Last Post of the Year

GR&DF here we are at the end of the year with 2010 looming blank before us......

I got a chuckle out of the comments yesterday... the controversy that is Krispy Kreme (loverley pillows of heavenly deliciousness) or Dunkin Donuts (not as loverley or delicious) - IMO - I have only have DD a couple of times and they were sadly wanting and the coffee was less than spectacular - were as KK Koffee - pure nectar - well maybe not nectar - Stumptown Coffee wins that award - shear black velvet liquid loveliness!!!! I guess it is what you are raised with and what you know and like - each to his or her own!! :) I do love me a good donut - but I much prefer a good bialy or onion bagel and schemer any day over a donut. In fact as I sit here and type away my little thoughts I am crunching away on an everything bagel with cream cheese and a'washing it down with a cup of not so great coffee.

Oh well - I should probably wrap up my Christmas posts......

I will end it with some of the presents I received ....... I usually don't buy any cd's for myself as I have wide and varied tastes that would keep me broke - and this stitching thing does that fast enough - Rico got me a couple of super cd's - Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas Album" which is just wonderful!!! He also got me the "I Dreamed a Dream" album form Susan Boyle - such a personal album and such great songs she chose. We can only hope for a Christmas album next year!! Here is a snap of some of my other gifts...

For me the movie fan - my mom got me the 70th anniversary GWTW set - woo hoo!!! From a dear friend the Claudette Colbert Collection. Rico also got me the newest Harry Potter - yes, I am a nut about those silly books!! - and I really enjoy the flicks made from them. From Dale came the ECU sweat shirt and t-shirt and the cool Jack Skelington bobble head - I also got some major bucks for stitching stash - which I was spending in my head as I was fondling the bills - now how sick is that!!!! I will leave off the Christmas snaps with one last snap taken Sunday evening - after we watched "The Wizard of Oz" - 1939 - and before I sent her to bed I got a nice picture of Katie in her new monkey PJ's...


Now for some stitching - For a Christmas present I made a sampler for my DS and BIL - and here is a snap....

The design is from Primitive Needle - I think I used the recommended colours mostly but the linen I do not remember - the frame came from an estate sale - I sanded it down a bit and then sealed it with a clear shiny finish. I changed up the letters a bit by picking out the first letter of each family member. This is a great stitch and I can totally see my self making another one. I also worked a bit on my CHS Alphablocks - here it is as of last night....

As you can see I am still wussing out about the fill - I know I will fill the boxes as it looks a bit undone to my eye. I personalized the J block - it represents the three of us - Me - the oldest as the big boy, my brother the middle and my sister jumping. I got the idea from the change that Terri made on hers.

Here is a request........ I have become obsessed with finding an OOP chart or I should say charts - they are by Sheepish Designs - the three Alpha charts - Alpha Birds, Alpha Menagerie and Alpha Sheep. I saw a finished sampler with all three together a few months back and have been on a search since then...... no luck - they never seem to come up on eBay as a group or in any stash sale. I found one part recently but it is really pricey for a single piece. If anyone knows where I could pick these up, trade for them something I might have or if there is a set that is not being used that I could borrow..... I would be forever grateful - and I would be super careful - just email me - thanks. It is odd that I will obsess on something, I usually don't, but for some reason I have lost it over this darn set and it is driving me crazy that I can't find these anywhere.

I think that's about all for today - Thanks for stopping by!! I will be out tomorrow but back up posting next Monday - January 4th, 2010 - and I think I need to start of the year with a give away........ Until then dear ones - have a great New Year!!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Christmas Traditions.....

GR&DF thank you so much for the warm welcome back to the fold!! I so enjoyed all your comments! Ariadne asked about some snaps of the booths - I didn't get any snaps of them as most of them had signs that asked no Photo's be taken - I would guess the reason being infringement on their art products and copying. I always try and follow requests so I skipped taking any closeup shots - and - Barb mentioned how early darkness falls up in the NW. Living here in the Bay area it gets pitch dark at about 5:30pm, in Vancouver that is pushed back about a 1/2 hour. My Mom was totally freezing and was put off by the early darkness - being from Florida, the weather is much less severe and it stays light, even in the winter, much later than the NW.

Now back to the Christmas snaps/report.....

My family has certain things we do and have done for my whole life and even back into the past. Traditions that were a part of my parents and grandparents lives live on today in our Christmas Celebrations, and I think that's what makes the Holidays for us all so much nicer. Even if it is only once a year we do something traditional and familial - we repeat and remember the past.

One of the things that is a newer tradition is Uncle edgar bakes with Niece Katie and Nephew Mat. This has become an annual thing that I look forward to and I think that they both enjoy the kitchen time as usually my sister and I are shooing them out of the way to get on with the heavy duty cooking that this family HHD (High Holy Day) requires. How it works is they each get to pick a cookie recipe to make and we make a batch - not too hard. For the last couple of years they have both picked the same recipes - Katie picks gingerbread cutout cookies (we use her Paternal Grandmothers recipe which is excellent!!) and Mat picks a variation of a Buckeye Cookie.

Here is Katie cutting out the cookies - she picked a snowman, star, bear and gingerbread man cutouts to use. I forgot to get a snap of the finished cookies, trust me they were totally cute and went pretty fast!! I think she enjoys the decorating of the cookies best!

For Mat there has to be chocolate and here is a close up of the dipping of the cookies into chocolate - these are pretty tasty and also went fast. I made a batch of chocolate covered cherries at the request of my BIL so there was something for everyone in the treat department. Another thing we always make is Sausage Pinwheel so I made up a couple......


Biscuit rolled out ready for the sausage.....


Sausage applied ready for rolling......



Rolled up and ready for the fridge and a good rest before slicing and baking!

We also had our traditional Oyster Stew Christmas Eve. If you remember from last year we always make a Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus. We have done this as long as I can remember and have continued it into this next generation. I enjoy this doing the Cake and since it is the birth of Jesus we are celebrating after all and not the maxing out of credit cards a Birthday cake does seem appropriate!! So this year DS requested "the family" Pound cake - the family pound cake is our G-G-Grandmother Lollies Pound Cake.......


I have made so many of the wonderful cakes and every time I start to mix one up I think about how this cake connects me, us and my family back 100+ years to the Georgia countryside and a farm near Decatur, Georgia.

Since this has turned into a food post ..... one day we stopped at -

and got a couple of boxes of these......


Delicious!!!!!!

I think I will leave off with that today.
Thanks for stopping by, do come again!

Take care,
edgar

Back From Christmas Holiday

GR&DF I have returned to the world of blogging. I got back yesterday and started in on the bajillion emails - both the spam and real - and have finally finished going through all three email accounts. There was close to 1000 emails and only about 50 worth reading - what's up with that??

I have a bunch of snaps to show of my Holiday. I will spread them out over the next couple of days. For Christmas this year we all gathered at my sisters home in Vancouver, Washington. It was a great family gathering as always my DS and BIL gave us a super Christmas.

The first weekend I was up there we went out to a great breakfast at the OPH - Original Pancake House - over in Portland before visiting Saturday Market.


I had a great waffle and sausage links and my sister had...


Which made a much more interesting snap. You know me - if it sits still longer than about a second I am going to take a picture of it!! On her plate is a Denver Omelet and a short stack. If you look closely you can see a gorgeous brown sweater she is wearing that she made.

Then it was on to Saturday Market - as you can see from the first snap it was rainy and very overcast - but it is the Northwest and there was some beautiful sky's brewing that morning.

Saturday Market is basically lots of local talented artists and crafters selling what they have made. If you are ever in the Portland area I would highly suggest a visit - its free and lots of fun.

The Market from a distance...


and a rainy snap of the front of the Market -


- an arcade of metal leftover from a 19th century building that once was here -


The Market is under the west end of the Burnside Bridge - 1926 -
that crosses the Willamette River -


- the "Made in Oregon" sign.... a symbol of the city -



- looking across the Willamette River - with a great cloud ceiling -


-this is a park that sits next to the Market and runs along the river
- although it looks like dusk it was actually late morning -


- a snap of the Salvation Army Building with lots of birds perching -

I did want to thank you all for the kind Christmas Wishes!!
They were great to read and made me feel all warm and fuzzy!!!

Thanks for stopping by.
Take care,
edgar

Christmas Wishes

GR&&DF this is the last post for a week or so as I will be leaving on my Christmas travels at the crack of jack in the morning - with a 4:10am Super Shuttle pick up it will be a longish day. I did want to leave everyone a little card....


and a quote from my favorite - "A Christmas Carol" - by Charles Dickens

".... I have always thought of Christmastime when it has come around, apart from the veneration due its scared name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that; as a good time, a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time, the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts freely and to think of people below them as if they really where fellow passengers to the grave and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.... And therefore uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good and will do me good and I say: God Bless It!...
- Fred, Scrooge's nephew

I also wanted to post a progress snap of Alphablocks....

Last night I got a bit of Christmas cheer watching the annual production by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the tube. This year it was called "Ring Christmas Bells" with guest soloist Brian Stokes Mitchell and guest performer Edward K Hermann. What a treat, as it always is!!! If you get the chance to see it you will not be disappointed!!

After the concert was over I popped in a DVD - "The Sea Hawk" -1940 - starring Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Flora Robson, Allen Hale and Donald Crisp. What a super swashbuckler type movie. Beautifully shot in B&W and wonderfully directed by Michael Curtiz.

I wanted to also answer some of the super comments from yesterday... Sharlotte mentioned "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" - 1947 - starring Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison and George Sanders - I love this flick and would highly recommend it to anyone!! Gene is at her pinnacle of loveliness - between this flick and "Laura" - 1944 you got two super Tierney flickers!!! Lorraine mentioned another flick - "The Parrots of Telegraph Hill" - 2003 - what a great little film. We live on a promontory called Red Rock on many older maps of SF and the cliffs around us are heavily laden with scrubby trees - these trees often have these city parrots roosting in them. We see lots of birds up where we sit overlooking the city and a colorful parrot or hummingbird really adds to our city wildlife. Wrapping up with a comment from Karen about "The Bunny House" - she mentioned a quote about a single mahi - a totally funny line - another really funny moment was also in the restaurant with a little table and a piece of gum!! I was LOL at that!!

There you go sports fans!! I'll be back in a week or so - have a great Christmas and Holiday season!!!!

Take care -
edgar

It was 70 years ago...

GR&DF once again I must take a moment to thank you for your kind comments and thoughts.

Last night TCM aired one of the great flicks - "Gone With the Wind" - 1939. Starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen. The occasion was the 70th anniversary of the premier in Atlanta at the Loew's Grand Theater. Here is a still photo taken during production in 1937 or1938 -

This AP Photo / New Line Cinema - shows from l to r - Evelyn Keyes - "Suellen," Vivian Leigh - "Scarlett" and Ann Rutherford - "Careen." They are standing in the hall of Twelve Oaks in the costumes for the Wilkes Barbee Que.

I always enjoy watching this film and have seen it dozens of times. The film is so good on so many levels - historical fact is not one of them - by costuming, sets, cinematography are all top notch.

GWtW was followed up with a Netflix pix - "The House Bunny" - 2008 - starring Anna Faris. A very light predictable comedy that was really quite funny in spots. A sort of Cinderella story set on a College campus - easy to watch and aimed at the tinny bopper crowd.

I worked exclusively on the vine around the blocks and it was a pretty boring snap - so I'll not post it - maybe one tomorrow.

Donna asked about the card in the picture yesterday - yes - it is a greeting card that Shay had in the box and I thought was very pretty.

There you go sports fans - Thanks for stopping by, do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

A Box of Christmas Cheer

GR&DF you know it -your the best!! Thank you once again for your kind comments!! I so enjoy reading them and usually get such a warm feeling of camaraderie and stitchity love!

Yesterday brought a wonderful Christmas surprise from Shay. A while back she emailed me about the Joyeux Noel Book from BBD - she is a model stitcher (with her beautiful and perfect stitching) and was finishing up with her copy and wondered if I would like it - Like it, oh my, YES - I was debating if I was going to get a copy as I love BBD, but just hadn't been able to swing it as a stash purchase - and here one comes like manna from the heavens - here is a snap of the goodies the accompanied the book....

A totally sweet snowman sucker (who is now nestled in our tree, looking super cute), some Valdani Floss (just beautiful, and I have never tried them before) and some delicious sugared Christmas Pecans - just like Granny used to make. Such a special, kind gift - Thank you so much Shay!!!!!

I did read some rather sad news yesterday at different places on the Internet - This will be the last year of the BBD Loose Feathers Club - I love these little projects and will miss them when they are gone - but the bright spot would have to be that now the ladies will have extra time to make bigger designs!!

The comments yesterday got me to thinking about the CHS Alphablocks - both Patti and Jennifer suggested leaving the boxes alone and unfilled. I had thought about that, but know that once I finish and have it framed - in the far future - I will not be happy with them as unfilled. I just need to "Sh-- or get off the pot" as my Father would say. I was playing around with some floss' to see if I could get it together to make a decision..... that wasn't working - so I worked on the next block "I" and got the black box lines stitched. Hows that for putting off today what can wait until tomorrow!! Loraine asked about what floss' I was using for the vine and bud border - I am using GAST Forest Glade for the vine - I tried a couple of other greens and found that I liked this best on the linen. For the Buds I am using WDW Raspberry for the dark pink and WDW Red Pear for the light pink. I like these two colours together and have used them on other projects.

The flicker last night was an On Demand Comcast choice of Rico's - "The Proposal" - 2009 - starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen and Betty White. A predictable comedy/love story that I thoroughly enjoyed!! Funny where it should be with the leads doing a very good and believable job throughout. The director was Anne Fletcher who also directed "27 Dresses" - 2008 - another cute and predictable love story/comedy film. The Alaska scenery is just beautiful and makes you want to jump in a plane and go for a visit!! I can recommend this film as cute and entertaining. At a short 108 mins what have got to loose??

There you go sports fans - thanks for stopping by and do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

Christmas Treats

GR&DF thank you for your kind comments regarding our tree - eclectic doesn't seem to cover all that is on that sucker. I will post some of the more odd ornies later this week - :)

Friday the mail brought two lovely things - a present from a dear friend and another gorgeous ornament through the HOE Exchange. First up would have to be this beauty -

- from Becky - she knows how I love reindeer and the carol and here they are together looking spectacular. I put it with my other stitched treasures and it looks so perfect - thank you so much sweet Becky!!!

The mail also brought a beautiful ornament through the HOE Ornament Exchange. Carol B was my stitching partner and she sent me this beautifully piece -


I hung it in the willow for the snap and now it is nestled in with the rest of my pieces on the stitching tree. Thank you so much Carol it is really beautiful!!!

It was a super craptastic weekend here in SF as we had our really first big winter storm - basically all day on Saturday with much of it spilling over into Sunday - Not that I was going anywhere, but the weather for those that were still out shopping just bit the big one!! My shopping is finished and everything was mailed and expressed last week - so I don't have to fight any crowds anywhere - woo hoo!!!

There were a few movies watched so lets start off with a really powerful one - "Into the Arms of Strangers - Stories of the Kindertransport" - 2000 - Narrated by Judi Dench this interview style film told a few of the 10,000 stories of the children that were sent to Britain to escape the Nazi Holocaust. This was a piece of history I had not heard of and was amazed. The Kindertransport lasted the nine months leading up to WWII and with the beginning of hostilities it ended. It is told by those that were sent from Germany and Austria and settled in the UK. Absolutely worth seeing as those that forget history are doomed to repeat it!

I also had a cartoon from Netflix - I am almost always surprised at what I have put on my queue so that when I get a DVD I am stunned at my choices. Oh well - the flick was from Disney and is called "The Rescuers" - 1977 - starring the voices of Bob Newhart as Bernard, Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca and Geraldine Page as Madame Medusa. I hadn't seen this film in years and was pleasantly surprised at how much I once again enjoyed the story and the antics the swamp critters get up to.

Yesterday was a real treat filled day as I got me a glass of delicious Egg Nog -

Buds is de bomb!!!! I scape on the extra nutmeg and a shot of nog and it's perfection!! Along with this nectar I settled in to watch one of my favorite versions of "A Christmas Carol" - not the most accurate but a real favorite - and it is "Scrooge" - 197o - starring Albert Finney and Edith Evans. It is an all musical and dancing version that I really enjoy - and the glass of the nog doesn't hurt either!!

All this weather gave me plenty of time to stitch a bit on my ABC piece and here is a crooked snap of the progress -

I have finished the main stitching up to H but am still being a wienie about the fill - I did pull some colours I like and might just start some fill soon. As I was stitching that horse all I could think of was this beast looked more like a cross between a donkey and a camel... does that make it a Camkey??? or a Donkel???

There you go sports fans - thank you for stopping by do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

Decorated for Christmas and some Commenting

GR&DF I am so glad that you enjoyed seeing "the Banner." There were actually two made. A couple of years after Granny made this one she made another for my Mother, although this second one is now MIA in my Mother's attic I am sure at some point it will turn up.

I took some snaps of a few ornaments from the tree. It is always interesting to see what goes on from year to year. I grew up with Christmas trees that where eclectic and had all sorts of ornaments on them. We also had the blinky lights, bubble lights and big old fat lights.... and usually way too much tinsel - but we where kids and I think my parents just let us do our thing with the tree. I do remember once it did get out of hand as there was so much tinsel you couldn't see the tree for the tinsel. It was always fun and I have some great tree going up and tree coming down memories. So here are a few of our ornaments ....

this little lady looks just like the Peach when there might a snack in sight - all perky and eyes glazed over!!

This is one of the flock of birds that get on the tree - you know me and birds... and this one is even dressed up for the Holidays.


I love this little Noah's Ark box - it looks a bit crowded but how cute!


and another Chihuahua ornament (can there be too many??) - all made up for Christmas.

I had an email from a reader and she wanted to see the mercury glass Snow family a little better - ask and ye shall receive......


and for the last Christmas decoration is my Grinch - he sits on the TV table and if you push his left hand he says Grinchy things -

Last night the flicker was "It Happened on 5th Avenue" - 1947 - as part of the TCM Thursday evening Holiday movies this was the lead flick last night. It was a movie I hadn't seen before but knew of and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was predictable and the situations a little silly but it was a really nice feel good Holiday film. It was this film that Frank Capra originally optioned for production but eventually passed to make "It's a Wonderful Life" (a favorite all time flick of mine!!)

There were a couple of questions in the comments so here are some answers.....

Michele asked if I were of Norwegian stock because of our oyster stew tradition - we are English through and through from way back into the early 18th century - pretty white bread actually - I think the tradition has to do with our NC background and living close to the Atlantic coast for the last 300 years.

Loraine asked about the CHS Alphabet Blocks and the floss choices - I am using the suggested floss where I like it and doing my own thing when I don't care for the colour. I chose the vine and bud colours as there are no suggestions for that. I think there will be more changes to the floss colours as I go along.

and - Peg asked about what I am going to do about the block fill in colour.... I am still waffling about that and am really leaning towards all different colours instead of a single unifying fill. I have sort of mapped out the colour changes I like and may just pull them from the stash heap this weekend.......

There you go sports fans!! Thanks again for joining me here this week - only 2 weeks left!! Have a great weekend -

Take care,
edgar

"E" is for Elaphant and an Old Tradition

GR&DF I was so happy to read in the comments from yesterday that others also enjoy "Hoarders." I thought I was the only one that sat there with mouth hanging open and shaking my head at others accumulations. I have often wondered about my collection's and keeping of stuff but after a watching the show a few times I can honestly say to myself - self you ain't got nothing on those folks!!!

I finished up "E" last night and here is a snap of the progress....

The flicker last night was "The Young Visitors" - 2003 - starring Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and Lyndsey Marshall. The story was written in 1890 by 9 year old Daisy Ashford. It is about a Mr Salteena's plan to woo the lovely Ethel Monticue. A charming tale of Victorian social climbing and love among the rich very well done by the BBC.

Also last night I hung up my last bit of Christmas finery - my Granny's Christmas banner -

Sorry about it being dark but it was hard to get a decent snap of it. This is one of things that she made for her own Christmas decoration and got the idea after seeing one in Rich's Department store in downtown Atlanta. It is made of felt pieces and is about 6 feet long so it hangs on the long wall of our staircase. It would have been made in the late 50's early 60's and is one of the Christmas things I have to have out for it to really be Christmas in my home!! My how I do hang on to family traditions!! Another tradition in my family would be having oyster stew on Christmas eve. I love the stuff and only have it on that one night - it wouldn't be Christmas without it!! The count down continues with only two weeks until Christmas Eve!!

That wraps up another posting my Dears - thank you for stopping by - do come again.

Take care,
edgar

A Christmas RAK and some TV

GR&DF what great comments about everything from the last post!! Thank you so much!! I did have a couple of questions - the "Merry & Bright" ornament is from the 2007 JCS and was designed by Little by Little. I didn't write down my changes and since my brain is a sieve I am at a loss to remember what they were - sorry about that.

The mail brought the nicest RAK from Ruth -

Knowing my love of the over dyed Ruth sent me a lovely assortment of beautiful colours. Thank you dear Ruth!!! I keep saying it and will say it again - stitchin' folks are the best!!!!

I worked on "E" last night but didn't take a snap as not too much got done - some of the box and that is black stitching - kind of boring to look at.

The flicker was "To Kill a King" - 2003 - starring Tim Roth (Oliver Cromwell), Dougray Scott (Lord Fairfax) and Rupert Everett (Charles I). The story is about the relationship between Oliver Cromwell and Lord Fairfax and their dealings with Charles I. I am a big English History person and this was a great movie for that. Loved the sets, the cinematography, the costumes and the acting was top notch. I had seen Tim Roth in another period movie called "Vatel" - 2000 and he was superb in that also as the evil Marquis de Lauzun. I would highly recommend both of these flicks!!

I just wanted to mention in passing about a couple TV shows I am now addicted to - "Hoarders" - Mondays on A&E at 10pm. I am just fascinated by this show. Last week a women's house was being eaten by her goats and she just closed a door and let them have at it???? This was totally disturbing - and I think I might have built a fence to corral them house eating goats. Does one corral a goat???? I wonder. Oh well if you find yourself at a loose end at 10pm on Monday you might want to give it a chance. The other show I have gotten hooked on - "I Survived" on the Biography channel. Each 60 min show gives 2 or 3 different stories of surviving a confrontation with their own demise in most unusual and horrific situations. I guess you never know what you are capably of until put to the test! This show airs on Sundays.

Thanks for stopping by!! Do come again!

Take care,
edgar

Tea, Ornaments and a Deer

GR&DF Tuesday is here and it is a cold as ever. Yesterday during the afternoon it started to snow here in the city. It didn't stick or make it to the ground and what was falling was very light - but there were flakes swirling around out side!! That is such an uncommon event here in the city by the Bay. The news was full of the snow falling in the Sierra's and on all the higher elevations around the Bay.

Last night was so very cold I knew what I needed - some Christmas tea!! So I hauled out the tea stuff et viola - Jingle Bells tea from Lupicia-


In a Christmas mug it doesn't get much better!!!

I heard that my ornament for the "Ties that Bind" exchange had arrived to Margaret's - and here is a snap -

The chart is from a JCS and stitched on a piece of Silkweaver solo - I think it was my last little piece of this particular solo -

I also put up my little faux feather Stitching tree last night. It took lots of my stitching treasures from past exchanges and gifts to make this little Christmas "table-scape." I do like the way it turned out!! The flash sort of washes it out but you can get the idea....

This side also shows off my mercury glass snow family that Rico got me years ago. You can see that I have a string of fairy lights on the table to light it from below and then throw some silvery fabric/netting over that for a snow effect.

This is from the other side - I really love this little tree and the way it shows off all the wonderful things I have gotten from stitching friends. This is in our front hall and is the first thing one sees when you come in the front door.

Last night I finished up "Deer" and some of the vine border on the ABC Sampler. Here is a snap -

That is one big rack on that sucker!!

There you go sports fans!!
Thanks for stopping by and for your very kind comments!!

Take care -
edgar

Monday Musings

GR&DF it is Monday morning and cold as the Dickens here!!! We have gotten very cold for the Bay area over the last couple of days and yesterday it even hailed for quite a while late in the afternoon. Most of the mountain ranges around here are getting covered in snow. Down in the lower elevations, like the city, it is just wet and rainy - and there is more to come!! I would guess that winter is upon us for sure now!!

I heard from Nic that the ornament for the HOE Ornament Exchange got to her. Here is a snap -

He is a Prairie Schooler Santa from the St Nicholas Book #20. As you know I love these little Santa's and so does Nic.

I also did a bit of stitching on my CHS ABC Sampler - and here is a snap of the progress....


As you can see I changed up one of the kitties. It is the light orange tabby. I was thinking of a Kitty we had when I lived in Mississippi - his name was Sam and he was a total outside Tom Cat. I remember that we fed him in the garage as he wouldn't come in the house. I am pretty sure he was a stray and sort of adopted us and let our family look after him. When we were in the process of moving to Maryland when I was 6 he ran away a few days before we left. I think because of all of the racket and noise in the pre-move. So we left and he stayed in Mississippi to live and hunt in the woods that covered the hills behind our house. There you go a bit of my past and a tribute to Sam the Cat! The grey and black kitty was as charted and looks like the kitty that lives here at my work - her name is Titty Kitty. I am still reticent about the box stitching - I guess at some point I will just jump in with some overdyed something and start stitching.....

Dale and I ran around on Saturday to some Estate sales and here is a snap of the few things I picked up -


I also pickled up a great old wooden spoon but forgot to put it in the snap. The large stoneware bowl is just great - and you really can't tell by the snap and angle but that sucker is about 14 inches across. The Christmas mug is really nice and was dirt cheap. I also picked up the small print of Leonardo da Vinci's cartoon of "St Anne, Mary, Jesus and John the Baptist" - 1499-1500. This work is in the National Gallery of Art in London. It is really beautiful in person and I highly recommend a visit to the Gallery if you are ever in London!!

Being a fan of WWII flickers and history in general I did want to mention that today is Pearl Harbor Day - we shouldn't ever forget the sacrifice and dedication of those in the military! Thank a Vet for the freedoms you enjoy!

There was also some flicker watching - "Therese: The Story of Saint Therese of Lisiuex" - 2004 - a nice little film that seemed to be done on a small budget. Some lovely cinematography - with close attention to the details of the Saint life. It had the feeling of a first time film, simple dialogue and very basic acting - I still enjoyed the story and found myself learning things about St Therese that I did not know. Oddly enough it does have a Christmas angle that I didn't realize when I put it on my queue. I did enjoy her story and "The Little Way" is a very positive message for humanity.

There you go sports fans - Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments. Do stop by again!!

Take care,
edgar

On the 12th day of Christmas....

GR&DF another week passes and we speed head long into Christmas. I read something a while back and have it tacked to my already crowded 3'x5' cork board thing here at work - a Christmas mantra so to speak.... "It's about presence not presents." I really like that little statement..... and even though there are quite a few little things I am sending out into the world - I am keeping it homey and simple.

Enough of that - I had a small finish last night that relates to today's post title - it is a little chart that I worked on over the last couple of days - here's a snap -

It is the December Freebie chart from The Sampler Girl - I think its charming. I love the song the 12 Days of Christmas!! I think the reason for the loveof the song is that in that in 4th Grade at Marlton ElementarySchool we sang it as a round - I was 7 Swans a'swimming. What a crazy memory!! It is charted for DMC and GAST - I shifted all the floss to Belle Soie Silks - I used Creme de Menthe, Teddy Bear, Poison Apple and Mud Pie - I will try and get it finished into an ornament for the tree over the weekend - Thank you Tanya!!!!

Last night was the first Thursday evening of Christmas flickers on TCM - they started it off with "A Christmas Carol" - 1938 - starring Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart and their daughter June Lockhart - the only film where all three family members appear. I like this version of ACC and it is certainly worth seeing - 3rd viewing of this version since September...yes, I am addicted to this story!! This was followed by "Little Women" - 1949 - starring June Alyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Astor, Margaret O'Brien, Janet Leigh, Rossano Brazzi, and Lucile Watson. Again and very nice version of the this story but I really prefer the 1933 version with Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett. I followed up these two flicks with a Netflix Pix.... "Rome Adventure" - 1962 - starring Suzanne Pleshette, Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson and Rossano Brazzi. A typical love triangle type story told with gorgeous Italy as a backdrop. I found myself clock watching so that tells me it was on the long side and some of the scenes should have been tightened up a bit. A fun film if you have the time.

There you go sports fans!!! Have a great weekend and do come again!!!

Take care,
edgar

Christmas Treats and Flicks

GR&DF thank you for your very kind comments on yesterdays post - they are a really good morning hug here in chilly old San Francisco. It has been in the 40's and 50's from dawn to dusk the last few days. We are expecting a big winter storm to push in off the Pacific on Sunday.... this is our wintry wet season and the storms off the northern Pacific can be cold, wet and windy.

Yesterday I went on my weekly visit to the Farmers Market (no good snaps of the market today) and I picked up the usual things, cukes, tomatoes, potatoes, winter fruit... and some nice big walnuts. Being from the South I grew up being able to get lots of pecans, and do miss not being able to get them fresh from the grove, but out here in the west you get beautiful walnuts. The getting of the nuts put me in the mood the start on some Christmas treat making, but of course I needed to shell the suckers first!!

Here is a snap of my high tech operation... I find that one good wack on the point usually yields a good half nut or larger piece of nut than a wack on the side. For my pecans I just get a bag of them already shelled from Trader Joe's - ain't that living high on the hog!! A preshelled nut! I have a few new recipes I am going to try and it looks like a treat making weekend - the Holidays have really begun at our house.

We ran to the Safeway in Diamond Heights yesterday evening - I needed a few things for the treat extravaganza and I hate the grocery store on Friday, Saturday or Sunday - just way too many people crowded into a store for my taste. Going through the produce section they had Cherries - yes - you read that correctly - a delicious Summer fruit - so of course I had to buy a small bag - at $6 a pound it certainly wasn't going to be a big bag!!


They are from Chile and very nice looking, but on the sour side. I think it is crazy that you can get fresh cherries in the winter - and I am such a sucker to buy them out of season. It is one of the main reasons I love going to the farmers market as it is local, fresh and IN season. Oh, well sometimes you just gotta buy the odd and weird!!

I haven't talked about any flickers lately.....so.... last night was a pretty good night for a couple of them. The first up is "The Great American Broadcast" - 1941 - starring Alice Faye, John Payne, Jack Oakie and Cesar Romero. This nice little musical is set at the beginning of Radio just after WWI - and the love triangle or I should say love square was a nice touch but predictable. I just love watching Alice Faye and really enjoyed this flicker. You may know that she got her start in early Radio so she was perfectly cast in the roll of Vicki Adams - early Radio starlet!! The second flick was "Steal a Pencil for Me" - 2007 - This documentary was story of two Holocaust survivors - Jaap Polak and Ina Soep - They met just before the Netherlands was invaded but the Nazis on May 10th 1940 - she a single girl and he a married man - I like what a reviewer had to say..... "Man, Wife, Girlfriend, Holocaust." That sort of sums it up. It is a a film of interviews of Jack (Jaap) and who became his second wife, Ina. The story they have to tell is important and told very well through this film. Two more very good films - check them out.

Still working on the black box for the letter "C" and still not a snap in site - whoops!!

Thanks for stopping by and do come again!!!

Take care,
edgar