frayed at the edge

Nothing but blue skies .......

....... sadly, today the blue skies had vanished again, but yesterday was glorious!  This, of course, meant that I headed out for a walk, armed with the camera.  I didn't have far to go for my first photo - this horse is in the stables across the road from the house

 

 

This photo of a dead tree one one of those happy accidents when it didn't turn out quite how I meant, but it does look quite spooky

 

 

Just in case you think I was exaggerating about the beautiful blue sky, this funny little tree was obviously stretching up to meet it

 

 

This very pregnant ewe was keeping a wary eye on me as I took her photo

 

 

You know I like tumbledown fences, bits of old hedge and moss ....... this photo has all three!!

 

 

You might not think fences are tasty, but a lot of them have chewed bits like this one - don't worry, it's the horses that munch on them, not the farmers!

 

 

Living in the country, you get used to having no pavements and stepping on to the verge when cars go past.  I was very glad that I was on the other side of the road, when this came hurtling round the bend

 

 

Over the weekend, I will be finishing this week's knitting project - the knitting is done, I just need to put it on a cushion.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend, love Anne 

 

 

I could tell a little lie ......

...... and say these snowdrops are ours - but they are in our neighbours' garden!

 

 

This is the sad reality in our back garden - I think this clump of snowdrops is sulking after having had several feet of snow land on it from the roof in December.  Perhaps this little shoot has been sent ahead to see if it's safe to appear now1

 

 

These dwarf narcissi are doing better in the shelter of the ceanothus (although they are a bit muddy after the heavy rain)

 

 

Unfortunately, the poor ceanothus is in a bad way.  A large part of it died last winter, and it looks as if a lot of it is beyond help this year

 

 

After the wind and rain yesterday, today was much brighter, but very cold.  This may look like glass on the road, but it is ice from the puddle on the right

 

 

These horses were quite happy out in the field, as they were wrapped up against the cold - one of them has two rugs on!

 

 

Do you think if I asked Malcolm nicely, he might buy me one of these wonderful machines?  If not, maybe Billy the Farmer (brother to Jim the Farmer who gave me the plums and apples last autumn) would let me have a little go!

 

 

Of course every farmer needs a helper - but I don't think this yappy little dog was contributing much to the working of the farm

 

 

I remembered this morning that I still had to put a bow on Angel's hair, so I got out my little stash of embellishments.  I bought these when I was living in Indonesia, and although I have used a lot of them, I only use them now for special things

 

 

So Angel now has her ribbon, and that is another project on the finished list!

 

Who needs clean clothes ........

........ when there is something much more exciting than the ironing to do - such as taking photos of lambs!  But first, let's start at lunchtime.  We went to the garden centre, where we enjoyed delicious leek and celery soup

 

 

While we were having lunch, we were entertained by the birds on the large feeder outside the window.  Do you remember last time we were at the garden centre the window was a bit dirty .... well unfortunately it was even dirtier today, so the photos aren't that good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were leaving, I took this photo of one of the other feeders.  The bird at the top left of the feeder looks like a finch, but it is a lot bigger the others

 

 

There are some very old apple trees in the grounds of the garden centre - if you look carefully, you can see where the tree has grown round the supporting wire

 

 

When we were driving home past the field where the Jacob's sheep are, we thought we saw some lambs ...........I was shouting at Malcolm to stop, turn round, go back - but he ignored me!!  So when we got home, I put on my walking boots, got wrapped up against the cold wind, and walked up to see the lambs (just a mile, a mere stroll!).  On the way, I spotted this little snowdrop

 

 

And daffodils coming through in a neighbour's verge

 

 

OK, I've teased you enough, here are the beautiful lambs (I'm sorry I couldn't get closer!!)

 

 

 

 

 

The ewes and lambs had company in their field - the wonderful old donkey (I can't help it, every time I say 'donkey' I say it like Shrek!!)

 

A bouquet of daffodils ....

........ well, that's what it said on the label, but I don't think this bunch that I bought this morning quite qualifies as a bouquet!!

 

 

Yesterday we went out for a walk - although it was above freezing, it still felt quite raw, so we weren't in the least bit tempted to join these canoists on the River Tweed

 

 

On the bank of the river was this wonderful old mill

 

 

We think this must have been the water supply to the mill race, but it has been closed off

 

 

When you drive over this bridge, all you see is the small wall on either side of the road, and have no idea what a magnificent structure is underneath you (the man crossing the bridge gives you an idea of the scale)

 

 

Of course all that walking in the cold meant we had to go for a cuppa - we popped into the Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells.  As well as a cuppa, we shared a piece of cake - a delicious orange drizzle

 

 

I have sorted out the the yarn for the first twenty six projects ...... but I forgot to take a photo before I put them in these two boxes!

 

 

I have chosen this notebook to keep a record of my progress

 

 

I was at the dentist this morning.  My mouth is healing well where I had the tooth out on New Year's Eve ..... because it was such a big tooth, it will take some time until the socket fully contracts.  Because I have had several teeth out recently, I have to get partial dentures - oh dear, that makes me feel old.  The dentist took the first impressions today - and he also repaired a tooth that a bit came off recently, while I was eating my lunch.  He said it would be best not to chew anything on it for the rest of the day, so instead of a delicious dinner of left over roast pork, I had macaroni cheese!

When I came home, I found Malcolm was busy drawing - how I wish I could do this!!

 

Is yon the mune I see in the sky?

When I got up this morning and looked out the window, I thought of the above line, which comes from this poem, which I learned as a child when my Mum made me go to elocution lessons (I hated it at the time, but I appreciated it later when I didn't have a horrible accent!)  The poem is about a little boy travelling to Kirkcaldy (he calls it Kirkcaddy) to visit his granny.  When he says at the end that he knows that they have reached Kirkcaldy because of the smell, that's because linoleum was made there, causing a horrible smell to hang over the town!  (Do ask if you need a translation!)

The Boy in the Train

Whit wey does the engine say 'Toot-toot'?
Is it feart to gang in the tunnel?
Whit wey is the furnace no pit oot
When the rain gangs doon the funnel?
What'll I hae for my tea the nicht?
A herrin', or maybe a haddie?
Has Gran'ma gotten electric licht?
Is the next stop Kirkcaddy?

There's a hoodie-craw on yon turnip-raw!
An' seagulls! - sax or seeven.
I'll no fa' oot o' the windae, Maw,
Its sneckit, as sure as I'm leevin'.
We're into the tunnel! we're a' in the dark!
But dinna be frichtit, Daddy,
We'll sune be comin' to Beveridge Park,
And the next stop's Kirkcaddy!

Is yon the mune I see in the sky?
It's awfu' wee an' curly,
See! there's a coo and a cauf ootbye,
An' a lassie pu'in' a hurly!
He's chackit the tickets and gien them back,
Sae gie me my ain yin, Daddy.
Lift doon the bag frae the luggage rack,
For the next stop's Kirkcaddy!

There's a gey wheen boats at the harbour mou',
And eh! dae ya see the cruisers?
The cinnamon drop I was sookin' the noo
Has tummelt an' stuck tae ma troosers. . .
I'll sune be ringin' ma Gran'ma's bell,
She'll cry, 'Come ben, my laddie',
For I ken mysel' by the queer-like smell
That the next stop's Kirkcaddy!

Meaning of unusual words:
gang=go
haddie=haddock
sneckit=locked
'leevin=eleven
frichtit=frightened
pu'in a hurly=pulling a barrow
gey wheen=a lot
mou'=mouth
tummelt=fallen

 

I quickly got dressed and braved the freezing cold to take some photos (it was minus five when we went out later!)

 

 

 

Later, after breakfast, the moon started to go down

 

 

 

While the moon was going down in front of the house, the sun was coming up behind it, turning this funny little cloud pink

 

 

But there was one photo that didn't quite come out as planned ..... I couldn't see the settings in the dark, and had chosen the wrong one - but I rather like the result!

 

 

I went to the hairdressers in Kelso this afternoon.  I went early, so that I would have time to take some photos (lots of good shadow shots for the weekend).  I noticed this inscription over a doorway

 

As my O level Latin let me down, I googled it and got two translations 'tried fidelity enriches' and 'loyalty preserved enriches' ......... and the people being enriched?  Yes, the inscription is over the doorway of a bank!!

 

 

 

A special day out

This morning, we set off for Carlisle, to meet someone here

 

 

So whom did we go to meet?  Of course it was a 'blog friend' ........Lynne.  We have been reading each other's blogs for some time now ...... and we had discovered that Lynne's husband played football with one of Malcolm's cousins many years ago, and Lynne had worked with another cousin's wife!  She now lives in Germany, but is over for a holiday staying with her sister in Carlisle, so it was the ideal opportunity to finally meet

 

 

Some weeks ago, we had organised a swap (you have already seen the crocheted snowflake that Lynne sent me)  ..... and today she gave me another parcel. 

 

 

Inside were all these lovely things

 

a lovely fat robin

 

a delicate wooden ornament

 

intricate crocheted mats

 

For Lynne, I knitted two pairs of fingerless mitts - a pair for her and a pair for her daughter

 

 

We had a lovely time chatting (Malcolm had a cuppa with us and then went for a wander round the garden centre), then later Lynne's sister Christine joined us and we blethered for a while longer, before heading back home.  It was quite foggy for a large part of the journey, but it cleared just in time to see these sheep on the hills - yes, the little white marks way up at the top are sheep!

 

 

In contrast to the fog on the way home, we had a lovely clear sky when we got home with, later on, a wonderful sunset

 

 

 

In the car, I started on the second sock for Rachel ...... but I forgot to take a photo!  Do pop over to Rachel's blog, to read about the stray cat that she had taken in and what happened today ......

 

 

Just because I'm practical .......

......... doesn't mean I can't be beautiful!  No, no, I'm not talking about me, but the latest additon to my collection of reusable shopping bags.  (click on the photo to enlarge it if you can't read the words)

 

 

Yesterday morning we went to the Garden Centre for a very tasty bacon roll for breakfast ...... and to stock up on bird food.  On the way home, I took some photos from the car

 

enjoying the snow-free roads

 

 

a sad little house, falling into ruin

 

 

a last little patch of snow

 

 

this was a very big horse!

 

The weather was much better today, and we went out for a walk after lunch.  We walked up the hill to the church, then turned up the bridle path.  It was very muddy and a hard slog up the first steep stretch, but it was worth it

 

this cat just ignored us

 

 

but this dog had a good loud bark at us!

 

 

it won't be long until these ewes have their lambs

 

Back home, I laid out the various socks, to check on progress

 

The pair on the left are almost finished - they are for Julie (or rather, for her daughter, who is tall with long feet).  In the middle, the first sock of the pair for Rachel (who is small, with small feet).  The just-started sock is for Vee, the winner of the giveaway - she is in between the other two in foot size! 

I mentioned that we stocked up on bird food yesterday - this is why!

 

 

 

 

 

I think this pigeon has been tucking in just a little too much, it is so plump!

 

The trip home ......

........ was also a trip down memory lane!  First, we went to Stenhousemuir and Larbert, where we lived before we moved here.  Stenhousemuir has changed drastically, with a new, large shopping precinct, which has these wonderful cows

 

 

Why cows?  Because Stenhousemuir is home to the world famous McCowan's Highland toffee.  Some years ago I was in a shop in Sydney and saw that they had Highland toffee.  I said to the sales assistant that I lived about half a mile from the toffee factory back in Scotland, but she didn't find that at all interesting ......

 

 

Sorry about the quality of the photo, I 'borrowed' it from a website selling the toffee (eat it at your peril - I am sure it has kept dentists in work for years!.  We went next to Torwood Garden Centre, where we used to go quite often for lunch.  When we went in, there was another major change waiting for us - they have a wonderful new coffee shop

 

 

We enjoyed a cuppa and an exceedingly delicious slice of iced gingerbread

 

 

I don't like to see birds in cages, but I couldn't resist stopping to try to take a photo of the two very cute little birds which were chattering away - many attempts later, I had one usable photo of one of them, as they were having a great time flitting about the cage

 

 

At last I have a really colourful bird to show off - when we went out to the car park, this slightly bedraggled peacock was taking a stately stroll around his domain (holding up the traffic as he went!)

 

 

Next, we headed off to Airdrie, where was I was born and grew up.  The first stop was to be at Airdrie Academy, my secondary school ....... but I was in for a shock.  Instead of this wonderful old building

 

 

........ there was this new one (Malcolm thought it looked like a prison!!)

 

 

By now it was lunchtime, so we headed here .....

 

After my Mum died in 1995, I used to go over to Airdrie once a week to see my Dad.  We would go out for lunch, and the Tudor Hotel was one of our favourite places to go.  So when it came to ordering, of course I had to have my Dad's favourite - the well-named 'Big Breakfast' 

 

 

Dad would have washed it down with a beer, but I had 'our other national drink' Irn Bru, as that is what I always had, as I always drove when we went out (Malcolm had Coke)

 

 

I should say that I didn't eat all of my meal - as Malcolm had ordered the small portion of steak pie, he had room to eat some of mine, but there was still some left!  After lunch, we left the car in the Hotel car park, and walked up the hill to my primary school

 

 

There have been a lot of changes - this used to be the infants entrance

 

 

This was the girls' entrance

 

 

What is now the main entrance was the boys' entrance

 

 

From the school we crossed the road (helped by the Lollipop man!) and headed down the hill to ...... what I still think of as Walkers' shop, although it is many, many years since it was owned by Mr and Mrs Walker.  This is where I spent some of my pocket money on sweets on Saturday mornings!

 

 

The shop sits at the top of an area of grass, which we always called 'the park', although that was a bit of a grand name for it!  We walked down the far side, so that I would have a view over to my childhood home

 

 

Nowadays, homes in these blocks of four are called quarter villas, which sounds terribly posh - we simply referred to them as houses!  Ours was the one on the bottom right hand side (with a rather nice car in the front garden).  I lived there until I was twenty one .... but my Dad lived there until he died at the age of 86!  In this next photo, I am standing with the street to my left, looking up the hill ......

 

 

....... to the beautiful old red sandstone terrace where my Dad was born

 

 

His parents moved from there the few yards down the hill to the house when he was about four.  Mum and Dad lived with Granny and Grandpa after they got married in 1946, until they went to Ireland (Granny and Grandpa, not Mum and Dad!) to live with my only Aunt.  My parents took over the tenancy (it was a 'council house'), eventually buying it in 1995, just when my Mum died.  I thought that the council should have given them the house, as ours was the only family to have lived in it, and I'm sure they had paid enough in rent over the years to have paid for it several times over!

 

On our way back to the car, I took one last photo - this beautiful house was owned by Doctor and Mrs McDougall (my Mum never could say that, and said Mc Doodle!).  They had five sons, and every year they had a collective birthday party during the summer holidays, to which all the neighbouring children were invited.  We had the run of the house, the very large garden and various assorted outbuildings .... but the best thing was the old wind-up gramaphone, which played '78s'!!

 

Strange time

I woke up through the night and looked over at the alarm clock (it's on top of the chest of drawers on the other side of the room).  Four eighty seven, I thought, as I turned over to go back to sleep.  Then my brain obviously woke up a bit more than my eyes and I thought, that's a strange time.  This started a rather weird train of thought ...... recently we watched the film Local Hero, which has a wonderful scene, where two elderly gents are standing at the side of the village hall, each clutching a dram, during a ceilidh.  They are discussing how much money they will get when the oil company purchases the village.  One says to the other 'Strange times, strange times', as they shuffle in time to the music.  Thinking of the film then lead to a little lusting after one of the actors Denis Lawson ( he may not be very tall, but as we say 'guid things come in sma bulk').  Now for two things you may not know about Denis - first he was in Star Wars, and second, his nephew is Ewan McGregor, who was in later Star Wars films.  Then, as I frequently do when I wake up and the time is some time after four, I sang (to myself) a quick chorus of It's Four in the Morning.  (The time, of course, was four thirty seven!)

 

Right, that's enough blethering, time for a photo!  Every year when I pack up the Christmas things, I always find something that I've missed.  This year I was determined that wouldn't happen.  I double checked, and when Malcolm came home I got him to have a look round - everything was packed away.  Then when we were having breakfast this morning, Malcolm pointed to the bowl in the centre of the table ......

 

Yes, I had forgotten the pine cones and (plastic) mistletoe!  The autumn squash actually stay in the bowl all year round, as I love the colours.  The paler one at the front has been in the bowl since 2009!

 

Although we had some snow yesterday, it didn't stop us from heading out this morning ...... I was desperate for a change of scene.  Since the end of of November the furthest I have been is Kelso - which is only a thirty minute drive away!  We took a run over to Duns, and after a quick stop to buy the newspapers, we headed for .....

 

 

........ where we had a cuppa, and shared the most wonderful cheese scone - possibly the best one we've ever had (and we've had a few!)

 

 

We had a browse round our favourite gift shop, although we managed to be good and not buy anything - although I was very tempted by some angels made with wire and ribbon

 

 

Duns had a lot more snow in December than we did, and there are still great piles of it.  This one is about six feet high!

 

 

On the way home, for once there was a lay-by to stop in when there was a photo opportunity!  It was a bit of a grey day, but in the far, far distance, the sun was shining on the snow on the Cheviots

 

 

When I was getting ready to go to knit'n'natter yesterday, there was just a slight problem - I didn't have anything on the needles!  So I looked out some plain sock wool, and while nattering the afternoon away, I made a start on one of my standard socks - I've knitted these so often, I only need the pattern when I get to the heel

 

 

Of course if you win the giveaway and choose the socks, they won't be plain, boring ones like this one, but jazzy ones in a colourway of your choice.  All you have to do is leave a comment by Friday the 14th, and you will be in the draw.

It's almost Easter!

Now that we have thawed out a bit, it is good to get out and about again.  We decided to go to Woodside Garden Centre for lunch, as they always have wonderful soup, so first we had a quick detour to Jedburgh, to pop into the supermarket for milk and newspapers.  When we went in, we were surprised to see a small display of Cadbury's Mini Eggs, then in the next aisle, Cadbury's Creme Eggs ...... and in the next aisle, a considerably larger display of similar small Easter Eggs!!  You would think that they could at least let us finish gorging ourselves on our Christmas choccies before they tempt us with Easter eggs!!

The garden centre did not disappoint with their soups ...... I had carrot, ginger and honey

 

 

and Malcolm had spinach and potato

 

 

We sat beside the window, so that we could watch the birds on the numerous birdfeeders hanging from the trees.  These are not the best of photos, as the window was rather dirty!

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite foggy when we got back home, so I decided to have a walk up to the church to take some photos

 

looking towards the Minto Hills

 

 

this could be a scene from a horror film!

 

 

the ewes have got rather muddy since the thaw started

 

 

these Jacob's ewes will be the first to lamb next year

 

But at last, a photo with lots of green in it, hardly any snow ...... and sunshine!!