frayed at the edge

A good idea?

The latest issue of Homemaker magazine arrived in the post this morning.  As usual it is full of good ideas ........ but I think this suggestion on the cover might make your bed soggy!

 

of course they meant a hot water bottle cover!  I was delighted with this month's free gift - very often these little kits languish in the studio, but I think I will make up this one

 

when we set off for Melrose this morning, there were some flights of snow, but the sun was shining.  

 

sometimes when I take photos from the car, they don't quite turn out as planned ........like these blurred sheepies!

 

we had a very enjoyable lunch.  Malcolm had a cheese and ham toastie

 

and I had cheese savoury sandwiches

 

on the way home, the weather got steadily worse

 

back home, Malcolm was delighted with his bargain of the day ...... a half-price tin of amaretti biscuits (and he can eat them all himself, as I don't like them!)

 

to finish - these Belted Galloway cattle looked decidedly miserable standing in the mud!

I saw a ship .......

......... but I didn't see it come sailing in, as it was already in the dock when we arrived at the flat on Saturday morning

 

this was a BIG ship

 

 

all these little fishing boats could fit on board with room to spare

 

after lunch, we wrapped up warmly and headed for the beach.  This might look like a pile of rubbish

 

but a closer look produced the first piece of driftwood of the day - when I sat it on the sand I couldn't quite decide if it was a bird or a fish!

 

I had a different subject to decide if it shoud be on the right or the left of the photo - the clock tower

 

I like the shapes and colours of the rocks - inspiration, perhaps, for a quilting design?

as the forecast wasn't do good for yesterday, we headed back home in the morning, stopping on the way at The Teviot Smokery for a cuppa and excellent scones

fruit

 

cheese

 

on Saturday morning we had collected this picture from the framers in Berwick.  Malcolm had found the First Day cover, featuring the famous Berwick swans, in a charity shop, and gave it to me for my birthday

 

but we only saw two swans over the weekend, and they vanished behind the ship before I could get a good photo!

 

I popped out to the garage this afternoon to take some photos of the driftwood we have collected recently.  It doesn't show up too well against the grey concrete floor - when the weather is better I'll take some of the bigger pieces out into the garden to get better photos

 

 

to finish, these arrived today for Malcolm.  He is planning to make a bookcase and/or chest of drawers from them

More stripes than a zebra!

As usual on a Thurday morning, we headed into Hawick for a cuppa in the Pickled Orange coffee shop.  Malcolm then headed off home, while I headed for the dreaded dentist.  As I was a bit early. I walked along to the cauld, hoping to see a heron.  No herons, only a few ducks and a couple of seagulls!

 

these stems of dogwood(?) provided a bright splash of colour

 

this beautiful building has been lying empty since we moved here, slowly rotting away

 

then I could put it off no longer and had to head to the torture chamber dentist.It was every bit as bad as I feared it would be - I could feel a tear trickle down my cheek ....... and that was when he was administering the painkilling injection!  After 45 minutes I staggered out of the chair to face further pain, as I paid another instalment of the bill!  However, that is all the prep done for the crown, and I go back in two weeks time to have it fitted

 

back home I headed out to the studio for a relaxing afternoon cutting out the rest of the hexies for the outer border of Mrs Billings.  I cut them out in batches, and filled each little bag with the hexies needed to make a pyramid.  By the end of the afternoon, I had them all organised, ready for the next sewing session

 

to finish ....... we have stripes, lots of stripes!!  Poor Malcolm was made to stand in the garden, draped in the front of the ball end sweater, and an almost finished sleeve.  I love it - I just hope Fraser's Dad does too!!

Snow!

When we got up on Saturday morning, we found that it had snowed during the night, so we were quite happy to head over to Berwick.  After lunch we wrapped up warmly and went for a walk on the beach.  It was so cold that there was frost on the sand and on the detritus washed up by recent storms (more of that later)

 

but it was also very clear, and way in the distance we could see Bamburgh Castle ........

 

........ and Lindisfarne

 

suddenly, the peace and quiet was shattered by a low-flying helicopter

 

which hovered over the lighthouse

 

then hovered even lower over the town

 

so, to return to all the stuff washed up on the beach.  Unfortunately this piece was too big to bring home for the garden

 

but we collected a bagful of excellent pieces of driftwood for Malcolm's trees and sculptures.  The bag was so heavy we had to carry it between us (and a very nice man walking his dog offered to help carry it up the stairs from the beach!).  As we were still some distance from the carpark, Malcolm headed off to fetch the car, while I guarded our treasures

 

while I was waiting, a little fishing boat came chugging into view.  That presented the usual dilemma - as the lighthouse would be in the photo with the boat, should it be on the left .......

 

......... or on the right?!

 

after Malcolm picked me up, we drove back round to the carpark and headed off on to another section of the beach to collect more driftwood (I shall have to take photos when Malcolm sorts it all out in the garage).  My shadow came with me!

 

on Sunday morning I got up and looked out of the window, to find that it had snowed in the night!!  These first photos were taken at just after eight, when I should have been making breakfast!

 

then these were taken about an hour later

 

I was quite excited at the thought of taking lovely snowy photos on the beach - but by the time we were showered and dressed it was raining heavily, and the snow was rapidly disappearing!  So we had to console ourselves with going for a cuppa, and a very delicious cheese and sun dried tomato scone

 

and to finish ........ we would have loved to have brought a wooden sign home from our Australian trip, but of course that wasn't possible, so instead we bought a tea towel, which Malcolm mounted in an Ikea frame.  The place names are a wonderful reminder of some of the places we visited on our trip - including the excellent Yackandandah!

 

 

 

 

Team work

On Friday afternoon at patch'n'chat, Maureen ordered commanded asked me to turn on my Hudl, and head for this website.  Once there, she directed me to patterns which were in the sale.  Having found the patterns, Margaret was then summoned to look at them, as Maureen was certain that she would like them.  It turned out that she already had some of them, but she didn't have this one, and as she doesn't do the internet, I was tasked with ordering the pattern for her.  I ordered it on Friday evening, and it arrived this morning ..... excellent service!

 

I should have been showing you photos of the snow on Saturday afternoon, but I had a slight oops when I was transferring my photos to my laptop this evening, and accidently deleted some of them (I also deleted photos that Malcolm had taken of a rainbow this morning - sorry dear!!).  Because of Saturday's bad weather, we didn't go for a walk yesterday morning, but we did go for a delicious cheese scone at the woolen mill in Jedburgh

 

after all the snow and rain over the weekend, the rivers were very full in Hawick this morning.  The small island where the trees are was completely submerged

 

the water in the Teviot, in the foreground, was flowing so hard that it was holding back the water from the Slitrig, coming in from the top right of the photo

 

the noise as the water crashed into the bridge was amazing - drowning out the traffic

 

although the rivers were running hard, they were nowhere near flooding, much to the relief of the local residents

 

I have been knitting away on the ball end sweater and finished the back last night.  So to finish, here is Malcolm patiently modelling it for me, after I poked and pulled to get it to sit properly

 

Blowing the cobwebs away

I haven't been doing much walking recently, so I decided to head up the road past the church before lunch.  It was rather chilly, with the wind making it feel even colder.  So I wrapped up well and set off.  As soon as I was out on the road, I had to stop to take a photo of some sheepies tucking into hay

 

I had only gone a few yards further when there was another stop to capture the donkey-owning neighbours' snowdrops

 

however I then managed to walk quite a bit further before encountering these sheepies

 

over the years that we have been here, this old tree has lost all but one little branch, but it is still alive

 

I still see a monster when I look at it!

 

of course on the way back home I had to stop again to admire my favourite view

 

I had taken a little bag with me to collect some bits and pieces, and back home I made a little still life on one of Malcolm's many wooden plates/bowls

 

to finish ...... I made a good start to the ball end sweater last night.  The photo doesn't do the colours justice - I could do with wearing my sunglasses while knitting!

Happy New Year!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my break - and not just from blogging.  I have spent very little time online, and have taken very few photos.  So now I am refreshed and revived, and raring to go with another year of blogging.  The weather hasn't been very good, so when we woke up to blue skies on the Sunday after Christmas, we decided to seize the chance to go for a walk.  We parked at the Waterwheel cafe just outside Selkirk, but instead of heading towards the cauld, as we usually do, we went the other way along the millstream.  Since we were last there, the undergrowth has been cleared, and several large trees have been cut down

 

this photo may look upside down ........ but the trees are reflected in the still water

 

although it looks as if it had been snowing, it is actually a heavy frost

 

the bright blue sky provided the perfect backdrop for two "arty" photos ....... first, some electrical gubbins

 

and then a dried seed head

 

these chickens were enjoying the sunshine

 

having enjoyed our walk, we rewarded ourselves with a cuppa and sconnage

delicious cheese

 

and an unusual lemon curd scone

 

I do enjoy a glass (or two!) of wine, but I don't know a great deal about it ........ so if in doubt, I simply choose the bottle with the best label!

 

the weather here was dreadful over New Year - very wet and windy, with some snow flurries.  So with the forecast of better weather in Berwick, we headed over yesterday morning, and enjoyed a good long walk along the beach.  The sun was shining on the lighthouse

 

I think I always take photos of these old wooden posts!

 

I can't decide which of these two feathers stuck in the sand to show you ....... so I guess I'll show you both!

 

it was such a lovely morning we sat outside the cafe on the promenade for a cuppa ....... but no scones as we were heading back to the flat for lunch

 

the sun shone all day, lighting up this small fishing boat in the dock

 

then this morning we were treated to a fabulous sunrise as we ate our breakfast

 

I mentioned at the end of the last post that there might be a prize for the best suggestion for a New Year's resolution ....... I am delighted to announce that the winner is Caroline.  I will see her next week at Abbey Quilters, so will be able to give her the prize then - so you will have to wait to find out what it is.

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing, but to finish, we have a little bit of silliness!  I think SockMonkey has overindulged over the holidays, and probably should not be in charge of JDtractor

 

 

Winter!

It snowed on Sunday night, melted a little bit, then froze again.  I took these photos yesterday morning before it was quite light, and the moon was still out

 

you know that I love to receive squishy envelopes in the post, especially when they contain a surprise! (and isn't it a wonderful seasonal envelope, with snowflakes on it)

 

first, I opened the card .......

 

and then the parcel ........ the ribbon is a clue to what was inside

 

thank you Dawn, for such a gorgeous little owl.  He has joined the parliament of owls, which live in the yucca plants in the back lounge (this was taken with flash, as I forgot to take it earlier, and as it is such a miserable day it got dark before I remembered to take the photo!)

 

I also forgot to incclude this photo in yesterday's post!  This is the fabulous Gallery that is going to sell Malcom's driftwood sculptures

 

after dinner, I will be heading out to pick up Maureen in Jedburgh, then we will go on to Kelso for this month's meeting of Abbey Quilters.  It is our Christmas party, with a show-and-tell, and a silly game which we play every year!

Winter is here!!

We got up this morning to a heavy frost and a frozen birdbath

 

with only this little bluetit braving the cold to have breakfast

 

after our breakfast, having de-iced the car, we set off south

 

passing some very cold sheep

 

although Ruberslaw in the distance was frost-free

 

on through wintry scenery

 

almost at the border .......

 

........ then over it

 

as we came down into the valley, the mist created a spooky landscape

 

then we were free of the mist

 

we were heading to Waitrose (superarket) in Ponteland, as we had gift vouchers to spend.  Having bought lots of tasty food for Christmas (the freezer is now full!)  we headed to the  Blacksmith's Coffee shop in Belsay for lunch

 

Malcolm had poached eggs on a cheese scone, which he declared to be delicious

 

while I had cheese savoury sandwiches, also delicious (I gave the crisps to Malcolm, as they were a bit too crunchy for my post-extraction mouth!)  (I also gave him the cherry tomato, as you know that I don't like tomatoes)

 

we had more clear blue skies on our journey home

 

as well as some strange clouds on the horizon just after we crossed back over the border

 

on the way home we called in at Kirkeharle to do some Christmas shopping.  I have to admit that as well as buying some presents, I accidently bought some things for me!  A card with a wonderful illustration of a hare by Joanne T Kell

 

and two fun pairs of earrings from Spirit of Colour

 

More blue sky!

Yesterday morning, we headed to Melrose, as we had a voucher for free entry to Melrose Abbey.  The skies were blue - perfect for taking photos of this amazing building

 

the traffic cones are there to stop visitors walking on to an area which is being excavated.  They have found the foundations of pillars

 

you know that I don't like heights ........

 

........ but it was worth the fear and anxiety to climb an awful lot of steps up the bell tower to look out over the wonderful views

 

I was hanging on to the rails and the walls, but Malcolm was quite relaxed!

 

(un)fortunately, there was no access to the top of the bell tower

 

the blue sky provided a good background to these photos

 

safely back on the ground, every where I turned there was something to take a photo of ........ big things

 

........ and little things

 

when we have visited the Abbey in the past, we haven't paid attention to the house at the far end of the grounds, but yesterday we discovered that it is called Cloister House, and it is a holiday home.  It was open to the public just for the day, so we were able to have a good look round- and I was allowed to take photos

 

two things to finish - first, we didn't have a scone, we had a raspberry muffin

 

and second - have you ever seen a bagpipe-playing pig !?