frayed at the edge

Just the two of us!

After a bit of persuasion, Malcolm came with me on my walk this morning.  There is just one problem - he walks faster than me, so my legs are a bit sore this evening!  However, it was nice to have company - apart from the usual cast of animals!

 

 

I managed to snatch this photo of the Jacobs' sheep before they did their usual disappearing act to the other side of the field!

 

I've never seen a donkey with markings like this one - and he looks pretty good for being 30 years old!

 

The horse on the right looks as if he is in the huff with the other one!

 

When I was having my Wednesday morning leisurely soak in the bath, I heard a great deal of commotion outside.  All was soon explained - the load of logs which Malcolm had ordered had been delivered

 

He had hoped that they would be able to unload them at the back garden gate, but the lorry was too big to go up the lane past the back of the studio, so poor Malcolm had to shift them by wheelbarrow, to stack them in the log store (and quite a lot were left over and had to go in the garage!)

 

I like to be fairly well organised, but even I think it's too early to buy my Christmas cards ..... but the Red Cross don't think so - this has just arrived in the post!!

 

Thanks for all your good wishes and advice for my scan - I have been listening to my hypnotherapy cd and practising my deep breathing, so hopefully I can relax.  I will be able to take some music to listen too - I will have to have a look through my CDs for something suitable!!
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Well, that didn't last long!

After I got dressed this morning, I went back into the bedroom to say to Malcolm that was me off for my walk, and that I was taking the camera as there was a lovely sky and I hope to get some good photos of the hills.

I went out the front door and took this photo of swallows sitting on the phone wire (that had me singing Leonard Cohen!)

 

 

then as I went through the gate, I heard a noise as if something was hitting my car ..... that was soon explained when a large raindrop landed on my head!  So about three minutes after saying there was a lovely sky, it had been obscured by rainclouds.  This photo makes it look much more dramatic than it really was, as the camera has focused on the lighter sky

 

 

I would love to have a wildlife expert go for a walk with me .... they could tell me what dug this burrow (I wonder if Robert Downey Jnr or Johnny Depp know anything about nature - I wouldn't mind one of them .... or even better both of them ..... going on a walk with me) 

 

I had to get off the road rather quickly when this lorry passed me - I'm just glad I wasn't on one of the stretches of road where there is only a narrow verge (the lorry has a trailer on it - the man is standing in the middle!)

 

 

The rosehips are starting to ripen ......

 

 

..... and the apples are getting bigger - I'm saving up jars for some autumn jam and jelly making (and I might even try making rosehip syrup)

 

 

So did I get a good photo of the hills ...... well, I like this one

 

 

It's Friday again, and I'm relaxing with a glass of wine while I type this!  I hope you all have a good weekend - no doubt I'll be out in the studio sewing! 

Love Anne

 

Safe arrival!

I was delighted to receive an e-mail from Kylie to say that her parcel had arrived, so now I can show you the little extras that I used to finish the cushions

 

I stitched the labels on the sewing machine

 

 

I couldn't resist this spotty purple ribbon for the fastenings!

I also sent her the Japanese folded patchwork box that I made for a Tuesday Tutorial, and a brooch that was made from purple i-cord with a purple pansy button in the centre (you may have realised that purple is Kylie's favourite colour!)  And I also popped a little scarf in for her gorgeous little boy ( not that he will really need it in Queensland!)  Yes, I forgot to take a photo of the extras before I posted the parcel!

 

Now to catch up on the rest of the news.  On Friday, after Stuart went off with his friends, we went into Falkirk for some shopping.  At the top of my list was a pair of trainers, and Stuart had recommended a sports shop to go to.  I had my gait carefully studied to see if I under or over pronate (I'm an overpronator) and was fitted with a suitable pair - although as you can see I didn't take a photo until we were back home

 

 

I also bought some new undies in Marks and Spencers - but I'm not showing them to you!!We stopped off at Ikea on the way home on Saturday (yes, we had meatballs for lunch!) .... we bought a rug and a table for the summerhouse (but I'll wait until the painting is all finished before I show you those).  Then as we continued home, when we saw signs for the village of Roslin, Malcolm suggested a detour, so that we could take photos of Rosslyn Chapel ..... those of you who have read the Da Vinci Code will know the significance of the Chapel (I have to admit that I gave up reading it - I found it to be extremely boring ...... and I fell asleep when we watched the film on tv!!)

There was just a slight problem - there are major renovation works in progress and the Chapel is covered in scaffolding ....

 

 

 

I think it will be some time before I can show you more ..... we were going to have a look round the grounds and inside the chapel - but when we found out how much it cost, we decided we didn't want to see it that much!! (and you can't take photos inside the chapel)  We came home via Peebles, which meant I could take photos of some different hills to share with you

 

After the recent rainy spell, the countryside is green and lush

 

The Bees' Balm is now in full flower, so yesterday I thought I would take a photo of a bee on it - despite lots of attempts to to capture one of the several little buzzers on the flowers, this was the best I could do!!

 

There has been so much to tell you recently, that I still have some lovely photos of garden flowers (and the old sinks) that I took last week ..... so unless something else crops up to bump them down the order, I'll post them tomorrow!!
 

 
 
 
 
 

  

Spare room

When I bought my new rainjacket, I got a bigger size ...... so that when the weather turns cooler, there will be room to wear a sweater or bodywarmer under it.  But this morning, I realised that the extra room was also handy for something  else - I could keep my camera dry on rainy mornings!  I had realised that I always take photos on bright mornings, so today here are some soggy views!

 

a grey sky over the ripening crops

 

 

you can barely see the Eildons

 

 

at least this mushroom likes the damp!

 

 

a faint glimmer of sun behind Ruberslaw

 

 

nature is slowly reclaiming this old fence

 

 

this horse usually sticks its head over the hedge when I go by, but today it was sulking under the trees!

 

Now that Kylie's cushions are on their way to Australia and I am on course with my knitting for the Christmas fair ...... (ok, the knitting is up to date, I just need to catch up with the making up!) ....... I brought this in from the studio this afternoon

 

What am I going to do next .... I'll tell you tomorrow!
 

 

 

 

Adding a little bit of spice!

Don't worry, I haven't been reading the Kama Sutra, just adding lots of spice to tonight's dinner!!  I decided to try out my new tagine, which I got with the online voucher which I won last week - I bought it from CSN Stores, which as well as cookware sell all sorts of things from ceiling lights to furniture.  I decided to cook lamb tagine ...... this recipe is loosely based on one of  Nigella's

 

diced neck fillet

4 large mushrooms

1 large onion

dates

a generous half-teaspoon of each spice and salt to taste

pomegranite juice (forgot to include that in the photo!)

I browned the lamb then put it on a plate while I cooked the onion and mushroom.  I added the spices and salt and cooked them for a few minutes before adding the lamb and the dates.  Finally I added about 100mls of juice and the same of water, put the lid on and left it to cook

 

If this was a cookery programme on tv, we would now be treated to some scenic shots while the tagine cooks .... I wouldn't want to disappoint you, so here are some photos I took when we went for a walk after lunch

Malcolm striding ahead!

 

The Minto Hills look different every day in the changing light

 

who stole my woolly coat?

 

So while we enjoyed those photos, the tagine simmered away, until the lamb was so tender it was starting to fall apart

 

Normally, I would serve this with couscous, but we had some hasselback potatoes (Malcolm bought them as they were on special offer in the supermarket!!) ..... delicious, I will definitely serve it with potatoes again

 

Having cooked this several times, I would say that it was better done in the tagine - but next time I will do it in the oven, as it boiled over a little, although I had the burner turned down as low as possible.  So thanks again to Rattling on for picking me as the winner for her giveaway!

I even had time this afternoon to do some sewing ..... but yes, you've guessed, I'll tell you about that tomorrow!! 

 

 
 

 
 
 
  
  

Summer at last!

It was glorious this morning when I went out for my walk - a little bit of high cloud, but lovely and warm.  I know I keep showing you photos of the Minto Hills, but they look different every day!

 

 

It is just about time for the sheep to be shorn, but this one is already moulting

 

 

I was entertained by this pheasant, which looked as if it was creeping up to scare the horses

 

 

I've said before that we regard as a neighbour anyone living within walking distance - so the people building this house will just qualify, as this is where I turn round to come home!

 

 

The roses in the hedgerow are just starting to flower - hopefully there will be a good crop of hips come the autumn

 

 

When we moved here, there were three old sinks in the drive.  It turned out that they belong to our next door neighbour, with whom we share the entrance.  As they were obviously neglected, full of weeds, we offered to replant them - our neighbour was quite happy for us to do this.  However,  after the winter, most of the plants were dead, so now that we have our  new drive, we have been smartening them up again.  We got a lot of bits of broken slates from the man who is building the house beside us, and Malcolm arranged them, then planted alpines in the spaces.  We will have to get some grit and a few more plants to finish them off, but they are already looking good

 

 

 

 

It was 23 degrees this afternoon - fingers crossed that the second half of June is going to be glorious!!

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not so flaming June!

It was decidedly chilly when I set out for my walk this morning, so I wasn't surprised to see these horses huddled together

 

 

These lambs may be getting big, but they were still happy to cuddle mum for warmth

 

 

However, a mile down the road, these horses were unaffected by the cold wind blowing from the north

 

 

Usually the horses just ignore me when I take photos, but this morning, they decided to come over to the gate

 

 

This foal is getting big - and a typical boy, he is turning into a bully ....... he pushed and shoved and even bit some of the mares to get nearer to the gate

 

 

He is looking a bit scruffy - I think he must be shedding his baby hair!  No doubt soon he will look like this beauty

 

 

It may have been a cold gloomy morning, but it did provide me with this misty photo

 

 

But it wasn't all gloomy ..... this rhododendron was a bright splash of colour

 

 

I spent the afternoon ironing .......it's the one household chore I really don't like, and one that Malcolm absolutely refuses to do!!  I know I should do it as soon as the washing is dry and not wait until the basket is overflowing and I've run out of clean clothes ..... but I did finally get to the bottom of the pile!  I also baked a cake this afternoon ..... but I'll tell you about it tomorrow!

 

Pure gold!

After the excitement of the hot air balloon yesterday, I was delighted to have something else special to take a photo of today!  It isn't the clearest photo, but it is of a goldfinch sitting on top of the birch tree in the front garden - the first time we have seen one in the garden!! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

Continuing with the nature theme, I didn't spend all of yesterday's walk looking upwards, which is just as well or I would have missed this gorgeous foal ......

 

 

..... and these two horses, who look as if they may have foals on the way

 

 

But for the last animal pictue, something very special, which I know will make you go aaaaah!  My friend Seonaid has just e-mailed this photo to me .... a little hedghog which has been coming into her garden to be fed.  In the last day or two, she has noticed the poor little thing has ticks - does anyone have any advice as to what she could do to help it - if you do, please leave a comment!

 

 

The garden continues to recover from the harsh winter, with splashes of colour finally appearing

 

this delicate flower would make a lovely embroidery

 

 

the clematis has just started to flower

 

 

the poppy is ready to open

 

Over the winter, most of my 'five-a-day' comes from vegetables, but in the summer I eat far more fruit, as you can see in this colourful selection

 

 

And fruit featured in our Friday afternoon cake at patch'n'chat ......

 

 

It has been another lovely day, and the forecast is good for the weekend - I hope you all have a good one, love Anne

 

 

 

Would you like to fly ......

........ in my beautiful balloon?  This morning after I got dressed I went back into the bedroom to say bye to Malcolm - and suggest that he might like to get out of his lazy bed and come with me.  I think the grunts from under the duvet signified that he didn't want to come, which was a pity, because this was the amazing sight that greeted me

 

 

I don't think I've ever seen a hot-air balloon this close

 

 

Then, as I headed down towards the turning point - there was another one!!  I knew I would get a better view at the bottom of the hill, so I ran down before it vanished behind the hills (my legs haven't yet recovered!!)  There was still early morning mist over the hills, so this photo isn't very clear).

 

 

I spoke to one of our neighbours, who has a livery.  He said that the horses had been spooked by the noise of the balloon's burners (they were very loud!), but nothing was going to deter these two from munching on the lush verge

 

 

After lunch, I headed out to the studio to play with my new toy.  First I watched the dvd which came with the embellisher, which explained how to use it safely, and how to achieve the best results

 

 

I started with a piece of felt (from a bag of mixed bits I bought at a craft fair) and some wool roving. 

 

 

The dvd suggested that when you first use the embellisher to loosely needle the roving in place

 

 

Then it was the scary moment ...... I took a deep breath and off I went!!

 

 

It definitely helped that I am used to doing free motion quilting, as the movement is similar (except that I kept trying to pivot the felt, which you can't do with five needles in it!!)  So stage one was completed successfully

 

 

I then added an outer circle

 

 

The last stage was to add a stem and leaf.  I found this much trickier - I think it will take quite a bit of practice to get the shape of the leaf right

 

 

For my second project, I started with a flower cut from a piece of felted sweater and some purple and pink roving

 

 

I covered the flower shape .......

 

 

....... then added some pink beads (they were still sitting on the worktable after using them on the shawl!)  All I need to do now is add a brooch pin.

 

 

This detail shows the lovely colours and texture

 

 

I forgot earlier in the week to show you the finished applique runner (I need to organise my photos better!)

 

 

I stood on the bed to take this one, so it's a bit wobbly!!  I only realised when I saw the photos on the laptop that you can see the fine wire going from the radio alarm clock to the lamp - it's the aerial for the radio!!

 

 

Now that the runner is finished, it's back to those chickens!!

 

 

 

Modern shepherding

When I was out for my walk this morning, I helped one of the neighbouring farmers deal with a runaway ewe and her lamb.  But this wasn't traditional shepherding with a crook and a dog ........ his preferred method of rounding them up was to use his ....... Mercedes!!

 

 

He had been herding them along the road, when they were able to escape through an open gate into a field - he drove in after them and encouraged them to come back out - I took this photo just as they emerged.  He parked across the road so that they couldn't go back that way and started shouting orders at me to drive them back towards him (I was still a fair distance away, the photo was taken with the zoom lens!).  Just as he shut the gate, the ewe made a run for it past me, with the lamb trotting behind, and they legged it on up the hill.  At that point I left the farmer to get on with it and continued with my walk!!

I walk for a mile and a half, which brings me to a road junction.  I stand at the junction and admire the view, before I turn and walk back up the hill - the first two thirds of the road home is uphill - I am always glad when the final downhill stretch comes into view!!.  This morning I lingered to take some photos -  in this one, on the left you can two of the three Eildon Hills (Trimontium) and on the right you can see one of the two Minto Hills (and lots of beautiful blue sky)

 

 

Can you see a little creature in the middle of this photo - its companion had run away, but it must have thought that if it kept very still, I wouldn't see it!! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

One of our neighbours has an old donkey - he is now thirty!  I usually only hear him in the morning as he is in the paddock at the back of their house, but today he was out in the field.  As you can see he has rather unuaual colouring!

 

 

As usual for Fridays, I was busy this morning doing the housework, but then it was off to Borderland fabrics for an afternoon of sewing.  I had finished the applique on the runner, so took my sewing machine with me to sew on the binding.  All I have to do now is handstitch the binding on the back (I took this photo when I got back home)

 

 

I haven't forgotten that I said I would tell you my plan for all those ends on the shawl/scarf ...... I am going to thread beads on them.  I would have shown you, but despite having hundreds of beads in my stash, I don't have in the right shade of pink!!

I hope you all have a super weekend, love, Anne