frayed at the edge

Shabby without the chic!

On Sunday we took a little run up the coast and over the Border to Eyemouth.  There were all sorts of shabby, rusty boats in the harbour - big ones

 

and small ones

 

the ropes holding the working platform in place looked a bit frayed!!

 

I do like a nice bit of old rusty equipment

 

these are probably within our price range ......

 

...... but Malcolm had his eye on this one

 

and this one!

 

I would be very unhappy to find a large gull like this on top of my car

 

or on top of my building

 

but it looked as if the gargoyle was about to evict the gull

 

if you weren't paying attention as you passed this building ......

 

...... you might not notice the shells on the middle section 

 

as soon as we saw this plaque, Malcolm said that it would make a good quilt!

 

from the outside this looked a small cafe

 

but inside there were several rooms, all decorated with a seaside theme (click on the photo to enlarge it to see what the sign on the back wall says)

 

Malcolm had a delicious cheese scone

 

while I enjoyed a sweet apricot one

 

to finish - never mind what the plaque is for, I just want to live in the Land of Cakes!!

A cliff top walk

On Saturday, Malcolm suggested that we went for a walk along the cliff top at the far end of Spittal Beach.  He had walked there before, but this was my first time (I'm not a fan of walking on cliff tops).  When we parked the car, we were greeted with a bright yellow splash of gorse

 

the start of the path looks down on the end of the promenade

 

looking back towards the lighthouse

 

even from this distance you can see how much better the beach looks after the clean-up

 

this is a train on the East Coast Main Line ........

 

I wouldn't want to be any closer when it goes past at 110 mph!

 

an unusual signpost 

 

there may be 1000 of these signposts, but this is the only one I have seen

 

at 110 mph, it won't take long to get to Edinburgh!

 

Seahouses, of course, is where we get the best fish and chips

 

this fish could find its way into a quilt

 

I think we could walk to these coves at low tide - but then we would be stranded if the tide came in, as I doubt we could climb up to the path!

 

I was slightly nervous about walking past this bit of the cliff, as it looks ready to fall in the sea

 

 

the next two photos show some of the gubbins which hold the high-voltage wires for the railway .......

 

as I used to work for British Rail (many, many years ago), Malcolm was asking me all sorts of technical questions, but I had to point out that I worked for the Chief Civil Engineer, not the Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer.  However, I could tell him about the track!

 

as we returned to the car, we saw these two gulls deep in conversation on the chimney tops

 

just as the sun was starting to set, these two swans came into the dock

 

it was such a still evening that you could see the reflections of the lighthouse

 

and the old chimney

 

the low sun was shining on the windows across the river

 

after our walk we may have had a sweet treat with our cuppa

 

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you what we did yesterday - it may have involved rather tasty scones!

 

A walk in the woods

Yesterday morning we drove over to the Woodside Garden Centre, and having parked the car, went for a walk in the woods.  We had only gone a few yards when I had to stop to take this photo, of the sun shining on a tree stump

 

since we last were there for a walk, this new bridge has been built

 

it is a major construction, with metal supports

 

there were lots of snowdrops

 

and the wild garlic was just starting to come through

 

this may look like a weird woodland creature, but it is a pile of fallen branches smothered in moss

 

this flash of white caught Malcolm's eye

 

we decided that it was a fungus, but neither of us was willing to touch it, to examine it more closely

 

this bridge is a somewhat smaller construction than the new one

 

this fishermen's hut is slowly falling to bits

 

we eventually had to turn back, as the path got too muddy, but it was no hardship to pop into the garden centre for a spot of excellent sconnage!

 

this morning I spotted this big fat pigeon poking about under the bird table

 

then this afternoon a robin appeared and sat at the edge of the bird bath

 

would he venture into the water?

 

he decided that he would rather have a meal instead!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing - and some knitting

 

Sun, sea and sand

Yesterday afternoon we decided to go for a walk, as the sun was shining and the sky was blue

 

that of course meant a lot of looking up for photos, to include that lovely blue

 

fortunately we passed a good selection of old chimneys

 

and the gulls were enjoying sitting in the sun

 

we walked under the old walls, to head for the lighthouse ....... this shows you the turns in the breakwater, which you don't see when I take photos of the lighthouse from the beach

 

I love the way this tree grows out through the wall, and then back in through the railing

 

but I did tear my eyes away from the blue sky to snap these two swans

 

although there were lots of other people enjoying a walk in the sun, I managed to take a photo of the lighthouse without anyone in it 

 

this morning we decided to take a run down the coast to Seahouses, which of course means passing Bamburgh Castle

 

we popped in for a cuppa, which was served in pretty china

 

there was a slight delay in the scone arriving, as it was heated for us

 

this little wagtail insisted on standing in the middle of the road

 

whereas these two large crows were much safer perched on a church weather vane

 

down at the harbour, Malcolm had his eye on these pieces of wood, but unfortunately they didn't fit in my bag!

 

and it might have caused a problem if he had taken the pieces propping up this boat!

 

there were two men busy working on refurbishing this boat

 

and there were lots of other small boats in the water and up on the quay, as there are few trips to the islands at the moment

 

we decided to go on down the coast to Alnmouth for lunch, choosing the Village Tearooms

 

Malcolm had crab sandwiches, which he assured me were delicious (I have an agreement with Mr Crab - I don't eat him and he doesn't make me violently sick ...... I have the same agreement with Mr Prawn)

 

I had stottie filled with hot roast beef and gravy - very, very delicious!

 

we dodged the flying golf balls ......

 

to go for a walk on the beach

 

there were lots of other people (and dogs) on the beach, but I managed again to take a photo with no-one in it

 

someone has had fun with driftwood, building a cosy little den - I hope Malcolm doesn't decide to build one in the back garden with his stash of driftwood!

 

in the distance dark clouds were appearing

 

but as we walked back to the car the sun came out again, to shine appropriately on this Inn

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing.

 

 

My few purchases

I really was quite restrained in my purchases on Friday.  First some new pins - I have used so many pinning the edges of the stitcheries that I had run of of pins this size.  These are lovely fine French pins

 

I was delighted to get these patterns at what I think are very reasonable prices

 

my biggest purchase was this new cutting mat.  Here it is sitting on the old mat, which shows round the edges

 

although both mats were sold as measuring 24" x 36", that is the overall size of the new mat, but the working area of the old mat

 

when I had popped through to the kitchen on Saturday night, two things caught my eye.  First, the light thrown by this little fishy wax burner

 

and second, this candle, which appears to be floating in the air, but is actually sitting on the kitchen table!

 

we had stayed at home for the weekend, as the weather wasn't very good, and when we went to Jedburgh yesterday for a walk, I decided to switch the camera to B&W, to go with the grey skies.  First, we have two views of the old bridge

 

this may need a little bit of refurbishment

 

unlike the house next door, which is for sale

 

and this recently refurbished one on the High Street is also for sale

 

this tiny window is in Mary Queen of Scots house

 

as is this stone detail

 

and is this Mary's ghost looking out of the window ........ or is it just my reflection (with Malcolm looking on)!

 

of course we have to have a couple of shots of the Abbey

 

then it is back to colour for the delicious cheese scone we shared after our walk

 

we came over to Berwick this afternoon, and I have just been hanging out the bedroom window to take this photo of the rising moon!

 

All gone!!

Hooray, when we got up this morning, the snow had gone, so we headed out for lunch at Lochcarron, in Selkirk.  I was delighted that they had Thai chicken soup on the menu today

 

while Malcolm chose their lentil soup - both of them were delicious, as was the sun-dried tomato bread

 

I haven't made much progress with my socks, as I don't take them to Berwick

 

but I've made good progress with my latest blanket for Linus, as I can work on it in the car on the way to and from Berwick, which amounts to two hours of knitting

 

on the sewing front, I have prepped another four stitcheries

 

I have also cut out the eight hexies I need for the remaining stitcheries

 

there has been more work on Mrs Billings - I have stitched together the remaining hexies for the other three large borders

this afternoon I got out a pile of small hexies which I had previously prepped

 

and laid some out on the narrow border

 

having stitched them together I found that I was one short!

 

as I so enjoy sitting stitching hexies, I decided to have a big bite at this project, and by the end of the afternoon had completed two rows

 

I have been having a sort out of our DVD collection, with a view to giving some of them to a charity shop when I have watched them for the second, third or even fourth time (having checked with Malcolm that he doesn't want to watch them again).  This afternoon's offering was the Minority Report, with Tom Cruise, who is not one of my favourite actors*, but it is a good film

 

we had a glorious sunset tonight - a nice change from recent grey skies!

 

please think of me tomorrow morning, when I have a dentist's appointment at 9am - much too early to endure such torture!!

* my favourite actor is, of course, George Clooney ...... closely followed by Robert Downey Jr.  I have gone off Johnny Depp recently - he seems to have turned a bit weird!  And of course there is the delicious British actor Richard Armitage - oh, those smouldering good looks, that deep brown voice - excuse me, I shall have to lie down now in a darkened room!!

 

 

More snow!

Yesterday I promised you more snowy photos, so you shall have more snowy photos!  In the morning I had walked up the hill from the house, so after lunch I walked down the hill.  The last time you saw the stream was when we had the floods, and there was a huge amount of water roaring through it.  Yesterday it was running quietly between its snowy banks

 

another snowy gates

 

the old (but still in use) post box at the end of the road

 

I was glad that big beastie went past when I was still in our road .......

 

........ and not when I had walked up to the junction to take a photo of the old (unused) phone box

 

when I took the next two photos, I was thinking along the lines of not seeing the wood for the trees!

 

and of course there has to be another arty photo - this time a delicate piece of ice hanging from a branch

 

then the next two photos show that it isn't just a steep drive up the road to the house, there are two bends to be negotiated, and as the road is barely wide enough for two cars, you can see why I decided not to go out in the car!  

 

I forgot to put these two photos in yesterday - first, why was I about to lean over this gate?

 

 

because I could see the two donkeys in the stable yard!

 

back tomorrow with some sewing, and maybe even some knitting!

A chilly weekend

Usually when we get to Berwick, we go straight to the flat, unpack, then walk over to town.  But because of the horrid weather on Saturday morning, we drove into town first, parked, bought the newspapers, then went for a cuppa at The Corner House.  It had been refurbished since we were last in, and just as I took a photo, the owner walked into the shot - she looks like a ghost!

 

we shared a very tasty, if slightly small, scone

 

we decided it was too cold to go for a walk, so spent the afternoon reading the papers and watching football (Malcolm's team were thrashed!) on tv.  But there was some excitement when the lifeboat whizzed about the dock for a while

 

later on the sky cleared a bit, with some interesting clouds over the town

 

on Sunday morning we were going to go down the coast for a walk on one of the other beaches, but first we went out for a spot of breakfast.  But by  the time we had finished breakfast, the world had turned white!

 

so we had another afternoon of watching football (yawn) and cricket (Malcolm's team were thrashed!).  But then we had a special Valentine's dinner, courtesy of Marks and Spencers

 

and we musn't forget the wine and chocolates ......... all of that for £20!

 

when we got home this morning, it was to find rather a lot of snow.  Having unpacked and put on the first load of laundry, I decided that there was no way I was driving down into Hawick for my usual Monday morning food shop, so instead went out for a walk.  I did think about going for a drive in this tractor, as the engine was running, but there was no sign of the driver

 

you can see why I didn't want to go out in the car

 

the horses didn't mind the snow

 

an old field gate, with the sun behind it

 

the tractor, now loaded with hay, trundled past me

 

a lonely rosehip

 

a snow-covered sign

 

walking up the hill was easy for me

 

but driving down it wasn't quite so easy for this car

 

of course we have to have my favourite bit of scenery

 

why did I walk down to this gate?

 

to take these two arty photos of icy seed heads

 

 

on the way home, I couldn't resist taking photos of these gubbins, with the brilliant blue sky above them

 

I enjoyed my walk so much that I went out for another one after lunch, but I'll show you those photos tomorrow.  To finish, this photo is for Amy, to show her that I do sometimes crochet ..... I made this cosy shawl some years ago, and it was very welcome today for my two walks!

Giving a hand

Almost all the members turned up last night at Abbey Quilters, so as it was a very busy I offered to help Tricia with her folded Japanese workshop.  So that meant I didn't make a sample last night, but in true Blue Peter tradition, here is one I prepared earlier, when I had a trial run last week in the studio!

the three fabrics chosen from my stash

 

the block assembled ready to stitch

 

the reverse side of the block

 

one of Tricia's samples, showing how the blocks can be put together

 

when I was rootling through my scrap basket recently, I unearthed these strips, left over from a project from several years ago

 

I stitched the sets of three strips to the sets of four strips

 

and having cross cut the strips into squares, I got out some red fabrics

 

and cut out an equal number of squares

 

after marking a diagonal line on the red squares

 

I put a strip square and a red square together and stitched either side of the marked line

 

I cut along the marked line

 

and pressed the squares

 

I trimmed the squares to size

 

then had a play arranging them on the design wall

 

I know that I have more black fabrics in my stash, as well as more red fabrics, so I can make more blocks

 

this morning we headed out to Pirn House for a spot of lunch, passing this fabulous house, which is now almost finished

 

it was so good to see the blue sky

 

although these horses in a rather muddy field didn't look overly happy!

 

you know that I usually get no further on the menu at Pirn House than the French toast, bacon and maple syrup, but having had scrambled eggs for breakfast, I thought I should have something different!  So I had a most delicious coronation chicken sandwich

 

while Malcolm had roast beef, tomato and horseradish

 

after lunch we headed to Kelso, as I was going to the hairdressers and Malcolm was going to the barbers (he was in the barbers for about five minutes, I was in the hairdressers for about ninety!!).  As we were a bit early for my appointment, we went for a walk by the river

 

and to finish ...... when you are taking photos from the car, they don't always turned out as planned, when a road sign jumps out and gets in the way!!

 

 

 

Two days in a row!

On Saturday morning we were treated to a colourful sunrise .......

 

...... and as the weather was better than forecast, we wrapped up warmly and braved the cold wind to go for a walk on the beach.  As you can see, the sea was rather rough

 

this tree stump looked as if it was growing in the sand

 

there are still a lot of tyres lying on the beach after the recent storms - we have no idea where they have come from

 

there are also a lot of turnips - I would have thought the seagulls would have eaten them, as they often scavenge for food

 

there are still great rotting heaps of vegetation

 

there are several piles like this one, which weren't there when we were last on the beach

 

every so often along the beach there are stony stretches

 

the tide was coming in rapidly

 

so we decided to retreat up on to the promenade

 

this dog had been standing, watching us approach, but as soon as I went to take her photo she sat down and glared at me!

 

we were delighted that the cafe was open again, as we were frozen and in need of a hot drink, and some hot food 

 

we may have had chips the previous evening, but that didn't prevent us from sharing a bowl for lunch!

 

then yesterday on our way home, we popped into the garden centre in Kelso for a spot of sconnage.  Despite all those chips and the scone, when I weighed myself this morning I had lost half a pound!!  I may have to patent my new diet

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing, but to finish ........ I should print out this photo and hang it up in the bathroom for visitors to see - because we have our own little sewage plant, we have to be very careful about what goes down the loo!