Delilah the Dove
Meet Delilah, a pure white dovewho used to live with her little family in the church porch.
(I tried to tat some little doves!)
It was lovely hearing them cooing away as people entered this ancient place of worship, parts of which date back over a thousand years.
The last time the doves were in the porch Delilah sat on two eggs and eventually two little chicks were hatched. Unfortunately they both died by falling out of the nest, which was balanced on one of the porch beams. But the final blow came when the porch wood needed renewing and the banging and sawing was really too much and Delilah and her partner decided to fly away and have never returned, nearly three years ago.
Everyone misses Delilah she even regularly wrote about her life in the parish magazine.
This is Pam Palmers dove but I had a little trouble making it so it might not be exactly as per instructions!
A dove is a sign of peace throughout the world, it is often seen carrying an olive branch (not an icicle!) as in the story of Noah and his ark.
On the left hand side of the picture you can see the old wood of the porch and on the right the new wood ready to be shaped. Now the wood is oak and the pieces from the old porch were taken away and my husband made crosses and doves out of them and they were sold to raise money towards the cost of the restoration. The dove you see on the header of this blog is made from that same wood and so is the shuttle below, a very special shuttle.
These are the blanks for the shuttles that are now being made, not from oak but from sycamore, Jane and I are at the moment test tatting with them.
As for the name Delilah well there is a Delilah in the bible but the name also reminds me of the song Delilah sung by Tom Jones.
"My my my Delilah
why, why, why Delilah"
NO, don't say you want a new dove pattern next? Robin the robin is almost finished and will be winging his way for you to test tat with the new shuttles soooooon!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the dove and the tatted one. What a nice story and that he can use the old wood is super too.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Robin the robin, Jane, you obviously must like tatting birds!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Tudy, thanks for looking in, yes using the wood has been great but it was so ancient and very hard that it burnt the motor out on my husband's band saw!
What a lovely story, I showed John the picture of your church and he said it reminded him of the one he used to attend in Rodmell!
ReplyDeleteThat's a very special shuttle indeed, you should call it "Delilah's shuttle"!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post! Noah's Ark is my favorite Bible story, so it follows that I would have an affinity for doves! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of finished shuttles!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice story. That shuttle looks interesting. Tell your hubby I think he's so talented, although he probably already knew that. ^_^
ReplyDeleteNow I'm going to be singing that song all day!
ReplyDeleteLove the doves - including the ones your hubby made.
Great story, the dove by Pam Palmer is brilliant, what book is it in????
ReplyDeleteA new Robin design yipeee.
Hi Maureen, the church is a little gem, and what a good idea to call the shuttle "Delilah's shuttle"
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, well slower but surely the shuttles are getting made!
Thanks Imoshen, I don't want to give my husband a "big head" do I?!!
Its a "goldie oldie" Tom Jones singing Delilah Crazy Mum, are you still singing it?!
Hi Tatskool the book is called The Twelve Days of Christmas - yep Jane has finished the Robin design and its great.
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ReplyDeleteUh oh, looks like you may have that Chinese spam message in your comments...quick, delete it!
ReplyDeleteAs for the dove, it is true to it's type, courageous, soft and inspirational. True beauty!
I look forward to the day I will hold one of " 'im in the garage's" shuttles in my hand like a dove.
It was fascinating, to me, to watch the creation process of brain cell #3 at work. I really like the finished product rather than the freestyle-suggestion of a dove that Picasso produced (altho, I am a fan of his).
ReplyDeleteBTW if you e-mail me your snail mail addy, I have some beads I'd share with you; but, only if you want to…
xx bev
Thanks Isdihara, bit slow on deleting the spam, must take more notice of my comments!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Ridgetatter, I agree watching Jane designing is incredible, I would have given up long before the final design. I'll get Jane to e.mail you my addy - thanks