Thrifty Thursday on a Wednesday

Gentle Friends, today is my Friday and I'm doing what is usually my Thursday Post with some fun finds from last weekend.  We hit the usual places....

... from L to R... a great oversized dark flow-blue coffee cup and saucer, although it's hard to tell in the snap this cup is about double a regular sized coffee cup, and has a super grape leaf transfer decoration!!  The heavy blue vase I think was made here in California in the mid 40's in super condition and with a little pierce work near the bottom.  The sterling bowl was a great find - and I've gotten all the black tarnish off so now it's once again a lovely bowl... and a Walt Disney film I didn't already have.  So it was a nice weekend for finding things!!

__________________

That's about it for the week, have a super labor Day, stay safe and I'll see you next week!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Bakin'

Gentle Friends, with it being Fall (or at least Fall in my head!!) I am ready for Fall treats and Fall flavours.... and what is more Fallish than Pumpkin!!  I found this recipe somewhere on the internet, and for the life of me I can't find the original source, so I can't link back, so if this is your recipe please let me know and I'll make sure to give credit where credit is due!!  I think it was from a Message board, but couldn't swear to.... here's a snap of the cake...

... it did call to be baked in a tube pan, my pan of choice, and it called for this icing, and although it looks a bit on the sloppy side, it's one of the most delicious pumpkin cakes I've ever had!!!  I sent most of it off with Rico to work and have had two requests for additional cakes - so I guess it's a major winner!!  Here's the original recipe as I copied it...

Pumpkin Cake

4 eggs beaten separately (room temperature)

2 C White sugar

1 C Vegetable oil

2 C A/P Sifted Flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

2 C Canned Pumpkin

Mix eggs with sugar, slowly add oil. Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon and salt.  Add slowly to liquid mixture.  Add ion pumpkin.  Mix well.  Pour into a lightly greased and floured tube or bundt pan, bake 350 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool at least 3 hours before frosting.

Icing

1 8oz cream cheese (room temperature)

1 stick butter (room temperature)

1 box Powdered Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla

Blend together until smooth, frost only a very cooled cake.  Add nuts if desired.  

This cake is very moist.

Now, the only change I made to this basic recipe was to use my pumpkin spice mix in place of the cinnamon.  Nex time I would up the spice to 4 tsp of spice and although I didn't add nuts this time I would absolutely next I make this cake.  Also, I checked the cake at about 50 minutes and it was done, so start checking on the early side to make sure not to scorch the cake.  It's a super cake and you will not be disappointed!!

_____________________

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

Tale care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I've managed to finish up the left-hand border, ....  here's snap...

.. now I'm working my way down the right side...

________________

It'll be a short three day week for me as I've taken off this Thursday and Friday and having a looong weekend!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle friends, although the weekend wasn't a total bust for finding fun stuff, there was not too much out there....  here's a snap..

... I found a Tudor book I'd not read, yet, and a couple of DVD's.  "Pot o' Gold" - 1941 , is a film I've never heard of or ever seen, and I really enjoy Paulette Goddard, so I had to pick it up!!  The stop action Christmas cartoon I've also not heard of, so another "had to have" purchase was made.  Not much of a haul, but some fun things!

__________________

That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by dos top again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Package

Gentle Friends, with more fun Fall things appearing in the stores I was inspired to haul out the skull candy dish I picked up last year along with some stitched pieces.  Then last night a box was delivered by UPS ....  something I had ordered a week or so ago...

... a pair of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalaveraCalavera (Sugar or Candy Skull) Shoes.  Made by Converse exclusively for Journey's.  This is the third year I've gotten some and each year the skull pattern changes, and this year they are big and colourful!!

___________________________

Not much else going on today, thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

... some hounds walked into a bar.....

... talking about their day.....

I can totally hear Smokie and Whaumpee doing something like this since ripping and shredding toys is "their thing" and loose squeakers and bits of stuffing all over the floor is a daily occurrence!!

_______________________

There you go sports fans - another day in paradise!!  Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I've been stitching away on Plantation Sampler... here's where I left off last night...

 It's coming along...

______________________

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

Take care.

edgar

Film Friday

Gentle Freinds, I have been watching far too much YouTube, FlossTube and any other kind of Tube you can think of.  Here's a super "Drone" film I found of my City by the Bay.....

...  it covers so many of the wonderful sights around the City.  I hope you'll enjoy!!

____________________

That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by have a super weekend!!

Take care,

edgar

Planning a Little Trip

Gentle Friends, I thought this year instead of going to Europe for a little vacation I would do some domestic travelling....  you may remember that I grew up in Maryland and my Dad worked in Washington so I have fairly fond memories of DC and all the attractions, but those are memories of 30 +years ago - and I am sure that things have changed!!

My plans are coming together to travel this Fall -  first to DC to tour around on my own and then on to Eastern North Carolina, where I have friends and family, some of them I've not seen since I went to ECU - GO PIRATES!!!

_____________________

I have a short list of things to do or I should say "would like to do," but was wondering what else any of you would suggest.  Preferably out of the way and off the main "tourist radar" - a few more things I like.... History stuff, first and foremost... art, churches.... historic sights etc...  so, any suggestions you may want to import I'm all ears!!
_________________

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

Take care
edgar

Around the House

Gentle Friends, since we are looking Fall square in the kisser, we thought there should be something decorative going on out on the door or in the hall in front of where we live.  We've been seeing lots of things in the stores for "front of the house" type of decoration and since we live in a townhouse we really can't do anything too elaborate.  We decided to go with a wreath of some sort, and after looking around and pricing those suckers, I knew that Rico could do a much better job with just some raw materials...  here's what he came up with...

... I think he did a wonderful job and for a quarter of what a premade one would have been - AND - we get something we like without comprise!!

______________

A friend of mine gave me a hummingbird feeder for my birthday and although we've had the occasional one flit by I've really not noticed any real action until this past week - and some heavy duty sipping over the weekend...  here are a couple of snaps of one of the regulars...

both of these photos I took from across the room so they aren't as sharp as I would have liked, but these little birds are super fast!!  We can't figure out why - now - we're getting some bird action - I didn't make the nectar any different nor did I place the feeder in a different spot.  I don't know what the difference is but I'm really happy about it and they have slurped that sugar water up like nobodies business, I made more last night and will clean out the feeder and refill it tonight.

________________

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

Take care,

edgar

A little Bakin'

Gentle Friends, I was in the mood to bake Sunday and started looking around on the internet for something to make.  I stumbled on what looked like a really nice cake recipe...Orange Graham Craker Bundt Cake.  I like orange, and I knew I had some graham crackers left over from the Key Lime Pie crust and after looking over the ingredients, knew I had everything in the house to whip one up... so to the freezer for some nuts... to make sure I had enough walnuts....

... I had just over a cup of chopped nuts .... then gathered up the rest of the stuff...

...  and after mixing, baking and cooling I had...

... whipped up a quite tasty cake.  The glaze is also orange flavoured with lots of zest and juice.

______________

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I've gotten a nice little start on The Plantation Sampler and here's a snaperoo...

...  it seems to be coming along fine and although I'm not a "pink" person I like the use of the three shades to delineate the roses and although it's kinda hard to see there are three nice greens for the vine and stems....  I  am a green person!!

______________

That's about it for today sports fans.  The weekend was really lovely, cool and foggy both days without too much going on around the house!!  Thanks for stopping by do stop  again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Film

Gentle Friends, I saw this short video yesterday and thought it was in keeping with the Olympic spirit flourishing at the moment.....

...  it's about 5 minutes long.... enjoy!!

Have a super weekend, see you next week!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends, although the weekend started off looking like another "bust" for finding anything....  it all turned around in a second at one of the consignment shops we frequent......

... I found three really super pieces...from top to bottom...a super sterling teapot, a great transferware bowl c. 1840, and an American card case with its original silk lined leather and gilt box...

... when I found the teapot it looked like this, pretty dismal as it had been used as a planter and the spout was still full of potting soil!!  I wasn't sure what it was until I asked to see it.  When I held it and flipped it over I found that it was fully marked with complete British Hallmarks, even down to the bits that make up the detachable top knob - they read: that the pot was made in Birmingham in 1872 by Elkington and Co. Ltd. Now, I always say " You have to know just a bit more that the next guy, if you're going to do well' - and I could see at the price that they didn't have a clue what this piece was...it was 1/6th what it should have been priced...I snapped it up!!

... here's a better shot of a more clean teapot, it's still not up to perfect but it will be there soon...

_______________

... in another case was this piece, a lovely large engine turned coin silver card case, c. 1860. 

... its hard to see but the named engraved is "Sallie" - what so unusual is the case still retains a period if not original box, which has protected it for 150+ years.  The actual silver case is marked "coin" which is really hard to read, so small I had to pull out my loupe to see what was written.  This was also way under price, like 1/10th what it should have been, again I snapped it up....  it turned out to be a super day!!

________________________________

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Pie

Gentle Friends, we were invited to a friends house for dinner on Saturday night, and I offered to bring a dessert.  At a Fruiteria we had stopped at on Tuesday I remembered they had bags of real Key Limes.... so I knew I wanted to make a delicious Key Lime pie.  I had read a super easy recipe back in March on "Southern Bite" from a great Blog run by Stacy, it seemed that all the pieces fell into place.....

So we stopped and picked up some Key Limes...

I ground up some graham crackers for the crust....

... pulled out my trusty old pie pan...

 ... squeezed the limes....

 ...and poured, one quick bake later... et voila, one dleicious pie!!

 It was a hit, so tangy and tasty - no wonder it's the Official Pie of Florida!!!

It's really a super pie for the Summer, and even with the temps hovering in the high 50's all weekend, I know it's hot and Summery somewhere!!

__________________________

Tha't about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin' Finish and a Little Stitchin' Sart...

Gentle Friends, well, after about a year of stitching on and off I've finished up "Sojourner" 

... here's a snap of my version of this wonderful sampler...

"Sojourner" by Heart's Ease Examplar Workes

April 11, 2015 - August 6, 2016

Stitched on 36ct "Pecan Butter," Using the called for "Belle Soie" silks (Classic Colorworks)

I made the most changes in the bottom portion of the piece...  one the most obvious was to leave off the suggested initials, they seemed to me to clutter up the bottom register.  I also clipped the grassy area and left off a very large section for my name and date and only put my initials and date in the lower right corner stitched over one.  I did this because again I felt that it made this section far too bottom heavy. I followed the suggested silk usage for the most part except again in the bottom section, I used "Briar Patch" and "Oatmeal Scone" for the two deer - and - I changed the grape leaf to "Attic Tea" and added an extra grape.  I loved doing this piece and wanted to thank the Needlework Guild of Minnesota for letting me take part in this Private SAL with them!!  It's a great sampler for the Bay area and for California flora and fauna!!

_____________________

The new piece I'm headed for took a while to decide about.  I initially pulled out a little piece that is a sort of WIP, but put it back and then dug around and out popped a sampler I have wanted to do for a few years..... The Plantation Sampler...

.... I spent a couple of hours pulling the called for DMC and then converting those colour choices to Belle Soie (Classic Color works) silks, some colours were easier than others to convert.  I then hauled out some linen choices and decided on a piece of 36ct "Wren."  I think this will be a fun piece to work on this Fall.

___________________

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

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Gentle Friends, over the weekend I found a few of fun things while out-and-about ...

... a nice bright cut vase, a DVD, but when I picked up the matryoshka open it up and see if all the "dolls" were still there it rattled.... and when I opened it up....

... out fell these five great little hand painted ornaments.  I couldn;t have been more surprised.  I liked the outside winter scene and then all the wintery ornaments just made it that much better!!

____________________________

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Dinner and a Treat!!

Gentle Friends, over the weekend  we headed out to dinner with friends to one of our favourite restaurants... Old Jerusalem in the mission.  They had never been there so we were happy to introduce them to the delicious offerings......

...  they bring to the table when you sit down a plate of olives and pickled radishes...

and we ordered some hummus...

 ... I ordered a vegetarian plate because I was in the mood for a taste of a few things...  the plate includes some delicious falafel they make, more hummus, ful , baba ghanoush, Arabian Salad and roasted and fried eggplant and cauliflower...

 ... Rico and John ordered Shish Taouk, which is grilled chicken and a side of saffron rice....

... and Mike ordered Kifta Kabab with a side of saffron rice...  it was a wonderful dinner and this place just keeps getting better and better every time we go!!

______________________

Next door to the restaurant is a Middle Eastern grocery store.  Earlier in the week, I read an article about Halloumi cheese, a really super cheese from Cyprus.  This cheese is so dense that you are able to fry or grill it and serve it hot and crispy!!  It looked really tasty and a knew they would have some at the store, and not only did they have but they had three different varieties!!!  

...  it is a really easy recipe, you drain off the little bit of brine that is in the packet with the cheese, and cut the cheese into small squares...

... now the recipe did not call for garlic, but a little garlic never hurts, and I think it added a nice flavour to the fried cheese...

...heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, add the cheese and garlic and keep flipping the squares until they are browned nicely on each side...

... when the cheese has arrived at the doneness you want, pour into a bowl and serve immediately.  This is much better warm that room temperature - now just enjoy!!  I can imagine this cheese browned with eggs or added to a nice salad!!

___________________

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Fog

Gentle Friends, Friday evening the fog was rolling in over Twin Peaks and from our balcony I shot this.......

....it's only about 30 seconds, but you get the idea. 

________________

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, once again an update on Sojourner...

... I've been stitching on the over-one bits, butterfly, and two hearts, and the two little birds, a Goldfinch and California Quail.  Now, it's on to the right-hand side.....

___________________

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

Take care,

edgar