new blooms

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I have a lot of tatting to share, but this simply couldn't wait!

 It took a month and half for this orange jasmine or madhukamini plant to flourish in this way! We got a flower here a flower there, but not in such glory. A quick count today revealed at least 15 flowers, not to mention their lovely fragrance. 

And I wonder if you can see there are several more buds waiting to open in the next few days. Sadly the flowers remain open for only a day but they do spread so much joy. Gardening requires patience and perseverance.

Here's how the plant looked when I first posted pics here https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/03/spring-magic.html

spring magic

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 It certainly feels like it! A mere week before there were no buds, no blooms. The potted plants were just about awakening from the cold winter months. And then here we are with such beautiful vibrant flowers! Spring magic or magic springs? Let's not forget the mighty role of the sun, though!

I haven't curated my pics .... sharing all I took, though a few were not rotated back to how I had taken them. Also these are only some of the plants in my hubby's balcony garden.

Petunias -

Love the vibrant shade! It is a darker magenta/purple than what I see here, though.

Dormant throughout winter. And now it can't seem to stop growing ;-D

 

A single plant. The very first flower dropped today after five days of giving pleasure. The buds just keep emerging and opening up. I'm glad they stay a while. 

Madhukamini or Orange Jasmine - 

These are not as fragrant as the mogra, and are also quite small. It is fun to look for them among the foliage each morning!

 

There are quite a few buds springing out almost daily and it has red berry-like fruit. Cute aromatic flowers. Expecting the plant to show many more flowers as the temperature and sunlight increases.

Ajwain or Oregano -

We have two plants and both have been fairly prolific even during winter. 

 

Last week I pruned and snipped off a Lot of the leaves and they are drying out in the fridge. Within a few days the branches and leaves are growing! 
Very happy and satisfied with their growth.

Money Plant -

It was difficult to take a good pic of the entire climber. The above pic shows only the leaves at the base.

We had to let go some of the plants sadly. Cycle of life. But the remaining potted plants continue to provide pleasure and hope. The moment the French doors are opened in the morning, we are greeted with enticing fragrance from the blooms and aromatic leaves/herbs. All this is my hubby's handiwork (including the title of this post!). This time my only contribution was to spot the first buds and/or leaves every morning and give him the good news! :-D

a lasting lacy legacy

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 Marigolds are an auspicious flower, present in almost all Hindu religious ceremonies, festivals, rituals, and pujas. Garlands made of marigolds (often combined with mango leaves) commonly adorn entrances, houses, temples, halls, etc. Garlands are used to welcome guests and dignitaries, placed around statues, even on a new car or vehicle. The florets are used for floral rangoli, natural dyes, etc. Not merely for happy occasions, even in death marigolds are an indispensable part of the ritual, adorning the body as well as the pyre reminding us that life is transient and we are here for a short period. 

It was sheer coincidence that hubby and I had taken pics of two fully bloomed yellow marigolds in our little garden when my buddy Anita sent me this heartfelt and heart-wrenching article. It was as if the universe was trying to send auspiciousness and peace to my friend and to her friend. 

Here is the full article which I have also saved as a PDF since Anita feels that this article is an incentive to tat everywhere and to tell people you tat, too. And I'd add - keep your lace stock as full as you can; share and replenish frequently. 

It is so interesting that what looks like a fully blossomed flower is actually a collection of a large number of little flowers or florets! Hopefully our lace collection reflects this - lots of lace to give away and spread cheer or fulfil a wish. 

A Lasting Wish by Anita Barry, Oct2025 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vYhQCPt5LREnw6ULUcMuY3g69tjPItpY/view

A lasting wish.

We’re Lacemakers. We receive requests for items. Requests may be for family, or for friends, maybe for churches or for historic places or societies. Grab a tissue. I received this recent heartfelt request.

 

A friend I knew 15 years ago contacted me on Facebook Messenger. I recalled her name in an instant. We had been in an organization together.  I responded to her correspondence and she later telephoned me. She updated me.  She had been stricken with Covid last year and again this year. Her heart had been severely compromised. She hopes to live through Thanksgiving and hopefully till Christmas. I was speechless.  She is younger than I am.  She’s only 60 years old.

 

Like me, she has two sons who are about the same age as my sons. Both her sons are married. One son already has a daughter, my friend’s granddaughter.

 

She told me when she was married on her wedding day, it was sentimental for her to carry her grandmother’s lacy handkerchief.

Now, with a short time to live, she wanted to provide lacy handkerchiefs for her granddaughter and for her future unborn grandchildren for their wedding days. She was asking for four lacy handkerchiefs from me. She was guessing maybe her sons would each have two children of their own and she’d need a total of four handkerchiefs. (Yes, you better believe I was grabbing for tissues as I was trying to steady my voice. Steadying my voice was a monumental task, but I needed a strong voice on the phone to keep her from crying.)

 

Remembering me as a tatter, she sought me out for this last and lasting gift. 

 

Absolutely. Absolutely!

With chills, rolling along my spine I responded I would surely provide her handkerchiefs with tatted lace in a quick manner.

 

I checked my stash. I sorted through my handkerchiefs with attractive tatted lace edgings, examining each one. I counted three suitable for her future grandchildren on their wedding days. I didn’t have enough in my stash to honor the request. So, I contacted another tatter to assist me.

 

I telephoned my dear friend and fellow tatter, Bonnie Swank. Although Bonnie and I now live many states away from each other, I knew Bonnie would have a collection of handkerchiefs with tatted lace. While on the phone Bonnie and I talked about our assortment of handkerchiefs, and about the request, and about future weddings. She selected two very lovely handkerchiefs in her collection trimmed with tatted lace appropriate to be carried on a wedding day.

 

Within two days, miles away from each other, Bonnie and I both prepped the handkerchiefs, ironed them, wrapped them in tissue, placed individual notes with the handkerchiefs, packaged the handkerchiefs, and mailed them destined to my friend.

 

Within days the handkerchiefs arrived in the mail and were received with deep appreciation. 

As Lacemakers, we were able to fulfill a last wish.

 

Lacers, you never know when you’re creating a memory.

You never know when your lace making is becoming a lasting memory to someone else.

You never know what type of request you’ll receive.

You never know when your talent, your skill, and your passion will be used to create a lasting wish for someone else.

 

Hugs to all of you who make lace,

Anita Barry

If you wish to save, print, and share the article here is the link again....

Julie's Request A Lasting Wish by Anita Barry, Oct2025 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vYhQCPt5LREnw6ULUcMuY3g69tjPItpY/view

Feel free to share it and we can only send our wishes that Julie gets to spend Christmas with her family and has a peaceful transition.

Related Posts with my tatted marigolds

my tatted marigolds, with pattern PDF - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2017/03/marigolds-in-row.html  and

  

spring garland with pattern PDF - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2017/04/sights-n-scents-of-indian-spring.html  

flower in flesh in thread

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This post has been waiting to be written for almost a fortnight .... I just couldn't form the words. While I miss chatting through my blog and through comments on other blogs, I was just not in that phase. While I read up most of the blogs during this time, sometimes I simply scrolled through the pics. I hope you will excuse and forgive me for being a lurker.

One morning my hubby brought me this portulaca flower from his garden. Can't say how it looks online, nevertheless it is a beautiful soft pink with dense layers - almost like a carnation! We usually allow these blooms to remain on the plant since they wither very quickly if not in water (unlike the jasmines I posted recently which remained in bloom even after 14 hours without any water). Of the two plants he has, one has already died away 'for no rhyme or reason' but this other one is flourishing quite nicely. We're hoping the number of blooms will keep increasing.

Pic was taken on 30th August 2025 as was the one below.

I had been engaged in doing up a block tatting pictorial in answer to a specific doubt. It spiralled into a virtual ready reckoner of various effects, methods, etc., etc. Had to shelve it for a while but will be back on it in a couple of days. Anyways, my dear friend surprised me with this pattern of Dora Young's Round Pinwheel Doily from her 'All New Knotless Tatting Designs' (2nd ed)! I just had to tat it!

Worked with Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8, ball and shuttle. I had started with grey in shuttle and a yellow ball. It dawned on me that a variegated or tinted thread should work well in such a pattern so I switched to this. 

This pic, taken on the 5th of this month has 17 picot-round completed. Since then I have added more rounds - I'm probably on the 21 picot round (amidst other Endrucks-related behind the scene stuff). 

The green scrap thread is a marker for the start of the round. It's not really required since the pattern is extremely simple and spirals around almost mindlessly. Haven't had to retro-tat even once. 

Not using a picot gauge - I prefer to eye ball picots as much as possible and while I know they are not all even here, it still seems to turn out fine.

The doily is so well-constructed, so well-designed, that it lays flat throughout. The frequent joins in the dense portions give it a nice texture. And it is exactly the type of patterns I enjoy working on -- tatted all from the front!

happy fragrance

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This is just a quick photo of the flowers my hubby picked from his garden and handed to me this morning. He knows I love to inhale their fragrance, LOL. It is night now (2130 hrs) and they still look pretty fresh and the soft fragrance is just as intact. 

These mogras (jasmines) are from one of his potted plants which has been giving us flowers in huge numbers throughout this year! There are five here and there were still fully bloomed flowers on the plant which he did not pluck. We try to leave them if there are buds around them. 

Interestingly, the early flowers did not have much fragrance despite being prolific, unlike the other plant which gave few but extremely fragrant blooms. And I was quite disappointed - good to look at, but not to inhale. Suddenly a month back, in its third or fourth flourish, the heavenly fragrance arrived! 

I haven't taken any pics of his potted plants in a long while, but many of them are doing really good, giving us so much pleasure including a 'crop' of ajwain (oregano) leaves, etc. Some, though have had to be replaced.

harvesting

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 or well, pruning if you want to be too technical!

But imagine,  I snipped these from one potted plant and there were still so many twigs and leaves left! 

Here's how it looked exactly one month back (second last pic) - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/04/snapshots.html

I call that a harvest, LOL

I had gone to take only a couple of leaves for the hash brown and we decided to give the plant a trim to further the growth. This plant has given us so much pleasure, aroma, and herbs!

snapshots

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 Today felt good and I was energized enough to take photos of some of our plants. Some are recent, others have stayed with us for a couple years. Hubby has added so many pots and plants that our balcony is flourishing with flora after a long bleak winter. He has placed the smaller pots on two adjoining larger pots for a tiered effect!

 

Hubby bought 5 Portulaca plants in red to plant in a specially bought flattish pot. There appear to be two varieties; the others haven't bloomed yet. He had asked for the 10 o'clock ones, but I believe they could be a mix of 9 and 10 o'clock.

 

We had one such way back and the dense pink/magenta flowers were a pleasure to see blooming every morning! At times we got 40 flowers in that one little pot! And I made several other pots with their high prolification.  Hoping to see the same with these.

The little flowers in the Mayurpankhi (peacock plume) plant are more visible in this pic than with the naked eye, LOL.

 

Syngonium golden or the green Arrowhead is on the left, and it has been thriving and giving off new leaves throughout winter.

The Snake plant has also endured very nicely, Though not clearly discernible, the two original plants grew in height (and foliage) and are at the back (with the two brownish stems). At least four new plants came up at the base of the original during winters - the shorter ones in front.

 

After a long wait, finally the money plant also has new leaves on its branches.

And the curry leaf plant, after wilting in winter, has sprouted new twigs after I pruned it recently.

 

This is just a tiny snippet of the Jade plant! It has branched out so much that I couldn't capture it in one shot. The jade has turned out to be slow starter but sped, once it became stable! At the start of winter I had pruned and placed several twigs in water in our bathroom which gets very good sunlight. Three of them took root and are still alive. 

Then there's one of the ajwain pot. Don't know why it came out so pale in the pic.

Here's the other pot showing part of the ajwain plant. 

It's time to do a bit of pruning to allow both pots to fill up.

In the morning, these portulaca petals looked much more defined and curved. By the time I decided to take pics after a couple of hours, the petals had curved under exposing more of the center. Hoping to have lots of opportunities to take more pics.

Oh, and Finally hubby caved in and bought vermicompost. I used to swear by this when I was the gardener in our balcony. In the new version, hubby kept buying a spray-on liquid fertiliser. He can see the difference the compost has made and is converted, LOL!

waiting for spring

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 It's been a long winter and we are barely stepping into spring. We expect a few more weeks of waning winter since Holi is late this year.

Hubby has been prepping our little balcony garden and this time we have Jasmines. There are plenty of blooms and buds on the plant, I simply picked up two that had dropped. Their fragrance is milder than mogras (which I've shared before). 

Hubby took this sunrise pic on the leap day! The sun looks a lot farther (smaller and less red) than in real life, blame it on the phone camera. 

For almost three months we barely had any sunlight during the first half of the day which is mostly the only time we get direct sunlight. A lot of it had to do with severe air pollution. Finally the last ten days or so have been glorious and we've been able to sit and enjoy some Vitamin D time!

And I pruned some ajwain this morning. These leaves have since been washed and separated, and the twig broken into smaller pieces to dry and use in dishes. 

Just wanted to say Hi and hope you are all doing well! 

tailed

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Today's haul of fully blossomed mogras!

After more than 10 days I decided I'd had enough of computerwork and deliberately took the night off to do some quick tatting. 

In 2020, I had joined these motifs on the go (I do like this staggered arrangement!) and suggested it could be used as a bracelet or bookmark. At the time I simply inserted some satin ribbons to showcase the beauty (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/11/arranging-motifs.html - check out the post for many more arrangements). 

Now I brought out the box of perle cottons, looked for the right shades to match the motifs, wound only one shuttle for each pair of threads, and set about tatting the three tails. All except the lead pic, were taken last night, fresh off the shuttle.

The chains are simple zig-zag of 1ds/1rs repeats, ending each thread in a ring of 8ds. In no mood to sew in ends, I tied a square knot and snipped to resemble bows.

TIP: This is also called a S Chain though it is a subset of the Zig Zag Chain or Zig Zag Tatting. These are straight chains but bendable. Some other terms used for this particular chain is Wavy or Lark's head chain. 

For a stepwise pictorial (with picots) - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/04/picoted-s-chain-cords.html

My second bookmark for the Mark Me Endrucks July 2023 game in our FB group. The first was posted here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/07/soupy-vine.html

 

The pattern for Square Diamond Motifs derived from Endrucks' pattern #37 can be found here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wqAPnOUZwLJ9tEUk55wDZhAMw2qCNFSj/view

I like multiple tails (have made them before plenty of times) since each can be used to bookmark a separate page in the same book. So instead of one bookmark I get four, LOL.  

This is my short tale of tails.

who knew!

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Came as a complete surprise several mornings back. Noticed this flower hidden among the now fairly dense foliage of our potted snake plant. I first shared a pic of the 'new' plant here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/balcony-diary.html

I took this pic on 30th June and it is still very much in bloom today. 

When I moved some leaves aside there are 2 more flower buds slowly waiting to bloom. They look just like a new leaf, rolled. However the bud is whiter and has more body to it, unlike the unopened leaf which is a hollow cylinder and has more green in it. These 2 buds haven't blossomed yet. Nature sure has a slow pace at times.