TGIF - Finally

GR&DF it is here - finally - the day of the week we do not dread - as Mondays are a downer -Fridays are just duper de duper!!!

Last night I was cleaning/straightening/shifting the crap around and instead of moving some frames upstairs and into the closet where they belong I thought tomyself - "hey self, why not just frame something!!" So of course my mind shifted to something more fun than messing with the mess!!!!! And, the result is this -


I am liking the way this looks in this old wooden gold frame. The piece is so busy that any bigger frame would look way heavy. After the last tack was in I got that sucker up on the stitching wall!! Here is a rather crappy snap of this space which I have the darnedest time trying to get a snap of -


I then got to some exchange stitching.

The "big storm" is pushing in from the Pacific ocean this morning and Mission street is already showing the wet of that mess and I think today, tonight and even in the morning the rains are going to be heavy and the winds blustery - which sound to me like a warm, stay in the house stitching weekend!

Just so you don't think I did nothing constructive last night I did get the four loads of laundry washed and put away so I don't have to do it this weekend!!

The flickers last night where - "Guadalcanal Diary" - 1943 -starring Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte and a really young Anthony Quinn. A hard hitting film version of the first offensive in the Pacific Theater. Just one year after the actual invasion it was an amazing movie for the time. This was followed up by "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" 1953 - a great musical romp starring Marylin Monroe and Jane Russell and aptly supported by Charles Coburn and Norma Varden. A really fun film that if you haven't seen it you should make the time.

There you go sports fans - Have a great weekend and do stop by again!!

Take care,
edgar

A pretty Long post with a Bunch of snaps

Where to start..... stitching this weekend was either more Christmas stitching or the finishing up of the large ABC SAL piece - and here is a snap -


This was a super SAL from Gazzette94 - It started back at the beginning of the year. Mine is stitched on 32 ct LL Vintage Barley using those buttery silks from Belle Soie - Plush Plum and Teddy Bear. The only change I made was in the initials at the bottom. I did that 1/1 so that I could include the year.

I also heard from Deborah over at Lavender Rose Ramblings that the 1st of the PIF's had arrived. Here is a snap of her package -

I used letter "D" from Alphabet Zoo to make a PynKeepe. It is stitched using HDF silk called Baneberry - one of my favorite colours. I am so glad Deborah enjoyed getting the package it was lots of fun making it up!!

On Friday evening we had Dale over for his Birthday dinner - his birthday was the week before but things kept us putting it off again and again - So it wasn't until Friday we could get him over - I made stuffed shells (he never would tell me what he wanted - such an easy guest to please) and here it is before the "cheesing" -


I also made some garlic bread and a big green salad - this was followed by a cake that Rico ordered form a work colleague of his - and here is a snap of that beauty -


Dale's favorite flower is the Sunflower - the cake itself was chocolate with a smooth chocolate butter cream filling - it was very good!!

On Saturday we ran around to a couple of sales and my haul was on the small side -

Here is $4 worth of goodies.... three vintage linen kitchen towels, a old measuring cup, one great old transferware platter in the "Oriental" pattern and a great old pair of gold plated embroidery scissors. Now you can't beat that with a stick!! We didn't get to as many sales as we normally do as Dale had to run down to San Jose to work.

I did get some shots of our "City Chickens" - Pidge and the pidgelettes -

Here are the Pidgelettes - Stan and Laurel - now we ever only saw one egg so I guess they are twins?? and here is big Pidge and her ever present stink eye....

Since the pidgelettes are getting so big she has been leaving the nest more frequently to forage I would guess.

And there you have it - another weekend in my life!! Hope everyone had a great one!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

It's Thursday

I couldn't think of a better header - sorry. Not too much going on. Thank you all for the kind comments about the QFRR - (Quaker Friendship Round Robin) It was lots of fun to do - even with the headaches. The last two that are out there are Carol's - Valerie has that one and Valerie's is with Donna. I stitched on more Christmas stuff and a little on the big Abecedaire piece - the last two parts where posted and I am just now getting back to working on finishing it up. If you click on the link and scroll down there are quite a few finished pieces posted - It is amazing how many different interpretations and colour changes you get when a bunch of stitchers get going. You can also see how different floss choices are in the Mary Wigham World Wide SAL. Some of the colour combos are just spectacular. I am downloading this Quaker beauty to do in the future - and am leaning towards greys and blues with touches of red.

The flickers for last night where interesting - one bad and one good. The bad flick was "The Long Ships" - 1964 - starring Richard Widmark and Sydney Poitier. I love what one commenter on the IMBD site called the film - where the Vikings meet John Cleese. It was an absolute cheesy adventure "epic." I got about 3/4 of the way through and had to turn it off - it was very odd and not in a good way. The second flick was the movie version of Carosn McCullers novel "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" - 1968 - starring Allen Arkin, Sandra Locke, Percy Rodriguez and Cicely Tyson. I really enjoyed this movie and had no idea that a movie had been made of the novel until I saw it on Netflix. It is a really moving film about loneliness, kindness and of reaching out to others at 2 hours the time just flies by.

Thanks again for stopping by - and for the nice comments - I always appreciate them!!

Take care,
edgar

A Winner, Some Goodies, A Frame up…Some Stitching!!!

I will start off with the winner of the 2nd Blogoversary here at BlackSheep Site
- drum roll and a snap of The Peach a Pickin......

.... out the winner from the Bowl of Destiny..... (Now I know why you should never work with animals or children!!!! They just don't perform queue - ever!! ((is that a snack bite in there with those entries????) ) But, all that aside the winner that got pulled from all the entries was Jen over at My Stitch in Time - a newer Blogger here in our cyber universe - go check out her blog. Now - Jen just email me your snail mail address and I will get you super de duper prize in the mail. The email is edgar matt @ g mail . com (leave out spaces).
Thanks again for all of your kind regards and here's to another great year of my yapping and stitching!!!!!

On Friday the company Rico works for had the annual share holders meeting - super fancy and over catered as are most of those functions - well, all I can say it whoop de dam do - I love a party with catering - He brought home some leftover stuff -

and these....

We certainly made out and both of us were a couple a rooting hogs!!!
Just some delicious goodies!!!

I wanted to thank both Sherry and Jill for encouraging me to step up to the plate and try and frame something myself. I have been getting various frames from estate and garage sales and wanted to use them instead of having new frames made. It is so very expensive as we all know!!! Well on Saturday I ran down to Michael's and picked up some foam board and pins and just decided to try my hand at framing!!! Here is my first ever frame up -


I think it turned out really nice. So, for less than $10 I have a great old mahogany frame and the satisfaction of doing it myself!!!! There is going to be more framing in my future - In fact I have a list of glass I need to have cut for some other pieces!!!

I finished up the latest section of the ABC SAL - and here is a snap...

Only two more sections and this lovely will be all over -
I am still really enjoying stitching on this!!!

- and here is a new start - from La-d-Da - called "Peaceful Ways"

This will be a pretty quick stitch - I really like the colours and the sentiment.

Thanks again to you all for entering my 2nd Annual Blogoversary drawing
and for the continual encouragement!!!!

Stop by again!!!

take care,
edgar

Friday arrives

Here we are at another week ending and the glorious weekend is here. I heard from Amy that the Ornament I made for her had arrived safe and sound. Here is a snap....

I really enjoyed stitching this one up as I really like Midsummer Night Designs. I think I will need to make me one for our tree - it is called "Christmas Angel" and is from the JCS 2007 Ornament issue. I used the recommended floss' and stitched it on LL Maple sugar. I am still working on stuff that I can't show yet - but will in the near future!!

Yesterday we took the hounds out, like we do every day when we get home and this was sitting at the end of our street -


Now wasn't that sweet of someone to leave seating for the tired masses!!!! Such a classy thing to do!! Our street dead ends and doesn't go through. Behind this settee is a grassy little area (dog run) and then this drops off to a craggy cliff down to the backside of Noe Valley. I have seen other things "dropped' off here but never a broken down velveteen, being held together with staples couch!!

The flicker for last night was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - 2008 - starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton and Taraji P Henson. What a super movie and great story. I was a bit uneasy to get this - with all the hype about it when it came out - with all the usual Hollywood bull being slung about. I was very pleasantly surprised!! it is quite a long flick coming in a 166 mins - I would absolutely recommend the film - the production value was top notch and the special effects were there but done very well.

To answer a few questions that popped up over the week -

Yes - I did get a pair of those wonderful sunglasses to wear around when I was dilated - and what a thrill that was!!!

The silk that I am using for the ABC SAL -

is Belle Soie - Plush Plum and Teddy Bear - they are ECU school colours (purple & gold).
GO PIRATES!!!!!

Colleen - I also love the movie "Witness for the Prosecution" - 1957 - one of my all time favorites!!! Every actor is top notch and does a superior job!!!

There you go chickens!! (see Coni I also can't break the GG spell either) Remember today is the last day to sign up here for my 2nd Blogoversary - give-away - drawing!! I will announce the winner on Monday!!

Thanks for stopping by!! have a great weekend!
Take care,
edgar

Rain, Stitch, Rain, Stitch, Movie, Stitch, a Winner and a Blogoversary Secret Prize!!!!!

Well, I was proved wrong with the rain - although not a downpour - it was a steady drizzle and spit for 2 and a half days more or less - and that was very welcome!!!!

On Saturday Dale and I ran around to a handful of Estate sales and I bought a couple of books and a Freida Kahlo poster for Rico and that was it! I was home pretty early in the afternoon which I spent watching Part I of "Mapp and Lucia" 1985 - a superior BBC production that I can not recommend enough!!! Taken from the books by EF Benson (which a great BTW) and brought to life by Geraldine McEwan and Prunella Scales. If you have not seen this series you really should!!

I did finish up ....

Flower Basket by La-D-Da - what a great Spring thing to stitch! I used a piece of unidentified 36ct linen and most of the recommended WDW Floss'.

On Sunday we got together with some friends at Los Jarritos for breakfast - then after getting home I settled into working on my neglected ABC piece - I did finish up last months section and got started on the section for this month and here how it stands today...



I am still really liking how this is coming along and will get the rest of this months section done this week!! It was a Judi Dench double feature on the tube from NetFlix during the afternoon. Starting off with "Jack and Sarah" - 1995 - where Judi was more supporting than starring - predictable by nice film of loss and redemption. The second flicker was "Iris" - 2001 - a love story about Iris Murdoch and her husband as she struggles with Alzheimer's disease - The storyis told with flashbacks to when they were students.

I heard from Julianne - she received her ornament for the Ornament Exchnage.
Here is a snap -

She really likes PS and so I stitched up a Santa from "A Christmas Visit" #50 using the recommended DMC on 36ct LL Maple sugar Linen.

I wanted toThank everyone that entered the "Lo Rose" Book drawing..... And we do have a winner for the Christmas Book - I loaded all the names into a Randomizer and out popped "Robin" - So Dear Robin if you could get me your mailing address I will get the book on its way to you. Just drop the address to me at edgar matt @ g mail . com (take out the spaces)

______________


I also wanted to announce that this is a Blogoversary week here at the Black Sheep - In fact it is my second Blogoversary!! So in honor of this momentous occasion we are having a drawing on this Saturday May 9th - If you would like to win the secret prize..... just comment on this post and mention it on your blog (if you have one) and I will announce the winner on Monday, May 11th. I am not going to post a snap of the prize as I want it to be a surprise until the winner receives it in the mail!!

______________


Thanks for stopping by !!

Take care,
edgar

Friday is here....

I was just not up to blogging yesterday as I felt like a giant Crapazilla!!! I didn't want to leave off the week without a post - so I am here today for a short one.

The only stitching has been on some exchange pieces so no snap. I did get my Woodland exchange off yesterday - just under today's deadline - Happy Arbor Day!!!!!! Weekend stitching will be finishing up the exchanges and getting my ABC piece in order for the next part which I would think is coming out in a week or so.

No movie for Wednesday evening as I just went home grabbed a coverlet and proceeded to become one with the couch all evening - passing from coma to lucidity and back again - It was a lovely sight!!! Even the hounds had a wack at it. Since I was on their territory it was up to them to jump on me and walk around to see if edgar-lump was still breathing - then jumping back down a couple a dozen times. The Peach especially has a way of pushing just right when she gets down... and if you think a 5 pound chihuahua doesn't get much thrust behind her you are mistaken!!!

Last night was much better - and the flicker was "The Man Who Knew too much" - 1934 - the first Hitchcock version. I thought I should see the original since I really enjoyed the 56 remake. Let me just say it was a very stiff 30's movie made with no budget - I did enjoy it and would recommend it just to see and early Hitchcock piece.

Have a great weekend!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Take care,
edgar

It's Friday..

The computers were down for most of the day yesterday, but now we are much better and I'm back for an end of the week blab. Heaven forbid I actually blog at home - The rule I made for myself is that I will only get on the computer at home under great duress - Since I sit in front of one at work all day long I simply refuse to touch the one at home!!!

The only stitching I have done for most of the week is a little bit on the ongoing ABC SAL - here is a snap of the pitifully small bit I have done -

(could this be just a little more crooked!!!)

This is the decorative part of section 5 and the beginning of the box that will hold "O,P,Q and R." I just can't seem to get motivated to stitch - but I am sure it will pass. I am really feeling the startitus bug a gnawing away.... I may have a new start come Monday -

Flipping around looking at blogs I have seen a few glass jars with smalls inside - what a super idea!!! I looked around my house and found the prefect glass jar, It is one that I found in the attic of my Grannies house when we where cleaning it out. Here is a snap -

I have used it as a cookie jar and other such things but recently it has just sat empty on top of the fridge. I like what is embossed on the knob and screened on the side "Eat Tom's Roasted Peanuts" 5 cents. Now it holds many of the smalls I have received and looks great!!!

There were quite a few flicks over the last two days - On Wednesday TCM celebrated Jane Powell's 80th Birthday with a bunch of her films - that were just grrrreat!! Then Last night they had an Alexander Dumas Fest showing a few films made from his stories. Wednesday flicks were - "Royal Wedding" - 1951, "Two Weeks with Love" - 1950, "Small Town Girl"- 1953. These three films are simply great - Jane couldn't have been lovelier and the music was super de duper!! They showed one of her best movies very late "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" - 1953 which is one of my favs, but I just couldn't stay up to watch and I have seen it dozens of times already. Last night I caught two of the films from the Dumas Fest - "The Corsican Brothers" - 1941 starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Ruth Warrick - A really great adventure film - This was followed by - "The Man in Iron Mask" - 1939 - Starring Louis Hayward and Joan Bennet - I really liked this film and had seen it before.

I think I will leave off this week with a snap of our kitty here at work
- she has gotten very "boxy" this week.....

Thank you all for stopping by and for the great comments!!
Have a super weekend and see you next week!!

Take care,
edgar

Not very productive....

Last night - I had my ABC piece out as the next section went up on Saturday. But did I get many stitches in - nope!! Needle and linen in hand but not much action!! What I did was watch a movie and then another 2 hour piece on cable - thank goodness for on demand!!! The Movie was "Flirting With Disaster" - 1996 - starring Ben Stiller (not my most favorite "actor"), Patricia Arquette, Tea Leon, Alan Alda, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, and Lily Tomlin. A pretty good ensemble piece and really quite funny in spots - It was recommended to me by a friend who knows I like to watch movies.

The second feature made up for the first by leaps and bounds - it was - "Little Doritt" - 2008 - I really enjoyed this as I do most things from Masterpiece Theater. I especially like Charles Dickens and have voraciously read everything he ever wrote and have reread many of them a couple of times. Remember he wrote my favorite story of all time..... "A Christmas Carol." This version of Little Dorrit is a very good one a worth watching.

There you go - Thank you all for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

A fun and rainy weekend....

The fun was Saturday and the rain was Sunday - not really but that is what it seemed like. Today and for the next few days it is supposed to rain and rain and more rain - and boy, can we use it!! I know that other areas of the country are just dry as a bone - talking to my Mom last Thursday she told me that the fires in Florida have got a jump on the year and have started up already - talk about dry as a bone!!

Lets get to the weekend - Dale and I (HI Dale - he is now a lurker out there reading this blog so I can't say anything too mean) took off on our weekly hunt for the wonderful and found quite a few things. Here is a snap of my treasures....

Isn't this an odd group of things?? I found the Ecko spoon and picture at the same place - each for a $1. The picture I really love as it has a name and date on the back - 1935. As you can see I have another Christmas plate.... now I have two - so what's up with that?? Just something else to collect dust but isn't it sweet?? I am a sucker for blue and white anyway and being a Christmas thing just makes it that much nicer!!!

On Sunday Rico and I got over to Eddie's - our breakfast joint and found that the little farmers market has started back up... we got.... strawberries...


these lovelies are from Gilroy - the Garlic capital of the world.... and....

these from Garcia's Farms outside of Merced. We also picked up some onions, bear claws and some tulips - that really brighten up the house. It is just getting going again after being closed for a couple of months so I expect there will be way more people there as the weeks go on. After we left the farmers market we headed over to the Antique Collective (Mall) and did some browsing. I found this...

A lovely copy of an early Sieanese(?) triptych of a Madonna with saints. Rico bought this for me - wasn't that sweet of him!!!!! I love it!!! and have it hanging up already!!

On the stitching front I know that Carol S received the ornament I made for her. She is the recipient for February for our Group Ornie Exchange. Here is a snap -


I also did up part 4 of the Grand ABECEDAIRE piece....

and I finished an exchange piece that will get mailed tomorrow.

That's about it for today - this has gone on far too long!!!

I did want to answer a question from Friday - for craft-i-leigh - I also started off learning and working on Aida cloth - and when I got back into cross stitching a few years ago I found out about linen and was totally intimidated by the stuff!! I eased into it by working a couple of printed on linen pieces then jumped in with 28 ct - now I really only work on 32 or 36 count splotchy hand dyed stuff - I don't use any company exclusively but use different ones depending on the actual fabric - now I wouldn't go back to Aida cloth as linen has such a nice feel to work with and the finished product is so very nice - hope that helps.

Thank you all for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Thinking about WIP's

Yesterday I was here at work and of course I was obsessing about needlework!! God forbid I actually do any kind of work that might be expected of me - !!! So thinking about cross stitch and my WIP's - I wonder what is a normal number of pieces "in progress." Is there a single number or is it different for everyone? I wondered if it was just me and my unorganized life that causes the WIP's - I am thinking it is those wonderful designers out there always coming up with new and wonderful things to stitch!! So how can this be my fault!!!??? So when I got home I pulled out my WIP's. You should have seen the looks I was getting from the audience of the Hooch, the Pooch and the Peach and the Rico - not pleasant I must say!!! I define for myself a WIP as something large that is getting stitched or not stitched as the case might be. I do not count exchange pieces nor do I count any kind of gift piece as a WIP.

Here is a snap of my WIP's

These four pieces are from l to r - Village of Hawk Run Hollow, Forgiveness, ABC SAL, Beatrix Potter Companion. I made a decision that I can finish up VoHRH and then move on to one of the Quaker pieces before I start up another piece ....... and that start is a toss up between two Carriage House pieces - either Alphabet Sampler - the Whole Kit and Kaboodle or The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I am really leaning towards the Alphabet Sampler piece. I think the reasons are three fold - 1). I really love Alphabet samplers - especially this one, 2). I already have a great piece of splotchy linen for the Alphabet sampler and 3). I want to re-chart the Shores piece for over-dyed threads instead of the silk called for that I already have acquired. ( Joke is doing a HRH piece in over dyed floss' and that really appeals to me) I also think that coming off of Village I may not want to start up another piece so similar..... AND I just can't make up my mind about the linen for SoHRH as the recommended is way too yellow/gold for me. I still have quite a bit of time since I am about 3 1/2 squares from finishing VoHRH.

Oh well - I can obsess on this stuff for a while!! Don't forget to throw in for the give-away - in yesterdays post!!! Am I really over thinking this -
I will tend to do that occasionally - or I should say - all the time!!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!!
Take care,
edgar

A fun weekend doing what I wanted to!!

And that's the truth!!!! Most weekends I have to give up and bend to others wills and wants but this weekend I did just what wanted to!!! To the irritation of some I am sure but you know what - they can just bite me!!! (my, my that was kinda harsh!!)

Saturday was a fun day of garage sale/thrift shop/ and Goodwill - carousing - we ran around to a bunch of garage sales, and even 2 Estate Sales and found absolutely nothing really worth getting - I think sometimes that garage sale-ing is very seasonal. It was at a thrift shop where I hit pay dirt - Here is a snap -

So I found some kitchen stuff. I needed a sifter as the one I had broke about 10 years ago and I never got another one. The sifter - $1.50, the strainer - $ .37, the wooden spoon - $.29 - so for a grand total of $2.16 I did pretty well - my question is...who on earth marks things 37 and 29 cents?? The majolica pitcher came from a store called Community Thrift - and was $10. I really love majolica and have a few pieces but it is usually so expensive I can't afford it. When I got to the counter with this cream pitcher - the woman there asked was it very old - I said about 120 years - I think she was stunned. This is about $40 or so off the true price so I got a deal!! It was a really fun day - even going out to lunch at "Good Frickin Chiken" in the Mission - really tasty Mediterranean Food - silly name fabulous food!!

I had a hankering for a favorite snack - so I made my version of Nuts and Bolts (chex mix) - I just love this stuff....


Every now and then I just get a craving and have to have some!!

On the stitching front - I worked some exchange pieces - so no snap. I can show a couple of other things I worked on..... Part Three of the ABC SAL posted on Friday - Here is the progress -


Part three was the GHIJ, reindeer box and the leaf band under. This is a really fun stitch and I can't wait for part 4 to post!!

I also worked on Le Jardin - and here is a progress on that piece -

This is working up really nice and I will be sad to see the end of it.

There you go - some high points from my weekend!!! We'll talk flickers tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

It's Monday again -

This weekend was spent doing house crap and fun stitching ...and watching some flicks!!!

Two out of three of my favorite things!!

Now for the Monday tangent........ It seems to me that just the two of us have way too much laundry - don't get me wrong I really do enjoy doing the washing and ironing - I don't know why - I always have. I guess it would be the sense of accomplishment or something - But our laundry room in our building has only 2 washers and 2 dryers so sometimes it is a real tussle to see who can get there first and then hang on to them. Over the past 3 days I did at least 5 loads of laundry - one of the loads was the hounds blankets and bedding so does that count? I know my sister with two children does at least a load a day. At least I don't have that much to do. I do think how lucky we are that there are washing machines and that we aren't having to drag dirty clothes down to the river and beat them clean on a rock or haul it out to boil it clean in some giant cauldron in the backyard - Hooray for the modern conveniences!!!!

My stitching was focused on finishing two exchange pieces that I can't show right now. I can show the second section of the ABC SAL that I finished up -

The second section is the two rectangles on the right.
This is really turning out to be a pretty quick and fun stitch.

Now for the next project I am trying to decide if I want to go with some linen I have or trot over to NIAH and see what I can find. I will probably come down to - I have a quite a few larger pieces of linen - and do I - or should I spend on another piece .... funions are running low this month right after the Holidays dontcha know!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Take care,
edgar

Some Holiday Snaps....

I thought I would do some snaps today....

First up would be the little bit of stitching I can show you from last night. I started on the second part of the ABC SAL I am working on. Not very exciting, but here you go -


I also have some more snaps from Christmas - We all went to a go carting race tract across from the Daytona International Speedway and John, Matt and Katie road the go-carts. Cissy and I watched. Here are some snaps -


Katie and John coming around a curve


Matt along the inside


Katie coming up from behind


John out in front

It was lots of fun and a really lovely sunny day - so the weather was just perfect for outside stuff.

John and Cissy are big Harley enthusiasts and while we were all home he rented a Harley from a dealership on Beach Street
- So my Mom who has never been on motorcycle in her life -
decided to take a ride with John on his ....

Here they are before the excursion - Now this is a sight I would never in a million years thought would happen - but there she is Grandma Addie on the back of a Harley Davidson!!! They took off for a ride around the neighborhood and you know - she really enjoyed the experience - now she held on really tight and I think cracked one of John's ribs but she had a ride on a big old motorcycle!!! My sister and I were flabbergasted to say the least!!!! It was a very interesting Christmas all around!!!!!

Thanks again for stopping by!!!

Take care,
edgar

I am back on-line!!!!

The Internet was just not very good to me yesterday as it kept blacking out -
but here I am today -
We are having a few days of terrific storms - rain, hail and wind - just winter here in the Bay area - so the forecasters were spot on this time!! They are even reporting black ice and some snow at the lower elevations in and around the city this morning.

It was very busy this weekend - lets start off with the stitchy report ...
I was a finishing fool so to speak - I finished off the Reindeer ornament -

Instead of using the silk cord that I usually use I had some very thin leather braid that I wrapped this sucker in and used some red pins - I really like how well he turned out!! I also finished up a present for some dear friends that I will be seeing at my mothers house on Christmas -


This is a freebie from The Sampler Girl called Irish Blessing. I have wanted to stitch this up for a long time and now had a reason. I used a loose piece of 32 ct linen and WDW floss. I also finished up the Cardinal piece for a present -

I really am very pleased with the way he turned out - I may stitch this for us at some point!! Also I finished up an exchange I am sending out this morning a bit early, I finished up Joan's Ornament for that exchange and that will go into the mail this morning - I wanted to get it to her before the weekend and I think I have a running chance!! The ABC SAL - I completed the first part and really like how the silks look together - here is a snap -



The ABC SAL has just started so if you are interested go check out the site - there is also a really lovely freebie NOEL chart at the top to download for stitching. I am using Belle Soie Silks called Plush Plum and Teddy Bear - (Rico and Dale both thought I was using brown and brown - is it that brown - do you think??)

We did the Estate sale thing on Saturday morning and I found my holy grail for the kitchen - a 3 inch deep Griswold iron skillet -


and

I have chased so many of these pans on eBay and just get blow out of the water at the price - so when I stumbled ont to this I snapped it up. It is improperly seasoned and there was some sort of burned on black stuff - that I have gotten off the inside - so I only have to clean it up and reseason and voila and great chicken frying pan!!! I also picked up a great linen table cloth and this beautiful leather and gold embossed book -

It was a very good sale !!
I will leave you with some snaps of different ornaments from our tree -




and under our tree sits......

and a final shot....

This also shows one of the ornaments that my grandmother made for her tree - one of her special "jewel balls" - I have a handful of them to hang on the tree each year to remember her lovely Christmas decorations.

That's about it for today - thanks for stopping by!!!
Take care,
edgar