A Little Stitchin' and llittle Jammin' and some Roses......

Gentle Friends...  a little stitching on Beatitudes... here's a snap...

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I got the plums on the stove and it filled my biggest pot to almost overflowing...

... just before the first boil...

... just after the second boil...

... now almost finished, this is after the third boil...Now just once more and then to fill up the jars!!

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You might remember that we usually get new flowers for the house each week and this week landed on some really interesting roses...I usually go for the yellow-orange variety but this just jumped out and was such a different shade of violet!!  They are really very fragrant also for store-bought flowers.

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again. Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Some Friday Flowers

Gentle Friends, trying to keep things bright round the house we've kept up getting flowers every week, and this week we have...

... some lovely roses... and I didn't even notice until I saw the snap how well they go with the pink transferware soup plate... since we are SIP they are nice to see!

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Thanks for stopping by do stop again!! Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Some Lilacs and Little Cake

Gentle Friends, after mass on Sunday we were walking down to the Castro for brunch and libations.  We passed a flower stand and there in one of the many flower buckets was my favourite spring flower... lilacs... and I couldn't resist... 

... so they came home with me and look lovely in the living room... and smell better!!

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There was a Mothers Day bake sale at church so I made ...

...  my Great Grandmothers Lemon Pound Cake... it's an old fashioned recipe, the cake is one of my favourites I've made many times!!

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

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Valentine Surprise.....

Gentle Friends, look what arrived at work......

...from Rico and the Who Hounds, they'll go home with me on Friday... flowers on the desk are so nice and brighten up an otherwise bleak work place!!!

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Happy Valentines Day a bit early!!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Touch of Spring

Gentle Friends, on our one foray out of the house Saturday to get some hound chow we 

picked these up.....

.... they were all buds in the evening and by late Sunday afternoon they had all popped open... so nice and bright, while out side it was gray and rainy!

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Short and sweet today sports fans, it's a dry one today after all the rain yesterday..... but there's more coming!

Take care,

edgar

Weekend Treats

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends your great comments where so nice to read this morning!!!  I do appreciate you all and love reading such nice things.

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The weekend unfolded into two sort of lazy "do what I want to" kind of days - I had some "might do" or "could do" plans but instead threw them into the bin and stitched, watched a bunch of flicks and cooked - I did get the vacuum pushed about and a couple of loads of laundry done, ironed and put up - and we did make a trip to the grocery store and farmers market- but none of that really cut into some quality "me time."  I basically stitched for both days - but none can I show as all of it is for two upcoming Exchanges.

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So, what can I show you ...

here are some flowers Rico picked up 2 weeks ago - still looking pretty damn good! (This snap was taken on Saturday) He added some vodka and sugar to the water and it really has extended their life.

I got a great present in the mail on Friday - I'm doing a little favour for a sweet Blog Friend and she sent me a "A Present for a Deer Friend" - from "In the Company of Friends."  They have some great things I have admired for a long time!!

I opened the box and out popped a lovely little note card and wrapped prezzie (isn't that super paper, I do love toile)...

Inside I found this darling tri-fold needle-keep with two marking pins, two needles and a gorgeous mother of pearl ruler - all of the pieces that "ItCoF's" do are hand made and just so sweet!!  At some point I'll show you what I am doing...  but not at the moment.  It is a bit too soon!!  :)

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I did get in the kitchen and rattled some pots and pans....  making....

cabbage rolls - hot and steamy right out of the oven...  and....

... some, cranberry/white chocolate chip cookies - I'll get those recipes up in the morning.

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After Mass yesterday we headed out to Trader Joe's and the Mall "Farmer's Market."  With it being winter there market was on the small side, but still vibrant...  I got some snaperoos...

.. aren't these unusual - they are a hybrid between a cauliflower and broccoli - of course I bought one and will steam that sucker up tonight... how can it be bad being made from two super tasty veggies!!

... there was lots of root and winter type things to be found....

...  and of course citrus - the Meyer lemons are pouring into the market - just lovely for pie and lemony things - and the little satsumas are super tasty - we got some and they are great!

The pretzel lady was there and so we needed a couple of these also - really delicious!!

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I think that about wraps it up for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

An Alpha Finish, Christmas Ornament, Flowers, Estate Finds and a Cake

GR&DF this past weekend was not as busy as other weekends - but I thoroughly enjoyed both days and did a bunch of fun things!!

Lets start off with the reveal of my Alpha Finish - Here is a snap of the entire piece -

Alpha Birds, Alpha Menagerie & Alpha Sheep - stitched as a single piece
by Sheepeish Designs
using my conversion on 36ct LL Vintage Exemplar
April 3 - May 23, 2010

This is such a long piece that getting a single snap was a bit odd so I also took separate snaps of each section.

Alpha Birds (with a lower band that I re-charted)


Alpha Menagerie (with a band that I charted)


Alpha Sheep (with the Alpha Menagerie Band)

This was such a fun piece to stitch!! I really like Sheepeish designs and now with my little pile of SD samplers I will have to get a stitching them up!! I have a couple of little pieces lined up to stitch next, but I am going to focus on my AEoL RR Piece this week and try to finish it up and get it back to Deb.

I heard from Mel that the ornament I stitched for her had arrived. It was a part of the HOE Early Christmas Ornament Exchange - here is a snap -

Prairie Schooler #117 - Prairie Stars - stitched on 30ct Angel Hair
using the recommended DMC floss.

On the way home on Friday we stopped off at the SF Flower Market to pick up some flowers for the house - we ended up with a couple of orchids and some Mexican tube roses - since I had my camera I got some shots of the flowers......

The orchid place we like has this great bromeliad tree - I have always like this thing - although I am not overly find of bromeliads - go figure.


Isn't this a beautiful orchid. Some of the flowers this guy has are just magnificent - and way less expensive than going to a florist of specialty shop.

some pretty flowers...


buckets of roses....

I look at these mounds of flowers and it looks like they mowed down a garden. I really enjoy visiting the market - especially in the Fall when all the Holiday stuff is out.

Rico and I also got to some Estate Sales on Saturday before his mom and nieces got into town. Here is a snap of my new bits and pieces -

I picked up some more frogs a couple of books a new flipper (I love the green handle) a great old frame and a super Weller vase. It would seem that I am cornering the market on frogs, but I picked up a couple of these for other stitchers that had asked me to if I ran into anymore. I asked Joan (one of the Estate sales worker that we always see) about these glass frogs and her take on it was that they are becoming harder and harder to find. She has been at this "sales" thing for about 30 years here in the Bay area so I kind of trust what she has to say.

Since Rico's Mom was coming up I made a coffee cake to eat on Sunday Morning -

The recipe made one gigantic pecan monster - but it was pretty tasty and there was plenty to take into the office this morning.

There you go sports fans - another week begins, but we are looking at an upcoming 3 Day weekend - so woohoo!!!!! Thanks you for stopping by, do come again.

Take care,
edgar

The Lilacs are in Bloom Again

GR&&DF I am so happy about how well received "The Young Victoria" was yesterday. Since the majority of films out there being made toady are barely worth the computer digitized space they take up - it was so nice to see a top notch quality piece!! Last night the flicker was "Angels Over Broadway" - 1940 - starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchel and John Qualen. A small film from Columbia Pictures written and directed by Ben Hecht. This is a character driven film with lots of snappy dialogue - mostly from Hayworth - and she is the reason to see the film. Fairbanks is miscast as the on-the- make gangster heel and Mitchel reprises another drunken mr. fix it role - only Qualen casting is spot on - as the downtrodden "almost" suicide. A short film that was not well received at the time, but worth a look since Rita was never lovelier!!

On the way home we stopped in the Castro to pick up some dinner at Zappata' s Mexican Grill. Across the street is a small florist that we like and they finally had some lilac's. I have been looking for the past month or so for some. Now the Spring can't start for me until I have some Lilac's!! So I trotted over and got me my bunch and here is a snap of them....

I had to cut some of the branchy parts off as they were just too tall - but they are beautiful and lush - I love 'em!! Even though it is now spring the weather here in the city was rainy and pretty cold yesterday - today it is supposed to get into the upper 50's and be sunny, but I will believe that when it actually happens!

There you go sports fans!! Thanks again for stopping by - do come again!

Take care,
edgar

Weekend happenings.....

Let me begin today's post with a big thank you to all the nice things you had to say about my new specs!! It is so nice to have so much positive feedback - when I was trying on frames I think I only tried about 6 on before I made a decision - I knew what I did not like so that made the job go lots quicker - also I make decisions pretty quickly - I am not a very wishy washy person - my dad had a saying.... "either sh- - or get off the pot." Colorful I know but words to live by!!

The weekend started off with a little running around Friday after work and in that maelstrom we passed a little flower shop - and they had just piles of flowers spilling out onto the sidewalk - I just couldn't pass up this bunch of beauties....


After gardenias I have to say that lilacs are some of my very favorite flowers!!! Lovely colour, lovely fragrance and such good memories!!! Growing up in Maryland the house we lived in had big lilac bushes on the side yard that where just wonderful every spring!!

Then on Saturday Dale and I ran around doing the usual estate/garage saleing
- here is my very small haul -

I enjoy old cookbooks and these were all from the mid 30's and where give aways then - on Saturday they cost me .25 each - I also found another the glass frog - but am not sure I really want to keep it...... the 19th century print of Paris is really nice and the two linen towels and olive wood utensil will be really handy. The small Jesus picture was practically free so I couldn't pass on it. The weather was just beautiful bright and sunny in the upper 70's lower 80's both days.

The two finishes from the weekend I can't show just yet - one is an exchange and has to get into the mail in the morning and is a secret. The other is the most recent La-D-Da piece - but the snap I have is so very bad that I am totally embarrassed to show it - can you believe it!! I will try for another snap today and post it tomorrow.

I think that's about it for today!! Thanks for stopping by!

Take care,
edgar