frayed at the edge

Sandstorm!

While I was busy teaching to ladies how to make textured flowers, Malcolm went off for a spot of sightseeing.  His first stop was here

 

where he encountered these delightful creatures

 

then it was on to Bamburgh, which is dominated by the castle

 

next he braved the windy conditions for a walk on the beach into Seahouses

 

you can see the wind blowing the sand

 

lobster pots on the quayside at Seahouses

 

the Farne Islands on the horizon

 

a last view of the castle before he came to pick me up

 

whle Malcolm was off exploring, my ladies were producing flowers in lots of different colours

 

last night's stitching at Abbey Quilters was much simpler.  Rineke gave us a short talk on sashiko, and had brought along little kits for us to buy, so that we could have a go.  Looking at this photo of my stitching, I can see that I am pulling the thread too tight

 

when I picked Maureen up, I gave her a jar of my bramble and apple jelly, and she gave me a jar of her marrow and date chutney, as well as a bag of wonderful fresh veggies from her garden.  At quilters, I gavve Anne S. a jar of jelly ....... and she gave me two big bags of apples from her garden.  So this afternoon there was some major cooking.  The saucepan on the left contains apple and sultana chutney, and the one on the right has chicken soup.  The two smaller saucepans contain the veggies for tonight's dinner, which Malcolm had prepped - potatoes (for creamy mash) and green beans.  I ended up with six jars of chutney, and five lots of soup ...... we had a small bowl as a starter tonight, there is a portion for me to take for my lunch to patch'n'chat on Friday, and three lots to go in the freezer.

 

now that we are into autumn, porridge is back on the breakfast menu ........ with a generous spoonful of the bramble and apple jelly - delicious!

Foraging

Yesterday we headed to Newtown St Boswells, where we recently discovered a new walk.  This time, instead of parking in the middle of the village, we took the car to the start of the section of the road which is closed to vehicles.  This meant we could walk much further along the road than last time.  It was a glorious morning - it had been decidedly chilly during the night, and the air was crisp and clear

 

as we approached the end of the closed section of road, we found the Rhymer's Stone

 

when we did the walk before, we saw a lot of rosehips, so we went armed with bags to pick some, and we also picked some brambles

 

having worked up an appetite, we headed for the Mainstreet Trading Company.  For a change, we didn't have two scones!  We had a delicious cheese scone ......

 

....... and a piece of the most wonderful moist lemony Tunisian cake

 

refreshed and revived, we headed for the Deli, behind the main building

 

is that a beehive on the left of the photo?  It may look like one, but it is a compost bin.  I suggested to Malcolm that he should make some - this one costs £170 (yes, you read that correctly, one hundred and seventy pounds!).

 

back home, the butterflies were enjoying the sunshine

 

in the kitchen, I washed the roships thoroughly

 

I topped and tailed them, then blitzed them in the processor

 

I had already put the leftover hedgerow apples and the brambles in my big stock pot (note to Santa, I'd love a proper jam pan).  I added the brambles more for their colour than their flavour

 

I added the rosehips and simmered the mixture for a short while.  I let it stand so that the liquid woud be infused with the flavours.  I then put it in to the jelly bag and left it overnight to drip through

 

this morning I measured the liquid, put it back in the stock pot and added the sugar.  It didn't take long to reach setting point, and I put it into jars.  Along with the bramble and apple jelly which I made on Saturday, we have more than enough to put on our porridge all winter!  (if you like my jars with their spotty lids and labels, I bought them here)

 

this afternoon, I packed my two big workshop bags, and folded a small selection of wallhangings ..... but you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out why!

 

to finish - this plump robin was sitting prettily on top of the bird table late this afternoon.  Normally I would have taken a photo with the long lens, but Stuart has borrowed it, so I took this with the full digital zoom on the short lens, so it isn't as sharp as it would have been with the other lens

Oh the pain, oh the agony ......

...... and that was just the nettle sting on my little finger, when I was picking apples yesterday (more of that later).  Then there was exquisite pain this morning at the dentist - no, not the treatment, but paying the bill.  Well, that's the tooth all properly filled, but the dentist still doesn't think it is going to survive much longer (and that will be an even bigger bill).

Never mind, on to happier things!  We had a wonderful meal on Tuesday with Stuart and Alison - if you are on a diet, you might want to quickly scroll past the next few photos!  Alison and I chose the same starter - a potato scone, topped with black pudding, bacon and cheese, with a rich gravy

 

Malcolm had prawns in filo pastry with a sweet chilli dipping sauce

 

Stuart had potato wedges with two dipping sauces

 

then it was on to the main course.  I decided I would go for a lighter main course, as I thought the starter would be quite filling (it was!), so I had chicken with a lemon sauce and rice

 

Alison had steak pie

 

Malcolm had minute steak

 

and Stuart had Cajun chicken with salad, tortilla chips and salsa ...... but the menu didn't mention it came with chips!

 

needless to say, after all that we declined a sweet!  And of course we had a drink to toast the birthday boy!  On Wednesday morning, we headed to Falkirk to have breakfast in Aromas coffee shop, where we used to be a fixture on Saturday mornings ....... we used to go in, say hello to the other regulars, sit at "our" table and start reading the papers.  As if by magic, tea and coffee would appear, followed by what were possibly the best bacon rolls in the world - as we always ordered the same thing, the waitress stopped asking what we wanted, and simply brought it.  When we arrived on Wednesday, we met Lorna, one of my quilting friends from Greenpark Quilters - I was a member of the group twice, before and after living in Indonesia.  I was given blocks made by the members both times that I left - but on the second occasion they said I wouldn't get any if I joined and left a third time!  When we went in, it was as if we had never been away - despite the fact that it is seven years since we moved away!  Jane, the owner, said hello as if we had just been in last week.  Then Joy, another of my quilting friends came in, so I had a blether with her.  So, the big question was - would the bacon rolls still be as good - YES

 

after breakfast, we walked past the house where we lived from 1990 until 1997 (we lived in the downstairs part, upstairs was a separate flat)

 

the house was on the market recently, and we were able to view photos of it online.  Although it had been redecorated, the kitchen was still the one that Malcolm installed, and the bathroom was also the one that we fitted.  And walking past, I could see that the beautiful lace panels that I bought all those years ago were still hanging at the bedroom windows

 

Malcolm made this fence about twenty years ago!  It is in need of a coat of paint, but still looks sound.  He cut the top of every piece himself - he made it in short panels, perhaps making one each weekend

 

so, to return to the nettle sting.  When we were walking over to the restaurant on Tuesday night, we passed several bramble patches, laden with fruit, so on Wednesday morning, we stopped on our way to breakfast to pick some

 

when we got home I decided to go for a walk and pick some hedgerow apples, and that's when the nasty nettle stung my little finger - it throbbed for hours!  Never mind, it was such a lovely afternoon, I had the glorious scenery to take my mind off the pain (ok, I'm a wimp!)

 

I tried to persuade this sheepie to move back a bit into the sun, but it stubbornly stayed in the shade!

 

I'm making bramble and apple jelly - at the moment is is dripping through the jelly bag.  Malcolm made a crumble this afternoon - but as it is a fast day, we can't eat it until tomorrow!  I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update ....... and hopefully some Friday cake!

Fleas!

I promised you a tale of plague ....... and you will probably need a hanky to dry your eyes by the time you have read this account!  The plague came to Eyam in September 1665, carried by fleas on a bolt of cloth brought from London for the local tailor.  Seventy six families were affected, some of them being wiped out.  One woman, Elizabeth Hancock, buried her husband and six children over the space of eight days.  There are signs on a lot of the buildings in the village

 

and there are graves in odd places, as people were encouraged to bury their dead in their gardens to try to contain the plague

 

by the time the plague ended in October 1666, 260 peope had died.  However, there were happier things to see in the village!  I would have put Malcolm in the stocks, but they were padlocked shut!

 

there is a handsome church

 

Malcolm was rather taken with this house

 

then it was on to the main reason for visiting the village - Eyam Hall, an unspoilt example of a gritstone Jacobean manor house

 

the Hall is now run by the National Trust, but unlike other properties, the Hall hasn't been given to the Trust, but leased, so that it remains in the family's possession.  The Trust are delighted with this arrangement, as it gives them the chance to show off a smaller house, compared to the grand mansions they are usually gifted.  The family lived in the house until earlier this year, so there is a mix of rooms presented as they would have been in the past, and with the modern living arrangements

 

 

the stitching on this sampler is exquisite

 

but I don't think I would attempt to embroider a bedspread like this one

 

we enjoyed a stroll round the gardens, admiring the outside of the house

 

the outbuildings in the courtyard have been turned into small craft shops

 

did you notice the little dog snoozing in the box on the right of the last photo?  The village had one more delight to see.  Well dressing seems to be confined to Derbyshire.  A large tray is filled with clay then flower petals are pressed into the clay to make pictures.  There were three for us to admire

 

I won't be here tomorrow, as it is Malcolm's birthday.  We are going up to visit Stuart and Alison, as they both celebrate their birthdays this month (and mine is the 2nd of October), and we are going out for dinner to celebrate.  I'll be back on Wednesday to tell you about my day out on Saturday, but for tonight I'll finish with this strange vehicle which we saw in Eyam

Grand living!

I have so many photos to show you, that I have decided to start with our visit to Chatsworth, as it deserves a post of its own.  When you park the car, get out and look round, you might think that this is the grand entrance to the house (it was so  busy that it was difficult to take photos that didn't have people in them)

 

but this is the entrance to the stables!  However the only horse that you will see now is this one

 

as it was an hour until the house opened, we set off to explore the gardens, and view the outside of the house.  We admired the classical statues

 

but were slightly puzzled by this one ........

 

....... until we read this

 

the west end of the house is magnificent, with gold-painted windows

 

as we walked round to get a better view, we found more people taking photos

 

this is my favourite photo of this side of the house

 

we walked away from the house to admire more of the enormous sculptures

 

the giant shell was a beautiful shiny gold on the inside, and I like this fun photo, where it looks as if you could fit the house in the shell!

 

it's hard to believe that, not only is this giant rockery manmade, but all these giant stones were moved without machinery!

 

at this point we had walked a fair distance, so we stopped for a delicious icecream

 

we were now far enough away from the house to have a proper view of the sheer size of it

 

we spent so long in the gardens, it was now time for lunch.  We shared a "meal deal" - a rather posh sandwich, a piece of lemon drizzle cake (amazingly the only cake we had in all the time we were away!) and a drink

 

I had visited the Ladies before lunch, but had to go back afterwards to take photos of the amazing tiles

 

then it was time to go into the house.  I was surprised, but delighted, to learn that photography was allowed.  When Malcolm looked throught the photos last night, he said that they really didn't do justice to the magnificent rooms, but because of the low levels of light, it was hard to take sharp photos.  This is the entrance hall, and a detail of the ceiling

 

this is an inner courtyard, with more gold paint

 

there was a queue to take photos of this!

 

Malcolm's foot provides the scale for this sculpture

 

just some of the many paintings

 

where else would you have your bath but in the wardrobe?

 

the bed hangings are sumptuous

 

 

 

this violin hanging on a door is a trompe l'oiel (I had several attempts at taking photos, but this is the best I could do, as it was on the far side of the room, and I wasn't able to get any closer)

 

the magnificent dining room.  The table seats twenty

 

a somewhat unusual chandelier!

 

the last room of our tour was the sculpture gallery.  It was hard to take photos that didn't include detailed male appendages!

 

we had to leave through the gift shop - but we managed to escape without buying anything!

 

a random selection of the leftover photos!

 

this must be the best higgledy piggledy fence in the whole world!!

 

there was no patch'n'chat again this week, so no Friday cake!  I will be up at 6am tomorrow, to pick Maureen up at 7am in Jedburgh.  We'll then go to Kelso, to meet up with the rest of Abbey Quilters.  We are going to the Autumn Quilt Show at Harrogate.  It's a long way by bus - I think it's between 3 and 4 hours to get there!  Whether you are staying at home, or are out and about, I hope you have a good weekend.  I'll be back on Monday with the rest of our trip - including tales of the Black Death!  Love, Anne

Back home!

We've only been home about 90 minutes, so just a very quick post tonight.  On our travels, we saw the crooked spire of Chesterfield Parish Church

 

the splendour of Chatsworth

 

and the Jacobean Eyam Hall

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots more photos (we took almost 300!!) and lots of history.  But now we are about to open a bottle of bubbly and celebrate our anniversary!

 

A new walk

I had recently picked up a leaflet showing walks starting from Newton St Boswells, so yesterday we parked in the village centre and set off for a quiet Sunday stroll

 

the scenery as always was stunninng, if a little hazy

 

there were lots of brambles, which was good to see after last year's poor crop

 

this was the first time that I have seen black rosehips

 

this tree was laden with apples, and it was very tempting to pick some as we walked past!

 

a little bit of higggledy piggledy fence

 

and a weathered fence post

 

I think this is an old tree root, set in to the side of a large barn

 

part of the road has been closed to traffic since the by-pass was built, so we were enjoying the peace and quite without any traffic roaring past

 

then ........ first a man went past

 

then two runners

 

then two ladies on horses

 

and a man on a bike

 

and ........ dozens of runners!!  I was puffing a bit walking up the hill, and they all ran up it at speed!

 

at least we knew when they had all passed us

 

this post box ........

 

is from the reign from of Edward VII, so it is over 100 years old

 

we popped in to the garden centre for a cuppa and a scone - but I had left the camera in the car!  Back home, there were still lots of butterflies about

 

and bees

 

but this morning Malcolm discovered some unwanted visitors under the roof, just above the buddleiia - wasps

 

Malcolm phoned the council, and a pest control officer will come out to deal with the nest (and give us a bill for £54!).  But the wasps buzzing about didn't stop me from taking yet more photos of the butterflies

 

I heard a tractor in the field behind the garden, and sprinted up to the gate just in time to see it cutting hay

 

we are going away for a few days, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so I'll be back on Thursday to tell you what we've been doing!

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Contrast

The other evening, the collared doves enjoyed a quite drink from the birdbath ......

 

....... but it's just as well that they weren't there this afternoon, when we had a sudden downpour

 

I'm glad that I didn't get caught in a shower when I was out for my walk yesterday, as there few places to shelter.  I suppose I could have cuddled up with these sheep

 

I coudn't persuade these two to stand closer together!

 

I don't think that I would want to cuddle up to this one

 

I like horses - but only in the distance - they are a bit scary up close!

 

folklore/old wives' tales say that the severity of the winter is in proportion to the amount of hawthorn berries ....... there are very few this year, so hopefully we will have a mild winter

 

I have no idea what these bits of machinery for, but they make a good photo

 

I would love to steal this gate to refurbish it and put it in the garden

 

on my way out to the studi yesterday afternoon, I was distracted by some butterflies on the buddleia buddleiia buddliea butterfly bush

 

while I was taking photos of the butterflies, there was a wonderful buzz from this shrub - you can't see them, but it was covered in bees!

 

I did some more work on my "Welcome" block - I am delighted with it!!

 

I got out some embroidery threads - and found they matched my drawing

 

there was no patch'n'chat today, but I didn't want you to be deprived of the Friday cake, so I looked out Meredithe's recipe

 

it hadn't been in the fridge quite long enough, so it was a bit squidgy ....... but it was delicious!  There is plenty left over, so we will be having some with our afternoon cuppa for a while, as it keeps well in the fridge.  The forecast is mixed for the weekend, so I think I may be doing a lot of sewing, and Malcolm will be watching the cricket.  Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Alas and alack!

Remember I recently showed you a photo, taken from the front doorstep, of the higgledy piggledy fence?  Well, that wonderful old fence is no more, and has been replaced with a straight fence!

 

this is all that remains of the old fence

 

I went for a walk this morning, stopping first to eye up the apples in the neighbours' old orchard

 

but I didn't jump over the wall to pinch some - the wall may only be hip height on the road side, but it is twice that height on the orchard side!

 

I stopped at the church to read the information about the "village idiot"

 

I occasionally mention the joys of having the long lens.  The next two photos show the difference that it makes - the same view, shot from the same place, with first the standard lens which came with the camera, then with the long lens

 

this thistle is waiting for a breeze to waft its seeds away

 

I took lots of photos of seedheads

 

these rosehips, on the shady side of the road, are still green

 

but this one, on the sunny side, is red

 

walking down the hill, you might wonder why there are warning poles in the verge

 

ignore them at your peril - there is a deep ditch to the right of them!

 

there is a much better crop of apples in the hedgerow this year

 

it has been an overcast day, and the photos of the fields have a hazy look

 

I still have lots of photos from my walk, but I'll keep them for tomorrow, as I promised you some sewing.  I am teaching my textured applique workshop next month, so I got out these samples which I made years ago.  They show the difference that fabric choices make, as the leaves and flowers are the same, but the colours suggest the four seasons

 

I thought I ought to tidy them up a bit, so added borders

 

then layered them up and quilted the backgrounds

 

the last stage was to add the binding - much better

 

I also finally put the binding on the wallhanging that I made when I showed the Abbey Quilters the techniques (there is still a little bit of quilting to be finished)

 

when I was at Stitchin' Heaven yesterday, I selected some more thread for Nice People, Nice Things, and wound them on to bobbins this afternoon

 

I don't think I've had a knot in a skein of thread before

 

I mentioned yesterday that a length of fabric had sneaked into my bag.  Fortunately it was from the sale shelves, so wasn't too extravagant a purchase!

We decided to go for a walk round the big park in Hawick yesterday, and as we walked from the carpark to the park I was rewarded for making the effort

 

earlier in the summer, there was only a trickle of water here

 

it is getting cooler in the mornings, and there were signs in the park that autumn is on its way

 

as we have had a reasonable amount of rain recently, everywhere is green and lush

 

this little rabbit was enjoying nibbling on the rich grass

 

Malcolm wanted me to jump in the river to retrieve these fence posts!

 

rusty barbed wire and weathered wood - bliss

 

the last time we visited this part of the park it was a bit neglected, so it was good to see it had been revamped

 

and there was a wonderful suprise in the glasshouse - cockatiels!

 

it started to rain on the way back to the car, so to cheer ourselves up, we went for some serious sconnage

cheese

 

coconut and cherry - unusual, but delicious

 

to finish, something not quite so pretty as the scones!  Maureen has been giving me vegetables from her garden, as shhe has had an excellent crop this summer.  She brought these carrots on Friday especially for Malcolm .........

Reward!

We decided to go for a walk round the big park in Hawick yesterday, and as we walked from the carpark to the park I was rewarded for making the effort

 

earlier in the summer, there was only a trickle of water here

 

it is getting cooler in the mornings, and there were signs in the park that autumn is on its way

 

as we have had a reasonable amount of rain recently, everywhere is green and lush

 

this little rabbit was enjoying nibbling on the rich grass

 

Malcolm wanted me to jump in the river to retrieve these fence posts!

 

rusty barbed wire and weathered wood - bliss

 

the last time we visited this part of the park it was a bit neglected, so it was good to see it had been revamped

 

and there was a wonderful suprise in the glasshouse - cockatiels!

 

it started to rain on the way back to the car, so to cheer ourselves up, we went for some serious sconnage

cheese

 

coconut and cherry - unusual, but delicious

 

to finish, something not quite so pretty as the scones!  Maureen has been giving me vegetables from her garden, as shhe has had an excellent crop this summer.  She brought these carrots on Friday especially for Malcolm .........