Happy New Year!!!!!

Have a super New Year's Eve welcoming in 2013!!!!!!!! 

 

Take care,

edgar

".... and They Sinned" A Quick Update

Gentle Friends thanks so much for stopping by this morning.  Not much going on here, it's pretty chilly (for SF) and we are expecting the rain to swoop in this afternoon/early evening ... leading us into a very wet weekend - or that's what we've been told to expect.  Nothing at all on the agenda for the next few days except a New Years Day party - an annual event given by some very close friends - I missed their Christmas Party, I just was not in the mood - but I really am looking forward to Tuesday.

____________

I said I would get a recent shot of ATS up today, and although I have been plugging away at the grass, there seems to be miles yet to go -  there is just so much green to fill!!!  Here's the snaperoo.....

As you can see I am doing the darker "Shutter Green" stripes first, then the lighter "Green Apple" will go ( should go) pretty fast, all the counting through the different bits really slows me down for some reason.  I am happy I chose to stitch the grass, as I like the visual weight it gives the piece - and no matter that it is taking so long to get stitched, and even if I go a little in January, I am still enjoying this stitch very much -  and will miss this "monster" after when it's completed.

______________

On Wednesday we lost a super voice of the "60's."  

 Fontella Bass - 1940-2012

Fontella Bass passed away from complications caused by a heart attack she suffered at the beginning of December.  Her signature song that she is best know for is "Rescue Me" - 1965 - I found this great clip on You Tube.....

The biggest hit of her career, and one she will long be remembered for - RIP sweet songstress!!

____________

That's about it for today sports fans, have a super weekend and wonderful New Years eve!!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little More Christmas....

Gentle Friends we had one quiet little Christmas we went to the candle light Mass at Most Holy Redeemer, it was a lovely service, with lots of music, decorations and candle light!!  On Christmas morning - we slept in a bit and got up late - I baked up some sausage Pin-Wheels I had made the day before.  Even with all the changes to my Christmas this year I was determined to keep some of my family traditions going, sausage Pin-Wheels is one of them and - I also made a Birthday Cake...  baby Jesus gets one every year and I wasn't about to not have one this year.  The type of cake changes from year to year, we had many a "Robert E Lee " cake growing up.... this is a coconut cake with 7 minute frosting filled with lemon curd.  

This year I decided to make one of my favorites.... Pat's Rum Cake....

I have made this many times... the only glitch being was my empty liquor cabinet - as I had no Rum for the cake.  I picked up this bottle at Trader Joe's  - that's a clear bottle it's in....  very nice and dark rum!!  It was a hit as always. 

After our little breakfast, and a quick dog walk... and a visit to Chauncey and Nikita (the two sweet kitties we a watching for some Friends while they are are in the UK - we settled into opening up some presents!!  One of my favorite things Rico gave me was the Bluray of the first two season of Downton Abbey.  One of my favorite shows and I can't wait for them to start up again on January 6th!!  We also received a very special gift from Shirlee and John.  I waited until Christmas morning to open it up, although I was told I could open it early, and to my surprise were two lovely BBD Stocking ornaments!!

 They look super on the the tree!!!  Thank you so much Shirlee!!!!  Perfectly stitched and finished!

 ____________

- I really wasn't in the mood to make a big elaborate Christmas dinner... instead I made reservations!!  We had a fun and entertaining dinner at Benihana's over in Japan Town.  It was lots of fun - and they were just packed and turning away people both at the door and over the phone!!

_____________

I am still plugging away on ATS - and even though I said I was going to show an update snap, I am gonna hold off until Friday for that.

_____________

That's about it for today sports fans - I hope everyone had a super Christmas!!  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Two Wonderful Packages!!!

Gentle Friends yesterday was a super mail day as I received two great packages!!  

The first opened was from Karen, my partner in the "Friends Stitching Through the Seasons" - this was our last Exchange and once again she sent a super package!!  Here's a snap.....

Included but not shown is a great 123 Stitch Gift Card!!  I couldn't wait to get the lovely ornament on the tree....

This is one of my Top 10 Favorite Christmas Carols!!  I found this Flash Mob version of it on You Tube that is really wonderful....  I think you'll enjoy it !!

 ___________

The other package was a lovely Christmas present from my stitching Buddy Charlene.  She hit the nail on the head with what she sent.....

What a super ornament from my favorite Christmas book!!!   I hung it near other special ornament of a Christmas Classic!!  The other ornament Charlene sent is totally me....

 This gorgeous Black Sheep - he is lovely and fuzzy and looks so great on the tree -  Thank you so much Charlene, these great additions to the tree are so perfect!!!

______________

That's about it for today and wraps up the week - I'll be back next Wednesday with a progress shot of ATS and the ever growing field of green!!

Take care,

edgar

Some Puppy Pictures

Gentle Friends I finally got it together and got some snaps of the puppies, including the newest addition to the "Who Hound Herd." 

This is the new puppy in to our family....  at a little under a year old and about 3 or so pounds he is one bundle of energy....

 

Here are the two man dogs - you can see that Smokie is a bit bigger than the "Humpster" or Stewie as we call him - they both are in continual "Grab-ass" mode - which has one good thing going for it, it gives Lolly a break from Smokie and his wrestling around.

.....and here they all are trying to crowd each other off the heating pad.. clockwise from l to r - there is Peaches, Lolly, Humpi and Smokie - they look really cute, but don't let that fool you, they can be little devils when they want to!!!

On the tree this year is a great ornament that a Friend of Rico's gave us...

 ________________

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

Take care,

edgar

Movie Stuff

Gentle Friends your wonderful comments about the Exchange were so nice, and I do thank you!!

____________

Yesterday the mail bought a couple of things I bought from Amazon a while back and were back ordered for some reason...

... when these books first hit the shelves I knew I wanted them.  Last night I only quickly perused them, and they are both just full of stills from the films and lots of photo's from their each of their lives and careers.  Although the info on each film is a bit scant in the Elizabeth book it's the pictures that really make the book super.

_______________

Last night was a Netflix Pix - a real "feel good" film called "Big Miracle" - 2012 - starring John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Ted Danson and Kathy Baker.  Based on a true story this film set in Barrow, Alaska follows the fate of a family of Grey whales that are caught in rapidly forming ice in the

Beaufort Sea - just north of Barrow.  The film shows the coming together of Governments, public and private agencies and just plain town folks in a massive effort to save these majestic animals.  I enjoyed this film and really liked the idea that the whales were the focus of the film. I would totally recommend this film!

_______________

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

Take care,

edgar

A Christmas Exchange Arrived

Gentle Friends your super comments about my finishing the grass field are inspiring... but all that green is a bit overwhelming.  I'll just keep at it until it finishes up.  I already have a piece I will start in on the 1st and "come hell or high water"  I'll pull out a new needle, the fresh piece of linen and some silk and make a start.  I usually just keep using the same needle from project to project until it breaks or I loose it, usually I have used a needle so long that it becomes very thin and breaks.  The needle I am using at the moment for ATS is one I have used for a long while.  I wonder how long one should use a needle.  I know the gold plate wore off a loooooong time ago.

__________

Over the past year I was part of a small group of stitchers "Friends Stitching Through the Seasons"  we did a quarterly Exchange and my partner, Diane, received her last package yesterday.  I really enjoyed this group quite a bit and will miss it next year.  Here is a snap of the piece I stitched for her....

...... the chart is from Homespun Elegance and is one of the Cinnamon Stick's, I love this quote from "A Christmas Carol" - and have wanted to stitch it up for the longest time, and this was the perfect opportunity!!  Although I did the stitching on this piece it was wonderfully finished by sweet Faye over at Carolina Stitcher, her finishing is top notch and makes the stitching that much more special - Thank you Faye!!!

_____________

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

Take care,

edgar

Eatin' Out With Friends and ATS

Gentle Readers it was a chilly wet weekend here in the City by the Bay - and for the most part I was a numb butted stitching fool!! 

We did venture out to forage for food  - and on both occasions it was to savour not only fun food but fun folks also!!

On Saturday evening we went out to dinner with our "cat" friends from upstairs.  We watch their kitties whenever they travel - an they are going away again over the Holidays for a quick visit to London.  So we had to get together and talk about that - since it is one of my most favorite cities there is!!  We went to a new place, for us at least, called Starbelly.  it was totally tasty and we had a great time.  The menus changes often - and keeping with the talk around the table I had the "Starbelly bangers and Mash"  with roasted Brussel Sprouts, finishing off the dinner with a warm toffee cake!

Then Sunday morning after Mass, we met up with Shirlee and John for breakfast, they were in town over the weekend visiting and soaking in some of the SF Christmas Spirit!!  it was a super time and we had a great time just eating and talking.  Or, at least John and I did talking movie stuff.  When I get with another film person I love talking about movies.  I think that Both sweet Shirlee and Rico were very tolerant of all the movie blather going on at the table and then spilling over onto the sidewalk.

It is always so fun to meet another Blogger -  and make that final personal connection!! 

________________

I have been working on ATS a bit and am now into the "field of grass."  here's a snap...

As you can also see I am tempting fate by pre-dating the piece before I really finish it...  I am still going to try and get it done before the end of the year.

____________

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

Take care,

edgar

...and the Winner is.....

Gentle Friends last night I had Rico haul out the BoD (bowl of destiny) and draw a winner for the quilt books...

......  and the winner is Mary from over at "Neat and Tidy."  Thank you all for entering and keep an eye out for another Gift-a-way coming up really soon!!!  

____________

That kinda wraps up the week on a high note!  Thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

TCM Remembers

Gentle Friends thank you so much for your great comments...  gotta love the Muppet's!!  I would have to say that - probably my favorite version of ACC has to the 1970 musical "Scrooge" with Albert Finney...  I'll get to that one in a couple of days.  Last night's 1938 and 1951 versions I enjoyed, tonight I think there will be a Netfilx in the mail so I'll watch that first....

__________

Keeping with the film theme this week I saw the TCM Tribute piece for 2012 yesterday and once again they did an outstanding job, it's a little over 5 minutes long, enjoy.....

I am still plugging away at ATS, I think I'll show a progress snap on Monday after a weekends worth of stitching.

Thanks again for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Scrooge-a-palooza 2012

Gentle Friends last night I began my annual "Scrooge-a-thon" or as it has come to be know in my little brain.....  "Scrooge-a-palooza!"

I hauled out all the version I had of "A Christmas Carol" and started in on the oldest... "Scrooge" - 1935 starring Sir Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer scrooge.  This film made in England at the beginning of the sound era is a bit creaky in places but it is still a charming little sugar plum of the season!!

After this ACC was over I flipped on regular TV over to AMC to catch another classic Christmas film "Miracle on 34th Street" - 1947 -

Now, I love this film, but they were showing the "colorized" version which is just beyond the pale....  so after a few minutes of my eyes burning in protest... I flipped back to the DVD player and popped in my "correct" Black and White version and watched that instead - and thoroughly enjoyed it!!! 

Tonight I'll be watching -  the 1938 "A Christmas Carol" and probably one of the two best versions of ACC  ever put on film - the 1951 "Scrooge."

________________

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

Take care,

edgar

Back to the "Gift-a-Way"

Gentle Friends once again your comments and emails are very heart warming and lift the spirit so much, thank you!!

I though I should get around to holding my Fall Drawing/Gift-a-way, I will have the drawing this Thursday and announce the name on Friday.  So, if you have not left a comment on that Post, then click on over before this Thursday to be included.

____________

I have still been getting my Netflix Films and wanted to mention one I saw recently...

... "Last Chance Harvey" - 2008 - starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, IMDB sums up the film in a nutshell....." In London for his daughter's wedding, a rumpled man finds his romantic spirits lifted by a new woman in his life."  I thoroughly enjoyed this film and found both Hoffman and Thompson in top form and giving great performances.  Although a bit on the predictable side at times,  I would recommend the film without hesitation.  Just a nice little film that tells a nice little story - rent it for yourself and enjoy!!

_____________

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

Take care,

edgar

Some Recent Stuff

Gentle Friends I wanted to say again how much all the kind words you have sent via Commenting, Emailing or the lovely cards in the mail really have made a great deal of difference - and I do thank you all so much!!

______________

With everything going on in the last few weeks - one of the things we didn't do is take our annual  snap of our "little family" at Thanksgiving.  I guess we'll try and get one this Spring.   By the way our family has grown by one "who hound" -   a little black and tan Chihuahua rescue named Wahumpa that I call Hunka-munka.  I'll get a snap up at some point.  He is super feisty and really gives Smokie a workout.  We did put up our tree, but not much else, just not feeling it this year.  My Christmas Cards are going out really late also.....

___________

On the stitching front I have been working on ATS a bit....  here's a snap...

Not sure if I'll get it finished by the end of the year like I planned, but I'll give it the old college try!!

_____________

We made it out to the Mall for some Christmas Shopping....

I got a snap of Santa and he and the elves were doing a super job with the all the children.  We got a lot done and most of it will go into the mail in the next couple of days.

___________

Yesterday I baked a Pineapple upside-down cake for Rico and his work buddies 

- it was a request from Jose - he helped us with a flat tire we had last week - so the least I could do was whip up a cake!!  Thanks Jose!!

___________

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

Take care,

edgar

Getting Back

Gentle Friends I wanted to thank you all so much for your kind comments and condolences.  I am getting back to things - I have 100's of emails that I know will take quite a while for me to answer.

The last couple of weeks were a roller coaster of feelings and emotions.

Since I haven't picked up a needle since 11/17 I really have nothing in that department to show....  but I will be back at some point.

Thanks again, and Take care,

edgar