frayed at the edge

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?

That's it all over .......

......... for another two years!  It may have taken a whole day to hang all the quilts, but it only took about an hour to take them all down again.  It had started to rain late in the afternoon, so our banner, which was hanging outside, got rather wet.  I brought it home and hung it out yesterday to dry

 

while I was waiting for Malcolm to get home from Berwick, I had some fun trying to take photos of the many bees in the garden  - just as you get them in focus they buzz off to the next flower

 

 

the olive tree is flowering

 

and the grapes are swelling

 

Malcolm came home with some photos of the dock.  Another large ship had come in, this time to be loaded

 

several large lorries came in and parked, spoiling his view somewhat!

 

once the ship was ready to leave, the pilot boat appeared

 

yet again the swans had to make a dash for safety!

 

on Saturday afternoon he was entertained by a great cloud of seagulls

I had to get an emergency appointment at the dentist this morning, as a filling had fallen out (it was soon sorted, and the bill was more painful than the treatment!)  When I parked in Hawick, I spotted this very large gull hopping from car to car 

 

I was a bit early for my appointment, so I walked along to the cauld

 

I was delighted to see a heron standing in the water - there have been few sightings of them this summer

 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing

I saw a ship come sailing in ........

When we arrived at the flat on Saturday morning, we could see, through the mist, a large ship out at sea

 

we popped out for some shopping, and when we came back, the pilot boat ..........

 

......... was guiding the ship in

 

as the ship came round to follow the channel, we got a proper look at the size of it

 

so we were glued to the window to watch it coming into the dock

 

we held our breath as the ship squeezed in

 

we weren't the only ones watching - quite a crowd had gathered

 

the only ones not enjoying the spectacle were the swans, who gathered in the top corner of the dock, well away from the ship

 

I took these photos later, when the tide had gone out - you can see the channel of deep water that the  ship had to follow

 

it didn't take the seagulls long to check out the new arrival

 

when we got up yesterday it was raining, and although it did go off, we thought it would be a bit wet for a walk on the beach, so we headed down the A1, stopping first at Sunnyhills

 

where we indulged in some excellent sconnage

cheese

 

fruit

 

then it was on to Bamburgh, where we visited the Grace Darling museum.  I wasn't able to take photos in the museum, but when we went upstaits to the panorama window, I was able to take a photo looking out over the churchyard where she is buried

 

when we left the museum, we crossed the road to the church - it is so big I had to take two photos

 

Grace's grave is very elaborate, as befits a heroine

 

but how sad that she died so young

 

we then had a stroll round Bamburgh, which is dominated by the castle

 

our next stop was in Seahouses, where the harbour was busy in the afternoon sunshine

as we strolled round, we could smell the tantalising aroma of CHIPS!  There were several places where we could have bought a portion to share for lunch, but as soon as we saw this photo in the window we had to buy them here

 

these are probably the best chips we have ever eaten - crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside - we will be back for more!

 

we had an audience while we ate them, waiting for titbits - but they were much too good to share

 

Malcolm laughed when I wandered off to take a photo of this pile of wood - but then a man walking past came over to say that he was glad that it wasn't just him that found the pile a thing of beauty!

 

as we drove back towards Bamburgh, the castle again dominated the skyline

 

before we left this morning, the unloading of the ship commenced, with a succesion of lorries driving in and out

 

 to finish ........ we keep seeing a seal in the dock, but as soon as I reach for the camera it disappears below the water.  Finally, a (slighty fuzzy) photo

 

Creeping ever closer!

I thought that I should make the effort today to get everything ready for next week's Abbey Quilters' exhibition.  First task was to finish my name badge

 

I then had to make a patchwork sash to wear said badge on.  I pulled this bag from my scrap basket

 

and cut lots of strips

 

it didn't take long to chain piece them in pairs

 

then stitch the pairs in pairs, and then the pairs of pairs ....... well you get the idea!  Miss Mannequin was happy the model the trial run

 

a little bit short, so I added some more strips, then trimmed the edges

 

I folded the strip in half, and stitched across one end, then down the length of the strip

 

the next job was to turn the strip right side out.  For this I enlisted the help of a ruler

 

pushing the stitched end through, until it appeared out of the other end

 

I then unpicked the stitched end

 

so that I could press the sash with the seam in the centre

 

Miss Mannequin modelling the finished sash and badge

 

she was delighted with the trim on the ends of the sash

 

I finished putting labels and hanging sleeves on my quilts, then turned to the last job of the day ........ making a cushion for the raffle.  I looked out some curtain sample pieces - two pure silk ones, and two silk/linen mix ones.  The colour don't look quite right in the photo, despite several attempts - the fabric in the top left hand corner isn't grey!

 

the four squares stitched together

 

the back stitched on ....... now I just have to add the binding

 

I just laid the cover on top of the cushion pad to see how it looked - pretty good I think!

 

to finish, a few more photos from the weekend.  On Sunday, we went for a long walk on the beach, and of course did some beachcombing.  Malcolm collected lots of driftwood, and I picked up shells and sea glass.  Back at the flat, I washed my treasures, then added them to this little driftwood sculpture, which was the first one that Malcolm made

 

as well as watching the swans gliding in and out of the dock, there were also boats to be watched

how do you like this fine fellow - he is in a temporary frame, until we get a suitable one (I got the print here)

The furniture fairy?

We went over to the flat on Saturday morning ........ and what was this when I went into the lounge?  Had the furniture fairy visited ........ or had the furniture been delivered when Malcolm was there on Tuesday?

 

but the bed isn't being delivered until next Tuesday, so Malcolm had to inflate the temporary  bed (with the help of a battery-operated pump)

 

which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable

 

we had lots of stuff to sort out

 

so were more than ready for a cuppa

 

things took much longer to do than they normally would, because we had to keep seeing what the swans were doing.  They would swim into the dock

 

they would sit on the bank outside the dock when the tide was out

 

they would swim back out of the dock

 

and this one had to use his wings as if he was doing the butterfly stroke to get out of the way of the boat (click on the photo for a closer look)

 

then of course there is the lighthouse looking good in the sun

 

and we musn't forget the seagulls

 

when we were out for a walk yesterday, we spotted these seagull chicks on a roof

 

this one didn't look very happy

 

there was a nice sunset on Saturday

but last night we had torrential rain

 

followed by an amazing double rainbow

 

I still have lots more photos to sort out, so I'll share some more with you as the week goes on.  But to finish, we had better see what the swans are doing now