Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Palms and Holy Week

For my Christian readers: I hope you had a good Palm Sunday. It's the strangest of Easters, but we can do this. Watch mass on EWTN, which is what Rich and I did this evening. Do you best to walk with Christ this week.  I have planned something each day of this week to help us in our walk. 

Sunday—Palm Sunday mass on EWTN.

Monday—confession. Father is accepting one person at a time and is hearing confessions in the open pavilion, with at least six feet of distance. It's going to be strange, but we'll do what we must.

Tuesday—family altar. Rich and I have been making a small altar in a corner of the living room. (Pictures to follow.)

Wednesday—Way of the Cross. We will go to church and read through the Way of the Cross, taking turns leading the Stations.

Thursday—The Passion of the Christ movie. 

Friday—Cemetery visit. It's the anniversary of Rich's Dad's death, so it seems especially fitting. I've invited his mom to come for lunch to help her get through the day.

Saturday—Easter Vigil mass on EWTN.

Sunday—Easter celebrations with the kids via video chat. 

    

    

Part 2 -- South Louisiana jaunt

On Tuesday Richard and I drove south to a couple of small towns. The plan was to see a bit of the landscape, perhaps a little culture, and the Vatican exhibit at St. Joseph's in Rayne. 

In Crowley, home of the rice festival, we saw this fabrication shop where swamp boats are made. We had to pull over and get a few pictures. How my husband knows about this sort of thing always amazes me, but he was able to answer all of my silly questions. 

So the way these things work is that the boat sits on top of the rice field, or crawfish pond or marsh, wherever. The big paddle wheel on the back "floats" on the bottom and pushes the boat. The hydraulic arm is long so that it can sink deeply or just roll along on top of the swampy ground, and the driver can adjust the depth as needed.

Farmers and fishermen can purchase boats in different widths, lengths, and paddle wheels, depending on their individual needs. Interesting, no? Notice the tarp on the top? That's because it's hot in Louisiana. The tarps provide some shade for the human and for the product on board. That question I did not need to ask.

As we drove through Crowley, I took a few pictures of the downtown area. We saw some beautiful old homes, but the rain and time didn't allow for pictures. Have you noticed the rain splattered windshield?

Isn't this a fabulous picture? Yes, those specks are
raindrops, but I still like it. The cross makes it perfect.

And on the way home we were enjoying the beautiful sunset when Richard realized that I was taking pictures of the sun setting from the town of Sunset. Cute, no? 

Mermantau, Crowley, and Rayne...a South Louisiana jaunt

I got a text from Meggan telling me about the special exhibit this week at St. Joseph's in Rayne. It looked interesting, so our  first open day (Tuesday), Richard and I jumped in the truck. About the same time, Rory called to say there's a little place we might want to check out. He hadn't been, but still...

So off we went in hopes of an adventure. What we got was a downpour. The interesting little place was a dud, but we saw lots of rice fields, several rice mills, and a couple of towns that we would visit again. 

Mermentau River

Not much larger than Evergreen, Mermentau is a little town on the Mermentau River. The river looks wide here, and it is, but it spills into Lake Arthur where it becomes much bigger as it travels into Grand Lake and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. 

One of many rice fields between Mermentau and Crowley

The area between Mermentau and Crowley is part of the Grand Chenier prairie, rich soil perfect for growing rice, crawfish, and sugar cane. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes, "The Chenier Plain is a popular destination for nature watchers, anglers and hunters, who come from around the world....With its location at the terminus of the Central and Mississippi Flyways, coastal wetlands in this focal area are extremely important for waterfowl and...up to 5.8 million ducks. The area also has productive estuaries, nearby forests and grasslands, and expansive tidal wetland systems. The coastal waters...contribute substantially to the nation’s commercial fishery landings, particularly for shrimp, blue crab, oysters and Gulf menhaden operations."

Top: Riviana rice mill; Bottom: Supreme Rice
Mill in operation (note the train cars waiting to be loaded)

From Crowley we moseyed east to Rayne along Hwy. 90 for the original reason of the trip: The Eucharistic Miracles of the World exhibit.  It was set up to explain each miracle independently. Placards give an overview, details, and photos of monstrances and tabernacles, artwork,  churches and saints. 

And that rounds up our little jaunt. There were other interesting finds along the way, but this post is plenty long already. 
Thanks for stopping by.

Old wooden cross ~~ finished

Our church fair is coming up in just a few weeks. Richard and I try to do something extra to donate. This year we decided that he would make a cross from some cypress wood that he has in the shed and I would add a short Bible quote. First, the cross. 

I asked him to include as much of the character of the wood as possible. I love this piece. After he made the cross, sanded, and painted a clear-coat of varnish, he delivered it to me. 

I decided on the quote from Psalm 86:11, "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth." 

It took several attempts, but eventually I got the foil adhesive cut and "weeded." Then came the difficult part: deciding on a layout for the quote. 

It's possible to choose a layout, put all the letters in, then realize that there's a problem. Thank goodness for cameras. I find more errors looking through the viewfinder than any other way. So back to the letters. I gently, carefully, slowly removed all five, keeping them in line and spaced correctly with a strip of tape that wanted to stick to everything. 

in the sun

in the shade

Then I took it outside to take pictures both in the sun and in the shade in the hopes that I might see any additional problems. I will go back and add "Psalm 86:11" in small letters. I just can't decide where it should go. Any suggestions?

Edited to note: I've added the quote text and decided it would go just below the end of the quote all the way to the right. And I like the finished product. Plus, thanks Anonymous for the tip: I've fixed the photo-loading problem. (I hope.) Every now and then Google just won't cooperate.

A Christmas Wedding

My niece and her fiance were married on Sunday in a small town south of Houston. It's the one that I wrote about when I altered her wedding dress only two weeks before. We decided to drive in early to lend a hand where needed, and then to drive home after the reception. It made for a long day as Alvin is almost five hours' drive, but it gave us a chance to chat without interruption. Always a good thing! 

On the way to Alvin, we stopped in Lake Charles to attend Mass at St. Margaret of Ireland Catholic Church. It's easy to get to and the church is beautiful. 

Check out that organ! The organist knows her instrument and the choir knows how to sing together. They were flawless to my ears. It was a bit difficult paying attention to mass when there were so many distractions. 

Those stained glass windows, for example, are stunning. The glow on the top of the windows? Oh, that's the noonday sun shining through. Yes, they are that brilliant! There was also the multilevel altar. I've never seen one, so I was curious how things were done. I kept my eyes on every movement of the altar servers and eucharistic ministers and, of course, the priest and deacon.

Amanda and James

But the stop in Lake Charles was part of a bigger event: my niece's wedding. It was beautifully decorated in wine and white with touches of gold and many Christmas lights in the park were the venue is. The venue itself is an old train depot that's been transformed into a visitor's center and small wedding venue.

One thing is certain, my family knows how to do weddings. Even a small one (45ish people) is a big family thing. This is the bride whose dress I altered a couple of weeks ago. She was beautiful and poised and comfortable enough to close the evening still in the dress and heels. 

a toast to the bride and groom

Doug and Lee (mother of the bride)

Like all weddings in our family it was a family affair. Four of us eight girls were present and each of us had a chore. Angie served as official and as general mistress of ceremonies. Lee is the mother of the bride, so she was in everything. Laura is an accomplished photographer. 

Half of the sisters: Angie, Lee, Laura and moi

I was kitchen help, sort of. I just hung around the venue letting people in, putting out food, and whatever needed doing. I have experience with several weddings and proms and anniversary parties, so I know what needs doing. (Besides I do like to be bossy.) And there you go. 

Pin It Weekly #239

Just pins this week. . .

Happy Easter!