A Finish, a Start, a Gift and some Stash

GR&DF we have reached the high point of the week - with a great slide to the weekend - since I took Friday off - only one more day and then 4 glorious days off - woo hoo!!!

Last night I finished off the little sampler I had been working on - here is a crooked snap -

Sheepish Designs - "Red Alphabet" - 105th Exemplary - stitched on 32ct Flax using WDW Brick - 1 over 2.

This little piece is a really sweet and fast stitch - odd in that there is no big "z."

I also started another little sampler - here is a not so crooked snap of the little progress from last night -

This little piece is just too cute - from Of Female Worth - called "The Absent Minded Squirrel" - I am stitching him up on the same 32ct Flax (it was a pretty big piece) and I like how the floss looks on it - using my own conversion from the recommended WDW/DMC. I am stitching this 2 over 2. I am really drawn to this piece because of the border - a vine of acorns - that stitches up really quickly.

The mail was super nice to me yesterday - bringing this sweet RAK -

...a wonderfully wrapped package is sitting on the great penny mat - another RAK - from dear Vonna - and inside was this....

... a simply gorgeous piece of silk slub - from Andover Fabrics - in a color called Desert Sand - so soft - so decadent - now what to stitch on its lovely surface????? Thank you so much dear Sue!!! This here stitching group are sure nice - can't say it enough!!!

The mail also brought some stash...

The number 5 AotH from BBD - some floss I was missing for stitching up the BBD stockings and a piece of linen that is to replace a piece I was less that enthusiastic about for the stockings. Almost to the 1/2 way point with the AotH chart release - I can't wait to see them all together and will wait to stitch them up after they are all in my hot little hands. I have an idea marinating over how I want to stitch them as a single piece.... but that will probably change.

There were a couple of flicks last night I wanted to mention - but before I do that I wanted to fill in a little about yesterdays film - "The Shanghai Gesture" was Gene Tireney's first film - hence her less than stellar performance - she is simply lovely throughout the film but her acting had not smoothed out to what she could do - I wished I had known that info before I saw the film - I would have been a little less critical about her.

The first film up from last night is "Hachi: a Dogs Tale" - 2009 - starring Richard Gere, Joan Allen and Jason Alexander. This wonderful film is a short and beautiful piece about loyalty and the connection of a dog and human. The story is based on a true story from Japan of the 1920's about a real dog. The movie moved the action to a small town in I think Connecticut set in the 1990's. If you get to see the film on DVD be sure to watch the special features - they talk about how the film was made and about the real Hachi. I can't recommend this film highly enough - I was a snivelling mess at the end, but it was a dog movie - and I am sucker for the hounds!!

The second film was a newish release from Criterion - "Night Train to Munich" - 1940 - starring Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison and Paul Henreid. The story revolves around the Nazi expansion into Czechoslovakia and trying to induce an important scientist to work for them. He escapes to England. To get at him the Nazi's incarcerate his daughter in a concentration camp. She escapes with who she thinks is another prisoner, but is he? They make it to England and she is reunited with her father - but the German's aren't going to let go of either of them.... kidnapping both father a daughter back to the Fatherland - it them becomes imperative that the British get them back.... this is a great spy movie with a lot of twists and exciting moments - in the style of Hitchcock and done with many of the same actors from "The Lady Vanishes" - 1938 - (another superior spy film) - I would highly recommend both films.

There you go sports fans - another post from yours truly!! Thanks you for stopping by do come again. Just a mention - we upgraded last night at home to uber fast Internet from uber slow dial up - so I might just be posting on some weekends - now doesn't the strike terror in the hearts of the insane!! :)

Take care,
edgar

and the Winner is......

GR&DF your kind comments yesterday were so nice I really enjoyed them this morning!! The cherry coffee cake went over big - and was totally easy to make with stuff that is kept on hand. I did want to mention that I did double the recipe for the larger spring form pan I have - this of course added some extra time to baking.

Here is a little bit of odd in the our life on Red Rock by the Bay - you remember yesterday I was bitchin' (surprise, surprise) about how our phone was cut off on Friday - not bitchin' because there was no phone - but our door buzzer to buzz in people into our building is connected to this land line. Oh, well - last night for some unknown reason the phone just started to work again and it is fine. I cancelled the phone-fix-call for today as it seems to be working - could that be more weird - I know it wasn't the workmen on the roof that fixed the line as they were none in sight yesterday when we got home and the phone didn't start to work again until around 7pm or so.......

I did pull together all the names and fill a BoD last night for the drawing -

and since the Peach is the usual who-hound that draws the winners - we thought the Pete should get a chance - he was less than enthused to say the least -

he sniffed around and sneezed on this entry - Vanessa - is the winner - if you could send me your snail mail address I can get the chart out to you - my email is on my profile. Thank you all for entering my little drawing!!

I wanted to mention a new Blogger to join our ranks Miss Peggy Lee - over at "Kentucky Sampler" - if you get the chance stop on over and say Hi!!

Last night was more "Winds of War" - those discs just keep coming and coming. I also got in another film "The Shanghai Gesture" - 1941 - starring Gene Tierney, Walter Houston, Victor Mature and Ona Munson. An odd and often silly film of heavy melodrama - set in 1930's Shanghai. Most of the action takes place in a Casino run by the infamous Mother Gin Sling - and her minions. In walks rich and spoiled Poppy played by Tierney (not her best roll - and she is really very whiny lots of the time) and she starts to loose heavily at the tables. Eventually all the characters are brought together for a Chinese New Years Banquet were Mother Gin Sling reveals long buried secrets about those gathered. I would recommend this film if for nothing else then to just see the multitude of hair styles that Gin Sling wears through the film - from the odd to outrageous - the costumes and set dressing overall are top notch and over the top fantastic and worth a look.

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

Take care,
edgar

Breezy Two Days

GR&DF the weekend was non-eventful - Friday evening was drama central, but the weekend was cool and calm.

We started off the weekend with more construction around our ever changing building. Now, the new owners are putting a new roof on - and as delightful as that might be - a necessary evil. So.... we came home Friday afternoon to lots of banging, pounding and stomping about. Since the work crew probably was working with a crazy deadline they where moving briskly across the lower roofs - our building or I should say builkdings are actually stepped back and up the side of smallish mountain and the townhouses are on the lower end of this - consequently they started on our section first - lucky us!! With them trying to move as quickly as possible putting down some sort of white stuff - a film and foam board - I would guess this is getting ready for the final sealing - I have no clue - But they somehow disconnected or cut our phone line - so this left us without a land line - which is no problem at all - I hate the phone with a blind passion - and I never carry my cell - however this also disconnected our computer - so I couldn't do the drawing yesterday as planned but I will do it tonight and announce a winner tomorrow. We have an appointment for Tuesday between 4 and 8pm for the phone people to fix what was broken. - The joys of apartment living!!

The weekend here at lazy butt central was low key aside from no phone. It was Pride Weekend and the city was filled with out-of-towners - like many extra 1000's of folks from far and near. A traditionally big party on the eve of Pride is on Saturday Night in the Castro - it is called "Pink Saturday." This year, if you have not heard, there was gun fire - with one fatality. I have hared from some friends that where int he Castro that the crowd was mostly from out of town and lots of thugs types from the East Bay and south peninsula causing trouble. This traditional party will probably go the way of Halloween in the Castro and get banned.

On Saturday we ran some errands and then stayed in the rest of the day - and watched the fog roll down over twin Peaks and into the city and then yesterday is was brought and sunny all day and got very warm - up into the upper 70's -

I stitched some on the Red Alphabet - here is a snap -

This piece is coming along nicely - and will wrap up in the next day or so.

One of our favorite food places is Trader Joe's. They have started to carry pizza dough - so we picked some up. It is super easy to use and here is a before the stove -

and after about 20 mins in a hot oven....


I love making pizza at home - that way I get my extra peperoni, onion and green olives with extra cheese - This sucker was so big that there is still a couple of pieces in the fridge for dinner tonight!!

I also made a cherry coffee cake - with the season about shot I thought I should make one last thing....




I modified a recipe I found on the blog called "The English Kitchen" - Marie always has the nicest things posted and she is such an inspiration!!

There you go sports fans - another lazy weekend!! - and - looking towards the end of this "short" week - a long 4 Day weekend - I took off Friday and that with Next Monday off will be wonderful!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! I'll announce the winner of the chart in tomorrows post.

Take care,
edgar

Woo-Hoo Friday is here!!!

GR&&DF thank you all for the super kind comments for yesterdays post. That little piece of stitching has been finished and waiting for a frame for such along time. It came together so fast and easy - sometimes when I get to framing things it is like wrestling a greased pig into a girdle - and then some!! - But, for some reason - the planets aligned or I was a good boy - or for some dumb reason - the foam board cut correctly and evenly the first time - the piece pinned down the first go round and everything just fell into place and onto the wall. Catherine asked about other pieces on the walls - I will take some snaps and get them posted up next week - Barb asked if I had seen the Quaker Halloween - yes I have, it is in my stash waiting or as it should be referred to as as my SABLE.

Last night I worked a little on Red Alphabet - not much so no snap today, but I will post one on Monday.

The flickers last night where - part 5 of "The Winds of War." I am still enjoying this mini series very much. The story is so big and sweeping that I am glad that I broke up getting the Discs with other things. The other movie for the evening also came from Netflix - "The Fighting 69th" - 1940 - starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, George Brent and Alan Hale. A WWI film about self sacrifice and soldier camaraderie. A really great roll for Cagney and different from his other earlier rolls - this part calls for him to play the part of tough braggart and cringing coward - by the end of the film he is redeemed but just in time for the final credits. Based in fact but Hollowoodized, this was a good war film - with a good strong story and some very good acting. Over all a very satisfying World War evening.

There you go sports fans - don't forget the drawing for the Beatrix Potter Companion Chart - just throw a comment on Wednesday's post and I will draw a name on this Sunday - 6/27 -and announce the winner on Monday. have a great Weekend!!!

Take Care,
edgar

A Frame, a Start and a Conversion - or - Quaker, Quaker, Sampler

GR&DF what super comments - I do thank you all for them!!! I am such a nut for the Quaker pieces - it doesn't matter if they are reproductions or the newer versions using Quakery bits and pieces. It seems that the Quaker fad has sort of run its course and not as many pieces are being released as they were a year or so ago - but I stocked up and have plenty of Quaker stash to keep me busy.

Last night I dug out a BBD - LF piece I did back in 07 to frame up. I picked up the frame this weekend and think it goes very well with the piece. Here is a snap -


I have seen this stitched up by many stitchers - It is "Quaker Garden" a Loose Feathers piece, I used the recommended floss and linen - at the time I would have never thought of choosing anything else but what was called for - such sacrilege!! It was also this piece that started me on my love of the stitched Quaker. Here is another snap of it hanging in the stairway -


It fit perfectly in this odd triangular space and sort of finished off the other stitched pieces I have cascading down the wall - yes, that is my knee in the lower right corner.

I was also at the point between pieces that I really do not like. I like just sitting down and picking up a WIP - but one has to start a piece to have a WIP to stitch on. I started in on a chart that is on a loan to me called "Red Alphabet" by Sheepish Designs. It will be a quick piece to stitch but I think very pretty. Here is my pitiful little start snap....


I am using WDW "Brick" - the model on the package shows it worked in a silk, but I already have 3 skeins of the "Brick" and so I chose to go for that from the stash as that was the conversion suggested from SD. I am stitching it on a piece of linen from LL called "Flax" - 32ct.

A while back I had an email about my process in converting from what is recommended to other fibers and so I think I will take the opportunity here to show exactly how I do it. Not that this is the best way but it is my way. Here is a snap -

This is what I did last night - a conversion for "The Garden Path" - I usually put down some white paper and then get together the called for floss - in this case it is DMC - then I haul out the silk or the over dyed or what ever kind of floss stash I want to stitch the piece in question and just get to going through it all until I hit on either colours that are close to the DMC's or colours I like that sort of coordinate with together. Here is everything - the DMC with my conversions of the different silks I will use. Now I need to get at the linen stash a pick something from there.

There you go sports fans. Thank you again for stopping by and for the kind words!! Do come again.

Take care,
edgar

A BP Companion c'est Finis - and a Drawing!!

GR&DF I do thank you all for the kind comments for yesterdays post - and the who hounds thank you also - those little bundles of delicious cute-a-tude relish any and all love thrown at them!!


Well, last night I put the final stitches into a mega WIP - here is a snap...... from the left



and from the right....



and here is a full frontal shot.... ( jeez this sounds like stitching porn!!)

April 22, 2008- June 22, 2010

Beatrix Potter Companion Quaker Sampler - Needleprint -
32ct Mystery Over-dyed Linen - Belle Soie "Moss" silk

I couldn't believe that I started this back in 2008 ( I had to dig back through my posts to find the start date and was dumbfounded!!) - this had really sat around in the basket languishing for attention!! I decided to fill the wreaths with my parents and paternal- grand parents initials and the years they were married. I also added my initials and a 2010 date mark.

This was a really nice piece to work on - but I am happy to have it done and rolled away with my other finishes - I think the guilt of seeing it not worked on kind of gets to me after a while. I also found that in my continual panic to not run out of silk - that I had purchased and additional 6 skeins of "Moss." It is a really great gray colour that I will put to use in some other projects.

-------

I had a couple of comments/questions yesterday - I usually do some stitching every evening - now that can be from a hour to all evening which would run into 4 or sometimes 5 hours, but I usually feel the need to put a needle in my hand every day, just to keep my sanity if for no other reason. Rico does no needlework, he can identify an needle and thread but beyond that he is pretty useless domestically - I do all the mending with needle and thread at our house - he has two hobbies 1) his cell phone and 2) Face Book - two things that just push me over the edge and I avoid at great cost. I hardly ever - like never - have my cell phone even turned on much less on my person and I avoid the computer away from work like the plague and do not have a Facebook page - I have this here Blog and enjoy what I do here.

The BBD #40 being the last one - I am sure I read - but at the moment can not remember where - that this was to be the last one - my recollection also has a bit about -they may release some LF later on but for now its a wrap. Since they are so very busy with teaching at different places - and are now working on the AotH series - and- all the great Quilt books and stuff I certainly couldn't see them putting out any LF anytime soon. It would be great for other LF to come out - but they can only do so much.

-------
- THE DRAWING -

With the finish of BP Companion - I now have a chart that I will never restitch - so let's have a Drawing. If you would like to have this chart for your very own to stitch just leave a comment on this post only - mention in the post that you want to be in the drawing - and I will get the BoD out and draw a name on this Sunday - June 27, 2010 - announcing the winner on Monday. You do not have to be a follower, or a commenter or have a Blog or even live in the US - All you have to do is comment on this post and have an address somewhere on the planet that I can mail the chart to. Remember that along the folds it is a bit worn - from folding and re-folding ( a hazard of the Needleprint charts), but the chart is perfectly fine and can certainly be stitched from again.


There you go sports fans - Thank you again for stopping by a continuing to make this a bright spot in an otherwise bleak world!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Some Super Mail - an Exchange, some Stash and a Conversion

GR&DF the mail yesterday was just wonderful.

Let me start off with the exchange I received - in the HOE I was part of the ABC Exchange and my partner was Kathy and she sent me a totally cute piece. Here is a snap -

Stitched from a LHN chart this perfectly darling puppy pillow is just great!! The whole package was puppy related. For those that are not familiar with Kathy and her Blog - she shares her life with Rory - and even he got into the act with a present to my "who hounds." And what better for an East Coast Who Hound to send West Coast Who Hounds......

... but a double squeak, Statue of Liberty Doggie - Chew toy - and between The Peach and Lolly there was plenty of chasing around and seeing who could hang onto the new toy the longest...

.. the Peach has it....

... then Lolly got it.....

then The Peach got it back and jumped on the sofa and Lolly was right there wainting for her to make a mis-step. The hounds thank Rory very much!!!

Also include in the package was a couple of super cute RAK's -

Two scissor fobs - a chihuahua crushed walnut shell filled one and a beautiful tigers eye and jade beaded one - here is a clsoe up to better see the colour of the beads -

Here is a snap of everything -

This snap shows everything and the great puppy bag that everything came in!! Thank you Kathy for a really wonderful Exchange!!

The mail also brought the last of the BBD - Loose Feathers - #40 -

The Hedgerow Birds Project Bag. I also added some Belle Soie to my growing collection. It is really sad about there being no more LF Charts. On a better note - for those that didn't know BBD released the next Anniversaries of the Heart chart #5 - a great one - called Farm House - mine is on back order.

In yesterday's post I mentioned a chart I am kitting out from DMC to Belle Soie - and I may throw in a a couple of solids either NPI or HDF - but here is a snap of the chart and the DMC colours....

What is so really wonderful about this loan is that not only did I get to borrow the chart but the package it came in was filled with many other goodies.... some licorice and chocolate covered coffee beans - and some beautiful NPI silks along with a great piece of linen. Completely out of the blue and such generosity - and what did I do to be the receiver of such kindness - nothing hard on my end just the loan of chart that is OOP and terribly hard to find. Thank you so much!! I know the frustration of trying to find an OOP chart and am always glad to help if I can and I know that others are also inclined to help - that's what makes this a really great community of very generous and kind stitchers!!

I think that about wraps it up for today - Thanks for stopping by, do come again!

Take care,
edgar

A Beautiful Weekend

GR&DF thank you all for the kind comments on my post from Friday - even my sister had nice things to say about the post - and she can be so persnickety sometimes..... hey there weena!! I know she reads the blog daily but refuses to comment....... just a sweet lurker!!

As the post header states it was an absolutely beautiful weekend here in SF. In the mid 60's sunny, bright and lovely breezes both days. Not a spot of fog or mist or rain. All I did all weekend was go out to breakfast on Saturday morning - to Eddies - and run down to south SF to the Michael's to get a couple of skeins of DMC and then stay in and look at the days past - what a lump of laziness I was. I did some laundry. but didn't push around the vacuum a bit. I needed (don'tcha love the way I put that) , needed the DMC as I did not have a couple of colours for something I am kitting out and I want to convert to Belle Soie. I'll post a snap tomorrow. I got this particular chart in a loan from another stitcher - and all I can say at the moment is how kind and generous some stitchers can be. Check back in the morning.

I did watch a few flickers - of course - and I did burn quite a few stick of inscese. I made a peach cobbler yesterday, but no flick of that. I told you it was a lazy butt weekend.

One of the flicks I saw was Disc two of the multi disc TV mini series "Winds of War" - 1983 - starring a bunch of actors lead off by Robert Mitchum. Set in the late thirties and then moving into WWII it is a relatively well done piece - there are the problems with costuming extras and some of the background, but overall I am just looking past all the tiny problems and really enjoying the overall story. That is one of the nice things about Netflix - I can watch some gigantic multi disc monster of a piece broken up over a long period of time.

There you go sports fans. I do thank you again for stopping by and for your very kind comments. Do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

Remembering My Dad

GR&DF thanks for stopping by yesterday - and for the kind comments about the post. There was a question from dear Nicola about the Barbecue sandwich yesterday that I wanted to answer. She asked "What was pulled pork?" It is basically just long roasted shoulder/ham meat that literally falls apart and is easy to just pull and serve - In eastern North Carolina we have chopped BBQ and the sauce is a vinegar based sauce, in Tennessee the sauce is mustard based and the meat is sliced, in the deep south, Texas/Louisiana and along the Gulf coast it is is also sliced but the sauce is a tomato based sauce - and you get different variations all over the place. I really love good BBQ and have had lots in my life - from some that was so smoky that the meat would belch forth great swirls of smoke to some BBQ that was so lightly smoked you wondered if it had even been in a smoker. I think some of the best comes from small family places or roadside stands - and even some great stuff is cooked at Gas stations - so never pass on a bite of the stuff and try it all!!

I was going back through my picture albums and thought I would share a few more - and since this is Fathers Day weekend they should be with my Dad -

This picture is actually from an album of old snaps that belonged to my Grandmother - it is a favorite of mine of my Dad in about 1935/36 and would have been taken in Atlanta, Georgia.

This was taken on Christmas Day in 1967 in Oxford, Mississippi. There are lots of pictures of my brother and myself dress alike - and here we are again in matching cowboy outfits. The striped nightshirt my Dad is wearing would have been made by my Grandmother as she made many of these over the years.

and here we are at Easter c.1973 in Upper Marlboro Maryland. We are once again dressed alike - I am not too sure why my Mom dressed us alike, but there we are again all matchy matchy!! Look in the background at the great Thunderbird!!

There you go sports fans a walk down memory lane - wishing everyone a super Fathers Day and a great weekend!!

Take care,
edgar

A Busy Wednesday

GR&DF sorry to have missed yesterday, but I got a very late start and then was behind all day - which kept me from Blogging at all. There really isn't too much going on in the stitching department as I am trying to finish up an exchange that I think I will get out a day late. I had a major frog issue on Tuesday night which put me off a day - I just hate having to remove bunches of stitching just to get back to a single thread miscount - but that single miscount threw the entire piece all wonky - so frogging it was a better choice to make it look right.

Yesterday included a visit to the farmers market - nothing exciting or unusual there - lots of summer things coming in.... I got a couple of snaps -

There are a few plant stalls and these where some really lovely hydrangeas this guy was selling.... and ....

.... lots of summer squash.....
On the way back to the office I picked up a delicious lunch - a "Southern Hot Dog" -

Which translates into a chili dog with Cole slaw - delicious!!!

Yesterday was Dales Birthday - and we usually get together for a dinner to celebrate - either I cook or we go out. I asked him a couple of days ago where he wanted to go and he chose a new place to us - Roadside BBQ. This place has gotten some very good reviews here in the city. Whats not to like about a place that has a mascot of a pig on a skateboard!!

It is located at the corner of Geary Boulevard and 2nd Avenue in the inner Richmond. I had read some reviews on Yelp and in 7X7 (a Magazine about the City and Bay area) and the pulled pork sandwich is one of the 7 Bites of the City. So of course Dale and I ordered -

pulled pork sandwiches - I got potato salad and Dale got fries - Rico does not care for pulled pork so he got -

BBQ chicken sandwich with garlic fries - everything was really delicious!!
Here is the menu board when you walk in...

The sandwich was so big and filling that I have half of that sucker in the fridge right now for lunch today!!

Last night I was looking through a photo album for a snap and came across one of my sister, brother and myself - taken circa 1972 on the Mall in DC in front of the Museum of Natural History -
l to r - Cissy, Edgar & Warren

I remember this fiberglass triceratops and visiting him on every trip down town - his name is Uncle Beasley - and since nothing is sacred in DC - he has now been moved from a great spot on the Mall in front of the Museum to the National Zoo in a prehistoric garden area.

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

Take care,
edgar

Tuesday Posting - Some Flicks

GR&DF I do appreciate and thank you for your kind comments for yesterdays post. I would also like to thank you for the great suggestions about copying the chart - for a working copy. I had copied each section on a regular copier and was sort of working from them, but they where not at all that good. Now with the end looming I will just forgo the copying of this chart and just sort of stumble along with the way it is now. The next Needelprint Chart I do - which just might be Ann Trump - I will certainly try to get a good copy to work from. Last night and for the next few nights I am finishing up an exchange piece - so no snapperoos of that, yet.

Lets talk film - over the past few days there where some good, great and not so great films - Starting off with "Upper World" - 1934 -Starring William Warren, Mary Astor and Ginger Rogers - a wealthy railroad magnate who is bored with his marriage, but is still in love with his wife. The wife who is too busy leading a social life and "keeping up" to notice her husband. Then enters "heart of gold" burlesque dancer Lilly Linda - who jazzes up bored husbands life - Although everything is very platonic things lead from good to bad to gunfire -then a cover up. A very interesting film and a very early precode Ginger film.

On Saturday TCM had a mini marathon of San Francisco films. Starting off the evening with "San Francisco" - 1936 - starring Clark Gable, Jeanette McDonald, Spencer Tracy and Jack Holt. The story revolves around a singer - McDonald - and the two men after her affections - saloon keeper Gable and rich impresario Holt. A really great film with some great early special effects. Here is a "colorized" clip with the two versions of the song San Francisco from the film -



The next film is "Eternally Yours" - 1939 - starring Loretta Young, David Niven, Hugh Herbert, Billie Burke and C Aubrey Smith. Not your typical 30's comedy - the story is of a Bishops granddaughter who falls for a magician - becomes his wife and assistant but eventually can not take all the never ending touring and death defying stunts - she packs up and disappears. The 2nd half of the film is his trying to win her back with the climax at the 1939 Worlds Fair. Very watchable and interesting photography.

Then there was "Easy to Wed" - 1946 - starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn. This was a musical remake of "Libeled Lady" - 1936 - starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy. This all color - all musical version from 46 was and interesting version and taken almost word for word from the original. The music is forgettable but the over all film is fun. If you can only see one version stick to the B&W 1936 original.

Another film from my favorite duo - "Double Wedding" -1937 - starring William Powell and Mryna Loy - a fun but weak comedy featuring Powell as a dreamer, Loy as hard as nail realist who both want the best for her sister - enter sisters fiancee - hand picked by her mother. Misconnections and a bit of a sloppy script lend to the laughs - potential for a real classic if it had been handled better, but worth a look.

Another film from the San Francisco evening was "Flower Drum Song" - 1961 - starring Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, Jack Soo, Juanita Hall and Reiko Sato. The story is about a picture bride and who she will marry. There story also involves the clash between the older and younger generations and cultural clashes. I really enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals and find that "Flower Drum" along with "State Fair" are the two weakest of all of them. Although there are a couple of truly superior songs overall the music is mostly forgettable. Probably the best IMHO but rarely remembered song is the dream sequence "Love Look Away" by Reiko Sato -



The final film for today was a holiday film from a couple of years ago - "Four Christmases" - 2008 - starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duval and Sissy Spacek. When a modern power couple are grounded at Christmas time - they end up having to visit the family instead of the tropical vacation they had planned for Christmas Day. Some laugh out loud moments, but the film often feels pushed and obvious. Without much Christmas or Holiday spirit - the film falls flat - and I would skip it. It is playing on HBO (that's how I saw it) and is on Demand - that way you wont waste a trip or DVD rental.

There you go sports fans. Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Monday Posting

GR&DF Thank you for all the kind comments from Fridays post. Tessa and I had such a great time over at NIAH - what a super store - and they are moving - just a few blocks away - still on Alameda Island - with the move they will acquire some super parking. I have never really had an issue with parking there on Webster, but knowing there is a little parking lot and the street parking is not metered is even better!! In the comments Sharlotte asked about using "dirty linen" for SoHRH - I think that "Dirty Linen " would be very nice as a linen choice. My eventually going with the called for Autumn Gold - was a long time in coming. When this chart first came out I knew I was going to stitch it - I think it is my favorite over all HRH piece my only hesitation was the linen colour - I felt it was to yellow/gold for my taste and so I just started to collect up the NPI that I needed. I then started to look for something else that was not "yellow/gold" to my eye, but never found anything that I felt would do - so I took a chance and ordered the special cut of the recommended and really lucked out with a not very strong coloured piece with some good splotches and discolourations. Also in the comments Carol asked about the ECU sweatshirt - it is one of the many sweatshirts from ECU that I have and where all the time. East Carolina University is where I went to school - I was the third generation to go there and what a great school and fun place to go!! Go Pirates!!!

This weekend I stitched some on BP Companion - and here is an updated snap -

I remembered why I stopped stitching on this piece this weekend - and it had nothing to do with the linen or silk - but with the actual chart. These charts from Needelprint are printed on one gigantic piece of folded paper that are virtually uncopyable and are a total pain in the butt to work from!!! Since the pattern flows across the folds one is constantly folding, unfolding and refolding on the same creases again and again!! This is not only weakening the folded joints but eradicating the pattern in the process. It would have been so much better to be on 4 or 5 pieces of paper than one large piece of heavy paper that will give out before the finish of the project. I looked and I have quite a few other Needleprint Quakers to do in the stash pile - and I do not see myself fighting another of these buggers anytime soon!!

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

A bit book heavy but could I pass on the two subjects I really enjoy - history and the flicks!! The copy of Brideshead Revisited is an copy from 1945 - the year it was first published - this is one of my all time favorite books and for a $1 how could I pass! Watership Down is a book I have always wanted to read just never had a copy, and for .50 I thought now was the time to acquire one. The little piece of green art pottery c.1915 and old Victorian frame where just two things I had to get along with the chihuahua sign.

I made a coffee cake yesterday and sent it along with Rico - here it is being cut up -

and since everything is better with icing..... here they are the pieces iced.....

It is called "Pecan Streusel" coffee cake from the cookbook Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas.

I think that about wraps it up for today - thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

A Trip to the Haystack

GR&DF thank you for your kind comments - I opened up one of the Tim Tam's last night and what a great little cookie!! Crunchy, chocolaty deliciousness! I now know what all the talk is about -

Yesterday afternoon instead of heading home we ran over to Tessa's Hotel and picked her up for our trip to NIAH - It was a pretty tough mess of a traffic on the way out of town, but those are the breaks sometimes. Once across the Bay Bridge it was a clear shot through the Posey Tube and onto Alameda. For those that might not know Alameda is a island in the SF Bay and there are only a couple of ways to get onto or off by car - one is the Posey Tube/Webster Street Tube the other is an old metal bridge. We usually use the tubes. This will come into play a little later. After getting to the store we found a super parking spot right out front!!

We shopped the store pretty good. I found some things and here are some stash snaps -

I picked up a special cut of LL Vintage Autumn Gold for my SoHRH. Here is a snap of the silks with the linen. It looks like it will be a really nice piece. The only thing I am changing is the black border colour - from black to a very dark blue.

I also picked up this -

I went and pulled the chart from the pile o' stash and found that I had already kitted the project. I didn't like the linen I had chosen a 32ct Flax with Thread Gatherer Silkn'colors "Tapestry Green." I really like the silk but wanted to get another piece of linen - so I found this LL Navy Bean 36ct piece that I think will do much better.

I also picked up a couple of things for the regular stash heap -

How could I pass on this lovely piece of BoF Sandpiper. I also picked up the little chart to go along with the Jenny Bean Charts I already have. Tessa picked up quite a pile of stuff also. Mostly things that are hard to get in Australia - all together we did quite well and Jennifer was a great help!!! Here is a snap -

- of the two of us out front of NIAH.

After we left and got back on the way home we ran slap into a gigantic traffic problem - I think but am not too sure but there must have been some sort of wreck in the tub going off the island and luckily I could turn us around a get across the island and on to the bridge - this only added about 45 mins to the ride home. But it was one crazy traffic jam!!

Last night the flicker was a DVD from Netflix. I have had this on my queue ever since it came out on DVD - it has been on "very long wait" up until two days ago. Now that I have seen it I am so happy to have not spent $15 and seen it on the big screen. It was Disney's "Princess and the Frog" - 2009 - starring the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos and Keith David. I really wanted to like this film - as I am a Disney fan from way back and I did in a couple of places but overall I felt it fell quite flat - on two major points - characters and story - set in 1920's Jazz Filled New Orleans - a visiting Prince is turned into a frog and accidentally a hardworking "Princess" is accidentally turned into a frog also- the frog story then shifts gears and revolves around and evil Voodoo conjure man trying to use a replacement Prince to get rich and gain power over the city while the Frog Prince and "princess" race against time to turn back into humans. There where some really bright spots and the music was very good - not memorable but very good. A nice little film that is very rentable not buyable.

There you go sports fans. Once again I must thank you for stopping by and for you kind comments - have a great weekend!!

Take care,

edgar

Farmers Market and a Fun Evening

GR&DF where to start - lets be chronological about it....

Since it was Wednesday there was the Civic Center Farmers Market. I haven't been in a couple of weeks. I think it was raining one week, and then another week I forgot, but I think it was the overall lack of participation that I felt there. This week it was back to full swing and overflow with tents and things, even spilling over onto the sidewalks that run along Market Street. Lots of early summer fruit was in and of course I got a couple of snaps....

Many of the tents where selling cherries both the dark red and the white - which I think are called Rainier, but I'm not too sure about that. I picked up some of the dark red since these are a favorite at my house. I got this snap of the potato sellers both -

I picked up some of the purple and the fingerling's. I really liked the way these all look together. I also got some small cherry tomato's, onions and a bag of "krack korn."

Last night we met up with Tessa and her husband John for dinner. They wanted to try out one of our favorite Mexican restaurants - Los Jarritos on South Van Ness. Just recently they have had a name change to San Jalisco (which I didn't even know about) - nothing else has changed - same great family run place with the same tasty vittles. They where having a problem with the name - Jarritos is a national soda pop in Mexico and they (the corporation) are coming down hard on anyone using their trademarked name - how bitchy is that!!! Oh well, is doesn't change the place one iota. And for a fruity soda Jarritos are pretty tasty. We met up there about 7 and had a really great meal and sat around talking for along time. Unexpectedly Tessa showered me with presents - how sweet was that!! I took some snaps when I got home -


First were some stitching treats - a super cute pair of "scissoroos." How great are these! They came in a designer signed box and have a kangaroo on the handle!! The little pyn box she created with some perfectly stitched fruit on top. Here is a close up of the box -

Such delicate work. Tessa also brought this Australian treat ....

an Australian Collection of chocolates from Haigh's - these chocolates are flavoured with Australian ingredients - Glaced Quandong, wattle seed, macadamia nut and lemon scented myrtle - how terrific are those!! You know me, I love trying local and traditional things!! The gifts kept coming - in and early email Tessa had mentioned she was bringing Tim Tam's - now when I read that I wasn't too sure what that was - but now I am quite sure what they are.....

she brought all types - including - Crush,Honeycomb, Double Coat, White, Original and Chewy Caramel... and a box of Top Taste Koala Cakes - Chocolate Mud. Such treats!! and how very sweet to be so generous!!! Bloggers are the Best!!! Today is our trip over to NIAH - We are picking up Tessa right after work and zooming over the Bay Bridge to Alameda for some power shopping!!

That about wraps it up for today. I'll be back tomorrow with a NIAH report. Thanks again for stopping by and for the kind comments -I do appreciate them!!

Take care,
edgar