Tat along by Renulek (Intatters) Challenge and Orchids

 Hi,
Yesterday was lovely day cold, blue sky, and sunshine,  I went out for the first time for some time   ok it was only to the wool shop but it was out, I got the buttons for the babies cardigan I showed you a week ago now I can finish it off and put it in my esty store, (there is a link to the esty in my sidebar I was asked last time) Then in the evening we went to friends for a couple of hours,  I know I was in pain by the time I got home but it was lovely just to get out of the four walls. Today its cold and rainy, dark and overcast totally different to yesterday.  My scan is on Thursday,  crossing fingers they find what it is.
I have started doing the tat along Challenge from "Intatters" this is another doily pattern,  and I have no doubt I will keep this one too.   This time it was set by Renulek link to her blog  she is Polish oh and shes called the doily a napkin.   The blog is in Polish but blogger will translate the blog.    This is round one and two,  I am using Lizbeth No 20 Sea Island Citrus,  which is a new thread and I have not used before, I treated myself to this one when I brought some thread a couple of months ago.   Its working up very pretty,  I hope I will feel the same when I have done round four it looks a bit of a nightmare. 
  

My orchid is flowering again,  I took this picture on friday,  well you know I love orchids,  they are my favorite flower.  If you have not seen Wendy's blog over the last couple of days, please pay her a visit link to her blog   she has put some gorgeous pictures of Orchids on her blog,  one is marked especially for me.  Thank you Wendy for finding the photograph and thank you for sharing those wonderful pictures.
Thats it today I hope you have a lovely weekend,
Until we meet again take care

                      Hugs
                   Margaret

I did it..............

Hi,

Its a beautiful evening here in Somerset,  and a little cooler than the last few days,  not complaining long may this weather continue.   Today on various blogs there have been practising shuttle rings entwined,    well I managed it,  this is my first attempt and I cant believe I did it first time,   I watched the video several times before putting thread and shuttle together,   its not finished and one of the rings is not perfect and I still have the last ring to do but I thought I would share with you my attempt.  To view the video link here  Also the link to Joelle's blog   and  Jon her blog  they before having been playing with this pattern. The video was made by Karen Cabrera and is a really good video to watch.   Anyway this is eureka moment today,   I did not think I would be able to it and already I have a couple of ideas,  I will share them with you when I have perfected them.

These are my orchids,  I love orchids,   when we went on holiday in May they were in bud,  when we came home at the end of may they were beginning to come out,   I took this picture today and they are still out,  so they have been out for two months and look like they will be in bloom for a few more weeks.   I just thought I would share them with you,  hope you like them.

Tonight is the big show,   the opening of the Olympics I hope you enjoy the show and the Olympics.    They show American television and how they are reporting on the Olympics this morning on Breakfast Television.  I thought our television stations were full on but it seems so is America.

Until we meet again take care

Hugs

Margaret

Chop Sticks

 Hi,


Yes we are back from a holiday in Crete,  you have been having the same weather as us in Crete,  sun,  blue skies and  blue of the Aegean Sea was a wonderful restful holiday,  just what we both needed.  The stress of the last six months in particular has been extremely great and I think both Vernon and I were totally worn out.
We had a lovely meal in a Chinese restaurant,  we do like Chinese food and this restaurant opened up in the resort while we were there,  the pale blue material ones were given to us on the first night and then when we had another meal we were given a pair each,  they are beautiful,  too beautiful to use, the photos don't do them justice and the colours of the patterns on the chop sticks have not shown up as well as I would have liked.  The material they are packed in is really gorgeous with Chinese designs embroidered on it.

 Before we left my Orchid was about to flower,  so I missed the first three flowers opening up,  but these pictures show you what they look like when I came home on Wednesday morning,   yes it was 2am when I had my first look at them.   It was a lovely welcome home.


I do have some good news to share,  four weeks ago I hinted that Vernon was ill,  in fact he was diagnosed with Prostate cancer,  although in the very early stages we have now been told since we came home that they are not going to do anything.   They don't think it will do anything and will not develop enough to kill him.   They want him to have an MRI scan in six months,   if nothing has changed it looks like he can get on with his life.   This is a  huge weight off our shoulders as we have been trying to get our head around it.  After everything that happen to me last year,  it just felt so awful to have Vernon facing an operation and so soon after he had retired in November.   It has not been the best start for his retirement with Mother, Peter and now being told he had cancer.


I did some tatting on holiday which I will show you soon,  I also took some wool to do some knitting for my shop,  the pattern said one 100 gram ball,  but I don't have enough to finish it,  the shop has ordered me some more,  so that's another item for you when its finished.


I am preparing a post about our holiday and day trip to Santorini they will be posted over the next week.
I hope you are keeping well and until we meet again Take Care
Hugs
Margaret

Network Pattern and My Orchid

Hi,

At the moment I am watching the weather, they say we are going to have rain but so far today my washing has been out and hopefully might get dry before the black clouds arrive and the heavens open. We had such beautiful weather in March and April and although I did manage to sit in the garden a couple of days last week, its not been so good this week.

I don't have much to bring you at the moment I have been working on something which was an idea from Suzanne but the pattern I did although I had not seen the original it is from something else and I have to start again, although Jane has said I can use it, I was going to name the pattern after Suzanne, so its back to the drawing board for something unique for her. Her son gets married tomorrow and I hope they have a lovely day and the weather is kind to them both. My congratulations are sent to both of them may they have many happy years together.
This doily I made years ago and I found it when I was emptying the units before we got the new furniture, I saved it for a day when I had nothing to post. Its from a book called Tatting with Visual patterns by Mary Konior, and the pattern was called Network. I know the cotton is by Coats and is a variegated pink. this is a close up for you.
Here is my Orchid now fully out in flower, I think I have already told you orchids are my favorite flower.

I am having physio now on my shoulder and arm, the left arm has been very painful and I can hardy use it at times, I had another session this morning, we were discussing how bad it was on Tuesday and how ill I was with the gall bladder pain, that the physio suddenly said that the two are connected in the back of her mind she is sure that people with gall bladder problems do have pain in the left shoulder, she given me some more exercises to do to get it or rather keep it working. I never did put the two together well why would I its different areas of the body.

I hope you are keeping well, and until we meet again in blog land take care

Hugs

Margaret

My Orchid.

Hi,

Another beautiful day, less windy today and a lot warmer, the forecast has rain and thunder storms from tonight. My garden could really do with some rain, its looking dry. Melissa and Gary came over at the weekend and did my garden with Vernon. So the back garden is looking lovely but the patio is full all the stuff they cut down, just a tiny space left for me to have a sit out this afternoon. My thanks to both of them for coming over and doing so much for us, it is very much appreciated.

Today I bring you my Orchid, this is the first flowers since we brought it in flower last year. I am so pleased and knowing Jeff of Bridge City Tatting blog showed us his orchid a few months ago I thought it was time to show mine. Orchids are my favorite flowers, but I think you might have guessed that already.

Sorry I don't have any craft for you but you will have some next week, this last week I have not been very good and several days I have been in so much pain I really did nothing. Although I did some crafting with Bethany ( our grand daughter) while they were gardening outside. I should have taken a picture of her colouring and stamping, shes one very crafty little girl, and she wants to learn to tat, so hopefully the art will carry on with her. I will have to buy her some shuttles so I can teach her when I am better.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and lets hope this is not all the lovely weather we are going to get and the wonderful weather we have been having will continue for the rest of the summer.
Take care until we meet up again.

Hugs

Margaret