frayed at the edge

Teddy bear sheepies!

We wrapped up well and went for a walk yesterday morning.  We parked beside the donkey sanctuary, but the first creatures we saw weren't donkeys, but little shaggy ponies

 

this donkey must have thought that I had food with me, as he stretched his head as far a possible over the fence ........

 

......... Malcolm had to distract him, so that I could take a better photo of him

 

there weren't any other donkeys about (I think they were being sensible and keeping warm in the stables), but we didn't mind too much when we saw these amazing sheepies in the next field.  They looked a cross between big cuddly teddy bears and sheepies

 

 

 

we walked on down to the River Tweed

 

as we crossed the footbridge .....

 

....... Malcolm was making it wobble as I tried to take this photo!

 

as we walked on, we coud see the Temple of the Muses

 

there was a bitterly cold wind whistling through the Temple, so we didn't linger after I took these two photos

 

we headed to the Old Melrose Tearoom for a warming cuppa and an excellent toasted teacake

 

did you notice the cute little milk jug?

 

it made me laugh every time I poured some milk!!

 

if you are now wondering why we had two jugs, Malcolm had hot milk with his coffee.  To finish ....... a Sunday walk wouldn't be complete with an arty shot (or two) of dried seed heads!

 

Too much snow!

We got up this morning to a white world!  While Malcolm worked hard clearing the paths and the drive ........

 

........ I had fun taking photographs

 

then suddenly it started to snow again

 

when the snow went off, I went for a walk, but I'll save the scenic shots for tomorrow, as there are lots of photos of sheepies, ponies, donkeys and birds to get through

 

the two little donkeys had more sense than to stand outside in the cold, content simply to pop their heads out of the table

 

as always,there were lots of sparrows in the front garden

 

so, I'll be back tomorrow with some wonderful scenic shots, but to finish ........ I wouldn't want you to think that Malcolm had to do all the clearing work on his own.  He had two little helpers ....... CheekySockMonkey and JDtheTractor!!

 

A good idea?

The latest issue of Homemaker magazine arrived in the post this morning.  As usual it is full of good ideas ........ but I think this suggestion on the cover might make your bed soggy!

 

of course they meant a hot water bottle cover!  I was delighted with this month's free gift - very often these little kits languish in the studio, but I think I will make up this one

 

when we set off for Melrose this morning, there were some flights of snow, but the sun was shining.  

 

sometimes when I take photos from the car, they don't quite turn out as planned ........like these blurred sheepies!

 

we had a very enjoyable lunch.  Malcolm had a cheese and ham toastie

 

and I had cheese savoury sandwiches

 

on the way home, the weather got steadily worse

 

back home, Malcolm was delighted with his bargain of the day ...... a half-price tin of amaretti biscuits (and he can eat them all himself, as I don't like them!)

 

to finish - these Belted Galloway cattle looked decidedly miserable standing in the mud!

Blowing the cobwebs away

I haven't been doing much walking recently, so I decided to head up the road past the church before lunch.  It was rather chilly, with the wind making it feel even colder.  So I wrapped up well and set off.  As soon as I was out on the road, I had to stop to take a photo of some sheepies tucking into hay

 

I had only gone a few yards further when there was another stop to capture the donkey-owning neighbours' snowdrops

 

however I then managed to walk quite a bit further before encountering these sheepies

 

over the years that we have been here, this old tree has lost all but one little branch, but it is still alive

 

I still see a monster when I look at it!

 

of course on the way back home I had to stop again to admire my favourite view

 

I had taken a little bag with me to collect some bits and pieces, and back home I made a little still life on one of Malcolm's many wooden plates/bowls

 

to finish ...... I made a good start to the ball end sweater last night.  The photo doesn't do the colours justice - I could do with wearing my sunglasses while knitting!

Sheepies

There has been a distinct lack of sheepies here recently, so I was delighted when I looked out the window this morning and saw that we had ewes in the field across the road

 

and not only were there sheep in that field, there were also some in the next field ...... and in the field in the distance (there isn't really a wire in the field with the sheep, it crosses the road quite a distance away!)

 

normally the sparrows fly away when I go out into the garden, but they are so anxious to eat at this time of year, that they just sat in the hawthorn tree until I had finished taking photos

 

I finished the oven gloves this afternoon

 

I wouldn't normally hang oven gloves from a knob on the cooker, it was just to let you see that I put a hanging loop on them

 

as usual I have used doors to display my  collection of Christmas wallhangings

 

there may have been no patch'n'chat, but I wasn't deprived of cake ........ Malcolm had bought a most delicious salted caramel sponge for our afternoon cuppa

 

well, dear readers, this is my last post of the year!!  I am taking a short break and will be back on Monday 5th January for another year of nonsensical ramblings educated discourse on a myriad of subjects.  I have still to decide on my resolution for 2015 ....... do you have any suggestions for me (there might even be a prize for the best one!!)  Thank you very much for reading the blog and leaving your lovely comments - I appreciate them so much.  So all that remains is to wish you lots of love and

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

Frustration and desperation!

I have been working on the next border for Mrs Billings, piecing the strips on the machine as I really don't like hand piecing!

 

but I just couldn't get the corners to fit.  I found the diagrams on the pattern sheet confusing, and no matter how may times I unpicked and restitched , I just couldn't get it to go together

 

so I did what any sensible person would do ...... I gave up and cut strips of a patterned fabric to the correct size

  

then added the next border

 

I then skipped ahead and cut the background squares for border 9

 

I have still been stitching away on the pyramids for the outer border, and have done just over half of them (I need 100!).  But I have run out of hexagons, so I am going to applique the hexagon flowers for border 9 on to their background squares, so that I can retrieve the hexagons from them to reuse

 

I realised this morning that I haven't shown you the knitting that I did on holiday.  It has still to be blocked, but it looks rather fetching wrapped round my mannequin.  The yarn is a beautiful mix of alpaca and silk - I think it will be very cosy

 

I haven't done any knitting in the evenings for quite some time, so I have decided to divide my evening up and spend some time sewing, then some time knitting.  I know I should finish the UFOs in my knitting basket, but I thought I would ease myself back into the routine with something simple, so chose one of the scarf patterns I bought at Bendigo Mill, and dug out a nice blue yarn from my stash

 

I have started feeding the birds again, which of course also means that I am taking photos of them again

 

the weather has been somewhat dreich, and the sheep in the field across the road didn't look very happy this morning

 

to finish .......I may have mentioned once or twice before that I don't like cats ........ but even I couldn't resist taking a photo of these two!!

 

Sheepies!!

I had just mentioned to Malcolm yesterday that there hadn't been any sheepies on the blog recently (the swans have been hogging the limelight) ......... and then, this morning, there were sheepies in the field across the road!!

 

there was a definite feel of autumn when I was out in the garden taking photos this morning.  The rowan tree is laden with berries, which the blackbirds love

 

 

 

and the climbing roses are hanging on

 

 

when the post arrived this morning - woo hoo, an envelope from far-flung places

 

there were birthday cards for both of us from Lee and her lovely family in Sydney.  I think you will guess which one was for Malcolm and which one was for me!

 

I was very busy sewing at patch'n'chat this afternnon - but I wasn't doing my own sewing!  Margaret had stitched a beautiful applique panel to put on a bag for her great-granddaughter, but she wasn't sure how to stitch it on.  I started by showing her the stitch that I would use to do it ....... and ended up sewing the whole thing for her!

 

Margaret did allow me to have a break, so that I could enjoy the Friday cake - cute little cup cakes with chocolate icing and fresh strawberries

 

we have a busy weekend ahead, with our lovely neighbours (the shoe shop owners) coming over to Berwick on Sunday for a visit.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

 

I was just about to publish the post when the robin turned up for a bath - so here are some extra photos!

 

 

It's usually town v country .........

........ but today we have country v seaside, as we are in Berwick (woo hoo, this is my first post from the flat!)

So lets start with some photos from yesterday's post-lunch walk

 donkeys

 

sheepies

 

the Mintos

 

the Eildons

 

my favourite view!

 

now for some photos taken on our post-lunch walk today

a misty grey sky behind the cliff

 

fishing from the breakwater

 

a small boat passing the lighthouse

 

do the golfers bite?

 

a seaside bee

 

the railway bridge in the background, with the road bridge in front

 

back at the flat, I had to check out the swans

 

and the seal obligingly popped his head out of the water

 

we saw this van and trailer before we went for our walk

 

then when we came back, a boom had been put round the pilot boat

 

but there didn't actually seem to be a problem, and eventually the boom was taken in again

 

I want one of these (please) ....... you can't tell from the photo, but it was going backwards!

 

the new cushions look good

 

and to finish - some things are the same whether they are in the country or at the seaside.  Can you tell which is the country seedhead arty photo, and which the seaside?

A sense of proportion

I have been working on my challenge piece - the horrible nasty revolting delightful foundation-pieced landscape.  The little bit you saw yesterday was the start of a row of trees.  I then added the trunks

 

then I added a higgledy piggledy fence across the bottom field

 

then I thought I would have a bit of fun and add some sheepies.  Unfortunately the best field for them was the green one at the top, so the sheep are way out of proportion to the rest of the picture!

 

I made the sheep with little bits of wool, held in place with some free-motion stitching, and machine embroidered the faces and legs

 

feeling reasonably pleased with the results, I showed it to Malcolm.  Once he had stopped laughing at the gigantic mutant sheep roaming the hills, he remarked that my trees look as if they had been drawn by a five year old.  Regular readers will know that my drawing skills have never progressed since I was five, so I wasn't too insulted!  Following his advice, I did some more stitching on them - and Malcolm then said that they looked like palm trees!  At least that means that the monster sheep are terrorising a tropical island, far, far away!

 

the next job was to quilt the little sashiko wallhanging

 

you can see the quilting on the wrong side

 

I also finished the quilting on this little landscape, which I started at a workshop with Sheena Norquay

 

I also did my stage-by-stage samples for this week's class

tumbling blocks

 

friendship  star

 

to finish ......... if you had one of these, what would you do?

 

if you are Malcolm, you start making a planter for the garden

 

 

Back to work!

It was a bit of a shock to the system to be heading out to work before nine o'clock this morning - usually I am heading for the shower then!  When I got to the college, I was delighted to find that Tracey had the kettle on, ready for me to make cuppa.  I quickly got everything unpacked ready for my students arriving, and Tracey gave me all the paperwork that goes with the job.  Once the ladies arrived I went through all the important information - the fire exit, the assembly point, the location of the first aid box, where the toilet is etc etc.  We were so busy getting started on their sampler quilts that I forgot all about photos!  When I remembered, the ladies were quite happy to pose for this photo - you will recognise them as being four of the students from the first class

 

did you notice the bags on the table from the first class - this one is Susan's

 

the room we use is so small, there is nowhere to properly display the quilt, so I pinned it to a cork notice board!

 

back home, I set about making dinner.  After all that cake eating on holiday, I am very firmly back on my Fast/5:2 diet.  I had looked through some of the Fast recipes the other day, but hadn't seen anythinng that I really wanted, but then I remembered that I had this book

 

the recipes in it are fat-free, making them low in calories - perfect!  I settled on this one

 

so this afternoon I assembled the ingredients 

 

at least, that's the quantities given in the recipe, but I was making twice that amount, so that I could freeze some, so I added another onion and two more cartons of tomatoes.  I quite often use the frozen cubes of garlic - living in the middle of nowhere, I can't just pop to the shop if I discover that I don't have any fresh garlic, so I always have garlic, chillies and ginger in the freezer.  While the onions were softening, I browned the meat in batches

 

I measured out the curry powder using one of the cute little measuring cups that Stuart and Alison gave me for Christmas

 

way back in the 80s, I was a great fan of Madhur Jaffrey .......

 

....... and her Indian cookery

 

one of her pieces of advice was to add some water to the curry powder and make it into a paste

 

and another was to stir the paste in and continue cooking for a few minutes to cook out the raw curry flavour ......

 

......... before adding the liquid ingredients

 

the curry is so low in calories, I was able to have a small portion of rice, a spoonful of fat-free yogurt and a spoonful of lime pickle ....... but alas, no mango chutney for me, that was for Malcolm!

 

when I came home at lunchtime, I was only a short distance from the house when I spotted this naughty lamb out on the verge, munching on the weeds