A Couple of Flickers

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I do thank you for all the action on my little sewing machine - I had no idea  - I guess I probably should have as I was ravenous for one for so long - I will keep an eye out for another as I go from sale to sale.

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I would like welcome a new Blogger - Charity - she just started Blogging.  You might want to click on over and give her a big welcome.  her Blog is "Lover of Cross Stitch."

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The two flicks are ones I got to see this week - the first is a super film called "The Passionate Friends" (the original title) or in the US called "One Woman's Story" - 1949 - starring Ann Todd, Claude Rains and Trevor Howard. 

 

Wonderfully directed by David Lean, who happened to by married to Ann Todd at the time, which has to be the reason for all her close ups.  This beautifully photographed film is much like his earlier work "Brief Encounter" 1945 another wonderful film.  I really enjoy Lean's work - my favorite film of his has to be "Summertime" 1955.    This story is told in triple flashback with some wonderful results.  There are some great scenes shot on location in France.  At about 90 minutes you will not be disappointed.

The second film is much different - a Bio pic called "Man of a Thousand Faces" -1957 - starring James Cagney and  Dorothy Malone. 

An interesting film about Lon Chaney and his life from the stage to film - although a very loose biography that some might not like, Cagney's performance is top notch and worth seeing.  It is amazing how he works at portraying Chaney.  It is a little over 2 hours and very entertaining.

I think that about wraps up the week sports fans.  Have a great couple of days off - stop back by next week - same Bat Time same Bat Channel!!!

Take care,

edgar

A 221 Singer Featherweight

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends while digging around and "cleaning" the 2nd bedroom closet I came across my second Featherweight Sewing machine.  I had totally forgotten I had two machines.  So I thought to myself "why" on earth do you have two???  So I have decided to sell one of my machines - and wanted to offer it first here to the stitching/crafting community that read my Blog.  I would rather it go to someone who will put it to good use.  If there is no interest then I will put it on eBay and move it there.  At this point I am not using it and all I am doing is storing it in the closet.  So - I took some snaps....

Here are the particulars - the serial number is AE985449 - dating this to May 24, 1938 - Included is the original case (w/out key), original tray, original foot controller/power cord (I replaced the frayed cord, but still kept the original end plugs), this particular machine has the decorative end plate - that many of them do not, the decals and finish are in super condition - and it runs quiet and smooth.

221 Featherweight has sold and is on its way to a new home.

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Last night my stitching was really a bunch a frogging.  I couldn't count to 40 if I had to.  I was working on the 12 Blessings border - all the green lines and you would think that 40 was a number I could get to - but no....  I frogged the same line of stitching 2 and 1/2 times....  the 1/2 time was when my floss finally gave out and I had to get a new piece.  By the end of the night I had all the lines in and now it is to filling in the squares.

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Shopping

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends on the hump looking to the weekend and also the end of the month - where did it go.  We are here at almost August... which is practically September and there you go - the end of the year.  Boy, do the years zoom on by with lightning speed.  Are they speeding up as I get older??  I can remember back when summer vacation was endless days of sunshine - the creek, the woods and swimming - ah... the long golden days of my youth.  Never did I ever think then of California.   I wonder, if I could tell my younger self what there was ahead of him - what would I say???  Do you ever think what you might tell a younger self???

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Yesterday on our way home we stopped off in Japan Town - took some snaps....  enjoy....

I thought this bridge connecting one part of the mall to another was interesting.  They could have made some dull stairs, but choose instead to build this great garden foot bridge.

 Not sure what these are - no didactic panel - but they are pretty colourful (excuse the reflection)

 There are quite a few stores that sell all sorts of things - this wall of kitchen stuff where everything is a $1.50 each - you can't beat the price.

I do like that instead of just plain white or beige walls -  they are painted with these great tumbling umbrellas.

I was taking an "arty" snap of the maple tree with the Japan Town Banner in the back ground and noticed a tourista also taking a snap across the street.

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There you go sports fans - thank you for stopping by, thank you for your great comments and the time you take to leave them!!  Stop by again!!

Take care,

edgar

Picking the Bones

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I wanted to thank you for your kindness - and your sweet comments on yesterdays posting!!  I do appreciate them!!  A warm moment on this cold damp morning.  We are supposed to be getting warmer around here, but I doubt it...  I'll just enjoy the cold and fog!!

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Today's post refers to a trip I made over the weekend - as most of us know Borders has finally thrown in the towel and is going out of Business - how very sad, but I think inevitable - for many reasons....  but this also means that the stock still held in the stores is being sold at various discounted prices - from 10% to 40% throughout the store.  I almost passed on going but then thought I should take a look - well, of course I found a couple of things....

I wanted the Tracy Hepburn collection since it first came out - all 9 of their flicks are included - a great collection and good transfers.  The two Blu-Ray's I din't have and had always meant to get and the book...  how could I pass on a book with "Notorious " in the title... so racy and decadent!!

I will probably stop back by as the discounts increase  - not expecting to find much, but you never can tell.  I think the saddest part of this whole thing is that with the onset of the "Big Box" book store, it drove the little book stores out of business years ago.... so now we are left with Amazon.  Don't get me wrong, I do like Amazon, but it does not replace actually shopping in a store.  Here in SF there are really no book stores left,   I can only think of two actual book stores in the city.  Close to the city there is a Barnes and Noble, but that is down in South City and about a 20 minute drive.  There a few used book stores left  (I do love me a bargain on a used book) but that really doesn't replace the "new book" store.  At some point in the far distant future I will probably break down and get a "plastic, magical flat book" - but like all other new formats that I have had to adapt to in my life  (ie. - cd's, vhs, beta, dvd, blu-ray...you get the idea) - I will fight the "plastic book" tooth and nail for a few more years.

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Not much on the stitching front - I think I crossed about 4 x's - I just sort of passed out in my stitching chair while impersonating a dog bed.  Where the who hounds get off thinking I am just a warm lump to sleep on I haven't the foggiest......   :)

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop by again!!

Take care,

edgar

A RAK, Some Satsh, A Finish and a Start

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends Friday passed and now I am back to my new computer on Monday morning.  Hoping that things go much smoother today and that I can actually function at a level higher than a saltine cracker!!

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Last week I was sent a really lovely RAK from another stitcher...

I had been looking at this chart for a long time - I do love a red bird - and you can't get more red-birdier than this wonderful sampler.  Included in the RAK was a wonderful Stitchville bag - Thank you so much Evie!!  Your kindness just made last week so nice!!!!  You gotta love her note card!!

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About 10 or so days ago 123 Stitch was having a sale on Christmas things- and since I was in the Holiday mood and I needed a couple of skeins of floss - I thought what the heck - and got a bit o' stash along with my few skeins of floss - I also picked up the newest Blackbird Loose Feathers  - Part I.  One of the pieces I got I have been circling for a few years like a drooling vulture -  the LK ABC's of Christmas.  I have resisted this piece because I just hated that it came pre-kitted.  I personally prefer to get just the chart as I will usually change up a colour or two.  Since i first saw it and was so stubborn about buying the kit -  I have searched all over the net to find just the chart, but they never come up. Since this was on sale I finally decided to break down and so I picked up the kit.  I also got a couple of PS charts to keep filling out the collection - and speaking of Prairie Schooler I saw that the newest 4 charts have been released - of course I really like them and will get them, but I do think that they are looking mighty familiar/similar to as some very recent past charts.....  makes me wonder??

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On Friday I finished up the Mystery Sampler - and it was a great piece to stitch!!  Here is the snap of my version....

With thy Needle and Thread - Birds of a Feather Mystery sampler

35dt WDW Confederate grey - 

Using mostly the recommended flosses - except the grass I used GAST Dried Thyme, the alphabet I used GAST Kale (Limited Edition), the key I used GAST Grecian Gold.

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My new start is a small little sampler I have had in my stash for years.  The 12 Blessings of Christmas by Lizzie Kate.  I first saw these little Flip-its and had to have them,.  It is not so much that I am a fan of LZ but sometimes she puts out something that just hits a note with me and these did the trick!!  I have been meaning to stitch them up but just never got around to it - so Saturday afternoon I found a piece of 36ct creamy linen in the heap that the whole piece would fit, changed up some of the colours and made this little start.

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Not much else over the weekend, no sales only a little shopping at the Going out of Business sale that Borders is having.  I'll save that little tid-bit for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by, do come again.

Take care,

edgar

A Frustrating Friday

I am breaking in a new computer - and it is frustrating!! 

Have a great weekend!!

edgar

A Little Flicker Post

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I wanted to extend a warm welcome to all the new followers and greetings to my "old" followers - there are now a total of 530 followers - o-m-goodness -Thank you all for your continued support and kindnesses!!

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Last night I received a Netflix DVD called "I Like Killing Flies" - 2004 - not my usual thing at all - it was a suggestion from the computer brain of Netflix - I often will throw a suggested title on my queue and some are good and some a just not good - "Killing Flies" was one of the better ones.

Here is a great review by baho2 from IMBD -  "What a great idea: a documentary that just wants to entertain. Killing Flies is a restaurant-sized slice of life about Kenny Shopsin and his diner in Greenwich Village. The place is one of a kind and Shopsin's ad lib rants are as entertaining as any screenwriter could contrive. Watch this film and you will go out of your way to visit this restaurant when in New York, not just because of the eccentric owner, but because the food has the same eclectic appeal. Directed by Matt Mahurin, who got the idea as a regular Shopsin customer, Killing Flies is fun and captivating entertainment without the usual documentary pedagogy. (OK, I did learn a few things: You can put about anything into pancakes. And DON'T bring a party of five into Shopsin's!)" 

Be warned there is lots of profanity so if that offends this is not the film for you, but other than that it was very entertaining to watch.

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Still stitching away on Mystery Sampler - I think I will hold off until I settle on a colour for the alphabet to post another snap.

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There you go sports fans - Thanks for stopping by and for the time you take to leave comments!!!!

Take care,

edgar

Some Stitching and a Tasty Stop

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I fixed up the missing bits from "Blessings" - sometimes I just amaze myself with what a ding I can be.  I remember when I was stitching through this area that I should think of something to replace the initials or finish out the design, but I just stitched as charted and never thought about it again....  so here is a snap f the real finish - (and not my delusional one).....

Blackbird Designs "Blessings Be Thine" 

Started 7/9 - Finished 7/15

stitched on BoF 32ct meadowlark 

My Silk Conversion:

WDW Havana - Belle Soie Chocolate

GA Cranberry - Belle Soie Red Fox

GA Dried Thyme - Belle Soie Collard Greens

GA Oatmeal - Belle Soie Oatmeal Scone

I am still feeling the jig and really like this piece....

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I have also been working on the Third part of the  Mystery Sampler - Here is a snap...

I am stitching this on the recommended 35 ct WDW Confederate Grey linen - love it!! and using mostly the recommended floss choices.  I did have an issue with the grass floss choice (there was just too much of the same green) and changed that to GA Dried Thyme - to make it look more grassy  - and if you click of over to Myra's Blog she even changed the birds to cardinals - I am loving that !!!!  I love it so much I am getting the itch to frog out my blue birds and replace them with some red ones - a super de duper idea!!!!!!

I think I have settled on a colour change for the letters also - I have three skeins of a GA floss called "Kale."  It is a dark green Special Addition colour that I picked up a Needle in a Haystack a while back and I am thinking it will work a treat.......  but you never know.... there are some scrumptious greens out there and I have pulled a few others that might work.  I want to finish up the tree and third bird before I jump into the alphabet.

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We stopped off at our favorite little Panaderia in the Mission yesterday and picked up some treats for desert - I had my camera and took a couple of snaperoos...

It is called La Victoria Mexican Bakery and we enjoy stopping there.  They are really nice and I think it is family run. You can click HERE to see their web site.

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I was also going through and putting back some DVD's a found that I have quite a few duplicate titles - I am wondering what to do - do I sell them, trade them or just what???  I really do not need two copies of the same title and they do take up extra space on the shelves.  I wonder???

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There you sports fans - we are on the hump of the week, have a great Wednesday!!!

Take care,

edgar

A Tuesday posting....

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thank you much for your kind comments and emails about my Christmas Finish.  I do appreciate them.  But, if you look closely -  can you find the mistake????  When I went back this morning to read yesterdays post (I do this daily before I start in on the new post) I see a glaring mistake.  The chart actually calls for two sets of initials, both Barb's and Alma's initials appear on the original piece.  I only included mine, but left the space for the second set  - so -  now I have a hole where there should be no hole.  I will fix that tonight as it will drive me bananas until I do.

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I posted the Honey Bun cake recipe over at Blacksheep Bakes - click HERE to go there or click HERE to go to the original source, The Country Cook.  Brandie has a great Blog with some pretty tasty looking things.  A big thank you to her and all her efforts!!!

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Last night on TCM they had a little movie marathon of ship movies or more precisely movies that included luxury liners.  Starting off the evening was a favorite of mine - "Romance on the High Seas" - 1948 -  staring in her first major movie role Doris Day - along with Jack Carson, Janice Paige and Don DeFore.  A really cute movie so typical of the late 40's  - a super musical and very entertaining!!  Here is a clip from the film.....

That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by - do come again.

Take care,

edgar

A Little Christmas Jig

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends another short weekend ends and a long week begins - boy do I bitch a lot about the short weekends!!  Here in Baghdad-by-the-Bay, as Herb Caen would call it, we had grey and overcast cool foggy weather - so it is summer still in SF.  I stitched, We estate saled, I  baked and did some laundry - it was a normal weekend at our house.

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Let me start off with my little finish - I started this last weekend and finished it up Friday evening - 

Blackbird Designs "Blessings be Thine" - on 32ct BoF Meadowlark - with my conversion of Belle Soie silk.  I am really pleased with the results.  It worked up very fast and I can certainly see myself stitching this up again.  Here is me on Friday evening....

....dancing a little Christmas jig.....  I really do enjoy stitching Christmas pieces and have lined up my next Holiday thing - just waiting for a couple of flosses to arrive.

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We got to a few estate sales on Saturday morning - here is the haul....

... 2 frames and a beautiful majolica mug.  The brown frame is kind beat up but easily fixed the silver one, who in their right mind spray paints a beautiful frame - it is just beyond my comprehension, but the lovely floral work is in perfect condition, I just have to fix the finish.  The mug is just great, from about 1870ish and still retains the gold highlights - it was a pretty decent day.

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I also whipped up a really great cake - another gem from "The Country Cook" - gotta love that Blog!! - I made the Honey Bun Cake.....

I am snaking away on a piece as I type - super easy and very tasty.  I made no changes to the recipe.  I will post it on the BBB tomorrow or you can click over to TCC today.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  I do thank you for stopping by
- hope your weekend was wonderful.  Do stop by agian!!

Take care,

edgar

Whoop de Doo - It's Friday!!!!!

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends this week has been so typically long and not very exciting.  I do like them that way.  We are to have a "heat wave" of sorts here over the weekend - all I'm hoping for is just a tiny bit of sunshine to get a good snap of "Blessings."  I would have bet money I had taken a snap of it before going to bed last night, but when I started flipping through the pictures a few minutes ago there was not a single one.  Now, I know I am loosing it - but, to have thought so strongly that I had taken a picture and find none.......  well...... what can I say - that hollow sound must be where my brain should be......

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This week between the bad flicks I have been re-watching a series called "To the Manor Born" - 1978-1981 - starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles - it s a British sit-com set in Somerset on the fictional estate Grantleigh.  The basic story is of Audrey fforbes-Hamilton becoming a widow and losing Grantleigh to taxes and Richard DeVere a millionaire "Grocer" buying the estate at auction.  Audrey moves down the drive to the "Old Lodge" to keep an eye on things and becomes the fly in Richard's ointment.  If you have not seen the show I would highly recommend it - you can find this series appearing on Public TV.

This is the cover of the box set I have.

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Well, I guess I'll wrap it up for today and the week.  Big thank yous to all my followers both new and old and to all my commenter's!!  I do appreciate all your kind words and sweet thoughts!!!  Have a great weekend - and stop back by again.

Take care,

edgar

A Movie Post

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I have not mentioned a movie in a long time  - seen quite a few but nothing was up to snuff enough to talk about - Last night on TCM - the best TV channel - they had a small evening of Shirley Jones films.  I think most people think of Shirley as Mrs. Partridge, but she a had a great career in films prior to TV. 

1955 - while filming Oklahoma

TCM started off the evening with a wonderful musical - "The Music Man" - 1962 - starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Hermione Gingold, Paul Ford, Buddy Hackett and Ron Howard.  The story takes place in Iowa in about 1915 or so. Here is a great number from the film....

If you have not seen this film it is available on DVD.  You will find it is well worth a look.

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Another movie issue going on right now is the upheaval in plans and charges going on over at Netflix.  Reading this Blog you know I love me some Netflix - and most of what I watch are older films. Here is a link to a super post on "She Blogged by Night," (a really great Blog) that explains it far better than I ever could.  Click HERE to read it.

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Yesterday the mail brought me the August TCM guide - and what a great guide it is - it contained the 9th annual "Summer Under the Stars" listings.  There are some great movies being shown and fabulous Stars being highlighted!!
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There you go sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by and for your kind comments!!

Take care,

edgar

Summer Stuff

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends we are here on the hump of the week with only two days until the weekend - how wonderful is that!!

Yesterday on the way home we stopped off at our favorite bakery and picked up a treat....

..... slices of some delicious cake - I got a piece that was coffee laced while Rico picked a strawberry and chocolate slice.  It is nice that they sell just the slices and one is not forced to get a whole cake - because if there was a whole of either of these suckers in the house last night there would have been quite a few more slices missing this morning.  Very tasty and a great treat!!

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Yesterday and for the rest of the week we are supposed to be having our typically cool and damp summer weather.  Yesterday in particular was dank, but I really felt the need to do a fun summer thing - so I bundled up and stood over the grill roasting some wienies.  Here is a snap of  the weather......

This is looking toward Twin Peaks - completely shrouded in fog.

The wind was blowing and the fog was extra misty - if it got to the mid 50's I would have been surprised.  

I was determined to grill out last night.

We had a summer picnic of sorts - chili dogs, potato salad - I was even inspired to toast the buns on the grill.  It was fun and tasty, but more suited to sunny weather.  

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Not much stitching going on so no snaps of "Blessings."  I did post my version of the recipe for "Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake" over on Blacksheep Bakes.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do come again!!

Take care,

edgar

Making Tortillas

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I must thank you all for the kind comments on yesterdays post.  I appreciate them and your kindness always brightens my mornings.

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If you cast your mind back a while you might remember that I acquired a tortilla press - I had been looking for one for while - I could have bought a new one but I wanted one that had been broken in - so I finally found one and that brings us to last night.  We usually have tacos or enchiladas or some sort of Latino dish that requires tortillas at east once or twice a week.  So last night was tostada night  - I had the masa (corn flour not corn meal) and was going to make me some tortillas.  There is a knack to it and that will come in time.  Some of mine are a bit wonky, but they are so much better than the store bought that I can't believe it.

They are super easy on ingredients - there are 3......  2 Cups - masa (corn flour), 1 1/4 Cups - Warm Water and 1 Teas.- salt.  There you go.  Mix these three things together, let it sit for about 5 minutes.....

It looks and feels very much like Play Dough.  It can be on the dry side so you can add a Tablespoon of water.

This recipe is supposed to make 12 to 16 tortillas.  I got 10.

Take the balls of dough and place between two pieces of plastic wrap, put into the press and just mash out a tortilla.  Those with a lot of skill can do this by hand and have them all nice a round.  I am not that clever, but maybe some day.

In a dry cast iron skillet - heat the pan to medium high and cook the tortillas for a few minutes on each side.  They will be a bit thicker than store bought, but so much nicer.

For tostadas I needed to fry the cooked tortillas. No matter what we are having I usually cut my tortillas up and make chips and take those chips and make a big plate of Nachos - Muy Deliciosa!!!

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I had a couple emails requesting my exact conversion for "Blessings be Thine" - and here's it it...

I am using BoF - 36ct Meadowlark -

 - and my floss conversion is - 

WDW Havana to Belle Soie Chocolate

GA Cranberry to Belle Soie Red Fox

GA Dried Thyme to Belle Soie Collard Greens

GA Oatmeal to Belle Soie Oatmeal Scone

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There is a little listing of my Sale Stash - my first time trying to use PayPal so I do hope it will work.  I f you see anything you might like or have any questions please feel free to ask.

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop by again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Very Short Weekend

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends a chilly, damp Monday morning welcome to you all.  The weekend was grey and overcast without much sun at all - until yesterday afternoon -  late in the day when the fog broke and the city was flooded in bright warm sunshine.  After that 1/2 hour, the fog poured back in and it cooled off again.  

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We did the usual things  - ran to some Estate sales, did some errands.  Went to dinner with friends.  I worked on some stitching and baked a coffee cake.  Again we were creatures of routine.

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Let me start off with the stitching - I finished up the mystery sampler - as far as I am going to finish it until I see the third and final part.  Here is a snap of  where it stands at the moment...

 I am going to change the floss colour of the alphabet and I want to see what the rest of the piece looks like before I do.

Of course I had to stitch on something after I finished up the last little leaf - and instead of pulling out a WIP - I was feeling all Holiday and Christmassy - so I went and pulled a chart I have been wanting to do for the longest time.  BBD "Blessings be Thine."  I pulled the WDW & GA recommended floss and was not very happy with the colour choices - it might have been the dye lots or something but they just were not hitting me right.  So, I decided to convert the cotton for silks and went to the Belle Soie stash and pulled what I think are some really lovely flosses.  Here is the piece as it stands at the moment....

I am stitching it on a piece of 32 ct BoF Meadowlark - that is a bit more golden than the snap shows.  As with many of the BBD pieces this is on the smallish side and is working up very quickly.

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Saturday we went to three estate sales and found a few things.  Here are some snaps....

Although hard to tell, what you are looking are Queen sized quilts and pillow shams.  I got this snap from our balcony looking down to the lower inside atrium in our building.  For both quilts and shams I spent $10.  They are in excellent condition.  I have run them through the wash and now one is on the bed and the other folded up at the foot.  They are machine made and not very old, but for a ten spot how could I go wrong.  I also picked up these two things....

I found this early printing of "PoA" for a buck and the meat mallet was thrown in with the quilt purchase.  It always is nice when the folks running the sale like you.

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Saturday evening we went to dinner with some friends and had a great time.  We went to Puerto Alegre in the Mission district.  

It is a place that we have wanted to get to for a long time and found it lots of fun and pretty tasty!!  I had the Quesadilla Suiza with grilled shrimp and Rico had Steak Fajitas.  Mindy and Tom both had combo plates that looked pretty delicious.  With an appetizer of Guacamole and a pitcher of strawberry margaritas the dinner was just superb!!  For desert we shared a plate of churros with chocolate dipping sauce.

(not a snap I took, but it looked just like this!!)

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Yesterday I whipped up a little coffee cake for today - called "Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake" - I found the recipe on The Country Cook.  Very easy to make and right tasty!!

I changed up the recipe a little - I'll post my version in the next day or two.

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  That about wraps up the last couple of days.  Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments!! 

Do stop by again.

Take care,

edgar

A Very Lazy Thursday

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends there is nothing and I mean nothing going on.  I did post the recipe for the "Holiday Morning Coffee Cake" over at Blacksheep Bakes, you can click over there to get that.

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Yesterday after work we got home - took the hounds out for their daily constitutional.  

Got them fed and watered.  Then it was off to the pool - 

While floating around in this bath water temp pool - drinking a cocktail or two 

- we watched the fog pour over twin peaks....

Such a hard life - I feel almost guilty.  We had leftovers for dinner

- burgers and salad from last nights grill-o-rama

- waste not want not - 

and I was just too lazy to fix something new!!

I stitched a little, but not much.  And that was last evening.

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There you go sports fans.  I am still working on getting my little Stash Sale Together - I think I'll get it posted on either Monday or more probably Tuesday, so keep a eye out for that. 

Here's hoping you have great weekend!!  Thanks for stopping by, do stop by again. 

Take care,

edgar

I've been RAK'd

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends let me welcome back my gang of Followers and also welcome the new Followers to the Blog - I don't know why but seeing the little number click up makes me a happy guy.  I guess I am doing something right and y'all keep coming back for more.  I do wonder about the whole "Following" thing and what it actually does or doesn't do.  I read lots of Blogs and comment here and there, but often am not a Follower - and for no other reason than I forget to click all the buttons to become a follower.  Oh, well I guess it is another of the mysteries of the Blog-o-sphere that I'll not understand.

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Yesterday I received a wonderful RAK from Carol - over at IStitch - she and I have been Blog Buddies since my earliest days of Blogging a few years ago.  What she RAK'd me with is a wonderful copy of my favorite story...... and if you have read my Blog for a while you you know that to be......

"A Christmas Carol" (1843) by Charles Dickens.  This 1963 CIC edition also includes  another charming holiday story "Cricket on the Hearth" (1845).  Dickens actually produced 4 Christmas Books and 17 Christmas stories with "Carol" being his most famous.  "A Christmas Carol" was written in about 6 weeks - Dickens started it in October of 1843 and finished it up by the end of November with that first edition of 6000 selling out by Christmas Eve of 1843.   This will be a wonderful addition to my ever growing collection.  The CIC books are also special in that each one has specially designed end papers for each book.  This edition is no different and has charming....

... plum puddings and turkeys - how great is that!!

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We grilled burgers poolside and went swimming in the bathwater temp pool yesterday  - so relaxing and really lovely watching the fog spill over twin Peaks.  As we walked back up from the pool area I notice how nice our balcony looked in comparison to the other tenants in our building.  All the credit goes to Rico as he has the green thumb in our house.  I thought I should take a snap and show it off a bit.....

It is really lush and colourful this time of year.

There you go sports fans.  I do thank you stopping by and for you kind comments.  

Do stop by again!!

Take care,

edgar

Long 3 Day Weekend - Part 2

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I wanted to thank you for all the warm kind comments regarding yesterdays post. Those are the warm cyber hugz I enjoy!!  This morning is cooler than yesterday and I have my little eclectic fire going on low to take the chill of my little space - and warm hugz are so welcome!!  I heard that we are to be getting cooler weather as the week goes on so I may have to break out a jacket or something.

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Now on to the rest of Saturday.  We made or usually trek over to the thrift shops on Geary Street and made a stop at our famous Columbarium.  A side note about SF - there are only a couple of very small cemeteries in the city today.  Since we are a peninsula ( 7 x 7 miles) land is very valuable.  In the early days of the city the Richmond District was where the cemeteries were located - out of the way and far from downtown.  As the city grew across the peninsular towards the Pacific the cemeteries were relocated to Colma, CA down south of the city.  The only remaining part left was the beautiful Columbarium building. 

Now run by the Neptune Society it is one of the only places that you can be buried in San Francisco.  It is a beautiful and historic space.  Whenever I travel I visit graveyards and cemeteries - always have and probably always will.  I of course had my camera along and took some snaps.......  here they are... enjoy....

The outside of the Columbarium

The entrance is very impressive.

Looking up from a lower side aisle

One of the lovely windows.

Another lovely window.

and another...

and another.....

Even the ceilings have these inset stained glass windows.

Looking up from the ground floor into the cupola and occulus.  This is a gorgeous place and well worth a visit.  I know that some find it a bit creepy, but it is a quiet and lovely final resting place.

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On Sunday after mass we trotted off to.....

Noah's  for a quick bite - gotta love that challah roll with a schmear and bacon!!  Then we ran to Trader Joe's for some quick snacks ... we were off to the beach to kick back and relax.

We stopped back home on the way where I grabbed a basket and filled it with the snacks and drinks.  We also grabbed the who-hounds and the quilt to sit on and off we went.....

It was beautifully sunny and a cool breeze was blowing off the water.  We were there a few hours and it was great.  Even the who-hounds had a good time.  Mostly they were keyed up by all the people and other dogs, but they eventually settled down and enjoyed the crashing waves, sun and breeze.

Lolly dug herself a damp and cool spot in the sand.

She would jump up every now and then to shake off the sand.

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Monday we stayed in and I made a pot roast.  Paulette over at Plum Street Samplers posted the recipe and it was simply super de duper!!

 With some biscuits it was a great warm meal for a chilly evening.  I also baked up a cake.....

Called "Holiday Cake"  I added the glaze - I'll post that recipe tomorrow - pretty easy and tasty.

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There you go sports fans.  Our three day weekend - very easy, very all about nothing special - more of a stay-cation. Thanks for stopping by do come again.

Take care,

edgar