Gong Xi Fa Cai (Happy Chinese New Year)

Hi

Gong Xi Fa Cai,   or  Happy Chinese New Year.

I hope you are having a good day, perhaps I should start the year again in Chinese style,  its pouring with rain here, they said it was going to snow and then changed their minds back to rain.   There are parts of Somerset who still have floods from before christmas and no sign of the water going away.    Over in the US they have snow please don't send it over,  I hope all my american followers are safe and not buried in the snow.   We have seen pictures on our news here in the UK,  we have had enough of snow and rain for one winter.
Until I have something to post,  and  my mojo is coming back slowly and I managed to tat a couple of tiny hearts but so far the TIAS is still printed on the pages.
Take care
               Hugs
           Margaret

Miracles do happen......

Hi,

I am sorry but I have nothing to share with you but I have a little true story to share with you.

On the 14th January, as we rushed back to Oxford, I asked my husband Vernon how much the card was to send to my penfriend in the US.   Lou is at present stationed in Nebraska,   we have been penfriend's since 1997,  when she was in the Pentagon,  then she went to Guam, back to the Pentagon, then to Florida, onto Seattle,  Pentagon and now Nebraska, yes she moves about. She was even in the Pentagon when the plane hit on 9/11,  she was unhurt but she had to ran for her life with the thousands of other staff working in there.  We have meet once before we got married and she was coming over for our wedding but her leave was cancelled.    I hope one day we will meet up again, but until then we will just have to email and use snail mail. Oh and she is a tatter,  I have a lovely bookmark she made me some years ago.
I digress,  It was her birthday in January and I gave Vernon the card with an airmail sticker to post.
So in the car back to Oxford I asked how much,   the reply was "I stuck it in the postbox",  but it had no stamp,   with everything on our minds it had not registered to take it to the post office.     Well I sent an email saying there is card on its way,  but.   We thought the card would not get very far, I had forgotten to put the sender on the back, so this card really was not going anyway but the Royal Mail bin or would cost an arm and leg when Lou got it,  I might add I had said I would pay her whatever it cost if it got to her.
Last week we had an email from Lou,  to say thank you for the card,  it went though two international post offices,  two continents,  and flown across the pond,  how much did she pay................NOTHING, yes I did say nothing.  How many post office man/women handled the card we don't know but no one noticed there was not a stamp on it.  See miracles do happen occasionally.
Have a nice day.
I hope to have something to show you soon, I have over the weekend picked up my shuttles and doing the Mayan Exchange item, yes well I scrapped the one I had worked on and started again, I hope I meet the deadline for posting.  The Tat along mat is at a stand still,  I have opened my Esty store today and added a couple of new items into it.  We are slowly getting back into normal life.   I did manage a craft table last Saturday although I did not feel up to it,   I had a good day and came away with a couple of orders.  Which I will share with you when they have received them.
                       Hugs
                   Margaret

Mayan Tatting Exchange "Intatters", Dads Flowers

 Hi
We are back home,   but to be honest I feel drained and have no interest in anything,  this surprise was waiting for me when I got home,  On intatters we are doing an exchange based on the Mayan Calender,  my piece is here worked out colour wise, pattern sorted just got to tat it,  I hope I can make the deadline  Anyway these beautiful items arrived from Mags from the USA,  the sun inspired her tatting making her design around a doodad brooch.   Her second design is from the book Elegant Tatting Designs by Jon,  she calls it a sun flake without the picots.   Both were tatted in Lizbeth thread called Honey Drizzle.
She is a Jane Austin Fan and her note let has a piece from a letter Jane Austin wrote in 6.11.1813.  This year is the 100th Anniversary of Jane Austin.  Mags is planning to visit the UK and Bath in October,  and is hoping to fit in a meeting when she visits Bath.   She also sent a postcard of George Washington in Philadelphia.

                                               --ooOoo--

Now for a bit of sadness,  I had many requests from Bloggers to see a picture of the flowers I made for Vernon's Dad coffin,  I used white and blue as he was a life long Chelsea Football fan.   The Undertaker was very pleased with it and said it was an exhibition piece,  and although I say it myself I was pleased with it when I saw it on the coffin.

I have tried to keep up with the blogs but if you did not get a comment does not mean I did not see your post.  Thank you for all the wonderful comments you left us over this sad time,  I need to catch up on lots of things and start the TIAS which is well underway.
Until we meet again take care
                                    Hugs
                               Margaret

SNOW

Hi,

I can't upload any pictures as I am on my iPad, but yes we have about 3 to 4 inches (have not been out to measure it). Its a winter wonderland here in Longworth, nr Abingdon, Oxfordshire.  It's very cold and we could have more snow.

We have not been able to get back home, and very glad I brought the clothes for the funerals next week, although I did go into Abingdon before the snow hit and got another top, can't wear the same two days running to the other funeral.

I hope we can get out on Monday as I am making the flowers for dads funeral,  being an ex florist I can't sit back and let someone else make the family piece,  so I have it all in my mind exactly what I am making and I will post a picture when it's made for you to see,  just hope the florists here will have some flowers.

Dads funeral is on Wednesday,  and dads brothers ( uncle Colin ) is on Thursday both at Oxford crem.,   Hopefully we might be able to get home at the weekend.

Tatting well I have done a little bit to the tat along mat, still on the same long round,  I have not started the TIAS,  but Jane knows and I will catch up when I get home promise.  To be honest my mind is not really on anything,   Dee Vernon's sister got me into the farm game, ha ha I can see vernon will not be pleased when I play that at home too much,  but my animals will need feeding,   I have been playing it a lot the last couple of days.

Well I hope where ever you are you are warm and safe, if you have not had a comment on your blog don't worry I have tried to keep up to date with most of you even if I did not leave you one, I have seen your beautiful work
Thank you for all the kind words you have left us
               Hugs
            Margaret

Very sad news. Updated

Hi,

This weekend has been very sad,  Vernon's father died yesterday, he was taken into hospital on Thursday to the John Radcliffe hospital Oxford,   But he was very poorly we went up to Oxford on Friday so we did see him and yesterday we were at his bedside when he died.

We are staying at Dee's, (Vernon's sister) to help her sort things of course,  she has been through so much this last eighteen months as Peter died November 2011,  Peters mother died last July and now this.  We hoped for an improvement on 2012, 12 days in and another family member died,  and it was Dads birthday yesterday, we wished him a happy birthday but he never opened his cards.

On top Dads brother is also very poorly and does not know that Dad was taken into hospital,  we could even have another funeral on top.

Please excuse me if I don't comment on your blogs for a while, I will try and look at your lovely
work,  I will catch up when I can.   I have not even thought of the TIAS I will catch up and join in as soon as I can, I have been looking forward to doing it,   I'll get there when I can.

We will be traveling between Somerset and Oxford now and then,  so hopefully the threaten snow will go somewhere else.
Take care and thanks for reading my blog today.
Hugs
Margaret

Since writing this piece Dads brother who was very ill died last night, so it's two funerals.
Thank you for all your lovely comments you are all so kind.

1st Card of the year and update on the Tat along Mat

Hi,
Today was foggy so these pictures ended up with the flash working,  I have done a cock up I did Art Deco for the Sunday CD Challenge its not its Art Nouveau,  so one card that's not correct.  Oh well should have used the brain cell I blame the tablets.
Well this is the first card of the year.

The card was made from the Art Deco Timeless Keepsake CD, using an image and matching backing paper,  which I did an easel card.
The spray of flowers are some rose buds I brought on wires which I curled and let them spring from the spray,  die cut roses which I brought in the Garden Centre Millets near Abingdon which we visit when we go up and see Vernon's family.  small gold bead sprays and two coloured ribbon. 
An Ivory ribbon and gold bead on the other side of the wonderful die embossed sheet and flourish which my friend Suzanne did for me.   thank you Suzanne yours pieces are wonderful
I finished the card off with gold peel off's and on the base another Ivory ribbon with a cream rose matching those on the spray,  with Happy Birthday in white lettering.
The ribbon is from Joanna Sheens on line shop

This is the tat along mat by Renulek you saw the first three rounds on the last post,   I said round four was big,  well this is as far as I have got half way,    I have worked out the colours for the Mayan tatting challenge,  and worked the pattern out yeah just got to tat it.   The TIAS starts tomorrow not sure what its going to be but that's half the fun.

Sorry Blogger is playing up so I hope you can read the first part of this post.

Until we meet again take care, keep warm.

                    Hugs

                Margaret

Tat along by Renulek (intatters) and snowflake for Sandy Hook School

 Hi,
As our weather slightly improved,  we now having many days of dark and drizzly, I suppose its an improvement from rain.  Floods are going down in some places but the boreholes are so full that they are now overflowing,  with underground water sources being so full that they now making new floods,  so all of sudden many houses are being flooded by water coming back up to the surface.  Its official 2012 was not the wettest year it came second,   2000 was the wettest by 3 mm   In Frome we had 1257 mm of rain,   1000 = 39 inches I will leave to work it out,  I can tell you I am sick of rain, please please could the person who did the rain dance for rain, change it to a sun dance.

This is the tat along mat which Renulek designed from Intatters,  link to her blog do you remember I had started it and posted it on the 28th October,  no I had look it up too.  Well now with Christmas is over I picked it up again but I was  not happy with the second row,  so look what I did with it.........

Its not often I do that,   so here it is with round two re-tatted and with round three done,   its not been blocked and I still have to sew the end in but the days are so dark I have want some better light to sew them in,  its no good trying to do it in night light.  I am using Lizbeth no 20 in Sea Island Citrus thread,   I rather like this thread, its pale and the colours bend in nicely.

The next round is very large and long so its going to take a few days to do,   and I am in the middle of the Mayan Intatters challenge,  more of that to come when my exchange partner receives it.

This is the snowflake I sent to the Snowflake appeal for the Sandy Hook  Elementary School,  they want to do a snowflake scene for when the children go back to their new school on the 12th.   I sent it off on Wednesday and then on Thursday there was a piece to say they have enough snowflakes.  Mine is winging its way over the pond by air mail.  I hope they except it for their display.
This snowflake was one I used on the daily snowflake challenge for christmas its from the book Christmas Angels and other tatting Patterns by Monica Hahn.
I hope the New Year has been kind to you,  until we meet again take care
                     Hugs
                  Margaret