frayed at the edge

Homeward bound

On our way home today, we stopped in Linlithgow for a walk.  This of course meant ..... photo opportunities!!  The High Street has some wonderful old buildings, such as these ones

 

 

But the star of the day was the Palace.  We didn't have time to go in and see round the ruins, but we were able to walk round the outside

 

 

and have a bit of fun with B&W

 

 

Oh dear, tonight's internet connection is so slow, it would be faster to visit each of you to show you the photos ..... so I'll save the rest for tomorrow!!

 

Home from home!

Today's post comes from Falkirk, as we are visiting Stuart!  It was a lovely bright sunny morning for our drive up - this photo was taken (from the car) on the outskirts of Edinburgh - as you can see there is still some snow about

 

 

This is one of the 'Five Sisters', which you can read about here - it is very interesting - did you know that Scotland was once the major oil producing country in the world?

 

 

I couldn't resist taking this next photo - if only this was MY Malcolm's business

 

 

You may remember some time ago I posted a photo of Stuart's fish, Charlie.  Sadly, he has gone to that great fish bowl in the sky!  However, there are two new fish to enjoy the antics of ..... corydoras catfish

 

 

And just to add to tonight's cute quotient, I have two photos of my friend Lorraine and her seven-month old bearded collie, Sophie.  She is a rescue dog, who has already had several homes, but as you can see, she loves her new home.....

 

 

Lorrraine may only live about ten miles from us, but she has had quite a bit more snow .....

 

 

We'll be heading back home tomorrow - no doubt I'll spend the journey looking for photo opportunities - but as I've said before, why didn't the road builders look at the scenery and put in lay-bys for us to stop in!!

 

Thoroughly discombobulated!

You know that I like order and routine in my life (fortunately Malcolm does too), but this week has been somewhat topsy turvy!  On Monday, I did the food shopping as usual in the morning, but as it was such a lovely day, I suggested to Malcolm that we went to Kelso after lunch, as I wanted to take photos of the Abbey.  I decided to try taking some black and white shots of the ruins, and I was delighted with the results

 

 

It must have been an awe-inspiring building!  However, not all of it is in ruins

 

This carving looked new

 

I changed back to colour to take a photo of this wonderful window

 

Yesterday was another beautiful, bright, sunny day, so we decided to have a day out (normally I would have spent the day in the studio).  We headed east to visit Berwick, which in times past has been fought over by the Scots and the English (it is now in England!).  We had a very enjoyable (if slightly cold) walk round the walls, which were built to protect the town

 

This looks like a small church, but it is the magazine, where the gunpowder was stored!

 

 

The cold weather didn't stop these golfers from playing a round

 

Of course, a day out means lunch, which we had in a delightful cafe/gift shop called Doolally.  We had delicious squash, fennel and ginger soup, served with a wonderful cheese scone

 

After lunch we continued our walk, pausing to admire the magnificent Victorian railway bridge

 

To try to give you an idea of the massive engineering feat the Victorians achieved, I put Malcolm in this photo to show you the scale of the stone blocks

 

I took a lot of photos over the two days, quite a few of which will be appearing in future Shadow Shot Sundays, but I'll finish today with another shot of Kelso Abbey - a photo
which could grace the cover of a Gothic thriller!!

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

Marooned!

Stuart phoned at eight o'clock this morning, which was unusual, as he should have been at work!  So where was he?  He was stuck in a major traffic jam on the A9 between Stirling and Perth (don't worry, he was 'hands-free') and just called to pass some time - I think he was phoning everyone he knows!  It was bad enough yesterday, when it took him two and three quarter hours to get to work - it usually takes him just under an hour.  Today he didn't even get there - he sent me a text at lunchtime to say that he had just got back home - the road was still closed, with two feet of snow!!

Fortunately, we didn't have anywhere near that much, so we headed out to Selkirk to have lunch, as we didn't go out yesterday.  We had the most wonderful soup ........

 

...... spicy carrot.  It had an underlying creamy flavour, which we thought was perhaps coconut milk - definitely one to try to recreate at home!

Do you remember some time ago I bought the silly cook book with the 'end of the world' recipes?  Well, today, I succumbed to a similar one!

 

 

I just love silly things like this

If you can't read the bit in the bottom left corner, click on the photo to enlarge it - it's quite entertaining!

On the way home I took this photo from the car - it was so grey and miserable, you can't see the hills on the horizon ......

 

Back home, I started work on the other three drawings for my stitcheries ...... they need some more work, especially on the faces.  The tea angel kept looking like a pig instead of an angel - I have almost rubbed the paper into a hole trying to get her face right!

 
  
 

 

Snowdrops, snowdrops ....

..... and a little yellow flower

 

I'm glad I noticed these peeping through the moss and dead leaves,when I went for a walk after lunch, but I had no problems spotting the snowdrops

in the verge

 

 under some trees

 

under a rhododendron

 

It was cold and slightly foggy, as you can see in this view over the valley

 

I think perhaps the collapse of this wall was caused by the unusually hard winter that we've had

 

It was eerie in the trees

 

Back home, this little robin was tucking into peanuts on the bird table!

Much as I enjoyed my walk, it was good to get back indoors and have a mug of hot chocolate .... but then I had to do the ironing!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Inky fingers!

I may have mentioned before that I love notebooks and journals, so when I wanted to practise my lettering this afternoon, I had no trouble finding a book to use ......

 

 

I borrowed Malcolm's calligraphy set, which includes this helpful booklet

 

 

For my first effort, I don't think this is too bad!

 

 

I didn't do quite so well on the next page - my 'Y' is back-to-front!

 

 

Our names were straightforward

 

 

When it came to the next page, I found it hard to keep using the slow deliberate strokes to form the letters, and not lapse into my normal scrawl!!  As for the sentences - the first one contains all the letters of the alphabet, and is an aid to learning to type, and the second one uses right and left hand alternatively in a lot of the words - good practice for someone like me who is strongly righthanded and tends to transpose letters as the right hand types quicker!!

 

 

By the time I finished, I had managed to get as much ink on me as on the paper

 

 

When we were busy making dinner, there was a slight pause as we went outside to see the wonderful sunset  .....  the photos don't need any captions!

 

 

 

 
 

 

A tale of two birds

I started the day's photos with this little finch in the front garden

 

yes - we've had more snow!

 

Later in the morning, we headed to Jedburgh for some shopping and a spot of lunch (soup for Malcolm, a sandwich for me).  Although it was very cold and there was even more snow there, that didn't stop me from taking photos ....

 

part of Jedburgh Abbey

 

 

another view of the Abbey

 

 

another pillar box for my collection - this one is Victorian

 

 

a view of the Eildons on the way home

 

 

I took this one from the car!

 

When we got home, I headed out for a walk, and for a change I turned down the hill, instead of my usual walk up past the church

 

this horse was tucking into its hay .....

 

 

......while this one looked as if he was going to play with the garden toys!

 

Before I show you the last photo, I have some news for you.  My friend Ali has opened a shop on Folksy - you can see it here.  She has only just started putting her stock into the shop, so do visit her again over the coming weeks, as she adds more.  I already have a chef's mat and a towel loop - the quality is excellent and they look great in my kitchen!

And now for the last photo - which of course is of the other bird in today's title ...... this little robin was sitting on the fence when I came back from my walk

 

 

 

A new neighbour?

Last week Malcolm bought a little birdhouse, which he put up on the back garden fence.  As it isn't quite spring yet (no matter how much I try to convince myself it is!), we were really surprised to see a pair of tits checking it out yesterday .... I wonder if they'll move in

 

 

When the tits finally finished inspecting the premises and flew off, we headed off up the A68 to Lauder, to one of our favourite places, The Flat Cat Gallery

As usual I had a pot of tea and Malcolm a cup of coffee .... and apple pie might have been eaten too!

 

 

The tables in the coffee shop are beautiful .... this is a detail of the inlay on our table

 

 

Since I started taking photos for the blog, I have paid far more attention to my surroundings, including looking up ... and in Lauder there were several things that I would have missed if I had only looked around and not up ....

 

this magnificent eagle, painted on the hotel

 

 

the sign outside a butcher's shop

 

 

what do you think this hotel is called?

 

 

we don't know what this sign is - the name of the building perhaps

 

There was something at eye level which caught my attention - a sign for an old post box

 

 

Which brings me to today's last photo.  When Sarah visited last summer, she brought me a wonderful needle-felted pillar box, then she sent me a set of stamps, featuring post boxes, for my birthday.  I recently got myself organised and took them into the picture framers in Hawick, along with a card showing all sorts of pillar boxes, which was included with the set of stamps.  I am thrilled with my picture, which we now have hanging in the lounge

 

 

A very busy day!

I'm usually busy on a Monday, but today has been just non-stop!  I got up as usual just after 6.30 to exercise (cross-trainer and rowing machine), then breakfast, shower, first load of laundry on, then off to Hawick to do the weekly foodshop.  Back home, shopping put away, a bowl of homemade soup for lunch (another load of laundry on) and then I had time to grab the camera and head out for a walk.  It was very cold, so I was well wrapped up ..... a t-shirt, a jumper which makes me look like a teddy bear, a fleece jacket that makes me look like a grizzly bear, windproof trousers, handknitted socks and walking boots ... oh, and not forgetting warm gloves - I'm getting good at taking photos with gloves on!  After I got back from  my walk, I made a salad to have with the leftover chicken from yesterday for dinner, a pot of soup and put on the last load of laundry .... by which time it was dinnertime!!  So now I can sit and relax and show you the photos I took this afternoon .....

 

this crane seemed to be in the middle of a field .....

 

.... but it was working at this farm!

 

the puddle has dried, leaving the ice stuck to the tree

 

this piece of ice has a pretty pattern

 

suddenly, there are snowdrops everywhere!

 

I took the photos of the lambs through a hedge!

 

please can I have one!

 

cuddling up to mum

 

And finally ...... there were several requests for the Border Tart recipe.  There are lots of variations, but this is the recipe I have (which is scribbled on a piece of paper - I can't remember who gave it to me)

225g pastry, 50g butter, 100g sugar, 110g currants, 25g almonds, 25g cherries, 1 beaten egg

Heat the oven to 180C.  Line a 23cm flan tin with the pastry.  Melt the butter and sugar together, then stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Spread the mixture over the pastry and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool before turning out onto a plate.  You can also drizzle icing over the tart if you wish.

Now for a spot of browsing through my favoutite blogs, before I finish the octopus circles scarf!

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Just when we thought it was all over ....

...... we got up this morning to even more snow!!  We are thoroughly fed up now, but the weather is supposed to improve over the weekend .... I think these sheep will be very glad to see the end of the snow

 

 

as will this bird (I think it's a thrush) eyeing up the empty birdfood tub (don't worry, I have more!

 

 

and as for Malcolm's poor car - he had just got all the snow cleared off it in the hope we would be able to go out today .......

 

 

Oh well, all this enforced leisure time means that good progress is being made on the knitting and embroidery front!  First, the 'circles' scarf.  I have finished the main part and have started on the circles (but I keep thinking 'octopus'!)

 

eventually all the black stitch lines will become circles

 

 

the only drawback - two ends to sew in for each circle!

 

Progress on the cross stitch front has been a bit slower - I guess my eyes aren't as good as when I started (I didn't need glasses for close work back then!) and I need really good light to work on such a small scale

 

 

Remember, this is your last chance to leave a comment and be included in the great anniversary giveaway.  I have two piles of stuff sitting in the studio, ready to go to the lucky winners, so come back tomorrow evening when I announce the winners and reveal the magnificent prizes!!!