A Birthday

Gentle Friends, today would have been my mom's 97th birthday.  With my grandfather, her father-in-law, and my mom having back-to-back birthdays it was easy to remember them and we often had joint family dinners and parties for them both.  Here's one of the pictures I treasure most...

Baby Adelaide 1926-2012

This great shot was taken in the sideyard of my grandmother's house in North Carolina, I'm thinking spring or even a birthday shot when she was turning two, that info is lost to time.  I always see this snap and think both my mom and the goat were not too happy about taking this picture!!!

Thanks for stopping by, do stop again.  Stay safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Birthday

Gentle Friends, today would have been my grandfather's 116th birthday... he is often in my thoughts... here's a favorite picture of him as a baby...

Baby Herbert 1907-1994

... I think this picture would have been taken in the Fall of 1907 on the family farm outside of Atlanta.  You can just see my great-grandmother, Stella,  just behind holding up my Grandfather.  It's a sweet picture and I'm very happy that it has survived all this time.

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Thanks for stopping by, do stop again.  Stay safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, I got quite a bit of stitching done over the last long weekend, and here's a snaperoo...

... just bopping along on this first chart, from the "For the Birds" series...

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, after I wrapped up "Wild Roses" I started my next stitch which I had already kitted up so it was ready to go... I've gotten along a bit, and here's a snaperoo...

"For the Birds"  a series of Loose Feathers charts - BBD

"It's Spring Fever" - LF#1

40ct  - "Biscuit" - Seraphim Hand-Dyed Fabrics by Laurie

Called for WDW Floss

This linen is from a new for me dyer.  A little backstory... I joined a "linen of the month" club last summer with Drema at Needlecraft Corner.   This means I have been getting big 1/2-yard cuts of lovely dyed linens for the past few months and really wanted to put one to the needle.  I decided this was the project and I'm really happy with the feel and the lay of the fabric.  The weave seems just right not too tight, I hate that, and not so loose as to be floppy, I hate that also, it's just right.  So my little goldilocks world is doing fine and I'm enjoying this great stitch immensely!! "For the Birds" is a series of nine charts that I am stitching as a single piece - so it'll be three across and three down.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.  Since we are closed on Monday and I'll be sleeping in for sure... I wanted to get this up a bit earlier than usual.  That's about it for today on this foggy and cool Saturday Morning here by the Bay.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Finish

Gentle Friends, "Wild Roses" wrapped up and I've landed on my next project.  I had kitted up three things I really want to stitch and when push came to shove I made a decision.  However, today is all about the completed piece...it's very overcast and foggy here by the Bay so there's not much natural light for the image...

"Wild Roses" - Carriage House Samplings

40ct LL Pearled Barley

NPI Silk

4/16 - 5/19/23

The chart ended at the bottom of the seventh set of roses, as you might remember my linen was way longer.  I kept stitching away and I was able to stitch in two extra rows and so was able to use up the extra length, almost.  I probably could have squeezed in a third row but that would have brought me right to the edge of the fabric and if this ever gets framed the extra bit will be needed to pull the sampler taught.  

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Remembering an Anniversary

Gentle Friends, today would have been the 68th Wedding anniversary of my parents... 

I think this is a great shot from that day so very long ago...

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stichin'

Gentle Friends, so I've almost arrived at the end of the actual chart... but still have quite a bit of linen left, and plenty of NPI silks... that I think I'll just keep stitching away on the flowers and birds instead of cutting off the linen ... here's a snaperoo...

... it's a fun piece to work on so stichin' away until I run out of linen is the ore=der of the day!

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

On Mothers Day

Gentle Friends, on Mother's Day I can't help but think of my Mom, and the women who came before her in my family...

... from left to right my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mom... these little portraits my mom cherished, and when she passed and we broke up house keeping they were three things I took for myself.  Hoping everyone is having a super Mothers Day!!

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Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin' a Little Wine

 Gentle Friends, still plugging away at WR... here's a snapperoo...

... it's coming along nicely and is a pretty easy stitch for the most part as each flower and bird are the same stitch count, only changing up the silk color combination... the exception is the first row of flowers each base is 4 rows and not 5.

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So, for the first time since before December 20th and my altercation with a surgeon and his scalpel, we left the City for a fun road trip north across the Golden Gate and into Sanoma...

for a wine tasting up above Santa Rosa in Windsor Califonia.  Some friends of ours are part of a wine club at La Crema and they needed to pick up their quarterly wine release. 

We booked a wine tasting first, to try some whites and reds...

... the glass on the far right is some of the delicious rose they gave us as we walked in, so good that Rico bought some to bring home along with a few other wines...

... after wine tasting, we did some antiquing, had some lunch then came on home... a really fun day!!

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Thousand Miles.......

 Some great SF images and a super song from Vanessa Carlton...

thank you, Ben, Noah, and Lane.. enjoy...

... 

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I've been just working away through the roses, the whole sampler is just flowers, birds, and letters... for the most part easy enough, except for switching up the colors as I move down... here's a snaperoo...

... finally got a snap of the linen which is closer to the actual color.  I took this in the sunlight, where usually the sun has gone down and I have to use lamp light... sorry about the wrinkles.

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, I'm making some headway on "Wild Roses"... here's a snaperoo...

... as you can see I've made a change to the "Name" stitched under the alphabet.  Since the date within the piece was 1800 I used that as a starting point.  Then I dug around in the old family tree for someone that would be age appropriate...  I came up with a paternal great-great-great-grandmother. who would have been about 10 years old in 1800.  

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Finish and Beginning

 Gentle Friends,  I finished up TSotA over the weekend, and here's a snap...

"The Song of the Angels" - Needlework Press

40ct LL "Vintage Lentil"

Using the called for CC "Barn Door" and "Blacksmith Blue"

Now I've got to get the piece framed and then that's one present down for Christmas...  WooHoo!!

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The piece I started after I finished TSotA is a more traditional sampler...  here's a snap of the start...

"Wild Roses" - Carriage House Samplings 

40ct LL Pearled Barley

Using the Called for NPI Silks

It's long and skinny as was the remnant of linen I'm stitching it on... so it'll fit perfectly.  The linen may be too long and when I come to that I'll probably end up just adding a row of roses or more at the bottom... just kinda winging it as it's a sampler "inspired" by an antique fragment from Pennsylvania that Kathy Barrick the designer came up with...again, I'll be doing my own thing at the bottom, and along the sides with some of the letters... and changing the name within the alphabet... That's a lot of changes but I'm keeping the roses and birds.

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds1

edgar

A Little Stichin'

 Gentle Friends, moving along nicely on TSotA, and here's a snap...

... I think my next project got a switcheroo.  I was digging around for an OOP chart for another stitcher to borrow and found something I've wanted to stitch for years... and lo and behold I had all the silks in my stash so not spending funds is a good thing...!  Now to decide on linen??

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Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Christos Anesti - Alithos Anesti !!

 Gentle Friends, just a quick post to wish...

... everybody a very Happy Easter!

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Thanks for stopping by, do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Low Tide

 Gentle Friends, we went to dinner at the Moss Beach Distillery (about 25 miles south of SF) a little while back and I forgot to post a snaperoo...

... the tide was very low exposing lots of the rocky beach... you can't really tell from my photo but where the grass ends there is a drop-off of about 30+ feet straight down to the beach.  It was a lovely calm evening on the Pacific.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!

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Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Start

 Gentle Friends, the start for this stitch I made on linen I realized quickly was just too dark... lovely linen but just too dark, soooo I dug around in the ol' bucket of linen (it's really not a bucket) and found a nice piece of much lighter linen.   I frogged out all I had stitched on the dark piece and put it back with the linens and just restarted...  here's a snaperooo of the start...

"The Song of the Angels" from Needlework Press

40ct LL "Vintage Lentel" 

Using CC "Barn Door" and "Blacksmith Blue"

The picture seems to be darker than in real life but you get the idea.  I like this simple sampler and did right from the first time I saw a picture.  It'll probably stitch up fast so I've also decided on my next stitch... a more traditional sampler.

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Stitchin' Finish...

Gentle Friends,  I wrapped up  "In Memory" last night and started in on my next stitch...  here's a snaparoo of IM  (with my Changes)...

"In Memory" - Midsummer Night Designs

40ct LL Vintage Buttercream - Using charted Belle Soie and NPI Silk

The changes I made along the way include the shifting of a couple of the bees, dropping a couple of ladybugs at the bottom of the chart so I could include the actual Date, and shifting some of the "Fern Frond" and "Kiwi" silks where I thought it worked better.

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I'll post a snap of my new stitch on Monday after there is something to see.... and I'm not really happy with the linen I'm using to make the start...and may stop, frog everything out and switch it up for something else...

Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Have a super weekend.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Rain

 Gentle Friends, we've been having lots of glorious rain lately.. and wind... yesterday it rained off and on heavily, and late in the day the clouds broke up and I thought I'd take a snap...

... looking west from our balcony towards downtown, you can see the Oakland Hills in the distance...Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

 Gentle friends, nearing the finish of "In Memory"... here's a snaperoo...

... another blue bird and some roses in a pot and this sampler will be a warp.

Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, I've completed the castle in the clouds and now moving towards the "2nd" half of the sampler... here's a snaperoo...

... since I can see this piece wrapping up relatively soon I've got my next project kitted and in line... a Christmas present.  I know I'm a bit early but if  I don't get it stitched up there may not be time to get it framed...  and I'd rather it be done, done than languishing about and a rush job late in the Fall. I've lined up a couple of pieces of linen and the two overdyed flosses I ordered arrived... I had some in my stash of both colors but with the way dye lots go sometimes I'd like it all to sort of match within the piece... and the new flosses miraculously match what I already had, so now I've got quite a bit of extra of "Blacksmith Blue" and "Barn Door"... WOO HOO!!

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Spring

Gentle Friends here is a really wonderful version of the first movement from Spring by Vivaldi.  Performed by Delirium Musicum a group based in Los Angels... enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, still plugging away at "In Memory"... and I've finished all the "Babbling Brook" fill...here's a snap...

... that open space in the upper right corner is where a castle goes.  Once I finish that then this whole middle section will be completed.

That's about it for today sports fans.  We've been getting quite a bit of rain lately, no snow, but all kinds of rain... after so many drought years this is a welcome relief!!!  Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, I've made some headway on "In memory" and here's a snaperoo...

... the "box" with the angels, fish, and mermaid has a solid fill background that will stitch on the slow side I'm thinking...

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

Good thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stichin'

Gentle Friends, getting better every day...thanks for the good wishes and kind emails!!  I got back to the needle quite a bit over the past week and here's a snap of where I left off ...

.. still very wrinkled and the light is off-kilter and coming in from the left oddly, but you get the idea...  I was very happy when the border met up in the lower right corner!!

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Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin'

Gentle friends, sorry to be away for so long and I do appreciate all the concerned emails and comments...  I am recovering slowly but steadily and have picked back up the needle after not touching it since before Christmas.  Here is a snap of where I'm at on "In memory"...

... sorry about the wrinkles but being sort of rolled up in a project bag for a couple months does a number to the linen.  I decided to finish out the border since the pansies on the top and left side change to small flowers on the bottom and a vine on the right side... hoping it matches up... fingers crossed.

Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind wishes and thoughts!!.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar