frayed at the edge

Gorgeous again!

 Yesterday we headed up to Kelso, as I had my regular appointment with the lovely Melissa, who keeps me looking blonde and gorgeous!  As we were a bit early, we had a walk along the river

 

and past the Abbey (what numptie put a streetlight in front of it, to look out of place in the photo!)

 

Jake the Salon dog just wouldn't pose nicely for a photo - he looks a bit sulky in this one as I disturbed his people watching - he spent the whole afternoon sitting looking out the window at the world going by

 

after my afternoon of being pampered ( I could fall asleep when I get my hair washed!) we came over to the flat.  We got up this morning to a grey day, but as always I had the camera with me when we walked over to town.  The salmon boats are back on the river - hopefully we will see the fishermen sometime soon

 

the river bed has been scoured away round this bridge pier, revealing the original wooden piling

 

this was a very large gull.  I used the digital zoom to take this - I wasn't going anywhere near that wicked beak!

 

as we walked on over the bridge, Malcolm turned back and noticed this reflection shot

 

it was such a grey morning ........

 

...... that this photo of the little wading birds almost looks as if it has been taken in b&w

 

there were some brave people on the beach, watching the waves pounding on the sand

 

the lamp may look dramatic against the grey sky, but I would rather have a blue sky, please!

 

at last, some colour!

 

it's a while since we last walked past the mega money pit, so we were glad to see that work has finally started, and that the building will now be saved from becoming a ruin

 

The Little Vintage shop opened recently, so we popped in for a browse

 

it makes you feel old when vintage shops sell things you grew up with!

 

so what came back to the flat with me, in this super bag?

 

an old thread bobbin, from a mill.  We have plans for a joint project, but you will have to wait to see what we do!

 

it's Friday, so of course that means a scone.  This was a delicious cheese one, still warm from the oven

 

to finish, two bits of nonsense!  I saw this sign in a ladies' loo yesterday, so of course I had to whip out the camera and take a photo (I can truthfully say that I have never flushed a goldfish down the toilet, mine were given proper burials in the garden!)

 

perhaps this reminds me of a certain other Stuart??!!

 

we will be heading home in the morning, and will visit Jennifer at some point over the weekend.  And no doubt I will fit in some sewing!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

This and that!

First, the good news!  Jennifer got home from hospital today, and again thanks you all for your lovely, caring messages.

 

Next, we have Malcolm's latest make.  I really do have to get him better trained, as he didn't take any before photos.  So, he started with a very grubby, tarnished miner's lamp.  Having cleaned the glass and polished the brass, he turned it into a  table lamp

 

which is very smart indeed

 

I tried to take a photo of the plaque on it, but it is so highly polished that it was reflecting its surroundings

 

out in the garden, the olive tree is still wrapped in its protective fleece.  The weather has been so unpredictable, we have been reluctant to unwrap it.  To the left are several new plants waiting to be planted, and on the right, in the little bucket, the narcissi are still flowering, despite having been buried in snow several times

 

in the top corner of the front garden, the new camellia has flowered

 

this photo shows the true colour of the flowers

 

I haven't had as much time as usual in the Attic, but I have made the effort to do the final prep for the Funky Chickens workshop, which I will be teaching soon at the Quilt Shop

 

I recently bought the book on the left, and to practice drawing some of the fmq patterns I bought the notebook on the right (it was in a sale!)

 

it is much prettier than the plain black notebook that I had been using

 

and to finish, something I am so pleased to be able to share with you.  The wonderful Gretel has been a bloggy friend for many years, and those of you who read her blog will know that she has had some terrible times in recent years.  So I was delighted that she is now keeping much better and has produced this fabulous Hatty Hare needle felting kit - so of course I ordered one there and then

 

the kit is beautifully presented

 

with a glossy booklet

 

which shows you in detail how to make Hatty.  Do pop over to Gretel's blog, and check out this very reasonable priced kit -it would make a lovely gift for a crafty friend!  (and you might want one for yourself too!!)

 

there is a little story about this last photo.  On Monday mornings, I usually go up to Alnwick, go for a cuppa in Bailey's coffee shop, then do the weekly food shop.  When I go up to the counter to order, I feast my eyes on all the delicious cakes ....... then order a pot of tea.  But of course I have been out of my routine for the last few weeks, while Jennifer has been in hospital.  So when I went to Alnwick on Monday, I didn't just order a  pot of tea, I also ordered this wonderful chocolate brownie, which caused hilarity amongst the staff who know my usual looking but not buying when it comes to cakes.  The chap who brought my order to my table assured me that it was healthy, as it had two pieces of strawberry on the plate!  Then the owner came over to ask me what I thought of the brownie, as a new lady is baking them for the coffee shop.  I told him it was the perfect brownie, crispy on the top, soft and gooey in the middle ...... oh dear, it is going to be very hard to resist having another one next Monday!!

From shabby to chic!

 When Jennifer was first in hospital, she asked Malcolm if he could pick up three old chairs from her house and take them to the tip - something she had planned to do the day she fell and broke her leg.  He replied that rather than throw them away, he would take them home and chop them up for firewood.  But as soon as I saw the chairs, I said, oh no, don't chop them up, I have a plan!  I bought a small tin of chalk paint, and Malcolm produced a tub of sugar soap wipes and a paint brush from the garage

 

and of course I had to consult my favourite recycling magazine

 

I had to stir the paint well before I used it, and as it was just a little tin, I used a little spoon.  This spoon may have found its way into my pocket when I was on a Singapore Airlines flight (way back in the days when you got metal cutlery!)

 

while I was busy cleaning the chair ready to paint it, Malcolm made me a cup of tea in my favourite sheepie mugs

 

what a difference a coat of paint makes!

 

the first coat on the front ......

 

....... the back ...........

 

....... and the bottom

 

after giving the chair a second coat of paint, the next stage wax to apply wax.  I put on my cute owl apron to protect my clothes from the wax

 

all waxed and buffed up

 

when the sun was shining yesterday, I took the chair out into the garden, and popped one of the cushions that I made recently on it

 

you might think that is the end of the big reveal, but there is one more part of the story to share .......... the chair and the cushions are a "welcome home from hospital" present for Jennifer.  And the good news is that she will be home on Wednesday.

 

(yet another) change of plans!

The plan for yesterday morning was : pop down to Morpeth for some bits of shopping, visit Jennifer, then head up to Berwick.  Unfortunately we got up to discover that the boiler was on the blink, so the plans had to be changed.  But one thing never changes - the camera is always to hand in case a photo opportunity arises.  You may think this is a rather poor blurry shot .......

 

but is was the sun shining through my little stained glass candleholder, casting a coloured shadow on the wall, while we were having our after-breakfast cup of tea

 

Malcolm found a heating engineer to fix the boiler, but he couldn't come  out until this morning, so we headed to Morpeth as planned.  After doing the odds and ends of shopping, we went for a cuppa, and shared a piece of rather tasty lemon and coconut cake

 

who could resist this little sweetie, patiently  waiting for its owner outside M&S?

 

we spent an hour with Jennifer - she is making good progress and hopes to be home by the end of next week.  She thanks you for all your good wishes for her recovery.  Afer lunch, we decided to abandon our chores, and headed to Alnmouth for a walk on the beach.  As you can see, a lot of people had the same idea

 

it was cheering to see so much blue sky, after the recent bad weather

 

you know I always find strange things to take photos of

 

including crab claws

 

and a large lobster claw

 

I had given Malcolm one of my cameras to play with, and he promptly got his revenge for all the times that I shout at him for getting in my photos, shouting at me to get out of his!

 

when we looked at all the photos later, we argued over who had taken which ones, each of us claiming to have taken the best ones.  But I know Malcom took this one of some coils of wire lying on the sand

 

while I took this one of the remains of a lobster pot

 

I also took this one of the waves pounding on to the beach, with Coquet Island in the distance

 

we both took photos of the groynes

 

Malcolm because he likes the weathered wood

 

 

and me because I like the rusty metal

 

away from the beach, there was still plenty to take photos of, the church spire

 

chimneys (and more wonderful blue sky)

 

yet more chimneys

 

but what was this ....... we both thought that it looked like a Minion disguised as a chimney!

 

after all that walking and competitive photography, we were in need of a cuppa and sustenance (yes, I know, cake twice in one day is very naughty!)  This was an unusual cake, which was described on the menu as apple and cinnamon, but it also had oats and chopped nuts in it, and was very delicious!

 

we will be visiting Jennifer tomorrow morning, then in the afternoon I hope to do some sewing.  Then on Sunday, our former next door neighbours (the lovely shoe shop owners) are coming down for a visit.  The forecast is reasonable, so we hope to go out for a bit of sightseeing with them.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne 

A delicious dinner!

It's quite a while since I did a cooking post, so when I was trying out a new recipe yesterday, I thought I would share it with you.  I started with two pieces of turkey breast, because that's what I had in the freezer, but I would probably make it next time with chicken breasts.  Having put the turkey between two pieces of clingfilm .......

 

I beat it with my rolling pin until it was flat and thin.  This was very therapeutic - I just imagined that I was bashing my least favourite politician!

 

ready for the next stage.  Plain flour, an egg and Panko bread crumbs

 

I tipped some flour on to the plate and added some flavoured salt, beat the egg and tipped out the breadcrumbs

 

the first piece of turkey, coated with flour

 

then dipped in the beaten egg

 

both pieces of turkey coated in the breadcrumbs

 

on a less busy day, I would have cooked the rice and made the Katsu curry sauce , but I had been very busy, so it was into the store cupboard for ready made ones

 

while the curry sauce was heating, I put some sunflower oil on the griddle pan

 

then while the turkey was cooking, I popped the rice in the microwave

 

when the turkey was cooked, I sliced it up and piled it on the rice, then topped it with the curry sauce.  It was delicious, and will definitely be added to our dinner menu!

A somewhat miserable weekend!

 The weather has seriously let us down this weekend.  It rained on Friday, it snowed on Saturday, it wasn't too bad yesterday  .......... but it has snowed all day today!  To brighten things up a bit, yesterday I made a spring wreath for the front door

 

I used leftover strips from a couple of jelly rolls, tied round a polystyrene wreath.  A quick and easy project

 

I finished the two cushion covers - but I only had one cushion pad, so you will have to wait to see the other one

 

 

and as usual in this house, there was a little person anxious to be in the photo!

 

if you are wondering why I took the photos from the side ..... I would have had to move the dining table to take them straight on!

 

I spent a while this afternoon working on my woolly blanket - a stash-busting project

 

I had found 10 balls of this Cashsoft Aran, which I bought years ago in a sale.  The pink Aran is left over from another project, and has lost its label.  This is the last ball of blue, so the blanket will soon be finished.  I will miss knitting it - it has been keeping my legs cosy in the evenings!

 

I have also started a pair of socks

 

the Opal yarn is lovely to knit with

 

it was just starting to snow when I took this photo of my new hellebore this morning

 

and it hasn't stopped since!  If you visit me on Instagram (@annedtaydon) you can see a (very) short video of the snow falling!

6 & 6 in 2018 : March report

 "Why" I can hear you cry "are you showing us a photo of snow, when this is your progress report?"  It's because this was the first photo in the file that has some of the photos for my report in it!

 

I assembled everything I need for my new project.  I have been working up to doing this for some time (ok, several years!), and the small piles of woolly bits on the left are just part of the woolly bit stash

 

finally, after much procrastinating, I am starting my Sue Spargo "Flowerbed"

 

the pattern suggests using woolly fabrics for the backgrounds of the squares, but I thought that might make it all a bit heavy, so I found this beautiful linen in my stash (bought for a long-ago project that never got done)

 

I cut the squares using the pinking blade on the rotary cutter, so that they don't fray while I am stitching

 

squares cut, pattern and applique paper ready, and lightpad set up

 

ah - a small problem, there is a pattern on each side of the page, so both show up on the lightpad.  So I photocopied each page, to make it easier to trace the patterns

 

the first pieces traced, roughly cut out and sitting on the fabrics ready for fusing

 

as you need to use a hot iron to fuse the pattern pieces, I covered the woolly fabrics with a scrap piece of white cotton, so that they didn't scorch

 

the first pieces cut out and laid in place.  There are still small circles to be cut, but I think I will use cotton fabric for them

 

everything for the first block safely stowed away in a pocket in my project ring binder  (the last project kept in the binder was my poor attempt at Mrs Billings!)

 

I then cut out the pieces for the other eleven blocks

 

making a start on stitching the first block.  The woolly bits are stitched in place with a simple whip stitch, and will eventually have all sorts of fancy embroidery and embellishment added ( this is going to be a long project!)

 

the first block stitched, except for the circles.  Once they have been added and the embroidery/embellishment done, the block can be trimmed to its final size

 

to see what everyone else has achieved this month, pop over to Meredithe's blog and after reading her report, scroll down to the linky thing.  You can still join in - if you have a blog, write your post, then pop it into the linky thing, or you can put your work on Instagram (#6and6in2018)

 

 

Strippy cushions

 On Wednesday I gave you a sneak peek at this lovely little bundle of batiks, from The Quilt Shop

 

the six fat eighths, pressed ready to cut

 

I cut strips of 4", 3" and 2", then mixed them up

 

and arranged them in two groups on the design wall

 

having stitched them together, I cut about a third off each one and swapped them over

 

the next stage was to layer them up, ready to quilt

 

the first one done, with a loopy flower meander

 

a little detail of the quilting

 

the two cushion fronts, quilted and trimmed

 

I delved into my stashes and found a pretty piece of curtain fabric for the backs, and a remnant of batik for the binding

 

I had hoped to get the first one finished to share with you today, but as I was sewing the binding on ....... disaster, I broke the needle (I was most annoyed, as it was a new needle!).  As I should have already been cooking the dinner, I had to abandon the uncompleted cushion cover.  So you will have to wait a few more days to see the finished cushions

 

it's Friday, so that means sconnage!!  We shared this one on Monday when we were in Morpeth

 

then we shared this one on our way up to Berwick this morning. It has been raining all day, so no walk on the beach.  Fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow!

 

it's the end of the month, so that means I will be back tomorrow with my March report for the 6&6 in 2018 challenge.  I do hope you will pop in to see what I have achieved.  Have a good weekend, love Anne

To return to the story of Sunday ......

........ on the way home, I got Malcolm to drop me off, so that I could take photos of the alpacas

 

but I couldn't get clear photos - I need to go back with my big lens to zoom in through the thick hedge

 

so I set off on the long walk up the hill home

 

pausing to take a photo of a nice bit of higgledy piggledy fence

 

but as I went past a field gate, what were these beauties at the other end of the field

 

two magnificent llamas!

 

who were as curious about me as I was about them

 

this one came right up to the gate

 

and immediately became my new best friend, as it posed prettily for me

 

however, the other one kept its distance, looking somewhat aloof

 

as well as the llamas, there were two little ponies in the field

 

one of which meandered over to the gate

 

one final look at the llamas, before I headed on home

 

to finish, I bought this little bundle of fabrics last week in The Quilt Shop.  Come back on Friday to see what I have been making.

I'm back!

Thank you for your continuing kind thoughts and good wishes for Jennifer.  She is slowly getting better, although she has a long rehab in front of her.  She will be in hospital for some time to come - for the moment she has to have a nurse with her when she gets out of bed, and won't be able to put her weight on to her bad leg for another 6 weeks.

 

I was going to do a catch up of photos from the last week, but we would be here for some time, so here is "what I did yesterday".  The sun was shining in the morning, giving some good shadow shots

 

these are the plants on the kitchen windowsill

 

both these wine glasses have a chip in the rim, so have been demoted to ornaments

 

we went over to Amble for a walk in the sunshine

 

enjoying the blue sky

 

down at the harbour we saw two boats racing

 

and being easily overtaken by this one

 

this is an old lifeboat, which now runs trips to see puffins.  I will have to get some sea-sickness pills so that I can go on a trip!

 

this is the current lifeboat, which came roaring into the harbour

 

but this one with its crew of pigeons was going nowhere

 

the next two photos, of eider ducks .......

 

....... are for my long-time reader, the lovely T-a, who is a great fan of them

 

I walked out alone, along this extension of the pier .......

 

...... so that I could take a photo of the lighthouse through the gate.  When Malcolm joined me, I said wasn't I brave, walking out there on my own, as I really don't like being over water.  He said, why would you worry, it's solid concrete under you

 

oh no it wasn't, as I saw when we walked on!

 

having read the information board

 

of course I then had to take my own photo of the island

 

I have lots more photos to share with you, but I will keep them for Wednesday.  So do come back to see my new best friend - although those of you who have been  following me on Instagram (@annetaydon) have already had a sneak peek!  To finish, a bright clump of daffodils in the verge in front of the house