Small Acts of Kindness

Gentle Friends, I saw this short video and wanted to share..........

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Have a great weekend....thanks for stopping by, do stop again !!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends, in addition to the Shortbread pan I showed you the other day I found a few other fun things this past weekend.....

.........we hit the usual thrift/consignment stores and a pretty decent Estate Sale. I picked up the lovely engraved silver salver, the WWI Armistice cup and the DVD at thrift stores..... and the pudding mold, the vintage Imari bowl and the "Irish Names" book at the Estate Sale.  It was a pretty decent day for finding things!!  I've been wanting a pudding mold forever, and just didn't want to drop $50 on one that I knew I would use once or maybe twice a year.  This one (that looks unused and basically new) I picked up for a $1 - woo hoo!!  Now, I need to find a great old recipe for a steamed pudding a la Dickens to serve this Christmas. 

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

Take care,

edgar

Tryin' Some NEW Things....

Gentle Friends, you know me, or you know me through this Blog well enough to know that when something new appears in the store I certainly want to try it out....... well, walking around the old Safeway Saturday morning I saw there was a totally new OREO Thin.  I had yet to see the commercials that have inundated the TeeVee.....   

 I like Oreo's, and really prefer the cookie part to the white "Stuff."   So when I spied these suckers I tossed them in the basket.   Saturday afternoon I opened up the package.....

....got some of the cookies .....

... popped one in my gaping maw.....  and loved it!!  The perfect Oreo had been created!!  I love these things, totally crispy with only a hint of "stuff."  So, If you like the cookie part of the Oreo, then I am sure you'll like these cookies.

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Yesterday after work on the way home I stopped off at Walgreen's and saw a display of the new flavoured Lay's chips.  I had seen the large bags of them at Safeway, but was leery of investing in a large bag of potentially inedible chips.  So I picked up two of the flavours I was most interested in trying out.......

.....  I was born and raised in the deep South, so I know what biscuits and gravy should taste like....  and was skeptical that a chip could carry off the flavour or even replicate the creamy goodness that is sausage gravy on a fluffy biscuit.......

...  I opened the bag and the took a whiff, they didn't smell bad, in fact there was a sort of spicy sent, then I tried one, then another ...... thought about it and tried another....  what they have going for in the taste department is reproducing the spicy flavour of the sausage, sage, cayenne, there might be some thyme, but the flavour notes of sausage defiantly - and really not too bad.  

Next up was the Reuben chips.  Now, in my opinion the Reuben sandwich is probably one of the most delicious sandwiches on the planet!! 

I was up for these to be good, and excited to try them...... 

 I popped open the bag, took a whiff.....  I was hit in the nostril with an over whelming sour odor which I am guessing was to mimic the sauerkraut in the sandwich.  I tried one, then another, then another......  all I was getting was sauerkraut sour and not much else, not very good, IMHO. 

Overall these flavoured chips that Lay's keeps introducing are fun to try, but a little on the silly side with very little staying power.  Give them a try and see what you think.

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little baking with a Thrifty Find......

Gentle Friends, over the weekend I found another shortbread pan from Brown Bag.  It's called "Wildflowers" and has nice incised Flowers that appear in each piece.....

 you know I had to make some of these delicious cookies......

 ... warm out of the oven and dusted with some sugar......

... and here's the pan and "petticoat tails."  It's nice to be able to make two pans at a time as these short bread cookies just do not last around our house!!

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I finished up "October" over the weekend.......  there had to be quite a few changes made to make it "fit" in with the rest of the sampler, it seems to have worked out well.... 

here's a snap.....

.... it's an odd horse and an odd bird - there you go.....  now it's on to "November!!"

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Short and sweet Monday, thanks for stopping by do atop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Film Friday - Little Weekend Film Festivals

Gentle Friends, if you've been reading Blacksheep Blog for a while, you know that I watch quite a few films..... I really like films.  I like lots of different film genres........ Noir, Musical, Animation, (some) Westerns, War Films......  you get the drift.  I own many of the films I like in both DVD and Blu Ray format.

Recently I was asked a very interesting question about my film watching, "Do I really watch the films I own?" and if I do "How do I choose what to watch from so many titles?"  That got me to thinking how I go about watching what I own......... during the week in the evenings, If there's nothing on the TeeVee and I've not gotten a Netflix Selection, I usually just flip through the pages of one of my DVD notebook cases and when I hit one the looks good I pull it and pop it in - 

et voila something decent to watch.  

The weekends are a different matter altogether.  I usually start thinking about a theme or an actor or something might hit me  that gets me going  - and from that idea comes a selection of films to watch.  I'll usually pull 5 to 7 films to watch.  I usually start watching Saturday afternoon after getting home from my "Thrifting" and just keep going film after film until Sunday evening.   Now, the exception to this "festival" is there may be something on TCM that I want to see so I will work that in the lineup or build the selections around that film or films...... so you see there is a little method to the madness.......  that brings us to last weekends "Film Festival."

I was in the mood for a Musical Film Fest - not just any musicals (and I have dozens) but some top notch, over the top, Theater to Celluloid type musicals....... 

I pulled all Rogers and Hammerstein Films and started off with....... 

 "Oklahoma" - 1955 - starring Gordon MacRae, Gloria Graham, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood and making her film debut Shirley Jones.  This is a fantastic film full of super music and gorgeous Arizona landscapes in CinemaScope.  Yes, the film Oklahoma was shot in Arizona.

Next up is another favorite R&H film.....

"State Fair" - 1945 - starring Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes and Vivian Blaine.  I love everything about this film, the super songs, the silly acting (at times) and I just love the whole arch of the Ma Frake and her Mincemeat entry at the fair.  From the fair I moved on to.....

"Flower Drum Song" - 1961 - starring Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo and Juanita Hall.  A nice film with some great music, but a little silly plot wise and a bit stilted, but still a fun film.  From this film I moved on to......

"South Pacific" - 1958 - starring Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr and Juanita Hall.  A super film with great music and dancing.  A film with an important theme that still resonates today.   

  I wrapped up the weekend filmfest with a lovely film......

"Carousel" - 1956 - starring Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones.  I think the Carousel Waltz one of the most beautiful pieces music that R&H ever wrote.........

There's a couple more R&H Musicals out there that are totally worth a look.....

"Sound of Music" - 1965, "The King and I" 1956.

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That's about it for today sports fans, have a super weekend!!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends, the weekend is almost here but last Saturday I picked up some fun things.......

....  a nice acid etched pair of compotes, an 1886, 3 volume set of "English Constitutional History" by Hallam, , a great little brown transfer ware creamer and an extra large coffee cup from the "Louisiana Purchase Exposition," or as it is more commonly know as...
the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair (think "Meet Me in St Louis"). 

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That's about it for toady sports fans.  Thanks for stopping in, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Too Hot to Cook

Gentle Friends, we are totally spoiled here by the Bay - with temps typically hovering int he low 60's year round.  So when the mercury starts to climb into the upper 70's the sweltering begins.......  Monday was one of our "hot" days with the temps around 78 and so instead of turning on the stove or cooking we decided to walk down to 24th Street for some burgers.... at Barney's......

...they have inside and patio seating, we sat outside and as the sun set the breeze picked up and it was a lovely evening.....

...  they make a basic burger then lots of variations.......  we started off with a full order of fries......

... and then out came the burgers....

... I had the North Beach, cheddar cheese sauteed mushrooms and artichoke hearts......  and Rico had......

.... cheese lovers with sprouts......

.....  and then to the table was brought what I really came for, a delicious Turkish Coffee milkshake!!  There was so much shake I took some of it home!!  It was nice to get out of the warm house - since we don't have air conditioning (as most home here don't) the house was warm with only hot air blowing around by a fan.  By the time dinner was over and we had walked around 24th Street, the sun had set the wind had picked up and the temps dropped back into the comfortable upper 60's.

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, still stitching on the Prim Animal sampler.... and here where I am as of last night....

... September is finished up and I've pulled the WDW conversion for October "Horse" - so that will be the project this week......  I think since I'm in the home stretch, I'll just finish this up before getting back to "Sojourner" or  "Santa's Village" that is languishing in the WIP basket.

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Short and sweet today sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Home Drone..........

Gentle Friends, I thought I would wrap up the week with this great video of San Francisco.....

It was compiled from many drone shot videos of the city into one "supercut."  It runs at about 3 minutes so its not too long and takes you from the Golden Gate to Downtown to AT&T Park to the top of the Trans America building in North Beach.......  enjoy!!!

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Have a super weekend... I think it is jam making time around the house, the fruits ripe and the stoves hot!!!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends...running around Saturday I picked up a few fun things......

.......  a great German vase, you should have seen this before I cleaned it up......  a transferware pitcher and a vintage French match strike/holder and an vintage Cowboy themed tie/belt holder.  It was a fun day out and for lunch we had some fried chicken at "The Yard" - it is one of the food truck parks that are springing up everywhere here in the city.  I forgot my camera, but we'll be going back and I'll get some photo coverage then.

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

Take care,

edgar

Dinner for Two......

Gentle Friends, we started off the weekend with a nice dinner out.  Since we couldn't decide on somewhere new to go, we headed to an old standby place we hadn't been to in a really long time.  We do love Italian dishes, and there used to be a great restaurant we hit at least twice, if not more, times a month called CAPRI, it was in the Castro area - but sadly they closed a couple of years ago.  Another place we just never think of is called.......

... The Sausage Factory, so we headed up over the hill and down into the Castro......

.... gotta have a Peroni with Italian food......

... they have an extensive menu..

... we split a dinner salad as they are enormous.....

... and the main dish was a "small" pizza!!  It was a delicious pizza and we even took home a couple of slices for lunch the next day.  I think this place will become a destination for us, so you will probably start seeing lots of snaps of different dishes as I work through the menu.......

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I finished up "August" over the weekend......

....I made quite a few changes.....  the filled block with the month I opted to go with Beige lettering and Swampwater fill instead of the called for dark letters and light fill.  I will make that change at least once if not twice more with the Fall months.  I also stitched and bees wings twice until I landed on Honeysuckle for the colour - the beige I was using was not working and white was just too white........  I also make a little start on September, but not much.

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

Take care,

edgar

A Friday Pooch Post

Gentle friends,  I think I will end the week on a high note.  A cute snaperoo of two Who Hounds...

... it's Lolly and the Peach staying warm on the heating pad (it's there under the blankets). 

 I really appreciate the comments and the emails about Peaches health.  What's up with her in a nutshell....... in May of 2013 in the early morning hours she collapsed and we rushed her to the VCA Hospital.  She had an episode with her heart.  We got her there in time to stabilize her and after a few days in Doggie ICU she came home with 3 pills that she takes twice daily.  Since then we go for check ups every 6 months and they do blood work and x-rays and so far she has been so stable that her Doctor has not had to change her medicine a bit. Usually the dosages increase with time as the heart starts to enlarge.  The Peach is that 1 in 100 hounds with this heart problem that has done extremely well and stayed very stable, and should stay this way for the foreseeable future.  We are very fortunate.

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Thursday Thrifting

Gentle Friends, I took off yesterday to take Peaches to the Vet, she had her bi-annual check up with Dr Williams, her cardiologist- so my post for yesterday is not really presentable.....  

but I do have a short one for today....

.... a few things I picked up over the weekend.... some DVD's I didn't yet have.... and a few books.  The skinny little  paperback "Christmas Carol"  is to replace the one that basically fell apart.  I keep  a copy in my bag all the time that I will re-read throughout the year.  "The White Queen" I picked up because I've gotten hooked on the 10 part mini series that STARZ presented taken from Philippa Gregory's Cousins War Series - the books in the series are "The White Queen," "The Red Queen," "The Kingmakers Daughter" and "The White Princess." 

 I'll talk about the "The White Queen" mini series later on.

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That's about it for today, short and sweet.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, it was a lovely three days away from the old salt mine..... lovely weather - bright sunny breezy and temps hovering in the mid 60's - you can;t beat SF for Summer weather!!!  Not too much going on  and I did get some stitching done.......

....  I finished up July and started in on August and it's Bee Hive and bees......

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

Take care,

edgar

Happy 4th of July!!!

Gentle Friends, just a quick note to say.......

Have a super 4th of July!!!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends, our thrifting last Saturday was more fun than find. 

 Sometimes that's how it goes.  I did find two things......

.....  a great 19th century ironstone syrup pitcher and a superb copy of "The Presidents House" by William Seale.  Not that I was looking for the books, but in the back of my mind I knew I wanted a set.  Here's the reason.......  on CSPAN last year they did a wonderful series called "First Ladies: Image and Influence."  It was on for weeks and covered the first 45 First Ladies.  They are now re-running this series on Sunday evenings at 8 EST and 5 PST.   This Sunday, July 5th they will by doing Lucy Webb Hayes. William Seale has been on many of the episodes and the information he imparts is top notch and so interesting.  If you can catch any part of this series I would highly recommend you do - one of the most informative shows I've seen in a long time - Bravo CSPAN!!

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That's about it for today sports fans. It's a long (4 day) weekend so I'll be back next week - thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar