Weekend Inspiration

"To know what you know and to know what you don't know, that is real wisdom."
____ Confucius

Friday's Inspiration

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
____ Dalai Lama

Thursday's Inspiration

" Our task must be to free ourselves from our prison
by widening our circle of compassion to embrace
all humanity and the whole of nature in it's beauty."
_____ Albert Einstein

Wednesday's Inspiration

"There is no way to peace; peace is the way."
______ A. J. Muste

Tuesday's Inspiration

"Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace."
_____ Buddha

Monday's Inspiration

"Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work that will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all."
______ Robert M. Pirsig

Weekend Inspiration

"Only one who bursts with enthusiasm do I instruct; only one who bubbles with excitement do I enlighten."
_____ Confucious

Friday's Inspiration

"Do, or do not. There is no try."
____ Yoda

Thursday's Inspiration

"The truth of Zen, just a little bit of it, is what turns one's humdrum life, a life of monotonous, uninspiring commonplaceness, into one of art, full of genuine inner creativity."
____ D.T. Suzuki

Wednesday's Inspiration

"Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else." ___Buddha

Tuesday's Inspiration

"No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention; let it settle itself."
___Tilopa

Monday's Inspiration

"The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it. Between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past. Between those who open there arms and those who are determined to clench their fists."
___William Jefferson Clinton

Weekend Inspiration

"God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, 'Ah!' "
Joseph Campbell

Friday's Inspiration

"Why do you so earnestly seek the truth in distant places? Look for delusion and truth in the bottom of your own heart." Ryokan

Thursday's Inspiration

"To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the side's of the mountain that sustain life, not the top." ____ Robert M. Pirsig

Wednesday's Inspiration

"Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity."

Henry David Thoreau

Tuesday's Inspiration

"The past is already past. Don't try to regain it. The present does not stay. Don't try to touch it moment to moment. The future has not come. Don't think about it beforehand." Layman P'ang

Inspirations

Happy New Year Everyone.

Well it is a new year and a new decade and I have decided to add a new feature to my tatting blog. I really like to start my day off with a quote. An inspiration, meditation, thought, prayer or idea and I have decided that this year I will try my best to post one each day of the week and one for the weekend for others who enjoy this idea. If you enjoy these please spread the word that they are available on this blog as I would like to share them with as many people as possible. Here is today's,

"Life is like music for it's own sake. We are living in the eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present." ___ Alan Watts

"Vision" in HDT

A big thank you goes out to Marilee (YarnPlayer) for her sharing her pattern for the necklace she designed called "Vision". I made this for my daughter for Christmas using Tourmaline HDT and Fluorite and Amethyst beads and Swarovski crystals. This pattern is wonderful to tat and as you can see the finished product is spectacular. My daughter was very pleased.

Mail Call

Call me old fashion but I still find it fun to get things by snail mail. A few days after I returned home from the hospital this wonderful card arrived for little ol' me.

Now this is not just your every day plain card this " Ray of Sunshine" card is a wonderful Get Well card from Sherry ( Lady ShuttleMaker ) and imagine my delight when I opened it and found one of sherry's "Pen Hook's".

Now I don't know how much everyone knows about Sherry's Pen Hooks but they are fantastic and the price makes them a must have for every tatter. The way they keep your crochet hook handy but not in the way is fantastic and they do not roll away on you like a crochet hook does which drives me crazy. They come decorated in a variety of ways. For more information here is the link. By the way I think the quote Sherry put on mine is perfect. Thank You Sherry.

THANK YOU

I would like to start this posting with a huge Thank You and HUG to all who blessed me with warm thoughts, words and prayers for without them I would not have made it through the past 6 days.

The surgery went well but the hospital stay was criminally harmful and negligent. I will go no further than to say that it is going to take a while to heal from the emotional damage and scarring, but I am strong and I will get better.

I am home know and I think today I feel like I may just be able to pick up my shuttles and do a little tatting which I am sure will speed up my recovery. I am looking forward to healing and living with I hope what will be less pain.

May the thread flow gently from your shuttles and needles as you watch the sunset on a day that when you really and honestly look at it was a pretty good day. ( At least that is my wish for you.)

This is a picture of tropical flowers that Laura, Tattycat, sent me to cheer me up and it worked. I think they are wonderful and they remind me of my trips to Hawaii.

My Health- An Update

After an eleven week struggle I am finally making some progress. One of the things I am suffering from is Avascular Necrosis which is part of the ball end of my femur is dying because it is not receiving proper blood flow. To deal with this I am going for surgery this Wednesday to have the following done. Core decompression. (In this operation, your surgeon removes part of the inner layer of your femur bone. This relieves pressure within your bone, reducing your pain. The extra space allows your bone to form new blood vessels and stimulate the production of new bone. Core decompression works best in people with early-stage avascular necrosis.) This hopefully will rid me of the horrific pain I am dealing with right now. If this does not work then I am looking at a full hip replacement.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the tatting community for all your thoughts and support during this horrible time. It has really helped. I will keep everyone updated.



Clyde

Finally, Back to Tatting

These two hearts where made using a pattern from The Tarnished Tatter. The heart was designed as a fund raiser for Tracy who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The pattern can be found here. Along with the heart you will find other patterns and links to her many books. Be sure to visit her blog, I know you will find something fun to tat.

I Will Survive

I am letting people know about what has happened to me with the hope that it saves anyone who reads this blog or there friends from going through my horrible experience. I am not looking for sympathy and am not doing it because of the poor me's but I just hope it saves someone from having to go through the misery I am going through.
To give you a bit of history I am a 48 year old male who has a severe case of osteoporosis. 8 weeks a go I was helping my partner lift a ladder and when we where done I had a sharp pain in my hip. The next day the pain was worse so I saw my doctor and she referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who x rayed my back and hip and then did a MRI. His conclusion was that there was no breaks and just a slightly herniated disc that should calm down and I would be fine. Over the next 8 weeks I returned to see the doctor 3 times and was in excruciating pain. I was only able to walk a couple steps using two canes, without stopping because of the pain. The most sleep I got in a night during the 8 weeks was 2 hours a night. Finally on my third visit to the doctors I stressed that I could not go on with the pain I was in and she told me there was no reason for the pain it was just in my head. I did not leave the appointment and insisted on how serious it was and that she has 5 days to find out why I was in so much pain. She finally agreed to send me for a nuclear bone density scan of my body. Last Thursday I had my scan and they found that my hip is indeed broken. I see the surgeon today to find out what they are going to do about it. I called my osteoporosis specialist and told him what had happened and he told me that he has had a few cases in his practice where this has happened. I cannot begin to explain the hell I have gone through in the past 8 weeks with pain. It is something I want to try and save anyone I know from.
My reason for telling you this is if you have osteoporosis and you think you have broken something because of the pain, if they do an x ray and a catscan or MRI and do not come up with a satisfactory answer insist on a nuclear bone scan as it will find things the other tests can miss. This also goes for other health problems if you do not get a satisfactory answer insist on more tests or second opinions until you get the proper answer. Remember it is you we are talking about here and you are worth it.

Update:

The top of my femur bone is not getting enough blood to grow. I go for a MRI on Saturday October 31 and then see my surgeon on November 5 to decide which surgery I need. If it is a small area of the bone they will try drilling holes in the bone to increase blood flow but the surgeon feels that what is going to happen is a full hip replacement. This is complicated by my severe osteoporosis. I will update next Thursday.

Rock and Gem Show

A hobby that Gregg and I have is collecting rocks, semi-precious stones and fossils. We went to a show a couple of weekends a go and found a vendor with very reasonable prices and where able to add some interesting pieces to our collection. I was very happy to be able to purchase this large piece of Desert Rose that measures about 12" long x 8" deep x 7" high. It is so nice to have a rock specimen large enough to use as a table centre piece and conversation piece. Below is a short slide presentation of some other pieces that we purchased to add to our collection.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I hope you enjoyed the show and keep and eye on this blog for future shows of our Rock, Gem and Fossil collections. Happy tatting everyone and be sure to mention this blog to your friends.

I Believe

Well after reading about it on many tatters blogs and hearing what a big difference it made in being able to be able to see there tatting more easily. I did a lot of research and and tried the ott-lite in the store and read a lot off the user reviews on the Internet



I made the big move and bought an Ott Lite. All I can say is I am a believer and why did I not buy this years a go. This light is everything and more that people say it is. It is amazing how much better you can see the thread with this light. All I can say is go ahead treat yourself, you deserve it and you will be so happy you did. The reason I choose this model is because it took the highest watt bulb and stood over my shoulder out of the way.

I Did It and Boy Am I Proud

This blog has a lot to do with tatting but involves no thread. So now you are wondering Clyde what the heck are you going to talk about. Well the topic today is COMPUTERS. Our two year old laptop was running really slow and it was starting to stop performing a couple programs that are required to do day to day functions, often making it impossible to open a lot of e-mails so after consulting with computer tech's I was given the verdict that I needed to reformat my hard drive. Now if your computer knowledge is as up to date as mine is I had no idea what this meant but I knew I did not have the money to have a professional do it and I did not want my laptop out of my possession for any length of time as I have information on my laptop that I would rather not share with a stranger, like my banking information etc.

Well I decided to do it myself with some help from the computer tech's from the maker's of my laptop and the store that sold it to me and my partner's son via long distance. Here is what it entailed for me.

The first thing I had to do was decide what I wanted to save from the computer as I was about to wipe my hard drive clean. This may sound easy but when I started looking I found that I had 1,827 pictures that take 8.74 GB of space, the files I wanted to save, the favorites, and other documents ended up with me needing close to 37GB of storage. Yes I said 37 GB of storage. this number blew me away I always thought that a gig or 2 of memory was more than anyone would ever need. I have had my eyes opened. I had to save all this information on disks and USB sticks which took a bit of time. Then I got lucky normally you would wipe your hard drive clean then start to reformat it using back up disks to return it to its factory settings. On my laptop there was a way to enter the start up sequence and cause the hard drive to return the hard drive back to its factory settings. When I started up the computer with its old settings there was a lot of updating to do. There where 85 updates to windows to download that took 5 1/2 hours, then came the updates from the computer manufacturer. After hours of these downloads and many restarts it was time to download all the programs and software that I was using on my laptop. All in all, after 3 1/2 days I did it. I reformatted my laptop.

The laptop runs a lot faster now and the programs are working better. It was not easy but it was worth it and now I know how to reformat a laptop. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Giveaway Winner

The comments were numbered and put in a bowl for a draw. My son picked the lucky number and it was 26. Congratulations Singtatter (Ellen) you are the final winner in the Garden Tour Giveaway. Thank you to everyone who participated and be sure to keep an eye on this blog for upcoming giveaways. Ellen please contact me with your snail mail address at cepage1ca@yahoo.ca

Clyde

Garden Tour GIVEAWAY-UPDATE

Hurry, hurry, If you have not taken the time yet You only have 2 days left to enter the draw for the bookmark drawing, so please enjoy the tour and then be sure to leave your comment along with contact information by September 3, 2009. The prize is a bookmark and now for more details on the bookmark it is going to be tatted using Marilee's (YarnPlayer's) Lavender Orchid HDT size 100. Yes I said size 100, after all it had to be a special bookmark.

Good Luck everyone.

Garden Tour GIVEAWAY

Well I have decided to present the pictures of my gardens in a different format this year. They are in a slide show and it is about 4 1/2 minutes long and presents some interesting shots that will make you have to guess as to what they are. Now for the fun part. The GIVEAWAY. There are pictures of two plants that where on the planet or are a direct descendant of a plant that was on the planet when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The first person to guess which plant it is and give the correct common name for it will win a bookmark tatted in HDT by yours truly. Good luck and I hope you have fun. Please leave a way to contact you.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

UPDATE: The 2 bookmarks have been won but to keep people interested in viewing the Garden Tour I have added a THIRD PRIZE, another bookmark. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment about the Garden Tour and your name will be entered in a draw to be held September 3, 2009. One entry per person.

Rainbow Test

Your rainbow is shaded violet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

I usually do not put much interest in these quizzes but this one hit it right on the head. It described me very well and was a pleasant surprise. You might want to give it a try you may be surprised.

I Am So Happy

Oh it feels so good to finally be able to get some tatting done. I cannot believe how much I have missed being able to pick up the shuttles and escape into the creative world of tatting. To watch as delicate lace magically appears from my moving hands and to feel like I am accomplishing something even when I am relaxing in front of the TV.

This is the start of the second panel for Robert's heirloom piece. It is a bit tedious but I know he is going to love it when it is finished.

Getting Better Thank You

My body is telling me it is getting older and some parts of it are wearing down. I suffer from a joint deterioration problem that is really effecting my knees and causes them to pop out of joint when ever they please thus causing me to fall flat on my face. Not fun. It also causes the knees to be a constant source of considerable pain. I am also "blessed" with chronic migraines that happen on a constant basis and I have not had a day with out a migraine in 14 years. Yes I said 14 years. I have been anemic for the past two years with an iron level of 11, the hospital here will not give you an infusion until your level reaches 10. I have 2 bleeding ulcers and must sleep sitting up because of the heartburn. Now my body has decided to be real funny and make me feel real old by giving me severe osteoporosis. To make matters worse my bone density scan shows severe damage and I have vertebrae fractures. Now I have been dealing with a lot of pain but these past few months it has been unbearable and the reason you have not been seeing many pictures of tatting on my blog is I have been in to much pain to do anything.
Now for the positive news. I now walk using a cane or walker and it has reduced my falls and made walking much safer. I have come to accept that I will always be with some degree of migraine and that I am doing all I can medically and non-medically to deal with it. I accept it for what it is and live with it. I got a second opinion on my iron and a referral to a new hospital and it is there policy to give transfusions if your iron is 25 or below and I am receiving my 4th of 10 weekly infusions this week after waiting 2 years. Finally I will feel like I have some energy and to do the least little thing in life will not be a major effort. I have medication for the bleeding ulcers and have bought a Lazy-boy recliner for the bedroom. My Family doctor has approved a dramatic increase in my pain medications and now the pain level is a 10 on a scale of 10 instead of a 14. I am in the process of appealing the government's decision to deny funding for my osteoporosis treatment. I will do my best to deal with it and it is a big improvement over what it was.
As I am getting used to this new balance in my life I am finally able to start back at tatting so I hope to be posting some pictures soon. Yes things are getting a bit better Thank You.

Happy Birthday Clyde

Look at what arrived in the mail today just in time for my birthday. It is the snowflake that I won from Diane's blog and along with it she sent one of the wonderful braided cords she is making. I wish everyone could see it in person so you could see just how beautiful it is. Thank you very much Diane.

I had a very enjoyable birthday and to top it off my best friend cooked supper for my partner and I which I really appreciate because I do not think anyone should have to cook on there birthday. Many thanks to all who sent birthday greetings my way they are greatly appreciated.

Number 100

This is my 100th post on this blog and to celebrate I am going to show you two things that made me happy today. The first was the arrival of two shuttles from The Shuttle Shop one decorated with a tiger and one with a Celtic knot. They are both made from Tulip-wood and are going to be wonderful to tat with.

The second is this plant we bought the other day it is a gerbera daisy and I just can't believe the number of blooms it has and how wonderfully colourful they are.

I would like to thank everyone who follows my blog and a special Thank You to those that leave comments. I appreciate each and every one of them.

Ali Is Getting Better

Good News. Ali is recovering and starting to use her injured leg. It is going to take her a little while to recover but she is going to recover. Thank you everyone for your positive thoughts and kind words of support.

What I Am Up Too

Well you are probably wondering what is happening in my wonderful little tatting world. I am afraid it is not to exciting but it brings me joy because I am going to be sharing the joy of tatting. I have been busy tatting little motifs to give away at the seniors center today when I am doing a presentation on tatting. I am going to have some of my tatting on display. My tatting photos playing on a power point display and I will be tatting and answering any questions people may have. All this is to promote lessons I will be offering there come September.

The tatting demonstration went well and was enjoyed by all. People really appreciated the gift of a small piece of tatting. There where a few who knew how to tat but have not done it in many years so if there is enough interest not only will there be a beginners class there will be a refresher course.

On a sad note. When I got home today my little dog Ali could not use her one back leg. I took her to the vet and there is nothing broken or displaced so she thinks it may have something to do with the spinal cord. If she gets any worse I will have to have her put down as I will not allow her to suffer in any way. She has been to kind not to be treated with great love. Please keep Ali in your thoughts.

Two Latest Bloomers

These two orchids are our latest to bloom. What makes these two so special is that the plant is less than two inches tall and we only paid $5 each for these two at a going out of business sale. All the orchids that we bought at this sale are doing well and most have bloomed for us. This one has seven blooms coming.






The bloom is a blend of so many colours yellow, brown, purple, pink, white just to name a few.

This last one has a funny bloom that has never opened fully even though it has been in flower for two months.

Heirloom Center Piece

Well it is finally finished the first square of what will be the heirloom centerpiece. I think the finished piece will be four squares, more if I have the thread, possibly some kind of fancy border. We will have to see how it goes. I hope to have more tatting time in the next couple of weeks as the past few weeks have been busy doing samples for classes I am going to be teaching and testing some new thread, which have been fun to do but your big projects fall behind. I am going to be teaching a tatting at a local seniors center in July and am booked again to teach in October. It is always nice to see more people learning to tat. It is even more fun to teach seniors who have always wanted to learn what there Mother or Grandmother did not get a chance to teach them. Happy tatting everyone.

Honestly The Dog Ate It.

Remember when back in school when somebody used the excuse that the dog ate their homework and everyone in the class went "sure he did". Well I now believe that person. This week I tatted a bunch of simple butterflies for a events coordinator to hand out when people signed up for tatting lessons that I am going to be teaching. I set them down on the coffee table and when I went to get them as I was leaving they where gone. I looked around and there was Ali my dog eating the last ones. YES my dog ate my homework and to make matters worse when I got home she had decided that after 2 1/2 years she would eat her first shuttle. Ali is in the dog house for a while but I must say she has been having some pretty poops.

Redecorating Revealed

Well it is time for the big reveal. We have finally gotten around to redecorating our bedroom and we decided to go with bold and dramatic. The colour scheme is Port Plum, Cloud Cream and your basic white ceiling.




I was really happy with the bedspread set that I found as the burgundy stripe in it was a perfect match for the walls. I don't know about others but I like a bedspread that goes to the floor and with having a water-bed you have no use for a bed skirt so I used it to make a large bolster pillow for the foot of the bed.

At the foot of the bed is my favorite blanket chest of the many that we own. It is an antique, hand carved Chinese, camphor lined blanket chest and I love how the red tones of the wood blend with the room.

Stained glass figures decorate the window that is dressed with wooden blinds and curtain panels of linen and lace in cream.

The picture over the bed was painted by a friend and the frame was made by my neighbor and I finished it by painting it with the trim paint and then dry brushing it with a dark green stain. I am very happy with how it turned out as I have been looking for a frame for this picture for 13 years.

The last special feature is for night time and that is the copper lanterns and picture with a light. The copper lanterns have pillar candles in them that are lit with LED lights and run of rechargeable batteries. They actually flicker like real candles and you cannot tell them from the real thing. The picture is lit with a battery powered LED so there are no hanging cords.

I hope you enjoyed your tour and please leave feedback as I would be interested in your thoughts on the redecorating.

Clyde