frayed at the edge

Oh the joys of technology!

I'm sorry that I am a day late, but we had no internet yesterday ....... and it has been misbehaving today!

 

My blog is usually my sunny little world, where bad things aren't allowed to intrude, but of course I have to start today by saying that, like all of you, we have been shocked by the dreadful happenings in Paris on Friday.  I heard someone on the radio on Saturday say that the best response is to go on with our normal lives, so that is what we will do here, starting with walking over the old bridge on Saturday morning, braving the cold wind.   The swans were clustered on the mudbanks ....... probably because the water was so cold!

 

can you see the seal on the left of the photo, sneaking up on the cygnet?!

 

between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, we had a great deal of rain. as you can see from the puddles

 

the wind had dropped overnight, so it was reasonably pleasant when we went for a walk on Sunday morning.  We parked the car and headed for a section of the river front which Malcolm had explored before, but which I hadn't seen.  These little boats were marooned, as the tide was out

 

this building would make a lovely studio (just saying, Malcolm!)

 

the tiny figures show how enormous the old walls are

 

I don't think this boat will be going far

 

although the owners could try launching it down these remains of a boat slip

 

a view of the three bridges, from across the river

 

as we walked on, Malcolm reminded me of my own advice, to remember to look up ...... otherwise I would have missed this cupola 

 

a lovely piece of old weathered wall

 

this tree is hanging on to its leaves

I do like old garden gates and doors

 

a welcome splash of colour on a grey day!

 

two of our favourite shops have moved over the river into the town centre.  First, Miss Polly's Paint Pot

 

and behind the scaffold is The Furniture Barn

 

as I took the photo, Malcolm pointed out that one of the scaffolders was posing for me!

 

by this time we were more than ready for a cuppa, and headed to Lowry's at the Chandlery

 

we had one of our famous two-scone-lunches, sharing a very tasty cheese scone, and a delicious fruit one with jam and cream

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of crafting, and an exciting piece of news about a photograph and a magazine!

 

A scone is not enough!

On Saturday afternoon, Malcolm headed over to town, to have a potter round the shops. As the weather wasn't very good, I elected to stay in the flat.  When he came back, he handed me this box of Christmas cards

 

we have been invited to have a table at this year's Christmas Fair in Jedburgh, so Malcolm has been busy making more of his driftwood trees.  I offered to make some of my little folded gift boxes to hang on them, for which I needed inexpensive Christmas cards.  I made a start to the first box, then realised I couldn't remember where the second fold went ........ but all was well, as my first ever Tuesday Tutorial, way back in 2010, shows how to make the boxes.  You can find it here.  After a great deal of measuring, marking, cutting and folding, I had a pile of forty boxes

 

Malcolm declared that he would reward me with a scone when we went out for a cuppa on Sunday morning, but I declared that a scone was not enough for all the work!  So after Malcolm had ordered his fruit scone .......

 

........ I consulted with the waitress.  What did she have in the way of chocolate cake, because only chocolate would suffice.  She had tiffin, but it had a white chocolate topping, and you know that I don't like white chocolate.  She also had rocky road, which I was going to have, when she suggested a little something from the dessert menu ........ chocolate brownie baked cheesecake, with fresh raspberries.  By the time I had eaten this, my sore fingers from all that folding were feeling a lot better!!

 

and I washed it down with an excellent pot of Assam tea

 

we were in the lovely restaurant where we went for Malcolm's birthday dinner in September.  I do like this section of one of the walls

 

I popped to the loo before we left, and I took the camera, as I remembered from a previous visit that it was rather splendid

as we left the restaurant, I paused to take this photo.  I wonder if in times past shoes were made here?

 

we thought we should go for a walk on the beach, to use up some of the excess calories, but on the way I spotted some more things to take photos of

an ornamental air brick

 

a stylish detail on an old lamp post

 

I love these old stairs

 

a memorial plaque

 

it was rather windy over on the beach, and these little boats were flying along

 

we tried not to laugh when this boat tipped over

 

but he soon recovered

 

this chap preferred to supply his own power

 

the waves were crashing in

 

after being almost blown off the beach by the chilly wind, another cuppa was needed ........ and somehow we managed to eat a mince pie as well!

 

back at the flat, I was going to do some more practice on my sample of two-colour brioche knitting, but when I read the instructions, I realised that I needed stitch markers ....... which of course were all at home in my knitting basket.  Still, I am making progress with this rather complicated stitch

 

I don't know if we saw three different herons over the weekend, or the same heron three times!

 

and of course we have to have swans

 

 

and a cygnet

 

and to finish ........ I thought I might buy this little boat (complete with lobster pots) for Malcolm's Christmas ...... but for some reason he wasn't too keen!!

A tale of two beaches

On Saturday, we went for a walk on "our" beach.  There have been some very high tides, and the sand has shifted quite a bit, revealing the wooden groynes again

 

then there is the usual dilemma of the lighthouse ...... should it be to the right or the left of the photo

 

then on Sunday we went for a walk on the beach at Bamburgh

 

the sun was shining on the Farne Islands

 

but Lindisfarne was hazy in the distance

 

this family was enjoying a game of croquet on the beach

 

a rather large dead crab

 

Malcolm wouldn't let me play with this big (toy) truck!

 

on Saturday morning when we walked over to the town, I only had the point and shoot with me ........ so of course the seal was sitting on a mudbank!

 

look how much the tide had come in, when we returned home about 45 minutes later

 

we were delighted to see some cygnets come into the dock with the adult swans

I know there has been very little sconnage on the blog of late, so we took steps to correct that, having this delicious cheese scone on Sunday

 

and this even more delicious (and even bigger) cheese scone on Monday, on our way home

 

the trees are now blazing with their autumn colours

 

Maureen came over for the day yesterday, so that we could have some fun needle felting.  Before she arrived, I looked out all my felting stash, and most importantly, Gretel's excellent book

 

I had bought these rovings in Australia

 

I thought we should start with something simple, so chose the little mouse

 

my little mouse was soon under way

 

I just have a little bit of stitching round his tummy to do

 

but at the other end of the table, things weren't going so well, and there was a great deal of muttering from Maureen.  Having consulted the book, she decided to turn her mouse into a penguin!

 

however she then had a go with my embellisher, and in no time at all produced this super picture

 

while she was doing that, I made a start on a penguin

 

to finish ....... you know that I like tractors, but not when they are taking up the whole road!!

Down to Earth

We were delighted to find a wonderful new shop and cafe had opened, just a short walk from our hotel

 

we went there several times for lunch ..... you have already seen the smoked salmon and egg that I had, and Malcolm enjoyed his quiche

 

and we also sampled the wine of the week

 

but I wouldn't want you to think that all we did was eat tasty lunches and dinners ....... no, we also ate delicious ice cream.  Mango and passion fruit for me, and rice pudding and caramel for Malcolm

 

to work off all those calories, we regularly walked the long way round from the hotel to the town centre.  Since our last visit, this amazing boardwalk has been built along the cliff top

 

the views are stunning ...... specially on the days that the sea was stormy

 

and of course we have to have some arty scenery photos!

 

and we mustn't forget the beach

 

I have one more batch of photos to share with you on Monday, but to finish, I have this stunning photo

 

it's just a pity that I didn't take it, but merely took a photo of this advertising hoarding!!

 

we'll be popping over to the flat tomorrow ....... hopefully the rain will stay away and we will be able to go for a walk on the beach.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

Reflections

On Saturday morning, as we walked back over the old bridge, having been out for breakfast, we stopped to look at the wonderful reflections of the other two bridges in the river, which was unusually still

 

then in the afternoon, we drove up the coast to Coldingham, for a walk on the beach....  but first, we sat on this bench to have a picnic lunch

 

looking out at this view

 

with these colourful beach huts to our left

 

and there were some hardy souls surfing!

 

is this some weird creature from the deep?  No, it's just two crab shells

 

I rather liked this beach hut

 

walks with Malcolm somehow always involve lots of stairs!

 

I would have loved to go up this set of stairs, to see the garden on the other side of the gate!

 

of course I had to have some arty photos!  First, of old fence posts

 

then a seed head

 

I'm not quite sure if this qualifies as arty - two teeny, tiny snails on a leaf

 

later on, it was quite misty, but it didn't stop this chap rowing up the river and into the dock

 

I won't be here for just over two weeks, as I am going to have some serious rest and relaxation ...... no sewing, no knitting, no blogging.  Just lots of reading, good food, a glass or two of wine, and hopefully lots of sunshine! 

 

 

Bridging the gap

When we went for our walk on Sunday, we went the other way round the town, starting off at the bridges

 

 

there were great hordes of seagulls swooping on the water - there must have been a lot of fish for them to feast on

 

but this little gull wasn't interested, sitting quietly on a pile of seaweed

 

as we walked on along the river bank, a heron swooped in and landed just in front of us

 

I wasn't quick enough to capture the moment he caught a fish, but you can see the bulge in his throat as he swallowed it!

 

when we walked along to the ruins of the Castle, I had fun taking arty photos through the windows

 

we turned away from the river, going through this wonderful gate

 

then up this long flight of stairs, which has little bits of handrail to match the gate

 

there were splashes of colour along the way

 

I like the way the twisted handrail is finished off - as if they just wrapped the ends to keep them in place until they came back and finished them off neatly

 

the only place in the world which has been fought over and changed hands more times than Berwick is Jerusalem!

 

Malcolm spotted this big fat pigeon sitting in a tree

 

as we walked on round the old walls, we had a good view over the golf course

 

it was very misty looking out to the lighthouse

 

as we headed back round to our starting point, we could see the poor old wooden pier, which still hasn't been repaired

 

as we walked back over the old bridge, we saw one more little bird, well camouflaged on the seaweed

 

to finish ........what a pity I missed seeing this building being demolished, as no doubt there were big machines involved!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing!

 

Enjoying the weather!

Usually we go out for lunch on a Wednesday, but yesterday I had to stay at home.  I was expecting a parcel, which I was told that I would have to sign for ......... but when the parcel was delivered, I didn't need to sign, and it would have been left in the garage for me if I had gone out.  Most annoying!  So instead, we went out for lunch today.  It was a lovely day for a drive through our wonderful countryside

 

we went to Pirn House, which of course means that I had the French toast with bacon and maple syrup ...... and Malcolm decided to have it to

 

back home, I had a potter round the garden with the camera.  I don't know what has been wrong with the clematis this year.  Only one of them flowered when it normally does, and we now have two flowering which should have flowered weeks ago

 

and this one has yet to flower

 

we have had a lot of bees in the garden this summer ....... this was a big fat hairy one on the herb pot this afternoon

 

the exceptionally warm weather of the last few days has brought out great clouds of tiny flies.   We are going to have some very well-fed spiders if they eat all these little flies caught in webs all round the garden

 

the warm weather has also meant that the butterflies have been busy on the buddleiia

 

I have finished one of the two little Linus quilts - I just have a bit of the binding left to hand-stitch on the other one

 

this afternoon I made two sheepie cushion covers.  The first one was with the fun fabric I bought last week

 

the second one was with the much more sophisticated fabric which Maureen gave me

 

and I am sure that Anna will enjoy these photos of the real thing!

 

to finish ....... taking scenic photos through the windscreen doesn't always go to plan - especially when your driver whizzes round a bend, and you lose your balance and lean to the side, resulting in this!

 

 

A bit of a failure .......

....... but also a great success!  OK, let's get the failure out of the way.  As you know, we had an apocalyptic, end of the world, super moon, total eclipse of the heart (oops , got carried away with the title of a Bonnie Tyler song!)  I managed to wake up and stagger out into the garden at 3am on Monday (I just hope the neighbours didn't see me).  But despite fiddling and twiddling with camera settings, this is the best photo that I managed - if I had been more organised, I would have had the tripod set up, and would have had a much sharper image

 

but then on Monday evening, we had a stunning sunset, and as my camera has a dedicated sunset setting, these photos are a lot better than the moon failure!

 

at this time of years, large numbers of crows congregate in the field across the road, with some of them sitting on the phone wires

 

then they rose in a great cloud

 

I was slightly concerned as they flew over me (I still get frightened when I see The Birds !!)

 

I don't quite know how I managed to get this effect of beating wings!

 

to end, another failure ........ I don't think we will be making any wine from this year's crop of grapes ..........

 

....... or producing our own oil from these olives, which are the size of pinheads!

 

Day trippers!

This morning we set off bright and early, and soon crossed the Border

 

we kept seeing little flashes of autumn colours in the trees

 

Malcolm was slightly cross when this slow moving beastie pulled out in front of him ....... fortunately we didn't have to crawl along for too long before it turned off

 

there are no photos from our first destination. We were calling in at friends of Rachel (who hopefully by now is a Lovely Grandmother, as the Lovely daughter-in-law has been in labour for some time), who had very kindly brought several packages for Malcolm back to Northumberland after a recent visit to Rachel.  I haven't yet taken photos, but the packages contain lots of wonderful stuff for stained glass making - Rachel had been having a clear out, and having decided that she wouldn't make more stained glass, she offered all her supplies to Malcolm, who was delighted to accept.  With everything safely stowed in the car  (with very careful handling of the box full of sheets of glass!) we headed to Corbridge.  We had our lunch here

 

we both had one of the day's specials welsh rarebit.  It was so good I am going to have to make it for lunch one day soon!

 

strolling round the town, we couldn't decide who (or which) was older, the tractor or the driver

 

not only were these meringues enormous, but they had delicious fillings such as lemon curd.  I absolutely deny that Malcolm had to drag me away, before I bought the entire stock!!

 

a proper, old fashioned, greengrocer

 

this shop had lovely things, both inside

 

and outside

 

of course we can't visit Corbridge without a browse round our favourite shop ...... but for once I didn't buy anything - there was so many lovely things to chose from I couldn't make up my mind!

 

we could have spent a large amount of money in this new shop, including buying one of these wonderful shepherd's huts (but again Malcolm may have dragged me away as I got out my credit card!!!!!)

 

I think I have mentioned in the past that post boxes in Scotland don't have EIIR on them, as we have only had one Queen Elizabeth (the current one),unlike England, which has had two.  But the main point of interest in this post box for us is the fact that it was made in Falkirk, where we lived in the 90s (before we went to Indonesia)

 

when I saw this sign, I wondered if it was the Methodist or the chapel who was primitive!

 

back at the car park, there was a lovely display of sunflowers

 

on the way home there was more frustration, stuck behind large vehicles

 

so we had to pop in for a delicious cheese scone to recover!

 

whenever we pass this cafe, with its very large sign, I want to open a cafe a hundred yards along the road with a larger sign saying "oh no you're not!" 

 

as we began the long climb up to the border, the mist came down from the hills

 

but cleared in time to capture the moment we crossed back into Scotland!

 

just look at the rich, red, newly ploughed earth!

 

to finish - when we got home, there was one of those annoying cards from the postman.  But fortunately it told us where he had hidden the parcel in the front garden, so we wouldn't have to trail into Hawick tomorrow to pick it up

 

so what was in the parcel ........ just a little taste of heaven!  We love these Australian biscuits, so I was delighted to track down an Australian shop in London which sells them online.  But as the postage was almost as much as the biscuits, this is a very special treat!  The big question is - will I hide them away and eat them all myself, or will I share them with Malcolm and Stuart, who really likes them too??!

 

 

It rained so much on Saturday ......

....... that Malcolm considered setting up an ark-building company!  But then on Sunday we got up to a beautiful morning, so off we went to the beach

 

there have been some very high, and then equally low tides recently, and the sand has shifted a lot.  The wooden groynes have almost disappeared in places

 

I hoped that all the shifting sand would mean that there would be lots of seaglass, and I had only gone a few yards before I had picked up several pieces

 

recently I have seen lots of pictures in craft shops, at craft fairs and on Pinterest, made with small pieces of seaglass and little pebbles like these.  I shall have to have a play!

 

perhaps I could add in a feather?

 

this surfer was trudging up the beach - I guess the surf wasn't to his liking

 

we walked right to the end of the beach, then came up the steps and walked back along the promenade, stopping at the cafe ......

 

for a cuppa and a shared bowl of delicious chips

 

the good weather had brought out lots of people ...... with lots of dogs!

 

while I was taking this photo of an enormous rosehip .....

 

....... Malcolm was sitting enjoying the view

 

you can just make out Bamburgh and Lindisfarne on the horizon

 

as we walked back through the car park, we decided we wouldn't want to spend a holiday in this big beastie - you would probably spend half the day trying to find somewhere to park it

 

I've shown you various catering vans at local events ...... this is their base

 

as we walked along towards the dock, we saw one of the little fishing boats

 

which seemed to be having problems, as it was going round in circles!

 

I was tempted to "acquire" three different metal objects on our walk ....... a wonderful old gate

 

......... a piece old scrap metal, which would probably sell for a fortune in a trendy art gallery

 

....... and this lovely rusty gate post and lock

 

back at the dock, there was more temptation ........ two transporters full of brand new Minis (they aren't two-tone, the white is protective covering)

 

I shall be back tomorrow to tell you about a very special little boy, and to show you the quilt that I have made for him.