Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate!

I was hoping to have posted a while ago, but, unfortunately, an unscheduled tatting hiatus occurred shortly after my last post. I have hardly touched the doily since. I have done some tatting though. I am working on an exchange with Tattingchic, though I think I am running behind on that too. A couple of nice chainmaille order came though a few weeks ago as well, which was nice. So I've done some chainmaille since my last post.

In case you missed in, I was mentioned in an article by Georgia Seitz on BellaOnline. You can read it here. It's about tatting with Teneriffe lace. Gee, Teneriffe Lace is something I haven't done in a while either. I should try and make a few motifs when I have some time.

Since I don't have any tatting related photos to share, I guess it's time for an orchid photo! Here is a photo of an orchid I bought a few years ago that finally flowered:

This is Phalaenopsis parishii. It's one of my miniature Phalaenopsis orchids. The whole plant is aproxximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from leaf tip to leaf tip. The flower is about 1/2 inch (1.8 cm) wide. It's mounted on a piece of bark and lives in a terrarium like environment.  A few other Phals bought at the same time are or have flowered recently. I don't have photos ready for them. It's always nice to see the plants flower. It's a good sign that they are being cared for properly.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get back to work on the Japanese doily soon. I'm still waiting for spring to stay here. The weather's been all over the place. It was nice for a while, then it got rather cold for a while. Then it'll try to snow, then get nice again. This weekend was pretty awful weatherwise. We had snow, then freezing rain, followed by more snow, then rain. When it's not snowing or raining it's just cloudy and cool. The forecast for tomorrow is plus 15 and sunny. Let's hope that's what it does. Till next time.

Test Tatting for LadyShuttleMaker and a "Few" Orchid Photos

Howdy. I'd love to say I have lots of tatting to show you, but I don't. I really haven't felt like tatting lately. I have picked up my shuttles several times, and have picked up several balls of thread and put them back. I looked through my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles again after Jane listed some of her awesome Poke Proof shuttle pouches (I HAD to buy two more as my newer shuttles needed to be kept safe). Anyway, I won't bore you any more as I did a bit of tatting last weekend and I also can share the test tatting I did for Sherry AKA LadyShuttleMaker for her recently released book. Oh, and thanks for the comments about my hook holder. In case anyone is wondering (probably not) I am trying to see how long I can grow my beard. I'd like to at least double the length it is now (it's about 2 inches long) or until a) it become an issue at work or b) I get it caught in something, whatever comes first.

Anyway, here is a sample of what I tested for Sherry:

As you may know this was tatted using "Branching Encapsulation". It's an interesting technique. I would have continued tatting this but I forgot to make a leaf on the third flower. It's funny I forgot to tat the leaf on that flower as it is the best one I tatted. I have to admit, I haven't bought Sherry's book yet. I seem to have reached a point where I have too many books that I haven't tatted from yet. I still may buy the book as this is an interesting technique.

I'm sure many of you have seen Sherry's tatted Scottie. I was lucky enough to have test tatted it as well. This is what I tatted last weekend.

This is a really cute pattern. And was pretty quick to tat too. I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in #606 Charcoal. As a side note, I love this colour! I like the look of tatting in black but it's a pain to work with. Charcoal is dark-the colour is a bit washed out in the photo-but light enough to see the stitches. Retro tatting is easier if needed too. If you haven't done it already, you can download the pattern from Sherry's blog (link to post here).

I think I mentioned a post or two ago that I bought a few new orchids. Well since I mentioned that, I bought a few more. I had better post them now, before I buy anymore. I decided to make a couple picture collages to save space. Enjoy!

Nothing really to say about these. I really like the yellow ones as you don't see many of them. The little one in the lower right is plain but kinda cute too. These are all Phalaenopsis orchids. All NOID (that's No IDentification).

Here is the two newest ones, also Phalaenopsis NOID:

I love these two! The one on the right is also pretty plain, but the flowers are strongly scented. I can't describe the scent-it's perfumey, that's all I can say. I smelled it at the store but thought it was potpourri or something and thought nothing of it. I've had the plant for about two weeks and it's definitely the plant. I love the colour of the one on the right. I haven't seen a Phal. like this before. The colour isn't quite right, but it's close.

That's about it. I'll try to get some tatting done this week. Really. I'll try hard to get some tatting done. Till next time.

The End of TIAS 2012, a Double Fuchsia, and a Few Orchid Photos

I see that I am still posting rather infrequently. Oh well. I don't really have much to share anyway. Besides the TIAS, I have done hardly any tatting. Sales in my shop have slowed to a crawl. I had thought I could offer free shipping, but forgot about it until yesterday. So it won't be much good to attract some Valentine's Day sales. With the lack of sales, I don't feel like working on chainmaille. I have been crocheting quite a bit lately however. I'll get some photos of that once it's/they're complete.

As I am sure most of you are aware, Jane's TIAS 2012 is complete. Here is my completed goat:

As I told Jane, he doesn't look as demonic here as he did without his front legs. I rather like him. Actually I think I just like the pattern in general. I think it's the beard. I'll have to make another one soon.

Here are finally the photos of Linda's Double Fuchsia that I tatted from the pattern she shared:

I can't really comment on it, as I don't remember much about tatting/putting it together. I guess that's what I get for waiting so long to post the photos. I do remember that I used a thicker gauge wire than what was called for. That did make it difficult to get the calyx on. It definitely looks realistic. I will have to make a full branch of leaves and flowers. Thanks again Linda for sharing the pattern. And sorry for taking so long to post the completed flower.

I will finish this post with a few orchid photos. I think these have been posted previously, but this will help me keep track of what is flowering when. Enjoy!

This is Doritaenopsis Minho Princess 'Flying'. This is one of my few named Phalaenopsis orchids. I really like this one. It's not pure white (I already have one of those). And it's not completely pink or purple. This is the first Phal. hybrid that flowered for me this year.

The next orchid that flowered is one I know many of you have seen:

It's the Mutant! For those of you who are new to my blog, this Phalaenopsis No Identification (NOID) hybrid has a genetic mutation that causes the plant to produce what looks like three lips instead of one. Two of these lips are not fully formed (these are supposed to be the petals, or sepals), but closely resemble the true lip at the bottom. This is called a Peloric Mutation. Hopefully you can see the differences in the photo. For anyone who hasn't noticed yet, I disabled the "Lightbox" display of photos. You should be able to click photos again and get the full version.

Last orchid photo of the day:

I bought this Phal as a NOID, however it looks strikingly similar to Phalaenopsis Yu Pin Pearl. A Google Image search shows this quite well. I am tempted to label the plant as such or that it resembles Yu Pin Pearl so I know which plant it is when it's not flowering. Looking at some of the other photos, there may be different versions or clones of Yu Pin Pearl so it very well could be one of them.

That's it for now. I will probably be crocheting some more this week. I'll try to get some more tatting done. I got my Palmetto Tat Day CD in the mail recently so there are a few things I'd like to tat. There will be more orchid photos in the upcoming weeks-I noticed another Phal that is producing a flower spike. That's now eight Phals either in spike or flowering. Awesome! I think I may need a few more. That's the one good thing about Valentine's Day: Lots of plants available for sale. Till next time.

Another Snowflake and Pretty Flower Photos

Sorry. I had hoped to post earlier this week but I either forgot (really!!), had to work, or just didn't feel like it. I haven't tatted since I finished the snowflake I mentioned earlier. I had several welcome sales in the shop (Thank You!!). I have to remake a few of the sold items, although I will take this opportunity to change colours, metals, and/or beads used. Naturally I need/will need to photograph the new items, so I am hoping the weather will be nice this weekend. I had a small chainmaille project this evening to work on. I was approached at work about modifying a chainmaille glove for one of our butchers who is, um, missing part of a finger (I don't know the backstory in case you're wondering). In the end we decided I could probably repair the old one; it has (well had) a small hole in one finger. It's all fixed now, so I will have to return it tomorrow and get paid for it. I do plan on tatting tonight if I can get this post written quickly.

So, I finally got the latest snowflake scanned. It's been tatted for a few weeks now. It's another one of Jon's snowflakes from her newest book Elegant Tatting Gems.

This is Kencana, done in Lizbeth size 40 thread in colour #164 Blue River Glades. I know it's not snowflakey in colour but I kinda like it. The three snowflakes I've tatted so far and probably those I will tat before Christmas will be given away. I like this pattern. It was pretty quick to tat once I tamed the thread.

Finally a few pretty flower photos to share. I'll try not talk, er, type too much here.

First up, I want to share a Gardenia flower with you. I have to say, it's not the same one I posted about earlier. That one developed/came with a bug problem. Hopefully this one will do better than the last one. It has several developing buds on it, so I hope to see more flowers into the new year.

You've seen this orchid before. It's a Paphiopedilum spicerianum 'St. Alban' x self. I am puzzled over why this plant flowered. You see, the plant has been growing quite well since it last flowered. The pot was packed and unfortunately was developing a scale problem. I decided to split the plant. A few weeks after I divided the plant, I noticed a bud on the baby plant. I didn't see the bud when I was repotting the plant so I may have triggered the plant to flower (trauma, perhaps??). I probably shouldn't have let it flower, but since it's living in a large Ziploc style bag it might be OK. We'll see.

Finally I want to share a new acquisition for my plant collection:

This is an Oncidium 'Sweet Sugar', I think. That's what the label on another plant that looked exactly the same as this one. I really didn't need this plant, but since most of the stores around here only sell Phalaenopsis orchids, I needed it because I don't see these much. The care sounds pretty easy, so hopefully it will be around for a while. Preferably in flower.

That's about it for now. Like I said, I'm ichin' to tat tonight-I have an idea. I wasn't planning on posting until after Christmas, but I might post early next week if my idea works. And, since I'm sure many of you are wondering and I just found a good place to mention it, the t-shirt survived the washing machine! Like there was any doubt........really. Till next time.

Final Black Magic Bookmark and Random Orchid Photos

Sorry for the delay in posting. Actually, I'm doing this on purpose. I had meant to post over the weekend, but since I am going away for a few days, and won't be posting till I get back, I thought I'd wait a few extra days. I've done a little tatting lately. Mostly finishing on a bookmark I started  over a month ago. I started tatting another bookmark, different pattern. And I've been tinkering in designing, but I'm not ready to show anything from that. You're not missing much!

I've got my hoodie on hold for now. I had hoped on more input on colour choice for the ribbing, see previous post for details. I'm going to look for a darker grey colour before deciding for sure.

As I mentioned, I finished a bookmark I started some time ago. It's another one of Mary Konior's Black Magic bookmarks. This time I kept the colour simple, and made the bookmark, black!

I also decided to end the bookmark in a more finished manner. While trying not to, I basically did what Miranda did with her bookmark. It became apparent that I should have started the bookmark with a chain instead of the large central ring as I had to do a split chain (that wasn't split) for the final chain joining to the central ring. I could then tat the end chain as a split chain as normal. I continued with a lock stitch chain with a few split rings that mimicked the central rings. I finished with a round motif based off of the Black Magic pattern. While I liked the fan that Miranda ended with, I felt the round motif was more manly. The bookmark was done with Lizbeth size 20 thread (I didn't have size 40 then, I do now) in black, colour #604.

Finally I'll end this post with a couple of photos of one of my Phalaenopsis orchids. It's doing something funny. Well, maybe not funny, but unexpected. And I don't know why.

The first photo was taken when I first found the plant(s) about a month ago. The second photo was taken a week or so ago. My understanding is that these plants aren't supposed to form offsets in this fashion. The only time, that I have found, that a Phal should do this is in the event the the growth point is damaged, perhaps from rot or something. Phals belong to a family of orchids which are known as Monopodial orchids. That means that they have only one growing point and generally grow as a single upright stem. From what I can tell, the main plant seems healthy and is currently growing a new leaf. The offset is growing roots (you can't see them, but they are there), so once it's big enough I'll separate it off. I don't what it sucking too much energy from the parent plant, and it could break off, fall off by itself. In case you're wondering the plant is called Doritaenopsis Long Pride Fancy 'MP0653' which you can see here.

That's it for now. I should be getting ready to leave tomorrow, so I gotta go. Hopefully I'll post early next week. Till next time.

Final Black Magic, and Hardy Orchid Flower

Still tatting. Though I don't have that much to show for it. But we'll get to it soon. As you may (or may not) have heard, Canada Post workers got sent back to work starting Monday. Mail started being delivered Tuesday, though all the mail I have received so far are just bills. Go figure. Anyway this means I can ship orders again. And naturally, I can order stuff again too. I placed an order for more Lizbeth, mostly the new colours that have come out recently, as well as some other stuff. As much as I didn't want to, I ordered from Handy Hands. As I've mentioned before, I do think they over charge for shipping. Well, maybe not over charge, they just choose to ship by Priority mail when it could ship by a cheaper rate-the other tatting suppliers offer cheaper rates. This is just my opinion however. Anyway, I noticed after I placed my order that DS9Designs is now offering the new Lizbeth colours. I could cancel my HH order, but there are some things I wanted that DS9Designs doesn't carry. Oh well. On to the tatting.

As the title suggests, I have tatted Mary Konior's Black Magic pattern in the form of a bookmark:

Personally, I like the way this one turned out. Better than the one I posted about last week. For this bookmark, I used a variegated thread, Lizbeth size 40 colour #147 Red Burst, and a solid, Lizbeth size 40 colour #656 Dark Wedgewood Blue. Now that I have three bookmarks worthy of being given away (and a way to send them!) I will be announcing my giveaway very soon. I am hoping on Friday, but depending on my work schedule, possibly on Monday. I do need to make the tassels and block them, but that shouldn't take too long; I might even get that done tonight yet. I think I'm just about done with Black Magic for now. I am working on one more bookmark, but it's purpose (if needed) will be revealed later.

Finally this evening, I want to share with you another orchid photo. This time, it's a type of hardy orchid:

This is Bletilla striata, the Chinese Ground Orchid, or just Hardy Orchid. I ordered a package of two tubers, but my order arrived at the time the company I ordered from (Veseys) was liquidating all spring bulbs and sent two packages (four tubers) instead. I planted them all in a 6 inch pot, though I may need to repot them into a larger pot if needed. In case you are wondering, these are growing under my florescent lights with some Phalaenopsis orchids and my Nepenthes Pitcher plants. They seem happy. I am hoping all the plants shown produce flowers. 

That's it for now. Hopefully, the next post you read from me is about my giveaway. Now that Canada Post is running again, I am hoping to get back to chainmaille too. Though this tatting break has been great. Till next time.

Checking In

Well, I'm back to posting. I'm not sure what happened there a few weeks ago, but I feel better. I wish I could have gone somewhere, preferably warm, for at least part of the time. I think I worked on a little bit of everything these past two weeks. I don't have photos ready for most things yet, so this will be a short post. Despite my claims otherwise, I did work on chainmaille once I got my order of rings. I made three new bracelets and a fourth that is the same as one I already have listed but made out of titanium. I also made a couple pairs of earrings to match the bracelets. I also got some coloured scales and started making coloured scalemaille flowers.

I still have three more colours of scales to make flowers with. If you are wondering the remaining colours are green, goldy-silver, and bronze/black (these are bronze on the inside and black on the back). I want to get these listed and I'll have to add the remaining flowers later. I'll show you what other chainmaille items I've made once I have photos ready

I've also been working on tatting as well. But not on my tie. I decided I should stop working on it until I got another ball of thread. I contacted DS9Designs to see if they still had any balls of thread in the same lot as the one I purchased. Lucky for me, they had three left. So I placed a small order early last week. Naturally, I also ordered a few other balls of Lizbeth. I think they are all new colours. Hopefully they will arrive sometime this week. Unlike Handy Hands, DS9Designs, and Be-stitched for that matter, are more than happy to send my order using cheaper options. I find that the Priority mail that Handy Hands insists on using arrives in about the same time as the slower methods, so its not worth (for me anyway) to have to pay for faster methods. Anyway, instead of my tie, I have been working on my Windmills doily. You can see where it was back in October here. Then I had six motifs completed on the third round. I now have twelve motifs completed and am working on the thirteenth. With any luck I should have it joined to the doily this evening. I am hoping I can finish this round soon. I do enjoy tatting Mary Konior's Windmills motif, but I fear I will soon tire of tatting it soon. I still plan on making the doily oval shaped, but it is getting large. Measured across the diagonal, which is 7 motifs wide, the doily measures 15 inches (38.1 cm) across.

I also did some crocheting, but nothing spectacular. Two pairs of slippers are all I've managed. I'll post more about them next time. I'll leave you with a photo of one of my orchids that started blooming a few days ago:

I'm not sure if I've shown this flower before but here it is. It's a Phalaenopsis NOID (No IDentification).

That's it for now. We'll see how the week goes; I'll try and post again later this week. Till next time.

Windmills Doily, Completed TIAS, And Another Orchid Photo

I know, I know. I said I could post last week, and I didn't. I would have, but I forgot my camera here in the city, and couldn't take any photos of my completed work. Also, I seem to have caught a cold (AGAIN!) or my first one came back. I'm not quite sure, so I haven't done much tatting this week. I'm kinda bummed out, but then again I didn't get a cold last year.

I'm sure everyone by now is aware of the passing of beloved tatter and designer Mary Konior. I too am a big fan of her and her tatting designs. While I never met her, or had the opportunity to see her tatting in real life (the latter is still possible since HBT's founder Sue Hanson was given the honour of caring for the lace, and brings it to tatting events for all to see), I am proud to own two of her tatting books, Tatting Patterns and Tatting With Visual Patterns. Since hearing of her passing, I have made it a goal of mine to find the other two books. Hopefully I can manage this without spending a large amount of money (what are those people on eBay and Amazon thinking!!!!!!!!). Anyway, Rest In Peace Mary. Hopefully you are tatting with the other tatting legends that left the Earth before you did.

As you all know, I have been tatting Mary's Windmills motif lately. I also mentioned that I wanted to make a small doily using that motif. As a tribute to Mary Konior, here is the completed doily:


As you can see, the reason Mary called the pattern "Windmills" really shows once you have several joined together. A windmill is very evident in the centre of the doily. While I said the doily is complete, that isn't technically the case. As pictured above, the doily is about 6 1/4 inches in diameter. That's too small for my purpose, so I'm going to add another round of motifs. That will be another 12 motifs to make. Of course, once that round is done, I may decide to add another. I show you how it looks once I'm done the next round. I am using DMC Cordonnet size 20 thread to make this doily.

I have also completed Jane TIAS 2010. I'm terrible with the daily progress so we will go straight to the finished motif.

As you can see, our mystery motif turned into a rooster. I was beginning to wonder partway through, but it began to look kinda bird like towards the end. For this motif, I used Lizbeth size 20 in colour numbers 656 (Dark Wedgewood Blue) and 142 (Turquoise Twist), along with DMC Cordonnet size 20 (White). I'm actually quite pleased with my colour choices (especially since I didn't plan ahead and just picked a colour when they were needed). This will be Motif # 16 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge.

Finally, I have another orchid photo to share with you. This is a relatively new addition to my collection. First, the whole spray:

Next, just a single flower:

This particular orchid is a Cymbidium. More specifically, the plant is called Cymbidium [(Via Ireland 'Delightful' x (Pendragon x Camelia 'Yellow Sunset')] 'Shamrock'. Whew. That's quite a name. I find the green colour of the flowers quite nice. While this is only my second one, I'm getting quite fond of this genre of orchid. I think it's their large size, and their relatively easy care that probably has something to do with it. I may have to get another one.

Before I forget, I would like to thank everyone who has commented over the past few weeks. I haven't had a chance to comment lately. In particular, I would like to thank Miranda for her suggestion on eliminating the little dots of colour on my colorized Windmills motif I posted about earlier. Miranda suggested using a "Slope and Roll" join. See this page: (http://www.ds9designs.com/patterns_free.shtml). Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the link. I tried it out on another pattern and it seems to work well. I'll try it out on another Windmills motif and post my results.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll post again soon. Till next time.

Windmill Motif, TIAS 2010 Progress, and The Return of The Mutated Orchid

Before I begin this post, I am pleased to announce that I am feeling much better. I felt absolutely terrible on Sunday and Monday. It probably didn't help that I went to work despite not feeling well. But by Wednesday, I was beginning to get better. Sorry for the health update, but I didn't want anyone to worry. Um, you were worried right? Anyone?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I planned to retat Mary Konior's Windmill motif, using white thread. Well here it is:


I really like the motif in white, although any solid colour may work well with this design. Though, I think the main problem I have with my previous attempt of the motif was with the little dot of colour that occurs at the base of the many shuttle/lock joins that are needed in the pattern. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. I have been playing around with other joining methods to prevent the dot of colour. What I'm trying is when joining to pull the thread from the front to the back. It seems to help, but if anyone else has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Thread stats: DMC Cordonnet size 20 in white. I am planing on making a small doily, consisting of seven motif. Of course, I may decide to join more motifs once I have the seven done. I'm not counting this in my current 25 Motif Challenge since I already counted the other one.

Next on my list is Jane's TIAS 2010. I have skipped the last few TIASes, so I am trying to keep up with this one. I love the concept of the TIAS. You tat a little bit of a pattern every few days, until you are done. You don't know what you are tatting, until you are close to the end (usually); Jane, and the other ladies who have hosted a TIAS are pretty good at hiding the identity of the motif. So here is my current progress:


The top image is my progress after Day One, and the bottom one is after Day Two. I'm using Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #142 (Turquoise Twist). The next three days will not be shown individually. I, um, forgot to scan the piece after I did each days tatting.

Here is Days 3, 4, and 5. I used DMC Cordonnet size 20 in white for these days. And, as you can see by the two ends showing, we aren't done with this piece. While the previous piece looks intriguing, these three days looks especially interesting. I'm still not sure what we are making, but I can't wait to find out.

Finally, I will end this blog post with an orchid photo. As the title suggests, the new year welcomes the return of The Mutated Orchid:

I love this orchid. As I mentioned in the first post about this orchid, it is a Phalaenopsis orchid with a mutation that causes the plant to have three lips instead of one. This is referred to as a Peloric mutation. I'm glad that the plant produced the mutated flowers again, but I guess it should since the plant re-bloomed on the same flower stalks as the last time. Which, while writing this post I realized that it has taken the plant about 15 months to re-bloom. I'm pretty sure it takes less time to happen, but I guess the mutation could have caused it to take longer. No matter; I'm just glad it has produced more flowers.

That's all for now. I'm not sure if I'll get a post up next week. I am going to my parents next weekend (well, I'm leaving Thursday after work) to pick up a new truck. My dad had the opportunity to buy my grandmother's truck off of her estate, and he's letting me buy his truck off of him (which is a 2006 model while the one he bought is a 2009 model). But we'll see. My parents also recently had a satellite internet service installed, which will provide a high speed service to their farm, so a post is possible. Till next time.

The Orchid Post (Very OT)

I have finally gotten around to writing up "The Orchid Post". These are mainly orchids that either are currently in bloom, or in a few cases, just finished blooming. I will hopefully have some tatting content in my next post (but I'm not promising anything). Work has been pretty busy, due to Easter, and I went to my parents for a few days as well. Don't tell Sharon, but I also have my homework for Design-tat to finish (it is about diagramming tatting patterns, which is what I have been waiting for). So, it shouldn't take too long. I'll post the diagram here as well when I have it finished.

The first specimen in the list is my newest orchid.

This grand plant is a Cymbidium orchid. While it is difficult to tell in the picture, the plant is nearly three (3) feet tall. This is by far my largest orchid. Here is a closeup of a flower:

As usual, blogger did its random picture rotation thing with this picture. Each flower is large, about 5 inches in diameter. The care of the orchid sounds pretty easy, so I hope I don't kill it.

The next orchid is one I have shown before, though there is a difference with the flower that I didn't notice before. The is Phalaenopsis 'Salu Princess', one of my first orchids.


This flower looks pretty much like any white Moth orchid flower. However, this time the flowers were blushing. See:

The flower has a pink stripe on the uppermost petal. I am very pleased that the plant did this as it now makes it different from the other white Phalaenopsis that I own. I like different.

Here is another Phal (it's a NOID unfortunately), but it is still pretty.

This next Phal is, again, a NOID, but nonetheless it is my favourite. I have shown this orchid previously, but I love it so much it deserves another mention. The flowers on this orchid are thick and wax-like. Because of this, the flowers last a very long time.

This is another NOID Phal that is currently flowering. It is another new addition to my orchid collection.
Finally, here is Phalaenopsis 'Lemon Tree', or at least that's what it's supposed to be. The picture of the plant that I saw shows the flowers as being all yellow, with just the lip being white. But, it's still pretty.
As I mentioned earlier, my Hibiscus has started flowering again. The flower's are huge on this thing. I love it. I think I need a few more of these plants.

The last picture of the evening (er, night) is, well, unrecognizable. This is Cypripedium reginae, a North American native orchid. I found an article online about growing Cypripediums in pots, and wanted to give it a try.

I'll provide updates on this plant as it grows, and perhaps, flowers. I think I should mention, that I acquired this plant legally. I was assured when I purchased it that the plant was lab-grown. That's all for now. Hopefully I will be able to get some tatting done. Later.