ciabatta, topped with bacon

 

I had mascarpone and blueberry pancakes, also with bacon.  Malcolm thought bacon with fruity pancakes was strange, but it was delicious.  I shall need to recreate this!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a last report on our holiday (and maybe even a Friday cake!)

 

 

 

The Coach House

It was just by chance that we had picked up a Farm Stay brochure way back in March, in the Tourist Information office in Berwick.  I had suggested that we should go to Hampshire to celebrate our anniversary, and looking through the brochure, I found the Coach House.  A few clicks of the mouse later, it was booked

 

going in through the front door, there was a welcoming hall, with stairs to the accommodation on the first floor

 

the lounge was comfortably furnished

 

with a tv and dvd for evening entertainment

 

the kitchen was really well equipped with crockery and cutlery

 

although fortunately we didn't have to cook on the range!

 

the bedroom had a very comfortable bed - it can spoil a holiday if you get a nasty saggy uncomfortable bed!

 

next to the Coach House is the much bigger Granary

 

and this is the beautiful farmhouse, where our delightful hosts Jean and Robert live

 

they made us very welcome - when we arrived, the table was laid ready for an afternoon cuppa, and they gave us a lovely box of chocolates for our anniversary

 

first thing one morning, I ran outside (in my nightie!) to capture this hot air balloon

 

but when another one went over on our last morning, I contented myself with a photo taken through the window!

 

a not very informative signpost!

 

the view from the lounge

 

imagine how excited I was to see this enormous heron sitting beside the pool!

 

there were quite a lot of these stone mushrooms dotted around the place, but Malcolm refused to lift them into the car boot for me!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of photos of Alresford, the town we lived in.

The big day!

Thank you for all your lovely good wishes for our special day last Monday!  In my last post, I mentioned the statue of the naked man in front of the Registry Office in Winchester.  We were delighted  to see he was still there, although he was rather overshadowed by the large tree behind him

 

I was careful with the angles from which I took the photos, as he is anatomically correct!

 

this is the stairway where we posed for the photo after we were married, and I hoped that I would be able to ask a passer-by to take a photo of us ........ but there was only one man in sight, and he was far to busy with his phone to interrupt

 

we chose this restaurant to go for a celebration lunch, as that is what we did on the big day, rather than a dinner in the evening

 

our lovely waiter was happy to take photos of us saying "cheers" - I couldn't decide which was the better photo, so I have included both of them!

 

we both chose the same meal, starting with the most delicious steak, doused in garlic butter, with excellent chips

 

then the waiter offered us coffee on the house as an anniversary gift ........ I very rarely drink coffee, but it was a lovely gesture, and I did enjoy a cup (then Malcolm drank the rest of mine!)

 

then pudding arrived!  A delectable hot peach crumble, topped with a scoop of ice cream!

 

later, back at the converted coach house where we were staying (more of that tomorrow), we sat out on the little deck in the garden to drink champagne, in the bright sunshine

 

we need more practice taking selfies!!  I balanced the camera on a fence post and set the timer ....... you can't really hold a big camera up on a selfie stick!

 

I would love to tell you that Malcolm gave me this Ferrari for our anniversary ......... but sadly no!  It was parked outside the hotel we stayed in on  the Friday night on our way down to Hampshire, having arrived with a bride in it for one of several weddings which were taking place that day

 

my present to Malcolm (and me) was our week's holiday in Hampshire, and his present to me was this beautiful jewellery.  He did offer to give me pearls, but as I already have some beautiful pearls, I was delighted with this silver bracelet and ring, which is set with a peridot

 

I am slowly sorting out over 800 photos, so I'll be back tomorrow with a few more to share with you.

A very special day!

On Monday we will celebrate our Pearl Wedding Anniversary ........ yes, thirty glorious years!  Here we are looking slightly apprehensive as we set off for the Registry Office in Winchester  (all these years later, I still have the scarf, as it was the first present Malcolm gave me!)

 

our friends Jo and George were our witnesses, and Stuart was delighted that he got to sign the register as well!  We were married by two lady Registrars, who had a box of tissues to hand for our happy tears (only George didn't shed a tear!)

 

posing on the steps of the Registry Office - what you can't see is the statue of a naked man on a horse, which was in front of us!

 

if you are thinking "so she's not a natural blonde" ....... that isn't my natural colour either!!

 

to celebrate our anniversary, we are heading off down to Hampshire tomorrow.  We will be there for a week, having a wonderful trip down memory lane - we lived there for three and a half years, so there are lots of places we want to visit.  Then on Saturday the 3rd (Malcolm's birthday) we head over to Cambridgeshire, where we moved to from Hampshire.  We lived there for eighteen months, although for a large part of that Malcolm was working away from home, so he doesn't have as many memories as I do of our time there.  We will be back home on Monday the 5th, so you will have to do without me until Tuesday the 6th!!  I'm looking forward to sharing our trip with you then!

 

 

 

Checking out the fibre

 No, I wasn't closely examining some fabric ........ we popped over to the flat this morning, as Malcolm had signed up for fibre broadband, and it went "live" today.  It's not quite up to speed, as is to be expected on the first day, but it is FAST!!  As it was a lovely morning, we went for a walk round the old walls (on top, this time).    You can just see people walking out to the lighthouse

 

it was very clear, and way, way in the distance, you can see Bamburgh Castle on the right, and Lindisfarne  on the left

 

there were lots of people enjoying the sunshine on the beach

 

we are used to seeing weeds growing out of the top of the wall round the allotments, but this is a small raspberry cane (and Malcolm may have pinched a ripe raspberry from it!)

 

looking through the trees to the church

 

we went to Lowrie's at the Chandlery for lunch.  Malcolm had egg mayo sandwiches

 

and I had my favourite Coronation chicken

 

back home in the garden, yet another clematis is flowering

 

the passion flower produces a new flower almost every day

 

and the hellebore has decided to flower again!

 

when I was sorting through my photos, I realised that I had forgotten to show you what I bought last week at Sue's shop.  I didn't bother taking a photo of the stitch'n'tear, as that would be a bit boring!  So first we have this delicious charm pack

 

just look at those scrummy fabrics!

 

then something practical - tape for joining odd bits of wadding together.  Yes, I could stitch them together, but this is the equivalent of the tape that lazy people non-sewers use to hem their trousers!

 

I do love receiving happy mail, especially if it from my wonderful friend Lee (Just like Martha).  There are birthday cards for Malcolm and me, and a wonderful set of inspirational cards - these are just a few of them

 

to finish, we pop back over to Berwick.  This is the back of the Money Pit.  As the front is accessed from the walls, it is only 3 storeys high, but, as you can see, the back is 5 storeys (and the van and wheelie bins help with the scale)

 

and this shot of the fire escape shows just how big it is

 

but even bigger is this old school, which has been lying derelict, home only to pigeons.  But this morning there were workmen busy about the place, so it will be interesting to see what happens to it.  I have named it the Very Big Money Pit!! 

 

I shall be back tomorrow with some very special news!

What would we do without .........

......... potatoes?  On Sunday afternoon, I settled down to watch The Martian, while I did some hand sewing.  A large part of the story revolves around the main character, Mark, growing potatoes, after he has been left behind on Mars.  I was interested in this part of the story, as Albert Bartlett, from my home town of Airdrie, gave technical advice on growing potatoes

 

I did some quilting on my hexies

 

but then decided that I ought to get on with Mrs Billings

 

Malcolm made sure I had enough energy for all the sewing I was doing

 

and after The Martian finished, the Minions made sure I kept on stitching!

 

so here is the latest progress on Mrs B, after another session this afternoon (Meredithe and Sue, please stop sniggering!)

 

I finished stitching this small hexie border in place

 

and pinned this one in place

 

I stitched together all the hexies for the other two borders, and pinned them on

 

next, I looked out a pile of scrappy pieces ......... as you can see, the sun was shining brightly through the velux on to the table.  I also got out the acrylic template and some tiny paper diamonds

 

the first batch of diamonds cut out

 

and stitched over the papers

 

the diamonds stitched together and pinned on one of the big hexies

 

the little ears will be tucked in when I stitch the diamonds in place

 

the second lot pinned in place - and now you can see the little oops.  I hadn't paid attention, and used the same fabric for the first diamonds as the neighbouring hexie, so I will have to do another one

 

to finish - in the garden this afternoon, I noticed this little tree was looking a bit bare ......

 

........ yes, the dreaded caterpillars have returned!

We weren't expecting that!

 There was a very large ship in the dock last week - this is only half of it

 

we were watching the big green machine scooping up the cargo and depositing it in a succession of large lorries

 

but we weren't expecting not one ..........

 

but two men to pop out of the bucket!!

 

they had obviously decided that it was too much work to manually sweep up the remaining cargo, and instead lowered this little machine into the hold to do it instead!

 

by the time the ship was ready to leave, the rain had started

 

the pilot boat ready to guide the ship out to sea

 

the next two photos were take through the rain-spattered window in the lounge, as the shipped turned, ready to leave

 

but then I opened the bedroom window and braved the wind and rain to take these last two photos, as the ship squeezed out of the dock

 

when we were in the Garden Centre on Friday morning, I couldn't resist these two exceedingly cute (and very inexpensive) mugs.  Why are they called Back To Front Mugs?

 

because this is the other side - given how often I encounter this when taking photos, of course I had to buy them!!

 

do you remember the house I christened the Money Pit, that I had hoped that Malcolm would buy for me so that I could turn it into a quilting retreat?

 

we were pleased to see that the new owners are making a thorough job of refurbishment, and not just patching it up

 

I think the house with the red tiled roof in the middle of the photo could do with some help - you can see that the right hand end has sagged, if you compare the slope of the roof with the one behind it

 

although we didn't go for a walk yesterday, we did share a delicious scone with jam and clotted cream

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing!