frayed at the edge

Squabbling!

Yesterday, I remembered to take photos of the satin-edged baby quilt.  Miss Jemima was delighted to pose with it ........

 

admiring the satin edging and hinting at a matching nightdress

 

but as you know, there is no show without Pooh, who demanded that he had his photo taken too, for after all the quilt is blue, and blue is for boys (no, he didn't want blue satin jammies, thank you very much!)

 

the two of theme squabbled so much, they had to be sent to the naughty step (which is difficult as we don't have stairs), and Miss Pink Piggy got to pose with the farmyard cushions

 

by the end of this afternoon, I had also finished the three silk cushions .........

 

...... and this one, which I am embarrassed to show you, as I got the measurements wrong and it turned out rectangular instead of square!  However, as soon as Malcolm saw it, he said he liked it, so I have given it to him

 

on Saturday, I bought this remnant of circus fabric.  It is the same make as the farmyard fabric, and should make another three cushions

 

while I was stitching away this afternoon, Malcolm stuck his head in the door and shouted to me to come out into the garden and bring the camera, as he had spotted this moth

 

it fluttered about a bit before disappearing - I just hope a hungry bird hasn't eaten it!

 

come back tomorrow and I will tell you what I did with these shapes!

Swans and boats

There are a great many swans about at the moment.  In the dock ..........

 

where there is a lot of weed for them to eat

 

and on our last two visits to the flat, there has been a black swan

 

they aren't native to Britain, so I don't know where this one has come from

 

out in the river, you can just see a line of them at the water's edge

 

and more further down the river

 

and looking the other way, they are right up under the bridges

 

in the dock, there was a shimmering reflection of the pilot boat

 

this boat, which is tied up in the far corner of the dock, is tiny

 

one of the fishing boats, returning from a trip

 

we passed this one yesterday, when we walked along to the beach

 

this little one sits under the dock at the lifeboat station

 

I do like a bit of blue sky behind an old chimney

 

Malcolm spotted this piece of ragged rope caught in a gnarly post

 

every time we go to the beach, I find another interesting piece of groyne for a photo

 

this little lump would look good in the garden, but I suspect it is like an iceberg, with far more below the sand

 

walking back from the beach, we saw yet more swans!

 

various lorries park on the dockside overnight, and last night these two car transporters appeared, laden with brand new Mercedes.  Malcolm reckoned there was £500,000 worth of cars ....... do you think they would have missed just one little one?

 

to finish, two sweet treats.  First, a bowl of delicious Scottish strawberries - possibly the best strawberries in the entire world

 

and second, the delectable Tom Hiddleston.  If you haven't seen him in the Night Manager, you have missed a treat (and I don't mean the scene in which you saw his bare bum) ........ it's an excellent story, and some of it was filmed in Majorca, with stunning scenery

photo by Mona Kuhn for W Magazine

A special day

 Yesterday was Fathers' Day, so of course that meant that Malcolm was well and truly spoiled.  When we were in Dunbar, I found these two quirky notebooks (a boy can never have too many notebooks!).  They have squared paper, so he can draw up tiny plans of his creations.  

 

after breakfast in bed (kippers on toast - delicious) we set off for a day out.  Unfortunately the main road was closed, but we didn't mind the diversion too much when we drove along country roads with lush hedges and verges

 

as soon as you see this photo, you will know where we went ....... Bamburgh for a walk on the beach

 

there were lots of people about, some flying overhead

 

some on horseback

 

some just standing enjoying the view

 

and a great big lolloping dog!

 

there were lots of colourful wild flowers in the dunes

 glorious sands for as far as we could see

 

and lots of blue skies, with just a bit of cloud

 

looking up at the castle from the beach

 

Malcolm spotted this arty shadow shot

 

looking across the cricket ground to the pavilion

 

and walking round to the pavilion, we found the rollers ready to be used on the wicket (it's all to do with what conditions the bowlers want!)

 

but the best view is from the far side of the ground - what a wonderful backdrop to play in front of

 

I treated Malcolm to lunch at the Copper Kettle - it was easier to take a photo of the placemat, than try to take a photo outside without a tourist in it!

 

he had crab sandwiches, with a very posh packet of crisps

 

I had chicken mayo and bacon, also with posh crisps

 

on the way home, we called in here, and I bought some scented candles, which are made in Selkirk by Eternal Flame Candles.  The first three have quite normal scents .........

 

........ and of course when we saw these ones, I had to buy them!

 

we went for a walk on "our" beach this afternoon, treating ourselves to ice creams as a reward for walking for miles!  But do you prefer to lighthouse to the right of the ice cream, or to the left?

 

It's raining again!

It has been a rather soggy week, and yesterday everything in the garden was dripping.  The miniature rose almost looked as if it had been dipped in plastic

 

large raindrops on one of the clematis

 

small raindrops collecting on the lilies in a pot beside the back door

 

the drops on this shrub look like little jewels

 

my favourite plant in the rain -  alchemila molis

 

a dainty seedhead on an early flowering clematis

 

as it was such a miserable day, we decided to put off going over to the flat until tomorrow morning.  So this afternoon we headed into Hawick, parking in the supermarket car park and popping in to buy the papers.  Then we left the car there and walked along the riverside towards the Mill.  Do you remember when, during the terrible winter floods, part of the road fell into the river?  Well, it's still there!

 

although some work has been done to shore up the riverbank

 

there is still a lot to be done

 

the power of flood water is frightening, causing huge sections of road to collapse

 

having inspected the damage, we crossed the footbridge to the Mill.  We had a potter round the shop before we went for a cuppa.  Malcolm saw a jumper that he rather liked, but it cost £495 ....... no, I didn't leave out a decimal point, it cost four hundred and ninety five pounds.  He decided that he didn't like it that much!

 

Malcolm had fruit loaf

 

and I had lemon sponge - both were delicious

 

we walked the long way round back to the car, giving me the chance to take to photo of these old wooden garages - I think they could do with some tlc!

 

you may be aware that there is some sort of football (soccer) event* going on in France - no doubt Malcolm will be glued to it for most of the weekend, but hopefully I can tear him away long enough to go for a walk!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

* Scotland were sensible and didn't qualify, which saved the fans the expense of travelling to France to see their team going out in the first stage.  Malcolm of course is cheering on England, so I said I would cheer on Wales, to provide some balance  (I had a Welsh great-granny - or possibly great-great-granny!)

Cushions galore!

I took a break from working on my pieces for the exhibition, to make some cushions for the bag and quilt raffle.  I had recently bought this remnant of farmyard fabric

 

and on measuring the piece, I found that I could cut three strips, eighteen and a half inches wide.  I stacked them on the cutting mat

 

and cross cut the strips, to give me three squares for the cushion fronts

 

then I cut the remaining fabric in half, to make the two pieces for the backs

 

I turned in and pressed hems on the two long edges of the back pieces, which I then top stitched

 

I forgot to take a photo of the next stage, which was to pin the fronts and backs right sides together, overlapping the back pieces.  I then stitched the four sides.  I prefer to stitch right across each side, rather than pivoting at the corners, as I think this is more accurate

 

I snip the corners off, so that the corners are easier to poke out

 

the cover pressed, ready for the next stage

 

having marked lines an inch and a half from the edge, I top stitched the cover, this time pivoting at the corners (don't worry, the red line disappears with a hot iron)

 

the first cushion finished - the pad in it isn't quite big enough, but I have the correct size ordered

 

the three covers, ready for their pads

 

after making the fun children's cushions, I thought I would do some for the grown-ups, and looked out this beautiful length of silk from my stash.  As you can see, it changes colour depending in how the light strikes it

 

a detail of the embroidery

 

I used a slightly different method for this one.  As the embroidery isn't directional, I didn't have to cut the back separately, so simply cut three long strips.  After hemming the edges, I folded the strip to give me a square, then only had to stitch the two sides

 

the cover turned through and pressed, ready for the top stitching

 

and the finished cover.  I ran out of time to stitch the other two, so I will get them done next week

 

Keeping a beady eye .......

on the photos which are languishing in folders, waiting to be included in the blog, is this magnificent wood pigeon

 

he reminded me that I had taken photos of lambs in the field across the road

 

although they are getting big, they still like to be with mum

 

 

this horse, also in the field across the road, is gleaming with health

 

the plants in Malcolm's planter are growing well

 

an old tractor cutting hay in the field behind the studio

 

one day, I set the camera up on the tripod in the summerhouse, to try to capture the pair of tits flying in and out of the bird box

 

despite using the remote control shutter button .......... 

 

I just couldn't capture a good photo

 

so I moved the tripod to the deck, where it was partially concealed by a little tree, so that the birds wouldn't be disturbed by it

 

well, I got some good shots of their tails as they flew into the bird box

 

and another blurry one of one leaving

 

but I had more success with Mrs blackbird having a bath

 

but the pigeon flew off just as I snapped!

 

and finally ....... in a recent post, I showed you a photo of my lace panel curtains that at still in the bedroom window of the house we moved from in 1997.  I had kept one of the curtains, which I cut down into a cafe curtain for the kitchen window ....... not because anyone can see in the window, but to provide some insulation from the cold glass for my orchids!

 

I was washing up the dinner dishes on a sunny evening when I noticed the shadow pattern on an orchid leaf - I do like a good shadow shot!

One finished .......

...... and one almost done!  First, "The Two of Us", which is finished ......

 

....... complete with starry buttons for the Sandmen's eyes

 

having put "Autumn Breeze" up on the design wall after finishing the buttonhole stitching, I decided to add an outer border, and found this perfect piece of Moda fabric in my stash

 

I think it looks much better with the border

 

layered up ready to start the fmq

 

I thought I would use a meandering leaf

 

on the large background sections

 

then I got out my ruler and special foot

 

and had a quick practice

 

as I hadn't used it for a while

 

I stitched the two corner blocks with randomly angled lines

 

then stitched the triangles of the vase

 

back to fmq for the leaves

 

and a last bit of filling in the background

 

then finally, a lazy loop all round the border

 

the edges trimmed, ready for the binding

 

which I decided to make using two fabrics

 

the binding machine stitched to the front, ready to hand sew on the back

 

this corner detail shows the two different binding fabrics

 

I'm rushing to finish this, as its Abbey Quilters' AGM this evening, and as always I will be picking Maureen up, before heading over to Kelso.  But I have one more photo to share with ..... prepare to swoon, it's the gorgeous Patrick, snapped during last night's Sewing Bee

Viking gold?

We headed to the beach on Thursday, so that Malcolm could play with use the metal detector that Stuart and Alison gave him for his birthday Do you like the cute spade I bought for him to go with it?!)

 

would we find a treasure trove of Viking gold?  Well, there wasn't any hidden under this plant

 

and these bleached tree trunks didn't mark the spot

 

this teeny tiny (dead) crab hadn't swallowed any

 

and this large crab shell was empty

 

Malcolm soldiered on - yes that's him away in the distance

 

finally, some beeps ...... but it was only a rusty old bolt

 

if this slimy green sea monster knew where the treasure was, it wasn't telling us

 

I got a bit fed up and wandered off to investigate these two feathers.  Given their size, I think they must be swan feathers

 

another plant growing in the sand, but still no treasure - not even a bottle top!

 

a quick photo of the lighthouse - you know that there must always be one 

 

we decided to give up and go up to the cafe for a cuppa ....... and just as we stepped on to the ramp up to the promenade ........ beep, beep, beep.  But no matter how carefully we looked through the sand, we couldn't find anything!  In the end we decided that it was the re-bar in the concrete that the detector was picking up.  Never mind, we had fun and will try again another day!

 

no teapot, milk jug or dainty china cup and saucer  ....... but sitting in the sun made up for that

 

a seagull hoping in vain for some food

 

so no treasure, but at least as we walked along the path above the beach, I found an arty photo!

 

yesterday morning, we headed up to Selkirk, to the Waterwheel Cafe

 

it's a while since we indulged in a two-scone lunch!  (that's half each, not two each)

 

the rain had gone off when we came out of the cafe, so we decided to go for a walk along the mill lade, pausing to admire this stunning group of rhododendrons 

 

the path has been upgraded, in conjunction with new flood defences, and Malcolm was very impressed with this wooden construction

 

when the water is low like this, it is hard to imagine that it would come up over the bank - the new wall on the right is to protect the fields from floodwaters

 

although only the tops of the walls are curved, this reminded me of the ruined building with the rounds walls that we saw recently - perhaps it looked something like this?

 

we could here fast-flowing water ahead, but didn't expect quite this much to be flowing into the lade

 

another stretch of the new flood defences - the owners of the row of houses must be delighted to be protected, after the dreadful winter floods

 

 a sturdy new bridge over the lade - again Malcolm had to pause to admire its construction ....... perhaps I should get him a job with a wooden-bridge-building company? 

 

by the time we walked back to the cafe, we reckoned we had covered about two and a half-miles, so we must have burned off some of the sconnage!  To finish, another of my arty photos - a clump of snow-in-summer growing out of a wall

 

back tomorrow with some sewing

Dodging the seagulls!

As we walked out to the harbour entrance, I was somewhat concerned by the the large number of seagulls wheeling about.   As it is breeding season, they were very vocal about anyone getting too close

 

every little edge seemed to have at least one gull on it

 

and yes, even gulls turn their rears to the camera

 

despite the signs telling you not to feed the gulls, you do see people throwing food to them.  Unfortunately, the gulls then associate humans with food, and they then swoop down to steal food.  When you see the size of their beaks ....... do you really want them to peck at you to steal your fish and chips?!

 

as we left the harbour, I did consider taking the JCB for a joyride!

 

and I could have used it to scoop up these lovely rusty items, which were sitting outside a little engineering firm

 

approaching this little church, we thought that it was very plain

 

but when we got close enough to read this plaque, we understood why it was unadorned

 

I misread this pub sign as Black Angus, which made me smile, as my late Dad was called Angus ....... I had a picture of him riding a horse in a dress .........

 

I remember being sent to the ironmonger's shop with a blue metal can to buy paraffin when I was barely big enough to carry the can home!  I think these days it will be illegal to sell paraffin to a child

 

never mind the coffee, just give me the chocolate

 

what a wonderful name for a greengrocers!

 

on our way out of Dunbar, we popped into the Garden Centre, which is claimed to be Scotland's newest garden centre

 

purely for research purposes, we shared a pot of tea in the very smart coffee shop.  It is light and airy, the service was friendly and efficient, and the dishes that other customers were eating all looked excellent.  It was hard to resist the tempting display of cakes - but that just gives us an excuse to go back to sample them!

 

there is a large, well-stocked plant area outside

 

and we liked what they had done with these two old canoes, using the one at the front as a planter, and turning the one at the back into a garden bench

 

again, we have made the sacrifice to go out and eat cake on a Friday!  Malcolm had a mint chocolate brownie

 

and I had a ginger chocolate brownie ....... we then walked the very long way round town and back to the flat, to use up some of the calories!

 

we will be heading back to Hawick in the morning, after a very enjoyable few days in Berwick, so I hope to spend some time in the studio on Saturday and Sunday getting on with my entries for the exhibition.  I'll be back on Monday with the tale of what Malcolm was doing on the beach yesterday!   I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

A sunny day out

Yesterday, we took a run up the A1 to Dunbar ....... this is a quote from Wikipedia about the town

Due to its geographical location, Dunbar receives less rain and more hours of direct sunshine per year than anywhere else in Scotland (according to the Met Office). The town has begun to be referred to by locals as 'Sunny Dunny', after a local radio host popularised the term.

You can read more about Dunbar  here.  Our first stop was for a cuppa

 

we sat on a raised section at the back, on very comfortable, squashy sofas

 

tea for me, coffee for Malcolm, and we shared a delicious toffee apple crumble pie

 

Malcolm had placed our order at the counter and had chosen the pie - it was only as we were leaving that I saw the Irn Bru tiffin ........ if I had seen it when we went in, I would have to have had a piece!

 

we had a potter round some of the excellent shops.  I can't show yet you what I bought in this one, as it is for Malcolm for Father's Day

 

but I'll show you what I bought here at the end of the post

 

our next stop was at the John Muir Museum  We didn't spend as long here as we might have, as it was full of schoolchildren!

 

if you get the chance to go to the museum, it a fascinating story, the boy from Dunbar  who founded America's National Parks

 

most of the photos are of him as an older man with a bushy beard, but the statue shows him in his prime

 

I have seen a similar tiled doorway in a shop in Selkirk - I will have to look next time I am there to see if it is for the same firm

 

the tiles on the step would make a wonderful quilt!

 

we meandered on down to the harbour

 

this little cannon was on the wall of a house overlooking the harbour - I wonder if I could get one, to repel visitors I don't like the look of

 

those of you who have been reading the blog for a while (thank you!) may remember that Malcolm went on a dry-stone walling course.  He declared this wall to be well built!

 

having carefully studied this warning notice .....

 

we didn't trip over the fishing nets and fall off the quayside

 

we didn't get trapped in a lobster pot

 

or tangled up in this enormous chain

 

and we didn't fall over these two stacks of fish boxes - which have come from far and wide

 

as we walked on round the harbour, Malcolm chose this boat

 

and I chose this little one in the foreground.  The man working at the stern of the other boat is the Harbour Master (according to the back of his shirt).  He was having a good tidy up while the tide was out

 

I guess this is where the expression "keeled over" comes from

 

the same boats seen from the other side

 

I wasn't very happy walking over this bridge (yes, that's the Harbour Master still hard at work), as it looks a bit neglected

 

but on the way back, I was reassured by this car which drove over in front of me

 

a reminder of one of the warnings!

 

by this time it was us who needed to be fed - and if you are at the seaside, you have to eat fish and chips (I am sure there is a law that says you have to!)

 

but we didn't need any persuading to share a wonderful fish supper (no matter what time of day you eat it, it is called a supper)

 

I still have lots more photos, which I will share with you tomorrow, but for now I will finish with what I bought.  Although Malcolm's birthday isn't until September, when he said he liked this clock, I got it for him ....... and I haven't made him wait for it!

 

this is one of a set of two coasters by the same artist

 

and this wonderful wooden hare, made from recycled wood, had to come back to the flat as well, where there was a playmate waiting for it!