frayed at the edge

Love is in the air!

We may have been together for 30 years, but we are still romantic ....... just look at these lovely presents we gave each other for Valentine's Day.   Malcolm gave me

 

and I gave him

 

yesterday it snowed all day, then in the evening it turned to rain, so that when we got up this morning almost all the snow had gone.  As it was also a bit milder, I decided to go out for a short walk at lunchtime.  The sun was shining on the hills

 

there were shadows from the clouds on the fields

 

these herdies were several fields away, so even with the big lens and the digital zoom, this was the best photo that I could get

 

I braved the muddy track again, but there was only one lamb at the top end of the field

 

back home, I spotted these tiny daffodils in the back garden

 

Malcolm was busy painting his log store

 

by the end of the afternoon, he just had the roof left to do

 

and now, a bit later in the week than usual, the sewing update!  At the weekend, I made the two quilt tops with the fabric that I got at Anne's

the first border on

 

the finished top

 

the first border on

 

the finished top

 

progress on Mr Badger

 

looking back through the photos looking for the sewing ones, I realised that I hadn't shown you these super buttons, which Katy got for me

 

I am the star turn at the Abbey Quilters' April meeting, and as I need to give out the requirements list at the March meeting, I thought I should make a start to designing the project and making the samples ...... here is a little sneak peek of what I will be showing you tomorrow!

 

to finish, this is the warning on the back of the magnets that I gave Malcolm ....... would you give them to a small child?

V.I.P.

No, I didn't meet someone famous at the weekend ....... the VIP is for Very Important Post.  Why is today's post important - well you will have to wait until further down the post to find out!!

The weather wasn't great yesterday morning, so when we got to Jedburgh we decided not to go for a walk.  Instead we bought the Sunday papers and headed for a cuppa.  Shock, horror, the scones weren't ready, so we had to make do with a toasted teacake (which was delicious!)

 

so, why is this a special post?  Well ....... recently we haven't been using the back road when we have been heading to Jedburgh or Kelso, partly because there are a lot of potholes, and partly because it is inches deep in mud in places.  But Malcolm decided to go that way yesterday, and when we went past Marian-the-neighbour's field ........ oh joy, oh bliss, the first lambs of the year!  Malcolm was going to stop and reverse to the gate so that I could get some photos, but I had the small lens on the camera, so I told him not to bother, that I would walk up to the field when we got back.  Of course when we got home it was snowing!  I changed into my windproof trousers, my windand waterproof Helly Hansen jacket, put on my warm hat and got my old boots from the garage.  The donkeys weren't out in the field next to us, but these hardy ponies didn't seem bothered by the snow  (the photo looks grainy, but that's the snow in the air)

 

on my way up the hill, I thought I would have a look in the other field where there are Jacob's sheep, to see if there were any lambs, which meant negotiating this muddy track

 

I could see that there were lambs, but they were too far away to take photos.  So I walked on, and found a (very small) gap in the hedge to squeeze through, then stepped over the rusty wire fence

 and crept through the trees, to be rewarded with these exceedingly cute lambs

 

I walked on round to Marian's field, sneaking up to the gate so that I wouldn't frighten the lambs.  They didn't seem at all bothered by the snow

 

you can't really see the snow in the photos of the lambs, but you can see it in this photo of the goose (or is it the gander?) .........

 

...... and the blackbird sitting on the hedge

 

there were lots of snowdrops in the verges

 

as I trudged back down the hill, the snow went off, and the hills appeared

 

this is my favourite view on the way home

 

I won't be here tomorrow - I'll tell you why on Wednesday!

 

!"£$%^&

Please substitute your favourite rude word/swear word/expletive for today's title!  Why?  Because it has been snowing again!!

 

it might look pretty, but it's a pain when the road is like this

 

I am supposed to be going down to see Anne tomorrow, and Lucie is planning to be there too ...... but more snow is forecast, so the visit may be cancelled.

Ah well, on with the sewing update!  Over the weekend, I finished stitching the scrappy strippy blocks together

 

I added a narrow border

 

then a wide border

 

today I added another narrow border, and another wide border ....... by which time it was too big for the design wall!

 

I have also made a start to Lillyanny, tracing the pattern on to bondaweb

 

then arranging the pieces to fuse to the fabric

 

after cutting them out, I arranged them on the background fabric

 

all the pieces fused in place ......

 

....... and the birds added

 

As part of the project to finish things this month, I looked out two small projects ..... one almost finished, and one not yet started.  I'll tell you about them tomorrow!

Hats

Yesterday morning we parked in front of the Mill, planning to go for a walk along the river, before having a cuppa in the Mill's wonderful coffee shop.  But first we walked over the footbridge to check out this amazing new shop

 

the man that Malcolm is chatting to is the builder who converted the milking parlour into my studio.  He was delighted to hear that I use it a lot, and that the log-burning stove has been a great success.  So what does the shop sell?  Hats ..... beautiful, gorgeous, fabulous (expensive) hats

 

this duck had better watch out, or it might lose some of its feathers to decorate a hat!

 

the weather had been better on Saturday, but yesterday there was ice on this puddle ........

 

....... grey sky behind the electrical gubbins

 

.....and later, a dramatic sky

 

the level of the river has gone down, but some of the houses still have their flood defences in place

 

amazingly this little clump of snowdrops has survived - you can see the grass and dried weed stalks on the bank have been flattened by the river, when it came close to flooding

 

by the time we went for our cuppa, we were decidedly windswept, and glad to get warmed up.  As we hadn't had a scone all week (!) we treated ourself to one of our two-scone lunches - a wonderful cheese scone

 

and a very tasty fruit scone

 

I'll be back tonorrow with the sewing update, but to finish, a silly photo.  In the course of our walk, we passed the civic amenity centre (aka the tip).  We were somewhat taken aback to see a horse ..... until we got closer and saw it wasn't a live one!

Almost gone!

We have had some very wet and windy weather, so the snow has almost gone.  There is still some on the higher ground, and pockets lingering in hollows.  When I set out for Kelso on Saturday to go to my workshop, our road was still only passable with care, and the main road was slushy.  However it wasn't that which stopped my getting to Kelso ...... unfortunately there had been a bad accident and the road was closed.  There were ambulances, fire engines and lots of police.  Malcolm had set out some time before me, so I was relieved to see him parked at the side of the road - he thought it was better to wait until I arrived, rather than passing me on his way back to Hawick.  After a quick chat, we decided to head into Hawick and have some breakfast, bbefore going home (ok, I admit it was a second breakfast for me, as I had a small bowl of cereal when I got up!)  Yesterday we went to Melrose for a walk along the river.  We have never seen the river so full, and the noise was quite frightening as the water roared over the rocks

 

these horses (or are they ponies?) looked a bit miserable

 

but this one was more sensible and only had its head poking out of the stable

 

remember the last time we were in Melrose I saw the tractor wine bottle holder?  Well, yesterday in its place in the shop window was this church - I think it would make a quirky wedding ppresent!

 

this tea towel is much too nice to dry the dishes with!

 

Malcolm wouldn't buy this set of musical instruments for me - I wonder why?!

 

Malcolm was very interested in this stretch of dry stone wall, which is being rebuilt.  For Christmas I bought him a gift voucher for a weekend course on dry stone walling, which he is looking forward to

on the drive home I was able to take some photos of the last of the snow (although it's amazing how often the car goes over a bump just as I take the photo, and I get yet another shot of the sky!)

 

a little bit of blue sky!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update, but to finish ....... do you remember the Daleks?  They gave me nightmares when I was little, but the 1965 film which was on tv on Saturday didn't scare me!!

Criticism!!

We had lunch in the studio today ........ and Malcolm said it was looking very untidy, if not downright messy!!  Well, ok, maybe there were one or two things lying about .........

 

what's that you are shouting at your computer?  You agree with Malcolm?  Oh dear, I had better tidy up then

 

Now that it's all neat and tidy again, on with the sewing report!  I have finished not one ......

 

....... not two

 

but all three runners

 

and with the offcuts, I made a cushion cover!

 

and then I stitched together the offcuts of the offcuts ....

 

....... but you will have to wait to see what I did with that last piece!!  I have become addicted to making the scrappy strippy blocks

 

and the crazy scrappy blocks with the offcuts

 

whenever I go out the front door, the birds start chirruping at me, demanding more food.  I don't mind, as long as they then earn their dinner by posing for me!

 

I wonder if the drip above the sparrow landed on its head?

 

the horses in the field across the road scrape the snow away to get to the grass

 

the  scenery does look good with its blanket of snow

 

after sewing yet more strips ...

 

....... I thought I should clean the machine

 

..... and change the needle.  If you look closely at the old needle on the left, you can see how rough the shank is!

 

when we are using the implements of torture in the morning, we have the tv on.  Because the machines are noisy, we have the subtitles on.  Most of the time they are accurate, but sometimes they are hilariously wrong ...... as happened yesterday morning.  The reporter said that "Andy Murray has beaten the Frenchman" ....... but the subtitles said " has bitten the Frenchman" ........ conjuring up a visionn of Andy leaping the net and sinking his teeth into the Frenchman's neck!  Could this be an idea for a film ...."The Vampire Tennis Players Massacre" could be a possible title!!!!!

Next time I meet a shepherd .......

........ I shall ask him if this morning's skies were a warning

 

yesterday I finished piecing the last block of Leanne's House, and brought out the first block from the house, as I had finished the applique and embroidery

 

or rather, I thought that I had finished  - but when I went to take a close-up, I found that I hadn't done the satin stitch on this flower

 

Malcolm has been doing quality control, and has criticised the stitching of this point!!

 

there is a great deal of embroidery to do - this is just a small part of one block  There is even embroidery round the applique hearts

 

I was going to make more scrappy strippy blocks, but decided that I would instead get on with the runners I am making with the wonderful Australian fabric that Lee gave me for my birthday.  Having stitched some of the blocks together, I then prepared another batch of strips

 

today I finished stitching this runner

 

then made this one with crazy blocks from the offcuts

 

and almost finished a third one.  Here they are being tried out in the hall

 

all this talk of using things up reminded me of an email that I was sent years ago.  I liked it so much I printed it out and put it on my notice board (click on it to enlarge it)

that, I hope, will be me!!

Are ewe lost?

When we came home from lunch, there was a herdy ewe on the verge just along from the house.  Of course as soon as Malcolm parked, I jumped out with the camera, to find her posing very prettily for me!

 

I have to admit that today's lunch has added to the week's sconnage total!  We went to Border Meringues in Jedburgh, where we enjoyed the most wonderful cream of cauliflower soup and a fantastic savoury scone

 

the scone was so good, it deserves a photo of its own!

 

and you get a little meringue with your cuppa

 

we haven't had any more snow (although lots of the stuff is forecast for Friday), but everywhere was white with frost.  As we drove home I was busy snapping away, and Malcolm even stopped a couple of times (we were on a quiet road with no other cars in sight) so that I could get good photos, especially where there were bands of fog

 

I got sidetracked on my way out to the studio by the amazing shapes of the frost

this is the top of a garden lamp

 

this looks like a thorny plant, but it is just frost on a clematis

 

no sign of a spider on this frosty web

 

this web might inspire a knitting pattern for a shawl

 

a pretty string of webs on the railings beside the back door

 

after all the chilly photos, something bright and cheery to end with

a jug of sunny daffodils on the kitchen windowsill

I can't think of a title .......

...... for today's post!  I was trying to think of something involving pink skies,or scones,or ....... so let's just get on with the photos!  This may look like a sunset, and it is the portion of the sky where we usually see the sunset, but it is the sunrise reflected on the clouds

 

we went to Selkirk yesterday morning, planning to go for a walk on a path we hadn't walked before, but unfortunately after a few hundred yards the hard surface ended and we were faced with a soggy, muddy grass path.  We abandoned the walk, and headed to the Waterwheel Cafe.  The last time we were there, we were disappointed to find that the owls were no longer there, so I asked the lovely lady who served us what had happened to them.  She said that their owner was no longer able to care for them, so they have been given a new home by a man who specialises in looking after owls and birds of prey, so while we will miss seeing them, we are glad that they are ok.  We had a two-scone lunch - I forgot to take a photo before we cut up and buttered the scones - we shared a cheese one and a cherry one - delicious!

 

on Saturday I stitched the binding on the black and white Linus quilt, then made a start to another Linus quilt, which I also worked on yesterday.  I started by cutting 6" squares from a plain fabric and a patterned fabric

 

having drawn a diagonal line on the plain squares, I stitched a plain and a patterned square together, with a line of stitching on either side of the line

 

having cut them apart and pressed them, I then trimmed them to size

 

I arranged the blocks on the design wall .......

 

...... and then rearranged them

 

which version do you prefer - the one with the patterned centre, or the one with the plain centre.  Leave a comment or email me, and I'll make the version which gets the most votes.  I'll be back tomorrow with a bit of fun to celebrate my 4th blogiversary, but to finish, some more braw laddies ..... Stuart and some of his friends at a rather posh do on Hogmanay.  The chaps in the splendid red jackets are in the TA (the Territorial Army) - the one on the right is engaged to Stuart's stepsister Claire

Happy New Year!

It's traditional in Scotland to be first footed by a tall, dark, handsome man ....... so here, a little bit late, is a first foot for you (he's 6-foot, dark, and as his Mum, of course I think he is handsome!!)

 

so what have I been getting up to during my blogging break?  Well, I turned this .......

 

....... into this

 

when I heated the apricot jam to brush the cake with, before applying the icing, I was left with lots of lovely bits of apricots ....... yum, yum

 

on Boxing Day we went to Melrose for a walk

the Abbey

 

the Youth Hostel

 

it's just as well the shop was shut, or I may have bought this tractor!!

 

oooh - I'm tempted by this fun book!

 

on New Year's Day we went to Jedburgh for a walk.  It's not unusual to see a heron on the river .....

 

...... but it is unusual to see one so high above the water!

 

the rivers have been very full, as we have had so much rain, so we weren't surprised to see this flood gate was shut

 

a large bit of a tree was wedged under the bridge

 

we have had lots of birds in the garden

 

we also had a walk past the donkey sanctuary (I think that was on Sunday!)

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update, including plans to join in with Lucie's using up scraps challenge, and a to-do list like Meredithe.  To finish, some photos taken in the garden this morning

a tiny rose

 

winter jasmine

 

daffodils