A Walk Along The Jubilee Path, Kippford to Rockcliffe

We made the most of the good weather this week, with a lovely walk along the coast between Kippford and Rockcliffe.

Some images from along the route. [Please click on a photo to see a larger version.]

Lunch was at the Loch Arthur Restaurant, with attached Farm Shop. Always a pleasure to eat and shop here. The food is fresh and wholesome and delicious! I ate the 'dipping platter': three dips with crudites, salad and tortilla chips; gluten free orange polenta cake and a large mug of coffee. Rob had the chickpea burger 'dish of the day', coffee cake and coffee. Highly recommended :o)

Patchwork and a Textile Postcard

I made a couple of pin cushions / small cushions using English paper piecing - a relaxing and portable way to sew small items - more challenging for quilts (the one I made took about 10 years to finally finish! Collage photo below).

The first one is a pin cushion size, or suitable as a little cushion for a doll or teddy to sit on.

Hand sewn hexagonal pin cushion, listed on Folksy

Hand sewn hexagonal large pin cushion / small cushion, listed on Etsy


If you want to have a go yourself, there are lots of videos on You Tube, such as this one.

Another couple of pieces that I have listed this week:-

"In Another Galaxy" textile postcard, listed on Etsy

Punch needle embroidery pendant, listed on Folksy

A Short Break to Northumbria

Rob, Brock and I enjoyed an overnight stay in Northumbria during the week.

We stayed at the beautiful Chillingham Manor House, where we had the best breakfast ever at a hotel: Rob had muesli, orange juice, vegetarian sausages, eggy bread, toast and homemade preserves, and coffee. I had excellent fresh fruit salad, apple juice, bubble & squeak with poached egg (laid by one of the chickens I could see out of the window!), gluten free toast with Seville orange marmalade and lemon curd, with coffee. Absolutely superb! We bought a jar of the wonderful marmalade to take home with us. Ros and David who run this small hotel are so friendly and welcoming, I would definitely recommend a stay with them if you are in the area.

[Image from The Manor House's website]

Our day had started with a walk around Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick, followed by lunch at the Damascus Drum cafe.

Next stop was at Melrose. The weather was beautiful for this time of year. Here is a view of Melrose Abbey.

Then Kelso (above), before we drove to Chillingham.

The following day, on the recommendation of our host, we went to Bamburgh beach to walk Brock.

A slightly cooler day, we took a bracing walk along the beach, taking in the views out to sea and of Bamburgh Castle.

Then it was on to Alnmouth for another beach walk, followed by coffee and cake.

Our final stop before driving home, was at the fantastic second hand book store at Alnwick Station, Barter Books. It is a really wonderful book shop, with model railway running around the tops of the shelves in one room, an open fire with sofas and free coffee in another room. There is a nice cafe, the Station Buffet, there, but it was full even at this time of year. They operate a number system for getting a table. We were lucky enough to get the table in the centre of the bookshop, where we had a jacket potato with cheese, and the day's special, Kitchari (a curried lentil and rice dish). Tasty food, but we were still a little full from breakfast so didn't do it justice.

A very nice change of scene for us all!