Sunday

Sunday and the last day.
After breakfast the Palmetto gals finished taking the bits and pieces to their cars. Lots more goodbyes and hugs too.
Afterwards the people at White Oaks told us that as long as the bedrooms were cleared early they weren't bothered how long we stayed on in the classrooms. As inveterate tatters and always wanting to learn new things a group of us 'drifted' together in the 'social' classroom. Here Mimi took on the role as teacher to show us how to put a bead into the centre of a split ring. Just as we were going into this impromptu lesson I realised that Tonya Smith was still around so she quickly got 'kidnapped' into the session too. Her instructions are here. This was a very good winding down to the event when those who were left really, really didn't want to go home!
Eventually Hope and I piled into Joanie's car and we went back to her house for lunch and to watch the hummingbirds again.
Now you may think that that's the end of the story - no, there's more to come!!
After lunch the three of us set off for the mall. This is where a group of the Palmetto girls and any others meet on a Sunday afternoon. They 'take over' part of a mall and move the tables and chairs to make a good place to tat and chat informally. This is great fun and also gave me time to chat to those I'd missed over the weekend like Pam and Jerry Freck, Babara Havener, Jane and others. We covered a few techniques and had a good natter.
On the way back to Joanie's we popped in to see Ricki who seems to live at his store!!!
Now for the things I'd forgotten to mention in my other posts!!!!
I must thank Jane who was my teacher assistant in the Fantasy Flower. Such a charming lass who said she hadn't managed to do the flower before class. Whatever she said she was an invaluable assistant and was much appreciated for handing out and collecting the teacher appraisals and giving out the certificates.
Forgot to mention that Mark was also presented with several Bat/Tatman items by Erin at the banquet. There was a 'sort of' bingo game held too which was great fun on Saturday evening.
Heck, I'll just add things as I think of them!!!!
If anybody wants a copy of the Palmetto Tat Days pattern CD then do get in touch with them. It's well worth the money and has all the patterns - plus Sid on it!

Saturday

Another glorious day dawned at White Oaks and I knew that this was going to be a full day!!!
First part was a conference call with Mimi. This is a great opportunity for anybody who isn't in class to 'grab' a teacher for individual help or advice. Actually I've found that this is also a good opportunity for the teacher to learn too!!!
Next was my watering can/wheelbarrow class which I thought wouldn't be too hard to teach. I'd managed to hook up with one student a couple of times before class to teach her the SCMR so everything went swimmingly as far as I could tell! Poor Bonnie who was my assistant in this class didn't manage to come along as she was too busy (she's one of the Palmetto 'gals').
After lunch was the dreaded Red Eyed Tree Frog - double time of three hours. Now I say dreaded as this was the one pattern/lesson I was really worried about! It had taken a long time to design and there were several complications (as I thought) along the way!!!! There was a blackboard in the classroom (actually it was brown!) and chalk which proved useful for this lesson and I will be forever grateful to Katie Verna who was my assistant and who had made two frogs during the previous month or so to test the instructions. Now Katie's two previous attempts at home were great but somehow she 'lost the plot' which resulted in a frog with a front leg which bent downwards - limp wristed! Many giggles resulted from poor Katie's frog. I was extremely pleased to find that several people not only managed the pattern but also completed their frogs. Pheeewwwwwww.
Saturday evening after dinner a lot of us met up for more fun and games. This was huge fun with lots of giggles and some 'cheating' too. Well, I would think that as our team didn't win a thing!!!
There were a few farewells as people headed for home too.

Friday

I forgot to mention yesterday that Sid the Scintillating Slug made his first appearance at dinner on Thursday evening. As the theme was flower gardens and there are always pests in gardens, it was interesting to see several slugs turning up in people's salads. How they managed to survive two flights and several weeks without food in my luggage is anybody's guess!!! Perhaps I'm now classed as a pest too! The pattern for Sid is on the Palmetto Tat Days CD.
Friday again dawned with beautiful weather. We went to breakfast - what a huge choice of things to eat including grits (not sure about those still!!). After breakfast I found out that unfortunately the vending room had opened - this was fatal for me as there were so many goodies on sale. I bought some threads and then found some fine crochet hooks on sale by Georgia (AKA) Seitz which had been shortened and had a hole and split ring through them. I'd been looking for hooks like this for ages so (as I invariably lose things) I bought two!!! I managed to get my mucky mitts on a CD with all the patterns on for my old mucker back in the UK - you know the one who rides around London on a broomstick!!!! All the teachers were given one so I'd already got mine!!
A fabulous talk was being given in one of the classrooms by Karey on how to dye threads. Unfortunately I missed the beginning as I was still letting the moths out of my purse in the vending room. Next was lunch followed by my first lesson - the Fantasy Flower.
I planned to teach the unbeaded version of this as the weaving of the picots is quite intricate but not complicated. I'd not realised that a lot of tatters didn't hide their ends in their start rings so this was added into the lesson. I think the lesson went quite well although it would be interesting to know the feedback on this.
During teacher orientation we were told we could 'sneak' into other teacher's lessons when we had free time. I took the opportunity to go into Mimi Dillman's class on the Cluny Tatted Kite. I'll admit freely that I've never really wanted/needed to learn the cluny but as a result of this excellently taught class I'm now very happy with the technique and can see it becoming part of future designs - once I can make them neatly. Thanks, Mimi, I really enjoyed this class. By the way I caught Mark having a 'private' session with Mimi on clunies too at some point during the latter part of the weekend!!!
After classes it was time for a change of clothes. Oh, forgot to mention that all teachers were given a blue tshirt to wear for classes with the logo on. I won the teacher's competition to design the logo for these and it was fantastic to see my work displayed on everybody's chests!!!
Now it was time for the banquet. The room was cosy and intimate but with plenty of room to move. The speeches were hilarious with Georgia also giving a very interesting talk about the history of tatting. Awards were given out for the competition pieces and I got a shuttle with 'my' logo on it. (I actually got all blue ribbons, except one, with two 99% and one 100% for my pieces!) which I was thrilled about. AKA also auctioned a very special shuttle with a fairy on for the Palmetto tatters and this raised a lot of money for their scholarship fund. Riet was given a family of sock monkeys, previous teachers received a bag of flour (don't ask!!!). All sorts of fun and frivolity went on throughout the dinner which was delicious.
Afterwards there was the tat off. I missed the start as I was showing somebody a technique but arrived when it was in progress. I won't tell you who won!!! Oh, OK, I will. It was Mark. His speed is fantastic and he just keeps his nose down and 'goes for broke'.
Later in the evening Riet led the 'night owls' lesson in which everybody was taught a Dutch song. I didn't spoil things by singing and ruining it - I don't 'do' singing and Nick would tell you why if you asked!!!
Bedtime and a few moments back in the room to make sure all my lessons for the next day were ready.

Thursday

OK I know it's Wednesday in 'real' time but I'm going to try and tell you about last Thursday at Palmetto. Well the parts that I can sort out from my brain!!!
The day dawned with glorious sunshine and hummingbirds galore on Joanie's feeder right by her kitchen window. That in itself was worth the air fare to see. Cardinals and other birds fed on the other feeders too but the hummingbirds were mesmerizing. After a leisurely start we set off to meet other participants at a restaurant called Hootz (very appropriate venue for a lot of laughing tatters!). We 'took over' the place almost and had a smashing lunch. This was my first (and thankfully not my last) meeting with Iris Niebach. Let me tell you a bit about her. She's everything I'd love to be. Young, slim and very pretty plus, as we all know, very talented as a designer. She was wearing some of her tatted jewellery which was beautiful. Iris speaks excellent English and every time I saw her over the weekend she was also wearing a humungous smile. All the 'usual suspects' were at lunch.
Afterwards we made our way to White Oaks where the tat days were to be held. A beautiful setting for the event. On our arrival the well oiled and honed Palmetto Tatters went straight into action. Wheelie trucks of all kinds were quickly put into use as we 'took over' our section of the conference centre. What a place. Clean, welcoming and - well, I'll tell you the rest as we go along.
After reception had been set up and the vending area plus competition area started too we all went into dinner. Oh, forgot, there was also 'teacher orientation' presented by Joanie and Mary too. The layout was so simple that it was almost impossible to get lost!!! Other information was given too which was very useful. Dinner was very good but the main and only dissapointment in the entire weekend was the - wait for it - lack of ice cream!!!! The ice cream machine had broken down!!! Dear Joanie tried to find some but sadly I had to manage the whole weekend without. I shall see the doctor on my return to the UK to see if my body will ever recover!!!!
After dinner etc we all sat around and talked - tatting!!! I was rooming with Hope Green which was a match made in heaven as we discovered we were both 'late to bed and late to rise' people!!!! Hope is just a hoot too and after a bit of chatting and giggling we finally (and late) got to sleep.

Back in Cincinnati

OK so I'm home (second home) in Cincinnati after the Palmetto Tat Days. I'm going to take my time with telling about the weekend as it was such a super time and my brain is still fried from over 'input'!!!
I managed the trip down to Columbia ON MY OWN and it was really, really easy. (Many thanks to Sue Hanson and all the others who said that I could do it). It was really strange cause as soon as I knew I was 'on my own' and was walking through the terminal at Cincinnati I felt a weird sense of achievement and my shoulders went back and my head raised and it was as if I was sort of 'born again' inside myself.
Anyway I arrived in Columbia to find Joanie Culverhouse and Hope Green there to meet me and that was another load of worry off my aged brain. We had been invited to Bonnie Geiger's house for lunch (that was yummy, yummy) and a tat natter. You should see the crafts that Bonnie does aside from tatting - wonderful work in all of them. BTW her hubby just smiles and smiles and is a sweetie too.
Then we went to (now, was it Hobby Lobby or Michaels - or was that the next morning?!?!?) to buy 'stuff'! As you do when you're in America!!! After that we popped in to see Joanie's hubby (shame he woudn't fit in my suitcase) at his store and then onto a restaurant called Fatz for the yummiest dinner - with peach cobbler for desert (to die for). I loved the grits with cheese and have now changed my mind about grits. When we got to Joanie's house there were two humungous green 'things' on her counter which looked like melons. They were avocados that Hope had brought from Miami (off her own trees). We had one later in the weekend and it was delicious - so fresh and mmmmmmmmmmmmm. We met Tinkerbell (sometimes called Stinkerbell) which is Rick and Joanie's beautiful grey cat. Joanie's house is 'craft heaven' with all sorts of projects going on. What a talented lady. Would love to live near her to spend more time with her.
More tat natters and then time to hit the sack. More tomorrow or later today when/if I can get to the computer!!!! Pictures will have to wait til I get home (the one in the UK!!).