Adam and Jenny and Marley, oh my!

A couple of days ago I mentioned that my life is "up-side-down-and-out." Well, indeed, it is! We've been busy moving the middle son, daughter-in-law, and their 6-year-old into our house. It's been bad, really. Their house flooded. Just when everyone else seems to be leveling off after the recent floods in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas, we got a torrential rain. 

The run-off had no where to go, so it ran through Adam and Jenny's property and flooded the house. Everyone was away, so they are all safe, but the house...oh, the house!

One of her versatile costumes

To make matters worse, they were packing for a long-awaited Disney vacation. Perhaps they were not totally aware that the water was still in the walls and floors, where it stayed while they enjoyed Disney. 

It stands to reason, that when you leave a mess, you come home to a mess. But their mess continued to fester and multiply. The floors are soft, the walls are rotting and there's mold everywhere.  

I don't want to get all into their business but so I won't mention insurance, FEMA, Servpro, or a demolition company. 

I am going to say Richard and I are grateful to have a modest home that can accommodate them, and her parents are helping with childcare, so we are actually doing okay. I don't want to think of their having to live in a small camper or paying rent on another place.  They have enough worry. 

So our lives have changed drastically, but we are happy to be able to help the kids. And we are enjoying our little red-head!

On a side note: our stinker baked a cake (with Jen handling the oven) and decorated it with sparse purple icing and sprinkles to celebrate LSU's win. All this, of course, before the game was at half-time. Between taking orders--big or small piece, ice cream, spoon or fork--and tending to dessert, she cheered her team on. 

I need to tell you about our church fair last weekend and hope to get to that soon, now that I've found my equilibrium. But first I should get to Sunday Quilt Inspiration, so I'll see you for that tomorrow...

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: M U D

Mud? I know, it's not something that most of us would consider a good thing. Maybe when were children playing mud pies, but not likely as adults today. 

But if you've seen pictures of the flooding in South Louisiana, you've seen mud. Muddy furnishings. Muddy clothing. Muddy appliances.  All sitting on the side of the street waiting for dump trucks to haul it off. 

And you've seen lots of muddy water. Water is naturally muddy here. Slow moving and muddy in bayous. Fast moving and muddy in rivers. Not moving and muddy in swamps. Every body of water seems to be muddy, especially when stirred up. Rain water stirs up the mud. 

It's all very sad for the families who have lost everything: homes, jobs, vehicles. Thankfully, help is arriving slowly; volunteers are pitching in with the cleanup. People are able to begin to rebuild their lives. But in the middle of it all is the mud. 

Stinky, smelly mud that will soon begin to rot and carry disease. Muddy water in every hole or bowl-shaped object breeding mosquitoes, which also carry disease. Mud pies may have been fun play when we were children, but it is not pleasant to victims.

But mud can be inspiration for creative endeavors, not just mud pies.  Here are ten quilts that could easily have been inspired by Louisiana mud. 

Please continue praying for the tens of thousands of displaced families who are still battling the mud and water of the floods. They need your help. Should you choose to donate money, please choose carefully. Two safe nonprofits are the Louisiana Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society (CAAWS). In both cases you can include a note with instructions that your money is to help flooding victims.