Lovin' the weather

I love the weather. My sinuses do not!

Yesterday, while I was laid low with a sinus headache, Dave worked on restoring our pond, which hasn't been in working order for a couple of years. Somehow, the time to work on it always gets away from us.

He's almost finished. Today he finished putting the rocks around and got the fountain going. We need to plant some grass seed in the bare section that used to be a gravel path. I'm not sure that will happen tomorrow as we're supposed to get thunderstorms for the next few days. I hope that doesn't mean more sinus pressure!

I finished up two bags that I wove earlier in the week. I love adding bits of yarn from other projects to give a different dimension. It's also surprising that unusual colors seem to work well together.

I've also been experimenting with different weights of yarn, with very pleasing results. I put my iPhone in the pictures so that you can get an idea of the size of the bags. They are so much fun to make!

On the tatting front...

I'm almost halfway finished with round 8 of Renulek's Letnia. I am enjoying this doily.

I also worked some more on my hanky edging in Lizbeth Twirlz. I like the pattern. I like the thread. I'm just not sure I like the two together. However, since I'm this close to finishing there's no sense in giving up on it.

Chores are done for the day, so I think I'll take some time to tat!

Tatting on the front porch

We had a beautiful day for tatting on the front porch. I think the kids were very pleased to meet our special guests, Marilee and Sue Anna! We had discussed the possibility of getting together today, but I wasn't sure my tatting buddies would be able to join us until this morning. It is a long trip for both of them!

We had eight girls today, and they each received special treats... a sample of hand-dyed thread from Marilee and a choice of a Moonlit or Starlit shuttle from Sue Anna. They had great fun winding thread on to their shuttles. I ran out of floss bobbins, so we improvised with homemade floss bobbins made out of card stock. It worked!

Elizabeth spent time talking with Marilee about her blog and her patterns. Jaden took private tatting lessons from Sue Anna. It's great fun to see the girls tatting together and showing off their work. Shelby brought a hanky that she purchased for her great-grandmother, who will be celebrating her 100th birthday the end of this month. I helped Shelby sew one of her motifs on to the hanky. Won't that be a wonderful birthday present?

There may have been more chatting than tatting today, but that's okay. A good time was had by all!

After the kids left, we met our friend Denise for lunch. Of course we all ate too much! 

Facing life's problems

I know I shouldn't complain, but...

Why are we so busy that we can't get together more often? We always have so much fun! Maybe we all need to retire and start a tatter's retirement village!

Why can't I figure out how to take a selfie on my own? Seriously, it took everyone at Tollway Tatters to teach me how to hold my iPad to take pictures.

Why doesn't that double chin just disappear? I don't see it when I look in the mirror in the morning.

Thank goodness, Carrie was there to set me right! Hold the iPad up, not down! I feel like such a goof!

Why does my hair look flat by the time my picture is taken? Honest, it was fluffy when I left the house this morning.

Is it possible the catch up to Sue Anna's collection of Pop-A-Bobbin shuttles? I think not! I may as well give up since I can't remember to go to Jane's shop at the opening bell!

How should we sort Sue Anna's shuttles? By size? By wood? Hook or no hook? I think in order to solve all of these enormous problems, we're just going to have to meet again.

Our next meeting is tentatively set for August 12. Why can't I add this event to my iPhone?

Tatting on the tollway

Here we are, having loads of fun tatting and chatting. More later...

Tollway Tatters

Oops! Sorry for the late notice...

I forgot to blog our next Tollway Tatters meeting. It's tomorrow, Monday, July 7. If you'd like to join us and need details, please feel free to email me. I'll be leaving about 8:30 tomorrow morning. You can reach me until then.

No tatting today. We were busy helping daughter Carol with her bathroom remodel. I think I'm too tired to tat tonight!

Very slow progress

I wish I could say I've been tatting up a storm since school let out for the summer, but I haven't. As you can see, I'm making very slow progress on Renulek's "Letnia."

How did summer get so busy? Dave and I were home alone for the 4th of July. We putzed around doing mundane things like laundry, gardening, cleaning the house... all very restful, really. However, neither one of us really spent time being creative, unless you call weeding and cutting down a storm damaged tree creative!

We went to daughter Alison's house yesterday to help replace her backyard deck. The wood had rotted in places, and Alison was concerned that someone was going to stick their foot through the wood. Alison and family tore up most of the old deck on Thursday and Friday. We arrived about 7:30 yesterday morning. Dave set to work right away pulling out the rest of the old, rotted wood. The right tools make all the difference!

While Dave was preparing the ground for the new lumber, Alison and I unloaded the new lumber. We then made a quick trip to Menards for the correct length screws.

By lunch time, Dave had the new deck framed. After lunch Alison and I went shopping for deck stain, while Dan and the kids loaded the rotten wood in to the truck. Dave started on the decking, and once he was on a roll, Dan and the kids helped screw the boards in place. It truly was a group project, and as Dave predicted, the deck was built in one day!

By 5 p.m. we were all ready to be finished for the day. Yes, there's still some work to be done. There are spots that need to be sanded. The cloth under the deck needs to be trimmed, and the stain needs to be applied, but now my daughter and her family have a safe deck in their back yard. What a feeling of satisfaction!

Today... daughter Carol's bathroom!

What a week!

All of my company has gone home, and they left just in time!

The good news is, we're all safe and sound. The bad news is, three confirmed EF-1 tornadoes hit our little rural community Monday night around 10:30. From what I've heard, two houses and two barns were damaged, but there were no injuries. We were without power from about 10:30 Monday night until about 11:30 Wednesday morning. We had one pine tree uprooted, but no other damage. Whew!

Now, how about some fun news?

Aileen in Singapore contacted me about swapping for some of my blinged shuttles. Look at the goodies I received in return!

I've joined the Tatting Shuttles Addicts page on Facebook, which can be very fun/dangerous. I saw a picture of some pretty little flat shuttles made by Daniel and Heather Meng (www.facebook.com/mengsparacord). I contacted them, and I was able to purchase these beauties. The lighter one is maple and the darker one is oak.

I tried them out right away. This is motif #7 from Patti Duff's Minitats. The thread is Manuela, sent to me by Aileen.

I'm saving my Minitats motifs in this cute little tin. Some day I'll catch up to my friend Carol in pursuit of tatting all of the Minitats.

I spent time weaving every day this past week. My goal was to weave fabric for a bag each day, which I accomplished. Today I sewed the bags together. I think they're adorable! They're big enough to hold a cell phone, keys, and a small wallet. Mom taught me how to make these bags. She's making them for a fund raiser held each fall in her retirement village. I wonder how many I can donate/sell for the cause?