Fire Saga Update: Friends, Housing, and lots of Love

If you've been following along for the last few days, you may remember that a fire started in the home of our oldest son. By the time the fire was extinguished, everything in the house was lost. However, the only truly important news is that everyone is okay. No one was home when the faulty wiring caused the smoke and flames. 


The other thing that I want to mention is the unbelievable love and support our whole family has received. People have been stopping by for days now, to deliver items, clothing, and money. It seems that our little community is actually quite big. 

Will's family lives in Chicot and their friends jumped in to help. We live in Evergreen; it didn't surprise us that people from our small town have done the same. However, people from other towns--Bunkie, Cottonport, Plaucheville, Hessmer, Marksville--have pitched in and donated and so much more. It's a bit overwhelming, actually.


For example, a woman who went to school with my sisters and me (40 years ago) sent a Christmas card and a check. Absolute strangers have donated money to them via a GoFundMe account. Others have bought Christmas gifts to replace the ones that burned with the house.

A great example of how  considerate people are came from the school the grandies attend. The principal gave permission for our kids to wear "street clothes" to school because their uniforms were lost in the blaze. Believe me, it's much easier to put your kid into a pair of donated jeans than to find uniforms over a traumatic weekend. 

But the principal was worried that the Marcottes, as the only ones in regular clothes, might feel like they stand out. To avoid that she took the regular clothes idea a bit farther and had a fundraiser. The high schoolers could donate money which would allow them to wear jeans and tee shirts for the week. The money they donated is meant to help us to buy uniforms, but since other students were wearing regular clothes, the Marcotte kids easily fit in. How thoughtful is that? 

We all have had to do some adjusting to life. That includes my not getting to emails, this blog, visiting you all, pinning--just anything on the computer.

One big adjustment has been the new living arrangements. To keep Will and Stacey's family  together with enough space for all of them, Rich and I moved into our 19' camper.  Adam and Jenny, who were living with us since their house became infested with mold a year ago, have moved into Will and Stacey's much larger camper. 

We're all making the best of it. Adam and Jen have a larger, nicer camper, but it's out in the open. Our camper is tiny but stored under a large shed. Both now have full hookups so it's very much like an RV park.  

We've set up tables, chairs, and our outdoor rug. For fun we call this area "the parlor." We also made a small play area for our Maltese puppies, especially the escape artists.

Rich pulled some of my potted plants over to protect them from the occasional 30 degree weather but they add life to our shed. I won't say we can live this way for a year or two, but for now we're all in it together and are making the best of it. 

Finally, it's time for a Milly Moment!
Miss Milly has a new tooth. It's a typical little baby tooth that her tongue found about the third day after it broke through, and she simply doesn't know what to do with it all. We've had such enjoyment from her nonsensical faces and tongue mishaps. That silly tongue seems to have an ADHD problem. 

Every time her tongue touches that tooth, it forgets everything else and probes around trying to figure out what's there. It's hard to eat, drink, or talk when your tongue is doing something else. And I'll leave you with that thought while you celebrate the holidays with family and friends. May you have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: S C H O O L H O U S E

We have returned from vacation. We drove up to the house yesterday afternoon, took naps, and began hauling in clothes, laundry, and food when one vehicle pulled up. 

Since that time, we've seen all the kids, grandkids (except one), Richard's parents and the great grandie.  Everyone, it seems is getting ready for school and all of them begin at some point this week. 


That said, I've been thinking about not going back for the first time since 1990 when I began my career. It feels strange, of course, but when a friend contacted me to get together, we decided to make it a party. 

When teachers are greeting their students on the first day, several of us--who are now retired and worked together at some point--are meeting for lunch. 

It's been two years since we were all together, so it will be great fun seeing them after seeing the kiddos off to school.



In the meantime, I thought it would be interesting to see what's happening in the quilt world so far as school is concerned. 

To that end, I found a few schoolhouse blocks and quilts. If you've been around for a few years, this inspiration post is a bit different from the one in 2015, so keep going. :)

Whether single block mini-quilts, multi-block table runners, or large bed quilts, the schoolhouse block never disappoints. Take a look at a few larger options:

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: HOUSES

I've probably done houses before, I haven't checked my list, but I spent most of the afternoon checking out the houses on Jen and Jan's Blog Hop. What fun! There are so many interpretations of Jan's free pattern, "Quilter's Laundry Day." If you've read my blog in the last day or two, you're probably tired of seeing my version, but I do love it so. 

If you are interesting in seeing all the quilts together, you should visit my Pinterest board, which I built especially for this blog hop.

Preeti's small house blocks

Have a great week, everyone!

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: FARM HOUSE

Gotta love a farm house! The old fashioned kind that is not too big or fancy, just a place where a family can live and grow and be happy. 

The kind of little house that will easily translate into a cute, fun quilt. That's the kind you've got to love.

You can find all of these cute houses on Pinterest by house quilts entering house quilts in the search bar. There are many, many more house quilts to see and lots of pictures of farmhouses should you want more inspiration. 

Happy Quilting,