Two Wonderful Packages!!!

Gentle Friends yesterday was a super mail day as I received two great packages!!  

The first opened was from Karen, my partner in the "Friends Stitching Through the Seasons" - this was our last Exchange and once again she sent a super package!!  Here's a snap.....

Included but not shown is a great 123 Stitch Gift Card!!  I couldn't wait to get the lovely ornament on the tree....

This is one of my Top 10 Favorite Christmas Carols!!  I found this Flash Mob version of it on You Tube that is really wonderful....  I think you'll enjoy it !!

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The other package was a lovely Christmas present from my stitching Buddy Charlene.  She hit the nail on the head with what she sent.....

What a super ornament from my favorite Christmas book!!!   I hung it near other special ornament of a Christmas Classic!!  The other ornament Charlene sent is totally me....

 This gorgeous Black Sheep - he is lovely and fuzzy and looks so great on the tree -  Thank you so much Charlene, these great additions to the tree are so perfect!!!

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That's about it for today and wraps up the week - I'll be back next Wednesday with a progress shot of ATS and the ever growing field of green!!

Take care,

edgar

Merry Christmas to One and All

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends today is my last post for about12 or so days.  Tomorrow morning before the "crack of jack" (can we say 3:45 AM) will be picking me up for my early morning flight to Florida we we will gather together a celebrate Christmas a la familia.  Living here on the West coast and time change I will not get into Daytona Beach until late afternoon - but I guess thems the breaks.

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Let me start of today's post with a super gift I got in the mail yesterday - my dear stitching buddy, Vera, sent me some Christmas goodies....

.... a darling reindeer ornament and some delicious homemade applesauce, from her own trees!!  The ornament looks stupendous with the rest on my "Stitching Tree" and I am saving the applesauce for when I come back from my "Holiday."  Thank you so much Vera for thinking of me!!

.....and talking about my "Stitching Tree" I sort of looked around at some larger more traditional feather trees out there and boy they can get really pricey!!  Gotta start saving my pennies!

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I also heard from Lisa over at Lisa's Cross Stitch Paradise - that she received the ornament I stitched for her in the HOE Stitchers Choice Ornament Exchange.  Here is a snap I took before I sent it out...

... it is called "Noel" and is part of a small sampler from Beth Twist's booklet of Christmas samplers "Tidings of Great Joy."  I wanted something a bit different and this fit the bill.  I have stitched for Lisa quite a few times and she is always so sweet when she sees another of my parcels coming into her house!!  :)

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I think that about wraps up the post for today.  I wanted to wish everyone near and far a very Happy , and Merry Christmas!!

I'll be back in a few days!!

Take care,

edgar

More Christmas Treats

GR&DF I am really blessed to have so many wonderful Blogging friends. Yesterday the mail brought another Christmas treat. It was a sweet present from Vera - here is a snap...

Not only is it darling and French, but it is delicious smelling as Vera filled it with a potpourri of Holiday goodies. On the tree is looks great and when the lights warm it up a bit the odor that wafts around is so Christmasy!!! Thank you dear Vera!!!
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I need to finish up the weekend report - as it is Wednesday. Dale and I ran around, for the first time in over a month. He was visiting family back in NC and its really not as much fun running around to the sales and shops by myself. I picked up a few things - here is a snap -

From the top left - I got a new pair of duck boots - I had a pair of duck shoes years ago an literally wore a hole in the bottom and just never replaced them. So for $3 how could I pass these new boots?? I also picked up a painted tray with cocktail drinking reindeer - how festive is that!! I also picked up a few Kachina figures for Rico, he collects them. The book looked interesting and I have never read a bio of Chaucer before, and for $1 how could I go wrong.

Probably the best buy of the day was this.....

I have been looking on and off for a smallish stable for a very long time. I never see them unpopulated and I didn't need the figures. A little back story, back in 1963 when I was Christened a present my Granny made a for me was set of Nativity figures, but without a stable to put them in. These pieces where put our every year in different arrangements and travelled with my family from Mississippi to Maryland then onto Florida. Eventually I moved out on my own and took them with me. I have never been happy with them not having the stable as a frame. I usually do not put them out for this reason - I have been searching for a stable and this past weekend found it........ now here it is with everyone in place.....

It really needed the stable part to pull them all together and it is the first time I have totally liked how it looks out. Here are some close ups of the pieces...



It makes me really happy to have it out - the reason for the season, you know.
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The baking I did was pretty minimal - I made cookies. Some super delicious ones IMHO. They are Molasses Sugar cookies....

I posted the recipe on Blacksheep Bakes - it's a pretty easy recipe and they are pretty tasty treats!!

That about does it for today sports fans. Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comments!!!! Do stop by again.

Take care,
edgar

The Weekend is here!!!!

GR&DF I do thank you all for the kind comments for yesterdays post.

I posted on Blacksheep Bakes the recipe for the Spice Cake I made on Thanksgiving. A very easy recipe to pull together, I hope you will enjoy!!

Yesterday the mail brought another Christmas surprise -

They were a gift from my dear stitching friend, Jennifer - and I am pretty sure that she hand dyed these herself. She sent a lovely group of very useful colours... Thank you so much!!!

Last night I wrapped up the last of my "gift" baking and most of the packages will go out today. So there was no stitching just a lot of kitchen time!!

Thanks for stopping by, do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

A Stichity Post

GR&DF its Thursday and another day closer to "it" and another day less to get ready for "it." I do love the Christmas Season - not so much the crowds, punching and pushing, the malls, and all the unnecessary bitchiness that seems to permeate "corporate christmas." I love the specials on the tube, the music, the giving with open hearts - basically the nice side of an otherwise overblown beribboned "figgy pudding." The little shopping that I do - I try and do it on line - and love that to pieces!! There are a couple of things I am going to the mall for this evening and then I will avoid that pit of inhumanity like the plague until 2011!!

I wanted to post about a little lovely gesture of niceness - yesterday the mail brought a wonderful Christmas RAK -

Dear Carol sent me a lovely prezzie - and such a wonderful way to start off the month of giving!! The ornament is the "Woodland Christmas Reindeer Ornament" on 28ct Mocha Cashel stitched using GAST floss. I love me some licorice and tea and what better way to enjoy both at the same time!! Such a thoughtful gift and I do thank you Carol so much for starting off the season so brightly!!

I on the other hand have just started to get my mailed things out today and will finish up over the next few days. I love sending out treats to friends and relatives. But, sometimes it seems that Christmas just sneaks up and there it is and your out of time.

I took some snaps of both the Sampler Wreath progress and my new Christmas start.
Lets show the wreath first....

Its kind of wrinkled, sorry, but you get the idea. The church to the left sort of blends in but there is quite a bit a back stitch there so after that's completed it will show better. Still loving this piece!!

Here is a snap of the little bit of start stitching I got done last night....

It is "Christmas Rules" by Lizzie Kate. I am stitching it on 36ct linen and not the 32ct that is recommended. I just like 36ct better. I am using the recommend WDW floss. The moment I saw this I knew I wanted to get it to stitch. I also know that I am the biggest whiner about designers releasing multiple charts in bits and pieces to complete a project, but sometime you just gotta bite the bullet and suck it up to do something you love!! The sentiment is so great for the season and really for the whole year. What a super place it would be if we all kept Christmas in our hearts year round!!!

Yesterday we had another checkup appointment on Rico's Franken-foot. The Doctor was really nice and had only positive things to say about the way it has healed up. He also has started Rico on some Physical Therapy so that he gets some strength back in the calf muscle and foot. On the way home from the Doctors we stopped off a Popeye's - gotta love that spicy chicken!! Across the street is an old Movie Theatre that has been everything from a Theater to an Evangelical Church to a working artist space. Now it is boarded over awaiting it's next incarnation. On the boards that cover the front doors is a super mural - so great I got a snap...


I love me some Lazar eyed kitty's - gotta kill the bug!! That's one of the nicer things about SF - is all the inspired and interesting mural art. You never get bored.

Rachel asked about a snap in yesterdays post - and the answer is basically no - I had a snap of a tial light that I took, but it fell a little short when I was putting the post together so I went on the Internet and found a picture I liked better - great Cadillac fins are hard to come by!!

There you go sports fans. Thanks again for dropping by and for the kind comments!!!

Take care,
edgar

A Box of Christmas Cheer

GR&DF you know it -your the best!! Thank you once again for your kind comments!! I so enjoy reading them and usually get such a warm feeling of camaraderie and stitchity love!

Yesterday brought a wonderful Christmas surprise from Shay. A while back she emailed me about the Joyeux Noel Book from BBD - she is a model stitcher (with her beautiful and perfect stitching) and was finishing up with her copy and wondered if I would like it - Like it, oh my, YES - I was debating if I was going to get a copy as I love BBD, but just hadn't been able to swing it as a stash purchase - and here one comes like manna from the heavens - here is a snap of the goodies the accompanied the book....

A totally sweet snowman sucker (who is now nestled in our tree, looking super cute), some Valdani Floss (just beautiful, and I have never tried them before) and some delicious sugared Christmas Pecans - just like Granny used to make. Such a special, kind gift - Thank you so much Shay!!!!!

I did read some rather sad news yesterday at different places on the Internet - This will be the last year of the BBD Loose Feathers Club - I love these little projects and will miss them when they are gone - but the bright spot would have to be that now the ladies will have extra time to make bigger designs!!

The comments yesterday got me to thinking about the CHS Alphablocks - both Patti and Jennifer suggested leaving the boxes alone and unfilled. I had thought about that, but know that once I finish and have it framed - in the far future - I will not be happy with them as unfilled. I just need to "Sh-- or get off the pot" as my Father would say. I was playing around with some floss' to see if I could get it together to make a decision..... that wasn't working - so I worked on the next block "I" and got the black box lines stitched. Hows that for putting off today what can wait until tomorrow!! Loraine asked about what floss' I was using for the vine and bud border - I am using GAST Forest Glade for the vine - I tried a couple of other greens and found that I liked this best on the linen. For the Buds I am using WDW Raspberry for the dark pink and WDW Red Pear for the light pink. I like these two colours together and have used them on other projects.

The flicker last night was an On Demand Comcast choice of Rico's - "The Proposal" - 2009 - starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen and Betty White. A predictable comedy/love story that I thoroughly enjoyed!! Funny where it should be with the leads doing a very good and believable job throughout. The director was Anne Fletcher who also directed "27 Dresses" - 2008 - another cute and predictable love story/comedy film. The Alaska scenery is just beautiful and makes you want to jump in a plane and go for a visit!! I can recommend this film as cute and entertaining. At a short 108 mins what have got to loose??

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

Take care,
edgar

Flick and Stitches

Thank you all for the kind comments about the Sampler. I was asked about the charts - they are from last years Loose Feathers - # 31 - parts 1 & 2, #32 - part 3, #33 - part 4 and #34 - part 5. I think I will live with it a bit before adding anything else to the bottom. I figured out that I have only worked on and off on this for about 4 weeks - so it worked up really quickly - The idea of just adding the stitching dates with some extra little do-dads that are at the top sounded pretty good - it does seem to be top heavy - but there is no rush as I do not have a frame, yet.

I do have a snap of a small start from the weekend-


It is a Christmas Present for someone that does not read the blog so I am safe.
Not something I would normally do, but perfect for the recipient.

Last night the flicker was "Brigham Young" - 1940 - starring a host of big names - Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Dean Jagger, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Mary Astor and Vincent Price as the prophet Joseph Smith. An excellent movie, well acted and directed. I have read that it is not as accurate as the actual events that got the Mormons to the Great Salt Lake Valley - but then what Hollywood Bio-Pic ever is. While watching the movie I did not realize the extent of persecution of the Mormons as they fled from state to state finally ending in Utah. At 2 hours it is entertaining and well acted and shot in wonderful B&W.

Thanks again for stopping by and for the great comments - I do appreciate them!!!

Take care,
edgar

And we have Winners, a Christmas Present and some stash.

I was without a computer this weekend - so I couldn't have a BOD drawing yesterday - so instead I randomized the list this morning for a winner or I should say winners of the the Snoopy's - (Rico had a second one at his office - so there are two going out instead of just one) Drum Roll...... Jennilynn and Donna!!!! - Now I have Donna's address but Jennilynn if you could send me yours I will get your Snoopy in the mail in the morning. My email is (edgar matt at g mail dot com ).

On Saturday I made a run over to Alameda and the framers to pick up my MIL's Christmas present from us - here is a snap -


I am really pleased with the way it turned out - Rico chose the frame and the mat and did a really great job as now all the rusty-reds really pop! While I was on the island I had to stop off at NIAH and here is a snap of the stash I couldn't live without!! (Now how on earth odes that happen??)

I had to have the Belle Soie as I have switched the pale scarecrow on the ABC SAL to the warmer more golden Teddy Bear - I stitched some on it and really like the difference - will post a snap tomorrow. and.... I really like the etui's in the 2008 Un Natale book this year and NIAH only gets a few so I snapped one up.

This will be short posting this morning as I have a butt-load of stuff to do here at work!! I have some really nice snaps of the my "feather" tree and a party we attended on Saturday. So stop by tomorrow - same Bat Channel and the same Bat station!!!

Thanks for stopping in -
Take care,
edgar

A Christmas Finish

I can't believe it - but I only have two things left to stitch up before Christmas for presents!! But for today I have the Cardinal stitching finish from last night -

(I just flicked back here and noticed that the picture I first posted was an earlier snap
- this is the actual finish - how dumb am I!!!)

I am really happy with the way this turned out - I am not sure how I will finish it ..... the finishing will probably happen over the weekend. I got out the Halloween RR of Ulla's and decided on a pumpkin design to stitch - If you have been reading her4 lately you may be able to figure it out.... what would I be stitching???? I will stitch on that over the weekend so it will be a surprise on Monday.

We did our usual Thursday go to market yesterday and boy was the grocery store packed already. We got about 85% of the stuff we will need for Thanksgiving. The veggies we will get on Sunday at the farmers market. Just thinking about things and I just can't fathom how fast this holiday has sprung up on me - realizing that time marches on and everything falls into place "like clockwork" - I wonder if it is the older I get the faster time spins away - In my mind I visualize the sands of time just slipping by quicker and quicker till the that hour glass empties out - kinda morbid for a Friday but that's the way it is sometimes.....

Have a great weekend - thank you all for stopping by, and for all the nice comments... I know there are those lurkers out there and that's fine but don't be afraid to speak out and leave me a comment - I don't bite - or not too much!!! :)

Take care,
edgar

A lovely Gift arrives - stitching and movies

Yesterday the mail brought me a couple of things. First and foremost a wonderful gift from a dear friend in New Zealand - Margaret - she has been reading my ramblings for quite a while and we have emailed back and forth - you do meet the nicest people on the Internet - I have met so many nice people and made quite a few Friends through this medium - Well - a week or so back Margret asks to get my snail mail and yesterday a package arrives - I thought is was an exchange as I am in quite a few right now - but I open that sucker up and out pops some wonderful goodies....

Some chocolate - super dark, some tea - really black - a darling tea scoop - a really cute a chart- Quakerish AND if all that wasn't overwhelming enough - Margaret also included an exquisitely stitched ornament!!!! Now - I ask you - wasn't that just the sweetest thing to do?? Thank you so much Margaret!!! Hare is a close up of the stitched ornie -



These darling mittens are stitched with such tiny stitches and decorated with beads - the finishing is exquisite - although they are just lovely - hanging here off the loper on my secretary they are not shown off as well as they will on a tree. I just can't wait to put up the tree this year!!!!! I have the "Christmas Carol" movies in readiness for the two evenings it will take to get that sucker up - The first night to get the lights on and curse the tree out for being crooked and the second to get the ornaments on and again curse the tree out for being crooked - its an old holiday ritual but it works for me and drives Rico batty ..... and causes his running screaming into the night!!!! Happy Christmas - you all!!!!

I also finished up another exchange and started on a Christmas present
- since I am almost 93 1/3 % sure that they do not read this blog I will post a snap of the start -


It isn't that exciting but I really am stitching away in the evenings.
I bet you can't guess what chart this is that I am using...... :)

The movies last night were really watchable - starting off with - "They All Kissed the Bride" - 1942 - Starring Joan Crawford (on loan from MGM) and Melvyn Douglas - a funny film and worth watching for the Jitter Bug that Joan does about half way through the flick. This was followed up with "I Found Stella Parrish" - 1935 - starring Kay Francis in a true movie soap opera - basically the movie is about how your past will always catch up with you and bite you on the butt!! Both really watchable films and worth a look if you get the chance.

Thank you again Margaret - you made my day!!!
Thank you all for stopping by and for all the nice things everyone said in yesterday comments,
I really appreciate them!!! - and Kathryn,
I also love the french cruller things from Happy Donut and stop there almost every morning on the way in to the salt mine for a cup of coffee and a donut!!!

Take care,
edgar