Happy New Year and A New Life in El Valle, Panama

HAPPY YEARS EVERYONE

 My Partner Gregg and I have now officially retired and moved to El Valle, Panama.

Never again will we have to endure a Canadian winter. Here in El Valle, Panama we have 2 seasons wet and dry. The average daily temperature is about 27 and the night time temperatures average 22 and it is like this year round. The one thing that is really different is the winds we get here are crazy. Last night they were blowing so hard they were blowing furniture across the patio. The town of EL Valle is in the crater of a dormant volcano. It is the second biggest inhabited crater in the world. Located about 2 1/2 hours from Panama City at an elevation of about 600 meters and with a population of 5,000 this tropical wonder has to be seen to be believed. The town is surrounded by lush green mountains and there is vegetation everywhere you look. Every tree that you look at is covered with orchids, bromeliads and ferns planted by mother nature.

This year my blog will have lots of pictures from here and some tatting here and there.

This is the view that we get to look at each morning as we have our breakfast on one of the covered patio's. Below is a scan of the snowflakes that I made and gave to friends this Christmas. This is a Celtic Snowflake and the pattern is from Ruth Perry. Thank you Ruth these made impressive gifts for my friends and they loved them. 

Tatting and Wednesday's Inspiration

Celtic Snowflake, pattern is by Ruth Perry.

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser."

-John W. Gardner

Tatting and Thursday's Inspiration

"The best way out is always through."

-Robert Frost

Tatting and Wednesday's Inspiration

"Those who dream by day are

cognizant of many things to escape

those who dream only at night."

-Edgar Allen Poe

Tatting and Tuesday's Inspiration

"Working in the garden....gives me

a profound feeling of inner peace."

-Ruth Stout

Monday's Message

Now this is whaat Ruth Perry's 2008 Celtic snowflake is supposed to look like. This snowflake was tatted using DMC Cordonnet size 30 Ecru thread.
"There's harmony and inner peace to be found in following a moral compass
that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend."
_____ Ted Koppel

Lesson Learned

This Celtic Snowflake was designed by Ruth Perry for the year 2008. I don't know about other experienced tatters but I can now tat without looking at my tatting very much or so I thought. I was watching a very interesting show on television and as you can see I made A mistake in my tatting. Oh well, they say each snowflake is original and this one sure is.

The Quote for the day is;
"Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, uncertain, and disputed voice, it is not the voice of God.
Descend still deeper into yourself, until you hear nothing but a clear, undivided voice,
a voice that does away with doubt and brings with it persuasion, light and serenity."
_____ Henri F. Amiel

Celtic Snowflakes and a Gift

Well I am finally at home and Gregg's Dad is well on his way to recovering from his surgery. It is so nice to finally be home, but now the rush is on for Christmas.
I finally have a chance to post some of the tatting I have been doing and let you know about a present I received.

This is a spinning wheel coaster that Laura (Tattycat) tatted for me and sent as a nice surprise in the mail. It is made of Fern HDT by YarnPlayer. There is something special about receiving a gift of tatting especially when you know how much work went into it.

These are a bunch of Celtic Snowflakes that I tatted using Ruth Perry's design. One is done in Apple Blossom HDT, size 50 and the other ones are made with opera size 20 in red. Well on to tatting more gifts.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Unfortunately I am unable to post pictures as I am temporarily located at my partners Dad's house where I am looking after him for a couple of weeks as he recuperates from knee replacement surgery. I am Keeping busy in the tatting world tatting Ruth Perry's Celtic Snowflake in Apple Blossom HDT. It makes nice bright snowflakes for the Christmas tree. I am now trying to decide what colour to tat the remaining snowflakes I need to make and it is a toss up between burgundy and variegated yellow. What do you think?

Tis The Season

I remember reading a few months ago some tatting members posts that said they did not gift their tatting as it was not appreciated. Now I can understand how awful it would feel to gift a piece of tatting to someone and for them to not appreciate it. I mean what a waste of time and effort and there are a lot of people who would be more than happy to receive a piece of tatting as a gift. Luckily for me I have 8 people on my gift list who are only to happy to receive a piece of tatting for a Christmas gift. They all appreciate the time and effort that goes into making there gift and they treasure them each year. I enjoy making there gifts as it means more to me than just going out to the mall and purchasing something and it gives me a chance to share a bit of me. The bonus this year is that with the way the economy is, homemade gifts are going to be a lot more common.

In case you were wondering this years gift is Ruth Perry's Celtic Snowflake which I know everyone will love.