frayed at the edge

Bursting at the seams!

I have so much to tell you today, I hope I can fit it all in!   Yesterday, I was away from home from 9am till 9.30pm (I wrote yesterday's post on Tuesday and scheduled it to appear yesterday!)  So what was I doing all that time?  I was at Borderland Fabrics, doing a workshop during the day, and attending a talk in the evening.  I'm going to save the details and photos until tomorrow, as I will have more sewing related things to tell you about tomorrow!

This morning I drove up to Falkirk, and I am now sitting in Stuart's lounge typing this.  We are going out for dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday - we are going to a Noodle Bar, where we may just indulge in lots of sushi!  This afternoon, I went along to the Falkirk Wheel - do you remember that the last time I went, there was a technical problem and I didn't get to see it turn?  Well there were no problems today (apart from the weather being a bit grey)  I took lots of photos so that you can see how it works - it is the only rotating boat lift in the world, and replace a whole serious of locks which connected the two canals.  (Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to go on the boat trip - but you know I don't like heights!)  The sequence of photos show the boat sailing into the 'gondola', the wheel gradually turning, then ending with the boat which had been on the top canal, sailing out into the bottom one.  I tried to keep the camera in the same place, so that you can see how the boat rises away from the level of the dock in photos 2-5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a wonderful feat of engineering - especially when you read this in the visitor centre

 

 

I was intrigued by these two sculptures on the dockside and went over for a better look

 

 

 

This sign gives some general information (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

and this tells you about the Kelpies

 

 

You can read more about Kelpies here.  Many years ago, when I was in the Brownies, I was Sixer of the Kelpies.  (if you've never been a Brownie you will have no idea what that means!)

 

To finish this marathon post, I thought you would like to See Stuart's new coaster

 

 

This detail shows how the felted circles echo the metal knot

 

 

ps - I mentioned there will more sewing related things tomorrow ..... on the way home, I'll be popping in to the Autumn Quilt Show at Ingliston!  Of course I will only be looking at the quilts and not buying any fabric or books or thread or buttons or .......... 

 

  

   
  
 
  
 
   

 

Stash building

Now, before you all start shouting at your computers that I am supposed to be using up my stash, not adding to it ........ it was Malcolm who was buying for his stash today (ok, I did get a little bit of fabric, more about that later!).  We set off this morning to travel west through Peebles and on into Lanarkshire (the county I was born and grew up in).  We were heading for Lanarkshire Hardwoods ...... Malcolm had seen an advert in the paper, and having had a look at their website, wanted to buy some offcuts to play with make wonderful things with.  This was the sight that greeted us

 

the labels show where each piece of wood comes from

 

 

even I was getting excited at all this wooden loveliness! 

 

So what did he buy?  Here it is back home in the garage, leaning against his workbench

 

lots of beautiful elm

 

 

I want something made from the piece!

 

 

it will be interesting to see how this knobbly bit is used

 

Also on the workbench is the latest cracket - this one is bigger than the last one, and just needs another coat of oil

 

 

The smaller one has come to live in the house until it is sold!

 

 

On the way back, we stopped at Dawick Botanic Garden (it's pronounced Doik).  First, of course, we had lunch!  Wonderful leek and potato soup - it had a lovely deep flavour, almost like French onion soup

 

 

This is the beautiful chair I sat on to eat my lunch - at £700 slightly dearer then Malcolm's crackets!!  (but having seen the price of the wood that Malcolm bought, I can now understand why handmade furniture costs so much!)

 

 

After lunch, we went for a walk round the gardens, but I'll save those photos for tomorrow.  Our last stop was in Peebles - we always enjoy a potter round the shops there, as they have some excellent craft/gift shops.  We went into a recently opened one -  Jelly and Icecream - only to discover it is owned by a lovely lady who had owned a shop of the same name in Hawick!  That's when I added to my stash ..... well, could you have resisted this fabric?

 

 

I forgot to tell you that I have already posted off Leenie's parcel and I have now heard from WandaFish, so her parcel will be posted off asap ...... once they receive them, I can show you the goodies I sent them!

I'm off now to sort throught the dozens of photos I took In the Botanic Garden and choose which ones to show you tomorrow - and there's a good programme on tv later all about baking .......

  

 

The changing seasons

Walking round the back garden, some of the plants think it is still summer, while others definitely think autumn has arrived, like this creeper .......

 

 

...... and this heather

 

 

However these clematis were basking in the sun ..... despite Malcolm's best efforts to prune them and train them to grow separately on the trellis, the purple one is just too vigorous, with only a few flowers of the pink one showing through! 

 

 

This climber (I don't know what it is) is lovely.........

 

 

....... but it too is being swamped by the fast growing clematis

 

 

There was some ground frost here this morning, so Malcolm is talking about lighting the stove tomorrow .......

 

 

....... he has filled the log basket in readiness!

 

 

As usual for a Friday, once the housework was done I headed off to Borderland Fabrics for an afternoon of patch'n'chat.  I laid out the rows of my quilt to see how they look together - the flower blocks will have corners, the same as the 'cuties'.  Malcolm is going to draw an owl for me for my last row, then I will have to decide what borders to add

 

 

However, I won't be doing any sewing tomorrow, as I will be working on the new and improved version of the felt coaster for Stuart.  I am going up to Falkirk to visit him next week, as it is his birthday next Saturday (mine is the Saturday after that - it is an expensive time of year, with all our birthdays within a month!!)  I will be out all day on Sunday having all sorts of crafty fun - of course I will tell you all about that on Monday.  And don't forget to come back tomorrow for Shadow Shot Sunday .... I must remember that I have another of Stuart's wonderful photos to use!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

  

In stitches!

Today was a 'Kist' day - when my house group come for the day to knit, sew, drink tea and generally have fun!  I have been working on Malcolm's socks - I have already turned the heel of the first one

 

 

One of the group, Seonaid, loves to play with sewing machines .... so she was delighted to have a play with my new one.  Whereas I have started at the beginning of the stitches (ie, the plain boring ones!) Seonaid plunged in to try out the fancy stitches

 

 

 

 

I forgot to show you these two photos yesterday ..... we went for a walk in the park in Hawick on Sunday.  One side of the park ends at the river - on the other side there are some houses with gardens which run down to the river, which gave me a good view of these two garden features

 

a rather smart bird table

 

 

a fun topiary

 

The weather has taken a turn for the worse - we have just had a very heavy shower and the forecast for tonight is for very strong winds ..... so I thought I would pretend that it is still the height of summer, with a look back at our glorious bees' balm in full flower ......

 

...... and one of the lovely fuchsias which added glorious colour to the garden

 

  

A bunny flop!

On Saturday, I (almost) finished my bunny pincushion ..... bit it didn't all go quite to plan (in future I'll read the instructions properly!).  I had pinned the front and back together, with all the limbs and the head tucked inside .......

 

 

But I should have left a gap in one of the seams so that I could turn it right side out after stitching right round the edge!  When I did turn it through, I found that I hadn't made a very good job of positioning the various bits.  I've stuffed it so you can see how it looks, but I will have to unpick it and do it again (I have actually pinned the head, as I hadn't tucked it in far enough and it just flopped forward!)

 

 

While I was sewing, our neighbour 'Jim the farmer' popped in with some more fruit.  He used to own the farm steading which our house is part of - my studio was the milking parlour!  He was amazed at the transformation from when he used to mik the cows!  I made plum jam today with the first lot of plums that he gave me ........ I think I might run out of jars before I use all this!

 

 

I had to go to the dentist today to get my broken tooth repaired.  It feels great not to have a ragged edge anymore!  The dentist also finished the cleaning and scaling while my mouth was numb (he's very considerate of my fear of pain!!).  Then on my way home, I called in to collect this .......

 

 

It's the first pair of Kylie's paintings, which I have just had framed. 

 

 

Aren't they gorgeous!!  (I'm sorry about the quality of those two photos, but it has been such a miserable grey day, it was hard to find somewhere in the house with a decent amount of light to take them!)   The pictures are the same size - it's just the way I propped them on the couch to take the photo that makes them look different!

 

And now ..... roll of drums, fanfare etc.  The big moment, the winners of the giveaway.  I know lots of bloggers use online number selectors, but I use the low-tech method, as in ' Malcolm, give me a number between one and whatever!'

The first winner is ...... WandaFish

The second one is ..... Leenie

Can you both please email me with your addresses ..... I have two little pile of goodies ready to send to you!

A nice surprise!

I arrived home from patch'n'chat to find this in the kitchen

 

 

I knew what was in it ....... but I wasn't expecting it until next month!  

 

 

It's the carrying case for my new sewing machine.  It was part of the special offer I got when I bought the machine, but they didn't have any in stock and said I wouldn't get it until October.  It has a thick padded inner to protect the machine in travel (but I will have to practise more before I take it with me to workshops!)

 

 

I was working on my row quilt this afternoon (I have to admit that I hadn't done any work on it since last Friday!)  I am now working on a row of flowers, and have completed two

 

 

 

Of course Friday afternoon wouldn't be complete without cake - today's was one of Annette's light as air sponges, sandwiched with delicious raspberry jam.

 

 

Well, that's it, my 499th post - I find it hard to believe I've done so many!!  Tomorrow, of course, is Shadow Shot Sunday, so I won't tell you who has won the giveaways until Monday ..... by which time I should also have found something to give away!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - I will be catching up on my neglected sewing!  Love, Anne

  

 

 

Watch the birdie!

On our way home this morning, we decided to have a stop in Linlithgow.  We had a walk down to the loch, where this swan went all shy just as I snapped!

 

 

We are used to seeing swans and ducks at the loch, but today we also had the treat of seeing geese

 

 

These cygnets haven't yet got their adult plumage

 

 

But one day they will look like this!  

 

 

But it was all too much for this one - a short nap was called for!

 

 

Our next stop on the way home was at a garden centre for a bowl of soup for lunch (chicken and haggis, delicious!).  When we had a look round after lunch .... more birds!

 

 

And who could resist this mum and her babies

 

 

But the day wasn't all about birds!  This funny little van caught our eye in Linlithgow

 

 

We also did a little bit of shopping ..... I have almost finished my cable cuff socks, so I got Malcolm to pick some sock yarn (I don't think he will want cables on his!)

 

 

We also saw this kit to make a fabulous wallhanging ........ it's my birthday soon, so Malcolm bought it for me as an early present

 

 

This is my 498th post, so remember to leave a comment if you would like to be included in the draw for the 500th post.  There will be two draws, one for home and one for 'away', because of the cost of postage ...... but I have a little confession to make - right now I have no idea what the prizes will be!!  I will have to delve into the depths of my stash (I may be gone for some time!!) to find some suitable things!!

   

   

Now it's official ......

........ it's my room!  This parcel arrived in the post this morning - a present from Sue

 

 

We had decided to do a little swap (oops, I forgot to take a photo of the things I sent to Sue) ....... I was thrilled to open my parcel and find this super cross stitch - so there is no arguing, the studio is mine!

 

 

 

I found the perfect spot for it this afternoon

 

 

 

I had gone out to the studio to use the embellisher, as Stuart had asked me to make something for him, and as we are going to visit him tomorrow, I thought perhaps I should get on with it!  He had asked for a coaster, six inches in diameter, with a two inch hole in the centre.  He wouldn't say what is it for, so like me, you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out!  The only other requirement is that it matches the colour scheme of his hall.  I pulled this unpromising lump out of the storage box ......

 

 

 

I carded some of the off-white stuff, and soon had made a start to the needlefelting

 

 

 

A quick look in the kitchen produced a plate and an egg cup to use as templates for the circles

 

 

 

so that I would know where to add my design

 

 

 

and then ..... oops - I got so engrossed in what I was doing (as I was working the design freehand) I forgot to take more photos - so we go straight to the finished article!!

 

 

 

Yesterday I mentioned jam - I've made more plum and bramble jam (although as this batch has fewer brambles it is paler)

 

 

 

I also started a batch of apple and rosehip jelly

 

 

 

Which I left overnight in the jellybag to drip through

 

 

 

Then boiled up with the sugar this morning, to give two big jars, which will be delicious with our porridge over the winter

 

 

 

And of course you have still to see the rosemary jelly.  It turned out really well, producing a full jar and some left over which we had with roast lamb for Sunday dinner - it was very good!

 

 

 

ps - there may be more jam/jelly/chutney posts to come ..... while I was writing this, our neighbour 'Jim the Farmer' came to the door with a big bag of plums, with offers of more plums AND cooking apples!!
 
  

   
  

 

 

 

Up with the larks!

I was up early on Saturday morning, as I had to get to Kelso for 7.45, so I could join the ladies of Abbey Row Quilters on a trip to Harrogate for a quilt show!  We had a brief comfort stop along the way, then three and a half hours later ...... lots of quilts

 

 

....... and lots of shopping

 

 

Normally I don't show you the quilts because of copyright issues, but as this entry included a website to order the pattern, I think I can show you these fabulous angels (you know how much I like angels!)

 

 

I recently bought 'Stitch' magazine, and promptly fell in love with the pincushion on the cover .....

 

 

...... so I was delighted to find that Sue Hawkins, the designer of the pincushion, not only had a stand, but was selling kits

 

 

And ..... since the magazine was published, she has designed another  colourway, which is the one that I bought

 

 

I also bought ribbons for some things I am planning to make for the Christmas fair

 

 

These felt squares were very reasonably priced - they will be great for embellishing ..... then I can use them for cards or bookcovers

 

 

Now, you may think I was very sad to buy this little kit, but I wasn't the only one to get back on the bus clutching one!!

 

 

As I crossed the garden this afternoon, I paused to take these photos of Malcolm's grapes - they may be small, but given that the vines are just left to get on with it all summer, we are really quite pleased with them

 

 

Did you notice that my forefinger is a bit brown - it is stained from cutting up plums for jam ...... more about that tomorrow!

Don't forget to leave a comment this week, so that you can be included in the draw for my giveaway for my 500th post!! 

  

I was nearly Hitchcock!

These mornings when I go out for my walk, I am greeted by lots of swallows ..... they are gathering before they set off south for the winter.  They are very noisy, and constantly swooping through the air, so this morning I thought I would try to film them.  I've never inserted a video clip into the blog before ....... and I won't be doing it this time, as it was taking forever to upload (next time I'll make the film much shorter!)  However, I can show you them sitting on the wire

 

 

There was a beautiful clear blue sky this morning, full of contrails .... this one made me smile - did the pilot change his mind about where he was going?

 

 

When I saw this tractor and trailer coming towards me, I made sure I stepped as far back on to the verge as possible!

 

 

This afternoon, I headed out to the studio to start making something on the new sewing machine.  It didn't take me long to decide to use this pattern ...... I saw it recently on Thimbleanna's blog and just had to have it!  I was delighted last week when the pattern arrived

 

 

I like to keep my patterns intact, so I photocopied the pattern sheet, stuck it to a piece of card and cut out the bits

 

 

Then of course, I had to choose some fabric ....... I decided to use the beautiful fabric that I bought at the NEC ....... a bit extravagant perhaps?

 

 

I drew the head, ears, paws and feet onto a folded piece of calico

 

 

I set the machine up ready to sew - after picking the stitch, the screen showed me the settings to use

 

 

Sewing round curves is not one of my strongpoints - I am better with straight seams, but eventually all the pieces were sewn and cut out with a small seam allowance

 

 

Now, I have a confession to make ......... I should have then turned all those pieces right side out and stuffed them, ready to use when I stitched together the body.  BUT ....... I sat down in the summerhouse to have a cuppa with Malcolm, and picked up the book I have been reading.  I was almost at the end ..... and couldn't put it down until I finished it!  So you can blame Stephen King and his latest book 'Under the Dome' for not seeing any more sewing!!

 

While I was having fun in the studio, Malcolm was hard at work in the garden.  The pergola has become completely overgrown by a clematis, honeysuckle and climbing rose, so he had decided to cut everything back.  Having made a start yesterday, he finished the job this afternoon

 

 

I'm off to the dentist tomorrow afternoon to have my troublesome tooth out ....... I will have to practise my deep breathing exercises to stay calm!!