Where I'm at--tatting-wise and personally

Hello fellow Tatters and hopefully Split-Ring Tatters, more specifically.

I have been on another vacation...this time with my fiance and his family to a get-together at Michigan City, IN  on the shores of Lake Michigan.  It was a marvelously relaxing vacation....a kind of vacation I am not used to taking.  My vacations usually involve me trying to see/do as much as I can fit into my days.  This vacation however revolved around just hanging out with a bunch of new friends and family (who were wonderfully welcoming!) at a lake house a block from the beach of Lake Michigan.  The beach itself was wonderful...it looked just like you were at the ocean, except without the icky salt-water.  The shore was covered in natural grassed and well-conserved and there were a couple of lighthouses in the area.  There was also a big outlet shopping mall close by for the rainy, cool days that going to the beach was not ideal for.  I was also treated to a side privelege in that we trailered my motorcycle along with us.  So I had my own wheels to do what I wanted.  This included taking off one day and traveling up the Lake Michigan coast into Michigan to Holland, MI.  I got to go to an antique mall and eat at a local restaurant along the way where I talked to the local men and got information and comraderie.

In regard to the 'fiance' reference....I am getting married this coming August 2nd!   For both of us this is the 'second-time around' marriage.  We both have been married before and both divorced because our spouses had a mid-life crisis, and we both have children...though at slightly different stages of development. 

Thus that is why I haven't had much of a chance to upkeep this blog. 

I did however, on my vacation to the lake work on my upcoming book More Fun with Split Ring Tatting.   I have all the patterns done and illustrated (graphically), the pages laid out, and all the pieces tatted.  What I have been working on (on vacation) is getting the photos of the pieces Photoshopped--cleaing up the images so that the background is not distracting to the actual tatting.  What I need to do next is get a friend of mine (& fabulous lace-maker), Jennifer Bartling, to proof-read the patterns and text for errors.  She did this for me on my first book.

But in the mean time, I am busy cleaning my house, garage, & yard for my (and Jerry's) wedding party.  We have decided to not get hung up on too many details that traditional weddings can entail.  We are walking into the church to get married---no processional, no fancy bridesmaid or groomsmen clothing, no flowers, no music, no rehearsal/dinner....just a small, private wedding service/commital.  Then we are going back to my house (a block away) for an outdoor PARTY.  I have hired a live Blues band and am having BBQ catered. My dessert table will not have the traditional wedding cake but instead an assortment of desserts. Of course we will have good beers, wine, mixed drinks to complete the 'Booze, Blues, & BBQ' theme. 

After the wedding we have about a month for Jerry to move into 'my' house and for it to become 'our' home/house before we depart for a honeymoon in eastern Europe (Germany, Austria, Czech Republich, Hungary)!