Monthly Cottage SAL Finish

Gentle Friends... happy Monday morning!!  I wanted to thank you for all the kind comments about ATS and my little start on "December."  I finished up the Cottage and with this last monthly finish it also finishes up the whole SAL!! It was a super happy dance Saturday Afternoon!!!  I got a couple of snaps...

The first snap of "December is very crooked - sorry....

For this month I made a couple of small changes, with the floss I switched out "Swiss Chocolate" and used "Brandied Pears" and for "Seagull" I used "Pelican."  These colour changes are not dramatic and suit me and the piece.  I also stitched some extra white on the red flowers in the border around the yellow centers.  Another change I made was to leave off the straight stitched lines for the window mullions, they looked odd, to my eye, and  I had also left them off of March and August cottages, so I had already set a precedent.

Here is an overall shot of the piece....

I think knowing what I know now about this piece.....  it would have looked better doing this four across and three down. With a 4 x 3 configuration I wouldn't have the three cottages using so much red lined up one on top of the other (June, September and December).  I am, also really glad I used yellow for the August house to break up the light blue's used - but that's neither here nor there at this point, it was a fun piece to work on and I wanted to send a big big thank you out to Nikki!!!!!  Now, I can't wait to get going on next years CCN SAL ... Santa's Village!!

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

Take care,

edgar

"and they Sinned" and CCN December Cottage

Gentle Friends thanks for stopping by and for the great comments on Monday's post!!  Sorry to miss a post yesterday but I was catching up on emails and they just took a bit more time to answer than I had expected.

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This morning I wanted to show the two most recent things (excluding my exchange piece) that I have been stitching on.... first up has to be ATS...  still working on the different bits in the sixth section....

If you look closely you can see the I have run a single thread along the sides so that I can make sure I stay within the narrow confines of the stitch.  For some reason it has worried me, so to put my mind at rest I got some orange thread and just put them in.  I'll pull them out later.

The other piece is the last Cottage on the year long SAL - I got my December chart a few days ago and thought about any changes I wanted to make.  The only Major change was to switch "Swiss Chocolate" for "Brandied Pears"... and why you may ask did I do that...  basically I had no "Swiss Chocolate" floss in my stash - and BP is very close to the DMC conversion so I just went with it.  I was also going to change "Spinach" for "English Ivy" but after stitching some with EI I found that floss to be just too dark so I frogged it out and went back to the recommended "Spinach"....  here is the little bit I have done...

I love the "Ribbon Red" and will probable stick to the hand full of DMC "browns" - This last part should be finished up in a day or two.

That's about it for today.  I'll not be posting tomorrow as I am taking a 1/2 day - but I'll be back on Monday.  Thanks again for stopping by and for your comments!!  Do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Some Stitching Stuff

Gentle Friends thanks again for stopping by my little Blog.  The weekend was quite nice, as it continued to get cooler Friday and Saturday...  after our couple of days of warm weather.  And, last night it started to rain!!  WooHoo!!  I love the cold and rain and now the Fall has set in - I think our winter has begun a bit early, I can enjoy the Autumnal weather!!  As you know I am a bit off my nut and odd, but I do love the cold wet weather we have out here.

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After running our regular errands Saturday morning and Thrifting/Estate Saleing - then getting some chores around the house done I settled in to finish up November Cottage.  I eventually completed it but not after changing my mind about a dozen time on some of the colours.....  here's a snap....

As you can tell I did away with all the pink and shades of pink settling on a gold and yellow theme.  Since October was all shades of orange I thought it would be nice to have the golds represented.  The floss conversion was as follows...

I did end up using some of the recommended DMC 436 for the acorn bodies and the Turkey body, for the ground I used my lightest skein of GAST Brandy.  I used 3031 for the acorn caps and the other recommended places, I used DMC B5200 as the white.  For Harvest Moon my conversion was to CC Sassy Brass - the leaves I used Sassy Brass and CC Amber Waves.  I kept the WDW Mocha and WDW Kudzu and converted WDW Grapefruit to WDW Indian Summer.  Over all I am very happy with the results.  Here's an overall shot of the piece.....

Now on to December Cottage, lots of snow and fir trees!!!

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I heard from Carol, that my HOE "Hometown Ornament" arrived.  Here's a snap...

I could have chosen California or one of these... Mississippi, Maryland or even North Carolina... as they have all been my scenes of my hometown at one time in the past!!  But, I ended up choosing a Florida themed ornament.  The design is from Nouveau Encore Designs and was a great piece to work on!!  Worked into the design are a palm tree, flamingo and "Star Fish:"  - as little symbols of Florida.  I used the recommended floss and stitched it on a piece of mystery 32ct linen.

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

Take care,

edgar

November Cottage and a Film

Gentle Friends thank you so much for your kind comments and emails, it does me no end of good to read them!!

Last night I was kind of at a loss as to what to pick up ... ATS was calling my name, but I didn't want to haul her out and set everything in motion for a stitchity evening....  So I thought about it for about 10 seconds and decided to pull out CC "November Cottage" and make a start - by make a start I mean see what floss I was changing and what I was keeping.  I finally decided on this configuration...

I knew I was tossing out WDW Grapefruit - way to odd a shade of pink/orange for me.  

So, the line up is as follows:

I changed  DMC 436 to HSH Autumn Gold, I am keeping DMC 3031 (It is only use a little bit), As usual I am sticking with DMC B5200 for the white, For the GAST Harvest Moon (I have three skeins of this and it varies from a pale yellowish to a light orange) I changed this to CC Sassy Brass, I'm keeping WDW Mocha, I'm Keeping WDW Kudzu, and for WDW Grapefruit I changed this to WDW Indian Summer (probably my favourite WDW colour)  As you can see I kept a good number of the designers choices....  now I can't wait to see what December brings....  wouldn't it be great if it were a log cottage/cabin with pine trees!!!

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I got in the mail a Netflix DVD of a newly released film - "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - 2012 - with an ensemble cast of great British talent this was a really enjoyable film.

The basic premise of the film is about a group of retirees moving to India, for all different reasons and moving into a dilapidated Hotel. To varying degrees they adapt to the country, food and people - and then again some just do not or will not adapt.  The film is lush and beautiful and makes Jaipur India look superb with all the warm colours and exotic places - along with the warm friendly people that they all meet - as the movie swiftly moves to an end the story lines are wrapped up and the 2 hours of film just seem to have flown by. 

I think a couple of the funniest lines are said by "hip replacement " candidate Muriel, Played by Maggie Smith,  "At my age, I can't plan that far ahead.....  I don't even buy green bananas' - another great line is  "If I can't pronounce it, I don't want to eat it."  She brings with her a supply of HobNob's (both plain and chocolate) and candy to sustain her.  I would totally recommend this film.

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

Take care,

edgar

A Short Hump Day Posting

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thanks again for stopping by - I'm so glad you did!!

There's not been too much going on around the old hacienda lately.  I have been stitching a bit on ATS, nothing really big just a bit here and there.  I am getting the itch to start something new and really Hallowe'en and I've got it narrowed down to a few things....  just not sure which one to start, yet!!

If you've not seen the November Cottage over at CCN here's look....

(Picture of November Cottage from the CCN Website)

It is really charming and so Fallish - I'm salivating to get my greedy mits on it!!!  I am loving that turkey and all those acorns!!!  Bravo Nikki!!!!!!

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My crazy Christmas Cactus is at it again...  all blooming and budding and it will be lovely for Hallowe'en, but probably not a bloom in sight at Christmas.....  here's a snap...

  

I guess it's the change in light that triggers this monster... my little red one is also blooming away.

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My HOE Hallowe'en Exchange got into the outgoing mail this morning so I'll be able to show a few snaps of that as soon as it arrives.  

That's about it for today sports fans.  Do drop by again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Stitching Monday

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends the weekend was as many others - very relaxed and easy going!!!  Just the way I like it! 

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I heard from my partner Diane, over at Nan's Needlework Notions -  that my "Friends Stitching Through the Seasons" Fall Exchange had arrived.  This was the second piece that I had Faye finish.  I had the idea of what I wanted to do for this Exchange, mulling over in my brain for a few months.  I knew I wanted to make a Fall Basket -  I also knew I couldn't accomplish it with out help and that's where Faye stepped in and rescued me!!!  Here are a couple of snaps....

and here is a snap before finishing - to see the entire stitched piece...

The chart is from Bent Creek and called "Autumn Row" - it is stitched on a piece of 32ct linen I over dyed, it is stitched using the recommended floss'.  Here's a snap of the the exchange goodies I included...

 

It was a fun exchange - and I was really pleased with how it all turned out!!!

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I finished up CCN October Cottage over the weekend - here's a snap - 

 

I loved stitching this cottage - since October is my birth month I have a special affinity for it - and I made a lot of changes!!

I converted the DMC to over dyed - 

DMC 434 - I used GAST Nutmeg

DMC 436 - I used GAST Brandy

DMC 3031 - I used GAST Dark Chocolate

DMC 3033 - I used GAST Flax - for the entire cottage,

 I also added the withe trim to make it look more like the previous cottages.

I did stay with the WDW Scuppernong for the green

(I did not used DMC 728 Topaz nor did I convert it)

I used 5 different Oranges instead of only using WDW Carrot, in fact I did not use WDW Carrot at all.

The Oranges break down as follows - 

For "October" I used GAST Fragrant Cloves, the large 6 flowers in the top and bottom borders I used VM (Victorian Motto) 05, I also used VM05 for the centers of the little brown flowers, the Pumpkins I used VM 04, the tree leaves I wanted it to look more fallish so I used VM 01 & 02 - I also added two more birds and left off the floating flowers again.  I am really pleased with the results.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop by tomorrow, the winner of the little Gift-a-way will be announced.

Take care,

edgar

A Monday Stitching Post

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends it was a low key cool weekend here by the Bay.  I thought this morning I would share some stitching - two pieces in fact, one and ongoing SAL and the other an Exchange piece.

First up let me show you the exchange piece that arrived.  I took part in the Fall exchange over at HOE and my partner was Stephanie over at Blue Star Stitcher.  I read on the HOE Blog that my package arrived so now I can show you what I sent.

I chose to make a large PynKeepe and sent along a stand for display.  The chart is from Prairie School #66 "Autumn Samplers."  I stitched the top part of the first sampler on a piece 32ct linen, I hand dyed to give it an aged look - using the recommended DMC floss.  Here is a snap of the the entire exchange I sent...

It was a fun Exchange to take part in and was the first of the Autumnal exchanges I did.

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The second piece of stitching is on the Cottage SAL - 

I finished up September and here is a snap of that...

As you can see I changed it up quite a bit from the way it was charted.  The most major change was the cottage itself - with so much red in this square it was a bit overwhelming - and if I wasn't stitching this as a single piece I might have left the red cottage, but this sits directly under June, which has lots of red and will sit above December, as of yet unpublished, but I am thinking more red there also.  I used CC "Queen Bee" as it reminded me of the great old colour "Harvest Gold.  Other changes include a modified attic window, the one charted was a bit on the large side for the space, I also did away with the floating flowers and added a bird. I am really happy with the changes.  The floss was also changed from DMC to over dyed - here are my changes:

DMC 349 - GAST Geranium
DMC 351 - GAST Rhubarb
CC Queen Bee for the Cottage
DMC 728 - WDW Marigold
DMC 3031 - CC Caterpillar
DMC White - DMC B5200
WDW Pecan
WDW Grasshopper

 Here is an over all shot of the Cottages Piece.

I started October, but will hold off on a picture until I finish it up.

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

Take care,

edgar

September Cottage

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends another week rolls by and it's almost Friday - can I get a Whoop-Whoop!!!!  Although the temps here is the City are hovering in the high 50's low 60's (depending on where in the City you are)  we are going to get a bit cooler over the weekend...  low 50's, lots of fog....  and unless I can find some great Estate Sales I gonna just stay in and stitch and watch movies!!!  After two weeks of nothing, zilch, Nada - I am not feeling it a the moment to hassle with the traffic and parking issues to go shopping....  but who knows, come Saturday morning I might just feel it and go anyway!!

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Anywho - the mail has brought me a little tasty treat - CCN September Cottage - and I pulled the recommended floss and then hauled out my over dyed stash floss and here is my conversion.........

On the right are the called for DMC choices (a bit on the orange side for me) I converted them to the following:

DMC 349 to GAST Geranium

DMC 351 to GAST Rhubarb

DMC 729 to WDW Marigold

DMC 3031 to CC Caterpillar

 DMC B5200 for the White

Keeping -

 WDW Pecan and WDW Grasshopper

I found I have 3 skeins of Rhubarb and each skein is very different - I chose the lightest of the three.  I like the idea of using a redder red - and Geranium will work nicely - since I presume that the "fruit" on "September" are apples, I think it will be nicer than the coral called for.

Last night I stitched a bit on an Exchange piece, but also stitched some on ATS...  no snap of either.

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Just a quick mention, TCM started of "The Summer Under the Stars" month long star a day festival yesterday with a day long tribute to John Wayne.  Today it is a day long tribute to that wonderful actress, Myrna Loy!!

This weekend the focus is on Marilyn Monroe, Saturday and Claude Rains on Sunday.  You can click on over to the TCM site for the complete schedule.  One of the Super Months at TCM!!!!

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That's about it for today sports fans!!  Thanks for stopping by, and for you great comments and emails!!  Do stop again.

Take care,

edgar

Some Stitching and Weekend Stuff

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends sorry to break off for two days but there were so many folks out here at work my load was heavier than usual.  

The weekend here was just gorgeous... lots of wind (not breeze)  it was almost "blowin a gale."  Yesterday the fog rolled in over the city and I had to turn on the heater a bit to take the chill out of the house.  Summer in SF, you just can't beat it!!!

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On the stitching front I finished up August with quite a few changes....  here is an overall shot...

and here is a close up of August Cottage....

As you can see the most obvious change is the Cottage itself... with this being the 4th light blue Cottage in the set I just couldn't do it again...  so I chose to go yellow.  I also stitched the waves a bit differently to give them some depth - outlining with the light "Morning Glory" blue and filling the centers with "Tropical Ocean" - I think it is more interesting than just all light blue.  Here's my conversion...

Simply Shaker Sampler Threads - "Melon Patch" - DMC 352

SSST - "Apple Cider" - DMC 420

CC "Finley Gold" - DMC 744

SSST "Portabella" - DMC 3022

SSST "Lexington Green" - DMC 3022

WDW "Swamp" - DMC 3031

GAST "Tropical Ocean" - DMC 3755

DMC B2500 - DMC White

GAST "Morning Glory" - only for outlining the waves

SSST "Grape Leaf" - "Shutter Green" 

I couldn't find any SG in my stash.  I did eventually find some but by that time I was to far into the grass to take it our so I left the Grape Leaf.

Now that I am a bit ahead on this piece I will just sit back and wait for September to come out.

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I also got some of the bits done on AST.....

This is coming along nicely and I am really enjoying all the different colours and bits in this section.

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I got some thrift shopping in on Saturday....  and here's the haul.....

I picked up three books a fun DVD and a Sterling measure.  I think that they thought the measure was an egg cup or something as it was in the kitchen section marked $1.60.  I immediately knew it was a single/double jigger (in a past life I was a bar tender) and that it was Sterling - just by picking it up you can feel the heavy silver quality and I found a sterling mark once I got the tarnish off.   I guess with it being so blackly tarnished they just didn't know/or care.  I got it for .80 as everything was 1/2 off.  Now, you can't beat that with a stick!!

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I baked up an easy little coffee cake yesterday...

I'll post that up in the morning.

Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Stitchin' Stuff

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends it was a lovely weekend here in the City - not very hot and fogged in for the most part!!  We had a friend visiting from Monterey - she was up getting out of the heat and into the cool of SF - so we ran around with here for two days.   I did get in some stitching......

First up will be Part II of the SAL that Niky is running.  Here is the completed parts I & II....

It is a really fun piece to work on and the parts are very quick stitches.

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The second piece I worked on was the CCN Jluy Cottage - I finished it up and am now waiting for August Cottage to arrive in the mail.  here's a snap of the entire piece...

and here is a crappy snap of just July...

Although I am not a big red, white and blue stitcher - 

I really enjoyed this particular cottage quirte a bit!!

I used only overdyed, except for the white -  here are my converted choices...

GAST Sarsparilla for DMC 435

HSH Honeytone for DMC 744

GAST Dark Chocolate for DMC 3031

White B5200

GAST Geranium (called for)

GAST Aged Pewter (called for) only for the bird bath

HSH Flagstone (for the roof)

GAST Cornflower - for Betty Bluebell

GAST Chives for Chopped Chives

GAST Midnight for Blue Beatrice

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The thrid piece I worked on was "And They Sinned"...

I did some on the left hand side vine and finished up the Sun.  

I think this wil be the piece to work on this week.....

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I also made up a Peach Cobbler out of some super summer peaches - 

I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

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

Take care,

edgar

Cottage Catch-up

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I am running short of time this morning so will make this a short post about the CCN Cottages - 

I don't think I ever got a snap of completed June up - so here is a snap of that - 

I think my favorite part of this cottage is the thatched roof.  As you can see I changed up this one a bit, but leaving off the floating flowers and I deleted the french knots from the strawberries - they looked nothing like seeds to me - I did stitch in some seeds with really small stitches, but you can not see them in the photo.

Here is an overall shot of the piece showing the little progress I have made with July...

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

Take care,

edgar

A Monday Morning Posting

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thanks for stopping by and a great good morning!!!!  It is a brisk 56 degrees outside with a nice breeze - I love SF in the summer!!!!  Over the weekend we really beautiful days -  not warm at all but bright and sunny both days.  We were to have some rain but that fizzeled out - the most mositure we got was some fog rolling in Friday evening - and then not too much.

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As you might remember I am taking part in a year long exchange with a small group of stitchers over at "Friends Stitching Through the Seasons" and my partner, Diane received her Summer box safely.  Here is a snap of the exchnage I sent...

and here is a close up of the stitched piece....

I used the Farmer's Alphabet from Priaire Schooler to create this Pyn Keepe - It was a fun piece to stitch but for Summer I had a hard time thinking up something... now, with Fall approaching I have some super ideas!!!

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On Saturday I ran around to some Estate Sales and a couple of Thrift/Consignment Shops and picked up some fun things...  here's a snap

From front left to right....  a little plate in my Mom's wedding china - Castleton "Lace" - this has been out of production for 45+ years and what on earth you would use this tiny plate for is beyond me, I picked up these great Limoges pieces (covered vegetable and tureen) not beacuse I need them, or even have the room but because they were 1/2 price - from the marks on the bottom they date to the 1880's and are in super condition, the Native Harvest's cookbook is really interesting and finally the great old maple rolling pin, perfect condition and a lovely old worn colour!!

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On the stitching front I worked some on cottages - so here is a progress snap...

...... as you can see I am almost there with June - what a great month.  I tried a couple of other "whites" for the house but settled on the DMC B5200 I have been using as my white throughout.  I also frogged out the fence in March (like it much better).  I will certainly have June finished before the end of the month and get a good start on July.  I have seen a picture of August Cottage, and I am sort of put out with it being another light blue cottage, that will make three and the way I am stitching them August will line up with May - I am thinking of seriously changing up the light blue for another colour.

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I also baked up this tasty Lemon Coffee Cake yesterday......

I post up that info tomorrow.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thank you all for your great comments and emails.

Take care,

edgar

May Cottage Finish and a Stupid "Ann Taylor" Employee

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thanks so much for your kind comments on Mr Stanley and his adventures here in Sf and Florida.  If all goes as planned he will be winging his way home today.

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Last nights stitching involved lots of frogging and my figuring out what exactly my problem was with this particular Cottage.  I think after I took off quit a few bits that it was overcrowded.  I removed the fence, two clouds and the sun.  I also converted all the DMC Floss to over dyed choices to soften up the colour - now I am much happier about this month and have moved on to June.  here is a snap...

I took about a dozen snaps of this and can't seem to get a decent shot - the flash bleaches out the colour something terrible, but you get the idea.  I'll try over the weekend for a better shot in natural light.  Here is a list of the floss' I used - with the recommended Floss choice coming first:

676 - WDW Whiskey

959 - CC Tyler Boy Blue

964 - WDW Aqua

3031 - CC Hickory Sticks

3806 - WDW Peony

CC Frog Legs - HSH Leapfrog

WDW Bright Leaf

White - DMC B5200

I kept the WDW Bright Leaf, I couldn't get any of the CC Frog Legs (it seems that everybody had run out), but I did have the HSH alternate Leapfrog in my stash.  I kept the DMC B5200 White - as I have used it in the other Cottages.  Here is an overall shot...

Sorry about the extra "wonk" to the shot, but you get the idea.  For the June Cottage I have once again converted all the DMC's to over dyed, including the white..... and as I keep looking at the piece I am thinking about frogging out the fence in March......

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I usually try and not get on my soap box often but yesterday I read an article on line that set my teeth on edge and got my dander up!!!  Here is the ARTICLE - in a nutshell - an Ann Taylor store employee basically asked a shopper in an Ann Taylor store with a guide dog to leave the store as "dogs" weren't allowed in the store.  Clearly she was with a guide dog and needed her to navigate and shop, but the employee was adamant and so she and her dog Cricket were asked to leave and they left.  Becky, the shopper with dog, posted about it on her BLOG.  The store issued some lame excuse .....  "that the reason she was asked to leave was the dog was off her harness"  ....  what .....  are they kidding!!!  A guide dog is there to guide, hence would be in a harness....  a complete fabrication by the store to get out of a sticky situation.  In this day and age an employee dealing with the public can't tell the difference between a guide dog and a dog on the loose!!!!  What a commentary about the stores training and dealing with public.  Now, I don't shop at Ann Taylor, but if I did I think this horrendous move by their employee and then by corporate would sour my perception for a good long time and I would do my shopping and spending elsewhere!!!  Read the article and read Becky's posts about the incidents and the "apology."  It's an eye opener for sure.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do come again... I'll be a little less caustic tomorrow!!!!

Take care,

edgar

A Post About the Weekend

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends the weekend was very nice and relaxing!! As the week wound down the weather heated up and by Saturday we were in the upper 80's and for out here that's a scorcher!!  But, Friday evening the winds died down and the sun set with this glorious sky...

Taken from our balcony looking North East across Noe Valley towards downtown SF.

.... and the old saying - red at night sailors delight... held true, as the weather was dry and lovely Saturday and Sunday - if not a bit hot Saturday.  Sunday early morning the winds picked up and the cool/cold Pacific breezes blew in and we had a perfect SF day - cold and clear most of the day, then the fog rolled in and Summer in the city was back in full force.

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One of the things I accomplished was to finally wind up and organize my DMC.  For the longest time this project has sat bagged up and forlorn...

..... I finally got it together to get the skeins of floss on bobbins and in order!!

Now, I have all the colours in order and handy - I felt Like I had killed a bear when I finished.  I was amazed at how may duplicate bobbins and skeins I have - some colours I must have bought a dozen times!!  That at least will not happen again, I hope!

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On the stitching front I worked some on Mary Ann....  just lots of grass stitching...

Sorry about the wrinkles.  I am stitching the grass diagonally to add some visual interest.  Since there are three rows of colour I am stitching the two narrow rows leaning left and the fat middle row leaning right, it sure gets tedious after a while!!  I also worked some on the Cottages...

I converted all of May's recommended DMC's to over dyed floss and I'm really pleased with the outcome.  I am very behind on this piece and I plan on playing catch up this week.

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Yesterday after Mass and a quick breakfast at Eddie's Cafe, we made it to the Grove Street Farmers Market.  The summer fruits and flowers were just great....

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

Take care,

edgar

CCN April Cottage Finish

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends your kind comments and sweet words about yesterdays Post are making my morning!!!!!  Thank you all so much!  I am getting there on Shores and have so enjoyed the stitching of this piece.  Although there is quite a bit of getting bogged down with some of the fill stitching.....  it is still a great piece.

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Last night I finished up the latest instalment of the CCN's  Cottages - "April" - I always have the hardest time getting a decent shot of this piece - and the three snaps I will post this morning all are different and not one of three really give you an idea of the colours...  but what can one do?? 

 So, here goes..

Here is April Cottage - I converted most of the floss from the recommended DMC to over dyed choices from my stash - Although you might think I am stitching this piece on an old Ace Bandage (do to the photo) I am really stitching it on 36ct Vintage Butter Creme.  

Here is a list of my conversions - Left Column is the recommended and the right column is what I converted and used:

DMC 420 - Home Sweet Home Havana

DMC 422 - HSH Mulled Cider

DMC 533 - GAST Hyacinth

CC Amethyst - HSH Magic Spell

DMC 604 - GAST Old Brick

DMC 722 - WDW Pumpkin

DMC 744 - CC Finley Gold

DMC 3840 - GAST Peacock

and I stayed with GAST Chives and WDW Artichoke

Here is and overall shot of the piece as it stands....

and I already have May in waiting in the wings...  here is a shot with some of the floss pulled...

When I first saw "May" on the Internet I thought to myself "oh my, another light blue house, so soon... that I will have to change" - but after pulling the darker of the blues I find that the picture of the model is waaaay off in colour and it is a more teal/green-blue than light blue colour....  so i am thinking I will not convert the main blue colours. I do like the use of WDW "Bright Leaf" for the border colour!!

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Mail and a Film

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind comments about the brownies!!  I am leaning towards baking a Pineapple Upside down cake this weekend....  had a hankering and now must have some cake!!  I have quite a few recipes for PUDC - from the ridiculously easy to the odd and bizarre - I will probably go for one of the easier ones... but you never know!

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Not much going on in our lives... I am still working on an exchange piece so no "real" stitching snap.  The mail brought a little something stitching related...

The next instalment of my every growing "Cottages" SAL.  I have pulled the recommended floss' and lets juts say that I am a little less enthused than I probably should be.  I am liking the over dyed choices, but the DMC's are on the pale side - and I am missing two of them - a "light blue" and a "cranberry" - they are very minor in the scheme of this cottage so I am not worried in the least about not having them.  What I am thinking is that I will go digging into my over dyed floss stash and pull other floss choices ....  I have a couple of things I want to work on before I tackle this so there is plenty of time.

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The film last night was "Evening" - 2007 - starring a lot of really great actors....

.....including Vanessa Redgrave, Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Natasha Richardson, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy. Meryl Streep, Glenn Close - Directed by Lajos Koltai - I enjoyed the film - but really not as much as I had thought I would.  The film is told in two time periods the present and 1953 - and keeps flashing back and forth between the two to tell the story.  It is superbly well acted, well filmed and a beautiful production - so I am not sure why it wasn't a knock out.  At 2 or so hours it was nice to see, but slow in the telling.  I did like they way they summed up life in general....  that we make no mistakes, only choices - some good, some bad but in the end it is only our lives are our choices - gotta love that!!!
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That's about it for today sports fans - thanks again for stopping by, do come again!

Take care,

edgar