Kermit?

We continue to have a yard full of tiny little frogs.  This little guy joined me at our bonfire the other night.  I kicked him off my chair when I realized he was frighteningly close to my HAIR . . .

I went in the house for a few minutes, and when I came back - he was there again!  Persistent little bugger.

A Little Inspiration . . .

I've been focusing a lot on work and other things lately and . . . not much tatting.  BUT, last weekend at our Twin Cities Tatters gathering, one of our tatters shared some tatting books she found at her library.  My own library does not have many tatting books, but she was lucky to find several!

This one really caught my eye:

It's by Tomoko Morimoto, the daughter of the one and only Teiko Fujito.  This book is from 2012, but I don't recall seeing it mentioned much before.  It has really nice motifs and small items to work up quickly, plus a few beautiful doilies.  This book, and some talk of Renulek's beautiful doily tat-alongs, really inspired me to get a new tatting project started.  My T.A.T. projects are going kinda slow - not inspiring enough to hold my interest at the moment, but I was really thinking about getting back into the tatting spirit.

So, I ordered the book, and got it Friday - the same day I found out I have "Trigger Thumb".  Yep.  Tendonitis in my right thumb/hand. Dr.'s orders were "no use of the right hand"  all weekend, plus anytime outside of WORK for a minimum of 1 week. [I'm already finding it hard to hold a glass of wine in my left hand, ha!]

It's not like I've been idle since my last post (in JUNE) though.  I have picked strawberries and made jam (twice), read a couple of books, started a book club of high-school friends, and felt the sewing bug bite hard enough to visit the quilt shop and make a few aprons.  Not to mention working.  A lot.

This simple apron pattern has a dishtowel attached to the front - something I thought would be very handy, as I'm always looking for the towel to wipe my hands on.  (Usually, my butt is covered in flour and I completely miss the apron anyway.) 

 I  made one apron for each of my girls, and eventually made one for myself too :) 

And, in the latest family news, my baby is engaged.  This little cutie-patootie has turned into a beautiful young woman who is bubbling over with joy!  And who has lots of ideas and plans that Mom gets to be in on :) It's so exciting to watch.

Isn't life grand?