Wrapping up the Week

GR&DF it is a chilly San Francisco Morning here - not like some snowy places where its down right frozen, but for us it is pretty cold. Last night when I was shutting up for the evening I decided I was having a big won-ton soup for lunch today. I usually have soup of some sort at lunch as I really enjoy it, but today it is an absolute must. How's that for another weird tid bit about me!!

I have finally caught up with a majority of the Blog Postings I missed while away - I am thinking I should invest in a laptop apparatus so that when I travel or am away I can check in with everyone. As I read through the posts I just kept feeling I had missed so much of the wonderful Holiday goings on!!

I wanted to mention two more new Blog Buddies out there - Ariadne over in Greece has jumped in with us and has started a lovely Blog - "Ariadne from Greece" - and Jenny from Kentucky also began a great blog - "One Stitch Closer to Nirvana" - stop by and say Hi!!

The comments also held a bit of news for me - I took part in the HOE Ornament Exchange back in November and my partner Lynn B let me know that the piece I sent has never arrived. I sent that sucker out on November 29th...... even with the slow holiday mail and all the weather both here and in the UK I would think it would have gotten there by now. I am thinking it is lost at this point - I need to get my needle a'stitchin quick like a bunny!! Dear Lynn - so sorry for the delay - another one will be out and on the way soon.....

Also in the comments Maggie o mentioned working for the first time on linen - I remember my first experience with linen - I jumped from Aida cloth to a stamped linen kit to a small 25 ct piece of linen project and have never looked back. I love the feel and look of linen, just keep plugging away and it will get easier as time goes on. Kim V asked about the Alpha Birds piece - the designer is Sheepish Designs and is actually three charts stitched as one. The three OOP charts from top to bottom are - Alpha Birds, Alpha Menagerie and Alpha Sheep - the little narrow connecting bands I charted as they do not exist in the charts. Susan asked about the Mary Beale "Sampler Wreath" - yes, I am still sort of stitching on it. I put it aside to stitch up Christmas Rules by Lizzie Kate - at this point the plan is... I will finish up square 4 on "Shores" and then turn my attention to the wreath and get her finished up. I am loving that piece lots and am contemplating how it should finish up.... I love the idea of a stitched wreath like is shown in the picture of the completed work.... but how about a lovely frame????? What to do, what to do....???

I wanted to leave everyone with a snap from SF - yesterday we stopped off in the Mission for some veggies and a sweet treat - (we all need treats!!!!). We parked on a side street next to this wonderfully colourful mural....

I have no idea for what or why this was painted here - but it is big, bold and beautiful. Always something new to see in the city!!

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

Take care,
edgar

Another Tiny Post

GR&DF I do thank you all for the time you take stopping by!! I also wanted to thank those that are new visitors to the Blacksheep and also a big thanks to all my regular readers. Speechless usually does not happen to me but I am blown away by all the wonderful followers out there - how very sweet of you!! I see the number move up and down and then shoot up again - thank you - just like the comments - all big hugs of encouragement from Blog Friends!! I wanted to mention a new Blog out there - Linda over at Stitchin with Furbabies - stop by and say Hi.

I have had quite a few emails recently wondering about my participating in the Crazy 15 Project Challenge. Thinking about me and how I work at this hobby/obsession I know that my working on 15 projects would make what few hairs I have left just pop right off!! I can barely have the two WIP I have going now much less 15 WIPS's - It's just not a challenge I would enjoy. I am enjoying seeing all the projects that are being put together out there making up bundles of 15.

I am itching to get another start in - the two that come to mind instantly are "ATS" - and BBD "Anniversaries." Both those pieces I can't start as I don't have a piece of linen big enough for "ATS" and the BBD lovely has not completed yet and I am doing slight variations in each square reflecting my family history - just excuses I know but that's what works in my little crazy world of stitching.

More "Shores" stitching last night - I think I will post a progress snap on Monday instead of boring you with daily snaps as it is moving along briskly at the moment. "Sampler Wreath" has been sorely neglected and I will be getting back to it as soon as I finish up the 4th square of "Shores."

That's about it for today chickens. Do stop back by for a visit when you get the chance!!

Take care,
edgar

Evening Snoozing

GR&DF thanks again for your kind comments!! Last night was a wash for stitching, or anything else.

The evening started off like any other evening ... we had dinner - I made a pizza with our new pizza stone (thank you Don!!) Rico made a salad. Cleaned up the kitchen ..... sat down to watch an evening of the "Little Rascals" on TCM as part of their Hal Roach Studio tribute this month.

I actually had "Shores" in hand and promptly fell asleep - and eventually woke up a few hours later a little after 11 with the who-hounds all over me and "Shores" in a heap on the floor. Not a pretty site by any stretch of the imagination. I am guessing that the Christmas Holidays had finally caught up with me.

There you go sports fans - short and sweet. I am trying to catch up reading all the Blog postings I had missed while on holiday - my goodness but we are a busy bunch!! Do stop by again, I might actually post some stitching. ;)

Take care,
edgar

Tuesday Posting - and Some Flicks

GR&DF thank you so much for your kind comments about the first finish of the year - and Yes, Blu those are some odd sheep.... or goats.... or some type of animal on the front lawn!! I also wanted to thank you for the kind words about framed Alpha Sheep - I hung it down in the living room and not up on the Sampler Wall - and it looks pretty good. Natalie asked about the glass - I prefer to glaze over my stitching for protection. I know there are those stitchers who like to leave framed stitching unglazed, for me a glassed piece of needlework works.

Last night I put about 6 stitches in "Shores" and that was about it for the evening stitching.

The flicks I have been watching recently are from a new DVD collection I got for Christmas.... I actually got some Gift cards (thanks cissy and john) and I had found an unused Birthday Gift card - AND I had a coupon - which all added up to me acquiring the "Humphrey Bogart: The Essential Collection" - which contains 24 films from his Warner Brothers years.


I usually steer clear of the boxed sets that have been coming out lately as they rarely come close to being either comprehensive or worth the money. The 12 DVD's in this set are double sided and so far look very good. I have watched 4 of the films - "The Petrified Forest" - 1936, "Marked Woman" - 1937, "Kid Galahad" - 1937 and "Black Legion" - 1937. I am really impressed with the quality of the transfer and all the extras included with each film - so often you find bare bone DVD's without any extras. All top notch films worth a look!!

There you go sports fans short today - thanks for stopping by, do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

A Whole Bunch of Weekend Stuff

GR&DF thank you for your kind comments - as always they warm the heart so much on a cold windy Monday morning!! I am also amazed at the request for the Stew recipe - as I usually get a less than enthusiastic reception when I mention it - I love the stuff!! The recipe is not written down as I make it up from memory so I will have to sit still and write down what I do to get a pot of the stuff - it is super easy and so deliciously warming.

This past weekend was a whirl of food, errands and some butt-numbing stitching!! My kind of 3 Day Break.

Lets start off with something I am really happy about. The day I was flying out of SF for Christmas I got a call from the framers that a piece I had in was finished. I was happy to hear that it was finished, but not very happy about not being able to get it until after I got back. We ran down and picked it up....

It was my Sheepish "Alpha Birds" piece - and I am really happy about the way it turned out. Being a longer than normal piece it was less than cooperative when getting a good snap - but you get the idea.

I also had my first finish for the new year....

Sheepish Designs "Rose Hill Sampler' - 12/23/10 - 1/1/11
LL 36ct Maple Sugar - Converted to HDF Silk

Its a bit wonky in the snap and I changed up the straight line along the bottom. It was a nice little stitch, but quite a bit of fill stitching. I also worked some on "Shores" - but not enough to warrant a snap.
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To the food portion of the post..... Last Thursday Rico turned "1/2 a Dinosaur" or as it is more commonly known "50." Being so close to the Holidays we are putting off a party until later on, but I wanted to do something on Thursday - so we decide to go out to dinner.
There is a new pizza place in our neighborhood that is getting some good publicity so we decided to try it out. Lets just say it was quite delicious. It is called Patxi's (say Paw-cheese). There are 3 of them in the city and this one is within 4 blocks of our house. Here are some snaps.....

We ordered 2 pizzas - one veggie and on meat lovers....

this is the veggie.....

this is the meat lovers....

Here is the veggie one with some slices removed....

and the meat lovers - less a few slices. We started off with some salads and an antipasto tray - but between the 4 of us there was still some slices left over - and we ordered the smallest pizzas. They were really delicious and I am certain we will be back!!. We got there on the early side at about 5:30pm and by the time we left there was a line out the door.
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While we were out running errands on Friday we stopped off at Krispy Kreme and picked these up....
It was so nice to have a donuts and coffee all weekend!! (can you guess what I thinking about as I write about them????)

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

Take care,
edgar

Last Post of the Year

GR&DF you just rock!!! Thank you all so very much for the kind comments about "CR." I can highly recommend this stitch as lots of fun and so very Christmasy!! I am almost tempted to start another LK piece. It is the "12 Blessings of Christmas" set I bought a loooong time ago. It sits forlorn in the stash heap completely unstitched and unkitted - I like it for the exact same reason I like the "CR" piece - it is so full of the Christmas spirit that is so often over looked in the hustle and bustle. I love the look of it as a sampler (surprise!!) and that is how I'll stitch it up - but when???? I know that LK is coming out with a set of Hallowe'en Rules (how cute does that sound!!) and I am sure that next Christmas she will come out with some great thing...... what to do?? Oh well, at the moment I have 3 WIP that I want to work on so I will focus on them...... but I will think about the Blessings.......
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Let me talk a little about my family Christmas holiday I just got back from - We did all the usual things - we did change up one long standing family tradition - a Birthday Cake for the Birthday Boy. We went pie this year and not cake.

On Thursday we ran down to Lee Farms in Tualitan just south of Portland and picked up one of the super delicious Marion Berry Pies they make. Here is a snap of the front door....

any place that has a sign that says "fudge" is gonna get my attention!!! The inside was decorated for the season with quite a few trees...

and as we left a slobbery, wonderful hound trotted out to get some lovin' !!

To sustain us on this arduous journey we picked up some of their homemade apple donuts to munch on in the car - no snap - as they got gobbled up before even I could get my camera out!! So, whats not to like - a delicious pie, fudge, hot apple donuts AND a great big lovable who-hound!!! If you ever get the chance to visit make the time!!

Another long standing tradition I do with the kids is to bake up some Christmas cookies - they love to work in the kitchen and it gives my sister a little break from all the cooking. I let the kids pick out what they want to make - With Katie we made decorated sugar cookies

and with Matt I made peanut butter cookies...

The cookies got eaten up pretty fast!!

On Christmas Eve we always have oyster stew!! I love the stuff and this year was no different.
I made a big pot of the it....

So deliciously thick it coats a wooden spoon.
Then it was off to Christmas Eve services - which were just lovely!!
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Here is a snap of the the stockings and tree very late Christmas Eve...

I love that the kids still like to use the stockings I made for them. It was super late when I took this snap - I like to stay up and watch the midnight service from the Vatican - such a great Christmas treat!! And so lovely.

Christmas day dinner John made a super grilled turkey - he grilled it on his "egg" grill that works like a dream. Here is a before snap...

and here is an after shot - the turkey in all its delicious glory!!!

On the last evening we had a big cozy fire and toasted marshmallows....

It was a wonderful Holiday and made so very much more special being with my family!!!
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That about wraps up the year sports fans. Thank you all for stopping by and for your kind comments!! I do appreciate every one of them!! Have a safe and wonderful New Year!!!

Take care,
edgar

Some Christmas Stitching

GR&DF I have returned from another wonderful Christmas with my family. As we have done in the past we gathered at my sisters house in Washington State for our family fun. In a day or two I will have some snaps and a post about the visit but for today I am sticking to stitching - there is a butt load of work here and I really should be getting to that mess..... but that's no fun so I think I'll talk about the needle and floss.

Casting your mind back to the beginning of December you may remember that I started a "Christmas Stitch." I have always wanted to stitch a Christmas piece during December but for some reason I just never have. This year was different I stitched up Lizzie Kate "Christmas Rules" and here are some snaps....







Lizzie Kate "Christmas Rules" - 12/1 - 12/23
36ct LL L/Exp - recommended floss and included buttons

This was a really quick piece to stitch - I could have finished it up sooner but made it last as long as possible to finish close to Christmas. I attached the included buttons as they are part of the design, but I am still not sure about the size as they do seem a bit big - the piece is charted for 28ct and the buttons are sized to that count -
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I took along a little sampler to start as I knew I would finish the LK piece while away from home. The piece I took I had already kitted up a while back so it was a no brainier - here is a snap..


It is very small at 110x101 I knew it would be an easy piece to work on. It is "Rose Hill Manor Sampler" by Sheepish Designs. I am stitching it on 36 ct something and using my conversion of VC silk. It is mostly fill stitching, the grass and the house. The oddest part of this sampler are the sheep or whatever the animals in the yard are supposed to be.... very odd.

There you go sports fans, glad to be back and hope everyone had a great Christmas time!!!

Take care,
edgar