3 of my favorite things

A good cup of coffee dripped through my Mellita single cup filter. The low tech version of the oh-so-popular Keurig coffee maker. 

My special cup and saucer from the "Flow Blue" porcelain from Gustavsberg, Sweden. Purchased in 1971 and still in good shape!

Monster cookies, recipe in the list on the sidebar. 

pledge to finish

Update on the August project for the Posse Pledge to Finish! Thisone is just about the oldest I think I have--it has been at the bottom of the pile for 39 years!

In 1972 I was living in Sweden and attending Alstromerskolan in the Hemteknisk line. That means something like Home Ec for people of my generation. I learned how to weave and this was one of the things that I brought back home with me. There are 3 placemat-sized woven pieces, sort of blue with a nice design worked into the sides. I think they are linen, but I'm not 100% sure. They had raw edges on 2 sides which I just needed to hem, so that is what I did last night. Now they can grace our table and remind me of the fun I had learning to make them!

And just so you know I haven't forgotten the July project, here's a picture to show that I have been working on it--

If you can look past the basting stitches and uneven corners, you can get a feel for what these hexagons are like. I decided to add some variety to the mix and bump it up to a bigger size, plus add some triangles and parallelograms in there, too. Still no master plan. Just picking it up and working on what suits my fancy at the moment. Also discovered that the Black Gold needles from Clover are perfect for this, they really make a big difference in the handwork, especially with these batiks I am using which have a higher thread count and tighter weave than some other fabrics.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of stitching with these needles compared to what I usually use. Sister Jan had told me they were good, but I had to feel it for myself to become a believer! Thanks, Jan!

a stonehenge moment

I know it's been too long between posts when my own son calls and tells me to put up something new! I think I have been kind of out of sorts about blogging because I am without my camera yet. I have concluded it must have been stolen from the duffel bag that was checked, and that is my own fault. I have never left it in a checked bag before, and now I know why. It was a slip-up on my part, so time to move on--I'm shopping around for a new one! So the pictures here today are leftovers from San Francisco--

The wineries we visited all had such beautiful buildings and grounds. Makes me wish I could be a gardener there! I was amazed at this huge rhubarb plant in front of the Korbel Champagne-making place (not sure what to call it if it's not a winery? Champagnery?)

Bob has a grudge against rhubarb, I think he sabotages my plant at home so they never grow very well, and I think he had it on his mind to pull this one when no one was looking. I got him out of there fast!

We had a great dinner out at North Beach Italian Restaurant, and I discovered that their napkins have a buttonhole in one corner so they can be kept in place--what a nifty idea!

In the sculpture garden on top of the Museum of Modern Art, we observed this very large sheet of metal standing upright. Very tall and wide.

Then we noticed the shadow it cast--

barely there! The sun was in just the right spot to cast almost no shadow from this very large work of art. We thought it must be something like a Stonehenge effect and maybe kind of mysterious. This was just before we went to the movie "Inception" which was also kind of mysterious. I would be hard pressed to explain that movie to you, you will have to see it for yourself.

Are you familiar with the Stieg Larsson books? This is a trilogy with 2 main characters, based on mystery and mayhem, set in Sweden in present day (or nearly present, the author died in 2004 after completing the series).

It is best to read them in order, starting with The Dragon Tatoo, then Played with Fire, then Hornet's Nest. The movies for the first two are out, I'm not sure about the 3rd. I have finished reading/listening to the first 2, and waiting on the library to get me the 3rd. It's hard to wait, the ending of Played with Fire was a real cliff-hanger, so there is a lot to be straightened out for "The Girl", Lisbeth. It has been fun to read them and see the movie, which was in Swedish with English sub-titles. I was understanding more and more of the Swedish by the end of the movie, I might have to go a few times! The reader on the CD's did a very good job of pronouncing all the names of the Swedish towns, streets, people, etc., in an authentic way, at least to my ears!

A parting thought--

"If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything." --Win Borden