frayed at the edge

Two walks!

Although the weather continues to be cold, it has been dry and reasonably bright, so we not only went for a walk yesterday morning, we also went for one this afternoon.  Yesterday we headed to Harestanes.  We hadn't been there for a walk for some time, as when we had the wet spell of weather we knew that the paths would have been very muddy ...... and the Visitor Centre closes over the winter, so we would have had to go elsewhere for our post-walk cuppa!

very large bits of old trees

 

a new bridge under construction

 

I wonder what this trap is for

 

another new bridge

 

perhaps Malcolm could build a log store for the owner of this magnificent log pile!

 

we had a cuppa and a scone - but it was just a run-of-the-mill scone, not worthy of a photo!  Being retired, Bank Holidays are really just like any other day for us, but we decided to have an afternoon off from our usual Monday routine, and headed into Hawick for a walk in the park

a hint of blue sky!

 

a tree caught on the bridge after the last floods

 

 

the rear end of a tree creeper!

 

the memorial bust of the late, great Bill McLaren

 

crocus

 

primrose

 

I don't know what these are!

 

we popped in to the museum in the park ......

 

........ as there were three new exhibitions that we hadn't yet seen, on old postcards, street photography and 75 years of photos from the Hawick camera club.  I couldn't take photos of the exhibitions, but I was able to take a photo of the old classroom - I sat at desks like these when I was at primary school and my teachers had similar tall desks!

 

we went to the Mill for a cuppa - but as this is one of my Fast Diet days, sadly there was no scone!

 

I'll  be back tomorrow with a sewing update .....  here is another sneak peek of my new project

No snow!

Hooray - it hasn't snowed today, but it has still been very cold.  So when I went out for a quick walk this morning, I had to wrap up well.  The donkeys were sensible and staying in their stable, but the ponies weren't bothered by the cold

 

although it didn't snow today, there is still snow on the Mintos

 

there was a little bit of colour in the big flower pot in front of the church

 

my favourite view on the way home

 

back home, I had a potter round the garden.  The flowering current is flourishing .....

 

...... but the ornamental quince still has tightly furlded buds.  It was in full flower this time last year, when we had unseasonably warm weather, but the consequence of that was that there were no bees or flies about to pollinate the flowers, resulting in very few quince in the autumn

 

this clematis is in a very sheltered spot in the back garden, so is much further on than the other clematis

 

the hellebore has flowered all through the winter!

 

the honeysuckle is also in a sheltered spot

 

now that I only have the last block to finish of the Leanne's House wallhanginng, I thought I would make a start to putting the blocks together  The first stage was to press them well, on the wrong side

 

then I trimmed them

 

the first three blocks stitched together

 

then the next three

 

then the two rows stitched together

 

I also did some work on the mystery project ...... shall I give you a sneak peak?

Sausages!

We had the Irn Bru and chilli sausages for breakfast yesterday

 

we couldn't taste the Irn Bru, but the sausages were delicious

 

we needed a hearty breakfast, as we were going out for a walk.  It was bitterly cold, but we were just glad to get out and stretch our legs and enjoy some fresh air.  We went to Melrose where, as ever, I spotted things that I hadn't noticed before

a commerative plaque on an old building

 

a sign over a shop doorway

 

a snowy hill with tiny trees

 

this is a colour photo, but it looks B&W!

 

of course I can't have a walk in Melrose without taking photos of the Abbey!

 

this little clump of crocus provided a bright spot of colour

 

the latest bottle cover in the deli window was a chef

 

of course after such a cold walk, we had to go for a cuppa!  Instead of a scone, we shared a raspberry muffin

 

Malcolm was concerned when he saw that they were serving a different coffee, but the new brand turned out to be as good as the previous one

 

back home, there was a treat for me on tv while I was sewing ...... Bugsy Malone (yes, I was singing along!)

 

Jodie Foster stood out as a future star - doesn't she look gorgeous!  I'm just looking out the window as I type this ...... the sun has come out, just in time to set!!  I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing, but to finish ...... our once a year treat of Cadbury's Creme Eggs!

A special day!

Yesterday was Mother's Day,and the day got off to a good start when Malcolm brought me my orange juice and tea in bed.  I opened my card from Stuart, with this wonderful message .......

 

....... but of course, as Stuart has my strange weird wonderful sense of humour, that wasn't the whole message!

 

Malcolm took me to Milestone Garden Centre, for what was to be breakfast, but given the portions, turned out to be brunch!

 

and if you think that is a lot, let me lift the top of the roll, to let you see what's inside!

 

we were going to go for a walk after breakfast, but the sun had gone in, it was flighting snow, and the wind was bitterly cold ...... so we did the sensible thing and went home!  However, I did take some scenic photos on the way

 

back home Stuart phoned, and as we chatted, I could tell there was something bothering him.  Everntually he asked if I had checked my emails ......no, I hadn't.  As we spoke, I quickly looked at them, and found that he had sent me an Amazon gift voucher!  I'm not sure if he was worried that it had gone astray, or if I was just being ungrateful and not saying thankyou.  I shall, of course have no difficulty in spending it (thanks again, son!)  Also, as we chatted, it started to snow, and then snowed off and on for the rest of the afternoon, while I was busy in the studio

 

then this morning, we got up to find it had snowed in the night

 

I wonder if my car was warm under the blanket of snow!

South of the border ......

....... but not down Mexico way!  We set off south this morning for Longframlington, to go to Anne's shop.  We had to stop at the border

 

as there was major work on the bridge over the River Tweed

 

I had hoped to take some scenic photos, but it was very misty.  However you can just about see this pocket of snow on the hills through the gloom

 

At the shop, Lucie showed off her Lilly Pilly, which looks fantastic with its colourful leaves

 

Frances was working on an amazing applique seahorse

 

as always the shop was full of delicious fabrics

 

Lucie chose these fabrics for her next project

 

I came home with one of Anne's special carrier bags - I'll show you what's in it tomorrow!

 

to finish - making my tassel for the Lovebirds

everything you need to make the tassel

 

threading the beads

 

winding the thread round the card, with a bead at the bottom of each turn

 

the tassel all wound round the card

 

the top of the tassel tied with heavy gold thread

 

the scary bit - sliding the tassel off the card!

 

binding the top of the tassel, with the ends ready to be cut off

 

the finished Lovebirds

 

well, that was to be the finish, but then I realised that  I hadn't shared these two photos of the children's quilts with you

the girlie quilt

 

the owl quilt (I hadn't quite finished stitching the binding on the left)

 

and finally ...... you still have a chance to win a prize.  Simply tell me what the worst thing is that you have ever eaten.  I will pick the best (or should that be the worst!) answer on Friday.

Shocking!!

I went for a walk at lunchtime, and as I approached the donkey field, this sign caught my eye

 

I don't know if they have installed the fence to keep the donkeys in or the public out, but at least I now know how to say electric fence in several languages!  Just let me know if you get fed up with photos of the oh-so-cute donkeys!

 

and if that's not cute enough ......

 

and if you still need another dose of cuteness ...... these lambs have just been born in the last few days.  They are in the field across the road, so I have been spending too much time looking out the window to see them!

 

as I was walking up the hill, I could hear a tractor working in a field, with a great deal of squeaking machinery

 

I thought someone was waving a tiny white flag, but it was just a little feather caught on a twig

 

a dried weed, with a lovely mossy old wall behind it

 

I wil be back tomorrow with a sewing update, but to end I will tease you with another little bit of Notes of Love

Being polite!

On our way out for lunch today, we passed a young woman on a horse.  She had a hi-viz waistcoat on, with writing on the back.  It said something like "polite request please slow down".  We did slow down (we always do), but unfortunately the woman wasn't polite in return, and didn't even look at us as we drove past, never mind giving us an acknowledgement

 

never mind, the sky was blue and the sun was shining, casting shadows  across the road

 

if we had turned in here, we would have been disappointed, as the coffee shop shuts for the winter!

 

however just a few yards further along the road, we turned into the left, and headed up the rather bumpy lane to the Woodside Garden Centre.  But having parked, we didn't go into the garden centre.  Instead we headed off down the footpath for a walk through the woods

snowdrops

 

wild garlic

 

daffodils

 

an escapee chicken from an adjacent farm

 

when we were walking through the garden centre to the coffee shop, I spotted these colourful crocus .....

 

..... and tiny tulips - although I wouldn't have known they were tulips if it hadn't been for a helpful label

 

we usually have soup for lunch at the Woodside, but cream of spring onion didn't appeal to me, and aas I had carrot and coriander soup yesterday for lunch, I didn't want the carrot and ginger.  There was then slight pause as I decided which of the delicious sandwiches to have.  I finally chose the tuna and sweet chilli relish - very tasty

 

Malcolm too decided on a sandwich, choosing beef and tomato

 

I was going to watch a DVD this afternoon in the studio, but I remembered that we still have a collection of VCDs (video compact discs) which we bought in Indonesia.  This system never reached the UK, but was popular over there.  As well as legitimate discs, pirated films were on open sale in shops.  Some of them were films of films ...... someone sitting in the cinema with a camcorder, so you were liable to get a shot of the back of someone's head as they got up to go to the loo!

 

the films have Indonesian subtitles, and I still recognise some words (but not these ones!)

I was busy in the studio all afternoon, then as I headed back into the house, a passing plane left a perfect contrail in the beautiful blue sky

Goodbye Mr Badger!

On Saturday, we were up bright and early to drive up to Larbert to stay with Stuart and Alison for the weekend.  After a welcome cuppa, we popped round to visit Fraser and Linsey, to deliver Mr Badger.  Fraser was delighted with him, and he was soon settled in on a very large cushion

 

then it was back to Stuart and Alison's to get on with making the Roman blinds.  While I was busy sewing, Malcolm and Stuart screwed battens to the walls above the windows, and cut the battens and the dowels for the blinds.  The sewing didn't take as long as I thought it would, and soon the blinds were ready

 

I was pleased with the way the pattern on the kitchen blind fitted in with the folds

 

I have to admit that I miscalculated guessed wrongly how much cord I needed for the blinds, so the one in the hall is temporarily held up with string!*

 

on our way home yesterday, we popped into the Mayshade garden centre for a cuppa.  We shared a taster plate of cakes, cutting them in half to have a taste of each one...... except for the one with white chocolate, which Malcolm got all to himself, as I really don't like the stuff!

 

the weather on the first part of the journey was awful, with driving wet snow making for poor visibility

 

however, as soon as we reached the Borders, the sky cleared and the sun came out!  The only snow was left over from last week

 

there was more sunshine today, so I went out for a walk after lunch.  The donkeys were as cute as ever

 

the sun was shining on the Mintos

 

this blackbird was enjoying a thorough bath

 

do you remember a few weeks ago I showed you photos of the new hat shop in Hawick?  This article was in The Scotsman on Saturday (click on the photo to enalrge it)

 

there may be peope in Hawick who are willing to pay £600 for a hat ...... but I'm not one of them!!

 

* while I was in the middle of writing this, Stuart phoned.  He bought more cord yesterday, so the hall blind is now finished!

 

New look!

I decided it was time for a change, but being technically challenged, I simply picked another Typepad design.  But I did change the subtitle - I hope you like it!

We went to Jedburgh this morning, and stopped to look at the work going on where an unsafe building is being demolished.  The building had been propped up and boarded up for as long as we have lived here.  There were all sorts of battles waged about preserving/demolishing the building ..... and I think things were further held up because of bats!

 

on the way home, we spotted a bird of prey.  I just managed to snatch this shot before it flew off

 

on our way out along the back road, as we drove down the hill past Marian-the-Jacob-sheep-owner's field, I saw a large machine.  Just as I was wondering what it was doing in the field, we both said "Oh my goodness (or something similar), they have demolished the Wicked Witch's house! This was a funny, tall, skinny house which had lain empty for some time.  It just always made me think that there should be an old crone lurking, ready to pounce on unsuspecting children.   Malcolm stopped on the way back, so that I could take photos

 

we drove past the house a week past on Sunday, so it hasn't taken long to demolish it.  All that remains are these windows!

 

when we were almost home, Malcolm had to stop again, although this time he drove on home and left me to take photos of  ........ donkeys

 

and now, another cute creature ....... Mr Badger is finished!

 

with a lovely textured, silky fabric on the back (one of my 25p curtain samples!)

 

I recently had an exchange of emails with Meredithe about Liberty fabrics.  I confessed to having had some in my stash for quite some time - Malcolm gave it to me for my birthday (that was the year that my presents came from an airport duty free shop, as he was constantly travelling!)  I also confessed to having some beautiful Japanese silk thread, which I bought the first time I went to the Houston Quilt Show (in 2001!)  So perhaps, I suggested to Meredithe, I could combine the two

 

all I have to do is think of a project - any suggestions?

Sunshine!

Hooray, it was a lovely day yesterday, so we decided to head for Selkirk, to go for walk in the grounds of  The Haining.  The sun was shining brightly enough to cast shadows

 

I can never resist an arty photo of a dried plant

 

It's some time since we were last there, so we were surprised to find building work of some sort going on in the old stable block, which had been turned into housing

 

sadly, no work seems to have been done on the main house, which is looking decidedly delapidated

 

Malcolm provided the scale for this huge tree .....

 

...... after having a seat while he waited for me to catch up with him - as usual I was lagging behind taking photos!

 

a few random photos from our walk

 

we spotted this stump of a tree which had just been cut down. It looks as if two smaller trees had somehow been enclosed by a bigger tree

 

on the way back to the car, I spotted this post box.  It is an Edwardian one - Edward VII was Queen Victoria's son, so it is about 100 years old

 

all that walking in the sunshine gave us an appetite, so we headed to The Waterwheel Cafe for some sconnage!   A very tasty cheese scone

 

and a very, very delicious apple and cinammon one

 

I'll be back tomorrow with not only the sewing update, but also with the sewing table update.  To finish - the sun might have been shining yesterday, but not all the mud had dried out!