Happy Labor Day

Gentle Friends, here we are at the end of Summer with a super three day weekend - 

.....  HERE is a great little piece of Labor Day info from Wikipedia.  Now we move fast and furious into Fall with the three big Holidays on my calendar....  Hallowe'en - 62 days away.......  Thanksgiving - 89 days away and......  Christmas - 117 days away.  The end of the year is not far behind and then it'll be 2015!!!  Tempus Feguit!!

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Have a safe, long weekend!!  Until next week.....

Take care,

edgar

Thrifting Thursday

Gentle Friends, as usual Thursday is a show and tell day about the bits I picked up over the weekend.  Here's a snap....

..... from top L to R.... a Princess floor puzzle, a hand made brass pot/cauldron, forged arched iron handle with copper attachments, I saw this on a pile of plastic crap at the Salvation Army store and snatched it right up thinking how great it would be for Hallowe'en!! and for a couple of bucks how could I miss!!  Next,  I found this covered English butter/cheese dish dating from between the Wars, at a thrift shop, leaning against it is a great piece of Japanese export ware from the last half of the 19th century, then of course a couple of great DVD's.  Not a bad day at all!!

The floor puzzle we got for our great niece who started kindergarten this past Monday, she loves all things "princess" and this puzzle fits the bill......

.....  it originally was sold from an expensive children's store here in the City (the tags were still on it) but we picked it up at a consignment shop for a few dollars.  There are a couple of estate sales this weekend so I'm kind of stoked about that!!  

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

Take care,

edgar

Dinner with Friends......

Gentle Friends, last week stitching buddy Roberta was in town.  Her blog "Simply Stitching in the Garden" shows some of her super pieces that she has been working on and finishing.  One evening we all got together for dinner, Roberta, her son, his partner, Rico and me so it was a table full!! The restaurant we met at was one we had seen before but never made the time for - called "Hog and Rocks."

It is located down in the Mission District an area full of fun places to stop at and enjoy.  I am so glad we settled on this place as it was lots of fun and we had some tasty food and drinks!!  As you can see they have indoor and outdoor seating.  We sat inside but when the weather is cooperative I bet sitting out on the sidewalk would be fun!!

They are known for their Ham and Oyster selections, but we didn't try any, instead we started off with a pretzel and pimento cheese.  

I took the snap after we had mangled the pretzel, the cheese had a real bite to it - with the addition of some jalapeno pepper.

For dinner we all either had the "Hamburger special" ......  a double cheese burger and fries.......

.... this is Rico's plate with his Strawberry Balsamic Margarita in the back......

... and a couple of us had the "Fish and Chips" - light and crispy fried fish with some of their great Kennebec fries!!!

Its not a very big place, so we'll have to come early next time to make sure we get a table.  It was great fun seeing everyone again and finding a new fun place in the City!!

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Shakin' and a Little Stitchin'

Gentle friends, the earthquake that hit early yesterday morning, was centered about 6 miles from Napa Valley.  It felt down here in San Francisco, which is about 60 miles away.  It hit at about 3:20 am, and the only reason I was awake to feel it was the dogs were just loosing it and woke us up, so that we could all enjoy the rattling and shaking.  It lasted all of 20 seconds and then I rolled over an went back to sleep.  There was some damage nearer the actual epicenter, but none in the City or at our house.

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I got a little more stitching done on the samplers, here's some snaps......

... I finished up the flowers in the border of "Rosy Morning" and started in on one of the birds....

... and I chose another over dyed "Avocado" to finish stitching the border of "Summer Harvest." 

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

Take care,

edgar

Some Fun Friday Things

Gentle Friends,  a couple of fun things that came in the mail yesterday........

First up would have to be the tangible proof that my trip is coming up........

....  I read over and over on travel boards and postings about Paris -  how much time you could save by buying a ticket on line to visit the Louvre. Early on I thought it might be nice to spend some time walking through the wonderful galleries.  I've visited this great Museum a couple of times int he past, but not for a few years, so it is something I am looking forward to.....  and notice there is "priority access" through the Richelieu Passage for ticket holders - I love circumventing long lines!!!!!

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Last Saturday in conjunction with the St Charles Market, Beth over at Heartstring Samplerery, released her 100th chart.....

 called "His Eye is on the Sparrow."  I've been watching with great anticipation her stitching away on the wonderful sampler for the past few months, and couldn't wait to place my order on her Etsy Store!!  It's a piece I can;t wait to start!!!

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And, the puppy snaperoo for today is ........

.... Smokie chewing away on one of his Hallowe'en Toys!!  It's an epidemic at my house, this love of Fall and Hallowe'en!!!

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That wraps up the week sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop a gain.... have a super weekend!!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Thursday Thrifting

Gentle Friends, if there's one thing I enjoy more than Fall, and you now how I love the Fall, it would be Christmas.  The whole Christmas season, but especially the music.  This past weekend I picked up a great Christmas CD in my sifting through the shops.....

.... a collaboration between Marco Frisina and Paddy Moloney.  I also picked up this sweetgrass basket with handle, made in the low country of South Carolina.   I am pretty sure it was used as a basket for knitting, it is on the older side and was really full of dust when I got it, I brushed it off really good and the coloured accents really popped.

That's about it for today sports fans, thanks again for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Some Hallowe'en Treats and Fall Stitching

Gentle Friends, as nuts as I am sometimes, I knew after posting yesterday that I wasn't finished with Fall just yet..........

   On the way home from work we needed to stop at the Walgreen's and "bam" right in front they had all the Hallowe'en candy and stuff set up and looking great!!!!  I had to pick up some treats........

.... and when I got home I dug around in the boxes under the stairs where we keep all the festive decorations and things that just don't fit in other closets....  and I pulled out some of my fun Fall exchange pieces I have received over the years ....  and ...... this is the result.......

... and all I got from the "peanut gallery" was how crazy I am and did I realize it is still August????   Oh pishaw, I'm ready for Fall and having some Fallish things out is fun!!  Notice the great bronze topper on the YC, another Fall favorite, I use all year long!!

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

Take care,

edgar

Only 72 More days.............

Gentle Friends, my favorite season of the year has been, and probably always will be Fall.   I love everything about the few months that make up this season of leaves changing colours and dropping off the trees, cool brisk evenings, bright orange pumpkins, crisp apples and all the fun things that go along with this time of year.  I am usually push Summer aside by the middle of August, and here by the Bay with the fog an cool weather, I can pretend that Fall has arrived..........  I also enjoy all the fun decorations that go along with the two big events of Fall, the other being Thanksgiving!! 

With time mercilessly ticking away, Hallowe'en is now only 72 short days away!!  So, when I got the new Fall Yankee Candle catalogue in the mail (it seems that one comes about every 3 days anyway)  I was totally ready to get my Fall candles in the house....  they came the other day and of the 3 ordered I was most excited to get the Hallowe'en one.....

... called "Witches Brew" it is just perfect with the Hallowe'en cat topper I got a couple of years ago!!  The other two candles that came for the season were "Autumn Lodge" and "Farmers Market."  I was burning "Autumn Lodge" last night and it filled the house with a great leathery/pipe/smoky hearth scent that was just great!!!  I'm saving the "Witches Brew" for October!!

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle friends, over the weekend I did a little stitching on the samplers .....

... I finished up the Winter Wonderland border....

.... got a good running start on Rosy Morning border.....

... and I frogged a whole lot of the border on Summer Harvest.  The stitching used GAST "Avocado" and the dye lot of my skeins are really light and a sickly yellow/green -  I didn't like the way it was looking, so out it came.  I have pulled a few greens from my over dyed flosses that I think will work and will stitch some to which one I'll shift to.....

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So, what do you think of the new releases from the "Market?"  Quite a good effort for the most part, there are only two charts I'll be buying, one I've already bought and it's was from the designer, she released it Saturday morning on her Etsy Shop in conjunction with Market Releasing and I snapped one up....  and the other I'll wait to get until I'm back from my trip to add to the stash heap.  

That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Couple of Treats

Gentle Friends, I've not posted about any baking in a couple of weeks - for no real reason but laziness - It certainly doesn't mean that I've not been in the kitchen "rattling those pots and pans" as Rico is wont to say.  So I thought I'd wrap up the week with a couple of things that sort of popped out of the oven......

First up was something I had never heard of....  Blueberry Boy Bait Cake.... I do love blueberries and they were really nice this year so I found a great recipe on Smittin Kitchen, et voila a cake.....  the only things I changed was to add a bit of nutmeg and a big handful of extra blueberries to the batter.....

... it was a hit and so easy to pull together!!!

I also made a batch of Cowboy Cookies, this is my go to cookie, that lends itself to just about any kind of "added extra" ....  There are lots of recipes out there, but they are all about the same.  I really like dried cranberries included, but I didn't have any for this batch.  I did shift the 1 1/2 - 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips to include some dark chips, some M&M's and some white chocolate chips, I also changed up the nuts to include almonds and walnuts, so there was a bit more going on, they are still great cookies!!

Here's a pretty good recipe, I didn't add the coconut this time, but have added it in the past and like the addition.

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There you go sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!!  have a great weekend!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifting Thursday

Gentle Friends, last weekend we were making the rounds to the usual shops and even a couple of estate sales and after all the looking and running around it was almost a bust.  When I go out to "thrift" I never have any notion I'll find something and sometimes I don't.  However, I did come away with a single fun piece.....

a great older matroyshka Santa Clause..... you pop him open and find......

... Mrs. Claus.... and, you pop her open and find....

... a Christmas tree!!  How great is this, and for only a couple of dollars at great little thing to take home.  I have always loved this great dolls, and have resisted for years collecting them - I see them quite often, usually not complete and missing parts, but such charm.  When I saw him in the case at Thrift Town (yes, that's the name of the place) I thought to myself if he's complete it's mine.....  I think I'll stick to the unusual ones......

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

Take care,

edgar

Gettin' Burritos

Gentle Friends, here in San Francisco we are lucky to have loads of Taquerias and Burrito places.  Often on the way home we will stop at one of our favorites El Metate, at 2406 Bryant Street to pick up dinner.

   A metate is a grinding stone for corn.....

... this place frequently gets on the lists of best places to get a burrito here in the City - we stopped last week and picked up a couple of these monsters.  Did I mention that one of these local burritos, for those that don't know, weigh in at about 2 lbs each and I usually make two meals of mine, a dinner then take the rest to work for lunch the next day.  Most of the time I get Camaron (shrimp) and Rico will get chicken.  Here's a shot of the inside take out area where you place orders......

....on the table are some delicious Mexican Wedding cookies ( one of my favorites!!) and to the lower right you can see the salsa bar - they have hot, extra hot, really hot and "did that just melt the spoon" hot salsas to choose from!!  

I find it interesting to see how fast they can pull together these things and snapped off a bunch of pictures while mine was being made.....

... when you order you are usually asked what kind of beans, I like refried, and super or not, super usually means crema (sour cream) and guacamole, I go for broke and typically get a super burrito...sometimes you are given the choice of tortilla - here they only offer flour...  then you're asked what kind of salsa, I choose mild, and even then, depending on the place, mild can mean pretty spicy, here at El Matate, mild means pretty spicy.....

after all the fillings are added, they grab the sides and sort of schlop the stuff together....

... grab, fold, tuck.....  

... more tucking and rolling it up tight....

... roll, roll , roll and......

... wrapping up in foil and there you go......

... I got it home and cut it in half, and hacked it open added some extra sour cream, some salsa, a piece of avocado and some spicy pickled Mexican carrots and chips, it was a great dinner. 

So if you ever find yourself in San Francisco, you must have a local burrito, you'll enjoy it immensely!!

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks again for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

We Loose a Legend

Gentle Friends, an icon from the golden age of film passed tonight.....

9/16/1924 - 8/12/2014

......born Betty Joan Perske, she was known to the world as Lauren Bacall, making her debut in the thriller "To Have and Have Not", 1944, this film set the tone for her wonderful film career. She will be missed.

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Some "Wonderland" Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, over the weekend I made a start on one of the samplers I chose....

....  "Winter Wonderland" is on the smallish side so the border is working up quickly.....

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

Take care,

edgar

New Sampler WIP's

Gentle Friends, since finishing up SMS I've been digging through the stash binders and bins looking for a couple of pieces to start stitching on - one chart I really wanted to begin with I needed to acquire a piece of linen that I'll be happy with - the linen bin did not have a piece that was "just right."  

So, instead I pulled 3 little samplers that I can work on for the next month or so and also work on while traveling, and that was most important, something small enough to have and work on while waiting for flights or work on in the evening after touring .....  here's a snap of the samplers I chose......

.....  I've not worked a BBD sampler in the longest time and I really enjoy them so I pulled the two of the newer narrow pieces and a older Christmas Loose feather chart - I had the right linen and about 95% of the called for over dyed floss - so I'm good to go and made a small start last night.  I also placed an order for the missing floss and that will get here soon - so I'll whip these out and waiting behind these is a great Hallowe'en sampler I found that I got a long time ago I really want to do.....  Fall is here, well almost here with the Equinox falling on September 22nd.

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That's about it for today sports fans - thanks for stopping by, do stop again - and have a super weekend!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends, last Saturday I found quite a few things at the thrift stores and a great Estate Sale....here's a snap...

...   I found the Frankoma Rooster tea tile and the two Cary Grant DVD's at the thrift/consignment shops.  I found the rest at the estate sale, the house was just packed full of things, and the sale had already been going on a good day and 1/2 before we got there.  Most of the things were hundreds and I mean hundreds if not thousands of collectibles....  dolls, figurines, Franklin Mint, 100's of collector plates, they had two f the bedrooms full of just these plates.... all sorts of bits and pieces of Wedgwood, Minton, thimbles and tons more.  There were bookcases packed full on every floor (it was a split level, three floors and basement) So, from the top left going clockwise....  two books I really enjoy, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Brideshead Revisited" both copies from the London Folio Society with original slip cases, a 1st edition of Pearl Buck's "Pavilion of Women," a 19th century porcelain salt box, a great pair of silver tongs.....

.... a Wedgwood Collector's Society Christmas porcelain Christmas box from 1974.....

... it has a poem from 1831 about Santa and the top has what is purported to be the the first illustration of Santa in a sleigh with reindeer, I do love Christmas and this just said take me home.....  and I found the first 3 seasons of the Tudors DVD's.  I found them in three different rooms and sort of buried in boxes.  I am sure the 4th season was there some where but I just couldn't find it anywhere. 

 This was a three day sale and as with most of the Estate Sales the third day is the "Discount Day" and this is when I swooped in and bought the things I did.  I had seen them on Saturday, but thought "I can wait a day and get a bargain.  The only thing that I didn't get was a cut glass vase, it had sold at some point Saturday after we left, but thems the breaks.  There is another sale this weekend and I'm just itching to get there, I do love the hunt!!

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There you go sports fans, me and my craziness, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Making Waffles

Gentle Friends, a week or so ago, at an Estate sale we stopped at, we found something I've been on the prowl for longest time.  An old fashioned waffle maker.  We have a crappity plastic one that really sucks, it doesn't get hot enough and no matter how long you leave them to cook in it - it doesn't get the waffle brown enough nor crisp enough - it used to sit on a shelf and we didn't make make waffles........ until now.   I have been looking occasionally on the bay of evil and other places, but good waffle irons like this were way expensive and so I knew at some point I would find one and this one was a super deal!!   

What we found is a super, heavy duty Toastmaster Waffle Maker, model 2D2, from the late 1940's.......

.... American made with three settings -  Low, Bake and Hot - with all original pieces, including the cloth wrapped cord and Bakelite fittings!!  It was in super clean, but seasoned, condition and after just a quick wipe with a damp cloth it was good to go.......  

so the other night it was time for something delicious for dinner........

... I whipped up a bowl of batter, lightly brushed the irons with some oil, 

et voila some delicious crispy waffles.......

... you can't have waffles without little sausages and maple syrup!!!  and I really like the grade B syrup, more flavour than the Amber A grades - so woodsy and wintry!!  This Toastmaster Model was only made from 1939 - 1959 -  it is gonna last me the rest of my lifetime and then someone else can enjoy crispy waffles!!!

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That's abut it for today sports fans, thanks again for stopping by and for your kind comments about yesterday Post, I am still having the warm fuzzies from all your kindnesses!!

Take care,

edgar

"Spanish Mystery Sampler" Finish

Gentle Friends, over the weekend I finished up this really big piece, and I'm really sorry to see it end.  It's always the same, you work on a piece for a few months and then it's over and you move on to something else.  Oh well, I am happy it's done and now for some snaps.....

upper left corner.....

.....  upper right corner.....

..... lower left corner....

..... lower right corner...  and here's an overall shot.....

"Spanish Mystery Sampler" - designer Shakespeare's Peddler

March 21, 2014 - August 3, 2014

LL 40ct Bisque

my conversion to Belle Soie

Here's my conversion - as you remember I pulled the DMC conversion that Theresa gave and then chose the Belle Soie from the palette.....  

840 - Mudpie

3828 - Teddy bear

733 - Scarecrow

3811 - Babbling Brook

3031 - Briar Patch

829 - Espresso

814 - Rose of Sharon

3831 - Poison Apple

White - I don't like white stitching, and I really didn't like the white stitching in this piece so I went with a pale green Limited Edition hank of silk I had, it has no specific name.

I also added a pink colour "Carnation" that was not called for, but I like what it added.  Now, in stitching this piece I shifted some of the colours charted for other colours as I went along, because I thought it looked better - my stitching my choice!!  It really is a big piece of work measuring from edge to edge 24" x 16"  and it was my first time stitching on 40ct linen.....  and I really enjoyed it immensely!!  The only thing I am thinking about with this piece is stitching the bottom border that is missing, I'll have to see about that.....

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Doggy Day Spa

Gentle Friends, it's the end of the week and I am so ready for the weekend I can just taste it!!  I was thinking what to wrap the week up on, and some damp shots of the who hounds fills the bill.  

 Last Wednesday was "Doggy Day Spa" - which means baths all around for the Who Hounds.  How it works with four of them ....basically, each hound - one at a time in the shower with one of use getting bubble bathed and scrubbed and then a rinse and a hand off , then the

 next hound.....  well I was doing the handing off an drying while Rico was on the wet and soapy end of things......  and with each hound I got a reflected selfied.....  first up was Smokey...

... looking like a downed rat....  then it was Wahumpa's turn....

.....  not happy at all.... then it was Lolly's turn....

 and the wrapping things up was Peaches.....

... it was back to the drowned rat look again.....  

but they all got their bi-monthly baths and are squeaky clean!!

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks again for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar