Whoop Whoop it be Fridaaaaay!!!!!

GR&DF throw those hands in the air - and say again - whoop whoop!!! Another week has ended with its usual fizzle, but the weekend - and a three day weekend to boot - is here at last. Now it is officially - for me at least - Fall and all the wonderful things that go with this time of year.

The mail brought me a wonderful piece from the 3 Round Of the Prairie Schooler Exchange. It is a Halloween Ornament - and the first for me this year - Here is a snap....

My partner was Jo Anne (no blog) and she has stitched and finished a beautiful piece for me. Thank you so much - I just love it!!!!

it has been a while and I thought you might like to see the pidges - both the baby pidge and the "vulture "group that sort of hangs out waiting for a free snack.
Here is a rather plump baby pidge -

She is way skittish and starts to swell up and often flap and peep if she is disturbed. We are thinking she will always be this way due to the trauma from when she fell out of the nest/window box, but who knows... she could just be a psycho city chicken. Now across the light well from the nest/box there have been a row of "vultures" that sit there all the time -


We think that mama stink eye sits the closest to the nest at the left and that two of them are the first batch of "CC" (city chickens) and who the fourth is we haven't a clue. Some interloper looking for a hand out probably.

My stitching last night was on an exchange piece so no snaps. :(
I want to finish up my Needle Roll Exchange this weekend so there may not be a stitchity snap on Tuesday either, but you never know. :)

I wonder if anyone else is as spastic about the upcoming "Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow" as I am. Miss Kathy B released a sneak peek of Block 1 and Block 4 on her blog here and they are in a word GORGEOUS!!!!! I know, I know.... I have that last square of VoHRH to finish and I have all of the "Shores" NPI silk - but no linen as my bean brain wont decide on what I want to do it on!! Now, here is "Christmas" - and I must do this piece. Not only is it Christmas but it would seem that she is using one of my favorite carols as a theme - I am really excited - could you tell!!!

I'll finish out the week with a sweet puppy shot of The Peach....


Can you tell she had been asleep until I pulled out the camera, not one of her favorite things.

Thank you all for stopping by and commenting!!! Have a great 3 Day Weekend!!!
I'll see you on Tuesday.

Take care,
edgar

A Low Key Evening

GR&DF yesterday found us again in Dr. Cindy's office for an adjustment. OMG did I ever feel this one - you would have thought a popcorn machine was working overtime - she must have cracked every vertebrae and every joint on me - when she got to my neck and shoulders - she kept repeating over and over like some kind of mantra "you are so tight here"... "you are SO tight here"...... I think even after all the work on my neck and shoulders that "I am still SO very TIGHT there!!!" :)

We got home and Rico fixed some carne asada we had in the fridge. After that it was back to the salt mines and more cleaning!!!! Separating the crap stuff to be thrown away, from the crap stuff to be sold, from the crap stuff I just can not part with - YET.

It was not as long a session as the night before as I just couldn't get into the swing of it - after a hot shower I trotted on down stairs to the happy chair and flipped on the boob tube and found the first evening of TCM's Star of the Month movies on. This month they are honoring Claude Rains - Last evening were his films that got Oscar nods for his performances. I caught some of Casablanca and some of Mr. Skeffington - both top notch flicks that I would highly recommend and have talked about before here. I did watch a movie in its entirety - a Netflick Pix - "Call Northside 777" - 1948 - starring James Stewart. I had not heard of this film but really enjoyed it. A good movie about a cynical reporter trying to prove that an innocent man was railroaded into a life sentence for a crime he did not do. Well directed by Henry Hathaway and shot in and around Chicago the film has a very good and realistic feel about it.

I got about two stitches in on TiTD but not enough to show - so no snaps.

There you go sports fans!! Thank you for the comments I do enjoy and appreciate them!!

Take care,
edgar

A Beautiful Pyn Keepe and Commenting on Comments

GR&DF - Thank you all for the kind comments over the last couple of days - as always they are the bight spots in an otherwise very bleak life.... sniff, sniff..... not really so bleak , but I do enjoy reading them. What you don't see is in the morning I am sitting here all by myself I am usually talking to the computer as I read - you just can't hear me carrying on the conversation. Corinna asked about the salutation I have started to use - GR&DF = Gentle Readers and Dear Friends - I really like that and feel that writing this blog for the past few years I have come to know and feel that - although it is cyber space and I am writing out into the ether - that I have made some super friends. I always remember the old Irish saying "A Friend is a stranger you haven't met." I have met so many nice people through this space that I feel really blessed.

On meeting and making friends - Nancy - a reader of the Black Sheep - contacted me about my love of the tea towel. She wanted to send me one - well, yesterday I received a package that not only contained a beautiful towel, but she was she also included a great Fall Pyn Keepe - Here is a snap -


Isn't it just the sweetest thing and so appropriate for the season - Fall is my favorite!! Thank you so much!

After mentioning that I was watching a mini series about Napoleon - Meadow asked about my reading a trilogy of books about Josephine B. - by Sandra Gulland - Yes, I read them a year or so ago and would highly recommend them. Although a fictionalized story they are based on Josephine's life and are a really good read. I did finish up the a mini series about Napoleon. It is broken up onto three discs. Only Disc I and Disc II have the actual mini series on them. The third disc has some extras but they are not as good as they could be and could be missed if one was so inclined.

Shelia mentioned the one of Saturdays purchases - the DVD "Pennies from Heaven" - 1981 - starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. A nice movie with super music it was based on the TV Mini Series of the same name from 1978. The six part mini series starred Bob Hoskins was produced by the BBC.

Margaret commented that her husband was a bread baker - my hats off to him.... I am so envious as my bread baking is sorry at best and a total disaster on most occasions. I think there is a real nack to having a loaf turn out correctly and I just do not posses this nack. Talking about bread - Julianne said that her daughter noticed the way the bread in southern California tasted different - it has to be the water supply - bread and bread products change from place to place because of the different water used some places have really great bread while others are not so good. It is also the flour used but water has a lot to do with it. Maggie remembered having Dutch Crunch bread here in the city - Most shops that make sandwiches or sell bread have Dutch Crunch bread - I love it and when given a choice about what bread should be used in a sandwich - I will choose a Dutch Crunch roll over sour dough every time!!

Cindy Mae said that her Farmers Market is kind of expensive I am lucky in that the Farmers Markets I frequent - the one in the Civic Center and the one in the western addition have really competitive pricing and are often much lower than any super market around. Even when stopping by a green grocer in the Mission the prices are better than our chain store - Safeway - Not only is the pricing better but I really like the idea of getting produce directly from the farmer AND in season. Yes, it is nice to be able to get a strawberry in the dead of winter but what does it taste like and how far did it have to come???? Eat Seasonally and shop locally - my produce mantra.

I did want to say that we have a balcony again - out building manager has let us know that it is complete -so we will be re planting - so to speak - since 95% of the plants that we had are brown sticks - it should be nice for the Fall.

Last night was a total non-stitchity evening. I spent the entire time cleaning out the guest bedroom closet - That sucker was packed - from top to bottom and front to back - sort of bulging with a ton of stuff that needed to be gone through. After sorting through the piles and dumping a shopping cart full into the trash - I have ended up with quite a few bags and boxes of stuff ready for the Garage Sale we are having on the 12th. Dale, Rico and I a hauling all our "not used" stuff out and having a sale. I was amazed at the things I found and had kept. Way too much stuff - time to declutter my life a bit!!!! We still have the second master closet and the hall closet to get into - then we need to get into the storage area under the staircase (what a total nightmare!!!) - but it needs doing and there is no time like the present to get rid of the unwanted!!!

Thank you all once again for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Bada Bing - Bada BOOM!!

GR&DF - that was the sound of my computer not working yesterday when I got in to work. Heaven only knows what was up with this evil box of magic but I just couldn't make it open up and play nice. So I was at a loss to post any kind of anything - It just bit the big one!!! I tried off and on for a couple of hours and at about 8:30 the monster decided to work, but by that time I was not only behind in everything - I was unable to get any kind of post up - so sorry.

The weekend - or I should say the couple of days leading up to the weekend were really warm - our weather here in the City is usually very cool or comfortable, but sometimes we get the unusual heat wave and that was what was going on. Thursday and Friday, but especially Friday was the warmest of the three days - in the low 90's in some parts of the City. By Saturday morning you could tell the winds had shifted and by the afternoon our natural air-conditioning was back on and the fog was rolling in!!!

Saturday found us running around again in Dales Jeep with the top off (I wore a hat so no scalp burn) and finding quite a few treasures. Here is a snap -

Not as great a pile as some weeks but some nice pickins - I got a small planter, a tack hammer in the size I had been looking for - a great 3x5 flag, a nice old wood painted darning egg, a couple of DVD's and a sweet sterling frame with a picture of baby Freddie at 6 months old - it says so on the back of the picture - I cleaned that sucker up a little and the silver is a bright as if new it where a new frame - it was black when I bought it from the thrift store.

On Sunday we ran over to Eddies for breakfast and then stopped by the little farmers market over there. Here are a couple of nice market shots -

There where some beautiful heirloom tomatoes from Garcia Farms.....

and there was a new bakers stand at the Market - Bakers of Paris from Brisbane - their gorgeous bread was so tempting and....

so were the pastries - in fact they where so tempting we caved and got an apricot danish for Rico and I got a chocolate croissant. We also picked up a...

sweet baguette with seeds - the staff of life!! (sweet does not mean that the bread is sweet it only means that it is not made with sour dough - they have both sweet and sour breads)

Walking back to the car from the market we passed a small shop that had really interesting front windows - with a nautical theme...on the left was....

with a tiny mermaid floating in that glass ..... and on the right was this sculptural piece....

It was hard to get a decent snap but you can see how interesting she is. I enjoy just walking around different neighborhoods as you see the most interesting things in the windows.

On the stitching front I heard from Faye that the ornament I made for her had arrived. I knew that she likes Quakery things and she is from NC - so I thought why not combine the two - and I knew the perfect chart ... here is what I made for her -

It is called "Quaker Small" by Praiseworthy Stitches - two red birds and a great Quakery motif - you just can't beat that with a stick!!! I used Belle Soie silks on 32ct mystery linen. I made one of these for myself last year and just love it!! Faye says that she is very happy with the piece!!
I also finished up the stitching on Sail Away -

Here it is with only day light illumination - It is just chugging along - I loved stitching the three long bands - the repetitive in and out of the needle is so relaxing. Now on to the next part!!

Another piece I worked on was TiTD - and here is that progress....

I got the tree done and some of the fruit and leaves on - I need to get the letters and numbers on so that I can start that long and tedious filling in with the white.

I will skip the flickers today as this has gone on long enough.

Thank you for continuing to stop by read my babbling and still write nice comments!!!
I do appreciate them!!

Have a great one!

edgar

Friday Posting

GR&DF thank you all for your kind words and support for my ongoing - hair ripping problem!!! And let me tell you there ain't much hair to rip!!! I am now sure that the balcony will not be finished by the end of August - today is the last day of the month. The worker types do not EVER show on Fridays - I guess there is just too much beer out there.... I did notice yesterday when we got home that they had attached the underneath covering - so that is another minuscule step forward. Now I am anticipating the painting/staining of all the wood that was replaced - not just the balcony but all around the sliding door there is new exposed wood. If they don't do something about sealing the wood by next spring it will be all warped and moss covered - I guess we shall see what we shall see.

I worked a little bit on Sail Away last night. I also started the Fall Needle roll Exchange piece. So there are not snaps this morning. :(

The flicker last night was the first two parts of a TV mini series called "Napoleon" - 2002 - starring - Christian Clavier as Napoleon, Isabella Rosellini as Josephine de Beauharnais, Gerard Depardieu as Fouche and John Malkovich as Talleyrand. This mini series is very good and easy to follow even if you have no knowledge of Napoleons life. The production is top notch and they went to great lengths to get the look of the film correct - costumes and sets are gorgeous and authentic to place and period. There are two more discs to come but if they are anything like this one it will be well worth the time put into watching the whole thing. For those who like history or the early 19th century I would highly recommend this series.

Keeping it short today, have a great weekend.
Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Will there ever be a balcony

GR&DF yesterday brought more balcony issues - as you know our balcony was removed back in February - yes February - 7 or so months ago. From the 2nd week of February up to about 3 weeks ago our sliding glass door was sealed and 2/3rds boarded over in a crappy condemned building kind of way. 3 weeks ago the door was uncovered and finally the property owners were getting to our balcony replacement. Now, we had been promised that it would be done and finished by the end of the second week of August - I, of course knew better and said at the time "I'll believe it when I see it!!" Of course the 14th of the month came and went and it wasn't completed. Yesterday we come home to our new and improved balcony railing in pieces all over the parking lot - not only were they going in the opposite direction about getting this project done but had actually broken up the new railings. By about 6 pm the railings where soldered back together, screwed onto the building and sprayed black - but that just puts us back to where we where on the 17th..... I would bet money its another month before they say we can use the damn thing again!!!! Bitter, table for one!!!!

Stitching last night was again on TiTD - I know I should have been working on the Sail Away piece but I wanted to finish up the house. Here is a snap of the finished house and what could possibly pass a a black pidge.....

I will start up the next section on Sail Away tonight. I don't want to get to behind.

Yesterday was Farmers Market Day and I have a couple of snaps of
the bounty that was out -

There was a ton of eggplants out - I passed on all of them - as Rico wont eat them and I only like them in a couple of very specific dishes - oh well - they were spectacular in color and volume. Here is another snap -


Aren't these some gorgeous peppers!! They were piles of them in many of the booths. My shopping was confined to my usual things, nectarines, tomatoes, string beans, Brussels sprouts - and of course a bag of the salty sweet crack we know fondly as Kettle Korn!! I also got a dozen lovely brown eggs from the new egg vendor. I cooked up some and made egg salad last night. So today I have egg salad for lunch - How bazaar is that piece of information!! :)

The flick last night I wanted to mention was a TV adaptation of "Great Expectations" - 1974 - starring Michael York as the adult Pip and Sarah Miles, James Mason, Robert Morley and Anthony Quayle. A very low key version of the Dickens novel. It was an adequate version but far from spectacular - for spectacular I would look to the David Lean version of the same title done in 1946. The 46 version is so far superior in acting, photography and adaptation it is almost a different story. But, as always these are just my humble opinions - if you like Dickens stick to the 46 version.

There you go sports fans!! Thank you for stopping by and for the kind comments yesterday!!!

Take care,
edgar

Some Cakes a House and a Fox

GR&DF here we are again at mid week, and not only is it
Farmers Market Day but it is only 2 more days to the weekend!! :)

On the way home yesterday we stopped off at the store
and I just couldn't pass up these beauties-

I think that Madeleines are just about the best cookie/cake around!!
Just a delicious bite of lite pound cake. One of my favorite things.

Last nights stitching was my working on TiTD -
getting bit done on the house and here is a snap of that progress -


I am really enjoying this sampler very much. I am thinking I always want to have some kind of traditional sampler going all the time - and I have quite a few in the stash pile. The next one I think I will stitch was sent to me by a dear reader of this blog - It is called Hetty Child and is one I have been wanting to do for a long time - I am not going to stitch it in the recommended DMC floss' but in Bell Soie silks - and now I am trying to figure out which colours to use and substitute. Since there is only 7 colours in all it will not be too much trouble.

The 3rd Round of the Prairie Schooler Exchange piece has reached my partner - Nicola.
Here is a snap of the Pyn Keepe I stitched up for her -

This is called Fox and Grapes and has been in my stash for a long time. I used DMC floss but not the recommended colours as they were a bit off - or at least I thought so - the biggest change was the house colour - It is charted out in an off white - I did not like that so now it is light blue. I have wanted to do this for such a long time and this was the perfect opportunity.

Last night was a double feature DVD evening - starting off with "Hocus Pocus" - 1993 - starring Bette Midler, Kathy Nijimi and Sarah Jessica Parker. I have loved this film for years and seen it many, many times. I know it has its detractors and nay sayers but I think they forget a few things.... first off - it is Disney, secondly it is for kids and it is not to be taken seriously or be historically correct by any stretch of the imagination!!! It is a fun, clever Halloween Flick that is lots of fun - and I totally recommend seeing it !! The second flick of the evening was "Canterbury Tale" - 1944 - from the film making team of Powell/Pressburger - A wonderful look at England on the eve of D-Day - using the stories of three very different characters to propel the movie froward - it is not a love story - yet all three have unhappy loves in their lives - it is not a typical mystery - yet there is a mysterious figure and situation. Beautifully filmed in and around Canterbury and the Cathedral - at a little over 2 hours this slow paced film moves along at a very nice pace telling its own story.

There you go sports fans!! Thanks for dropping by!!

Take care,
edgar