Learning New Tricks In Needle Tatting

Dear Gentle Reader, 

I started learning tatting more seriously 4 years ago during lock down. My go to were the fb groups, YouTube and my books. I was advised to learn to tat with both shuttle and needle, and only then decide which tool suits me better. Back then I wasn't friends with my shuttles, but not long ago I had an epic moment Read all about it here and I and my shuttles are friends again.

But let's just go back to my needles... 

A few months back, more precisely on the 13th 9f March 2024 The Online Tatting Class started a new season of needle tatting classes with a new teacher, Katia, fenomenal lady, wonderful, kind, pacient, helpful teacher, it's a pleasure to learn from her and chat with her. With her help I've managed to decipher the more intricate sides of tatting. And, oh boy, that was such an eye opener to realize I can tat now patterns that I've looked past, because I didn't know the "how to". Now I'm thirsty for more...

These lessons are available on YouTube here

Since then week by week I've learned something new, something interesting, something unique.

These are just a few pages from my needle tatting journal. Everytime I look through it I feel happier and more confident that now I can tat almost everything that comes my way. TOTC are taking a Sumner break now, but that won't stop me searching for summer break projects that include the lessons I've learnt so far. And this is how I came across Mark Myers Heart Motif, available for purchase on Etsy. 

It has true rings, half closed true rings, bare thread space, joins, picots....almost everything I've learnt in those 11 weeks before the break.

Now on to another pattern for more theory into practice thingy 😜

Apologies for the blurry photo, this is one way of protecting the designer's property from theft, the watermark is mine, it showes I took the picture after I made the project.

All the best

Sincerelly yours

 Anna

My Garden - June 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

And just like that with marking June, half of this  year has almost  already passed. It's just crazy how this first half of the year has gone. 

Anyways.... Life in my raggedy looking garden continues, unfortunately because of bad weather, cold and rain we had my garden this year doesn't look the way I'd love it to look. And inspite of all the hickups we had, my garden keeps giving. Some plants are a success some aren't, this year is not their year.

In the greenhouses grapes, peaches, melons, tomatoes are growing nicely. I can see little tomatoes on the vine, and my melons are blooming, no sign of melons yet though. Outside the weather has been kind, sun was shining, was warm and the plants took advantage of this change. Rambling Rector in the hedge along with the Golden Honeysuckle are slowly taking over the hedge peppering the lush green with patches of white and bright yellow. Red campion stands proudly with the last blooms of my tree peony. The thornless blackburry is laden with flowers. Yummmm. 

My wildlife and fishpond got 4 new additions, now they are 6 fancy goldfish. I'll be moving 3 in another tank like the one they are in now. But for now they seem to be fine together like that. Also trying to figure out a solar powered pump and filter for them, which is a bit of a headache but not impossible to make . (more about that later) Got a few good tips from the fb group I'm in, so hopefully those ideas will come to fruition later on. 

My little elderflower tree produced it's 1st flower, yayyyy, even the Hypericum is happy about it with its lush yellow blooms. The other honeysuckle it's covering the shed very nicely with the Clematis Montana that bloomed pink and white last month. 

The first picture in this collage is my rambling rector rose which is taking over the hedge with the Golden Honeysuckle. You can't see the Honeysuckle on this picture, but it's there , I promise it is. That yellow rose came to me as a cutting, it's a climber, but it's happy enough to be treated as a tall rosebush. It's fragrance makes me smile every time I smell it. My soft fruit bushes: the raspberries, red and white currants are not happy this year, the blackberries full of flowetbuds (hopefully there will be fruit too if the weather keeps on the kind side). Gooseberries the red ones are laden with fruit, so are my black currant bushes too. The yellow gooseberry is a tiny bush not old enough to produce fruit just yet. 

The weather forecast said it's unusually cold for this time of the year, might get ground frost on higher grounds. Awesome, that's all we need😫😭, but I'm hopeful my garden will survive and it will keep giving. 

Today weather wise it's pretty mixed, chilling wind, sunshine, scattered showers and all that jazz. I wish the weather just made up its mind and be just favorable for the gardeners. But I'm not complaining, it could be worse. However, late May and early June is still sowing time for beans, beetroot, cauliflowers, carrots, blanching celery, chard, kale, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, radishes, spinach, onions, corn, swede, turnips, etc. I already sown a few from the list. I'll try sowing corn now and see if I get a cob or 2 this summer early September. The peaches look amazingly well and apparently it likes the fish water I pour on it every time I change the water in my fish tank. The same treatment gets the grapevine too and judging by the length of each bunch of it grown any bigger I'll have to duck to avoid bumping into the lower berries. 😉😜😍🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️😋 The tomatoes are coming along nicely, their fruit (some might disagree with me here saying, it's not fruit, it's veggie) 🤷‍♀️ but hey ho, it will end up in the same place after eaten.... I mean in the tummy😋 Also the melons, now this one is a new cultivar I'm trying out, it's called Emir, are already showing off their fruit. I decided this year to let them go rampant in the small greenhouse where I'm growing 2 of each, Galia and Emir, both are specifically bred for polytunnels and greenhouses. Galia I love had great success with previous years. Let's see which way is more successful: growing upwards or letting them run around the raised bed. We shall see! 🤔 about Galia here 

Life in my greenhouse is beginning to show signs. The seeds I've sown some time ago are starting to sprout and by the time the promised heat will come, they'll be ready to go out in the raised beds. Melon Emir is swelling nicely in the small greenhouse. Outside inspire of temps like 5 - 9C, which is crazy weather for this time of year my plants look OK and blooming away. My rambler rose "Wedding day" started blooming, it's a new addition to my garden, I'll train it up a hawthorn tree behind the greenhouse. This way the bird nest in the tree will be protected from sharp claws. I love this rose, the bud displays butterpale color, then the flower when fully opens it's white. They smell like freshly baked shortcake cookies. This year I had only a few clusters of flowers, next year I'll have more and after that even more 😜 And as I was exploring my garden further on I've noticed signs of cobs on my hazelnut tree. I hope no cheeky squirrel or other hazelnut loving creature will nick them before I have the chance to taste them this year too. Walking further on among my fruit trees I've noticed 1 single, solitary fruit on my cherry.... Wow, I hope I'll get a chance to taste this one too. Then a few paces further I notice an flower on my pear tree and plum tree. Strange, they should have done with the flowering by now and producing fruit.... See, what I mean by the crazy weather? Even the fruit trees get confused, let alone us, humans. But I guess it's not just Ireland, that gets this unruly weather, it sweeps through most countries in Europe and it's due to an Arctic stream. 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Now the next bit was a fun project. After watching a few videos on YouTube and Instagram, and asking for advice on FB groups I've managed to put together my very own filter pump for my fishtank. It has all the trimmings, it has a pump, filter sponge, fleece and stones, and cheaper then and electric filter pump, which I didn't really want. But it works as the picture showes. Happy me, happy fish.

I was also advised to buy these so called "Chinese Hillstream Loaches" the lady at my local petshop said that they keep some in cold water and that they clean the aquariums walls of algae. We'll see now how they like my outdoor tank, pleanty of algae there. 

On the other hand today was surprisingly good day. I've harvested 3 very ripen, juicy, sweet peaches from my peach tree. And it was wolfed down right there and then still warm by my family. Everyone enjoyed this lovely treat and everyone was nicely surprised. I've noticed another of my bush flowering (I don't know the name, the wind blew away the tag). My grapes are getting bigger and bigger and I honestly felt bumping my head into the lower grapes. And my Emir Melon is growing nicely, swelling day by day. 

With the ripening of raspberries, currants and gooseberries we lightly step into July. 

Sincerely yours

Gardener Anna

Miscellaneous (travels, outings, trips, interesting facts) May 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

Yesterday (11th of May) I went on a trip to Glendalough, Co Wicklow with my local photoclub. These 2 lakes are part of the Wicklow National Nature Reserve. Was an early start (get up at 7 am, bus leaving at 8 am) Absolutely fabulous day, hot, sunny, light cooling breeze, breath-taking views. I honestly didn't want to come home. It was an amazing day. The photo club is not a huge group, but the craic is mighty, the fun and banter compensates the numbers. Thanks to a well established management every outing is a success.

The bus dropped us at the upper lake (I must say it was a very comfortable bus, which is always a bonus) and from there the group had to make their way to the lower lake where the pick up point was. It was a long walk but everyone made it in our own pace, no rush, no hurry, with plenty of photo opportunities on the way. (I knew I was going to pay for it the next day, but that is OK, no pain, no game, every muscle pain worth it.) 

This walk between the 2 lakes is called the Bird Watching Walk (I think). It covers the distance between the 2 lakes, dividing it into a short and a long walk. We got the long walk. But before that something exciting was waiting for the group. 

As an amateur photographer, one always has a few gadgets in one's bag and a few tricks of the trade, or to learn something new from the more experienced members. They are a real fountain of knowledge, which I'm grateful for. Lens balls, black and white shots, debth of field, macro are just a few of these tricks and gadgets. A new lens with a built in macro, which I got from my dad. He loves his photography too (inherited the bug from him). 

As we were looking around, trying to find photo opportunities these 3 young teenage stags ran into the small clearing surrounded by the forest and peacefully started grazing. I was like "WOW, this is not happening!!!! “ (although I saw a few from the bus and one of the members told me I might see a few more around, I was like YESSSS, that's what I want). Anyways I dropped my bag, changed lenses and as slowly as I could got closer and closer and even closer. 

They were chasing each other, headbutting, testing eachother's strength just like more dominant stags would do during rutting season in the autumn. Usually young stags gather in groups called bachelor groups and they'll challenge the dominant stag, even try to steal his does. If the dominant stag is powerful and strong enough, they won't have a chance. Best of luck to these young Princes in the autumn. 

As we toddled along soaking in the view, and the sun, taking a few snaps here and there, we came across to this old graveyard and Lord behold, oh dear, there were more deer. This time a tad tamer, they even let themselves to be petted by the tourists around there. Even I've managed to pet one while he graciously took the offered dandelions from my hand. I was so delighted. Ive forgotten to take pics, so if someone managed to take a pic of me feeding the deer, please share. Thanks. And THAT was the highlight of the day for me. I loved every second of it. The little bond I shared with that lovely youngling was just magical. I shall never forget that moment 😁😍

And pretty much that concluded our journey as we reached the lower lake where we had our well deserved icecream and rest. 

After that we had food and dessert in Enniskerry, which went down like a treat. Yummmm it was :) 

Mushroom and chicken pie (which was absolutely scrumptious) and side salad, crowned with a big slice of coffee cake and more coffee. 

An absolute fabulous day, thank you everyone :) 

Sincerely yours

Annamaria 

My Garden - May 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

And all of a sudden we are in May. After a very wet March, and cold April, this month seems to warm up slowly. The weather forecast says "warmer weather is coming next week"....hmmm....heard that before...but I live in hope. My Garden and plants are seriously craving for heat, nothing can grow without heat. Even if the sun is out, it's still cold. It's shocking how everything is so behind. With a bit of heat every single plant in every garden will play the catch up game.

That huge blob of pink gorgeousness is my tree peony, it's still in her glory displaying these big cups of candyfloss delight. The plants in my greenhouse desperately need attention, but I got sick and I couldn't go out to tend them. I'm on the mend now, I hope I'll be able to do a bit of work in the greenhouses soon. My grapes are growing, soon they'll flower and self pollinate and then the waiting game starts until the harvest. Fingers crossed 🤞🍇 My peaches are swelling day by day getting bigger and rounder, showing off their peachiness. Can't wait to sink my teeth into their juicy flesh. 😜🍑 Tomatoes are blooming, early strawberries are forming fruit too. Life is good in the greenhouse. Plants are growing, which makes me happy 😜😁

As says pass by my garden flourishes and grows. Days are becoming warmer, yet still not as warm as in the past years. My pink Clematis Montana is blooming like crazy and shooting new stems all over the place, I have a white in as well and a honey suckle to cover the side of that shed. Well that's the idea, but sometimes plants have other ideas and here is where I need to train them where to go. We'll get there, no worries. I can't get enough of these gorgeous apple blossoms on my hubby's fav apple tree, Granny Smith. They are so beautiful, the softness of that pink, the light scent.... All I  need it now is to bear fruit and then the circle will be full. There's a new kid on the block, called Hops, I must say, I have high hop(e) s for my hops. And no, no I'm not going to brew anything from it, maybe just a few potpouries mixed with lavender and other sweet smelling herbs and plants for a better sleep at night. The blue Aquilegia there is the pure version of the wild one, credit to the birds for this one. The pink dainty little Dianthus, is a perennial one called Dianthus pinifloria, because it's leaves reminds one of the pine leaves. The other shrub that's gonna bloom (name I do not know, because the wind blew away the lable) it's a white one, light vanilla scented flowers. Bees love it. 

Now a blue Iris Siberica is blooming next to the white one. They are nice. My Snowball tree is full of little snowball like flower clusters, but if you take a closer look, you can the florets look like small Hydrangea flowers. So cute! My auriculas never sees to amaze me, year after year they just pour out their amazing little flowers that look like a gypsy skirt. Fabulous little plant. I have only this one, but I've seen ppl having collections of auriculas and they display them on a shelf in clay pots. It's really showcase like. The white Clematis Montana blooms a couple of days later then the pink one and it will last longer a bit then the pink one. However both mixed with the honeysuckle will be an amazing display 😍 Finally I've managed to plant my tomatoes, I couldn't because 1.the weather was too cold with light frosty mornings and 2.because I was sick, but once I got better, in the ground they went. Oh, I must not forget to lable them....duhhh🙄😜. 

Day by day the grape bunches (at this stage blossoms only) are getting bigger and bigger. Must get a mesh before they start opening to protect them against grape moth and then later in against wasps. I don't have anything against wasps, I know they are useful as polinators and as aphid munchers, but the grapes are mine 😜🍇. There's a little ecosystem going on among the gravel. Self seeded violets, wild calendula, forget me nots and alpine strawberries are fighting for space with the weeds. Time to give them a helping hand ✋😜😉pink flowered Bush was the pride of my late mother in law, blooms every year and displays these clusters of pink trumpet like flowers with a light citrusy fragrance. Cute Bush, doesn't mind drastic cutting back either. The other one is a saxifrage, I just love their tiny, pink flowers, it's like a froth of pale pink among all that green. It's an excellent ground covering plant. 

Sincerely yours

Annamaria 

Shuttle Tatting - New Adventure

Dear Gentle Reader, 

Ladies and gentlemen today I made history😁😍.... Today was the day when I became friends with my shuttles...after years of hairpulling (I still have a few locks of hair left which are turning grey at this point), tears, cursing, throwing my shuttles into the deepest drawer I could find, today I made it. I almost cried when I saw my shuttles cooperating with my fingers and motions and like magic a celtic circle was born just from a shuttle tatted chain. 1st step was made today and will remain ingraved in the dust of the tatting world like the famous steps on the Moon. Now it will take me a few years to reach the level I gained with my needles, but now I feel very optimistic about this new adventure with my shuttles. Life is amazing, happy tatting :) ❤️🧶🧵➿➰

Another first for me. 😜😁And the adventure continues with small motif as I'm practicing the elements I've learnt in the classes. 

Not bad for a 1st try with 2 shuttles. Small motif found in a Japanese book by Matsue Ito. 

Now that I know how to make a chain, rings and picots with my shuttles I can tat almost anything, but 1st I have to learn how to crawl, then how to walk before I can run. 

This snowflake is made with 2 shuttles, and 2 colours. I also made this one 4 years ago with 1 needle, and then last month made the same with 2 needles. The difference is just amazing, I can see how much neater my double stitches are and how much I have evolved since. It means soooooo much to learn a few tricks of the trade from professionals and amazing teachers. 

So here are all three snowflakes made with 2 different tatting tools. 

The pattern is called Snowflake "Alison" from the book "Tatted Snowflakes" by Jeniffer Williams. 

However my tatting adventure doesn't stop here. More to follow. 😁😜😊

Sincerelly yours

Anna

Nature in My Garden - April 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

Well knock me down with a feather.... I've just found out that in one of my wildlife ponds I have damselfly larvae... Now starts the waiting game because these beauties will take 3 years to transform into a damselfly. I'll be watching my pond now like a hawk, and with a little luck I'll be able to witness the hatching. 

These are 2 of the many in my tank.... I had a hunch when I saw they might be either dragonfly or damselfly larvae...so after asking the experts in one of the fb groups I'm member of.... I've found out what they were. Yayyyyyyyyy........😁🥳

Bugs, butterflies, polinators are all out today to enjoy the sun and with that a bit of....love. L'Amour leaf cutter bee style. Comma, Holy Blue, Tortoiseshell and a gorgeous Peacock butterfly were kind enough to pose for me under the supervision of Mr Robin. 

As I was exploring my garden further, I've found a childhood favourite....the Click Beetle. I use to torment as a child these poor creatures with my cousins to see which beetle jumps higher. A healthy nettle patch is growing as a nursery for the caterpillars of some of the butterflies I mentioned above. I also found wasp Queens and hover flies on the ivy basking in the sun. 

That's all for now, 

All the best

Sincerely yours

Annamaria 

My Garden - April 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

And we are in April. Geeezzzz, where did the time fly? They say, time flies when one has fun....ok, that might be true, because I have other things to occupy my time with other then gardening, however last month was the wettest, coldest month so far. It rained 29 days out of 31. Couldn't do anything outside, nor in the greenhouse as it was cold and I don't heat my greenhouses. But life doesn't stop not even if it's a bit cold and rainy outside. The little sunshine we had made plants grow especially plants I had already planted in the greenhouse. Grapes, the peach tree, lettuce, green onions, spinach, kale. I have 2 cauliflower plants in there too,so we shall see if they actually produce something (this is trowel and error thingy 😜).

Oh and let's not forget about the strawberries I have in there in a hanging basket (also a trowel and error thingy). You can see the grape bunches nicely forming on the vine, at this stage only flowerbuds, later in after the pollination the grapes will form, grow and ripen. Yummmm. I shall try to form a capopy to have some sort of shade, but warm in the greenhouse and avoid the scorching heat. Both of my greenhouses are in full sun, which can be both a blessing and a bit of a curse if the summer becomes too hot. Too hot in Ireland?, you may ask.... Well with the climate change one never knows. I shall live in hope for hot summers, but not too hot now, let's say a nice 25 will be just fabulous. 😝😜😉

All this chit-chat about the weather and hot summer almost made me forgotten about my toms that are happily growing in their bigger pots dreaming about warmer days with their caretaker, aka gardener, aka moi. 😁😜

And as we go through April and more rainy days, when the sun occasionally shows her face my garden is happy and thriving. 

Trees are blooming, springflowers are poking their heads through the (at this stage) tall grass, because if the weather the grass could be mowed since November. 

Apple, cherry, pear, crab apple trees are laden with flowers (I hope there will be enough polinators around to do their magic). In the grass among the trees in my orchard, lawn daisies, daffodils, snake head fritillary, dog tooth lily, star of bethlehem, summer snowdrops are smiling at me. Add to that the beauties that are scattered around in the gravel among violets and forget me nots, there are : alpine strawberries and calendula, that self seeded. 

As this month slowly comes to an end, despite of occasional frost, cold days and showers my garden is thriving inside and outside too. No frostbite on my plants which for a gardener is always a bonus. The sun is shining and it's nice and warmish.

There are still a few late flowering tulips in the grass. The crab apples and cherries are clad in their colourful dresses inviting many polinators for a feast. My Iris Siberica proudly stands showing off it's beauty shamelessly 😜, as for my wisteria, well what can I say it was a nice surprise to see the bloom after many years of waiting. 

Even my cat decided to join the flower parade with a tiny Violet behind her ear. Last year I bought some hybrid bluebells, snowdrops and star of bethlem to plant in my lawn and let them spread. Unfortunately I'm affraid the bluebells won't stay true as I'm surrounded by Spanish ones, and through pollination they'll hybridize too. But hey ho, polinators, bees love them so they'll stay. My Tamarix and Snowball tree is ready to bloom too. They are gorgeous in full bloom. The grapes are growing nicely just about to bloom too. 

I've mentioned before that I have some early cropping strawberries in the greenhouse, can't wait too eat them now. The confrey along with nettles are like gold for a gardener as they give us the liquid organic feed all plants need. I wish you could smell the lilac too, it's sweet and fresh with a hint of lemon. It's a simple flowering cultivar, but there are some darker or white varieties too. My soft fruit bushes are coming along nicely, loads of flowers means loads of fruit. 

Pink tree peony, simple flowered one to offer nourishment to polinators and bees are invitingly opening their dainty petals. Some pink variety of bluebell snuck in there somehow. And a lonely hyacinth hiding behind a red Japanese acer branches :) love the colour pallete there 😜

All the best until. Next time

Sincerely yours 

Anna