frayed at the edge

Sewing!

You may have thought that with all the other stuff going on, that I haven't been doing any sewing!  But I have been working very hard on my Aunts' Quilt, to make sure that I had this month's stage finished.  I started by trimming the applique blocks

 

but you will have to wait until next Friday to see the full report!  The little elephant stitchery is finished

 

and I have made a good start to the next one

 

yesterday I sent Malcolm up into the loft to retrieve two pieces of furniture for me.  First, this half-moon piecrust table, which belonged to my Mum and Dad.  I can vaguely remember them buying it when I was little, so it must be at least 50 years old!

 

I am going to paint it with this Annie Sloan chalk paint, and bring it over to use as a hall table in the flat

 

we had this little chair in the hall of the Victorian house which we lived in, in the 90s.  It was the time of paint effects and stencilling.  I think Malcolm used a stencil for the basic design, then embellished it.  But it too is going to be painted with the chalk paint, and will go in the guest bedroom at the flat.  While I am painting it, Malcolm will recover the seat.  There is a tale to tell about the fabric that is on it at the moment, but I will have to look out the relevant photos to go with the story

this cupboard is now in my studio, another paint effect and stencil job

 

I painted the cupboard in the paler paint, then sponged it with the darker one.  I then stencilled it - even stencilling rosebuds on the handles

I also painted the inside of the cupboard!

 

I wasn't at patch'n'chat this afternoon, as we came over to Berwick.  For a change, we came via Duns, and popped into the Garden Centre for a cuppa.  So there is still a Friday cake ....... the most wonderful scone, filled with blueberry Eton Mess

 

for those of you who may not know, Eton Mess is broken up meringue, mixed with fresh cream

 

the forecast is good for tomorrow, so we are looking forward to the Seaside Festival

 

I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

It's back!!

Hooray, The Great British Bake Off started again last night!  I love this progamme, with the brilliant judges and presenters (if there are funny black shapes on the right of the photos, it is my rubber plant, getting in the way!)

 

I don't know how many photo I took of Mary, and in every one she was pulling a face!

 

but Paul just smouldered as usual, with those piercing blue eyes

 

and Mel and Sue were as madcap as ever

 

fortunately the sight of this cake didn't make me hungry, as it is a walnut cake, which I don't like

 

Marie was named Star Baker

 

while Stu was the first to leave

 

when we were on holiday, we saw some driftwood mobiles that had little fish and other sea creatures dangling from them.  I said to Malcolm that when we got home I would get some air-drying clay to for us to have a go at making some ....... and I have finally got round to getting the clay!  This block is about the size of a shoe box, but it weighs 12 kilos!  I could hardly lift the parcel when it arrived

 

I also got a set of sea themed cookie cutters

 

and a basic set of modelling tools, so now we just need some time to have a go

 

inspired by some of the things we saw at the Gallery on Sunday, I also got this collection of "silver" charms (what we we do without ebay!!)

 

this afternoon I made a start to clearing the bottom room of my studio, so that we can get it painted.  This side is just about empty

 

but I shall have to find a place to put all this stuff from the other side

 

I made this quilt years ago for my Dad when he was in hospital after falling and breaking his hip.  The ward was far too warm, so the nurses would open the windows, but that meant Dad got cold, sitting all day in his bedside chair.  So I unearthed a pile of log cabin blocks and put together a quick lap quilt, with cosy fleece on the back.  I now use it as a table cover in the studio

 

the weather still isn't very summery, so I decided to have some summery music while I was busy - I can play CDs on the built-in DVD player in my little tv

 

to finish ...... I made this little wallhanging years ago, but I don't think it has ever appeared on the blog!

We finally get to Sunday!

On Sunday morning, we headed back over the Border to visit Coldingham Priory ...... or rather the remains of the Priory.  However the parish church .....

 

........ is built on the site of the Priory

 

this board (click on the photo to enlarge it) .......

 

....... explains what these relics are

 

around the site of the Priory are paving stones with messages carved into them

 

I always get a lump in my throat when I see these old gravestones

 

this old gravestone has had a new plaque put on it

 

and this War Grave is particularly sad, that the sailor's family wouldn't have known that their loved one had been buried in Coldingham

 

when we walked by to the car, I spotted this pillar box beside the car park.  It is from the reign of George VI, the Queen's father

 

from Coldingham, we went on to St Abbs for a cuppa.  While Malcolm was placing our order, I was admiring the little table setting

 

I was given a plain, ordinary white cup and saucer with my tea, but as happened the last time we were there, Malcolm was given this stylish cup and saucer with his coffee

 

after our cuppa, we had a potter down to the harbour, where the tide was well and truly out

these boats in the inner harbour would have a long wait until they were afloat again

 

of course I had to take a photo of this boat!

 

we had a hunt on the shoreline for shells and seaglass, but I was distracted by this crab claw

 

this was the first crab I have found with blue pincers

 

 

when we walked back to the car, I was glad that this enormous gull was sitting on someone else's car!

 

on the way home, we stopped to have a look round number four

 

the gallery is filled with all sorts of art works, and as we wandered round oohing and aahing, I had a good idea!  I have been stumped as to what to give Malcolm for his birthday this year ...... so I told him to pick something, which he was delighted to do.  However, as it isn't his birthday until the 3rd of September, you will have to wait to see what he chose.  However, I can show you a general shot of all the loveliness on offer

 

back at the flat, the poor swans were discombobulated again, as yet another boat came into the dock

 

to finish ...... our lovely neighbour (the shoe shop owner) popped in this afternoon to give me a bunch of sweet peas, which she had just picked from her garden.  I wish we had smell-o-blog, as their scent is lovely.  I put them in my favourite little vase, which I bought when we were living in Indonesia, so it is about seventeen years old

The rest of the weekend

When we went for our walk on Saturday afternoon, we saw lots of fruit in the hedgerows

raspberries

 

brambles

 

rosehips

 

at first we thought this was a small apple

 

but after Malcolm cut it in half and we saw the single stone, I realised that it was a greengage

 

on our walk on the beach, we encountered dead crabs in three sizes

small

 

medium

 

large

 

this seagull was keeping an eye on what was going on on the beach

 

and of course we have to have a photo of the lighthouse

 

there were lots of boats about

 

as we walked back to the flat, the pilot boat came out of the dock at a great rate of knots

 

looking round, we saw this large ship heading in

 

by the time we got to the flat, the ship was passing the lighthouse

 

and was soon heading for the dock

 

we held our breath as it came through the opening

 

but the pilot looked quite relaxed

 

the poor swans didn't know where to go, to avoid the ship and the pilot boat, swimming back and forward, and in and out of the dock

 

 

after our walk, we were in need of sustenance ....... these are bought scones, but they were very good, and the blackcurrant jelly was delicious

 

I missed seeing the spectacular full moon on Friday, but it still looked good on Saturday.  The first two photos are from earlier in the evening, then the last one is from bedtime

 

oh dear, today's heading is "the rest of the weekend", but that is only Saturday, so you will have to come back tomorrow to find out what we did on Sunday!!  Here is a sneak peek

 

hooray, an email arrived about a minute ago from Catherine, translating the cartoon (thank you Catherine!)

why did you say "muuuu" like that just now?

 

I was trying out my new language

Running late ......

........ after a very busy day, so I'll just give you a taste of the weekend, and tell you the rest tomorrow!  We went out for a walk on Saturday afternoon, along what had been a single track railway line

 

we paused on top of this viaduct .....

 

...... to admire the views

 

after taking lots of photos, we continued our walk, and popped in to have a look round this new shop.  It has some fabulous shabby chic furniture that Malcolm wouldn't let me buy (because we have nowhere to put it!!) and some interesting beach-themed bits and bobs

 

just along from the shop is this wonderful old building, ripe for redevelopment ....... but Malcolm wouldn't let me buy it either!

 

we then went for a walk on the beach ....... the tide was much higher than on our last walk, and the groynes were in the water

 

tomorrow, I'll share the rest of the photos from our walk on the beach, and an exciting event in the dock, and then what we did yesterday!!  But to finish ....... do any of you speak Gaelic!  This cartoon was in the paper at the weekend, and as it features sheepies, I would love to know what it says!!

 

 

 

Leaves on the lawn

It may be the last day of July, and therefore still summer, but the silver birch tree in the front garden obviously thinks it is autumn, and had started shedding its leaves!

 

we recently received a letter from our electricity supplier, telling us that we would have no power today between 9.00am and 4.30pm.  On Monday I received a phone call from a very earnest young man at the power company, checking that we had received the letter, and giving me lots of advice about switching off/unplugging things ..... I bit my tongue and didn't tell him, that considering how often our power has been off recently, I am well aware of what to do!  Anyway, we showered early and generally made sure we had done anything that required power before 9am.  Now, we have a slight problem when the power is off ....... we can't flush the toilet, as our little sewage plant goes off, so thought we might as well head go out.   Malcolm headed off to Galashiels, and I headed off to the garden centre in Kelso.  Armed with a pot of tea and a pot of extra hot water, I sat and read my book.  On the way in I had spotted a display of beautiful orchards, which were on special offer, so one of them had to come home with me

then I went to Julian's fruit and veg shop, which is attached to the garden centre.  As I was being served by a delightful young man, my phone rang.  Seeing that it was the power company, I apologised and said I needed to answer.  Well ....... the young man on the other end announced that the planned power cut hadn't gone ahead, in a manner that suggested I should be pleased to hear that.  In a rather cross tone of voice I suggested that he might have let me know at 9am, not at 11.30.  Why, he said ...... because then I wouldn't have left home at 9am I replied.   While the conversation continued, the delightful young man put my purchases in my shopping bag, and even put my change into my purse and zipped it shut, then gave me a cheery wave goodbye!  I didn't bother taking photos of the veggies (a bit boring) - asparagus, mushrooms and a bag of mixed peppers.  But look at these beautiful cherries ........

 

....... and on the left flat peaches, and on the right flat nectarines

 

and of course we have the Friday cake.  There were only a few of us there this afternoon, so we had a rather large piece each of the delicious Danish apple cake

 

over the weekend, we will pop in to see the exhibition that we helped set up on Monday, and we might even have a walk on the beach!  I hope that you have a good weekend, love Anne

A revamped project

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been asked to provide a project for the members of Abbey Quilters to do at our first meeting of the new session , on the second Tuesday of September.  I had decided to do something based on my thistle stitchery pattern, but hadn't really developed the idea.  Then, yesterday, I had a lightbulb moment, and decided to design a sewing kit.  So I removed the borders I had previously added to the stitchery I had worked.  From left to right, the thistles are stitched with running stitch, back stitch and stem stitch

 

I cut a piece of felt the same size as the stitchery, and another piece that was half the height (the black area in the top left corner is a shadow ....... the sun managed to come out just as I took the photo!)

 

I marked and stitched two lines to make pockets

 

I then decided to sub-divide the pockets, to give nine small pockets into which I could put lots of sewing bits and bobs

 

once the extra lines had been stitched, I cut a piece of fusible web and bonded the felt to the stitchery - but I forgot to take a photo of that stage!  The last stage was to add binding

 

so here is the finished sewing kit, filled with my bits and bobs

 

the first side folded over

 

and then the second

 

to finish - there was a slight hiatus on Sunday when I went to work on my next stitchery.  I discovered that I had only prepped the first sixteen, so I had to sit and baste the next sixteen to the wadding.  Having forgotten that I hadn't done them, it was funny that this was the next stitchery!!

 

A little bit of bling!

Some weeks ago, I saw a little feature on a beautiful ring in a magazine.  I tore it out, eventually got round to looking at the website and even printed out the guide to ring sizes.  Then I forgot about it until last week, when I got myself organised, measured one of my rings on the guide, and ordered the ring.  On opening the envelope yesterday, I found this delightful tiny drawer

 

which pulled open to reveal this little thing of great beauty

 

a moonstone, a pearl, a peridot and a ruby, set in silver ....... I am so in love with my new ring!  If you too would like one, then click here.  Not only is the jewellery beautiful, it is very reasonably priced, and the service was excellent (and of course I should say here that no-one is paying me to say this!)

 

we popped over to Pirn House for lunch today.  Over the months we have seen this house on the way being built.  Malcolm was able to stop this morning so that I could take a photo ..... it looks fabulous, and will be stunning when it is finished

 

Malcolm had a very tasty ham and cheese toastie

 

when I look at the menu, all I can see is "French toast, bacon and maple syrup", so that is what I had (yet again!!)

 

on the way home, Malcolm spotted these fat woolly bundles ....... and good soul that he is, he turned and went back so that I could jump out to take photos.  I think these Jacob's sheep are in dire need of shearing!!

 

I was busy sewing this afternoon, but I'll tell you about that tomorrow.  On my way back across the garden at the end of the afternoon, I stopped to take some photos.  These clematis flowers have survived the heavy rain showers of the last few days

 

we have lots of teeny tiny olives

 

and some teeny tiny grapes

 

the poppies may have finished flowering, but the seedheads still add interest to the border

 

to finish - the bees were so busy buzzing round the lamb's ears, that this was the closest that I got to a photo of one!!

Sweet treats

On Saturday, I got out my tried and trusted preserves book.  I bought it some years ago in a charity shop, but it actually dates back to the 70s

 

then I got out my snazzy new scales (the old ones are now over in the flat) to weigh the blackcurrants

 

I gave them a good rinse

 

and stripped them from the stalks

 

I added some water, and left them to simmer for about 45 minutes

 

while they were simmering, I weighed the gooseberries (I just wanted to show off the snazzy scales again!)

 

after washing them, I simmered them with a little water, then pressed them through a sieve

 

there then followed an awful lot of stirring ...... and stirring ...... and even more stirring

 

but it was worth to produce all these jars of delicious loveliness

 

by the time the curd was made, the blackcurrants were ready to go into the jelly bag to drip through

 

on Sunday morning, I transferred the juice to a jug and left it in the fridge while we went over to Berwick, then this afternoon I put it in a large pyrex bowl with some jam sugar and zapped it until it reached setting point.  It produced two jars of luscious jelly

 

although I think the set may be just a little bit on the firm side ........

 

while I was busy in the kitchen on Saturday, Malcolm was cutting to size the two tops that I bought for the chest of drawers and the right hand unit

 

I bought these four box shelves some time ago in a charity shop, but hadn't yet used them.  I was pleased to find that my cork board (made by Malcolm) fitted exactly in between them

 

we found these white box shelves half-price lasst week, and I already had the long shelf, so it was a low-budget job to give me display space for my tins

 

and there was room beside the tv for my old Singer sewing machine 

 

to finish ...... the gooseberry curd is a little bit runny, but it was delicious for pudding on Sunday, with meringue and a little taste of leftover strawberry and champagne cream!!

A veritable pot pourri of a weekend

I was very busy in the kitchen at home on Saturday, and then equally busy in the studio, but I will tell you about that tomorrow.  Instead, I will start with what we have been doing in Berwick, both yesterday and today.  When we arrived yesterday, we went out for a walk round the town

old chimneys

 

who needs a cliff when you can use chimneys!

 

a different view of the lighthouse

 

a pigeon on the old walls

 

more old walls

 

did the English defenders fire on the pesky Scots invaders from here?

 

windpower

 

horsepower!

 

looking down the High Street ...... then looking up at the buildings

 

 

 

the window of the new dental practice

 

of course after all that walking we needed sustenance

a tasty cheese scone

 

and a delicious toasted teacake 

 

and back at the flat, the swans were waiting in the dock for us

 

this morning, we were helping to set up this exhibition

 

I have two pieces in it - my "Sunset Over the Bay" wallhanging, and a little canvas with a driftwood and seaglass boat (which you can just see perched on the radiator on the left)

 

Malcolm was helping with things involving large ladders

 

while I was assigned this wall to pin up some schoolchildren's work

 

after I had pinned up all my pieces

 

I helped Malcolm to hang these paintings of the lighthouse

 

while on the other side of the room, there was some discussion about the positioning of my wallhanging

 

all too soon it was time for us to head off for some lunch, and on the way out I picked up this card, illustrated by local author Cara Lockhart Smith

 

this side shows you where the Watchtower Gallery is (bottom left), should you be able to come to the exhibition

 

while this side shows the wider area

 

we had a rather indulgent lunch.  Malcolm's didn't win any points for presentation, but it was exceedingly tasty ...... homemade corned beef pie, with rather a lot of beans

 

while I had a delicious Coronation chicken panini 

 

we had lunch at Marshall's, and popped into the outlet shop afterwards for a quick look round.  I was very glad that we did, as I got the bargain of the year (if not the decade!!)  A super warm jacket, which will be good for walking on the beach in the winter

 

it has an extra detachable bit inside, which when fastened grips round the hips to stop the wind blowing in

 

I wouldn't have paid the original price, although I may have paid the outlet price ........

 

......... but all I paid was £19!!!