A Little Finish and a Little Start

 Gentle Friends, I finished up the CtA piece far sooner than I had anticipated and it was a really fun stitch and I wanted to publicly thank Brenda for this super piece and the commemoration of a really important point in American history that repercusses to this day!!  Here's a snaperoo of the finished piece...

... I took about 15 snaps and couldn't get the light right but you get the idea...  I've rolled it up and put it into my "very full" completed box of stuff to be framed etc....  I think it's interesting that where Mary Brewster's name is stitched that the overdyed linen lighted up.  One of the things that makes it special is that I am able to trace back through my family on my mother's side to Mary Brewster and Fear Brewster Allerton ( Mary's daughter and the 2nd Mrs. Allerton, Mary Allerton who sailed on teh Mayflower died that first winter)  It's also interesting that Mary Brewster was one of only four of the women to survive that first winter and were left to help establish Plimouth Plantation (now renamed Plimouth Patuxet for the 400th Anniversary) and help create the foothold that England was to make over the next decade in the New World.  I also really enjoyed "stitching in season" it's fun and makes the whole of Fall a bit brighter!!

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My next stitch is a new start since I decided to not get back to the big BBD sampler I'd been working on over the summer.  I decided to stick to the "stitch in season" that just happens to be Christmas and winter... so looking around in the old stash pile I found a chart I really like and have had since it was released back in 2012 by... The Scarlett House called "Christmastide at Holly House."  I'm stitching it on 40ct "Fawn" from Lakeside Linens and using the called for silk mostly, which is a mix of NPI and Belle Soie.  I've already switched out the called for NPI white for the snowflakes for Belle Soie's "Icing."  It's a softer white and when I think of the snow I think of soft flakes falling quietly......

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There you go sports fans thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A very Little Stitchin' Week....

 Gentle Friends,  this past week I've neglected CtA a bit... so here's a little progress..

... I'll need to get a move on this week to finish it up before the Anniversary of the first sighting of Cape Cod on November 9th. -or -  The November 11th Anniversary of the first anchor dropping in Province Town Harbor on Cape Cod.  

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There you go, short and sweet.  Hope all is well in your world, thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Brunchin' a Little Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, so last weekend we headed out with some friends for brunch... the first brunch out for months....  we went to Mission Rock... it's a place we enjoy and last went there with Roberta, Terry there son Jeremy and his husband Michael... such fun and delicious to boot!!

... and you gotta love a place where a Mermaid brings you drinks!!

It's across the street from the new Chase Center sporting arena...

... and overlooks SF Bay towards the Oakland Hills...

... I couldn't get the lighting right but here are l to r, Rico, Tom and his wife Mindy...

... the menu leans heavily towards seafood dishes...

... and there were lots of drinks to choose from!!

I got a really delicious "Bender" and the others got Mimosas...

... Tom and Rico had Peach and Mindy got Guava...

Mindy had a Dungeness Crab Roll...

Rico had The American Breakfast...

Tom had the Dungeness Crab Benedict... and...

I had the Smoked Salmon Benedict... 

the breakfast potatoes had chimichurri sauce on them... 

so very delicious!!  It was a fun time had by all!!

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Now, on to stitching... still working on CtA... here's a progress shot...

... as I usually do I finished up the border to see how much linen would be left, and there is plenty.  This has really been fun to work on and I'll be sad to see it wrap up in the next few weeks...

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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 little Stitchin'

 Gentle Friends, stitching away over the past few days, and here's another wrinkled mess of a photo...

... as you can see I've stitched mary brewster's name in Chesapeak.  As she is my 13th Great Grandmother and I wanted to single her out.  I've also added an "F" and a "P" in the embroidery hoop for Mary's daughters (fear and Patience) that came to Plimouth in 1623 on the "Anne".  It was with the death of Mary Allerton the first winter which left her husband Isaac Allerton a widower free to marry Fear in about 1625 or 6.  It is through her son Isaac II that a branch of my mother's family is descended.

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There you sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again.  

Good Thoughts!  Good Words!  Good Deeds!

edgar

A little Stitchin' and Some Other Stuff.....

Gentle Friends, so I'm still stitching away on CTA, and here's a not so hot progress shot...

...this has turned out to be a really fun piece to work on... 

my headless maidens are pretty silly at this point...

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Yesterday was my Birthday and so I took off Friday and today for a little staycation... but life goes on and things have to get done, like the laundry ... I did a bunch yesterday and as usual two of the Who Hounds jumped into the hot sheets the minute they could...

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I really didn't want to do anything for my B-day but Rico insisted and so I did agree to a nice meal at Lovjoy's with some friends... as with most of the restaurants here in SF they have constructed "Parklets" in front of the restaurants in the parking spaces for social distancing... so it was a fun "dejeunez sous l'arbe...

 ... we ordered four Queens teas and had pots of tea and a ton of food, this was after we had attacked the three tiers of sandwiches, scones, crumpets, and petit fours... so the four of us had a wonderful time!  It was so relaxing the day was breezy, sunny and warm... a perfect afternoon ... no fuss and no muss!

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There you go sports fans, now for the rest of the day, I'm going to be stitching on CTA and watching some fun movies on TCM.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  Stay Safe!

Goof Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

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

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

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

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

A Little Launch

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

... 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

A Little Mayflower Stash

Gentle Friends, yesterday the mail came, an event around here as over the past couple of weeks it's been hit or miss at best.... mostly miss as we went three days with no mail delivery....back on track ... and brought something fun that I wasn't expecting...

... the box for a new project celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower.  Or more specifically the Women of the mayflower.  The SAL is to start on September 6th and now I've got my 40ct linen my floss and needle.  In the box of goodies was a really cute little Pilgrim lady needle anchor, and an additional 1621 Thanksgiving project some good info from William Bradford. This is going to be just a really fun piece to work on this Fall!!  Thank you so much, Brenda!!!!!

I got very excited when I first read about this project back a few months ago.  As I can trace on my Mothers side back to two of the women on the Mayflower. Mary Brewster (Here's a little tidbit about Mary... she was one of only five adult women to survive that first winter in the New World, and one of only four to survive the "first Thanksgiving" in 1621, which she helped to cook) and her daughter Fear Brewster Allerton, second wife of Issac Brewster, they married in 1627, his first wife, Mary Norris Allerton, dying that first winter in February of 1621.   It'll be so nice to stitch up something that's kinda personal to my family.

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There you go sports fans, thanks for stopping by... the smoke here in the City from all the fires around us both north into Marin County and south towards Monterey are a bit less today.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar