frayed at the edge

Tiny tags

This morning I popped into The Reiver's Moon Gallery with the cards that I hope are going to sell like hot cakes!  I had spent some time on the packaging and presentation.  I bought the luggage labels on ebay (very cheap!) and trimmed the bottom with fancy scissors.  The hearts were recycled from labels I hade made for something else which hadn't sold.  I put these labels on packs of cards

 

on the back I put a sticker.  The label is stuck on to the paccket with a clear seal, the idea being that you can remove the label and transfer it to the outer wrapping if you are giving them as a present

 

for single cards, I made tiny labels using my Cuttlebug

 

I found this pink and white string in my stash - perfect!

 

one of the orchid cards with its little tags - and the box of the clear seals

 

I have decided that next year is going to be "The Year of Using It Up" ...... and this afternoon I made an early start when I got our my card making supplies, which I haven't used for some time.  First I made these cards using photos which I got ages ago - I had ordered postcards, but when they arrived they were photos (I did get a refund).  I wan't sure if I should use rafia or string, but having asked Malcolm's opinion, I went with the string

 

I then made this batch using a piece of old sheet music that I bought some time ago in an Oxfam shop for 50p!

 

there was an amazing sunset tonight ....

 

but the crows which were massed over the house were slightly scary!

This and that

Yesterday morning saw me heading off down the road to Southdean Village Hall in Chesters, for one of Lindsay's regular Woolgatherings.  I got there a little bit later than intended ...... it was such a beautiful morning I had to stop on the way to take some photos

 

I took along some bits and pieces to get on with ....... hooray, I finally finished the teacosies (although I still have to soak and block them)

 

I made a start to stitching in the many ends on my ripple rug, then I got on with my clamshells

 

I had just placed the first two rows at random, but I thought I should perhaps have a bit of planning, or I would get to the last row and find all the remaining clamshells were the same!  So, this afternoon I laid them all out

 

I clipped the rows together and labelled them

 

on Saturday, I finished the top of the bug quilt, and popped it on the design wall

 

this is my new, improved design wall ........ it was a grand name for a brushed cotton sheet pinned to the wall, but Malcolm used two redundant curtain poles to make a much better version

 

it was frosty again this morning, so I put on my snazzy new boots ...... and what else would you wear with green boots but purple socks.  I love the aready distressed look of the boots, and they are very warm and comfortable.  But I have to say it is difficult to take a photo of your own foot, and every shot made my ankle look fat!

 

you know that I have a strange fetish affection liking for large bits of machinery, so I got quite excited this afternoon when a large lorry appeared outside the studio

 

it was delivering big bags of sand to our new neighbours (the ones who own the shoe shop, not the newest neighbours with the donkeys).  Malcolm was already leaning on the garden gate watching the proceedings when I went out with the camera.  You can see that the arm of the crane had a bit of an argument with the beech tree on the way in

 

it was fascinating watching how the arm was lowered over the bag, gripped it, then lifted it off the lorry and lowered it to the ground

 

ah well, simple things please simple minds!!

A misty morning

Yet again I was to be found on the front doorstep taking photos ...... but not quite so early today.  It was just after eight when I snapped the moon, just as a plane flew past (the tiny mark just below and slightly to the right of the moon!)

 

the mist was lingering, giving a dreamy look  to the Mintos

 

looking across the valley towards the A7, the mist was starting to clear

 

and then looking in the opposite direction to the hills, the sun was shining

 

this afternoon, I made a start to tidying the studio (yet again) using the storage boxes I bought yesterday.  Although they are made of fabric, they have a rigid frame, and as they are rectangular, I was able to sit the second one, turned the other way, on top of the bottom one (I think the other two will be filled with the overflow of magazines from the bookshelves!)

 

I have had some cards made, using some of my photos.  (I got them here).  Some of them are for The Reiver's Moon Gallery, and the rest are for the Southdean Christmas Fair on the 1st of December ..... it would be too grand to say I have a stall, rather, I have a table!  The first ones are orchids, using photos which I took in the Botanic Gardens in Singapore

 

then there is this card with a view you might recognise!

 

this  square card, another local view, is a slight oops ...... I thought I had ordered folded cards like the others, but this is a single card

 

this one is for ........

 

and this last one is just for me to use ....... you might even get one from me if I have something to send you in the post!

 

and to finish ....... another photo of the robin in the bath.  He must be the cleanest bird in the garden!

Day 29 ...... and the new neighbours have finally moved in!

We have been waiting for months for the new neighbours to arrive, and now that they are here ........ they are so handsome, so gorgeous, so cute ........ but don't worry, I'm not lusting after young men again!  We haven't seen the human neighbours yet, but we have seen these lovelies in their field

 

it was only when I looked at the photos on the laptop that I noticed the name on the tiny donkey's coat - perhaps that's what he wants to be when he grows up!

 

after oooohing and aaaahing over the donkeys, we went for a very enjoyable walk - although it was starting to cloud over and threatening to rain.  After doing the little landscape workshop, I thought I would take some photos to perhaps use to make more little wallhangings ....... here are just a few of the stunning views

 

the donkeys weren't the only animals that we encountered.  There were horses .........

 

........ and there were sheep - but not just any sheep, but Shaun the Sheep lookalikes

 

when they saw us looking over the gate, they came running over, obviously hoping that we were going to feed them - you can see the wooden feeding trough in the previous photo

 

even the sheep at the far side of the field made their way over

 

one of my new friends in Melbourne, Helen, has a four-year old granddaughter, Jazi, who adores Shaun the Shheep.  Little Jazi thinks that it is wonderful that her Granny's new Scottish friend has  Shaun sheep in the fields round her home ...... so these two photos are for Jazi (Helen, stop squealing!!)

 

do you think the farmer would mind if I took along some bolt cutters and took the horrible modern chain off this fabulous old gate and gatepost?

 

to finish ...... if you think this is a sunset, think again!  This was the moon disappearing over the horizon at 6.30 this morning.  I just hope that the neighbours didn't see me shivering on the front doorstep in my nightie, taking the photo!  The pink in the sky is the reflection of the sunrise

Day 27 ...... and a tale of two dramas!

Last night I drove over to Eckford, where Sheena Norquay was scheduled to give us a talk, illustrated by a Powerpoint presentation.  As I drove into the village, I noticed that the street lights were off (as we don't have streetlights, I was thinking huh, if we had streetlights, I would never switch them off!)..  I parked and walked over to the hall, wondering why the outside lights weren't on (yes, I was a bit slow on the uptake!) .......  there had been a power cut.  The hall was lit by camping lights and candles

 

so in the absence of her Powerpoint presentation, Sheena gave us an off the cuff chat about her life in sewing, and held up her samples above the camping light for us to drool over.  We had a cuppa (thanks to someone in the village who heated water on their gas cooker for us!) ....... then just as we were thinking about going home - the lights came on!  Sheena prompty fired up her equipment, and gave us her scheduled presentation ....... so we had a rather late night!

 

Then this morning, it was off to the Abbey Row Centre in Kelso for the first day of our 2-day workshop.  As I had my sewing machine and workbag, I thought I would use the lift (which I usually avoid, as I don't like small spaces) and I was joined by two of our older members.  It's actually a bit of an exaggeration to call it a lift - it is really just a platform which goes up inside a metal shaft.  We had only risen a few feet when it ground to a halt (gulp!!).  We pressed the alarm button - it turned out that this then dialled the emergency hotline, where after a rather difficult shouted converation with a young man who couldn't understand us ( and we couldn't understand him) we eventually grasped that it would be about 45 minutes until an engineer arrived.  We could here people both above and below us complaining that they were having to wait so long for the lift to arrive ..... so after some very loud shouting (by me!) they got the  message that we were stuck, and one of them sensibly went off to phone the Fire Brigade.  To cut the long story short ...... we were rescued by these gorgeous hunky men!  (who offered us a fireman's lift - we were tempted!)

 

so, on to the sewing!  Sheena gave us a pattern to use, or we could draw our own - I decided to use her pattern.  Here is the first stage, with the pieces ready to sew

 

stitched and trimmed

 

Sheena mentioned that as yet no-one in a class had split the scene ....... so of course I decided to be teacher's pet and split mine (another Scottish work for you - I was a "sook" ....... as in sucking up!)  Here it is with the outer borders added

 

I was sharing a table with Charlie, who, using the same basic pattern, produced this stunning black and white version

 

of course we didn't work all day without refreshment ...... some of the group members very generously gave up their day to make us cuppas, and to serve lunch which was supplied by a local pub.  The most delicious  lentil soup and a vast platter of assorted sandwiches

 

 

I should have mentioned that there was a minor drama this morning when we woke up to this ...... the first snow of the winter!!

 

and what did the engineer do when he finally turned up? (long after the handsome chaps had rescued us)

Day 24 ...... and it's back to work

It was another grey, dreary morning when we set off for Longframlington this morning, but I still managed to take some photos of the autumn trees

 

 

 

we were a bit worried when we saw this lorry with a snow plough blade on the front - has the driver had access to a weather forecast we don't know about?

 

arriving at Anne's shop, I recognised one or two of the quilts on the walls!

 

 

 

feast your eyes on all these lovely fabrics (the colours aren't true for some of them, as the dull day meant the lights were on, which affects the colour)

 

 

 

there was a new stand filled with gorgeous patterns

 

these are just some of Anne's collection of old sewing machines

 

through in the kitchen area is a bookcase full of extra patterns and fabric bundles - I got sidetracked when I was supposed to be making a cuppa!

 

Anne's website isn't fully up and running, but do have a look at it here, to see what goodies she has on offer, or if there is something in the photos that you like, then phone her at the shop (the phone number is on the website - down at the bottom right, click on the contact details)

 

When Malcom came back for me, he had a cuppa (and a piece of hedgehog!) and a blether with Anne, then we set off for home.  The closer to home we got, the better the weather was, until eventually there was blue sky ...... the first we have seen since Sunday!

 

this is the first house on the Scottish side of the border - it looks as if they had just lit the fire

 

we passed a sign at the side of the road saying "hedge cutting in progress " ...... and this is what was round the next bend!

 

and on round the next bend

 

while I was at Anne's, Malcolm went out for lunch with his sister Jennifer.  She gave us a very special birthday present

 

so ....... what work did I came home with?  You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what is in here!!

Day 23 ...... and the fruit in cola!

Some of you wondered in your comments yesterday what kind of fruit was in cola (in the jubblies).  I unearthed the box from the recycle ...... so you can see just what is in the jubblies - and I noticed that that there are even fewer calories than I thought, I had looked at the calories per 100g, not per jubbly!

 

I was interested to see that there is hibiscus in the jubblies, as when we were in Singapore, we popped into Starbucks one day for a delicious iced hibiscus tea.  In the interests of equality, over the holidays we also visited McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and KFC  ...... of course we had the healthy option menu in each establishment!

 

I had to pop into Hawick this morning, and took a rather circuitous route from Sainsbury's carpark to the High Street, crossing the River Teviot by one footbridge, then recrossing by another, in the hope of seeing a heron, but all I saw was a duck!  However I did pause on the second bridge to take these two views of the river

 

 

when I returned to Sainsbury's, I handed in this pile of books.  The shop has come up with a novel way (sorry, bad pun) of raising money for a local charity.  There is a table of books which have been donated, and for 50p, you can borrow a book to read, returning it for someone else to borrow.  The scheme has already raised a lot of money, and as the pile of books was somewhat depleted when I was in yesterday, I thought I would have a look through my bookshelves for books I know I won't read again

 

I have borrowed this one - I really enjoy the Inspector Lynley books, although I haven't watched the tv series, as not just the actor playing Lynley is wrong for the part, but the actress playing Barbara Havers is absolutely nothing like her description in the book

 

this afternoon I was busy in the kitchen, turning these ingredients

 

into "hedgehog", a delicious traybake, using a recipe I got from Meredithe.  The bits on the plate are the raggedy offcuts, the rest is in the two tubs, one of which I will take when I go down to Longframlington tomorrow to see Anne, now that she has recovered from last week's illness, and the other tub is for Friday night (but you'll have to wait to find out about that!)

 

so, would you like to guess what this is?

 

the recipe came from here, as did the bottles.  It is apple, cider and sage sauce, and according to the recipe it should last for two moonths (I think it will be eaten long before that, as it is delicious!).  I also finally made some rosehip syrup, with the rosehips that we picked last week.  Here are all the bottles, waiting for their labels

 

and how was my soup for lunch - delicious, with a spoonful of half-fat creme fraichhe stirred in!

Day 21 ...... and it had been a very busy day!

This morning we went for a walk through the old cemetery in Hawick, as we had noticed when we drove past yesterday that the trees were in their full autumn glory

 

 

The wording has worn off this headstone, but the carving looks as if it has just been done

 

this brother and sister moved away from their roots - the grave contains their parents

 

I rarely take photos of recent graves ...... perhaps if it's the grave of someone who lived to be over a hundred.  But when we saw this one, in the furthest corner of the cemetery, I found it so moving, that I wanted to share it with you (click on the photo to enlarge it). It's the word at the very bottom ....... reunited ..... it is a lovely thought that they are back together! 

 

it is intriguing that she is described as a detective and a poet.  The poppy wreath is from his regiment, the Grenadier Guards.  And we get to see what they were like, in this wonderful photo ..... she is tiny!

 

as we left the cemetery, it seemed fitting, in an Edgar Allan Poe kind of way, that a big black crow was watching us from his perch at the top of the tree

 

we walked along what was the route of the long-since defunct railway (although it might be restored sometime soon).  The trees were showing their glorious autumn colours

 

when we turned off the path, we had to go down some steep steps through a small tunnel

 

it looked quite different looking back from the other end

 

of course a Sunday walk means a cuppa and a scone - well, today we had two scones!  The scones were just out of the oven (we had to wait a few minutes for them) and as always we had half each.  I don't suppose it is healthy to have scones for lunch ........

first course, a cheese scone

 

followed by dessert, a cherry scone!

 

after "lunch", we walked over the footbridge across the River Teviot, pausing to admire the views

 

normally at  this point we would have gone home, but instead we headed to one of the local garden centres, which had a "20% of everything" weekend.  The garden centre is on the bank of the River Teviot, and has a very picturesque riverside walk

something found these mushrooms, growing on a tree stump, very tasty!

 

a glimpse of the river through a willow tree

 

a wonderful red bridge and a metal heron, surrounded by water lilies

 

a stunning acer

 

another view over the river

 

on the way home, I tried to take some photos of the scenery - but cars kept intruding!

 

in the distance, the Waterloo Monument stood out against the blue sky

 

back home, I finally remembered to take a photo of my ripple rug, which I have been diligently adding a few rows to every night

 

then it was into the studio for more sewing.  I had another session of fmq on the baby quilt, which is now more than a third done

 

then I got out these two fabrics, which I bought on Friday at Borderland Fabrics.  As well as making the baby quilt for Amie, I thought I would make a little quilt for the her big brother, Lucas. 

 

the pattern is one that I  ...... well, I was going to say designed, but that's too grand a word for such a simple pattern!  There are three variations - this is the one that uses two half metres of fabric.  From the main fabric, cut eight four and a half inch strips, and from the other fabric cut sixteen two and a half inch strips

 

next, sew a narrow strip to either side of a wide strip

 

from each strip, cut two eight and a hlaf inch squares, and arrange them thus

 

that's as far as I got this afternoon, but of course the next stage is to stitch the blocks together.  The finished quilt is thirty two inches square, but you could make it bigger by adding an outer border.  But that size is just right to put over a child in a car seat or buggy, and backed with fleece makes a lovely "cuddle quilt".

 

I still have lots of photos left from our morning out - here is a random selection

 

 

 

 

Day 18 ....... and (oops) I start another project!

This morning was damp and misty .......

 

..... if you were looking towards Hawick Town Hall, but if you looked in the other direction, the sun was shining!

 

Thursday, of course, means a scone to share in The Pickled Orange.  Today's was cheddar, chives, chilli ..... and something else which we have forgotten.  It was just out of the oven - delicious!

 

when we got home, there was still some mist round the Mintos

 

this was my bargain of the week - 99p for an insulated bag.  I'll use it to take my lunch on Fridays to patch'n'chat

 

so, on to the new project!  This is based on an item in one of the Ricky Timms shows that I watched yesterday.  The design is by two sisters, Barbara and Mary.  Their company is called 4th and 6th Designs ....... because they were the 4th and 6th children in the family!  They didn't fully explain the pattern (obviously they want you to buy the book), so this is my interpretation of it.  I decided to use the lovely Australian fabrics that Lee gave my for my birthday

 

I started by cutting strips in widths from an inch and a quarter to two inches, increasing the width each time by a quarter of an inch

 

I then sewed all the strips together (those of you who don't do patchwork, will be saying the same as patchworkers' husbands everywhere ..... why do you cut the fabric up, then sew it back together!?)

 

the next stage was to take a six and a half inch square ruler, and if you look where I am pointing, put the diagonal line on a seam.  I used my small rotary cutter, to make it easier to cut round the ruler

 

the first square cut

 

four cut, and put on the design wall

 

eight blocks cut, and stitched together

 

so what is it?  Well, when we moved here (six years ago), I put a little ruuner on the wine cupboard in the hall as a "temporary" measure, so this is going to replace it

 

I will add triangles to the ends, to hang down over the sides of the cupboard.  I will also make matching ones for the little chest of drawers and lamp/plant stand, that you saw in the recent post about flowers.  When I cut out the squares, I thought at first that it was a bit of a wasteful method

 

but I realised that a lot of the offcuts can be pieced together and used in another project

 

out in the garden, this rose is still flowering

 

it's a miniature rose - this is my pinkie!

 

three of the clematis are also still flowering, although they are a bit bedraggled

 

to finish ....... I don't mind getting begging letters from charities, but I prefer to choose how much to give.  This latest missive from Oxfam (I already give them money every month) went straight in the recycle bin, as there was no option for an amount that I chose to give.  I didn't entirely grasp the "doubled" bit, it was something about them having money set aside to match the donations to this appeal .....

Day 15 ...... and a disappointment

Yesterday, I thought it was time to finish  a quilt I made some time ago, so I made some binding ......

 

....... for the "row" quilt

 

despite the fact that the quilt has been on the guest bed for months, I hadn't noticed that I had missed these ends!

 

when I started stitching the binding on, the sun was shining, and I was going to take a photo of thhe quilt over the chair on the deck ........ but the time I finished it had turned rather wet

 

so instead I had to take a photo of it in front of the stove.  I still have to stitch the binding by hand on the back, I just pinned a bit in place for the photo, then when I saw it on the laptop, I realised that you can't really see it against the dark backing fabric!

 

then it was on with the baby quilt.  After some stitching, I had three piles of blocks

 

row one on the design wall

 

row two added

 

then three

 

well ........ you get the idea!  Here is the finished top.  The colours aren't true, as I had to have the light on, it had got so dark because of the rain ..... I'll need to take a photo outside

 

then on to today and the disappointment.  We went for a walk after lunch, struggling through nasty bits like this

 

but we didn't mind, as we were going to ........ well, this is where it all went wrong.  Last year the blackthorns lining the path were laden with sloes ....... and this year there were none, not one, not a single sloe!  We were so disappointed, as we were looking forward to making more sloe gin (and Stuart and Alison had already put in an order for another bottle).  However, there was a little bit consolation ....... lots of redcurrants, some elderberries, and some rosehips

 

but who could stay disappointed for long, when you can gaze out over this view on the way home!!