VOHRH and another birthday present

Last night I worked in rotation on VOHRH and here is a snap of where I am now.


I also wanted to show that I went with the floss-s-way system for the silk. I am really liking this way as everything is in numeric order and it is so easy to find and far fewer tangles.

I also had waiting on my doorstep another birthday present from a dear friend in Florida. She and I have been friends since High School and she is just the bestest!!! What she sent me was a Yankee Candle Scentstories player and a disc of scents called Give Thanks. Here is a snap.


I have seen these before and thought what a great idea. You put the disc in the player and as it plays it goes through 5 different scents for your house. I think these discs last well into the 50 hour time range and there are lots of different choices out there. Nancy really knows how I like Yankee Candles and I know how she does also so we tend to swap them at giving occasions. My all time favorite candle has got to be sheer Gardenia. In fact if asked what my favorite flower is it would have to be Gardenia. It always reminds me of my mom and grandmother as do magnolia, lily of the valley, tube roses.....
there seems to be a theme of smelly white flowers here doesn't there!! :)

Our friend from Bodega Bay brought some more produce, this time it is some luscious pears from her garden. They are a wonderful fall fruit and here is a snap.


Thats about it for today, back to the grind. Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Birthday Dinner and Beatrix Potter

Once again thank you for the kind birthday wishes!!!! On Friday we went to a new restaurant for my birthday dinner. I always like to try out new places and in SF I don;t think I will have trouble finding somewhere new place to try. I searched around on the Internet and found a place that we had never tried but I had heard of called Fattoush.

We had an excellent meal and a wonderful time. What is so crazy is that this restaurant is literally 3 blocks from our where I live and this is the first time I have ever been, but it wont be the last!!! Then out came the second birthday cake of the week and here is what it looked like after being hacked up....



I got a couple of very nice presents from two wonderful friends.......first a lovely gift certificate form Needlepoint Inc. from Robb ( I think he is enabling my addiction to needlework???) and from Don the set of three DVD's Charlie Brown specials. This is something I have wanted for a long time but never have gotten around to getting the set!!

This weekend I also worked on Beatrix Potter and have mad the second turn on the border, here is a snap.


And I took a better picture of the sampler for my mom, I was determined to get a snap with out the hot spot!!! Here is the snap...



That's about it for now. Tonight I will get back to the rotation and work on VOHRH.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Birthday stashing and stitching

First off let me say THANK YOU to everyone out there and the very kind birthday wishes!!!!! You are all so nice!!!!
Well, yesterday after work we set off to Alameda and a much needed visit Needle in a Haystack, but first is was to Urban Forest and to pick up the sampler I had framed for my mother for Christmas. I also had to drop off two other Christmas presents. Here is a snap ( sorry about the flash I just couldn't get a picture and not use the flash I tried it with and without, so please forgive the hot spot)

I really like the saying and it will fit with my moms primitive/country decor that she loves.
The visit to NIH was lots of fun and as always they were very helpful and I am lucky to be able to have this shop as my LNS. I also burned right through the gift card (surprise, surprise :) )

Here is a snap of the haul



Starting in the lower left there is a wonderful pair of blue steel, silver handled Dove shears (I have drooled over them just about every time I came in the store!!!!), moving clockwise the charts are: The Riddle - The Drawn Thread, In the Pumpkin Patch - Blue Ribbon Designs, and two Little House Needleworks charts - Acorn Hill and Prairie Sampler. I had my list of charts I am looking for so I knew exactly what I wanted. I also got two skeins of floss a pack of the gold John James needles I like and a Hardwicke Manor Hoop.

I also got some stash in the mail yesterday. Here is a snap.

The chart I won on eBay and the overdyed floss is from Vicki Clayton. I had ordered some of her floss a while back and used it in the secret Christmas stitching and REALLY liked the feel and look of it so I ordered some more. The floss is the premium kind and covers really well, the colours here are Garnet, BaneBerry, Petty Fog, Country Road, Mountain Shadow and Grasses. The colours in real life are much nicer than in a photo.

I also got some stitching in and worked on BP again as it was on top and I wanted to finish the medallion I had started on the night before. Here is a snap as it stands now.


This sucker is still an really enjoyable stitch. It is funny how some things never loose their appeal no matter how long you work away.....then there are some pieces you wish would just disappear as they become almost a drudgery to stitch.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with some friends so that should be a lot of fun.

Have a great weekend and thanks for your kind wishes and stopping by!!!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Is that the great fire of London?????.......

No, it is just the candles on the birthday cake that LOOK like a city burning down!! The glare is just blinding!!!! Yes, today I turn another year older, but what can one do it comes to all of us ...kind of like clockwork.... :)

Yesterday was my boss' birthday (he is 3 years older) and next week is the accountants (she is at least a decade younger than both of us) so there are a lot of birthdays around this time of year. If you think about it..... 9 months ago was around St Valentines day so I like to think at least we all started out in the season of love and romance!!!

Here at work we usually celebrate birthdays with a cake and I was not disappointed. Here is a snap of the "cakes" that were presented....


To get a idea of the size these are both about 15 x 7 x 7. They are made up of layers of yellow sponge with each layer slathered in a lemon curd and toffee. Each layer was sprinkled before the curd was spread on with a lemon liquor, probably limoncello which is a liquor from southern Italy which is really, REALLY good. The first time I had some was on the island of Capri then again in Soerento at a great little restaurant over looking the Bay of Naples....I want to go back to Italy........boy have I gotten of the topic!! Limoncello is very tangy and very lemony.
Here is snap of the cake after it was cut.....


The entire cake is covered in meringue.
What was I thinking with this crazy batman angle picture?

Last night I did do some stitching. I finished the Christmas presents and will be taking them to the framers this afternoon. I also got a fabulous gift certificate from Rico to Needle in a Haystack so will be walking across the street to spend some of that after the framers.
I also worked on the Beatrix Potter piece and here is snap of where it stands now.



Rico also got me a new coffee mug.....I have quite a collection now. Don brought me one from New York and I still have my old one from Pete's Coffee. Here is a snap of the new one....



Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Christmas Stitching almost finished

I once again needed to skip the rotation to finish up, or try to finish up, the last piece of secret Christmas stitching. I am going to the framers tomorrow after work and I need that last piece finished!! Tonight will be the last little bit. Last night we ran out to the mall to get some birthday prezzies for a niece and nephew and picked up three Disney movies a journal and a fancy bookmark, those are being sent out today. Speaking about birthdays I got an early birthday present from my best friend Dale and here is a snap.


It is the greatest cookie jar. Not that I collect cookie jars but I am a gigantic fan of "The Nightmare before Christmas." If you are not familiar with the movie this is Oogie Boogie. His voice was done by the wonderful Ken Page. This has been one of my favorite movies since it came out in 1993 and I have probably seen it dozens of times. I also learned that there will be a 3-D release of NBC this fall, woohoo!!!!! We also had dinner at the food court in the mall, don't you just love that orange chicken stuff from Panda Express!!

That's about all that is going on for now, thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate the comments and all the great support!!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Take care

New Computer and some stitching

Yes...lordy, YES!!!!! We finally have a new computer. The compute-o-saurus that we have been using for the past 10, yes, count them, 10 years has finally been put out of our misery!!!! It seemed that every time you would turn the thing on that it would creep along slower and slower. At some point I just know that thing would have been going backwards it was going so slow. Now we have a brand new beautiful computer with big flat screen, woo hoo!!!!! Our friend David is a computer person that knows virtually everything about computers. In fact he has been putting the perpetual bandaids on the old computer for that last couple of years, he brokered a deal through his computing business and presto chango we got a new computer and are hooked up to the cyber highway and not the cow path we were crawling down. Ecstatic is hardly the word for the way I am feeling towards that piece of plastic.
(how did we get along without these things before...just a few short years ago, I wonder????)

On Friday night a dear friend from NC stopped in to stay the night. He is an ichthyologist and was out here finishing up a project working with lantern fish in San Diego. He works both here on the west coast in the middle east in and around the gulf of Oman. Then on Saturday night, Theresa a friend from the valley came up to help Rico's softball team work their beer booth at the Folsom Street Fair. For those of you that do not know what the Folsom Street fair is it is a major leather/fetish street fair that has been going on for 23 or 24 years. Not my cup tea by a long shot, but it does attract thousands and thousands of people from all walks of life that are into leather and the like.

I did lots of stitching over the past few days but can only show you what I accomplished on Sunday. Friday and Saturday and last night was turned over to secret Christmas stitching, and exchange stitching that I can't show just yet. On Sunday I worked within the rotation and worked on Beatrix Potter. I turned the corner and and now working up the left hand side. Here is a snap.





and...here is what a cookie can do to a sweet Peach and her fear of cameras.....



That's about it for today. Thanks for stopping by and the nice comments!!!!

Take care,
edgar

Busy, Busy, Busy

I am just swamped and the picture I have sort of bites. So I will blog and post a picture tonight on the NEW computer at home. Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Take care,
edgar