A Little Thursday Thrifting

Gentle Friends, we were out and about as usual over the weekend and I found a piece of silver that  I am still kind of amazed that was out there to be found... here some snaps...

... I found this in a Salvation Army Thrift Store.  I think because of the odd way it had tarnished and the details that were filled with dried-on silver polish that they thought it was a silver-plated piece.  I even though that for a few minutes, until I started to really look at it and fell its heft.  I've dealt with lots of silver in my life and after a while, you get to know what an older piece feels like and what it should look like underneath.  The marks on the bottom of one of the feet are odd and illegible so that was no real help, but I am sure it's eastern European and probably 800/850 parts silver which is typical of the silver content for the time and area.  English and American are usually the 925 parts of silver.

... a closeup of the decorative masks and garlands...

... and the anthemions on the feet make me believe it dates to the 1870s or so...  when I was checking out I asked if there was another stick somewhere in the store... they said there was only the one that came in, but I'm keeping my eye out for the second one.... as I am sure it was a pair or maybe a set of four or six.... now wouldn't that be wonderful!!

... it's a really big piece of silver and so here's a second shot giving a better idea of the size... the hunt continues!

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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 Thrifting

Gentle Friends, over the weekend I found a few fun things...

... I was as surprised as anyone.... so here's what I found.... some great mid-century pieces - a black "Couroc" type tray with a heavy sterling silver border, and a couple of small sized vases.  I also found a transferware plate from St. Augustine of the "Old City Gate"... the border contains oranges and orange blossoms with 5 cartouches that include the Hotel Ponce de Leon, the Castillio de San Marcos, the Hotel Cordova, The Alcazar and the Old Cathedral.  It's a plate I've seen before and wanted since I lived in Florida... and truth be told it's one of the few places I would ever move to if and when I think about retirement.  It's a lovely little historic city I've visited many times and would revisit in a heartbeat!!  

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

Take care,

edgar

A Little Thrifting

Gentle Friends, out and about over the weekend and found this lovely little cabinet plate...

... it's about 7" in diameter and beautifully crafted with hand painted flowers .... made in Germany between the wars it's a super survivor!!  I'm such a  sucker for a piece of porcelain and I just couldn't pass it up!!

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

Take care,

edgar

Some Weekend Fun

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends I wanted to thank you all so much for your super comments on the Hallowe'en Box I made for the HOE Exchange.  It was a fun piece to make!  I wanted to mention how much I have been enjoying coasting around the Blog-o-sphere an seeing all the great things being stitched up for the Fall and especially the Hallowe'en Season.  There are some super projects out there and so many that I want to get for the old stash heap!!!

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Over the weekend I made it to a few Thrift and consignment shops and found a few goodies......

The things I picked up, because as you know I don't have enough stuff and just couldn't live without more "stuff."  :)

From l to r  I found this really well made basket that I knew would work out for storing my pile of smaller charts, in fact they fill the basket to almost over flowing (no surprise there), but it does gather then into a single space.  I also picked up a three ring pencil case, since I keep the majority of my charts kind of sorted into three ring binders, I often have trouble keeping the Prairie Schooler "cards" in the front pocket.  This case does the job really well and I can just snap in into the front of the PS Binder.  I just couldn't resist a 60th Anniversary copy of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  One of my all time favorite Christmas specials and this super copy in pristine condition, I just couldn't pass up.

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The City we live in has about a bazillion restaurants and eatin' places - but we tend to go back to the same places over and over again.  I made up my mind that I wanted to start to try other places.....  but where to start you might ask??  

On Public TV there is a show that comes on Saturday evenings called "Check, Please!"  It's a great show with host Leslie Sbrocco, where she sits down with three regular people and talks about 3 different restaurants or eateries here in the Bay area.  The 3 regular people change weekly.  What happens is that each person picks a different restaurant and then, on there own, they each visit the restaurant and then come on the show to talk about them.  

I really enjoy this show and this past Sunday we visited a place that had been reviewed.  It is a restaurant over in the Civic Center area called Brenda's.  I had seen it on the show a few weeks back and so we headed out to get there early as it is on the small side and quite popular, I found that out doing a bit more research on the Internet.  We got there at 7:45 am and found a line ready for when they open at 8. 

The restaurant is owned and run by Chef Brenda Buenviaje, a native of New Orleans.  

The food is southern inspired and really delicious!!!!

Rico got....

... eggs over medium, hash, wonderful bacon and biscuit......and I got...

..... a dish I love, eggs Benedict, their version starts with one of their great cream biscuits topped with maple cured ham, poached eggs (not leaking, I hate that) with Creole Hollandaise sauce, and a side of some terrific grits!!  This is a super eatery and now on our short list of places to eat breakfast at on the weekends, we just have to remember to get there early.... by 8:30 the place was filling up fast.

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That's the skinny for today sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by, do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Harvest Treats

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends so many wonderful comments this morning, thank you so much!!!  The Cottage SAL is a really fun piece to work on and now that we are coming to the end with only Novemeber and Decembeer left it will be sad to see it end.

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Over the weekend we got to one of the larger Farmers Markets and found it overflowing with fruits and vegetables just pouring in the the local farms.  I got some snaps.....

The peaches and nectarines seem to have been bumper crops locally  - they are really tasty this year and I have been enjoying them for the past few weeks....  I know that the season is comign to an end and it will be an entire year until they com back in.

 

The cauliflower were gigantic and lovely

 

There was lots of peppers to see.

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I made the rounds to the Thrift/Consignments Shops and found these two medium sized bowls..

 

....  Marked Upper Hanley they can dated to about 1895 and the pattern is called "Myra."  I think for a few $'s they were totally worth it.

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I stopped off at Walgreen's last night on the way home from work and found something I had heard about.....

 .......  some Pumkin Spice Kisses!!  You know what a sucker I am for the seasonal things that are foisted upon us... well, it is even worse during the Fall and Winter.  I read about these a while back and had kept an eye out for them and what a treat.  All spicey and pumpkiny they are pretty tasty!!!

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by, and for your super comments!!!  Do stop again.

Take care,

edgar

Some Thrifty Finds, ATS and the Lottery Win!!!

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends these last few days off were really nice.  Doing just about nothing and sort of turning into a major lump.  I did get the regular stuff done -  like laundry, and the usual house cleaning things, but other than that I did just what I wanted to ....  like not shaving for three days straight.  I still took my usual showers, lets not get too crazy here... but, I skipped the shaving part.  My beard is not very heavy but, heavy enough that by the time I got around to shaving it took more than the usually few minutes to scrape off the bristles!

Rico also took off Friday and we ran around to the thrift and consignment shops a day early.  I found a few things....

We had a great Christmas cookie jar for quite a few years but it got broken and I have been on the look out for another - when I saw this cookie jar with "snowmen cookies" I knew this was the jar for us.  I also found a few books, a couple of icons and a great incense holder.

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I finished up a couple of Exchange pieces - one of them will leave in tomorrows outgoing mail - the other will have to wait a couple of weeks to leave.

I also stitched some on ATS, finishing up another section and have now moved on to the 5th section.  Here is a snap of the completed 4th section...

and here is an overall shot of the piece as it stands at the moment...

Sorry about how crooked it is - but at this point, taking a snap of the entire piece involves me standing on a chair, but you get the idea.  

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A pretty nice thing happened over the weekend....  a little back story...I don't play the Lottery often, as I live by the words of my dad - money down a rat hole!! - I also have a voice in my head saying - you gotta play to win - so every so often I will plunk down a couple of bucks on quick picks and let it go at that.  Well, my quick picks last week turned into a win!!!  I won back my $2!!  I refrained from plowing those dollars back into the lottery, but will probably break down this week and get a couple of quick picks.  That voice in my head...  gotta play to win, is a'callin!!!!

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

Take care,

edgar

Monday Posting

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends it is a cold and damp Monday here by the Bay - and it was a cold, foggy and damp weekend....  it was supposed to rain, but that never happened.  I spent the weekend doing the usual - and stitching like crazy on Exchanges.

I read over on the HOE that my BBD Ornament for the last round arrived at Kayona's - it got there pretty quickly!!  Here's a snap - 

It is from the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue - I used the recommend Belle Soie on 32ct linen.

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I got around to the thrift shops for my weekly fix!!  There was lots of stuff, but not much I wanted to bring home.  I did find...

 

... a nice little reticulated plate ca. 1900, and a Christmas book that looks pretty good!

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Yesterday I made a batch of Rico's favorite cookies.....

.....  peanut butter.  The recipe made a heap of cookies!!  I'll post the that in the morning.

There you go for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifting, Candy and ATS

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends it seems like the weekend just flew by and I didn't accomplish much except for the usual, laundry, vacuuming, and other household things....

We did make it to some of the thrift/consignment shops on Saturday Morning...  and I picked up a few goodies.....

From l to r...  a silicon mold to make ice shot "glasses."   Frozen shots are pretty tasty!!  I found this great Christmas Book, put out by the Minnesota Historical Society, a medium sized rolling pin, a small English creamer (matches a tea pot I have) and two copper over sized cookie cutters...  for $5 it was quite a haul!!

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I stopped off at a Walgreen's yesterday and although not "officially" out on the shelves, looking up a t the overstock area, they are already getting in Hallowe'en candy!!!!  I found these treats....

I have seen the chocolate covered Peeps before, but never the M&M's - I do love me some Candy Corn!!!  So I got them to try and I'll let you know.

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I worked some on ATS.....

 

Finishing up the Alphabet Band - I kept the odd lettering in places.  Now moving on the next section.

Well, Blogger is acting up and will not let me post any other snaps, so I'll sign off now.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Weekend Shopping

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends yesterday's Jury Duty was a total bust.  When I got there to sign in there was  Surprise Strike of the Court Clerks - after I eventually found someone to ask about my doing duty I was sent home.  I guess that's the way the ball bounces.

I am also having camera issues.  My regular camera I have been using for the last few years has now decided to become the wackiest camera on earth...  the pictures are smeary looking and have blasted colouring....  so I dug out my older camera and of course now I am having battery issues with that!!

But, before all that I did get a single decent shot of the weekend purchases - 

Hitting all the Consignment/Thrift and Junque shops I picked up from l to r - two great old Copeland Spode plates - 1 dinner and 1 salad in the "Florence" pattern - 4 spice canisters - I found out that the words are Dutch and translate to "Pepper," "Herbs," "Mace," and I think "Cloves."  I don't speak Dutch and the translators I found online where sort of vague.  If anyone knows a better translation I would love to hear it.  -and- two books.  The super Black Transferware plate I got at an Antique Collective that was moving to another spot here in town.  The Booth that this came from had everything on 50% off so how could I pass.  I guess it dates from the 2nd Quarter of the 19th century and is in perfect condition.

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I have also been working on ATS, but no snapperoo - I'll try and get on up in the morning.

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

Take care,

edgar

Some Stitching and Weekend Stuff

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends sorry to break off for two days but there were so many folks out here at work my load was heavier than usual.  

The weekend here was just gorgeous... lots of wind (not breeze)  it was almost "blowin a gale."  Yesterday the fog rolled in over the city and I had to turn on the heater a bit to take the chill out of the house.  Summer in SF, you just can't beat it!!!

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On the stitching front I finished up August with quite a few changes....  here is an overall shot...

and here is a close up of August Cottage....

As you can see the most obvious change is the Cottage itself... with this being the 4th light blue Cottage in the set I just couldn't do it again...  so I chose to go yellow.  I also stitched the waves a bit differently to give them some depth - outlining with the light "Morning Glory" blue and filling the centers with "Tropical Ocean" - I think it is more interesting than just all light blue.  Here's my conversion...

Simply Shaker Sampler Threads - "Melon Patch" - DMC 352

SSST - "Apple Cider" - DMC 420

CC "Finley Gold" - DMC 744

SSST "Portabella" - DMC 3022

SSST "Lexington Green" - DMC 3022

WDW "Swamp" - DMC 3031

GAST "Tropical Ocean" - DMC 3755

DMC B2500 - DMC White

GAST "Morning Glory" - only for outlining the waves

SSST "Grape Leaf" - "Shutter Green" 

I couldn't find any SG in my stash.  I did eventually find some but by that time I was to far into the grass to take it our so I left the Grape Leaf.

Now that I am a bit ahead on this piece I will just sit back and wait for September to come out.

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I also got some of the bits done on AST.....

This is coming along nicely and I am really enjoying all the different colours and bits in this section.

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I got some thrift shopping in on Saturday....  and here's the haul.....

I picked up three books a fun DVD and a Sterling measure.  I think that they thought the measure was an egg cup or something as it was in the kitchen section marked $1.60.  I immediately knew it was a single/double jigger (in a past life I was a bar tender) and that it was Sterling - just by picking it up you can feel the heavy silver quality and I found a sterling mark once I got the tarnish off.   I guess with it being so blackly tarnished they just didn't know/or care.  I got it for .80 as everything was 1/2 off.  Now, you can't beat that with a stick!!

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I baked up an easy little coffee cake yesterday...

I'll post that up in the morning.

Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Weekend Posting and Tortilla Press

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thank you so much for your overwhelming kind comments regarding my 4th Blogoversary Gift-a-way.  I so enjoyed them and emails that you wrote.  I do like this stitching stuff and gifting it away is a big part of it - we all have way to many finished things stacking up - or at least I have in my completed box - finished things waiting for frames.  The smaller things that quickly stitch up are so nice for gifts and I do love knowing that the things I make and send off into the world go to good homes.  Now I need to focus on my PIF - I am running out of time since they a due out by this October.....  the clock is ticking.

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Now to the weekend stuff.......

The weekend started off Thursday after work with a quick run down to South SF to the airport to pick up the baby sister - and of course the rare occasion that United is on time is almost nonexistent and last Thursday they did the unheard of and where actually early - so of course the traffic was stupid crazy so that slowed us down.  But, it all worked out and she was waiting for us to just swoop in - she jumped in the car and we where off.....

Driving back to the city we talked about what we would do for dinner and decided on delicious sushi - both she and I love the stuff - and they have other Japanese type things so Rico could have a Bento box of chicken katsu and vegetable tempura.  There are loads of sushi places in SF to choose from - we drove over to Kitaro a place I've talked about here frequently.  You can click HERE and go to the site to look at the menu.

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Friday we spent walking around the Haight/Ashbury area.

There are lots of shops and cafes and places to look at and things to see.  

Here is one of the more elaborately painted walls.....

she is a great Medusa mural - on the side of a dress shop.

We also stopped at a really great knitting shop over in the Castro called ImagiKnit.

You can click HERE and visit the web site.  

I took a snap of the shop as it was really bright with lovely yarn everywhere...

This is only the first part of the shop they are actually two shops that a doorway has been cut through - you can not really tell but the doorway is right at where those hats are on the left - you step down into another gigantic space of lovely yarns and knitting paraphernalia.  I picked up a brochure of the classes they offer - I am seriously contemplating taking up knitting or crochet as they offer classes in both.

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On Saturday we did the running around to the Thrift/Consignment shops - In the early afternoon we stopped off for a quick bite at Frjtz on Valencia Street.

You can click HERE to see some snaps and read their menu.  There they serve delicious crepes and Belgium fries.  We shared a couple of crepes - the Munch and the de Vinci and a large order of the delicious fries with dipping sauce.

This is the da Vinci crepe and fries.  From this light lunch we where on the way home and stopped off at Liberty Cafe for a loaf of their lovely bread.

As usual the had the case of goodies full of tempting treats.  You can click HERE to read about The Liberty Cafe.  You can also see through the case to the kitchen where one of the bakers was whipping up something tasty - I love it when you can actually see that what they sell is made where they sell it.

We hooked up with Martin for dinner at Patxi's Pizza.  You know I love me some of this pizza!!

We got one of the Chicago style meat pizza's and we got....

a regular Special Combo Pizza on flat crust - and it was just as delicious!!  

You can click HERE to see their web site.

Sunday Rico and I went to early Mass and Cissy did some walking about the neighborhood - we stayed in and watched movies during the afternoon and I made fried chicken for dinner - and - that was our weekend.

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It was lots of fun and could have gone on for many days more - but she had to get back to her "mama" life and I to mine.  But, there will be other visits!!

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I did have some questions about the tortilla press and what exactly it is - you use this gadget to make fresh tortillas.  They are available all over the place in the Mission for about $12/$15 but I was bound and determined to find an older more substantial one than the newer flimsy ones.  I have wanted to be able to make fresh tortillas for the longest time.  We go through many of them a week - and by making them myself it will cut the costs to just pennies per tortilla and fresh made are so much better than store bought!! You can click HERE to read a good basic recipe on how to make tortillas at home.  I can't wait to get a hold of some Masa Harina (corn flour) and get to pressing!!

There you go sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by, do come again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Package Arrived and Some Thrifty Finds

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends it is a wonderful Monday morning here in SF for many reasons!!  First and foremost was the wonderful visit we had with just had with my sister.  She flew down from Portland and spent the last few days relaxing and decompressing from her very hectic "motherly" life - and all we did was fun stuff!!  Running all over the city, eating out and then laying around like great lumps watching films.  Who could ask for anything better.  Secondly, on this cool Monday I find that my little Blog has passed the 500 Follower mark - and now I  actually have 502 followers - you love me, you really love me!!  I am having my Sally Field flash back - reveling in the moment and dancing a jig!!  Thirdly, I did quite a bit of stitching over the past few days and finished up my HOE PS Exchange - or at least I have finished up the stitching part.  I just love being ahead of the game and not behind playing catch up.

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... and the fourth thing, and what I will lead off with this morning.....I came and found a wonderful email from sweet Carolyn  - she received the package I sent her for winning the 4th Blogoversary drawing.  Her Blog is "...just one more stitch" and she has posted a  couple of snaps.  I took a snap of the stitched piece, but forgot to get one of the goodies.  You can click on over to Carolyn's Blog to see them.  But, here is a snap of the piece I made....

The pattern is a Blackbird Design and I do love me some BBD!!  It is from an older booklet called "With Needle and Thread."  I have loved this little sampler for the longest time, as I told Carolyn, and just knew this was the right time to stitch it up.  I used the recommended WDW floss and stitched it up on a piece of 36ct something or other form the stash heap.  The box I painted using a mixture of three colours - I wanted it to be dark but with undertones of the red/raspberry colour.  It was a joy to stitch and now it has a wonderful place to live.

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I will save the main weekend post until tomorrow as I have come back to a pile of work on my desk.  I did want to post a snap of my Thrift Store Finds.  There were no Estate Sales but we did make it to a few Consignment/Thrift/2nd hand Stores.  I found these things.....

From the upper left...  I found two super Victorian frames - for less that $2 for both, the metal thing is a tortilla press, I also found a great older Oregon plate, and a lovely small Nippon ware hand painted plate c1880.  I do love me some Paula and this little Christmas book was a buck so how could I pass.  I found a couple of other things but they are meant for others so I can't show them here.  

We had a great time running around over the weekend and there will be a post about that in the morning.

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There you go sports fans.  I do thank you all for stopping by and for your great comments.  Do stop back by again!!  Hope your weekend was as super de duper as mine!!

Take care,

edgar

A fun weekend doing what I wanted to!!

And that's the truth!!!! Most weekends I have to give up and bend to others wills and wants but this weekend I did just what wanted to!!! To the irritation of some I am sure but you know what - they can just bite me!!! (my, my that was kinda harsh!!)

Saturday was a fun day of garage sale/thrift shop/ and Goodwill - carousing - we ran around to a bunch of garage sales, and even 2 Estate Sales and found absolutely nothing really worth getting - I think sometimes that garage sale-ing is very seasonal. It was at a thrift shop where I hit pay dirt - Here is a snap -

So I found some kitchen stuff. I needed a sifter as the one I had broke about 10 years ago and I never got another one. The sifter - $1.50, the strainer - $ .37, the wooden spoon - $.29 - so for a grand total of $2.16 I did pretty well - my question is...who on earth marks things 37 and 29 cents?? The majolica pitcher came from a store called Community Thrift - and was $10. I really love majolica and have a few pieces but it is usually so expensive I can't afford it. When I got to the counter with this cream pitcher - the woman there asked was it very old - I said about 120 years - I think she was stunned. This is about $40 or so off the true price so I got a deal!! It was a really fun day - even going out to lunch at "Good Frickin Chiken" in the Mission - really tasty Mediterranean Food - silly name fabulous food!!

I had a hankering for a favorite snack - so I made my version of Nuts and Bolts (chex mix) - I just love this stuff....


Every now and then I just get a craving and have to have some!!

On the stitching front - I worked some exchange pieces - so no snap. I can show a couple of other things I worked on..... Part Three of the ABC SAL posted on Friday - Here is the progress -


Part three was the GHIJ, reindeer box and the leaf band under. This is a really fun stitch and I can't wait for part 4 to post!!

I also worked on Le Jardin - and here is a progress on that piece -

This is working up really nice and I will be sad to see the end of it.

There you go - some high points from my weekend!!! We'll talk flickers tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar