Recently viewed

You haven't yet viewed any products on our store. If you've been here before, you may need to sign in.

Stravaiging

Stravaiging graphic

A visit to Farfield Mill

A few days before Christmas I was able to visit Farfield Mill to see their current textile exhibitions before they closed for the festive season.

What we did on our holidays

Christmas 2024 was spent in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales (in northern England). We booked a week in a wee first floor apartment with woodburning stove on the southern edge of the green in the village of Reeth. We have visited before, together and separately, but never stayed a night.

Chocolate Orange Bread

Because we all need a little escape, and hiding in a chocolate infused bubble works briefly.

Falling leaves, slowing down

We are all just creatures, all of this planet, and only nominally in control of our bodies at any time. And if we are also all stardust, why do we expect so much of ourselves and of others? Isn’t it a feat that we can tie our own shoelaces, let alone use mobile phones and TV remotes? Why do we push onwards, feel guilty about extra coffee breaks or not ticking adequate numbers of things off lists? Where are we trying to get to?

The Border Tart’s Retreat in March 2025

This post is solely about the retreat I am planning for March next year. It is now open to all and there is a copy of the application form below to download and complete, if you would like to participate. It sets out the cost per attendee and the payment schedule. 

How you live your days...

...is how you live your life.

Mellowing?

I've been musing on my age. Not in a mournful way but choosing to embrace some of the changes the passing years bring.

Tart Retreat in 2024

This post is solely about the retreat I am planning for May next year. It is only open to newsletter subscribers so if you are a blog subscriber only then pop over to the website home page and sign up for newsletters to be eligible.

Blooming?

Summer takes me by surprise. Every day recently I have woken to the suggestion of, or actual, sunshine. It seems such a long time since the northern UK had this long a spell of warm weather. The many light hours are enriching and full of promise with early mornings and late evenings the loveliest.

Back to Lewis

The week before last was spent in the Outer Hebrides. We drove up to Ullapool, building in dog walking stops and a late picnic lunch at the edge of a forest. The crossing takes two and half hours across the stretch of water known as the Minch. It can be challenging around each equinox with high seas running but we travelled in reasonable comfort, thankfully.

Cake is always a good idea

Yesterday I had a wee cooking session and one of the outcomes was Mozart Cake.

Messy, unfocused, curiously stressful.

WARNING - Stream of consciousness ahead.

Two Northumberland Beauties

In October I wrote about being in Yorkshire. In that same North of England trip I also caught up with two rather talented women who run businesses closer to home.

Surfacing

Books. My little world would be much smaller without them and I know I am far from alone in that feeling.

Glimpses of the Past

Last week I had the good fortune to be in Halifax.

Courgette Cake Season

I like cake. Specifically I like interesting cakes/loaves with lots of flavour. (No Victoria sponges here, thank you, and buttercream about once a year)

Blissful Blues

I'm encouraging you to share the calm and beauty of natural indigo today, with a collection ranging from traditional boro to contemporary weave and block print.

Close to home

You may know I have a soft spot for the church on the corner that I pass so frequently when out with Bruce. More specifically a fondness for the churchyard itself.

Exploring Berwick

Ok, I am biased. I don't live far from this most northerly English town (although in another country) and have always had a soft spot for it. As with so many places, its once thriving main street (Marygate) is a sad shadow of its former self but there are many gems to be found.

Time and Tide and Tapestry

In April we travelled to Orkney for a week of wild weather and wide horizons. Catching up with old friends was fun, and for me seeing what I recognised after three decades away was always going to be interesting.

bordertart

🐾
Moody skies on my walk with the bold boy this afternoon.
Lovely but I’ll be glad when the days stretch a bit further🌙

#lovewhereilive
#thescottishborders
#winterwalks
🍞🍞
Just out of the oven. First loaves with some malted organic flour from Dorset, no less.
The chances of one of these ‘losing’ a crust before the evening is out are very high…

#homebakedbread
#resistanceisfutile
🪡
A few more stitches before I head out into rainy Monday.
Simple pleasures.
More to come as I’m off to meet friends and put the world to rights over coffee. 

If only we really could😣
🧵🪡
More happy evening stitching 🙏🏻
.
.
#denimandsashiko
#simplesashiko
#wonkystitches
#doesntbothermeatall
🪡🧵
Happy in my little stitchy world - - - 

#simplepleasures
#stitchstitchstitch 
#portableprojects
Nippy…
Winter Sunday 
Soup and Stripes
Bonus discovery is the lovely colour combination of mug and contents!
.
#ahuginamug
#anotherstripeysweater
#wintersoup
#beetrootandcoconutsoup
🌷Too chilly on this morning’s walk to remove my gloves to take pics, so here’s last night’s candlelit still life.
It was all going so well until I realised what the odd smell was - singed tulip….🔥🙄…

Newsletter

Fancy my regular newsletter in your mailbox? Just sign up here for news, early bird offers and other subscriber bonuses.

Loading