Tuesday, November 6, 2007

A bit of old San Francisco , and VOHRH

Over the past couple of weeks some city workers have been tearing up the secondary streets around us here in the Civic Center area. Last week they stripped off all the blacktop from Minna street that runs along behind us and Julia Street a half block long one way alley just to the west. The streets around us were all named for ladies of less than sterling virtue, or that is what I have been told. I took a couple of snaps yesterday when the men went on their 4th or 5th break of the day to show what is hidden under 3 inches of tar. Here is Julia Street....

This is shot looking north towards Mission Street. I really like the brick and stone cobbled streets much better than the blacktop, but I know that driving on them would be one bumpy ride. Here is a snap of Minna Street with half the street laid down.



This is looking east towards 7th Street. It is harder to see here but the same cobbled street is under all that tar also. There were also the remains of railroad tracks that ran along this street that began down by the Embarcedaro and are now mostly missing or very obscured.

I also worked on VoHRH las night but made very little progress as I was watching "Sweet Bird of Youth." I really enjoyed the performances especially Geraldine Page. I don't think she ever gave a bad performance!!! One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Trip to Bountiful" it was this performance that won her the Oscar for best Actress in a leading role. If you have never seen this film you need to go out and rent it. Beautifully acted and simple with no tricks and CGI to get in the way. Another performance of hers, if it ever comes out on DVD, is Sook in "A Christmas Memory." This is a Truman Capote story brought to film again with simple ideas beautifully presented.

Let me get away from that tangent and show the snap of VoHRH.


Those are some funky looking birds!!! I almost changed the colour as the bright yellow I really think sticks out, I still may.

That's about it for today, thanks for stopping by and especially the nice comments. I knew I was not alone out there with issues and shopping!!!! Y'all are the best!!

Take care,
edgar

8 comments:

  1. You actually get quite used to the cobbled streets. Most of them here are cobbled if you're actually in the city center. And when I lived in Portland, Maine they had cobbled streets in the old part of town. :)

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  2. It seems such a shame those pretty cobbles are getting covered up with asphalt.

    Your city hall block looks like its almost done! I have to agree with you about the bright yellow bird, I think I'll make a note to myself to change it. That block already has a lot of yellow in it.

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  3. Almost done! It's looking great - that was the last block I did for my piece. I was so happy when I got to where are you. :-)

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  4. We used to live in a house in Burlingame built in 1927. It was on a steep hillside and the pool was on the bottom of a two story set of steps. The steps were made of old San Francisco street cobbles. Although the steps were beautiful, they were quite treacherous to walk on, especially when it was damp. If we wanted to use the hot tub at night we had to walk down those steps in the dark! We kept meaning to rebuild the steps, but be never did. I don't suppose the new owners did either.

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  5. Yep, those cobbled streets are a joy to look at, but boy are they a pain to drive, cycle or walk on - just like Barbara said :o]

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  6. Hello--

    I just bought Scarlet Ribands last week too. but had a hard time choosing color, as they don't suggest anything. I got home, googled scarlet ribands, and luckily your blog came up. Wondered if you could suggest a color/thread? Something cranberry-brownish-red, old-looking.

    Thank you!

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  7. What a shame to cover over the old cobblestones! They're so charming, but do have their drawbacks - I'm not fond of walking on them. :)

    Can't believe how quickly you're stitching through VOHRH!

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  8. VOHRH looks great! I love the look of the brick and cobblestone street!

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 Gentle Friends, I finished the sampler last night and here's a snaperooo... Village Square Sampler from Samplers Remembered   1/8 - 3/2...