Sunday, May 29, 2011

An End and a Beginning

I ended the month of May by completing the necklace I was making for my daughter Kristen.  It is Lynn Morton’s lovely triangle design with beads added; and, a tatted split ring in lieu of a chain.  I added the green crystal hearts.  I haven’t done very many jewelry pieces; and, I’d make changes to this pattern on the next one.  I will probably do another because the pattern is relatively quick.  Next time I’d plan ahead and coordinate gold thread with gold jump rings and fastenings.  This time, I used what I had on hand which was silver and a crystal pave magnetic heart fastener.  I’d love to see this done with silver thread, blue crystals, and silver findings.  I did make matching earrings for the necklace; I may cut those apart and re do them.  I really wasn’t satisfied with how the green crystal hearts were hanging.


The brown rosary I had completed for Geoginia had an ‘accident’.  The tiger eyes cut the thread, with the handling, and I had to redo the bottom part.  I substituted brown pearls which were lighter in weight and size.  I think if I’d put beads on the outside of each end of the tiger eye, it would have acted as a spacer and cushioned the thread.  Something to keep in mind with rosaries.  They are handled a lot and some are heavier handed than others.  Geroginia said that she was always breaking rosaries!   Let’s hope this fix works for her.  She had asked for pearls like the ones on Luz’s rosary (which is holding together just fine).

The end of the month of May also had two other events.  Omar graduated with his teaching certificate and landed a position teaching Spanish and coaching soccer and tennis at Carlsbad, New Mexico.  They will set up housekeeping there in the fall.  In the meantime they are temporarily in El Paso, Texas residing with a good friend of Omar’s.  Here is the graduation guy and a very expectant wife, Bekah.

In between these events, the surgery for the fistula was completed.  My SonInLove demanded a photo to make sure the ‘old girl’ was ok...so I sent him these.  Of course, I had to be a little silly since these photos were for Richard.  LOL  He’d expect no less from moi!

 
The great surprise was that this did not keep me from tatting at all; and, Pippa could still be held and petted!  These were taken at the motel when I came home from surgery.

BUT the BIG EVENT on May 17th was the ARRIVAL of ZELLA VILUZ MELENDEZ.  Tah Da!

May 17th  10:33 PM  7 lbs 6 oz   20” tall    At 2 1/2 days old in El Paso, TX   The BEGINNING of another generation; our Great Granddaughter (this makes 4 gt. granddaughters) Zella!  My Mother would be so ecstatic to have this baby named in her honor.  If baby Zella has half of Mom’s spirit and spunk, she’ll be a firecracker!

Leo, their dog, worries so over Zella.  When people hold her, he stands guard.  He is going to be her best friend and guardian.

Back to tatting.  Diane C. kindly sent me one of her hankies and I’m taking the plunge with size 80 thread which I do not use very often. It is the one that has the pink flowers and “Mother” embroidered upon it.

Also, I’m tatting animals for a quilt for Zella; I have a hippo (from the Tat it and See).  I shall have to hire someone to actually make the block quilt; but I can do all the tatting.  I’m using Jane E and Martha Ess animals; hummm, let’s see what animal could “Z” become (Zebra? Zebu?).  A is for Alligator, B is for Badger?  Won’t this be fun with all the choices.  I don’t want it to be the regular critters one sees...want to think out of the box on this one.  All ideas are welcomed.  “G” is saved for Giraffe because I’ve wanted to tat Jane’s Giraffe forever; and, most of Zella’s blankie, stroller cover, stuffed toy all seem to have a Giraffe theme.  Even her onsie s!

That takes care of the month of May!  And I didn’t even cover my Mother’s Day gift and flowers nor Kristen’s birthday on May 23d!   Kristen received additional jewelry and a special Tatted Turtle from Terri Deusenbury’s Turtle Cove.

Looking forward to June as this year I REALLY will be 75 years old on June 12th and will begin dialysis soon after.

10 comments:

Michelle said...

How about Z for Zella and do her whole name?

Miranda said...

Wow, all that metallic thread! You are a more patient tatter than I am! The necklace is really stunning!

What a lot of new starts in your family! Congratulations on all of them!

I'll try to come up with animals in some of the harder to think of letters. J-- Jackrabbit, just use an ordinary rabbit pattern and lengthen the ears. Q-- Quail (sorry, I don't know of any quail tatting patterns). V-- Vampire bat, there are several bat patterns available. X-- X-ray fish; Xenopus, a type of frog; Xenoglaux, a long-whiskered owlet from South America, just take an ordinary owl pattern and add some long picots around the face. Since you've already reserved the G for Giraffe, you could use or modify Jane's Gecko pattern and call it a Lizard. She's also got that Meerkat pattern for M, if you want something more unusual than monkeys. You can have my Cardinal pattern if you want it for C. This will be a fun project! I can't wait to see all your ideas!

Ladytats said...

congratulations on your up coming birthday.

way to go on the tatted jewelry, it looks very nice.

glad to hear that you are going to be around for quite some time. yeah for fighting.

congrats on the new great-granddaughter.

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

Wow! There's been a lot going on in your neck of the woods! The necklace is beautiful. Congratulations to Omar... how wonderful that he has found a job so quickly! I'm glad that Pippa can still receive all the love and attention she wants. Zella is beautiful!

Jane Eborall said...

If you're stuck for an animal shout and I'm sure something will come slithering in!!! Love the necklace and the new g granddaughter. You look so well in spite of everything you've been through.

Suztats said...

Wonderful that you could still tat while recuperating. Best wishes on the upcoming Birthday! What a splendid month you've had.

Maureen said...

Yes, you DO look well, which is wonderful - so thank your son-in-love for requesting the photos! Now we can all enjoy them.
Congratulations to the parents and grandparents on the safe arrival of beautiful Zella.
A momentous Month of May for all of you.
(I have a daughter-out-of-law who is a knitter!! - sheer joy, but every time I ask my son when they are getting married he says "when we're ready". Young people don't seem to marry so much anymore, do they? - and in the meanwhile I am having a wonderful time exchanging patterns. Must try to teach her to tat next time they visit.)

Gina said...

Whew! Congratulations on ALL the wonderful events and people in your life! What blessings!

Ridgewoman said...

I guess Bekah and Omar were very old-fashioned. They had a long engagement of five years; and, had not planned to have a child until they had a house. However, God decided to bless them with little Zella after a year and six months of marriage.! Last year this time they were telling people," No babies until we establish a home and both have secure incomes” Oh well, best laid plans of mice and men. It will make their start a little more difficult but fortunately Omar did get a teaching position practically before he graduated.
Bekah hopes to open her own business with her photography and a framing shop. I have no doubt, as determined as she is, that she’ll do that by next year at this time. Little Zella will probably grow up being Mom’s photographer’s assistant. But I can see Omar coaching with Zella in a back pack! LOL He is such a good Daddy already. Rebekah is really fortunate! I didn’t realize, until I wrote the blog just how many things had taken place during May. Even omitting the parties that went along with the occasions. I observed most of it from my bed but did get to attend graduation dinner at our house! LOL
However, I have 3 granddaughters and Rebekah is the only one who opted for marriage before babies! However, she is the only one who is a believer and who married a fellow Christian. It really makes a difference in their life choices.

Fox said...

Such good news! And the best for me is that your new, beautiful Great-Granddaughter is born on the best day of the year: May 17th - MY birthday!

Congratulations on all of it, bj!
Fox : )