frayed at the edge

Before we see the Happy Mail

we have to pop out into the garden this morning, to admire the clouds

 

with just a faint tinge of pink

 

and a hint of sunshine

 

and now for the Happy Mail.  When we got home last week, there was a parcel for me from one of my lovely long-term readers, Dawn (no blog).  I was delighted to find this owly work bag, which she had sent me for my birthday

 

it is already in use, keeping safe my latest pair of socks for Malcolm

 

next, this beautifully wrapped parcel

 

which contained this gorgeous notebook to add to my collection (perhaps I could use this one to keep track of all my other notebooks?!).  So where did this come from?

 

it is my first purchase from the etsy shop which has just been opened by the delightful Crafty Brownies.  If you haven't already discovered their blog, do head over and have a browse, as they have a variety of super craft tutorials ........ and then visit their lovely new shop which is filled with all sorts of gorgeousness!

 

when I was at the Quilt Show just before we went on holiday, I had intended to by some Christmas themed buttons from the Stitch Witch, to embellish my "Santa Stop Here" wallhanging, but she wasn't there!  So I ordered them online, and they arrived while we were away.  How cute are these little snowmen

 

and the parcels look good under the tree

 

to finish ....... no, these didn't arrive in the post!  I had bought them when I did the food shopping on Monday, and Malcolm assumed that I was going to make some sort of exotic dish with them.  NO!!  They are my seasonal decoration ....... and one day I will get round to making a Hallowe'en quilt with the fabrics I bought a year or two ago!!

 

Harvest moon

On Friday night, we had a good view of the harvest moon.  I used one of the specialist settings on the camera to take this photo, which also shows that there was some activity in the dock

 

then for this one I used the digital zoom, and there is a little bit of camera shake.  Sadly our moon wasn't orange, as it was in some parts of the country

 

the gates at our end of the dock are only open at the weekend, so on Saturday morning, I snuck in to take a photo of the big green machine

 

and the other two big machines and their reflections

 

because of the full moon, the tide was exceptionally low, and we spotted not one ........

 

........ but two chaps out with their metal detectors

 

the low tide revealed the foundations of the old bridge

 

and the new bridge

 

 

 

and there was only a trickle coming through the railway bridge

 

Malcolm walked on and pretended he wasn't with me when I stopped to talk to this pigeon, asking it to turn its head and look at the camera

 

because of the low tide, we were able to walk round the foot of the walls

 

Malcolm obligingly provided the scale

 

this bricked-up doorway also shows the height of this section of the wall

 

most of the foundations are laid vertically

 

but there was one section which was laid horizontally - we couldn't see any reason for the change of direction

 

this enormous metal flap covers a storm drain - I wouldn't want to be walking past if it suddenly opened and let through a flood of water!

 

a quick pause for an arty photo

 

we left the shore and continued our walk along the quay.  This photos shows the difference between low and high water

 

I had to stand on the edge of the quay and lean slightly forward to take this photo ...... scary stuff, as I get the urge to jump when I do that (I believe lots of people feel the same way).  But the boat caught my eye, with evidence of the many colours that it has been painted

 

but at least it is still in use, unlike this one which is slowly rotting away

 

we had a seat on the quay to enjoy the sunshine, and I amused myself by taking lots of photos of the old bridge.  First a general shot

 

looking through one of the arches to the railway bridge

 

then through another arch to part of the new bridge

 

and another part of the new bridge

 

and then through to houses on the far bank

 

this is one of those street signs which makes you think that they must have had a very long meeting to decide what to call the street at the end of the bridge!!

 

if you walk through this entrance, you will find a very small flat which is entirely under the buildings on top of the walls.  It only has windows looking out into the passage, there are no windows looking to the outside, so you would have to have the lights on all the time.  But if you fancy living like that, it is for sale!

 

on our way home yesterday, we popped into the Mill in Jedburgh for a cuppa and a scone ........ and this photo looks just like the one of last week's scone!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a knitting update ........ and some very handsome young men on motorbikes!!

Sewing, knitting ..... and cakes!!

On Tuesday I finished tacking the hexies to the wadding, so that I could then trim the excess wadding off.  I found that it is easier to do it that way, rather than cut out hexies from wadding and try to line them up accurately with the fabric hexies.  On the right are the bigger hexies for the backing

 

I put the first hexie sandwich on my revolving cutting mat, and lined up the ruler for the first cut

 

then I just kept turning the mat to do the next cut

 

by the end of the afternoon, I had made a good start to all the trimming.  The offcuts of wadding can be used to stuff something

 

on Wednesday afternoon I finished the trimming

 

then paired each trimmed sandwich with a backing hexie

 

as you can see, there are twice as many fabric hexies as stitchery ones.  The next stage is to fold and pin the backing hexies in the same way that they are on the stitchery ones, and quilt them

 

having done that, I was sitting looking at the various kits and projects in this storage unit, thinking perhaps I could stitch up a quick one

 

I picked this kit to make a cushion, which I bought in 2000 in Christchurch (that's the one in New Zealand, not the one in England!)

 

I sorted out and labelled the various fabrics (and found there was an extra piece!)

 

the instructions said to put together a strip of tan fabric and a strip of blue fabric and cross cut squares.  Then, the instructions said cut the squares in half on the diagonal, and stitch the diagonal to make squares.  No,no,no!  Those diagonal edges are bias edges, and the first thing they do is stretch!  Before, I would have drawn a diagonal line, then stitched om either side with a ¼" seam, but I recently discovered this ruler.  You line up the centre line on the ruler with the diagonal, the mark the line on either side - it is supposed to be much more accurate

 

but by the time I had marked all the lines, it was dinner time, so you will have to wait until next week to see how the squares turn out

 

we came over to the flat yesterday, and I brought my hexie wallhanging to work on.  The photo doesn't show the true colours, which are much deeper.  I have been working on it on and off for quite a few years.  The original plan was just to stitch all the hexies together on the diagonal, but I got a bit bored, so headed off in the opposite direction, then later on reversed the direction again

 

these are all the hexies that are left, so I shall stick in and get it finished

 

now for the knitting.  I have finished the two snoods.  First the cabled one

 

and second the moss stitch one

 

we had a walk over to town this afternoon, and popped into Miele Patisserie for a cuppa ........

 

......... and cakes.  A lovely sharp tarte au citron

 

and a delicious sweet fruit tart

 

as we strolled on round the town after our cuppa, I had to stop to take a photo of the church spire against the wonderful blue sky

 

and this was the sky over the town at sunset last night

 

we were on the beach yesterday, and I have lots of photos from that, then I have lots more from our walk round the town this afternoon.  I shall have to get them all sorted out for Monday's post!  The forecast for the weekend is sunshine and showers, but hopefully we will get out and about between the showers.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A very busy weekend!

It's all systems go, getting everything ready for this weekend's exhibition, but I took some time off yesterday morning, and we went for a walk along the river in Hawick.  We stopped to read this new sign .......

 

....... but during the winter floods they didn't need a gauge to know how deep the river was - it was halfway up the building!

 

the first stretch of the walk was on a broad swathe of grass

 

there is something appealing about thistles ....... as long as you don't grasp them!

 

the roots of these fallen trees are about eight feet tall

 

Malcolm looking out over at the river at the old cauld, which has fallen further into disrepair

 

the water that is diverted into the side channel runs much faster, and in the past would have operated mill machinery

 

I don't mind crossing bridges like this one ....... sturdy, well-built, and most of all ..... low!

 

this is detritus from the floods, trapped by trees on the river bank

 

if I had been standing in this spot when the river was high enough to leave this tangle of leaves and grass, the water would have been up to my chin!

 

now ducks are getting in on the act, showing me their bottoms!

 

we had noticed this car as we drove along past the rugby club, to park to go on our walk, so we stopped on the way back to take a photo.  Why is there a tyre on top of the car?  We have no idea ........ a drunken prank perhaps?

 

the next stop, of course, was for a cuppa and sconnage.  A tasty fruit scone

 

and a very delicious cheese one

 

we laughed when we saw the inside of the lid of the little jar of jam

 

we arrived just as the morning cuppa crowd was leaving, and before the lunch crowd was in, so I was able to take a photo.  I love all the old chairs painted in different colours and covered with different fabrics

 

back home I got the two tray bakes out of the fridge  that I made on Saturday for the exhibition - the entry fee includes refreshments

 

I cut them up and divided them between two containers for the two days ........ and there are plenty of trimmings left over for us!

 

when Malcolm made dinner last night, he was so pleased with it he asked me to take a photo for the blog!  He always makes delicious gravy, but this one was even tastier, as he added a dollop of Maureen's excellent red currant and port jelly

 

hooray, my new car arrived this morning!  Fortunately the transporter driver was able to turn into one of the neighbour's yard, to unload the new car, and load up the old one

 

and here it is, my lovely car (it's a Ford Ecosport, for those of you interested in such things).  I haven't driven it yet, as I didn't want to drive it to Kelso for Monday sewing - I would rather wait and have time to familiarise myself with the controls before I drive it.  But Malcolm had a little drive in it this afternoon, and he said it is very nice to drive

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing!

On our way back ........

........ to Berwick from North Berwick, we had a small detour to East Linton, to visit Preston Mill and the Phantassie Doocot.   I wonder if you will say the same as us, when you see the mill building?

 

well, did you say - oh, that's like Hagrid's house in the Harry Potter films?!

 

 

I don't think there is a straight wall anywhere

 

and the roof sit at all angles too

 

wheat, barley and oats, which would have been milled in years past

 

oh what a shame, I was denied the chance to go up these treacherous looking stairs!

 

the water wheel still works

 

you can just see the water pouring off the bottom

 

part of the mechanism which controls the flow of water from the mill lade to the wheel

 

inside the mill, there were interesting bits of old machinery

 

looking through to the working bits - I declined to go up the narrow steep stairs to see more of the machinery

 

while I was waiting for Malcolm to come back down, I felt that someone, or something, was watching me!

 

we walked across the river

 

on a nice sturdy bridge

 

to our left, potatoes as far as we could see

 

with poppies growing at the field edge

 

on our right , cauliflowers

 

a squad of pickers following the slow moving tractor

 

there were lots of gooseberries in the hedgerow

 

but we decided not to sit on the bench

 

in case there were some prickly thistles underneath

 

at the top of the field, the Phantassie Doocot (the first link tells you about the Doocot, as well as the mill)

 

I have never seen one this shape

 

with its unusual roof

 

approaching from this side, you wouldn't know what it is

 

we came back to the mill on a different path

 

to views of the mill reflected in the mill pond

 

 

A walk in the woods

Yesterday morning, we headed over to Harestanes, to go for a walk.  We parked beside this lovely old building

 

and for once resisted the lures of the beautifully crafted items in this shop

 

this is the visitor centre and cafe, where we ended our walk

 

we hadn't gone very far into the woods

 

when we saw this section of old tree trunk, with what at first glance looked like some sort of strange fungus on it

 

but it was a vast collection of coins, hammered into the wood ....... I have no idea why!

 

every so often, there would be a shaft of sunlight through the trees

 

I would be reluctant to sit on this bench, as I have watched far too many cheesy horror films, where nasty things creep out of the woods to attack  people!

 

I took this photo of the base of a tree trunk, then realised that you wouldn't appreciate the size of it

 

so took this one, with another bench, to give you the scale

 

Malcolm always pauses to admire the sturdy wooden bridges

 

this one has chicken wire on it, to stop you slipping on it when it is wet

 

even in the depths of the woods there was a flight of steps to be negotiated

 

and just in case we got lost, there was a compass to point the way

 

these plants also make me think of horror films

 

will some nasty tentacles appear and grab me?

 

no - they just produce pretty flowers

 

this weird and wonderful thing is a beech nut

 

the flies were basking in the sunshine

 

as we walked back to the visitor centre, a flash of red caught my eye - a post box!

 

every table in the cafe had a water glass with a few wild flowers and herbs - very pretty

 

we had some excellent sconnage - delicious cheese

 

and an unusual flavour - elderflower

 

I have mentioned in the past that when it comes to choosing a bottle of wine, I tend to go by the label, so I couldn't resist these two bottles when I was shopping this morning

 

you even get a little story about the pig on the back label!

 

but I wouldn't want you to think that my diet consists of scones and wine ....... I do eat some healthy stuff, like these juicy grapes

 

and the best strawberries in the world

 

and watermelon, which I have chopped up ready to eat with breakfast or pudding

 

and this is a selection from the fruit bowl ....... on the back right, an Asian pear, delicious grated into coleslaw.  Beside it, and ordinary pear, for a simple lunch, all you need is a pear, a little bit of cheese, some home made chutney and a hunk of crusty bread.  Front left is one of Malcolm's satsumas - I rarely eat them, and to finish, a flat peach, sweet and juicy

 

back tomorrow with some sewing!

Swans and boats

There are a great many swans about at the moment.  In the dock ..........

 

where there is a lot of weed for them to eat

 

and on our last two visits to the flat, there has been a black swan

 

they aren't native to Britain, so I don't know where this one has come from

 

out in the river, you can just see a line of them at the water's edge

 

and more further down the river

 

and looking the other way, they are right up under the bridges

 

in the dock, there was a shimmering reflection of the pilot boat

 

this boat, which is tied up in the far corner of the dock, is tiny

 

one of the fishing boats, returning from a trip

 

we passed this one yesterday, when we walked along to the beach

 

this little one sits under the dock at the lifeboat station

 

I do like a bit of blue sky behind an old chimney

 

Malcolm spotted this piece of ragged rope caught in a gnarly post

 

every time we go to the beach, I find another interesting piece of groyne for a photo

 

this little lump would look good in the garden, but I suspect it is like an iceberg, with far more below the sand

 

walking back from the beach, we saw yet more swans!

 

various lorries park on the dockside overnight, and last night these two car transporters appeared, laden with brand new Mercedes.  Malcolm reckoned there was £500,000 worth of cars ....... do you think they would have missed just one little one?

 

to finish, two sweet treats.  First, a bowl of delicious Scottish strawberries - possibly the best strawberries in the entire world

 

and second, the delectable Tom Hiddleston.  If you haven't seen him in the Night Manager, you have missed a treat (and I don't mean the scene in which you saw his bare bum) ........ it's an excellent story, and some of it was filmed in Majorca, with stunning scenery

photo by Mona Kuhn for W Magazine

A special day

 Yesterday was Fathers' Day, so of course that meant that Malcolm was well and truly spoiled.  When we were in Dunbar, I found these two quirky notebooks (a boy can never have too many notebooks!).  They have squared paper, so he can draw up tiny plans of his creations.  

 

after breakfast in bed (kippers on toast - delicious) we set off for a day out.  Unfortunately the main road was closed, but we didn't mind the diversion too much when we drove along country roads with lush hedges and verges

 

as soon as you see this photo, you will know where we went ....... Bamburgh for a walk on the beach

 

there were lots of people about, some flying overhead

 

some on horseback

 

some just standing enjoying the view

 

and a great big lolloping dog!

 

there were lots of colourful wild flowers in the dunes

 glorious sands for as far as we could see

 

and lots of blue skies, with just a bit of cloud

 

looking up at the castle from the beach

 

Malcolm spotted this arty shadow shot

 

looking across the cricket ground to the pavilion

 

and walking round to the pavilion, we found the rollers ready to be used on the wicket (it's all to do with what conditions the bowlers want!)

 

but the best view is from the far side of the ground - what a wonderful backdrop to play in front of

 

I treated Malcolm to lunch at the Copper Kettle - it was easier to take a photo of the placemat, than try to take a photo outside without a tourist in it!

 

he had crab sandwiches, with a very posh packet of crisps

 

I had chicken mayo and bacon, also with posh crisps

 

on the way home, we called in here, and I bought some scented candles, which are made in Selkirk by Eternal Flame Candles.  The first three have quite normal scents .........

 

........ and of course when we saw these ones, I had to buy them!

 

we went for a walk on "our" beach this afternoon, treating ourselves to ice creams as a reward for walking for miles!  But do you prefer to lighthouse to the right of the ice cream, or to the left?

 

Viking gold?

We headed to the beach on Thursday, so that Malcolm could play with use the metal detector that Stuart and Alison gave him for his birthday Do you like the cute spade I bought for him to go with it?!)

 

would we find a treasure trove of Viking gold?  Well, there wasn't any hidden under this plant

 

and these bleached tree trunks didn't mark the spot

 

this teeny tiny (dead) crab hadn't swallowed any

 

and this large crab shell was empty

 

Malcolm soldiered on - yes that's him away in the distance

 

finally, some beeps ...... but it was only a rusty old bolt

 

if this slimy green sea monster knew where the treasure was, it wasn't telling us

 

I got a bit fed up and wandered off to investigate these two feathers.  Given their size, I think they must be swan feathers

 

another plant growing in the sand, but still no treasure - not even a bottle top!

 

a quick photo of the lighthouse - you know that there must always be one 

 

we decided to give up and go up to the cafe for a cuppa ....... and just as we stepped on to the ramp up to the promenade ........ beep, beep, beep.  But no matter how carefully we looked through the sand, we couldn't find anything!  In the end we decided that it was the re-bar in the concrete that the detector was picking up.  Never mind, we had fun and will try again another day!

 

no teapot, milk jug or dainty china cup and saucer  ....... but sitting in the sun made up for that

 

a seagull hoping in vain for some food

 

so no treasure, but at least as we walked along the path above the beach, I found an arty photo!

 

yesterday morning, we headed up to Selkirk, to the Waterwheel Cafe

 

it's a while since we indulged in a two-scone lunch!  (that's half each, not two each)

 

the rain had gone off when we came out of the cafe, so we decided to go for a walk along the mill lade, pausing to admire this stunning group of rhododendrons 

 

the path has been upgraded, in conjunction with new flood defences, and Malcolm was very impressed with this wooden construction

 

when the water is low like this, it is hard to imagine that it would come up over the bank - the new wall on the right is to protect the fields from floodwaters

 

although only the tops of the walls are curved, this reminded me of the ruined building with the rounds walls that we saw recently - perhaps it looked something like this?

 

we could here fast-flowing water ahead, but didn't expect quite this much to be flowing into the lade

 

another stretch of the new flood defences - the owners of the row of houses must be delighted to be protected, after the dreadful winter floods

 

 a sturdy new bridge over the lade - again Malcolm had to pause to admire its construction ....... perhaps I should get him a job with a wooden-bridge-building company? 

 

by the time we walked back to the cafe, we reckoned we had covered about two and a half-miles, so we must have burned off some of the sconnage!  To finish, another of my arty photos - a clump of snow-in-summer growing out of a wall

 

back tomorrow with some sewing

A sunny day out

Yesterday, we took a run up the A1 to Dunbar ....... this is a quote from Wikipedia about the town

Due to its geographical location, Dunbar receives less rain and more hours of direct sunshine per year than anywhere else in Scotland (according to the Met Office). The town has begun to be referred to by locals as 'Sunny Dunny', after a local radio host popularised the term.

You can read more about Dunbar  here.  Our first stop was for a cuppa

 

we sat on a raised section at the back, on very comfortable, squashy sofas

 

tea for me, coffee for Malcolm, and we shared a delicious toffee apple crumble pie

 

Malcolm had placed our order at the counter and had chosen the pie - it was only as we were leaving that I saw the Irn Bru tiffin ........ if I had seen it when we went in, I would have to have had a piece!

 

we had a potter round some of the excellent shops.  I can't show yet you what I bought in this one, as it is for Malcolm for Father's Day

 

but I'll show you what I bought here at the end of the post

 

our next stop was at the John Muir Museum  We didn't spend as long here as we might have, as it was full of schoolchildren!

 

if you get the chance to go to the museum, it a fascinating story, the boy from Dunbar  who founded America's National Parks

 

most of the photos are of him as an older man with a bushy beard, but the statue shows him in his prime

 

I have seen a similar tiled doorway in a shop in Selkirk - I will have to look next time I am there to see if it is for the same firm

 

the tiles on the step would make a wonderful quilt!

 

we meandered on down to the harbour

 

this little cannon was on the wall of a house overlooking the harbour - I wonder if I could get one, to repel visitors I don't like the look of

 

those of you who have been reading the blog for a while (thank you!) may remember that Malcolm went on a dry-stone walling course.  He declared this wall to be well built!

 

having carefully studied this warning notice .....

 

we didn't trip over the fishing nets and fall off the quayside

 

we didn't get trapped in a lobster pot

 

or tangled up in this enormous chain

 

and we didn't fall over these two stacks of fish boxes - which have come from far and wide

 

as we walked on round the harbour, Malcolm chose this boat

 

and I chose this little one in the foreground.  The man working at the stern of the other boat is the Harbour Master (according to the back of his shirt).  He was having a good tidy up while the tide was out

 

I guess this is where the expression "keeled over" comes from

 

the same boats seen from the other side

 

I wasn't very happy walking over this bridge (yes, that's the Harbour Master still hard at work), as it looks a bit neglected

 

but on the way back, I was reassured by this car which drove over in front of me

 

a reminder of one of the warnings!

 

by this time it was us who needed to be fed - and if you are at the seaside, you have to eat fish and chips (I am sure there is a law that says you have to!)

 

but we didn't need any persuading to share a wonderful fish supper (no matter what time of day you eat it, it is called a supper)

 

I still have lots more photos, which I will share with you tomorrow, but for now I will finish with what I bought.  Although Malcolm's birthday isn't until September, when he said he liked this clock, I got it for him ....... and I haven't made him wait for it!

 

this is one of a set of two coasters by the same artist

 

and this wonderful wooden hare, made from recycled wood, had to come back to the flat as well, where there was a playmate waiting for it!