Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

... a stitch from the past...wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

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Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Picking Up the Needle

Gentle Friends, it's been a couple of weeks of really not wanting to stitch so I didn't...however, over the weekend I once again stepped back into the fray and picked up "Frederick"... here's where I am at the moment...the old snaperoo...

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

 Happy Hallowe'en!!!

edgar

Border Stichin' and a Change

Gentle friends, sorry to be so late with the post this week but my schedule has turned upside down... I'll explain that a little further on, right now let's take a look at the bit o'stichin' I was able to get done...

... you can see where old Frederick will go once I get to him...

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So...  my schedule was upended due to life and changes thrust upon me...  I have never talked about my job/work on the old Blog, as I keep this space for stitching and SF stuff..but, after about 20 +/- years... I was let go and my job moved to North Carolina... and that's fine, life happens and we move on... 

In my life, I've been a Curator in an art museum, worked reception and HR on the Pacific Stock Exchange and the job I had the longest, which ended three weeks ago was Customer Service for a spicey adult company, and I'll leave that there.  I've never defined myself by the job/paycheck I received but I have enjoyed all my past work experiences. You might be asking, what will edgar do now... and for a few days that was me, what was I going to do now.  I received a nice severance package so money wouldn't be an issue for quite a few months and I count myself lucky for that, but I needed to get it in gear and get something else to bring in the old casharoo.  Luckily our next-door neighbours, who we've been friends with for the last 10 years, both work in recruitment so I turned to them for help and they jumped in to help me build a resume and LinkedIn page.  The resume prompted lots of inquiries and interest in me and what I could bring to a job.

  However, I already knew of a position, made a call, got an interview and was hired on the spot.  So I was only out of work for about a week and a half.  I am malleable and change is good!!

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Border for Frederick

 Gentle Friends, I have gotten quite a bit done on the border and here's a snaperoo...

This is how it is charted with no fill around the diamonds and a bit different within them. I like it, just enough difference from Frederika and then again, just similar enough. I am leaning towards no fill around the diamonds.

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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

One Down One to Go!

 Gentle Friends, I finished up Frederika and here's a snaperoo...

"Frederika" - Carriage House Samplings

8/26 - 10/11/24

40ct Antique Lace - Seraphim Hand Dyed Fabric by Laurie

Charted NPI Silk

I got a start on the border for "Frederick" but I'll hold off on a snap until the next post.  That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Stitchin' Feathers

 Gentle Friends, here's an updated snap of Frderika...

... a little more wrinkled than I would have liked but she's done and now I'm in the last third of the image for stitching. 

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We've had some hot days over the last week.  Usually, we hover in the mid-60s all year, but in late September and October, we get our "Summer" weather.  We hit the upper 80s here in the City and since we've got micro-climates because of the hills there were even some areas in the low 90s...which is a nice change up... but it was only for a few days and since we've not got any AC the fans are a god-send for sure!!  

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

Good Thoughts! Good Wrods! Good Deeds1

edgar

Stitchin' a "Chickin'"

Gentle Friends, Frederika, a fancy chickin' out in the woods, is now outlined, here's a snaperooo...

...  as I've been stitching along I've changed my mind about how I'll stitch Frederick...  I'm thinking about stitching them not as a single piece but leaving plenty of space between them so they can be framed independently and just hang them together.  It is really due to the borders being similar but not truly matching.  I still have to go back and do the single stitch in the centre fill on each diamond around Frederika's border, each is charted a different colour, but I'm leaning towards doing them all with single black stitches.  The border for Frederick is heavily black so that will tie them together better...  I've still got plenty of time to make that decision so I'll just keep stitchin' away and keep thinking about it until I need to pull the trigger on a decision.

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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

Fraises des Bois

 Gentle Friends, now moving on to the center section, and here's a snaperoo...

...usually, I work from left to right on projects...this time I'm stitching right to left... 

mixing it up a bit.  I like the idea that Frdericka is stomping around out in the forest so the "wild strawberries" title of the post sort of fits.  

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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

Falling for FALL!!!!

Gentle Friends, again we have arrived at my favourite time of year....FALL..and one must embrace the lovely music of Vivaldi... here goes...

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little More Border

 Gentle Friends, almost there, here's a snaparoo of the border...

... I was really happy, nay, surprised when everything banged up and matched.  For some reason, I had a feeling that it wouldn't match up, now there's only to finish up the fill NPI963 on top and NPI962 on the bottom of the diamonds.

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Now, I'm looking at stitching ahead since it's "September Start" and I've seen so many lovely starts online that I may just start something else...even though I am very much a monogamous stitcher, I might just have to get something else going...I got a few new things in the mail and a sampler might just be calling my name...(clapping hands and digging in the stash heap!!)

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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

Happy 13th!!!!!!

 

More Border Stitchin' and a Few Punkins'

 Gentle Friends, nothing too exciting but more border... her's a snaperoo...

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Since it's Fall, my favorite time of the year, I decided to decorate a bit and I hauled out my glass pumpkins and made up the "Patch" once again this year by the front door... here's a snaperoo...

.. they are from different glass artists with most coming from the furnace of Jack Pine.  

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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

Border Stitchin', Visiting NIAH, Eatin' Burgers and Brunch!

 Gentle Friends, I've been stitching away on the border, and here's a snap...

... just fill it in at the moment so it's not too exciting...

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Friday saw me finally making it across the Bay to Alameda and a visit to Needle in a Haystack...here are some snaps...

... a lovely wall of silks......

...after getting my silk and quite a bit of linen we stopped off at In-N-Out Burger...it was a perfect trip!!

  

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After Mass Yesterday we headed over to the Presidio for lunch with friends...  

to Sessions at the Presidio...

...we all got the same thing...

"Marin Farm Scrambled Eggs" 

When it landed on the table I thought they had brought me a salad, but under the microgreens were some delicious eggs, and the cheddar biscuits were delicious!!  That little cup of gravy is to pour over the biscuits, interesting, but a bit messy.

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Since we were so very close, just a couple of blocks away, we walked down to the last remnant of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition...

The Palace of Fine Arts

We walked around in the sunshine with lots of brides, and Quinceanera celebrants getting their pictures taken... also tons of tourists and just locals walking their dogs.  It's a lovely park and worth a visit.  It is actually the first time in all the years living here that I've actually been down here to just walk around.

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That's about it for today sports fans...  a few days off and some fun goings-on... 

I'm also off today and I've got some stitching and napping on the agenda!!  Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

After Mass Brunchin'

Gentle Friends, I just got the picture in an email of the fun brunch we had after Mass yesterday... for some reason, it took us the longest time to get us all together, but it happened, and here's the proof...

Going around the table L to R... Richard, Rico, me, Rob, Carol, and Dan

...we see each other at the 8am mass at Most Holy Redeemer, but landing a date and eatin' together just kept falling apart...it was a lovely day yesterday in the upper 60's so we chose to eat outside.  We stayed in the Castro area and chose Kitchen Story.  After we all ordered we got in addition something to share around...the ricotta pancakes which are just delicious!! It was such fun that we are determined to do this once a month!

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There you go, a second post again, two weeks running... 

Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Getting Around to Some Older Stash - Finally!!

 Gentle Friends, I made a start on my Fall Stitch...  here's a snaperoo...

"Frederika" & "Frederick" - Carriage House Samplings

40ct Antique Lace - Seraphim Hand Dyed Fabric by Laurie

Charted NPI Silk

These are two separate charts that I'm stitching as a single piece with Frderika on top.  I think the only change I'll be making is to fill the border between the diamond shapes on Frederick like Frederika.

I saw this stitched as one on the other many, many years ago and thought what a great-looking piece!! I decided then to do them together and the charts have been floating in the "ToDo" Stash pile for the longest time... Fall 2024 is the time!  I love working with NPI and luckily I had in the silk stash, 95% of the colors... however, I still need to make a run over to Needle in a Haystack for a couple of missing silks and to bump up the amount of a few of the colors that are worrying me could be on the low side.

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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

Miss Ann is a Wrap!

Gentle Friends, it's amazing how a couple of long stitchin' days can move a piece along.  Here's a snaperoo of the completed sampler...

6/8/24 - 8/20/24

"Ann Kirby 1845" - Needlework Press

40ct Hogbristle from Fox and Rabbit

Called for Overdyed Silks

I really enjoyed this stitch and thank you all for joining me on this adventure.  I've ironed the next piece of linen, and gotten the NPI silk pulled so all is ready for my Fall piece to begin this evening. You'll have to wait until Monday's Posting to see what I can get done over the next few days.

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That wraps up the week sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by and following along... do stop again.  Stay Safe!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Lunch in Moss Beach

 Gentle Friends, another post on a Monday is scandalous - however - it's been quite a while since I posted anything other than stitchin' so here's a peek at our Saturday.......the family got together for an enjoyable lunch at the Moss Beach Distillery (about 30 minutes or so south of SF).  Here's a snap of all of us.....

... going around the table starting in the lower right... Chris who is the boyfriend of...Leslie (Rico's niece), Rico's sweet Mom, Rico, Kimmie, (Rico's 1st Cousin) her daughter Taylor, Kimmie's husband Kevin, Linda (Rico's 1st cousin and Kimmie's sister) me, Nichole (another 1st cousin of Rico's) Nichole's husband Kurt and their son Jayden.  It started off as just Leslie, Chris, and Rico's mom coming up to the Bay area to get out of the 3-digit heat down in Fresno, then turned into a big fun family lunch!!  

We always enjoy going down the coast to eat here, it's fun to drive out of the City, and it is some good eatin'!!  Since it's summer by the Pacific, we get lots and I mean lots of fog rolling in and Saturday was no different... here's a snaperoo from the end of the parking lot looking out over the cliff down to the beach...

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I think that'll wrap it up for today sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Some Fancy Schmacy Bird Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, stitching away on the right side of Miss Ann and here's a snaperoo...

... I'm pretty sure that the birds from top to bottom are a robin, a parrot and a peacock, but I could be wrong... I was once... Hee Hee!!!

  As I near the end of this sampler it is as usual bittersweet.  For me, as I stitch on the same piece in the evenings I do really enjoy seeing it grow.  I think that's a reason I am a total monogamous stitcher... geter' done, that's my motto.   Although I do have a couple of WIPs from long ago lurking in the background... they are buried deep and will probably be there as UFSs (Unfinished Stitches) when I draw my last breath.  But I need not get morbid, as I know ... tomorrow is another day and I may just get inspired to dig one out.... or not!

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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

Yard Stitchin' and Gathering Together a Fall Project

 Gentle Friends, here's a very wrinkled shot of Miss Kirby at the moment...

...the three parts under the house, which I am guessing, are supposed to be the front yard... are odd but there you go.  Also stitched the second deer, the little red house, and the "snow" under it out of the way.  It seems odd that it would be snow, but white silk was called for...  all that's left to stitch are a couple of birds and some more plants and she'll be done.  

My Fall stitch is almost pulled, together with the linen and the bulk of the silks.  It's charted for NPI and I've got 90% of them already... I love that when it happens!!  A run-over to Needle in a Haystack in Alameda is in my near future to pick up the missing colors and some extra skeins that are a bit low.  This upcoming "Fall" stitch has been bouncing around in the "to do" stitching pile for quite a few years and I'm kind of excited to get a start.  

Hoping this finds everyone doing well as the Dog Days of Summer wrap up and we look towards autumn, my favorite time of year!!

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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

House Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, I got the house filled in... and here's a snaperoo...

... it may not look like much but that's quite a bit of "Teddy Bear" silk fill.

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Roof Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, stitching away on Miss Ann, and here's a snap...

... I finished up the left-hand side of the "garden" and got a start on the house.  I'm surprised I was able to finish up the roof stitching - now - it's on to the fill stitching of the house.

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

Good Thoughts1 Good Words! Good Deed!

edgar

Miss Kirby

Gentle Friends, I skipped last week's post as I had done next to no stitching and nothing much is going on otherwise... we're just enjoying the cool and breezy Summer here by the Bay...now for today's post, I have a snaperoo of Ann....

... Woo Hoo!!!  I had a friend of mine fix my little problem and got the snap to look more like the actual piece of needlework...

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That's about it for today sports fans.  I really need my iced espresso this morning!!!  

Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

 

36 Down, 10 Left

 Gentle Friends, I thought an overall shot was due about now, and here's a snaperoo...

... I went ahead and stitched through the vine to see where, if any, mistakes were made and by some miracle, it matched up!!  So, now it's going back and stitching in the leaves and the rest of the "strawberries."  Those strawberries are stitched in Belle Soie's "Teddy Bear" and I'm trying to mix up the over-dyed browns so that not too many are dark or light, but a nice mix.  The three skeins I have of this silk are each very different dye lots so it is an easy task.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Happy 4th of July!!!!

 

Stay Safe!!

edgar

Border Stitching

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

...so I've popped off the old Q-Snap for the snap so you can see the border.  I'm almost at the top right turn to come down the right side.  It's usually at this point I start overthinking things and nerves get the best of me... thinking the vine might just not match up... I may just bottom stitch the vine around to see if I'm worrying for nothing... as I am wont to do...  

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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 Duck, a Squirrel and Some Birds...

 Gentle Friends, just moving along with Miss Ann... here's a snaperoo...

... another craptastic snap, unironed and not very flat, but you get the idea.  I am enjoying the stitch on this piece and really like this "spot" motif sampler.  Although visually even-ish, there is some wonkiness yet to come... and there is a big house slap-dab in the middle.  It was another super weekend here by the Bay.  Two lovely breezy days in the low 60's, I do love summertime in SF!!

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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

The Summer Solstice

 Gentle Friends, it's now Summer and time for a little music...

... a lovely version of Vivaldi's "Summer" from the Croatian Baroque Ensemble."  Enjoy!!!

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Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Vine, A Bird and a Flower

 Gentle Friends, stitching away on Miss Ann with a little progress to show, here's a snaperoo...

... it's nice that the border is sort of regular and even... I keep looking at the bundle of silks on the ring and see that this will be a very "brown" sampler overall.  That's OK, it'll be a fun stitch and a nice piece when completed.

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

Good Thoughts! Good WQords! Good Deeds!

edgar

Let's Stick to the 1840's

 Gentle Friends, I finished up Miss Sarah Barker 1840 here's an old snaperooo of how she looks...

"Sarah Barker 1840"  from Needlework Press

4/1 - 6/7/24

37ct Cloudburst by Sotema Linen

My Overdyed Floss Conversion:

CC Thunderclouds -to – GA Toasted Barley

GA Moss – to – GA Deep Forest

GA Terra Cotta – to – CC Little Brown House

GA Baked Clay – to – CC Wild Berries

CC Camouflage – to – GA Dried Thyme

CC Perfect Piecrust – to – GA Melon Patch

CC Blackbird – to – CC Black Coffee

CC Queen Bee – to – No Change

CC Eggshell – to – GA Adobe

Although I hit some bumps along the way with a missing section of the chart and a couple of miscounts with the inevitable frogging... I really enjoyed this stitch - and - it felt very Hallowe'en with the pale orange, sagey-green, gold, and black.  Stitching a piece that is a bit wonky and doesn't line up evenly on each side was also fun.

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My new stitch will be a piece I found in the old stash pile, Ann Kirby 1845.   I've made the smallest of starts, and here's a snap...

"Ann Kirby 1845" - Needlework Press

40ct Hogbristle from Fox and Rabbit

Called for Silks

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Lest We Forget

 

Counting Stitches

Gentle Friends, well, Summer is truly upon us here by the Bay.  The fog has settled over us this morning so thick we can't see across Noe Valley, up to Sutro Tower, or to Downtown SF... our normally lovely view is just grey and quiet this morning and the temps are hovering at 54 at the moment...  I do love this Summer weather !!!  In Clovis, down in the San Joaquin Valley, where Rico's mom lives, they'll be in the upper 80s today and by midweek in the triple digits... NOT my kind of weather.  

All that aside it was a lovely windy weekend and I did get some stitching in... here's a snaperoo of the bottom of Sarah at the moment...

... I've not heard back from NWP, but decided to just forge ahead with stitching by counting the bits that are there and referencing the cover photos of the original sampler and the stitched model.  Since much of the sampler is so repetitive it is much less of a hassle than I thought it would be...  the over one verse and dedication in the empty square are all charted out and should work up quickly so this will probably be a finish sooner rather than later.  

I stopped to think about what would come next on the needle and found in the stash pile a kitted-up exclusive sampler I bought a while back.  I think that might be the ticket!  So, dear stitching friends, when next I post I might have this sucker done, and a new start for Summer.

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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

Memorial Day

 

"Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives." 

 John Adams

A Little Roadblock - or - The Missing Section

 Gentle Friends, here's a snaperoo of almost all of the stitching I can stitch from the chart...

... how can that be you ask... well, I bought the Sarah Barker chart when it was first released.  Not knowing at the time that the chart I had purchased had a duplicated page and the bottom section missing.  Who knew, I never looked and did not realize the problem I was facing until a couple of weeks ago.  So, I did what I thought was the thing to do, I went to the Needlework Press website and sent an email through Contact Us explaining there was a duplicate page and it was missing the bottom section.  So far, it's been crickets and tumbleweeds.  With no response, I turned to FaceBook and found the Needlework Press page... AND found a post from September 2023 talking about the issue with the Sarah Barker chart ...from that post this statement...

 "(It also reminded me that one printing of this chart had duplicate pages. If you happen to have one of those charts, send us a pic and we’ll be happy to replace it."  

I left a message there 5 days ago and again there's only been crickets and tumbleweeds...  It would be nice and easier to stitch if I were to get the missing part for the chart.  Without that section, I'll have to extrapolate and reconstruct from the bits that are there and the photo on the front of the chart the missing section and guess at the floss colors. Which will be kind of a pain... do I really want to do all that work, probably not... I'll probably do what I can and then just toss the incomplete sampler and move on to the next project, which I still need to solidify BUT will get on immediately... checking first to make sure that all the chart sections are there.  I'll also be doing that with every chart going forward.  Since this is the first time I've run into a missing section I guess I'll just treat it as a "live and learn" experience. In the past I've run into VERY bad charting for sure but never missing chart parts...  any other suggestions are welcome.  

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There you go sports fans... all the bitchin' that's fit to print!  

Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

69 Years Ago

Gentle Friends, today would have been my parents' 69th Wedding Anniversary, and as in years past I'm posting one of my favourite snaps from that day rainy day so long ago...

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Thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Vine and Flowers

 Gentle friends, now stitching down the left side... here's a snaperoo...

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Stitchin' Letters

 Gentle Friends, stitching away in the centre section... here's a snperoo...

...I've gotten the letters and separating bars stitched.  The lower section is all over one so I'll save that for later.  I am wondering about that last wonky letter after what I'm thinking is "Y"...  I stitched it as charted but now I'm rethinking whether to go back and stitch something a bit more conventional or not, I'll probably just leave it and be lazy and do nothing...the path of least resistance is often the path I trod!!

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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 Happy Mother's Day

 Gentle Friends, three miniatures ...

... my Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother...

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Have a wonderful Day!!!

edgar