Dear fellow Arachneans,
I just want to let you all know that at the end of last week I met 3 bobbin lace makers in a country that not everyone knows about.
Our family visited the country of Estonia, the northern-most Baltic country. In particular we stayed for 5 nights in Tartu, which is also known as "The City of Good Thoughts". It is where Tartu University is located and the house that was built for my husband's paternal grandfather. Several people referred to "Oru Villa" as the prettiest house in Tartu. If you wish to see the house go to: <http://oruvilla.ee/eng/index.html>
We visited Lia Looga, & her husband, in Tartu on Wednesday & were shown her lace pictures, flowers, jewelry, scarves & table linen that she had made over the last 5 years. Then on Thursday, we drove to Narva, the eastern-most city, & saw a display of Russian bobbin lace made by Olga Kublitskaja. She has a web-site: <http://www.hot.ee/olgalace/> We also explored the restored Narva Castle from which we could look across the Narva River into Russia. We then drove back to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia that afternoon.
On Friday afternoon, we had arranged to meet Kristiina Halberg, who is the President of the Estonian Bobbin Lace Society, under the clock of the 600 year old Town Hall at 4pm. While we drank coffee, we exchanged lace books. I gave Kristiina a copy of Rosemary Shepherd's "Introduction to Bobbin Lace" book for the Society's library & she gave me 2 books about Estonian Bobbin Lace. My husband acted as translator as he speaks Estonian very well. He has been a regular visitor for the last 10 years, & listens to Estonian radio via the internet when he can.
The Estonian Bobbin Lace Society (Eesti Niplispitsi Selts) started in 1995 & will be celebrating their 10th anniversary next year.
The weather was very pleasant during the week we were there.
Penelope Piip originally from Sydney, Australia, now a resident of Groton, MA, USA
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