frayed at the edge

I'll cross that bridge .......

Although it wasn't very nice yesterday - cold and damp- we still went for a walk.  We parked at the Leaderfoot Viaduct and walked up the hill until we had a view of the three bridges

 

 

On the way, we passed these ewes, patiently waiting for their lambs to be born

 

 

As you can see, most of the sheep were lying down, but this one was obviously keeping an eye out for trouble - she gave us a very stern look!

 

 

Back home, I spent the afternoon in the studio.  I added the eyes to the chickens

 

 

 

So that's the first of the four wallhangings finished ...... and work is progressing on the other three

 

 

I can no longer watch all the Star Trek re-runs when I am in the studio at the weekend - for some reason the channel is no longer available that they were shown on.  I couldn't find anything I wanted to watch on Saturday afternoon, so I watched a DVD of Cliff in Summer Holiday (I got it free some time ago from a newspaper)  Just have a look at his quiff!!

 

 

Yesterday, I was delighted to find an episode of Diagnosis Murder.  For the last five years of his life, I visited my Dad twice a week.  We used to enjoy a steady diet of Diagnosis Murder and Murder She Wrote - I think over the years we must have seen all the episodes.  We much preferred the earlier Murder She Wrote, set in Cabot Cove.  In one episode of Diagnosis Murder, they were on the pier at Santa Monica - I was jumping up and down, saying to my Dad 'I've been there'!!

 

 

Later, I was watching one of the music channels.  Malcolm showed perfect timing when he brought me a cuppa, just as Beyonce was telling him he should have put a ring on it!

 

 

It's Monday, so that means a progress report on the knitting project.  The flowerpot covers were very quick to knit.  They might have looked a bit more interesting if I had used different colours, but I didn't want to use small amounts out of full balls, and I didn't have any suitable leftovers from other projects. 

 

 

This week's project won't take very long, it is a little floral corsage

 

I will probably finish it tonight!

 

Still the one

It started off cold and frosty this morning, then turned wet and miserable, so it was an ideal day to be in the studio, snug and warm with the stove on.  I haven't shown you the progress of the chickens recently .... ok, that's because there hadn't been any progress to report, as I got sidetracked by the row quilt.  However, after a major session, I finished quilting the first wallhanging, and stitched the binding on - now I just have to handstitch the binding on the back and add the chickens' eyes!

 

 

Then I layered up and started quilting the second wallhanging

 

 

Usually when I am in the studio during the week, I listen to music - either the radio or CDs, but today I had a trawl through the TV channels to see what was on ...... and I found a very old episode of 'Ironside'!!

 

 

Later, I put on a CD ....... and after all these years, she's still the one!  When we lived in Indonesia, Shania was constantly on the Country Music channel, and listening to the CD brought back lots of memories

 

 

Malcolm bought the little CD player in Singapore - taking it back to Indonesia in his hand luggage.  You can see on the front that it says  Video CD.  That's because it also played VCDs - an early version of DVDs.  We had a lead to connect it to the tv, and we had lots of films - including quite a few pirate ones, which were sold openly in shops!  Some of them had obviously been filmed by someone in the cinema, and occasionally a head would get in the way of the camera, or you would hear someone cough!!

 

To finish - something absolutely ridiculous.  Malcolm did some grocery shopping this morning - one of the things he bought was this celeriac

 

First of all - why is it shrink-wrapped?  We are supposed to be cutting down on unnecessary packaging, especially plastic wrapping.  Second, why does it have a best before date that is only a few days away - celeriac will keep for weeks if stored properly.  Third - I know it is important to have allergy warnings on food ....... but does this really need to be labelled 'allergy advice - contains celeriac'.  But why should I be surprised - bottles of milk now have a warning on them that they contain milk!

 

 

A tale of two men in Morpeth

This morning, we headed south again so that I could meet another blog friend - this time is was Julie.  We were meeting so I could give her the third pair of socks.  They are for her daughter's birthday in May, but as her daughter doesn't read this, I can mention them!  We headed off for a spot of lunch, and amid much laughter, Julie handed me a paper bag from a bakers' shop.  Inside was a 'Morpeth Gadgie' bread (a gadgie is a man, perhaps of slightly dubious reputation!)

 

 

Julie also gave me some wonderful things in return for knitting the socks, but the light wasn't good enough to take pictures when we got home, so I will show you those tomorrow.  We had a lovely lunch, although perhaps we didn't do justice to the lovely food as we were talking so much

 

 

When Julie left, I had time for a little retail therapy before I met up with Malcolm and Jennifer, who had also been out for lunch.  There is a wonderful new shopping arcade in Morpeth, with some of my favourite shops.  First stop was .........

 

  I still have a beautiful dress and jacket that Malcolm bought me for one of our wedding anniversaries way back in the 80s.  It is somewhat too small for me now, but it is so gorgeous, I could never part with it (I must remember to take a photo to show you).  However, after a brief look at the clothes, I headed for my favourite part of the shop - the remnants basket.  I was very restrained, and only bought two pieces, which both cost £1!

 

 

The next stop was the one shop that I really miss, since we moved to the Borders

 

I have, for many years, bought my undies in Marks and Spencers, but today they let me down, as they didn't have the item I wanted in my size.

I decided to have a look round this shop ..........

 

...... although I was rather put off by the sign on the door which said something like 'we are open, but we keep the door closed to protect the environment' - but I won't have a rant about selling imported clothes (think of the fuel used to transport them) and all the lights used in the shop (all that electricity!).  The clothes were lovely, but as I didn't really need anything, I just had a look round, before going on to

 

 

This is where I encountered the second man of the tale ...... and he had designs on my gadgie!  I was looking at the craft books when one of the staff commented on the bread peeking out of my bag ..... he hadn't yet had his lunch, and was rather peckish.  When I showed him the gadgie, he had a good laugh at it - but said he wouldn't want to eat him, it would just be like eating a person!  I'm afraid I succumbed to a book - what can I say, I think I need a 12-step programme 'my name is Anne and I'm a bookaholic'

 

 

I was served by the same young man - very bright, cheeery and efficient,  I think he will go far.  He was delighted to tell me that as I had spent more than £10, I could have one of the books displayed on the counter at a (very much) reduced price.  Yippee - one of the books was the next in the 'No 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series.  I love these books - if you have never read them, get down to the library, or visit the dreaded Amazon and prepare yourself for delightful tales of Mma Ramotswe, a lady of traditional build, and her husband, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni

 

 

ps, my friend Lee in Sydney will be suffering from severe book envy - she is such a devotee of Martha Stewart, that her blog is called Just Like Martha!
pps - we ate some of the gadgie with dinner, and he was delicious!

Two adventures

 

I didn't have far to go last night for my first adventure - just down the road to Southdea village Hall, where I was Guest Speaker at the Rural (the Scottish version of the WI).  It is only a small group - and I used to be a member, so I wasn't too nervous!

 

they are looking at the Chairman, as she welcomes me

 

I knew they wouldn't be particularly interested in the technical ins and outs of quilting, so I just took along a big pile of quilts and wallhangings and blethered about them!

 

 

Then it was time for supper - never mind the savoury things, just feast your eyes on this gooey chocolate cake!

 

 

My last duty of the evening was to judge the two competitions.  First, choosing my favourite three brooches from the lovely collection that the ladies had brought along

 

 

Then, judging the knitted squares

 

 

This morning, we set off for Newcastle for the second adventure.  Now, you know we can't travel for more than five minutes without having to stop for a cuppa!  So when we got ot Belsay, we stopped here

 

 

When Malcolm ordered our cuppa, he somehow managed to order a cherry scone for us to share as well

 

 

I was lovely and warm, sitting in front of the stove - but on closer inspection it turned out to be a gas one!

 

 

Then, it was on to the The Biscuit factory

 

 

We were there to have lunch with Rachel, and to give her her socks.  While we waited for her to arrive, we had a look at the menu, and tried to ignore the special offer chocolate fondue!

 

 

When Rachel arrived, the socks were duly admired, then the food was ordered ........

 

a chicken pesto roll for Malcolm, broccoli and stilton soup for me

 

 

an egg mayo roll for Rachel

 

Having polished off that lot, we then went off to Rachel's house for pudding - a wonderful pear tart!

 

 

Then, the absolute highlight of both adventures ....... getting to meet the gorgeous Flossie

 

 

and the absolutely fabulous Tosca

 

 

There was one more delight to come - in return for my knitting skills, Rachel had used her baking skills to make these yummy treats for us

 

biscuits, two kinds of muffins - and the parcel at the front was unwrapped to reveal

 

 

the most wonderful rich, dark gingerbread

 

ps - don't worry, we won't be gorging ourselves, Rachel assured me that it can all be frozen!

 

 

All things woolly ......

....... with a bit of sewing in the middle!

On saturday, I washed the socks

 

 

rinsed them well, squeezed the water out (remember, never wring your knitting!), then rolled them in a towel

 

 

Once I had given them a good squeeze to remove as much water as possible, I took them out to the studio, put them on a dry towel and eased them into shape ...... then put them in front of the stove to dry

 

 

I'm still determined to finish the Christmas projects, so I layered up the Angel wallhanging

 

 

then free-motion quilted the background

 

 

When I was quilting round the letters, the foot was reluctant to move over the gold thread, and kept catching on the French knots (note to self, do the French knots after quilting!!)

 

 

Yesterday morning, although it was a bit grey and damp, we went out for a walk, and were rewarded with these two ponies posing for photos!

 

 

 

Remember I had started a pair of plain blue socks for myself, which were put aside while I was doing all the snazzy, jazzy ones.  I finished them yesterday ........

 

 

....... and then got everything ready to start the first of the fifty two projects this evening (I like to look after my books, so I have photocopied the pattern)

 

 

And now, for the last of the woolly things ...... yes, more photos of the lambs!  After lunch I wrapped up well, as there was a nasty cold wind, and set off up the hill.  I squeezed through a gap in the hedge, climbed over a fence, crept through the trees, got ready to get a reasonably close photo ....... and stepped on a twig which snapped, causing the ewes and lambs to trot off to the other end of the field.  So I had to backtrack and creep up a farmtrack to get close again - but then I was rewarded with these photos

 

 

 

While I was taking the photos, three pregnant ewes were keeping a careful eye on me

 

 

I walked on round to the other end of the field, where I saw two ewes, with what looked like a very big goose between them ......

 

 

........ but it turned out to be the gander and the goose!

 

 

Romance .......

........ when I did the shopping on Monday, I bought a tub of heart-shaped strawberry shortbread for Malcolm.  Although it's not quite Valentine's Day, when I made our morning cuppa, I got a bit carried away with a romantic look (the tray cloth was embroidered by my granny - probably more than seventy years ago!)

 

 

When I was heading for patch'n'chat, I had the camera ready on the front seat, in case the lambs were in the part of the field next to the road.  Unfortunately they weren't, but further down the road there was this consolation - rather handsome (if somewhat grubby) boys

 

 

I spent the afternoon working on my row quilt.  I had done a lot of work on the borders last weekend, so that I could sit and work blanket stitch this afternoon

 

the vines stitched and the flowers attached with steam-a-seam

 

 

then I added leaves

 

 

and finally I added hearts in the corner

 

While we were enjoying our afternoon cuppa, there was someone else tucking into a tasty treat

 

 

The squirrel might have been happy up his tree, but we were even happier to be tucking into one of Annette's delicious sponges

 

 

At last, we have a sighting of daffodils!  I noticed these two little green spikes as I went out this morning

 

 

In answer to those of you who asked about my iron ...... it is a steam generator iron.  The bit on the bottom is a tank of water.  There is a trigger on the iron which releases the steam - it is so powerful, that generally you only need to iron one side of a folded garment, as the steam penetrates right through, considerably reducing the time spent ironing!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - no doubt I will be sewing and knitting as usual.  I am planning to start the first of my fifty two knitting projects on Monday evening - I am looking forward to the challenge of finishing something every week!

It may look like snow ........

........ but it is very heavy frost - this was the front garden this morning

 

 

and of course the cold weather means lots of visitors to the bird feeders

 

 

 

 

I remembered finally to take a photo of the sock progress!  Julie's socks are still the same, waiting for the kitchener stitch on the second sock.  I finished Rachel's second sock last night - except for the kitchener stitch, and I have finished the first of Vee's socks.  I think I could now knit this sock pattern in my sleep!

 

 

As always, I spent the afternoon at Borderland Fabrics.  Cathy has been working on a design for a small wallhanging, which will form the basis for a workshop.  She has used my favourite sorts of fabrics and colours - perhaps I will have to sign up for the workshop?

 

 

Ruth was working on her Grandmother's Flower Garden, which is made with hexagons.  She is very organised, and has her prepared hexagons arranged by colour in a storage box, ready to sew

 

 

 the hexagons will make more flowers like these ones

 

 

There were two parcels delivered to the shop during the afternoon - which were opened to reveal ..... beautiful fabrics

 

 

 

Now to the best bit of the Friday post - cake!  Annette was a bit under the weather, having caught a very nasty cold from her grandchildren, so she hadn't baked for us.  But she knew there would be a riot if we didn't have cake, so she had bought not one, but two lovely cakes

 

rich fruit

 

 

raspberry and white chocolate

 

I've just seen the weather forecast for next week on television - very cold, but not quite as cold as in December ....... I think I will just stay in bed and pull the comforter over my head until the spring!!

I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Twice the fun!

When we go up to Falkirk to visit Stuart, I always pop into the newsagents, as they have an excellent selection of sewing and knitting magazines.  This visit, I got 'Fabric Trends' ...... an excellent buy, as you get not one

 

but two magazines

 

so twice the fun from one purchase!

 

I had looked at this Debbie Bliss book .........

 

....... several times, then when I finally decided to buy it, the bookshop I went to no longer had a copy!  So when I saw it on Wednesday, of course I bought it!  As you can see, it has 52 projects, all of which can be done in a week (in some cases considerably less than a week!).  I am considering working my way through the book, just as a little challenge to myself.  Of course Debbie recommends that you use her yarns, but I think I will use it as a stash-busting opportunity!

 

Of course it's Friday and that means cake - today was the wonderful apple and sultana one

 

 

Ok, I won't keep you waiting any longer!!  Malcolm has randomly generated numbers for me, and I am delighted to announce that the winner is ........ Vee.  Second is Sue (who doesn't have a blog - yet!) and third is Caroline.  So Vee will either get socks or a wallhanging (although I think she may just choose the socks!) and Sue and Caroline will receive a little surprise.  I will be in touch with you to get your addresses.

 

This week has just flown by, and it's time to say .... have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

It's never to early ......

....... to get ready for Christmas!!  Or, if I'm telling the truth - I am finishing the things that didn't get done last month!  I finished the blanket stitching on the angel wallhanging, and put it up on the design wall with some ideas for how to finish it

 

 

Happy with the look, I added the two inner borders .......

 

 

....... then the side borders

 

 

......... and the top and bottom borders

 

 

Then I pencilled the word 'angel' on the white border, which I will embroider

 

 

I also plan to make things with these fabrics, rather than put them away until next Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices for friends, and so it was yesterday when I had to buy these ......

 

 

....... just for Thimbleanna, who loves all things sheepie!  And an even bigger sacrifice had to be made, when obviously I had to unwrap one for the next photo, and having unwrapped it, of course I had to eat it ...... oh dear, all those extra calories!)  (Malcolm ate the other one)

 

 

I've started knitting a sock with one of the yummy yarns I got last week - I have actually done more than this, but I forgot to take another photo!

 

 

 

 

A wise old owl told me .......

........ that owls are very fashionable just now, and we had a bit of an owl theme with Christmas presents.  As well as my headphone owl, Malcolm also gave me .......

 

 

this exceedingly cute denim owl, which opens to reveal ........

 

....... a miniature manicure set

 

Should you win the giveaway for my blogiversary (remember to leave a comment to have a chance of winning), your parcel may be sealed with this sticky tape

 

 

But I will only be using tiny bits, to make it last, as I like it so much

 

 

But I wasn't the only one receiving owl related gifts.  I saw this fabric in Borderland Fabrics and decided to buy a metre, planning to make something for Malcolm. 

 

 

I had just paid for it, when Cathy produced this fabric ....... and I bought half a metre of it!

 

I ran out of time to make anything with the fabric, so Malcolm was a bit puzzled to open a parcel with two pieces of fabric in it!  We haven't yet decided what to make - perhaps some things for the kitchen ...... which leads me neatly to my next photo!

We had porridge for breakfast this morning - served up in our new bowls.  Malcolm had honey with his, and I had a (large) spoonful of my homemade apple jelly ....... a wonderful way to start the day!

 

 

But to return to the owl theme to end ....... I went to Kelso today for knit'n'natter, going early so that I could have lunch in the garden centre beforehand.  The Christmas decorations were all half price, so I bought two - and yes, owls have even crept into Christmas!

 

 

ps - it's snowing again!!