Things Change.....Thank Goodness!

I just re-read the last post and realized how depressing it sounded and thought I'd better let you know that all is not lost.  I have had a few more senior moments and my biorhythms finally flat lined - there was one day when I hit bottom, physically, mentally and emotionally.  I could hardly get off the sofa and went to bed (to vegetate) at 7:30.  After a couple of nights of good sleep, I am feeling much better in every way. Thank goodness!

In addition to our nice weather, and probably because of it, we had a nice afternoon of potting pansies for the front porch. It was great to be outside and share the task.....and they look great, giving us hope that Spring is not far away. It was one of those activities design to keep my mother busy and, hopefully, give her a little pleasure. The bonus was that we both enjoyed it.

In the midst of it all, I've even managed to get some reading done, if you can call it that - a Robert Parker/Jesse Stone mystery - no chapter over two and a half pages, no word over six letters, pablum for the flighty mind!  I'm now moving on to David Baldacci just to see if I can follow a slightly more complex plot!

Mother Nature may be playing a cruel joke as there is still plenty of time for nasty weather, but at the moment we are getting all the signals that Spring IS around the corner - Bradford Pears and Red Buds are budding, everything is greening up and we've had days in the 70s.  It's been great!  It was so nice that we went to a quilt show this afternoon.  It was the perfect thing for my mother - informal, short, interesting.  She won't let me drop her at the door (because she might have to talk to someone she doesn't know), but that's okay because it gets her walking more than she does around the house.  Afterward we went to pick up "a car load of kitty grub" at Pet Smart and she suggested looking around Ross', which we did.  So, we wound up killing most of an afternoon, but it did us both good to be out and about.

The theme of the quilt show was codes used by the Underground Railroad to direct runaway slaves to freedom, usually to Canada.  There were 15 quilts (actually large quilted wall hangings) and all had been done my a single member of the church that held the event. The detail of both the piecing and the machine quilting was impressive, and the color combinations were beautiful (the photos do not do them justice). Each quilt was accompanied by a brief explanation of what the pattern/code meant.  The quilts would be hung on a fence or cabin door to "air out" while discreetly communicating a specific message directing slaves to either get ready for escape or that it was safe to move on to the next "station".  Very clever!  I thought I had taken photos of all of them, but it appears I missed one, and another was too blurred to include.  I've identified as many patterns as I could remember (never thought to note the names!) and you can get a brief rundown of what some of them mean HERE.