Jean Simmons - 1929-2010

GR&DF your kind comments as always make my morning!!!
Thank you so much!

As you know I am very fond of the Moving Pictures and like nothing better than to be stitching and watching one. Usually I talk about a film after watching but today I wanted to bring to your attention a tribute evening on TCM. Last Friday the Movie Industry lost a wonderful actress - Jean Simmons.

As the usually do TCM is paying tribute to her wonderful career in the films with three outstanding picks - The films they are showing are start off with - "Great Expectations" -1946- starring John Mills, Alec Guinness, Jean Simmons and as you know another favorite actress of mine - Martita Hunt, This is a very early role for Jean and she is just super playing the young spoiled Estella. The director is the great David Lean. If you have not seen this version I would highly recommend it!! Second on the bill is "Elmer Gantry" - 1960 - starring Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Dean Jagger and Shirley Jones. Burt won the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role and Shirley won the Oscar for best supporting actress. Another great film to see. The third film of the evening is one I have not seen - "The Happy Ending" - 1969 - starring Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Lloyd Bridges and Teresa Wright. Simmons was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress in a leading role but lost out to Maggie Smith playing Miss Jean Brodie in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." The films start at 8 pm EST/ 5 pm PST. It should be a great evening!!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!!! See you on Monday!

Take care,
edgar

Super Mail and some Flicks

GR&DF I do thank you for such nice comments yesterday about my little bit of re-charting. I had quite a few emails about the Q square and my other changes - I will try to post them all when I finish the sampler - but I am so bad about making notes if you don't see and explanation about anything feel free to ask.

Yesterday the mail brought me some wonderful things from two very dear friends I have made here because of blogging.

From the Holiday Exchange Blog I received my Valentine Exchange from my partner Becky. She once again spoiled me with her package - as she is wont to do....... The beautiful box arrived...

and after taking the brown paper from the mail off was this beauty!! Opening up the box I found that Becky had filled it with such goodies..... candy, ribbon buttons, Valentine decorations..... my goodness ....my poor spinning head!!

with the star piece being a gorgeous needlbook.....


beautifully stitched and finished!!! This opens to reveal...

lovely brown and blue paisley pieces for needles - and there are even some needles already there! I am just in love with this needlebook. Not only because it is beautiful and came from sweet Becky but because it gives me hope. The hope you ask about.... I have avoided the needlebook finish because of my non-sewing skills - but the construction of this needlebook I might actually be able to accomplish - It is beautiful, functional and inspirational!! How often can you say that. Thank you so much dear friend for the wonderful exchange!!!

The mail also brought a sweet gift from another dear friend - Donna - a friend I made a couple of years ago when she organized the LHN RR that I participated in.

Donna had sent me an email a few weeks back telling me she wanted to get me a chart that I wanted and what would I like to have. Well, I thought about it for a moment or so and then almost immediately said "Paradise Lost" by Plum Street Samplers - and so slam bang it arrived yesterday. This was such a very generous and kind gesture - Thank you so much dear sweet Donna!!! I now need to think about stitching it up and wondering if it can take a Belle Soie Conversion..... I wonder????


Sherry asked what was up on the stitching agenda after AlphaBlocks - nxt up is "Memorial Sampler" from Midsummer Night Designs.

Picture from the chart pack - I will need to chart out my family names. I had wanted to do this last year and got all the floss but just never got a good piece of linen I liked. I also ran out stitching time - Now I have a great piece of linen and it is next up so it will get done over the next few months.

The flicks for today start off with a hum dinger - "To Each His Own" - 1946 - starring Olivia de Havilland, John Lund and Mary Anderson. This film is one I had not seen before and really enjoyed. Set around 1917 the story is told in flashback and evolves around a small town girl in "trouble." This trouble is adopted by another woman after the loss of her baby. The story wraps up with a teary revealing scene in London during WWII. Certainly a woman's film from the period - Olivia de Havilland was very good. For a real tour de force picture of Olivia's watch "The Heiress" - 1949 a great film with a great actress!! Next up - "It Should Happen to You" - 1954 - starring Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford and in his first starring role on film Jack Lemmon. A delightfully breezy comedy of a girl that wants to make a name for herself - and does she ever - in a big way!! Then ensues all the hilarity and of course and love triangle. The direction is by that super director George Cukor. The next flicker is "Bell, Book and Candle" -1958- starring Kim Novak, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Elsa Lanchester and Hermione Gingold. Another great comedy with a magic touch of the mortals and the supernatural. The last film today was last nights flicker - "Pennies from Heaven" - 1981 - starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters and Christopher Walken. A superb but dark musical of the depression. I have alwys enjoyed this filom and over the years has gotten a big cult following.

It's getting late so I will sign off dear ones!!
Thank you again for your visit and your kind comments do come again!

Take care,
edgar

Q Block, Comments and Learing a Thing or Three!

GR&DF again I must thank you for your kind words!! Warm thoughts on this - a cold and blustery Wednesday morning. We are drying out a bit with no rain for the next few days, but another storm is gearing up for next week. That means we might actually be able to get to an Estate sale or Consignment Shop this weekend!!

Last night I finally got to work on the Q block of Alphablocks. If you have noticed I have worked all around an avoided this block - for no other reason than I was pondering a complete re-charting. Of all the blocks this is the one block that I have never cared for. IMHO it just did not fit with the rest of the images, so I have been turning over ideas as to just what I could replace it with. Finally I settled on an idea and here is a snap of the block as it stands today....

The chart I made is a sort of 9 Patch quilt banded in brown - I like this much better than Queen - and think that with the blocks - N for Needle and X for X-Stitch it is a better fit - I may put something in that white space next to the quilt but will leave it alone for now.

I wanted to talk about a few of the comments from yesterday....

Ariadne asked about my flicker watching - yes, I do watch films and stitch in the evenings - it is my decompression and down time. How I sitich is another matter.... imagine two of the the three hounds on me - usually Pete is laying across my shoulders and either the Peach or Lolly is snuggled down on my left side - that is me and my very poor stitching posture. The movie channel I watch the most would be TCM - this is a super station and they show films 24/7. We have HBO and other pay channels but I seem to settle on TCM more than any other movie channel. I also have a Netflix account - what works for me is the 3 disc rotation. It is usually a day turn around for a disc and by keeping my queue full I always have something either coming or going.

Judy mentioned Terri and her Alphblocks piece - it is Terri's finihsed piece that is the cover photo on the chart - this lovely piece was one of the reasons I wanted to stitch this sampler. The blog universe is a great place to see others works and find new inspiration for stitching.

Melissa asked about the Sheepish Designs charts - I got them from Em-Li's. She still has quite a selection and I figured that with the charts disappearing so fast and going OOP I better just bite the bullet and get what I want now instead of paying the big bucks on the secondary market. Melissa is also having a great give away for her 100th Posting so click on over and comment before the 31st.

Sherry asked about acquiring my copy of CHS Alphblocks - as with most of my charts as I finish them I usually pass them on to other stitchers - and this is no exception. I would love to pass this one on to you except I have promised it to another stitcher as part of a trade. If it falls through I will certainly let you know.

Talking about trades and tradiing - I am thinking about other charts in my stash heap and have already started to cull this pile of things I have done or may never do. I am hoping to get them together so I can make some other trades. Keep watching as I will probably happen sooner than later.

Last night it was an evening of interesting history. There were 3 Netflix Discs awaiting perusal - starting off with "Echos from the White House" - 2001 - This was not some dry history of the house itself - although I would have enjoyed that also!! - but the written word of those that had lived in the house and their impressions. All the letters, diary's and words were spoken by famous actor types. Pieces where read or spoken from the earliest words about the house by George Washington to the present day. I really enjoyed this presentation and had never seen it before. Second up was a National Geographic TV piece - "The Last Voyage of the Lusitania" - 1994 - I had seen this special before and it was nice to see it again. Such a tragic event that instigated the US into WWI. The last but certainly not the least was another National Geographic TV special - "Inside the Vatican" - 2001 - I had never seen this special but I have visited Rome and spent quite a bit of time inside Vatican city - so it was nice to see places I had been and some places that regular tourist types never get a chance to see. All three of these specials where made for TV and are pretty shortish - except the Vatican which was about 90 mins.

There you go sports fans. Thank you again for making my little Blog a part of your day - do come again!!

Take care,
edgar

Stash, Stitchin and a few Flicks

GR&DF the title sort of tells it all - in a nutshell!! It is still raining here and will continue on and off for the next week or so. I so love the rain and rainy days and nights. I think today will actually be a more dryish day and then the storms start to pour in from the Pacific again. In the afternoon and evenings when the hounds go out for their "communing with nature" time - I don't think they really care for the cold wet grass and pavement and I think that if they could they would prop up on a single foot to keep the other three dry.

Yesterday the mails where great - I decided that with all the trouble I had with acquiring the Sheepish charts I should try and get any of the other SD samplers that I wanted now if I could-

They arrived yesterday along with the November and December BBD Stocking charts. I really like the SD samplers as they are not too big and usually have some really great specialty stitches to keep things interesting. Now that I have all 12 of the stocking chart books I should probably get to stitching some of them up!! I also received in a trade.....

The final piece of the SD "pillow" charts - "R" is for Rabbit. I was so happy to get this part and now have to work things around in my brain as to how I am going to get them all to go together.... with an odd number of charts should I try my hand at creating a sixth one to make things even....?

I worked some on Alphablocks.... here is a snaperoo -

this is the lower left hand corner.... still liking this one and moving right along.

The block of films today starts off with a fun film - "That Touch of Mink" - 1962 - starring that perpetual "girl next door" Doris Day, Cary Grant, Gig Young and Audrey Meadows. I really enjoy the DD films and can watch them over and over again!! Once again Doris plays a beautiful girl - but she is an out of work computer operator who wants nothing but to get married. Cary Grant plays a business man that goes from affair to affair without any intention of marriage until he "splashes" the Day. Great movie with a few giggles and a happy ending. TCM on Sunday showed a couple of great films starring John Lund. Today he is not as well remembered as some but he was a very credible actor of his time. One of his more memorable films is "Foreign Affair" - 1948 - starring Jean Arthur, Marlene Deitrich and of course John Lund. This film is set in post WWII Berlin with Lund playing an Army Captain dating ex-Nazi Cafe singer Deitrich. When in flys Congress Woman Arthur - so begins the triangle of love. A great film directed by Billy Wilder. Sunday afternoon TCM showed an old favorite of mine "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - 1961 - starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard and Patricia Neal. A great flick every time! Last night the flickers where - "Sweet Bird of Youth" - 1962 - starring Geraldine Page and Paul Newman. The film was taken from Tennessee Williams play and just crackles with the superior acting with most of the original Broadway cast. The last movie for the evening was "The Diary of Anne Frank" - 1959 - starring Millie Perkins, Jospeh Schildkraut and Shelly Winters. Winters won her first of her two Oscars for the role of Petronella van Daan. A really great movie interpretation of the story of the Frank family in hiding.

There you go sports fans.
Thank you for the kind comments and for stopping by!!
Do come again!

Take care,
edgar

Back up and running....

GR&DF what a super welcome for our newest little who-hound. She has sort of settled into a routine. Although last night was a complete circus - she was up and down and walking around about every 45mins or so like clockwork. Each and every time she would get up she wanted to play with either Pete or the Peach and they were not having any of that at 1:50am. Eventually she settled back down but I am feeling it this morning.

I missed out not posting on Friday as I stayed away from work thinking I was coming down with something... I felt way better by evening and the rest of the weekend - so who knows. Rico's mom and entourage came for a quick visit Saturday afternoon - here is a shot of the grand baby. She really likes this hat!!



My weekend was basically a non-stitching Saturday and then yesterday I worked exclusively on an upcoming exchange so there are no snaps of that - yet.

There have been a ton a flickers lately - I'll talk about some and will break it up into chunks over the next few days - First up would be "Female" - 1933 - starring Ruth Chatterton and George Brent. Ruth Chatterton plays a tough executive running a family automobile factory. She plays by her rules and runs things with an iron glove. She uses men as playthings and is anything but typical for the time until she meets Jim Thorne played by George Brent. This is a DVD included in Forbidden Hollywood Vol II. Worth watching for the sets and costumes if for nothing else. The next two are Netflix pix - "Ridicule" - 1996 - a French film of pre-revolutionary France. The basic story is of a poor nobleman coming to Versailles to get funding for draining the swamps in and around the Dombes. The Versailles of 1783 that he comes to is a place where only the strong survive - and I do not mean strength in muscle but strength of the mind. Where a misplaced word or step can destroy a reputaion instantly. A beautiful and clever film of the rot at the beautiful and superficial court of the Ancien Regime. I usually don't talk about foreign films here but this one is worth a look. It starts off with a bit of nudity but don't let that put you off the movie. The second film is another fun "French" film - "Merci Docteur Rey" - 2002 - starring Dianne Wiest, Jane Birkin and Stanislas Merhar. A Merchant and Ivory Production this film was written and directed by American Andrew Litvak. The setting is Paris, and there is a murder and some really funny situations and some great lines. The film is also full of the famous in cameo roles. Do not come expecting "A Room with a View" as this is not that kind of film. I really enjoyed the film and was laughing out loud in some places. The last two films are fully subtitled, but if that's not your thing then I would avoid them.

There you go sports fans!! Thanks for stopping by.

Take care,
edgar

3lbs of Love

GR&DF Thank you for stopping by and for the nice comments about Alphablocks. It is a fun piece to stitch on as are all the CHS pieces. As a group they are beautiful to look at an a delight for the stitcher.

Last night was a complete bust for any kind of anything!! After dinner and cleaning up the kitchen I settled into my chair with the hounds and promptly fell asleep - so there was no stitching, no movie watching - no nothing but warm hounds and a ton of snoring!! I guess I needed the sleep but just hate to waste an evening doing nothing!

Speaking of hounds - there was an addition to our little family yesterday...... like the title states we got 3 more pounds of lickity love ........

....sorry about this extra crappity snap of mine - you must welcome our newest hound-o-licious.... Miss Lolly. I just couldn't get her to stay put for more than a second and even when she sat for the 5th or so cookie - it is not as clear as it could be - but you get the idea. How this bundle of joy landed in our arms is sort of a odd story. Here goes.... one of my co-workers mother breeds and raises Chihuahua's and Lolly was a gift to him. He is really not able to have a puppy/dog where he lives and so Lolly has been living with a friend of his. Now, the friend was not really able to have another dog as he already has two and so Lolly needed to find a more permanent type home or Heaven only knows where she would have ended up. I am sure everyone has heard of the Chihuahua explosion here in California - and in the Bay area it is really bad. I was approached since we already have Sweet Pete and The Peach to see if we would we like to have Miss Lolly??? Of course we would and so we have this darling 8 week old 3 pound bundle of rambunctious love. I will try and get better snaps of Lolly up soon. How the other two who-hounds are reacting is how I though they would - Sweet Pete is scared to death and runs as I knew he would and The Peach is leery yet curious - not too much snarling and very little barking - but lots of the Mohawking (where all her hair stands up in a line down her back it kind of looks like a Mohawk, hence the name).

In the comments Colleen mentioned a movie I had forgot I wanted to see - "Defiance" - 2008 - It is now on the queue - thank you for reminding me. Maggee also mentioned a film I really love - "Songcatcher" - 2000 - a super movie I recommend highly!!! Jill asked about Alphablocks and the stitching -I am doing it 1 over 2 - for some reason the last few piece have stitched have been 1 over 2. I have really enjoyed the 1 over 2 - to me on 36 ct linen 2 over 2 looks heavy and on some 36 ct it is just way too tight - so 1 over 2 fits the bill. I would also encourage you to click over to Jill's Blog to see her gorgeous finish of the Isa Vautier Sampler!!! This super piece is something I have waiting in the the to be stitch stash pile. I have quite a few things to stitch so it will be a while before I get to it.

Ther you go sports fans! Thank you once again for stopping by and for your kind comments.

Take care,
edgar

Is that a Zebu in your Pocket?

GR&DF your kind words made my morning - it is still storming away with blustery winds and pouring down rain!! I think it is here to stay for the next few days. We have had such dry winters for the past many years that a nice wet one is a very good change!! Carol asked about what a Zebu was and I was very curious also as I stitched him up. A Zebu is a southeast Asian kind of water buffalo - for more info click HERE.

A couple of Zebu's pulling a plow


Yesterday just before dusk the sky broke through the clouds once more and we had another glorious rainbow -


This one was very large and spanned the entire city.

Last night I stitched some on my upcoming exchange and then moved on to Alphablocks,
here it was before getting rolled up for the evening -

I watched a number of flickers over the past few days. Let me start off with the oldest of them - "Charley's Aunt" - 1941 - starring Jack Benny, Kay Francis and Anne Baxter. This film adaptation of the popular play was a lot of fun. Set at Oxford University in 18090 or so it is a cross dressing, misidentifiction and greedy fun comedy. A very early role for Anne Baxter and a very late role for Kay Francis. It is great to see the ascending and descending stars interact on screen. The next flick would be "Dragonwyck" 1946 - starring Vincent Price and Gene Tierney and supported by Spring Byington, Walter Houston and Anne Revere. This Gothic drama set in the Hudson Valley was a winner!! I so enjoy Gene Tierney and she was wonderful playing against Vincent Price. "Sunset Boulevard" - 1950 - starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden is a favorite flick of mine that I have spoken of before. The last film I saw last night was a Netflix Pic - "I am David" - 2003 - starring Ben Tibber, James Caviezel and Joan Plowright. What a wonderful film even if the plot is a bit implausible you cant help but be moved by the adventure of this child. I am usually not a fan of child actors, but in this case Ben Tibber carries the entire movie on his his very young shoulders. The basic story is a child who for a reason you are not too sure of has grown up imprisoned in a Post WWII "concentration camp" in Communist Bulgaria. He has to escape and needs to make his way to Denmark. You don't know why nor do you know who has helped him with instructions. The big reveal/twist at the end even had mean old me choked up. I would highly recommend this film - at about 90 mins it isn't too long for you to be moved. There is a line of dialogue spoken by Joan Plowright that I really love... "most people are good" - a lesson for us all. All four are very good and very watchable films!!

There you go sports fans.
Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to leave your super comments!!

Take care,
edgar