Someone else is excited about Shuttlebirds too!

Brenda "Blathnaid" is coming to Shuttlebirds again. She had so much fun the last time! She has been a great little leprechaun helper. I must say, (and I mean no offense to the boys) but girl leps are so much less troublesome than the boys. My Brendan is still off gallivanting around the world...I wonder if he'll ever come home.

If you are totally lost, I'll take a moment to catch you up. Brendan is my first Leprechaun. He came to me when I lived in South Korea. He is very adventurous and mischievous. I took him to Vietnam and it was there that he decided to part ways and go on his own. Every now and again I hear word about his travels. He is after all "Brendan the Navigator".
I missed him though so when I got back to the States his sister Brenda came to live with me. She is "Brenda the stay at home". Her Gaelic name is Blathnaid. She is stylish and organized...(two things I am not)...and although she loves a good joke (like all leps) she is more mild mannered than her brother. She is here to stay!

Blathnaid get mail

Blathnaid received a lovely card from Ciarran and although I don't think she likes to admit it, it made her heart flutter just a bit. She and I have been so busy designing new shuttles that we nearly let St. Patty's day come and go without notice. Well at least I did (I am deeply ashamed to admit), and she is too well mannered to make a fuss about it. Had it been her brother Brendan, well...., he would have given me a proper and well deserved "what for"! So it's a good thing he is still gallivanting across the globe. Whew!
Thank you Ciarran!

Blathnaid gets a makeover

Since my little lep was such a help to me throughout my difficult pregnancy I decided to give her a little makeover.
Blathnaid aka Brenda, sister of Brendan the Navigator (who is off on his own adventures)has a new hairdo.
What do you think? It's a very modern asymmetrical bob. She wanted something stylish yet easy to maintain. Also, for her one year anniversary as a member of the Pence clan, I gave her a pearl necklace to match her pearl earrings. And for Christmas I decorated her leprechaun hat.

Blathnaid loves Piccadilly (naturally) and she likes to watch over baby to make sure I am doing a proper job as mum!
Just thought I would share. Since Blathnaid has been so quiet these past few months we don't want her leprechaun cousins to think she went off on her own adventures (like her brother) or, heaven forbid, become an uppity snob. Quite the contrary, she has been busy helping me with this and that.
She wants to make sure I tell all her lep cousins, "Happy New Year"! So lep moms across blogland please let your leps know that Blathnaid says "Hi".

Feargal and Scarlett's Memory Board New Mexico/Arizona!

Feargal and Scarlett landed in Silver City New Mexico around about April 23rd.....they had so much to do...including going to Tucson, Arizona on a mercy mission that they only just left on May 28th...bound for who knows where.....all I can tell you is that it's north!!

Oh my the pair of them had such a good time...from the very first hug with Donnacha.

Feargal and Donnacha had set off south down Broadway in Silver City. They admired the old-fashioned Victorian Era street lamps, and laughed about the very uneven sidewalks and the very high curbs. They were glad for the ramps that someone had made just for their visit!

Miss Scarlet, however, had a surprise spa day as a treat (and a retreat from playful Leps) and Feargal and Donnacha headed downtown. . . .South on Broadway at a brisk pace towards Silver City's Authentic 1800's Buffalo Bar! Which of course, is no place for a lady; even one in a red dress.

The boys had intended to check out the Buffalo Bar, a place of renown (some good, some not as good) and local hangout for Bikers, Hippies and Cowboys. But they were just a few steps away from Curl Up and Dye when they began to be intrigued by the art in the windows of the galleries. 

Oh my, there was so much to be seen as they darted in and out of each Gallery on Broadway and they ended up on Texas Street. Their feet were beginning to be a bit weary, so they stopped in at the next Gallery.

Oh boy the stuff they saw in ANIMAS  was an eye opener for Feargal...I am surprised that he didn't have nightmares.

All too soon they headed off to Tucson Arizona, where they were much needed when Donnacha's 'Dad' had an 'op'.

They made themselves useful looking after Mom between hospital visits and making her laugh!

Feargal was gobsmacked when Donnacha got a present of a skateboard. Both boys had been green with envy when they had seen Blathnaid on her snowboard.

Feargal was insistent that he might have some sort of a board and could do as well as his Idaho cousin's snowboard! Leprechaun's apparently are rather jealous and want to 'keep up' with one another.

The good news is that Donnacha decided to give him the skateboard....aren't Leps wonderful!

When 'Dad' was well enough to go home, they all went back to Silver City and life on the ridge.

I wonder where they are headed, and wish them a safe landing.

Oh My Gosh, Oh My Golly!!

March 22nd
Just before we went on our short holiday......the postman brought me a little box.....it turned out to be the surprise of my life!!

If you haven't seen the latest post on Lady ShuttleMaker's blog then you are missing a treat. Her skills never cease to amaze me. Now she is embedding tatting into her clay and making wonderful stuff....not just shuttles.

When I sent  Blathnaid the lady leprechaun to her for Christmas, I also sent her a few extra individual little shamrocks...like I put on the leprechauns belts.....and commissioned her to make a shuttle for me...ceramic...as that is what she did!

Little did I know that she was going to begin adventures with precious metal clay and make me droll over the fabulous shuttles that she would produce.

So inside the little box I expected to find a ceramic shuttle with shamrocks...even tho she hadn't told me that it was ready.....but she had told me that Blathnaid was planning a surprise for St Patrick's day. I expected High Jinks and photos on the web.

Can you imagine my utter surprise to open the box and find that she had sent me a gift of a shuttle, but no ordinary shuttle was this.....it was a silver shuttle.....and no ordinary silver shuttle (if there is such a thing!)....but a silver shuttle with the impression of my very own tatting!

Now how cool is that!!

Here is Blathnaid holding MY shuttle. She looks pretty pleased but not as pleased as I was to receive it.

No that's not tarnish, just the way the light was catching it.

It's unbelievable how you can see all the detail of my tatting.

Wow this is indeed a treasure.

Thank you so much my dear friend.

Leprechaun Lightening strikes twice

LOOK!!!! Our eyes match!!!

Oh my goodness....OH MY GOODNESS, I cannot contain my excitement! A very unexpected but well received surprise arrived in my mailbox today courtesy of my friend and fellow tatter Tatskool -"Grande Dame" of all tatting leprechauns around the world!!!


...Let's back up a little: about this time last year my beloved "Brendan the Navigator" came to live with me. But his adventurous nature got the best of him and after a few months he decided to up and travel the world on his own...independent little chap that he is; we parted ways in Vietnam. I have missed him quite a bit but I have heard news here and there "through the grapevine" of his travels.

Well.....today Brendan's sister Blathnaid (or Brenda for short) has come to stay! I am ever so excited. ...and boy oh boy is she a pretty lass! You lot out there who have boy Leps better keep an eye on them once they get a look at her!
She is settling in quite nicely, after all Brendan has already filled her in on what to expect with the motley crew that I call my family.


Just look at how ladylike she is with her pretty earrings, flowered belt and little gems on her shoes! By the way; Blathnaid means "flowers". Isn't that lovely??


I also got a skein of "Vanilla Sky" which is one of Tatskool's HDT's that I was secretly drooling over the first time I saw it....so Brenda "the stay at home" and I are off to tat with it right now!

...Oh and thank you for letting me open my Christmas present early! You have made my day!

Now that I have the luck of the irish on my side again, I am hoping that 2010 will be a fantastic year!