#2 Friday Post - A Birthday Package arrives....

I just heard from Carol that a Birthday Package I sent had arrived.
Included in the package was Pyn Keepe I made for her -

This sweet chart was a Freebie from Plum Street Samplers. I was waffling over a couple of other things and when this chart posted I knew it was the thing to do. It is stitched on an unknown hand dyed piece of linen using Belle Soie Silks (these silks are like butter) I will always be grateful for Carol's friendship as I often say "if it wasn't for this dear person I would never of gotten up the nerve to Blog or get involved with Exchanges" so Thank You !! And have a Wonderful Birthday Carol!!!!!!

Take care!!

edgar

Shakin' it up a bit....

As you can probably tell I have "stirred the pot" so to speak with my blog. I have had the snap of my mom and goat cart up there for so long I thought it was time to change it all up - Header snap, colour wise and the fonts. I have been thinking about doing it for months now and searched and searched through what seemed like 100's of templates and skins to find something I wanted here, but nothing and I mean nothing jumped out at me. I even toyed with the idea of get someone else to come up with something innovative and new - but vetoed that - I may go back and find someone to do it - you never know. Then I thought about my stitching and since this is my blog why not throw one of the pieces I really like up there - What I have chosen is the Beatrix Potter Quaker piece I finished up last year as a SAL. The piece is stitched on 32ct Vintage Autumn Field using Soie d'Alger #4625. If you remember I stitched in the initials as a sort of memorial to my Dad and Grandparents - It now hangs in our front hall. I am not too sure how happy I am with my wrangling, but will Live with the results for a bit.

Well, Friday has arrived - cool and foggy here in San Francisco. I know that if you drive just about 15 mins in any direction out of the city that the temps soar into the 90's and 100's so I am very thankful for being blanketed in fog. Yesterday when we took the hounds out for the afternoon constitutional I took my camera along to get some snaps of the fog....

This is looking out from our dead end street towards downtown - and the entire city was covered. I turned around towards Twin Peaks and....


...got this shot of the creeping fog coming over the hills. It was a cozy evening and I even flipped the heater on to take the chill off. The evenings stitching was finishing up the exchange piece I have been working on - I will have that out next Tuesday.

There where two flickers - the first was TCM's screening as part of a tribute to 1939 - "Gone With the Wind" - 1939 - I really enjoy this film an have seen it many times. It was over at 9 so I squeezed in an extra film I had gotten from Netflix. This second film was called "Trouble in Store" - 1953 - starring Norman Wisdom, Moira Lister and Margaret Rutherford. This was an English comedy about Norman a stock room clerk whose ambition it is to be a window dresser. It was very slapstick in a Jerry Lewis kind of way - I did enjoy many things about this film - but Norman's continual manic shenanigans got to be less and less funny as the movie went on.

I also got a pretty good shot of the first two pidges -

They are not long for the window box I think - as they stay gone for longer and longer periods of time.

Have a great weekend - thanks for stopping by!!! I will let you know how the plums turn out on Monday!!

Take care,
edgar

Some Fruit, Some Flicks, Dinner and the new Pidges

Yesterday I made another visit to the Farmers Market. This is the season to gather and store for the winter. Plums are in season so I thought I now need to try my hand at jamming those suckers!! Here is a snap of some purple globes of deliciousness....

I am not sure of the type but they are smallish and a little on the tart side - which I like and can control how sweet I get the end product. It seems that last week there was greater variety of plums available - but these will do just fine. I also picked up some beautiful veggies...


these tomatoes are just delicious - I got them from this stand...


Isn't this just a gorgeous snap - so Christmassy here in the middle of the summer. The weather is holding out beautifully - overcast and breezy in the mid 70's. Here are couple of more snaps of the market....


and looking out over the length of it towards Market Street.....

I looked for the chicken guy and he didn't show and the fish wife from heck was giving me the mama stink eye!!

Talking about the stink eye - I got a shot of our newest pidglettes...

Once again they are pretty vulture looking!! The other pidges have been in and out as they try their wings - BTW they have both acquired the mama stink eye!! I will try to get a snap of them before they take off forever.

We had one of the great flat bread things from Trader Joe's.... I said I would get a snap of it so that you can keep a look out for them....


And this was dinner last night - see those luscious little tomatoes - fresh from the farmers market - sweet and delicious. I wish we could have a little produce garden - but apartment living doesn't lend itself to that.

Stitching was once again on exchanges.

It was a really great movie evening - with TCM having a night of pre-code musicals - starting off with - "Hips, Hips Hooray!" - 1934 - an entertaining if lame comedy musical - very dated - this was followed by a super musical - "Gold Diggers of 1933" - 1933 - starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell this was far superior in every way to HHH. I love the Gold Digger Movies and would recommend them to one and all!! The third feature of the evening was "Footlight Parade" - 1933 - again starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell with the addition of James Cagney - I love, love, love this flick - it is worth watching for the Honeymoon Hotel number alone if for nothing else!!! The fourth selection was a Netflix film - "A Run for Your Money" - 1949 - starring Alec Guinness, Donald Houston, Meredith Edwards and Moira Lister. A great English comedy from Ealing Studios about two Welsh miners who go to London to collect a prize - and all the trouble they have during that one big city. I had never heard of this film and took a chance....it was a really fun movie and I would recommend it to anyone!!

There your go - only one more day until the weekend!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care,
edgar

Midweek Babbles......

Gentle readers... we have once again reached our mid-week!!! Woo Hoo!! Life goes on ......

Last night we ran out to the mall and I picked up a copy of Majesty - a magazine about the English Royal family, one of my many interests as you well know. We stopped by Micky D's for dinner - you just need some junque food every now and then. :) Then is was on to a small shopping stop a Trader Joes. We really enjoy shopping ther as they have some super great stuff. One of the things we always pick up when we go are these flat pizza things - a thin crispy cracker like crust with just some cheese and ham bits on it. I should have taken a snap as I can't seem to find one on the net or even remember then name of the dang thing - one will be here tomorrow. They seem to be very popular - every time we stop in to get some the spot for them in the freezer section is often either very low or they are restocking an empty spot. Yesterday we took three of the last five that where there. Such an easy dinner with a big salad!!

The flicker for last night was "Tonight we Raid Calais" - 1943 - starring Anabella and John Sutton. Now, we all know how I enjoy WWII flicks - this falls into that genre - however - this very low budget B picture is so contrived and wooden and VERY hard to believe - that at times is laughable. At 70 mins it moves right along, but this ain't no masterpiece!! Be warned!!

I am still stitching away at exchange pieces - the snaps of stitchity stuff are so rare these days you would think my camera is broken!!

I had a couple of questions recently - one was about the linen I choose for my Halloween RR - My memory which is so very sieve like at times came through - It is a piece of Birds of a Feather "Meadowlark" and is 32 ct not 36 ct. I think the BoF linen is so pretty and the splotchy areas a great. I still have to hand it to Mary from NiaH for helping me pick this out!!

I also got some questions about the recipes I used for the jam/preserve making last Saturday. What I did was read a bunch of recipes online last week to see what the similarities where in each version I found. For the cherry jam I took a basic recipe that started out with the title "No Recipe Cherry Jam" by David Lebovitz. I used his basic technique for mine. The only change I made was I used less sugar ... as the cherries I had were very sweet. The recipe was easy and straight forward - and if I can do it any one can!

For the Peach Preserve I cobbled together a few recipes and ended up with an edgar recipe - Start off with 4-6 pounds of peaches. Bring a pot of water to boil. Put a few peaches at a time in this for a minute or so then take them out and plunge them into cold water. This lets you take the skin off easily. Remove the pits and slice up the peaches. Put the sliced peaches in a large heavy bottomed pot. Pour sugar over the peaches. At this point I also added the juice of two medium lemons. Now the amount of sugar you use depends on the sweetness of the peaches you are using. These where quite sweet so the ratio of 1lb of sugar to 1lb of peaches (remember 1lb of sugar equals just 2 cups) I did not use. What I used was more like 1 1/4 cups sugar to each lb more or less - remember its your preserve you decide. Bring the sugar/peach mixture to a boil. Continue to boil this while stirring frequently so that it does not burn or boil over. While it was boiling away at about 20 minutes I took a potato masher and squished the mix to the point there where only a few big pieces. I wanted this to be spreadable and not be some sort of lumpy bumpy mess. Most recipes state that the mixture should start to get there at about 45 minutes. I noticed it was getting there at 25 mins or so. I only boiled it for about 30 or so mins. I didn't want it to be too thick. I read over and over again this mantra "The faster you cook the jam the brighter the color will be." I really believe that quickly cooking this and just under cooking made this stuff just the consistency and color I wanted. Rico popped one open and we have had it on vanilla ice cream the last couple of nights - and it is really good!!! Once again I made all of this stuff in the morning on Saturday spending about 3 or so hours total - these preserves should hold for about a year, but I don't see them making it that long.

I used a water bath canning method - after the jam/preserve was ready I took a clean jar and poured the stuff into them wiping off the rim before putting the lid and rim on. Once the lid and rim where on I carefully put them two at a time into my water bath of boiling water for about 10 or so minutes. After the water bath I left them on the counter an waited till all of them made the plunk sound of sealing. They all plunked so that worked really well. I found both of these recipes easy to make and would recommend anyone take the plunge a try to make some of their own. If you have a question or the above is not too clear feel free to ask.

There you go - Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

A Slow Week Ahead

I am seeing that this week will be slow and even - at work and home - the tail end of summer is upon us. When I lived in NC or FL the beginning of August was a always a dreaded time as the last couple of months of summer where always the most severe - the hottest and often brought with them those pesky hurricanes! Since I am out west and in the Bay area I really don't dread these moths any more as they are some of the most cool and comfortable moths of the year. As we head into October we may get a few warmer days but they fade quickly.

Nothing much stitching going on that I can show here - I did put a couple of stands of silk into the Beatrix Potter Companion piece - do you remember her?? Nothing at significant that I can show. I am mailing out my HOE Summer House Exchange piece this morning. It has a way to go so the snaps will be a while coming. As I mentioned yesterday my stuff "Sail Away" SAL is altogether for the start - and I have gotten all the info out to the next Quaker RR stitchers - we have a bit before the first great shifting in the middle of September. Now I just have to decide about what linen and floss I want to use - I am always second guessing myself before I put needle to linen.

There have been many movies over the last few days - the two most recent were last night - starting off with "Bells are Ringing" - 1960 - starring Judy Holliday, Dean Martin and Jean Stapleton. A musical comedy from a play. I really like this film and think Judy Holliday is really cute in the role of Ella Peterson. If you like Judy and you like Dean you will like this flick. The second film was "Twelve O'Clock High" - 1949 - starring Gregory Peck and Dean Yeager. A great film about American bomber pilots in WWII.

Thank you all for the nice comments yesterday!! Always appreciated!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Take care,
edgar

Jamming Summer, Bigger Pidges and a Sailing SAL

Dear Friends - it is once again a foggy Monday here in SF - so nice - so cool - so damp!! I love it!!

Enough of that - it was a quiet stay at home weekend. Rico took off on Thursday for the Russian River to attend a softball drunkfest!! At least that's what I call it - I am sure it had a nicer name but I haven't a clue what it might be. He stayed with a friend of ours that has a house up there so was out of the main hubbub - he got home yesterday and our home has settled back into it usual routine.

Now, my weekend started off with going over to a friends house - they BBQ'd and we watched a new BluRay in their home theater - what a super experience seeing the new "Gigi" in full movie viewing size. It was incredible!!! So big and such colour - BluRay is just gorgeous!!

There was no garage saleing - Dale was doing a training in Monetary I think. This means I didn't leave the house either Saturday or Sunday. On Saturday I made couple of batches of jam - the first was the black cherries -

Here it is bubbling away.....


and after that I made up some peach preserve -

It looked like liquid sunshine ....

...then into a water bath -


I can only do two at a time in my rigged up bath system!! In the end I had quite a few jars of jam/preserve for the upcoming fall/winter...


I really enjoyed making this stuff up and will try for some plum this coming weekend.

I wanted to show you how big the pidgelettes have gotten...

They have lost all of the yellow pin feathers from their heads and are hopping about. Both are getting loud and aggressive. Jumping back and forth to the other window box where the mama-stinkeye is still sitting on the two new eggs. I think they a picking at her for food. As we where leaving this morning one of the pidgelettes was in the hall sitting on the window sill looking quite guilty about something - we just hurried past and left him there. I don't think it will be much longer before they take off for places unknown on their own.

The stitching this weekend was a finish on an exchange and other secret stitching. I also called about the framing - not done yet. Another week on that sucker! I did however get my ducks in a row over the upcoming "Sail Away" SAL that Terri is starting on August 5th.

The SB - kit is all inclusive and I wanted to separate the floss' now instead of later - the kit includes all the over dyed floss' you need but you have to figure out the difference between soft black and dark blue and the different greens - it isn't always as easy as you would think - but now I am ready to go. I am feeling really great being able to do this SAL - since the kit was a gift from my friend Becky - and now I am stitching it along with other friends - how great is that!!

I did want to answer a couple of comment questions - Janice is coming to the Bay area and wanted to know about any local LNS's - there is no true cross stitch shop in the city at all - In Union Square is the Needlepoint Inc shop - they have the entire range of silks - but, this shop caters strictly to the needlepoint trade and the silks are very expensive - you can get them much cheaper online or even just across the Bay at NiaH. The only cross stitch shop near the city would have to be Needle in a Haystack in Alameda. It is a super shop with just about everything. The people who work there are just great and very helpful!! It is very easy to get to either from the city or the East Bay. If in doubt you can call them and they will give you directions. There are a couple of other shops further down the peninsula but I have never been to any of them. I also had another question from Colleen - about the fabric I picked out for my Halloween RR - I will have to look that up and get back to you as I really do not remember - I think it was a BOF - maybe Meadowlark? 36ct? I just don't know - check back in the morning.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Friday once again

Here we are again at Friday. I am really ready for the next couple of days off. Not that I will do anything important .... but my usual routine things are very satisfying and fun!! I am glad that you all enjoyed the snaps for the Farmers Market. I am not sure about the fish-wife, but on rare occasions some folks sell out of season or illegally acquired things - and with bans on different sea things they may have had something they shouldn't..... and thought I was turning them in. When we all know all I was doing was getting a snap of some of the crazy looking sea creatures. There is always next week - Ha-Ha-Ha!!

There have been a couple of flicks this week I wanted to mention - first up would be "Bride Wars" 2009 - starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. Now, I really like Anne Hathaway but held up slim hope that this would be anything more than a silly film. I only got it from Netflix because Rico wanted to see it - and I was pleasantly surprised. It was clever where it needed to be and really nice when it could have been super bitchy!! I would recommend this a light comedy, The extras are pretty slim on the DVD but that is the only complaint. The second film was last night - "Coraline" - 2009 - this animated film adaptation was top notch and I really enjoyed everything about this film!! This is not, I repeat not a film for small children as it can get VERY creepy and VERY odd in places.

Still stitching on secret things - so no snaps.

I think that's about it for this week - Thank you all for stopping by -and for the great comments - I always appreciate them!!!

Take care,
edgar

Marketing in SF's Civic Center

I did get over to the farmers market yesterday and as always it was quite an adventure. It was packed full of truck farmers and people milling about. One of the really nice things about Farmers markets is that you can get was is at the top of the season. In a super market you can get everything no matter what time of year it is - almost everything is available - since something is growing somewhere all the time - this is a good and bad thing. Good - in that we can get just about anything we want - bad - in that who knows how long ago it was harvested and where it has been stored and what gasses/waxes/and radiation the veggies and fruits have been exposed to. Enough of that downer stuff....

I really loved this snap...

Those radishes in the front are just beautiful!!

And here is a snap of...

....gorgeous cabbages and other veggies. This was a total fluke shot. There were so many people in front of this stand I thought I would never get it. But, all of a sudden they parted and I got the snap.


Then there is this guy...

who sells the most wonderful mushrooms!!

And finally what I went over for...


...some beautiful fruit. I picked up some peaches, two kinds of plums and some lemons.

I tried to get some snaps of the fish guy and the chicken guy but the fish guy and his harridan of a wife just about lost their minds when they say my little camera. The chicken guy was packed up and driving off by the time I made to his end of the market - so those "interesting" shots will have to wait until another day!! So if you are ever in SF and it's Wednesday trot yourself over to the Civic Center area and check out the Farmers Market.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Tale care,
edgar

Comments and Flickers

Thank you all for nice things you wrote about the PIF that Su sent. She is the bestest!! To borrow a word. Cathy asked about the meaning of PIF and I am glad to explain. Basically it means Pass It Forward. It is works very easy... a stitcher either joins on or begins their own PIF. If a stitcher is starting a PIF then they will post on their blog that you are having a PIF and other stitchers comment that they want to join. The original stitcher will set up the parameters of the PIF - such as how many PIF they are going to and the length of time that those joining will have to stitch up their PIF's. Say the stitcher setting it up indicates that they are taking 3 stitchers to PIF and gets more that that commenting they would like to join, then there may be a drawing or random picking of the three PIF participants. Those three then run a PIF's on their Blogs and it goes on and on - Passing forward wonderfully stitched pieces to others - again a sharing of ourselves with others.

I am so ready to see the new HP Movie and an just green about Mary and Michele already seeing this newest installment!!! Colleen- how did your Peanut Butter cookies turn out???

Stitching last night was still focused on exchanges. The flicker was "The Girl Can't Help it" - 1956 - starring Jayne Mansfield and Tom Ewell. A great movie with some super early Rock and Roll musical numbers!! I wasn't expecting much from this flick and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the whole thing. One of the best numbers is a ghostly apparition of Julie London signing her signature song "Cry me a River."

I did want to clear up about the flicker from yesterday - "Heaven Can Wait" - from 1943 - wasn't remade in 1978 by Warren Beatty - they only reused the title from the 43 movie. The 78 remake was a remake of a really good flick "Here Comes Mr. Jordon" 1941 - starring Robert Montgomery, Evelyn keyes and Claude Rains. It is very confusing all around and very misleading. Although the 78 remake is kind of cute, in its own way - once again there was no need to remake what was a very excellent movie from 1943.

Thanks for stopping by!! Today is the Farmers Market - so I am trotting on over there around lunch time!!! Stop in tomorrow for some snaps of that adventure in shopping with the masses!!

Take care,
edgar

PIF arrives, Cookies and a Flick

Yesterday the mail brought a gorgeous PIF from Su. I joined her PIF last fall - it was my first ever PIF and it was just great. You get a year to stitch and mail the PIF's and you get a PIF. What could be better than sharing your stitching with others. One of the real pleasures of all this stuff is making something nice, decorative or just fun for another stitcher. We rarely meet in person and these little things are just nice hugs across the miles!! Well, I wont go on any longer - her is a snap of my PIF...

Su sent a beautifully stitched and finished pin cushion I love the blanket stitching around the edges - and it looks super with my other stitchity treasures!! Thank you so much Su for doing the PIF and letting me take part.

On the way home we stopped at the store and I picked up some small canning jars. I am determined to put up some cherry jam and even some peach preserves. Two of my favorite bread-spreads!! I also love Damson Plum and may try my hand at that after I try the cherry. My Granny put Damson Plum up every year and I always remember when we would visit them in Holly Hill, FL, there would be her preserves on the table. The things you remember...... we will see how this turns out - :)

Last night after getting home I made a batch of peanut butter cookies....

They are Rico's favorite cookie - I like them also and these turned out pretty good. I have a few for lunch today, yummy!

Stitching last night was once again focused in gifts/exchanges so there are no snaps of any of that, yet.

The flicker last night was "Heaven Can Wait" - 1943 - starring Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Majorie Main, Charles Coburn and Spring Byington. A really very good movie - basic story is of an old playboy type review his life with Satan to see if he is eligible to enter Hell. A beautiful print by Criterion. If you have the chance I would recommend the flick as it is really very good and directed by Ernest Lubitsch.

I also finished re-reading "Half Blood Prince" - such a great series, I totally enjoyed it once again. I have read that there will be changes from the story in the movie, well that always happens - I can't wait to see the newest HP Flicker - "Half Blood Prince." I have heard both good a bad things about this movie - but I like to make up my own mind.

Thank you all for the comments - I always enjoy them!!! Have a great day!!

Take care,
edgar

Monday once Again...

The weekend is over and here I am back to work. We had a very relaxing weekend. Not very much going on -

On Saturday we did the usual Estate/Garage/Second Hand Store thing - I think there are two great things to running around the city "shopping." The first is the time spent together - even if I don't find anything at all - it is great fun just looking at what is out there with Rico and Dale. The second thing would have to be getting to see areas of this 7x7 place that I wouldn't normally see. If you think about it we all stay pretty much in our comfort zones where we live - or at least I seem to - and I like seeing other places in this city by the bay. Our travels took us to a few different places and here is a snap of the treasures I picked up.

Starting form the top left - two mid 19th century Majolica plates - how could I pass them at $5 a piece when I know they can run into the 100's. Then there is my "new" Jack Skelington mug - you know I love that movie and I didn't have this mug. Then there is a the small 2 cup Brown Betty tea pot. A really old one and very heavy. The kitchen gadgets I got all for a couple of bucks. The funniest thing about one of them is I went out on Sat morning wanting a cherry stoner and found one along with the other gadgets. Over all a very productive day.


I thought you all need an update on the pidglettes - well they are up and stomping about...


They still have a very "vulture" look about them but overall very pigeony with little yellow pin feathers on their heads. And, here is our next clutch....

Now, my biggest concern is that the two first pidglettes came out of a single egg - if there are two in each of these eggs there will be four pidglettes in this window box - and it ain't that big a box!! Stink-eye the mama pigeon had flown off for a few mins and I got this snap. She doesn't often do this and I was surprised when she did take off revealing that there wasn't one but two eggs.

We picked up some more cherries and tried out the de-stoner thingie and it worked wonderfully well without my hands getting stained with juice.


The last batch I stoned with a knife and my fingers and my hands looked like I had been tearing away at someones throat they where so covered in dark red cherry juice.

I did get in quite a bit of stitching but it is all secret stitching for the moment so not snaps. I also am trying out an new framers on this side of the Bay - the little piece I took in will be ready next weekend so I will have a snap of that next Monday - hopefully.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Take care,
edgar

Watching DVD's

Last night rounds out the week - with a low key evening. Rico fixed dinner - some yummy homemade pork Tamales - they where the last of a batch he had gotten a while back.

We watched a bunch of Ab Fab DVD's - a really funny show no matter how many times you watch. That foursome of - Edina, Patsy, Saffron and Bubbles are just too funny. Then you throw the Mother in there and it is almost always chaos!!


Stitching was focused on an exchange piece - so no snaps.

No big plans for the weekend - just taking it as it comes.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Cherries a Movie and some Stitching

Yesterday was a pretty typical day here in the City - it was breezy and in the low 70's!! Today it should be in the high 60's - thank goodness for the Marine Layer that blows in a "fogulates" the city. In the afternoon I got to run up to the mid-week Farmers Market. This market is held in the Civic Center area every Wednesday I picked up 3 pounds of cherries. I think the short and sweet cherry season is coming to an end as only a single stand had any. When I got home last night I got all the stones out of them and now they are in the freezer ready for me to make up some jam this weekend. I forgot to take my camera - can you believe it - so I haven't a single snap of any of the market. I will get there next week and get some snaps. It is a really nice market as you get any just about kind of fruit or veg in season - you can also get a chicken - so fresh they are still clucking!! You can honey, nuts, fish, flowers and even Kettle Korn. This farmers market is one of the better ones and not as high tone as the one at the Embarcadero or the one over on 24th Street. It has a great mix with just enough rough edges to have a gritty feel - and the prices are pretty good.

The flicker last night was "You're in the Navy Now" - 1951 - starring Gary Cooper and Jane Greer - supporting cast includes Eddie Albert and Jack Webb and a early bit part for Charles Bronson. This comedy based in truth was very entertaining. Gary Cooper is the commander of the PT 1186 nicknamed the "Tea Kettle" and experimental ship testing a steam powered engine. A solid and fun movie at 90 mins well worth a look.

My stitching was totally on exchange pieces. I have 3 mail dates coming up in the next few weeks so I need to get a'stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Midweek .......

Ahhh Dear friends - here we are on the hump of the week - with the great slide to the weekend!! Not very much going on here except a slight warm wave. I did want to address the queries about the piece I posted about yesterday. It is from a chart - a very old chart I got off of eBay. It is a Native American subject - I had been looking high and low for a NA design - as most of them out there just do not do it for me. When I saw this one I really liked it and now here I am stitching it up. I can't remember the name - I will post it tomorrow. Didn't get much stitching at all done last night so no stitchy snaps this morning. I spent a good deal of time going through my stash binders looking for inspiration for some up coming exchanges - a think I have picked a few - now to narrow them down.

I also spent a good deal of the evening polishing my silver- usually I haul out the big pieces that I keep wrapped up and stored every 2 or 3 months for a good polish to keep them in top shine. I really do enjoy polishing silver - like ironing there is such a great since of accomplishment with the end product.



The flicker last night was "Naughty Marietta" - 1935 - the first pairing of Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy - Americas Sweethearts. The cast included Elsa Lanchester and Frank Morgan. Basically the plot revolves around a French Princess the runs away from an arranged marriage in France to the wilderness of New Orleans circa 1750. If you just enjoy the film for what it is - a singing confection - it is lots of fun.

Thank you once again for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Flick and Stitches

Thank you all for the kind comments about the Sampler. I was asked about the charts - they are from last years Loose Feathers - # 31 - parts 1 & 2, #32 - part 3, #33 - part 4 and #34 - part 5. I think I will live with it a bit before adding anything else to the bottom. I figured out that I have only worked on and off on this for about 4 weeks - so it worked up really quickly - The idea of just adding the stitching dates with some extra little do-dads that are at the top sounded pretty good - it does seem to be top heavy - but there is no rush as I do not have a frame, yet.

I do have a snap of a small start from the weekend-


It is a Christmas Present for someone that does not read the blog so I am safe.
Not something I would normally do, but perfect for the recipient.

Last night the flicker was "Brigham Young" - 1940 - starring a host of big names - Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Dean Jagger, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Mary Astor and Vincent Price as the prophet Joseph Smith. An excellent movie, well acted and directed. I have read that it is not as accurate as the actual events that got the Mormons to the Great Salt Lake Valley - but then what Hollywood Bio-Pic ever is. While watching the movie I did not realize the extent of persecution of the Mormons as they fled from state to state finally ending in Utah. At 2 hours it is entertaining and well acted and shot in wonderful B&W.

Thanks again for stopping by and for the great comments - I do appreciate them!!!

Take care,
edgar

Monday Morning Musings

Dear Friends we are together again..... we had a very low key weekend here in San Francisco. So low key I was in sweats most of it and loving every second!! I wanted to start off today by showing you the LF Mystery Sampler finish - I think it turned out very nice. There are a few changes - floss colours, additions and a few subtractions, but overall I am very happy. Here is a snap -

The only glaring thing missing are two letters - I guess them to be initials - on either side of the basket in the last panel. I already put my initials in the second panel and think it overkill to put them on again. I could put the date? What are your thoughts????

The weekend started off Friday evening IM'ing with Dale - we found that both of us were "broker than mules." Now just how broke is that you might ask - I haven't got a clue but I like the saying! The no funds coupled with the no estate or garage sales meant I was reduced to running errands on Saturday morning. Let me show you the gorgeous sky on Friday evening...looking north over Noe Valley...

The little light is a car cresting the hill of Castro Street as it descends into Now Valley. Now turning to the left we get a great view of....


of Sutro Tower being engulfed in the fog blanket of Summer. Saturday morning found the fog so thick you couldn't see down into Noe Valley at all. This burned off by noonish, but it is one of the nice things about the city. We ran errands - mostly shopping - and picked up these lovelies -


It is cherry season and they are simply delicious!!!! I really can not stand any "cherry flavoured" anything - it just makes me gag, but real fresh cherries are a weakness. They are super good this year and a treat for summer. We also got the car washed - now I could care less if the car ever got washed, but Rico likes a clean car and bitches if it isn't - so we got the car washed after having it pretty filthy for many months - you gotta give in sometimes!!!

Here is an updated snap of the pidgelettes -

They are both standing up and shuffling about - and they are getting to be pudgy little pidgelettes!! Their feathers are really coming thick but they are still very vulture-ugly and both have acquired the mama stink eye!

That's about it for the weekend - :)

Thanks you for stopping by and the sweet comments about dear little Aaliyah.

Take care,
edgar

Friday has come again....

Well, at least I got some stitching and a movie in last night - instead of just snoozing!! I just hate it when I waste an evening and nothing is accomplished!! I started another stitchity present - that should work up in the next week or so, but no snaps.

I don't think I mentioned it but as the pidglettes are getting bigger - mama pidge has gone and laid another egg in the second window box. Now, she made no nest or any preparations but just sort of squatted and out popped and egg in the window box. She has also worked up a major stink eye anytime we go in or out of the front door as it is less than 3 feet from her new egg on dirt situation. The other two have grown in some major feathers and sort of move around in that cramped little nest. I will get some snaps posted on Monday of our ever expanding aviary.

Last night the flicker was interesting "We Live Again" - 1934 starring Fredric March and Anna Sten. A Tsarist Russian love story taken from the novel "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy. Don't watch expecting "Dr. Zhivago" - this film sort of plodded along to a very predictable ending.

I did want to thank Bronny for the kind accolade for this blog!! It was very kind and I do appreciate it!!!

I had a couple of questions about the LF Mystery Sampler - the linen I am using is one I had that fit AND I liked the colour. It is LL Vintage Sand Dune, 32 ct. I would have really wanted to do this on 36ct but did not have a piece that fit and I wasn't willing to chop up a big piece. I don't know why but I am always so reticent to hack into a lovely big piece of linen. In fact I will get more linen cut specifically to fit before cutting up a big piece in my stash, is that a weirdness or what??? At some point I usually just give in - but I still hate doing it!! The other question was how big is the piece - now the linen is 18 x 27 - and there is a pretty generous space around the piece - I would think sitting here (and not having measured it like I should have) that it is about 15 x 23.

I wanted to let you go this week with a snap of sweet Aalyiah - Rico's Mom and entourage came to visit last weekend so I got some cute snappers of the baby......


There you go sports fans!! Have a great weekend - and remember same Bat time, same Bat channel next week!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Christmas Comes to SF

Can you believe that two days in a row I have mentioned Christmas!!!! I know the closer we get the faster it gets to us - The mail yesterday brought a wonderful package of Christmas Cheer from Down Under - Alison from Australia sent a beautifully stitched and finished ornament - here is a snap -

I love PS and this a beauty!! From the "Santa's and Snowmen" chart I just love it!! You really can't tell from the photo but the fuzzy binding around the stitched piece is sparkly which really sets it off and will look great on our tree for years to come! Along with the ornament was some super extra goodies........ a snap of everything.....


Knowing how I love licorice Alison included a bag of some that is really delicious - and a great candle, a pair of cute scissors and an Australian pen!! Thank you so much for the bit of Christmas Cheer here in the Summer - the weather has been very windy and cool hovering ion the high 60's low 70's for the past few days - glorious SF summer weather!!!!! Do go check out Alison's site as she has finished up "Finch Song" by SB - a kit I think I will have to get - It is just gorgeous!!

There you go - Yesterday after work we went to pick up our fixed computer for home. It crashed and we were off line for about a week. :( Now we are back up and on line!! :)
After getting home I fixed dinner and after that promptly passed out - I guess from exhaustion - since all I was drinking was some tea. At about 10:15 I woke up and realized the entire evening was shot!!! and the Peach had fallen asleep on my chest - she also woke up and promptly sneezed in my face - ahhhh - the deliciousness of that moment boggles the mind!!! So off to bed we went - so no flicker, no stitching - no nothing!! Kinda boring.

Thanks for stopping by!! Thanks for the great comments about LF Mystery Sampler - I will get the answers to the question in tomorrows post -

Take care -
edgar

Mystery Bonus Sampler Update

I am glad that you all will enjoy the PinWheel recipe. It is so easy and goes together very fast.

Last night was a stitchity flickery evening - like I am gonna break my routine I so enjoy!! I finished up another Christmas present and am really excited about how it turned out. I shifted out most of the floss' after seeing another stitchers finish and her conversion. I will post it with the other presents right after Christmas - which is now getting closer - only 170 days away. I then picked up my BBD Bonus Mystery Sampler and got a pretty good start on the last panel. Here is a snap of where it stands now -

It is just bee-bopping along and shouldn't need too much more attention.

The flicker for evening was a favorite of mine. Usually I pop a DVD in or flip over to TCM. Well I did neither - the Peach was sleeping on my neck and was just way to settled for me to move her. I picked up the flipper and since we have Comcast (which I hate BTW) - I pulled up the on demand TCM to see what was available and this month they have "Goodbye Mr. Chips" playing. Not the goofy 1969 musical version but the award winning 1939 version. Starring Robert Donat - as Chips - who BTW beat out Clark Gable - playing Rhett Butler - for the Best Lead Actor Academy Award. If you have never seen this movie I would highly recommend it!!

There you go - short and sweet!! Thanks for stopping by - and the great comments - they were very thoughtful and made my morning!!!

Take care,
edgar

Tuesday Posting

Dear Friends - I am overwhelmed once again by your kind comments about "Lo Rose." The sampler is so pretty and was such a quick stitch - now I see it every time I trot up or down the steps - it is at the top of the stairs and the rest of the samplers to come will cascade down from there. I love needlework on the walls - since so much of mine is either for others or not framed, the pieces I have around I really enjoy. There will be more snaps as samplers arrive on the wall!!

Melissa asked on Thursday's post about the binders I have for my charts - I Have two big 5 inch ones that have the charts sorted by designer or subject and I have a third 3 inch binder that has only Prairie School charts - those are two to a sleeve and sorted numerically. I still need a couple more big binders for just LHN and BBD - right now they are in separated stuffed folder things. A majority of Christmas charts are also separated in there own folder thing - not a very good description.

Yesterday I posted about PinWheels - I should have also posted a recipe - but these really have no recipe. I got it from my Mom as she has been making them for as long as I can remember. I called her when I got home to see if she remembered where she got the idea/recipe from - she couldn't remember and thinks that my Grandmother might have given her the recipe. I think it probably came from a magazine or newspaper or somewhere like that as I never can recall my Grandmother ever making them. All that aside....

PinWheels

1 mixing bowl of Biscuit Dough - enough to make about 12-14 Biscuits -
2lbs of Sausage

Now.... what I do....I usually just make up one recipe of Bisquick Biscuits which is 2 c Bisquick and 2/3 c milk - mix in a bowl until it holds together then turn out on the counter. I then kneed this a few times as it forms a better biscuit. Then roll this out to about a 1/4 inch. My mom uses only 1lb of sausage, but I think that is not enough. I use 2lbs of Jimmy Dean Sausage (that's what I like) 1lb Regular and 1lb Hot Sausage mixed together. Spread the sausage out evenly over the biscuit, then roll up like a jelly roll. I wrap this roll in plastic wrap then in foil sealing the edges. I make this the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator to stiffen up. You can also freeze this easily for a couple of weeks if you want to make it ahead of time, just let it thaw out for a day or two before cooking. If you cut into it right after rolling up it really mashes it and will not make nice pieces. In the morning or when you are ready to cook this sucker up - cut the roll into 1/2 inch slices and place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet - put this into a preheated medium oven - about 350 for 25 or so mins - until brown and done - My sister likes to use the maple sausage or even Italian sausage which are both good, just use what you like. I have tried variations on the biscuit dough and find that if it on the dry side it works better - I have also tried cheese in the dough - that did not work - as it burned and got really hard and weird. Hope you will enjoy this as it a real family favorite and has been for the last 40 or so years.

I have seen a few flicks - and wanted to talk about a couple. Both Starring Jennifer Jones.
What a super actress so subtle and just gorgeous!!!


The first of two films was "Carrie" - 1952 - no blood and Proms here - it is about a young girl on her way to stardom and what she will and wont do to get there - her so-stars are Eddie Albert, Lawrence Olivier and Miriam Hopkins. A film I really enjoyed and I had not heard about. The second film "Stazione Termini" - 1953 - released in America as "Indiscretion of an American Wife." Her co star was Montgomery Clift. The entire movie takes place in a railway station in Rome. I enjoyed this short film and found that both Jones and Clift gave great performances as the tragic lovers parting forever.

Once again many thanks to for your comments!! Thank you for stopping by!

Take care,
edgar

A Monday Posting

The three day weekend turned out to be a little less relaxing than I had anticipated, but thems' the breaks!!

On the stitchy front - I worked almost exclusively on a Christmas present. I think it will finish up with one more sitting. I did finally get to framing my "Lo Rose" and getting it up on the wall. I don't know why it took me so long - here is a snap...



I blasted some light on it and the batman angle is due to it hanging in the stair hall - I think I will hang all these smaller pieces going up the stairs. I really like how this turned out. There are a few more pieces that I can frame up and get on the wall - but why rush things!! :)

On Saturday Dale and I ran around to the 1 Estate sale and few garage sales that where out there - pretty slim pickins' - We stopped for lunch at a place I had heard about - way out in the Richmond District called Shanghai Dumpling King -

I have been wanting to go here for months and months - but every time we get out there the lines and about 20+ people deep - On Saturday we got there around 11:30am - no line and we got a small table right away. It is a small place with tables in every nook and cranny!! We ordered steamed Shanghai dumplings or course .....


They serve them in the steam trays and are the scrumptious!!! I would highly recommend this place if you are out on Balboa the cross street is one of the low 30's. We will be back!

I did pick up a nice platter - here's a snap...


This is Sunday morning with sausage pin-wheels on it. The pattern is "Indian Tree" and is a pattern that my GG-mother had - and my mom has a few pieces from her. I have wanted some for a long time and now I have a nice platter. The pin-wheels are something I make really often and everyone seems to like as they usually get eaten up pretty quickly. These five where what was left from a whole batch. I grew up with my mom making them on the weekends - now I make them and my sister makes them -

There you go - a busy eating weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by - I will get to answering comments tomorrow -
thank you for leaving them!!

Have a great one -
Take care,
edgar

Thursday Posting

Not too much going on - just the count down to the weekend!! :)

Last night was devoted to more Christmas stitching so no snaps of that. Talking about stitching led to me thinking about stashing - I know that basically I have probably reached SABLE a long time ago and still get more stuff. With that in mind I started to think what where the things that I bought or collected.... the ones that do it for me are just about anything Quaker - either repro or inspired by the style. There are very few Quakerish things that I just do not like - and I would never get. When I buy or download a freebie or even see something "new" - I always think "Will I ever stitch it" and if I am HONEST with myself and with the piece, more times than not I can walk away from it and save some funions. Another company/style are the PS things - not everything but most - I also love the Noah and the Ark theme - and was very surprised at how many different interpretations there are out there - I have 12 different charts with that theme and ordered two more yesterday.

"Noah Building the Ark" - Raphael (1483-1520)
Fresco, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

I also noticed that when laying these charts out to see how they look together I notice there isn't a cartoony one in the bunch. Cartoon subjects/pieces and the mystical/fantasy area are things I just don't care for. I also notice how many small square samplers I have - I wondered about that also. It is very interesting to see what the pile holds. Now that I am getting them put into plastic sleeve protectors and separating by company/them/idea and then into 3 ring binders I can get a better idea of what I have and hopefully not buy something twice.

The flickers last night where particularly good - two from TCM and one NetFlix. On TCM it was Gangster night and I started off the evening with "Manhattan Melodrama" - 1934 - staring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and William Powell. The story is very "drama" and kind of silly but you watch it for the three stars who are superb and at the top of their game. The second flick was "Fog Over Frisco" - 1934 - starring Bette Davis, Donald Woods and Margaret Lindsey. This was one of 6 films that Bette made in 34 - the contract player system kept them mighty busy!! The film was pretty good and it was super to see San Francisco in 34 - the car chase scenes where great - they were rear projected and cut in with actual street shots but very effective. The third film was "Three Guys Named Mike" 1951 - starring Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Howard Keel and Barry Sullivan. A great escapist film about a small town girl who goes to work for American Airlines as a stewardess - and her falling for three guys named Mike. A great little film that I stumbled on - a breezy comedy I can highly recommend!!

Thank you for the great comments yesterday!! I do appreciate them. Thank you for stopping by - remember I wont be here tomorrow- but will return on Monday
- same Bat time same Bat channel!!!

Take care,
edgar

Christmas Arrives and the Pidglettes

Woo Hoo - it is Wednesday - and you know what that means - that only one more day until the big three day weekend. I just can't wait! Not that there are any big plans - except for the usual - NBS - (Numb Butt Syndrome) can't wait for that to set in. On the fourth we will watch the fireworks from our apartment since our view is very good - all the way to the Bay and the City always does such a nice job. I often wonder what it would be like to be on the Bay Bridge while the fireworks are shooting off - now that would be a great view since it looks like they are exploding very close to the bridge.

I got a lovely email letting me know that Sadie received the "Christmas in July" exchange I sent. This was a super exchange that Jill arranged on the HOE Blog. Here is a snap of the stitched piece I sent -


and the entire package of Christmas Goodies -

This piece is from Homespun Elegance and is called "Joy to All." It was a really fun exchange and you know me I love Christmas!!

Yesterday the Mama Pidge was off again and I got to thinking that those pidgelettes seem to be getting really big - what do you think?

- and it is getting very "pooey" around the nest and the box.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care -
edgar