Monday, September 28, 2020

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, stitching away on CTA...

... more border and a start with the large bit under the boat ... 
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There you go sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

A Little Answer...

Gentle Friends, I knew someone would be able to decipher the inscription...

Dear Tony (?)
In good memory
October 30, 1960
Lida

Thanks so much for all your help!  I forgot to post a snap of the front of the box...

The Bronze Horseman (or in Russian literally "copper horseman) is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  It was opened to the public on 7 (18) August 1782.  Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet.  The statue's pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, found in Lakhta it is the largest stone ever moved by humans.

The box itself was made and painted in Fedoskino one of the four villages where traditional lacquer art is still practiced.  You really can't tell this from the photo but the image is painted on a thin piece of mother of pearl and as a result, the sky shimmers beautifully.  It's a great addition to my ever-growing collection of boxes.
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Thanks again for stopping by and for all your help!  Do stop again!
Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

Monday, September 21, 2020

A Little Russian Question??

Gentle Friends, you may, or may not, know I collect Russian Lacquer Boxes.  These wonderful works of art are IMHO just spectacular!!  I received a "new" one I acquired from a dealer online today and there is an inscription inside the lid.  Or at least I think it's an inscription.  Usually, they are just lacquered red without much else... sometimes the name of one of the small villages it was made in or the artist may write on the inside of lid but that's unusual.  This inscription is actually engraved and then the letters are gilded.  Here's a snap ...


Now, my question is about a translation ... I do not read Russian and think there might be someone out there that could read this and let me know what this says.... thanks!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

Sunday, September 20, 2020

A Little Stitchin', Cookin' and Blue Skies!

Gentle Friends, I think I'll post today instead of tomorrow with some snaps...  first up is CTA...

... as you can see I've gone back and made some stitching changes... one of the things that had been bothering me about this piece was the seagulls.  I've live my whole life near the sea and I can't remember ever seeing all-white seagulls.  I didn't care for them as charted but I was stitching away on them and so left them alone.  Then I got reading over on the Facebook SAL and how other stitchers have dealt with them and I loved the different solutions... so I went back with my trusty seam ripper and ripped out all the original stitching... now the seagulls as I have stitched them are... "WDW - Grits" for the body, wings tipped and the eye is "WDW - Gunmetal", the beaks are "WDW - Daylily" the feet are "DMC 640".  I am so happy I went back and did this.  In redoing this stitching I'm a bit behind but this is, as with all my stitching, for fun a relaxation, and not a race!
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It's Fall and I was reading on Natasha's Kitchen blog about Apple Pie and got a wild hair and had to make one... I couldn't find my pie pan, lord only knows where that has gotten too... so I hauled out the 9" springform and it worked fine...you can go HERE and read her recipe, it's very delicious and so simple!!
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... we've gotten back some clear skies the last few days, I think I took this on Friday... 
looking west to Twin Peaks.  
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Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

Monday, September 14, 2020

A Little Mayflower Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, stitching away on CTA... here's a snaperoo..


.. I had an email this week about this piece and if I had any connection to the Mayflower.... actually I do... through my mother's family we can trace back to Fear Brewster Allerton and her Mother Mary (Wentworth?) Brewster 1569? - 1627 who did sail on the Mayflower with her two youngest children, Love and Wrestling (both sons).  Fear and Patience were left behind in the Netherlands and followed in 1623 on the "Anne."  
That first winter all but 4 of the women that arrived at Plimouth Colony died.  Mary, one of the survivors was present at the 1st Thanksgiving.  When Fear arrived she married the widowed Isaac Allerton 20 years her senior.  They had two children, Sarah (who died young) and Isaac Jr who became a Colonel, planter, merchant, and trader in colonial America.  So, Mary would be my 12th great grandmother...  I was thinking of stitching her name a different color than the rest...any thoughts??
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Thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

A Lotta Smoke and a Little Fog

Gentle Friends, today is quite a bit different than I've ever seen it here by the Bay... 
I've taken some snaps from our balcony... making no adjustments to the images or using any kind of filter...
... taken at about 6 am looking east to downtown San Francisco...

... taken about 6am looking west towards Twin Peaks and the fog is just starting to creep over the hills...
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taken about 10 minutes ago, 11am looking east towards downtown SF...

.. taken also about 10 minutes ago looking west and you can see the big fog bank gathering up on the hills...

The smoke is sitting on top of the marine layer, fog, and is blocking most of our daylight today so we are having a "twilight" day.  I just got a bacon and onion quiche into the oven so dinner is made and now it's back to the dining room table and work.
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Thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

Monday, September 7, 2020

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, another hot one here by the Bay, it's in the '80s but will be dropping as the day goes on.... the breeze will be back!!  So here are a couple of snaps of my stitching...

... this is where I've left off on Little Birds until I stitch up Coming to America.  I got the vine connected but need to get to all the flowers.
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Here's a snap where I left off on CtA last night...

... I've got a nice little start on the border (sorry the snap is so lousy)  That gray smear (lower left) is actually on the linen and part of the over-dying (I guess) as it does not come off so I'll work through it and live with it as is...  as you can see I started this piece as I always do in the upper left corner.  The instructions usually, as they do with this project, say to start in the middle. I read through the instructions and as I do most of the time use them as a jumping-off point and do my own thing.  I refuse to be a slave to printed instruction and see them mostly as "suggestions."  For some reason, probably habit I usually, always, most of the time, start in a corner and work out for there.
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Hope everyone is staying safe and sound over this long weekend.  
Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Sunday, September 6, 2020

A Little Launch

Gentle Friends, today is the 6th of September and 400 years ago the Pilgrims left Plymouth for the new World...

Mayflower | History, Voyage, & Facts | Britannica

... I've started my Coming to America sampler and I'll post a snap of what I stitch in the morning.
It's a hot one here by the Bay today... reaching 93 now and without our usual breeze blowing the air is very still.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the upper 70's and we can expect our breeze to return.  So I'll leave off with the fans blowing around warm air and me working on my 3rd Venti sized iced coffee!!  Happy Sunday!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!
edgar

It's Spring!!

Gentle Friends, a lovely variation of Vivaldis's first movement of Spring....  bright and cheerful........ ________________ The year mov...