Floral Bouquet Doily Completed

Finally, it is completed. The pattern is by Tomoko Morimoto from her book 'New Tatting'. It is the last pattern in the book and the last for the year 2014. In the book, it is tatted in Size 80 and measured 14.5 inches. Mine is tatted in Milford Size 60 white and measures 18 inches.

Thriving Plants

Recognize the plants here? Yes, all propagated from cuttings in my balcony. They are in their new home now and doing very well. Much better than when they were with me. It is getting much love and tender care with lots of sun and rain too.

Scenes from the Singapore River

Even the bum boats are lighted up for the festivities

This is Clarke Quay

'Trees' lighted up in red along the Central Mall river bank
Four drummer boys were also performing inside and outside the mall. 

Christmas Wonderland @ Gardens by the Bay

 Illuminated Gazebo

Spalliera - Light sculptures from Italy

Hope you enjoy the photos from the Christmas Wonderland.

Christmas Lights in Orchard Road

This year's theme is Spirit of Hope. 

My photos are not as pretty as these here labelled 

'Christmas on a great street'. 

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

A very Merry Christmas to you!

"Phew . . . That was tiring work!"

"No way! I am not looking silly for you again."

We hope you have a meaningful time with family and friends.

Happy Holidays!

Mint Soup

I love this soup. Young shoots of mint in a soup stock with dropped egg. I used a pork soup base and some fried garlic bits. Yummy!

Quick to cook and good for digestion too. Sometimes I add some 'mee suah' (dried Chinese noodles) or 'tang hoon' (bean vermicelli) for a quick meal.

Hot Air Balloons at Centrepoint

Not just any hot air balloons but those from Santa with lots of presents in its basket. The clouds were magical. 

Centrepoint is a shopping centre on Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping street. It is a little quiet here these days. I remember in the eighties, it was a place for teenagers to hang out and many came dressed up to be seen.

Seedlings

I sowed these seeds late last month and it has put out its first leaves. Long way to go before it is flowering.

Can you guess what plant this is?

African Violets and Kalanchoe

Five (or six?) different colours of African violets were too difficult to resist. I cut the outer leaves with a sharp blade and planted them in fresh potting mix. Hopefully it will sprout new shoots soon.

Also the peach Kalanchoe was too pretty. I have some red Kalanchoe in my balcony but there isn't enough sun to see it bloom. Maybe it will do well with mom.

Cedele's Lemon Meringue

I noticed the Lemon Meringue in the display case as I walked by one visit. The next time I visited, I had to try one. This is from Cedele. It looked like a piece of art.

Verdict - as learnt from Masterchef Australia, balance of flavours is important. 

For me, it was way too sweet and not enough sour lemon curd. I would improve it by adding more lemon curd and less sugar in the soft cream and meringue. But, it was oh . . .  so beautiful!!

Floral Bouquet Doily WIP 5

Just started the final round on this doily.
It has been a long time as I have not had much time or interest for tatting this past week. Must be the holidays.

New Online Venture

I received these sample totebags from a friend 
who is starting a new online shop.
Just helping to spread the word.

At the moment there is a lucky draw. 
Closing date is 21 Dec 2014.

If you have a facebook or instagram account, please join the draw.
https://www.facebook.com/ilovemicrobes
http://instagram.com/ilovemicrobes/ 

For more information

Edged Clover Hankie

The colours are not turning up well in this photo. I finished the edging and attached it to this clover handkerchief. This is for a friend. Details of the pattern and the thread used are posted here.

Red Velvet Cake

Just one slice to counter my sweet tooth.

This is from the Soup Spoon Union in Raffles City.

I love the carrot cake too.

Conifer Outline - X'mas Tree?

Three corners completed. One more to go.

Where is it going?

You will see soon.
It's 12 days to Christmas.

Next Building

Right next to La Salle College of the Arts is the Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church. Read more about it here. This is quite a contrast next to that black modern building. The red bricks of this church is quite distinctive.

White Organza Bag Winner

While I used the Random Number Generator to pick the winning number, I was wondering if #1 would be drawn again but no. The winning number is #4, and it goes to Margaret. I will put it in the post tommorrow.

Thank you all for participating. This is the last giveaway for 2014. I hope you had fun.

Tea Break

It was a Saturday afternoon and although most people were enjoying their weekend, these two men were enjoying their tea break.

We were at Sim Lim Square shopping and while walking to the car, I took this photo. The building is La Salle College of the Arts. There were also some students rehearsing by the corridors.

Conifer Outline?

No, its just an edging I started. This is Mary Konior's Chain Reaction from her book 'Tatting with Visual Patterns'. It progresses quite fast once you get the hang of it and memorize the pattern. This is done in Venus Size 40 in #235.

My Plant Nursery

I've turned part of my balcony into a nursery. 

Propagation by cuttings. 

These are all easy to grow plants 

as that is how they have survived in this balcony.

Floral Bouquet Doily WIP 4

Remember this Morimoto doily? I finished the large round. Two more rounds to go. This is tatted in Size 60 and it is already measuring 17 inches across. It will probably finish with an extra inch or two. Quite difficult to block as it has lots of negative spaces and I need to get a larger blocking board. 

I wonder perhaps if you tat it in size 10, it might be large enough to dress a small table.

White Organza Bag - Shooting Star

This is a white organza bag with a shooting star I tatted months back. 

I'm giving this away. 

If you would like a chance with the random number generator, just leave a comment here before 10 Dec 2014.

Good luck!

Purple Organza Bag Winner

Using the Random Number Generator, #1 was picked again this time. It goes to Jane McLellan. Please send me your mailing address. 

Thank you everyone for participating. 

East Residential Skyline

We were up on the roof top of a building in the east of Singapore and this is the view towards the north. Mostly residential buildings.

Below is the view towards south of Singapore and you can see the Central Business District - tall buildings on the right.

A New Favourite

This was an interesting motif to tat. It is done in one round- three rings, then a chain. The pattern is from the 'Occhi' book by Langwieser and Scharowa (peacock on the cover). I was looking for a simple edging pattern when I noticed this on page 101. This is tatted in Lizbeth size 40 in #158 Niagara Falls.

Had to try it the second time with beads in Lizbeth size 40 in #657 Ocean Turquoise Dark. It gave it a totally different look, don't you think?

Magical Christmas in Blue

Christmas decorations are up in most malls. 

This is one of the malls we visited last weekend.

Have you started your Christmas shopping?

I'm feeling unmotivated.

Hopefully the Christmas atmosphere in the shops will change my mood!

In the Mail . . .

I received the shuttles and the 'Aunt Ellen's Treasury Tatting Patterns' book in the mail days ago. This is what resulted. 

Thank you for the lovely shuttles, C. 

Here tatted in Lizbeth size 20 threads is the Daisy Heart. I might try it again in one colour. We will see. Tatting is a little slow these days.