Only 2 days... Until the Big Drawing

GR&DF it will be a very shortish post today as I just got in from dropping off the car to get the breaks worked on!! Such a great start to the weekend!! I will pick that sucker up after work and hope it will not cost me a bazillion dollars.

Thank you all for the kind comments about the Pyn Keepe and the snaps of the market. The market is so nice and there are so many photo ops that it is almost impossible to not take at least a few pictures. I do also want to thank you for the nice things you had to say about the Pyn Keepe - Carol did such a great job on the chart - we can only hope that it will be one of many design she does.

Today is the last day to sign up for the Birthday Give away. If you haven't signed up (and you should, its free - and will be super de duper!!) you should click HERE and post a comment. Do it before 3:00 PM PST as that is when I will print off the participant names - right before I leave today.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing a bit of my life here -
Have a great weekend and Happy Birthday to ME!!! Woo Hoo - I'll be 46!!!!!

Take care,
edgar

A Present Arrived and some lovely Fall Vegetables

GR&DF I heard that a small present I sent has arrived - it had a very short distance to go so it got there especially fast!! Today, October 1st, is dear Valerie's birthday and I wanted to send her a little something - so what better to send a friend than a chart created by a friend. As you might know Carol has designed a couple of the most darling Quaker charts - Sew Red and Sew Blue - and knew when I saw it that one of them would be perfect to send to Valerie.
Here is a snap -

I changed it up a bit - the silk I used was Belle Soie - Elegant Eggplant and Red Fox (or it might be Rose of Sharon) they are very close is shading. It was super fun stitch and I am glad that Valerie likes it!!

Yesterday was Farmer's Market Day and I trotted myself over there and was blown away by how many really wonderful booths there where. I so enjoy just looking at all the really great set ups there are and seeing how lovely nature's bounty can look - so here are a bunch of snaps ..... ...... enjoy.....

Some gorgeous cabbages - and the various greens from the lightest pale green to some nice celadon shades-


How lovely are those carrots and broccoli!! - and the rich burgundy of the beets.


These delicate mushrooms all earthy, with deep browns and pale creams -


The ladies at here had a most beautiful stand - and their heirloom tomatoes when just spectacular!! -


These are the first of the pumpkins I have seen at the market - a real harbinger of fall -


Walking by this booth - I looked over and thought to myself
- how Christmasy are these peppers!!


All these apples looked beautiful and smelled wonderful.
That was a snapper visit to the farmers market - I didn't get a much as I usually do as we had been there on Sunday and had gotten quite a load then.

Stitching last night was on the Birthday Present Drawing piece - I wanted to include a stitched something along with the rest of the package and I am really pleased with the way it is coming out - no snaps of that yet - as it is to be surprise for the receiver - and you can still sign up for the Birthday Drawing until tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 pst.
Just click HERE and leave a comment.

Thanks for the kind comments and about the Tudors - I knew it just couldn't be me that didn't like the show.

That's about all for today sports fans!! Do come again!

Take care,
edgar

Midweek Movie Talk

GR&DF we are once again on the pinnacle of the week looking forward to the weekend!! No too much going on - we still have our house guest and she leaves at the "crack of jack " on Friday and then no more guests for a while.

There have been a few flickers that I wanted to mention - starting with last nights feature - "Year of the Dog" - 2007 - starring Molly Shannon, Laura Dern and Regina King. This was not a typical movie for me by any stretch of the imagination, but I found it quite charming in a disarming kind of way. The story revolves around Peggy (the Molly Shannon character) and the passing of her pet beagle, Pencil. It is her journey through the aftermath of this that brings her around to her finding her bliss in life. It is a film that is not for everyone and is quite odd at times. I specifically got it because I am enjoying Molly and the interesting parts she has been choosing over the past few years. Often she plays very small roles, but in YotD she carries the entire film, and does a rather good job of it.

Another DVD I got from NetFlix was the Season One, Disc One - of the Showtime "The Tudors" - 2007 - this has been recommended to me over and over again by so many people I just can't count them all. I popped the disc in and was expecting something wonderful and found something less than good. I guess if you dress up history in a sexy soap opera type setting and bodice ripping scenes then you have Showtime's "The Tudors" - I found this so hard to watch that I could only get through the first episode - feeling that if the rest of them where like this, and they probably where, I certainly wasn't going to waste the time. It seems to be a popular show and bravo for that, but for me it needs to be a little closer to historical fact than just a nod in that direction.

There was another bodice ripper DVD I received called "Frenchman's Creek" - 1998 - a BBC Masterpiece Theater version of Daphne Du Maurier's book. I should have know better but silly me I ordered it and then actually tried to watch it. Again a romantic silliness that was very predictable and highly fictionalized love story of a rich, but lonely wife and a evil, but big hearted pirate thrown together on the wind blown Cornish Coast. You can fill in the rest of the story.

A shortish post today as there is really not much else to talk about.
Do stop by again!!

Take care,
edgar

Some Super Mail .... and New Pidges

GR&DF thank again for the kind words about my snaps and adventures in Baghdad By the Bay. It is fun to do things out of our routine - I think it is just the getting up the gumption to do them that is half the battle -

Yesterday brought mail surprises..... where to start... I won a give away over on Sherry's Blog and the chart arrived yesterday - as you may have figured out I have a real weakness for samplers!!

It is a very traditional pattern that will be fun to do!! Thank you so much Sherry!!

The mail also brought my HOE Fall Needle Roll from Laurence.
It is a real darling and so delicate -

The chart is from Bent Creek - and the stitching is 1/1. Laurence also included a beautiful pottery French heart. She mailed this while on vacation in Germany and the PC included is from Oberammergau - a small village in the mountains that is famous for the Passion Play they have performed every decade since 1634. I have been to this little place and remember it fondly as very picturesque as are all the hamlets tucked into the Alps. Thank you so much Laurence!!

I also got a couple of charts to add to my SABLE stash pile...

I'm telling you I just cant resist them!! Now with all the new things coming out they are just wrecking me as I know I will have to have some of that also!!! I am just weak - weak I tell ya!!!!! My own stitching last night was on exchanges and RR things so no snaps.

We have some new Pidges - jeez does that Mama Stink Eye ever quit!! Here is a snap since the MSE hadn't moved off of them since they popped out of the egg -

Once again these cuties are just as vulture like as the other Chickie's.....

There you go sports fans - short and sweet - Remember that there are only 4 more days to sign up for the Birthday Drawing - to sign up click over to this POST. Have a great One!!!

Take care,
edgar

We had a Busy Weekend...

GR&DF the title says it all!! We had a house full and it was a busy, busy weekend!! Rico's cousin from Kansas City (not St Louis as I had originally thought) flew into SF on Saturday evening and will be with us the whole week. She is really a great person and yesterday we spent running around the city.

Let me back track a bit - on Friday afternoon Rico's mom and nieces and great niece drove up from the Valley for a shortish visit and to see the cousin. On Saturday they all went to Pier 39 and Dale and I ran around to the garage/estate sales - There was very little out there and I only picked up a couple books. But they had better luck shopping on the Pier and here is the baby in a fairy costume from the fairy store on the Pier....


Standing is not one of the things she can do yet - but rolling over and trying to crawl she can do very well!!

After the sales and a quickie lunch Dale and I ran out to the Spirit Store at the Mall. The Spirit Store is a temporary store space for the Hallowe'en Season that is just jammed packed with some of the most ghoulish and outrageous things you could ever imagine. Here in the SF area there are a few of them that pop up this time of year. The reason for the visit was for Dale. He has a big party on Hallowe'en every year so he needed to pick up a few things. We also stopped on at Party City to check out their scary stuff.

Now back to Sunday - after Mom and the nieces took off for home - we took off for downtown and the Civic Center Farmers Market. I of course can't go any where without my camera and so I took some snaps. Here is one from in front of City Hall -

and here are some beautiful greens at the market....

and here is someone looking for a hand out....

This little guy leads me onto the next part of Sunday's adventure. I often forget that we are so close to the ocean and never visit - I will see it from different places running around but just never make the effort to get down to the beach. Well, yesterday was so nice and the cousin wanted to see the sea so we trotted on over and it was certainly worth the visit - just a gorgeous bright blue sky and a warm breezy breeze..... and here are some snaps......

Looking north towards the Marin Headlands - the white building is the famous Cliff House.

We didn't take our hounds but there where plenty of others frolicking in the freezing cold surf.

and if you look very close you can see a surfer on that wave, there were lots and lots of surfers trying to catch any wave they could.

There were the sandcastles being washed out to sea as fast as they could be built it up. The tide had turned and was coming in so it was melting very fast.

The last snap will be Rico - he braved the freezing water and waded out into the briny murk!!

I stitched about 2 mins all weekend so no snaps of any cross stitching!!
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments!!

Take care,
edgar

Comments and Flickers

GR&DF it is once again Friday and our weekend will be full of visiting family from out of Town.
It should be very interesting to say the least!!

Last night I finished up the stitching on another exchange piece - I will need to have some sort of finishing marathon soon!! I think I will focus on Sail Away this weekend as I miss the piece and have fallen way behind on the SAL.

I do enjoy all the comments so very much - sometimes I do wonder if what I am typing and putting out there is clear and makes any sense to anyone but me and my befuddled brain! I did want to answer a couple of comments....

Evelyn asked about the Farmers Market and did it go year round - I am pretty sure that the Civic Center on goes year round, but the little one over in the Western Addition that we get to on Sunday's will close the second week of December - or around that time and re-open in May. There are a number of Farmers Markets around the city, but I only get to these two.

Sharlotte said some sweet things about my picture taking- it is by shear luck and taking about a bazillion snaps to get the one or two acceptable ones to put on the blog. For every snap you see here there are a minimum of 10 I throw away as just to sucky to see the light of day!!

...... and in my very poor French...... Chère Myriam, merci tellement de visiter le blog et descommentaires gentils!!

I wanted to remind those that haven't thrown their names into the Birthday Drawing - to go post a comment HERE - remember you can't win unless you comment!! The big day approaches with only a week left to sign up. Drawing on the 4th with the winner being announced on the 5th!!

Last night the flicker was an interesting DVD from Netflix called "Pompeii - the last day" - 2003 - a live action hour by hour account of the devastation of the city and the Bay of Naples in 79 AD. When I visited Pompeii a few years ago it was a fascinating and quite moving experience. I just loved Italy and this area was beautiful.

With Mt Vesuvius still looming over the Bay - it is just a matter of time before this volcano erupts again. The film is a short hour long but what is packed into that hour is just great.

Thank you again for stopping by, have a great weekend!!

Take care,
edgar

A Post with a Bunch of snaps

GR&DF I am glad you enjoyed the snaps of my past - I "borrowed" them from the Internet and when I posted them they cropped oddly and I am sorry about that. Addie - what a good idea about a sampler using the Blount-Bridgers House. I so enjoyed working in that space. Our offices where downstairs in the raised English Basement so it was always cool and comfortable. The House proper was both an Historic Home and Art Gallery. As Director and then Curator my main focus was art and art history which I really enjoyed.

Yesterday was Farmers Market Wednesday and it was blustery, cold and bright at the market. Walking over to the Civic Center I pass a lovely old theater called the Orpheum, 1926. It is a lovely old building in a pseudo French style - right now they are playing "Wicked." Here is a snap of the front -

I also thought the side advertising was quite interesting and here is a snap of that -

I loved how the shadows look against the wall.
At the Farmers market was a bounty of Autumnal goodies....... like....

......these beautiful grapes - how can you beat the colour on these lovelies!!!
And there were lots of Nopale fruit -

I really like the name "Cactus Figs" so descriptive.
Here is another stall with some fruit of the vine -

One of my favorite grapes to get are champagne grapes - so very small and tender sweet!!
"And they swan, and they swam , right over the dam" kept running through my head - as I got this snap.........

I knew eventually I would get one - and no yelling, nothing was said to me when I snapped this. The odd colouring is from the tarp they have that covers the large double stall the fish people set up in.

Last night we ran out to the Mall for birthday presents for my niece and nephew - and stopped into the Hallmark Store. They have most of their Christmas stuff up and it is truly a festive place!!! I took this snap of the ornament wall -

Sorry about the crappy snap - but my little camera just can not compensate for the low nasty mall lighting and it looks like the store is a cave, it really wasn't!! Now, I do prefer home made ornies, but some of the super cute ornies that Hallmark has put this year are just amazing!! We also stopped into Borders and I picked up two mags - Cross-Stitch and Needlework and the JCS Hallowe'en Issue.

I had no intention of getting either of these but after seeing the Sampler on the CSN issue and the Primitive Needle piece in JCS I knew I had to have both. On the sampler in CSN I will need to rechart the quote because I do not care for the lettering. The JCS Hallowe'en issue has the seasonal ornaments - which I could live without - I do like the La D Da one but that was no reason to get the issue, it was the article about Lisa of "Primitive Needle" and the chart for Halloween Revelry that sold it for me!!

After we got home and settled in I picked up on my Exchange stitching. I also watched a really delightful movie - "Miss Potter" - 2006 - starring Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson. I am not a big fan of Renee, but this movie couldn't have been any more charming and well done. Wonderfully shot and acted I thought it was completely enchanting!! It is a bio pic of Beatrix Potter's life. The first half of the film moves back and forth from the 1870's to 1902 in Beatrix's life and all she went through getting her books published. The second half is her life after publication of Tale of Peter Rabbit and the 20 or so books she eventually wrote. The film fleshed out the Peter Rabbit and company with bits of animation that added so much to the film - I can't say enough good things and would HIGHLY recommend this film!! I have read many reviews saying that Renee was wrong for this part but I disagree - she really did a wonderful job bringing Miss Potter and her world to life.

There you go sports fans!! I do thank you for the kind comments and for just stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar