What I really mean to tell you is that the little village of Chesters is damn well holding its Christmas Fair this Saturday 11th, come what may!
I don't remember Santa smoking a pipe...
A couple of weeks ago it had progressed to this. 
Since then the heavens have cast down upon us with great enthusiasm and we have nearly 18" of snow to wade through. It is very light and easy to move but no sooner have you cut a crisp neat path than more descends and fills it in again. So my trips across the garden have slowed somewhat. Still, I did want to show off my most recent masterpiece! 
My dad's old office chair is a memento I have hung onto for seven years. Now, finally I am delighted to give it a new look and a new purpose. I will take huge comfort from using it, knowing that under that kitschy covering lurks the worn original tweedy brown upholstery, now free from cigar fumes, admittedly, but still, to me, the old man's second home
we are now part way through the third week since the gas was to be sorted,
the mouses could still get in...
Very soon now, I hope there will be some more upbeat pics again.
Well, OK, it's a bit patchy but it's glorious again today - crisp underfoot to start with and the sun glistening through the trees in our bird-busy garden. 
But I could not capture for you our latest visitors, a flock of maybe 25 waxwings, who have found their favourite feast and moved in for a few days.
I borrowed this image without permission from this gentleman's blog. If you follow the link you can read more about the waxwings in the south of the country in January this year.
It looks like this today. The cupboards minus their fronts are to become my bookshelves. The taps will not be functional as there's no practical cheap way of connecting them to a water supply and having drainage too. 
There's a thin partition wall between the kitchen and what was the bunk bedroom. I took down the other wall of the bunk room to open it up into what was the living space. So it has gone from this
to this
to this!
The wee rectangle on the back wall is a little memento - an unpainted section of the original flowery wallcovering. And I fixed up the spotlights as soon as the electrician had gone. 
Well, a few chilly nights and clear days provided a wake-up call that winter's approaching. Today seemed positively balmy in contrast.
The human contingent has beavered away at various projects. Hugh's been fencing and putting up gutters as well as researching routes for Far x Four, and me? Paintbrushes in hand at Tart HQ and stitching up new covers for the seating there too. In between times I have been knitting hats in handspun and worrying whether I have enough stock for impending fairs.
My first outing is to St Abbs Wool Festival on Saturday 6th November, with handspun and pretty buttons, fancy threads, handknits and new wee kits - lots of stocking-filler priced goodies for the discerning textile lover. Hope to see many friendly faces there!
What you see before you, ladies and gentlemen, is a borrowed tractor attached to the first and only TART HQ. Shortly after this calm and relaxed photograph was taken, the heavens opened and the tractor driver swung the caravan backwards across the road in order to reverse it up the side of the shed and into the garden. The operation did not go smoothly. However, men and machines won the day and TART HQ is now safely tethered. Work has commenced by yours truly on the interior. Photographs will be taken and you will be kept fully informed of developments. Oh yes, you will...
I love this time of the year, especially when we do get a proper autumn, with nippy mornings, clear skies and so much soft colour in the natural world. We're very fortunate to live where we do, with open views over the countryside and expansive skies. The quality of light is soft and rich.
Most of our walks involve the dogs, of course, but last week Hugh and I had a little outing by ourselves. We wandered through the rides and pathways at Monteviot, along part of the avenue planted with Wellingtonias, and round to a stile below the monument on Penielheugh. The land round here falls within Lothian Estates. Despite what you may read elsewhere, the monument IS open to the public. For a mere £2 you can borrow the key from the Estate Office (01835 862201) near Jedburgh and climb up to the top for an even better outlook over the River Teviot and surrounding farmland.
The views from the top were pretty impressive in all directions on this crisp clear day. There are the Eildon hills in the distance.
On our return we enjoyed a restorative coffee and home baked cake at Woodside Walled Garden and watched the garden birds tucking into their feeders with similar enthusiasm...
It's fun to just make it up as you go along and see what transpires.
Change of medium today - I fancied showing off some of the lovely ceramics which have gathered here over the years.
Instead I'm happy to appreciate the skills of others and gather examples when I can.
And down here is a wonderful crackle glaze hare by Paul Jenkins which graces our hall windowsill and a fantastic bowl built by Clair Norris who lives not far from us. She has recently started making framed mosaics of hand painted and fired tiles, amongst lots of other lovely work.
Hello! Been away to see the sea, these last few days, and had a grand time.
We stayed at Carradale in a great wee one-room cottage with a box bed in the corner but all mod cons. From there we could walk in every direction; to the woods, the seashore, the quayside and village (bakers, three hotels and a bank open for an hour on Thursdays) or to the next village. 
We managed to eat out in a pub, a tearoom jam-packed full of vintage kitchen and dining type stuff, a hotel conservatory, and a converted barge moored in Tarbert harbour which specialised in a curious combination of Thai, tapas and haggis.... 
We were out in rain and wind but mainly glorious sunshine, met lovely people, enjoyed some great scenery, encountered a few scary drivers on the single track sections of road and picked several pounds of brambles to bring home (as you do...). There were masses of waymarked trails through woods and along the shorelines and I was all excited to discover that we were staying adjacent to Carradale House which is where Naomi Mitchison lived (famous and prolific Scottish writer and feminist and a lot more besides). 
We didn't drive to the Mull of Kintyre but we did look at Campbeltown Loch (as in Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky, I would drink you dry - good Scots song, honest!)
Weather for the Art Trail was sunny and blowy, good touring weather in the Borders. We saw lots of friends and met new visitors as they explored the open studios over last weekend. 
and I really enjoyed having the time to talk with people as they wandered in the door. Once they'd exhausted my little haven of colour, they headed down the road to find Hugh in his cabin, surrounded by fresh and uplifting new acrylics.
Come and see us if you possible can. 
