Some SF Stuff

Gentle Friends, in keeping with my Wednesday is SF theme I have a few tid bits .......  you may or may not be aware that we are having a little warm spell here by the Bay, the temps the last couple of days have been in the mid 80's, and for SF that is really quite warm. In fact we set a new record for yesterdays date, at about 3:30 pm in downtown SF it reached 90, breaking the 87 high back in 1927.  Today is supposed to be the last really hot day and the temps are to start plummeting and by the weekend we should be back in the 60's and regular cool breezes blowing.  With the temps being so hot we have been hitting the pool in the afternoon........

..... as you can see not a speck of fog coming over Twin Peaks and there's Rico......  there are still the ever so slight breeze, but not the usual gale force ones we are used to - a nice little change.

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Last week we stopped into Buttons, you can read a Post about this great little store HERE, so that i could get a fix of Pontefract cakes....  and look at this super display......

.....  all that crazy popcorn.....  although I do love an interesting popcorn, I stuck to my licorice, picking up the Pontefract Cakes and some AllSorts.

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Last Friday on the way to work we were talking about what to do for dinner... I didn't have a thought and later in the morning I got a call about how about trying something new or new to us - Munchery, a fabulous weeknight dinner delivery service.  We had heard of  it from friends and seen the web site, but just had never taken the plunge.  Now that we have, we will certainly be regulars!!!

... we placed the order in the morning and were given a 5-6 pm window for delivery, and as it says on the site, it came in the first 1/2 hour.......

... there were grilled artichokes with a lemon aioli.....

.... Rico got the grill Bistro Steak..... and....

along with a side of black eyed peas, I got the Fish and Grits, the fish was rolled up with some spring greens and the grits had cheese and some nice heat from peppers.  The meal was top notch and really wonderful.  It comes cold and all you do is heat it up in the microwave, et voila, a restaurant dinner without the hassle of parking and rude wait staff!!!   - and - I got were my sweats and watch a movie!!!  This is only here in SF and is expanding into the Seattle market at the moment, but there is no reason to think it won't expand to other cities later on.quality

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There you go sports fans, another bit of my little life here in SF - thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Summer is Upon Us..... Sweet Smoke......

Gentle Friends - my post title is odd, but since I am stitching on an exchange piece I haven't a snaperoo of that, yet, so I will post other snaps...

The pool opened up a couple of weeks ago (here in SF to have a private pool is wonderful, and not very common) so when we all got notices that the heater was cranked up and we were able to swim again..... it was like a stampede of water buffalo to the river...

however in reality it was a little more like....

.... you can tell it's Summer by the fog bank pouring over Twin Peaks....

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As you may remember I am a big fan of incense - I burn the stuff all the time.  So, I thought why don't I try an make some of my own???  My sister and her family had given me a Gift Card from Mountain Rose Herbs, and they have a beginners "making your own Incense" kit... so I got one of these kits recently and tried my hand at making some....

  Here's all the stuff that came in the kit....

basically you take a "recipe" and measure everything into a mortar...

 take the pestle and grind and mix everything together making a very fine powder...

add enough water to make a sticky play-dough ball of raw incense...  (I made two types)

pinch off enough to make a small cones, shape with fingers and let dry for a few days.   Then ignite...

The first batch was hard to burn, so I re-ground the cones, added more of the Makko (ground bark binder) and reformed  the cones and those work just fine.  I was really surprised at how easy these are to make - I usually buy solid stick or coil, but you need a machine to make these types.  I like the idea of making specific types of incense and will be making more in the future.

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

Take care,

edgar

Wrapping up the Week

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I think I will wrap up the week on a high note 

- or at least a wet note!!

Yesterday they re-opened the pool - we have new owners yet again and they had turned off the heater so the pool was virtually unusable for a few months.  We had quickly gotten out of the habit of going down and spending an hour or so poolside in the afternoons.  It had become a wonderfully relaxing time - and now we have it back.

Even with the sun shinning brightly the wind howling down from Twin Peaks can be bone chilling!!  I think the temps yesterday go into the low 60's with wind.  The heater in the "ON" position is a necessary thing and most welcome.  They also fixed the BBQ - so it looks like some delicious grilled steaks are in our very near future!!

That's about it for today sports fans.  

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!!!  Do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

A Very Lazy Thursday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- waste not want not - 

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

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

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

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

Take care,

edgar

Taking a Dip

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends wrapping up the week today - not too much going on this weekend.  No good Estate Sales - and probably just some ho-hum thrifty shopping.  I just can't get motivated to even think about it right now.  Usually when Friday rolls around I am pretty jazzed to see Saturday looming in the near future, but not today.  Don't get me wrong I am totally looking forward to two days "off."  But, what to do...  I will finish up my HOE PS Exchange so that I can get that into the mail on Monday - and try and complete the PS ornie piece - or at least the stitching.  I am having some issues with the Designer's floss choices - they just do not seem to be working with the linen I chose - as I stitch along I just do not like some of them, so I frog those bits out and back to the stash for other colours.  I am sure everything will work out just fine.  I also picked back up my stitching on the Mary Beale "Sampler Wreath."  What a super piece, I really want to get this sucked stitched up.  I only have all the bottom grassy area to do and with the slight shifting of green silks I am sure it will be no trouble.

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Yesterday they re-opened the pool where we live.  They were supposed to open it up 2 months ago, but there was all sorts of work that had to get done first.  They replaced the heating system, they pulled out all the tile surrounding and put in new.  They pulled up all the cement decks around the pool and put in new.  The also took down one of the trees so that now there is way more sun light hitting the pool and decks.  Overall it is a way better pool than it was, but the biggest hold up was the City of SF.  They took the longest time coming out to do an inspection to make sure everything was safe for us to start using it again.  Now everything is back to normal so we can start back to our daily dips - and swimming.  I did get a snap yesterday....

It was a beautiful afternoon and not too windy. 

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments.  

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Take care,

edgar

800 Posts - So its Time for a Drawing!

GR&DF (I like that better!!) Yesterday was a bust-o-matic at work. Usually I come in, make a pot of coffee (I need the fuel) and have my thoughts coagulate in my brain a minute or so before I get a start to write a post, but yesterday I walked in on a pile of stuff and had to get right in on getting it done. I hate when work interferes with my pleasure!

This past weekend went about the way they usually unfold - so let me start off off with a snap of some stitching I can show. Here's a crooked snap....

"Garden Path" is coming along a stitch at a time. I worked lots on exchange stitching an only a little bit on this, but I finished up the trees (how odd is that pink fruit) and a couple of flowers on the border. I am really enjoying this piece, as I do all samplers, go figure.

I also solidified my plans to make a visit to my Mom in Florida - which means I will be away from the Blog for about a week the first part of November. I planned my visit around the Halifax Art Festival. I haven't been home in a couple of years or been to the Art Festival in many years so it should be a good time.

On Saturday we Dale and I ran around to some sales. There was not too much out there, but I did find a few things -

From l to r - an Icon of St Joseph, a nice little older frame, a DVD and a frog warmer. A Frog Warmer you ask - my sweet little sister has become a Scentsy Consultant and sent me a few of the flame less candle samples. I really wanted to try them out and I didn't have a warmer so I bought him. I burn lots of candles and incense as you know, but Scentsy was new to me and I am totally sold on these wax melts. Scentsy sells and warmer that is really wonderful if you have small children and don't want to burn tea lights. I love having another option for "smelling" up my house!! Cissy is up and selling them so if you are interested you can click on over to her site and find out more about this great product.

On Saturday evening we were hanging out by the pool being lazy and watching the fog roll in and wondering what to do for dinner - get take out, get something delivered..... then Rico had an idea!! The building owners have not only fixed up the pool area they bought a super grill for us to use -

So I defrosted a beef tenderloin et voila -

Pepper-marinated with summer squash and onion packets, so quick, so easy!! - we are totally loving the new owners!!!

Sunday we ran over to the Farmers Market - Rico wanted a new orchid (since the orchid death numbers where falling, he need something else to murder!! :) There are always a couple of plant people selling them.


There were some lovely squash.....


and a ton of grapes are appearing...


On the baking front I made a plate of brownies late Sunday afternoon - so easy and so delicious!!!


With this posting I reach a huge milestone!! I have made 800 Blog Posts. When I started writing a few years back I couldn't imagine I would have anything to say or talk about, but here I am with 800 Posts under my belt - will miracles never cease?? So I think I will have a little drawing - stop back tomorrow and find out the details.

Thank you all so very much for your continued kind words and thoughts - warm fuzzies in an otherwise cold and cruel world!!!!!

Take care,
edgar