And what will today hold?

 Well, that was an interesting day.

Readers of this blog may not know the extent to which I work to find and mentor new organists. Many years ago I hung up my concert organ shoes. I tried to turn my back on playing the organ. Afterall, I didn’t have a church job, I had no organ in my home, and when I did play, things hurt. Why should I spend time trying to do something that doesn’t bring me (or other people) joy? Gues what? At my core I’m an organist. I couldn’t do it! I found joy in listening to others, explaining the instrument to people who showed (or maybe didn’t show) interest, and doing my best to support those who play the organ.

Thus, my new role as an organist: find a way to help new organists find joy in this instrument.

Yesterday, I had an interesting day.

I’m a member of the San Jose chapter of the American Guild of Organists. The chapter, along with the Palo Alto/Peninsula and the San Francisco chapters, owns a demonstration organ. It is a working instrument built in such a way that it can be stored in 2 Pelican Cases, assembled, played, and repacked for use in a different location.

Yesterday I gave a demonstration and answered questions at the Carmel Bach Festival office. Judging by the grins I witnessed, they had fun! Good questions were asked and now we’ll be working together getting this out into the community.

An interesting day.

But wait! There’s more…..

Just after I settled in to provide information for a proposal, I received another request from a small school in San Jose. They want to schedule a time for 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders to work with the Orgelkids instrument.

Today will be busy getting things in line to take advantage of those opportunities. Probably not much tatting will get done. That’s OK. We’re in the midst of a heat wave here. I don’t like to tat when my hands are so sweaty. It’s impossible to clean the thread once I get it dirty with perspiration.

 

Another Fair

 Another Fair is done. Everyone I saw was having a good time. It felt like an old-time Fair this year.

Let me remind you all that Fair judging is always subjective. We have opinions about our entries. Some of us are a bit more competitive than others. What the judge thinks is their opinion. Yes, they are asked to rank entries and to give feedback at times. I would never argue with a judge. It’s their opinion.

This little bootie set won Best of Show for Tatting. Really. Despite it being a prototype and not tatted with the best technique. The judge liked it. Ok. My opinion: there were lots of good tatting entered.

I want to thank all the tatters who entered lace to be judged. Please keep on tatting. Your lace is your lace. The judge has their opinion. The world needs more lace!

Teeny tiny bag

I finished a sample in my quest for a netting pattern. This is from Nina Libin’s BENILE series. The spool of thread is normal size. The smaller spool is from the center of a vintage size 80 ball of thread. 

I was skeptical of how the fabric would drape. With the beads and how the joins are designed, it does quite well. I think it’s a bit heavy to use for the netting idea, but it’s cute and sparkly. Just what a young lace lover might enjoy!

I have my "demo" projects ready

 I have my bag packed for sitting at the table during the Fair. There's a shuttle filled with fun thread for butterflies. There's the revision of the booties. There's the last little bit of the hair bun holder. I'm ready!!

Another puzzle to solve

A friend asked for a tatted hair holder for her dressage helmet. Logical as I wear my hair bun holders a lot and she liked how they looked. So, I’ve been researching, trying out ideas, and generally being creative.

Here are two ideas for netting. The top one doesn’t look like a good possibility. The bottom one could work. I’ll need to work in beads. And it needs to be able to attach to the helmet in some way. I’ll be testing out another idea today.

What do you do in your "time off"

 Well, it seems I can’t sit still. I’ve turned in my items to be judged in the Monterey County Fair, traveled to San Francisco to have time with the Ruffatti organ at New St. Mary’s, and sifted through some of the design notes I made during Carmel Bach Festival.

I hope you “rest” better than I do!

Tatted flag ready to go

 

I completed the mounting and lacing of the flag. I’m OK with how it came out. I would find a different way to do some of the project, but it will do for the Fair. I will likely frame this to hang in the entry of my house.

On another note….. I’ve begun the journey to better vision with the first of two cataract surgeries. Ove the next few months, I’ll be living with transition vision. It will take awhile for everything to recover and adjust in my eyes, so I’m not sure how productive I will be. I plan on just taking one day at a time and work to full recovery.