frayed at the edge

A short break

Just a quick post, to let you know that I will be taking a short break, as we are busy with hospital visiting and generally helping Jennifer.  She is doing well, and can walk a few steps with the help of a Zimmer.  She is being transferred to a smaller hospital in Morpeth this evening, which will save a lot of travelling to visit her.

So, a photo to show what I was busy with over the weekend ....... a bit of work on the Grandmother's Flower Garden, one cushion cover finished with the other three just needing the binding hand stitched on the back, and a start to a knitted blanket

 

I hope to be back next Monday, but if you miss me ........ I have finally starting posting photos on Instagram.  You can find me @annetaydon

Making waves!

First, an update on Jennifer.  She had tripped and fallen on Wednesday morning, breaking her right leg very badly above her knee.  She had major surgery yesterday to insert a metal plate to repair the break.  But when we visited her this afternoon, she was remarkably upbeat and positive.  She is facing a long recovery, so we are so pleased that we moved here last year, as we can be on hand to help.  She said to thank you for all the lovely comments  you left for her.  Before we went to the hospital, we went to Newbiggin-by-the-sea for some lunch.  The weather was terrible, with huge waves pounding on to the beach

 

and threatening to engulf "The Couple"

 

it was all in stark contrast to our sunny walk on the beach last Friday

 

these rocks are fascinating, where they have been eroded by the elements to show the different layers

 

this hollow is confusing, as it looks as if the water is sitting in one side, but it is a vertical hollow

 

we walked to the end of the beach, then came back up on to the promenade

 

where the sunshine gave us .......

 

........ lots of shadow shots

 

I remembered my own advice to look up - and captured old chimneys and blue sky

 

and a seagull 

 

whoever had walked on the sand before me had somewhat larger feet than me!

 

the crocus were enjoying the sunshine

 

back at the flat and looking out over the dock

 

the water was still - perfect for reflection shots

 

we waked over to town for a bite to eat, and on the way back, stopped on the old bridge to take more reflection shots

 

it was just getting dark so the streetlights were lit on the bridge, so they too were reflected in the river

 

Malcolm requested this shot, with the rowing club  enclosed by the bridge and its reflection

 

then this shot is looking over to the opposite bank

 

it's Friday, so that means a round up of scones and other tasty things!  We shared this scone last Saturday - it has sun-dried tomato, feta cheese and olives in it (I picked the olives out of my share and gave them to Malcolm!)

 

then yesterday when we in Amble, we were somewhat naughty and not only shared a (small) cheese scone

 

but also a toasted teacake (which meant we had a very frugal lunch!)

 

two last photos from our beach walk.  Malcolm picked up a lot of driftwood .......

 

....... and a lot of golf balls - we have no idea where they came from!  

 

the forecast for tomorrow is miserable, so I will be keeping warm and dry in The Attic, and getting on with some sewing.  Then on Sunday we will visit Jennifer again - I'll have to get her some little goodies (today I took her my "emergency" bar of chocolate - I always have a bar of posh chocolate in the cupboard!).  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

A bit of a crisis

Oh dear,  Malcolm's sister Jennifer had a nasty fall today and has broken her leg (and possibly damaged her knee).  She needs surgery, so we are waiting for the phone to ring with an update on what is happening.  So, as you will understand, the last thing on my mind this evening is composing a post.  All being well, I will be back on Friday, and in the meantime I will leave you with this photo from our beach walk, love Anne 

A long walk on the beach

The sun was shining on Friday afternoon, so we decided to go for a walk on the beach.  We wondered how it would look after the "Beast from the East".  The first thing we encountered was this enormous tree root ....... if only we could have brought it home for the garden!  

 

then a few yards on I found two pieces of sea glass

 

I wonder where this ladder came from - it's amazing what you find on the beach after a big storm!

 

I would have shown you the groynes ........ but they were completely covered! This means that over the last few years, the level of the sand at this end of the beach has risen by at least 6 feet.  So instead I'll show you the lighthouse

 

there were dozens of crab shells

 

and quite a few lobsters as well, victims of the Beast

 

this fish looked as if it had escaped from an Alien film - I almost expected Sigourney Weaver to appear 

 

and of course there were tyres! 

 

while Malcolm  picked up driftwood, I picked up rubbish.  It didn't take long to fill two small bags which I had in my backpack - next time I will have to take a proper bin bag with me 

 

I came across this sea urchin shell sitting on a brick

 

so I added a crab, a lobster and a mussel 

 

we left the beach and walked along the promenade.  As I took this shadow shot, I said to Malcolm to wave, and he promptly obliged!

 

further along the promenade, we went back down on to the beach.  This shows how the sand level at this end of the beach has dropped.  The rail was painted last summer, and you can see how high the sand was then, where the bright blue paint ends

 

I thought these newly exposed rocks looked like the skeleton of a dinosaur

 

Malcolm spotted these stones stuck in the layers of rock

 

a cloud of gulls rose in to the air as I walked towards them

 

this is a piece of old bone, with a frond of seaweed on it

 

including my hand in the photo shows how tiny the frond is

 

at first glance I thought this was an exotic plant which had taken root in the pebbles, but it is a piece of rope which has frayed

 

I still have lots of photos, so I'll share them with you on Wednesday.  To end, yesterday was Mothers' Day, so as usual Stuart found a cheeky card to send me (perhaps I should send him my hairdressing bills!!)

 

inside the pretty package was this tin of exceedingly delicious sweets - I am being very generous and sharing them with Malcolm

 

and this weekend was the first anniversary of moving here ........ which of course meant a glass or two of fizz to mark the occasion!

A most enjoyable day!

Yesterday morning, we decided to pop over to Rothbury - after being stuck indoors all last week, we were itching to get out and about.  This is the great pile of snow I was standing in front of on Saturday- as you can see there is still an awful lot of it!

 

although the roads are clear, there is still a great deal of snow on the verges

 

arriving in Rothbury, we parked in the car park down by the river, and walked over the footbridge into town

 

the view up the river from the bridge

 

a little splash of colour against the snow

 

after the snow-filled skies of last week, it was so good to see some blue

 

it's not every day that you see a tractor parked on the main street in town!

 

it will be some time before this pile of snow melts - the truck behind it gives you an idea of the size of it

 

I do like an old, weathered church door

 

another splash of colour

 

on the way back to the car park, we walked over the road bridge

 

snow drops in the snow!

 

of course we went for a cuppa, choosing the Elm Tree Coffee Shop, as they do a "morning special" of a cuppa and a scone for £2.80 ....... a bargain!

 

Malcolm ordered a fruit scone

 

and I ordered a cheese one, but of course we then had half each

 

on the way home, Malcolm kindly pulled off the road so that I could take photos of these magnificent beasts

 

I like the way their horns point in different directions

 

but I was glad that there was a stout hedge between me and those horns!

 

back home, I started prepping the dinner.  I know there are four chops on the plate and there only going to be three of us for dinner, but the chops were packaged in twos in the freezer.  I had found a recipe on the internet which I thought I would try.  I rubbed the chops with olive oil and sprinkled them with a sea salt and herb mix

 

I then put two tablespoons of sugar and four tablespoons of honey in a bowl, zapping them briefly in the microwave and stirring them together

 

after browning the chops, I put them in a foil tray and spread them with half the sugar/honey mix and popped them in the oven for 15 minutes.  This photo shows the chops turned over after that first spell in the oven, with the rest of the sugar/honey mix spread on them, ready to go back in the oven for another 15 minutes

 

I had decided to serve green beans and mashed potato

 

it was an excellent dinner (we may have had a starter and pudding too) and Jennifer went home with a doggy bag with the extra chop

 

to finish, a bit of nonsense!  JDtheTractor and CheekySockMonkey decided to deal with the pile of snow still sitting in front of the house

 

I think they are going to be there a long time (did you spot them at the bottom of the pile?)

 

indoors, the Gnome Sisters declared that they weren't going out to help, preferring to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate

 

while the Gnome Brothers said that hot chocolate was just for girls, and they were going to drink beer - oh no they weren't, the beer was returned to the fridge!!

 

we came up to the flat this morning, and have been for a long walk on the beach this afternoon, so do pop in again on Monday to see the photos!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

Worth getting up for!

After all the recent bad weather, it was a joy this morning to see this wonderful sunrise

 

I should have been making the breakfast, but got a bit sidetracked taking photos

 

do you remember Malcolm re-covering the dining chairs just before Christmas.  At the time, I looked out this beautiful piece of fabric, which I bought when we lived in Indonesia (so I have had it for more than 17 years!), as I thought it would look good as a runner on the dining table

 

having had a hunt through my furnishing fabrics, I found one for the backing, and soon had the two fabrics pinned together

 

I was brave, and used a metallic thread for the quilting

 

a detail of the quilting

 

I made the binding with this African fabric, which I bought in 2001, at the big quilt show in Houston (well...... you have to have fabrics for a while before you can bear to cut them up and use them)

 

getting ready to join the two ends

 

the line on the left is where I cut off the extra fabric

 

the two edges lined up ready to stitch

 

pressing the seam open - as you can see I use steam when I am pressing seams, and the camera lens got a bit steamed up!

 

 

the binding folded in half and pressed, ready to stitch the last few inches in place

 

 

this shows the reason for joining the binding with a diagonal seam - when it is folded in half and stitched in place, the seam is staggered, so that the bulk of the seam isn't all in the same place

 

I have to admit that the runner then sat for some days .......

 

until I made a start to hand stitching the binding on the back, when I was at The Quilt Shop today

 

Malcolm's sister Jennifer is visiting for dinner tomorrow, so once I publish this post, I will have to hit the cookery books for a recipe involving pork chops!

 

A little tutorial

When Rachel mentioned in a recent post about the trials of crocheting straps for a super bag she had made, I said in my comment that perhaps next time she could use an I-cord instead.  Back came a request to explain what an i-cord is!  By chance I had just started a little knitting project which would use i-cords, using this gorgeous Noro yarn, which I found in my stash

 

I cast on 30 stitches, and knitted 30 rows (I was making it up as I went along!!)

 

then I knitted the stitches on to the circular needle, and picked up 30 stitches on each of the other edges

 

after knitting until I was getting near the end of the second ball, I knitted two together across all the stitches, then knitted a few rounds of rib, creating a little bag

 

now for the I-cord.  You need two double-pointed needles.  I cast on 7 stitches

 

I knitted the first row as usual, but instead of turning  to knit the second row, I pushed the stitches back to the end of the needle, and brought the yarn from the left to the start of the row, pulling it as tight as possible

 

here is a close-up!  And that is all you do, just keep pushing the stitches back to the end of the needle and bringing the yarn across from the left

 

after a few rows, you can see that a cord is formed.  You need to pull a bit on the cord to close the slight gap where you have taken the yarn back to the start of each row

 

you can use any yarn to knit I-cord - the thinner one was knitted with some leftover sock wool

 

so here is the bag and two lengths of i-cord for handles

 

but what has happened to the bag?  Well. I washed it and the handles with a load of towels, then put them in the tumble drier, also with the towels, to felt them.  I pinned  one handle on, and popped a large ball of yarn in 

 

then pinned the other handle on.  I will probably attach them with buttons

 

and now a final snow report.  On Saturday morning, we walked up to the main road through the village.  I managed to wrest my Helly Hansen jacket away from Malcolm, having let him wear it when he was out shovelling snow - I have had this jacket for years and years, it maybe only gets worn once or twice each winter.  As you can see, we have had rather a lot of snow

 

with the roads barely passable

 

then yesterday morning a very nice man appeared with a large machine and cleared our road

 

this morning the thaw was well underway and we were able to go out in the car for the first time since last Monday.  So after doing the usual Monday food shop, we went for a cuppa ...... and shared a slice of delicious chocolate cake!

Snowed in!

We got up on Tuesday morning to a world that had turned white

 

with more snow than we have seen for some time,  going out in the car was ruled out

 

after lunch we went out for a walk

 

enjoying the scenery

 

and pausing to take an arty photo ....

 

....... or two

 

we headed down the hill out of the village

 

until we reached our destination.  So what was so special about this stretch of hedge?

 

because on the other side of the hedge there are alpacas!

 

who were watching us watching them

 

on Wednesday morning we got up to a lot more snow

 

 

our next door neighbour had groceries delivered ....... but the van got stuck!  After all efforts to dig the van out had failed, Malcolm applied a bit of sideways thinking to the problem.  This is him, wearing my "foul weather" jacket, heading out with a watering can full of hot water.   He melted an area around the wheels, allowing the driver to get traction to drive off, an hour after he arrived!  You can always rely on an engineer to find a solution to a problem Sorry for the poor photo - I took it from the attic - not only did the window have snow on it, but you might have noticed a bird had splattered it as well!)

 

later in the day, the sky cleared and the moon appeared

 

we had even more snow yesterday morning, so I decided to be brave and go out to take photos, but I don't have long boots.  It's not just engineers who can find solution - I simply wrapped my legs in clingfilm ......

 

...... then wrapped more round the top of my boots

 

it worked - my legs stayed dry as I waded the snow

 

I stuck my yardstick in the deep drift in front of the hedge

 

a mere 18 inches!

 

I won't be sitting here any time soon

 

we brought these birds home from Indonesia - I am sure they wish they were back there in the sun!

 

it may look lovely, but I wish it would go away

 

back indoors, I took a photo of an icicle hanging in front of the lounge window

 

later in the day, it had grown quite a bit

 

then early this morning, it had grown and twisted - it was easily 24 inches long

 

and was sprouting sidekicks

 

it had been shaped by the wind

 

which was strong enough to blow the bird seed out of the ground feeder

 

 

and blow over the heavy wooden plinth the bird bath sits on.  Fortunately the bird bath didn't break

 

we may have been stuck in the house since Tuesday, but don't worry, we didn't have to do without  scones.  Fortunately there were two emergency ones in the freezer ....... I enjoyed a mug of hot chocolate with mine

 

As I write this, I am watching the local news bulletin, with film of the main A1 closed for 30 miles between Alnwick and Berwick.  Hundreds of people were stranded in their cars overnight!  So I think we will be staying home for the weekend!  Whatever your weather, have a good weekend, love Anne

 

6&6 in 2018 : February report

 This month as part of our 6&6 challenge, we have been working on one of our nominated UFOs.  I chose my Grandmother's Flower Garden, which I started way back in the mid-90s.  This is how it looked at the start of the month

 

I pinned some more flowers on the design wall, to give me some encouragement to get on with it!

 

I still have the original white fabric for the "path", the selection of yellow fabrics for the centres of the flowers, and a few more flowers

 

as my scrap basket is overflowing, I have plenty of choice for making more flowers

 

a few more flowers stitched in place

 

yesterday it snowed and snowed, and I spent the day in The Attic.  I got out my two tins 

 

which contain lots of bits for the project - as you can see I have stitched quite a few more flowers

 

when I first started, like most people I used pages from magazines for my papers, drawing round a card template then cutting them out - a long and boring job

 

these days I have a pile of papers, which were free gifts with various magazines, which saves a lot of work!

 

there is always a debate about whether you should leave your papers in until you have completed the project, or take them out as you go.  It was getting difficult to add more flowers because of the papers, so I decided to take them out.  Sewing is going more quickly now

 

it has been snowing again today, so I have been stitching all morning - progress is slow but steady!

 

this is the view out of the window, as seen from where I was sitting sewing!

 

Well, that's my report for this month!  To see what Meredithe and the others have achieved, pop over to Meredithe's blog, and after reading her report (a short one because of family concerns) scroll down and click on the Linky thing.  It's not too late to join in - here is a reminder of how to do it

When linking to your blog for 6and6in2018
:: Please link directly to your post on your 6and6in2018 not to your home page
:: Please link back to Meredithe's post somewhere in your post
:: Visit other linkers to see what they’re going to be working on for 2018
:: The link will be open for a week

 

ps - if you like photos of snow, come back on Friday for lots more (and there may be an alpaca or two)!!

 

Ambling around Amble

 Yesterday morning was just a bit chilly, so we wrapped up warmly (Malcolm even put his woolly hat on!) and headed over to Amble for a potter round the harbour.  Most of the little pods were open .......

 

........ but as we had already had breakfast (kippers on toast) we were able to resist the delicious smells coming from the sausage pod

 

we also resisted the lure of the cheese pod!

 

oh, oh, oh, the temptation to pinch a lobster pot - surely they wouldn't miss one!

 

and a rusty anchor or two would make a talking point in the garden

 

and I'm sure Malcolm could make use of this in his shed

 

there was the usual joke about Malcolm's occasional wish to buy a boat

 

I said that if we found out that we had won the big lottery prize on Friday, perhaps he could have this rusty fishing boat.  We didn't win as much as a penny, so it's back to plan A and the rowing boat!

 

for once I didn't mind this eider duck turning his back on me, as it showed off the flash of green on the back oh his neck

 

while admiring all the handsome male ducks, did you notice the two females - yes, the plain brown ones!

 

while I was sticking the camera through railings to take this photo of the falling down building

 

Malcolm noticed this plaque, which we must have walked past many times

 

we've seen this before on the High Street, pigeons huddled on an old roof.  I assume that there is poor insulation in the old building so the roof is warmer than the surrounding ones

 

I must pay more attention- in all our previous visits I haven't noticed this old mosaic in the doorway of a shop

 

then came  the big decision ....... would we have our cuppa here?

 

or would we have it here (a considerate driver, who had been parked in front of the Tea Rooms, drove off just as I stopped to take the photo!)

 

we decided on the Tea Rooms, as we fancied a toasted teacake

 

and instead of my usual pot of tea, I had a salted caramel hot chocolate - delicious

 

on the way home

 

the trees are still bare

 

but in the garden there are signs of growth.  This is the apple tree

 

one of the conifers in the front garden

 

and the miniature rose on the deck

 

several weeks on, the little narcissi are still flowering outside the kitchen door

 

to finish ...... this is one of those "is it just me" moments.  This plaque is over the door of the Post Office, and obviously covers the word Post.  So, why mount the plaque on the old, carved stone lintel, when it could have been put above it?