frayed at the edge

Running late!

When I arrived home this morning, I was decidedly out of breath after sprinting running walking quickly down the last leg of my walk.  Malcolm had assumed that I was gossiping blethering having an erudite and intellectual conversation with a neighbour.  So why was I late home ....... because of this gorgeous deer!

 

I was so glad that I had put the big lens on the camera, and was able to zoom in, as she stood there keeping a wary eye on me

 

 

 

I spent quite a long time just standing watching her through the camera ........ her ears kept twitching as flies buzzed round her.  It was only as I resumed my walk that I realised that I had been so engrossed that I had been standing in the middle of the road, on a bend ....... so it's just as well there is hardly any traffic at that time of the morning!!

 

At patch'n'chat this afternoon, Anne S had just finished this very striking quilt top

 

Katy was working on another miniature quilt (when she wasn't showing off the latest photo of her adorable new grandson Aaron)

 

Maureen was somewhat concerned about hanging this stunning peacock wallhanging in her home, as she had been told that it was unlucky to have anything to do with peacocks in the house (my Mum believed that).  But then she was told that it would be fine as long as she hung it next to a door, as the bad luck would be reflected back out the door ........ aren't we funny with the things we believe!

 

Annette wasn't in the shop today, so we were concerned about our Friday afternoon cake ...... but she had left us a delicious dumpling, and some of her daughter's wonderful shortbread biscuits.  For once I was good, and only had a piece of dumpling despite being twice offered the biscuits

 

 

It's Abbey Quilters exhibition next Friday and Saturday, so over the weekend I will be sorting out my entries, making sure that they are all properly labelled and writing out the information cards.  I will be helpingto  set up the exhibition on Thursday, then undertaking various duties on Friday and Saturday.  However, Malcolm won't be at home missing me, as he will be in Aberdeen ...... I'll tell you all about his trip next week!

I'm not going to mention the weather, but simply hope that you all have a good weekend ........ I shall be bottling my first attempts at fruit vinegar!!  Love Anne

We have three new contenders .....

...... for the "biggest worm ever" contest!  I encountered these three beauties this morning

 

I made the collage here, and at the same time I made this one of raindrops hanging like diamonds on plants in the verge

 

This snail was in danger of being washed away on the wet road

 

but these heifers were happily grazing in the field with the Jacob's sheep (you will recognise the gate!)

 

 

 

I got my trainer rather muddy  .........

 

....... but I wasn't worried, as I knew it would be cleaned up ......

 

...... when I walked through this on the way home!

 

at the weekend, I finished Stuart and Alison's oven gloves and potholder

 

 

last night I finished the last piece of work for Anne

 

 

 

so, hooray, I can do some sewing for me!!  I have made a start to the block keeper (I got the pattern from Anne last time I visited her shop) using my Ghastlies fabrics, including the ones that Judi (no blog) gave me

 

instead of the owl applique, I decided to fussy cut squares from two of the  Ghastlies fabrics, using a cardboard window template so that I could mark the cuttting lines

 

 

the pieces cut, ready to get started

 

the first block, part sewn

 

both blocks pieced

 

and sewn together - which took two attempts, as I forgot to turn one upside down the first time!

 

I chose this fabric for the lining of the block keeper

 

and layered up using a polyester wadding to give a firmer finish

 

I have quilted all the background (white) areas

 

 

good progress!  After I finish the quilting, the next stage is to make various pockets for the inside.

If only looking really silly .........

....... had helped Andy Murray win.  I wore this stupid hat - folded up from a page of yesterday's newspaper - all afternoon in the hopes that it would have some magical influence on the result.  Ah well, there is always next year

 

Moving swiftly on!  When we were walking through the Saturday market in Hawick, we saw that the fruit and veg stall had some very cheap strawberries, so on Saturday afternoon I started on a marathon of jam making, which finished today!

 

This is basic strawberry jam, looking good in my fancy jars that I got here

 

I also made strawberry and nectarine jam - delicious

 

I make jam in small batches in a large glass bowl in the microwave

 

using a pound of fruit and a pound of sugar.  I use jam sugar, as I find it gives a better set

 

today I made strawberry and pear, and strawberry and melon - and still had a pound of strawberries left!  So I finished with another batch of plain strawberry jam, which I put into smaller jars to give away to friends

 

I bottled the new batch of sloe gin, and also sloe port, which we had made with the sloes from the first batch of gin.  This is the gin being strained

 

When Stuart and Alison tasted the first batch of sloe gin, they immediately demanded said they had better get another bottle or else said please could they have a bottle from the second batch (sorry, this is a poor photo!)

 

the rain stayed off long enough yesterday morning for us to go for a walk.  We thought we would go somewhere different, and walked up the road that passes the back of the donkey sanctuary.  There is just something so appealing about donkeys .... it is hard to pick just a few photos to share with you!

 

 

 

 

 

the road took us down to the suspension bridge over the River Tweed, which was running full and hard

 

 

usually we approach the suspension bridge from the other side of the river, coming down this road

 

on the way back to the car, I paused to take one of my favourite arty shots

 

I wan't so lucky with the weather for my walk this morning - yes, more rain!  This leaf had obviously had enough of the dreadful weather and dropped off the tree early!

 

but even on a wet grey morning, there is always something to brighten the day!

 

 

 

ps, when we were on the way home yesterday, we saw three different means of travel

horse power

 

pedal power

 

easy rider!

 

A special request

When we were on holiday, Stuart and Alison mentioned that they would like purple oven gloves and a pot holder for their new kitchen (to go with the purple kettle and toaster!).  So finally today I went out to the studio to make them

 

I chose a piece of purple furnishing fabric with zebras on it, and for the lining a piece with penguins, as Alison loves penguins (she loves pandas too!)  I also unearthed some heatproof wadding .... I'll tell you about the plate later!  I was so busy getting started, that I forgot to take photos of the first stages.  This shot shows the layers of the two fabrics and the wadding.  There is a double layer of wadding at the ends

 

next I marked a line on one of the diagonals

 

and then on the other

 

then pinned the layers together, ready to quilt

 

As I was setting the machine up with the walking foot and quilting guide, I was thinking about the first oven gloves I made.  It was when I was in second year at Airdire Academy.  We had to take in a piece of old curtain and a piece of old blanket.  When we were ready to do the quilting, we marked and stitched the first line.  Then, we had to measure an inch and a quarter from that line, marking it with pins.  We then tacked on the line of pins, then machine stitched on the line of tacking - it took ages to unpick all the tacking!  The sewing teacher was a little old lady, who was known as Wee Granny Taylor, and I can still here her voice saying "an inch and a quarter girls, an inch and a quarter".

 

Having stitched on the pencil line, it is quick and easy to stitch the remaining lines, as you simply run the guide along the previous line of stitching

 

the quilting done in one direction

 

and then in the other

 

I then folded over two strips of the penguin fabric, put wadding in and quilted them, to make the pockets

 

Remember the plate?  I used it to shape the ends

 

 

the pockets were staystitched in place .......

 

a hanging loop pinned in place

 

and the binding stitched on

 

all that is left is to handstitch the binding

 

I didn't take photos along the way as I made the pot holder, as I used this wonderful tutorial on Anne's blog.  Her tutorial is detailed and easy to follow, and in no time at all I had made this stylish potholder (except for handstitching the binding)

 

but this is a potholder with a difference ...... it has a pocket on the back

 

I think I shall have to make one for us!!

In the pink!

After a lot more rain (surprise, surprise!) it was a damp when I went out for my walk this morning

 

with a new stream appearing in the verge!

 

But then rain means that I get to play with taking photos of raindrops on plants!

 

The next three photos show how luxuriant the plants in the verge are - I just moved a little bit closer for each one

 

 

 

Usually when we go out, we either go for a cuppa and scone, or for lunch ......... but when we go to Duns, as we did this morning ....... we do both!

We could just have a cuppa when we go to Hugo's, but their scones are amazing!  Today we had a blueberry one

 

which was bursting with fruit

 

after a stroll round the town, we headed off to Pearson's Garden Centre for lunch.  I had intended to have soup, but then I saw that I could get a small portion of macaroni cheese ....... possibly my favourite garden centre lunch!

 

Malcolm had tomato and pesto soup, which was excellent

 

Back home, I finished stitching  Love, Hope and Friendship, but didn't get the chance to take a proper photo before dinner, so here is a little sample

 

Yesterday I started sewing the stitcheries on to Life is Beautiful.  I pinned the stitchery in place .....

 

...... with stabiliser on the back

 

I used Dawn Cameron-Dick's method of invisible machine applique

 

 

By the end of yesterday afternoon I had sewn fourteen stitcheries .....

 

........ just another eighteen to go!

 

 

The best restaurant in town!

When we moved here (almost six years ago) Malcolm gave me a bird table for my birthday.  It sat out in the front garden in all weathers, and unfortunately the legs rotted, then one stormy day it blew over and the legs broke.  Malcolm put a new stand on it, and that's the version you have seen

 

Then the top started to rot, so he has been busy in the garage making a new one.  He was just putting the finishing touches to it yesterday when I came back from my walk

 

I think the birds will be delighted to have this new place to dine, when I start feeding them again in the autumn

 

 

 

Last night I handstitched half the binding on the back of Lilly Pilly

 

it's only by chance that there is a stripey section under the tree ......

 

....... as I had to restitch half of the mitred joins to slope the other way as the dark stripes showed through on the right side

 

I am enjoying stitching the "hope love and friendship" stitchery

 

 

Now that Lilly Pilly only has hand sewing left to do, the next job in the studio is "life is beautiful" ..... remember I made the top for it some time ago

 

Anne has finished all the stitcheries, and I spent the afternoon turning the pile of squares into circles

 

 

The final stage will be to stitch them on to the top using Dawn Cameron-Dick's method of invisible machine applique ....... using that invention of the devil, invisible thread!!

 

When I was shopping yesterday, I spotted this new magazine ........

 

tasty recipes

 

country crafts

 

informative articles - I will have to look out for the next issue!

 

I mentioned some days ago that I had been making something for a friend, but couldn't show you until she received the parcel.  Well, Rachel received the parcel some days ago - I simply forgot to show you what I sent her!!  Two cushion covers with stitcheries in the centre and log cabin patchwork round them

 

....... something clever in French - but my French is decidedly rusty, so I thought I wouldn't embarrass myself by getting it wrong!  The reason for using French?  Well, when we were leaving the cafe after lunch yesterday, we stopped to look at two cushions on a sofa, showing a map of the British Isles, with the wording in French.  Then when we went to RE, we spotted the very maps - they are actually dishtowels!  I plan to make cushions for the summer house with them

 

 

I couldn't resist these notebooks - perhaps one will end up as a giveaway some time soon?

 

Yes, it's string - but I love string, it has so many uses.  The butchers' twine is great for tying up parcels and I'll probably use some of the plain coloured ones for bunting

 

I didn't mention in yesterday's post that I was going out (again) last night!  This time it was to Souter Quilters in Selkirk.  Dawn Cameron-Dick was the guest speaker

 

she was very entertaining and had us in fits of laughter, as she gaily slandered various members of her family!  After the talk, we were allowed to take photos and touch the quilts (some quilters hardly let you breathe on their quilts, never mind touch them!)

 

The quilts were all fabulous - but my favourite was this sheepie one, which she made after her first visit to Scotland!

 

I bought the book which Dawn has recently published

 

I have to admit that when it comes to all the technical stuff about sewing machines, needles and threads, I have the attention span of a gnat, so this little book will provide a quick and clear reference source

 

Of course you know by now that whenever quilters get together, there is ........food!  The members of Souter Quilters laid on a wonderful spread!

 

The tits are still busy feeding their young in the nesting box, so this morning I tiptoed over, wedged myself in between the compost bins and a large trellis ...... in danger of being strangled by a large clematis!  But it was worth the discomfort to capture these shots (click on the photos to enlarge them)

 

 

I then moved round to the back of the trellis and stood on the garden (don't tell Malcolm!) to get this view from the side

 

Fingers crossed that I'll be there with the camera when the young leave the nest!

Every time we think it can't possibly rain any more ....... it does!  Although we shouldn't really complain, as we haven't been affected by floods, as some parts of the country have.  Fortunately it was dry yesterday morning, so we were able to go out for a walk.  First stop was at the river, where the heron was trying to keep his feathers in order, as the breeze kept ruffling them

 

 

The rhododendrons are in full flower

 

 

 

although this one has shed a lot of petals, they provide a colourful carpet under it

 

although I was some distance from this chicken run (I had the big lens on the camera), the chickens obviously spotted me and came running over - perhaps hoping that I had food for them!

 

We turned off from our usual route, along a street which has a stream running down the side

 

I'm not sure what this pump on the bank of the stream is for .......but  it would look good in the garden!

 

We saw lots of this wildflower, which I have just tracked down in one of my wildflower books.  It is valerian, but not native valerian, but one that has escaped from gardens

 

 

We returned to our usual route, and went down some stairs which run down the side of a waterfall.  After all the rain we have had, there was a lots of water coming over the fall - we had to raise our voices over the noise!

 

 

After our walk, we popped into Sainsbury's to get the Sunday papers (and have a cuppa!).  I noticed this new partwork - on special offer to entice shoppers to buy it.  (sorry, it was hard to take to decent photo because of the cellophane packaging)

 

Of course I couldn't resist buying books of recipes with two such wonderful ingredients - Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Lyle's Golden Syrup.

yum!

 

not too sure about this one!

 

I have finished another of the stitcheries

 

and have almost finished quilting Lilly Pilly

 

The Euro 2012 Championships only started on Friday - and already I am suffering from a surfeit of football.  So once I post this, I will fetch my ipod and listen to some music as I work on the next stitchery (occasionally annoying Malcolm when I start singing along to my favourite songs!)

On Thursday mornings, we usually go into Hawick, where we pop into the Pickled Orange for a cuppa and a scone (just one between us, as they are very large!).  Given the choice, we both prefer savoury to sweet scones ...... so this morning we were delighted to try out the latest offering - tomato and black pudding.  It was delicious!

 

On the way out to the studio this afternoon, I was sidetracked, first by this clematis flower .......

 

....... then this very pretty aqualegia

 

 

In the evenings I have been stitching away on the little Christmas stitcheries.  I have finished the first one .....

 

....... and have made a good start to the second one

 

I had another session quilting Lilly Pilly, and have now finished the centre area

 

When I did the food shopping on Tuesday, I got some lovely asparagus, which had been reduced to half price (because it has that day's date on it).  I had a look through this book for a recipe .......

 

....... and settled on this one (although I don't know why she calls it Alpine eggs, as it uses Lancashire, not Swiss, cheese

 

I had started preparing the dish when it occurred to me to take photos!  So at this stage, I had buttered the dishes, put the cooked asparagus in the bottom and added half of the cheese

 

The next stage was to add the eggs.  I always used to break eggs one at a time into a ramekin, in case there was a bad one, but in recent years the standard of eggs has been so good that I had stopped doing that.  But then some weeks ago, as I was cracking eggs to make scrambled eggs for Sunday breakfast, the last one was bad, so the whole lot had to be thrown out.  So I have gone back to cracking them one at a time into the ramekin!

 

When I added the first two eggs to the righthand dish, the yolks promptly slithered to the side.  I tried to gently persuade one to move back to the centre - and it promptly burst!  However the two in the second dish stayed in the centre.

 

After seasoning with salt and pepper, the rest of the cheese was added and the top was dotted with butter ( just because it's a vegetarian dish, it doesn't mean that it's healthy!!)

 

As suggested by Delia, I served it with salad and crusty bread.  I wouldn't normally butter the bread, but there was a little of the softened butter that I used on the oven dishes left, so I used it up!  You will see that there is avocado on top of the salad - when we were shopping this morning, I got a pack of two "ripe and ready to eat" avocados which had been reduced to half price ..... because they had today's date on them!  Topped with finely chopped chives (actually, I snipped them with scissors) the dish was delicious, and very filling.  I think though, if I make it again, I will add ham for some extra flavour

 

I've got another silly thing to finish with ..... I wondered what Malcolm was laughing at as he unpacked a case of wine which was delivered this afternoon.  I laughed too when he showed me this - if you don't speak French, the name of the wine is (almost) pronouned carry on

With all the news about the new mill shop and cafe yesterday, there wasn't room to squeeze in the weekend happenings - so here is a quick catch-up!

On Sunday we went for a walk along the river at the Waterwheel Cafe, so of course that started with photos of the owls!

 

Some months ago part of the riverbank collapsed, and we were amazed to see that the repair work has turned into a major undertaking

 

 

Malcolm wondered what I was taking a photo of ........ doesn't everyone take photos of stones?

 

As we were leaving the car park, Malcolm stopped so that I could capture this little cutie!

 

As always over the weekend I was busy in the studio.  These are the latest little stitcheries that I am doing for Anne

 

 

 

 

These two are somewhat bigger, with lots of detail

 

 

 

 

After pressing them thoroughly, I layered them with some thin cotton wadding, ready to stitch

 

Next, I pinned the layers of Lilly Pilly together, ready for quilting.  I knew I would need a lot of pins, so got out both tins

 

 

I made a start to the quilting this afternoon.  I am using a small scale pattern on the spaces round the leaves, and I'll increase the size when I work round the outside

 

I got the right hand side and along the top of the tree done

 

The tits are busy feeding the chicks - this one had a careful look before leaving the nesting box .....

 

........ quickly returning with a beak-ful of insects

 

Our new neighbours are finally about to move in - but they already have squatters!  The swallows have made a bit of a mess with their mud nest on the newly painted wall!

 

 

To finish ....... after showing you my latest hair colour, I thought you might like to see the colour I was born with (yes, the blond is fake!).  I'm not smiling as I was very self-conscious of a crooked front tooth!!

I was going to say .......

....... something clever in French - but my French is decidedly rusty, so I thought I wouldn't embarrass myself by getting it wrong!  The reason for using French?  Well, when we were leaving the cafe after lunch yesterday, we stopped to look at two cushions on a sofa, showing a map of the British Isles, with the wording in French.  Then when we went to RE, we spotted the very maps - they are actually dishtowels!  I plan to make cushions for the summer house with them

 

 

I couldn't resist these notebooks - perhaps one will end up as a giveaway some time soon?

 

Yes, it's string - but I love string, it has so many uses.  The butchers' twine is great for tying up parcels and I'll probably use some of the plain coloured ones for bunting

 

I didn't mention in yesterday's post that I was going out (again) last night!  This time it was to Souter Quilters in Selkirk.  Dawn Cameron-Dick was the guest speaker

 

she was very entertaining and had us in fits of laughter, as she gaily slandered various members of her family!  After the talk, we were allowed to take photos and touch the quilts (some quilters hardly let you breathe on their quilts, never mind touch them!)

 

The quilts were all fabulous - but my favourite was this sheepie one, which she made after her first visit to Scotland!

 

I bought the book which Dawn has recently published

 

I have to admit that when it comes to all the technical stuff about sewing machines, needles and threads, I have the attention span of a gnat, so this little book will provide a quick and clear reference source

 

Of course you know by now that whenever quilters get together, there is ........food!  The members of Souter Quilters laid on a wonderful spread!

 

The tits are still busy feeding their young in the nesting box, so this morning I tiptoed over, wedged myself in between the compost bins and a large trellis ...... in danger of being strangled by a large clematis!  But it was worth the discomfort to capture these shots (click on the photos to enlarge them)

 

 

I then moved round to the back of the trellis and stood on the garden (don't tell Malcolm!) to get this view from the side

 

Fingers crossed that I'll be there with the camera when the young leave the nest!

Webbed feet!

Every time we think it can't possibly rain any more ....... it does!  Although we shouldn't really complain, as we haven't been affected by floods, as some parts of the country have.  Fortunately it was dry yesterday morning, so we were able to go out for a walk.  First stop was at the river, where the heron was trying to keep his feathers in order, as the breeze kept ruffling them

 

 

The rhododendrons are in full flower

 

 

 

although this one has shed a lot of petals, they provide a colourful carpet under it

 

although I was some distance from this chicken run (I had the big lens on the camera), the chickens obviously spotted me and came running over - perhaps hoping that I had food for them!

 

We turned off from our usual route, along a street which has a stream running down the side

 

I'm not sure what this pump on the bank of the stream is for .......but  it would look good in the garden!

 

We saw lots of this wildflower, which I have just tracked down in one of my wildflower books.  It is valerian, but not native valerian, but one that has escaped from gardens

 

 

We returned to our usual route, and went down some stairs which run down the side of a waterfall.  After all the rain we have had, there was a lots of water coming over the fall - we had to raise our voices over the noise!

 

 

After our walk, we popped into Sainsbury's to get the Sunday papers (and have a cuppa!).  I noticed this new partwork - on special offer to entice shoppers to buy it.  (sorry, it was hard to take to decent photo because of the cellophane packaging)

 

Of course I couldn't resist buying books of recipes with two such wonderful ingredients - Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Lyle's Golden Syrup.

yum!

 

not too sure about this one!

 

I have finished another of the stitcheries

 

and have almost finished quilting Lilly Pilly

 

The Euro 2012 Championships only started on Friday - and already I am suffering from a surfeit of football.  So once I post this, I will fetch my ipod and listen to some music as I work on the next stitchery (occasionally annoying Malcolm when I start singing along to my favourite songs!)

An unusual scone!

On Thursday mornings, we usually go into Hawick, where we pop into the Pickled Orange for a cuppa and a scone (just one between us, as they are very large!).  Given the choice, we both prefer savoury to sweet scones ...... so this morning we were delighted to try out the latest offering - tomato and black pudding.  It was delicious!

 

On the way out to the studio this afternoon, I was sidetracked, first by this clematis flower .......

 

....... then this very pretty aqualegia

 

 

In the evenings I have been stitching away on the little Christmas stitcheries.  I have finished the first one .....

 

....... and have made a good start to the second one

 

I had another session quilting Lilly Pilly, and have now finished the centre area

 

When I did the food shopping on Tuesday, I got some lovely asparagus, which had been reduced to half price (because it has that day's date on it).  I had a look through this book for a recipe .......

 

....... and settled on this one (although I don't know why she calls it Alpine eggs, as it uses Lancashire, not Swiss, cheese

 

I had started preparing the dish when it occurred to me to take photos!  So at this stage, I had buttered the dishes, put the cooked asparagus in the bottom and added half of the cheese

 

The next stage was to add the eggs.  I always used to break eggs one at a time into a ramekin, in case there was a bad one, but in recent years the standard of eggs has been so good that I had stopped doing that.  But then some weeks ago, as I was cracking eggs to make scrambled eggs for Sunday breakfast, the last one was bad, so the whole lot had to be thrown out.  So I have gone back to cracking them one at a time into the ramekin!

 

When I added the first two eggs to the righthand dish, the yolks promptly slithered to the side.  I tried to gently persuade one to move back to the centre - and it promptly burst!  However the two in the second dish stayed in the centre.

 

After seasoning with salt and pepper, the rest of the cheese was added and the top was dotted with butter ( just because it's a vegetarian dish, it doesn't mean that it's healthy!!)

 

As suggested by Delia, I served it with salad and crusty bread.  I wouldn't normally butter the bread, but there was a little of the softened butter that I used on the oven dishes left, so I used it up!  You will see that there is avocado on top of the salad - when we were shopping this morning, I got a pack of two "ripe and ready to eat" avocados which had been reduced to half price ..... because they had today's date on them!  Topped with finely chopped chives (actually, I snipped them with scissors) the dish was delicious, and very filling.  I think though, if I make it again, I will add ham for some extra flavour

 

I've got another silly thing to finish with ..... I wondered what Malcolm was laughing at as he unpacked a case of wine which was delivered this afternoon.  I laughed too when he showed me this - if you don't speak French, the name of the wine is (almost) pronouned carry on

Backtracking

With all the news about the new mill shop and cafe yesterday, there wasn't room to squeeze in the weekend happenings - so here is a quick catch-up!

On Sunday we went for a walk along the river at the Waterwheel Cafe, so of course that started with photos of the owls!

 

Some months ago part of the riverbank collapsed, and we were amazed to see that the repair work has turned into a major undertaking

 

 

Malcolm wondered what I was taking a photo of ........ doesn't everyone take photos of stones?

 

As we were leaving the car park, Malcolm stopped so that I could capture this little cutie!

 

As always over the weekend I was busy in the studio.  These are the latest little stitcheries that I am doing for Anne

 

 

 

 

These two are somewhat bigger, with lots of detail

 

 

 

 

After pressing them thoroughly, I layered them with some thin cotton wadding, ready to stitch

 

Next, I pinned the layers of Lilly Pilly together, ready for quilting.  I knew I would need a lot of pins, so got out both tins

 

 

I made a start to the quilting this afternoon.  I am using a small scale pattern on the spaces round the leaves, and I'll increase the size when I work round the outside

 

I got the right hand side and along the top of the tree done

 

The tits are busy feeding the chicks - this one had a careful look before leaving the nesting box .....

 

........ quickly returning with a beak-ful of insects

 

Our new neighbours are finally about to move in - but they already have squatters!  The swallows have made a bit of a mess with their mud nest on the newly painted wall!

 

 

To finish ....... after showing you my latest hair colour, I thought you might like to see the colour I was born with (yes, the blond is fake!).  I'm not smiling as I was very self-conscious of a crooked front tooth!!