Bulloch Hall 34th Quilt Show ... and more, part II

My post on the first part of this quilt show was published on March 18, 2016 - click here to see it.  This is the continuation of it.  Before stepping up to the attic we stopped in the Sewing Room and saw the quilts below.  Quilt 112 by Christie Fouts is called "Lucy with the Sky with Diamonds."  It was a challenge quilt - a piece based on a song.  Quilt 115 by Marie Huston is called "Bubblegum Iris" and is based on her garden where her variety of iris smells like bubblegum.  Quilt 118 by Nancy French is called "Mountain Meadow Lily" because the blues and greens remind her of the colors of the Great Smoky Mountain Park.  Click on collages to enlarge.

As my husband was reading about the quilts I walked slowly by each quilt and took their pictures.

Quilt 137, standing behind the bed, was made by Linda Wirtz as a gift to her daughter-in-law who went to the University of Alabama.  The quilt used the anchor, symbol of her Delta Gamma Sorority and is entitled "Anchor Aweigh" to the Future!"  (pictured in center of collage.)

I took some close-ups too.

Some Halloween quilts were displayed in the Civil War Room.

Below is a model of C.S.S. Alabama, displayed in that room, and an information panel.

Back downstairs we entered the Master Bedroom.  On the bed was quilt 15 displayed by Nancy Summa who says "I inherited this quilt in 2015.  It was made in 1884 by my great, great, great grandmother, Anna Maria Woodruff.  Entirely hand pieced and hand quilted by Anna Maria."  On the wall, above the fireplace, was quilt 17 "Clementine's Star" by Lynn Rinehart - it is shown at the top of this post.

In the Library was quilt 7 called "Red of the Month" by Jan Antranikian.  The pink quilt next to the piano is "New York Beauty" by Nancy Summa.  Quilt no. 8 in black and orange, above the fireplace, is called "Optical Illusion" by Meg Latimer.  A guilt member was sitting in front of the quilt to be raffled away (I bought several tickets but did not win it.)  On the sofa was quilt no. 12 "The Road Home" by Joan Lindley who completed this almost finished quilt because ... "Miss Edith, my sister-in-law's mother, was not able to complete this before her death at age 96."

We sat a bit on the front porch on two inviting rocking chairs.

It had been a sunny and warm March day.  It was hard to leave such a beautiful historic home - we walked on the grounds then had to drive back home.  On the way we passed by "Mimosa Hall" where I had been to an estate sale in the fall of 2014 - read about it here.  Now there was a pretty tree with pink buds in front of the house.

Looking at the pictures I took lately - they are mostly of our two cats, Cody and Mitsouko.  There were cats in some of the quilts we saw - here are three of them, then I'll show some of my cat pictures.

News from the home front - our move to Nashville is not moving fast - almost at a standstill (will be lucky to move by the end of 2016.)  My dear readers know that my husband has Alzheimer - he is in the middle stage I think.  He has no short term  memory at all so he cannot help me much.  For example if he looks at the table at a cup of coffee then at the window - he already forgot about the coffee.  It is not that he does not remember, it is just that there is no memory impression left anywhere on his brain.  He loves to pet our cats, and to look at nature outdoors.  Mitsouko was stopped in the den playing with something.  I looked down and it was a tiny snake.  I took it outside, placed it in a planter and it disappeared - still alive, fortunately.

The disease has taken all my husband's initiative so he gets bored and likes to get out on little trips.  A trip to the grocery store takes a couple of hours as he stops often (and I lose him.)  He was shy but now has lost his inhibitions and likes to talk to strangers - it can be embarrassing for me.  Constant care giving is not easy and very stressful - by the time I could work on clearing out our accumulations, I am physically and emotionally exhausted.  I do everything I know to slow down the disease - cook a good Mediterranean cuisine - which takes time, and give him Coconut Oil, walnuts, blueberries, anchovies, etc.  There is little to slow the disease and no cure.  Big Pharma spends $$ trying to sell drugs like Prevagen (that our neurologist says is useless and has many side effects) but they are ineffective and the risks are great.  Mitsouko, our grey Korat, does not forget to harass Cody ...

My husband was diagnosed in 2009 but I did not talk about it on my posts (and my husband was reading my posts then and correcting my grammar.)  Friends told me that I should mention it as it is a condition that should not be hushed up.  We all need to do more to raise awareness on this terrible disease and support increased research.  I am one of 15 million unpaid Alzheimer caregivers in the US - one in three seniors die with Alzheimer or other dementia, and in the US every 66 seconds someone develops the disease.  I talked to my husband yesterday to see how his memory is holding.  I asked him his name - he knew it was Jim, but could not remember his last name.  He does not know the day, month, year and even my name, and cannot count or tell time anymore.  I asked him in which state do we live? No clue - Texas, maybe he said - no, I replied.  So I said "does Georgia rings a bell?"  he looked around and said "ring, ring!"  I asked him what he was doing - he replied he was trying to find the bell but the bell was not there with answers.  He has not lost his sense of humor, yet.  So we laughed.  I told him he sure needed a bell or something.  We laughed some more --- we laughed - what else could we do?

At least we have sun in Georgia most of the time, and beautiful days.  It would be harder somewhere where the sky is grey.  It reminds me of an old French song by Charles Aznavour called "Emmenez-moi" which means take me away.  It is about someone living in the north and wanting to be taken away to a wonderland, where unhappiness would be easier to bear under the sun.  I found it with the lyrics on youtube.  I hope I can paste it - for me it takes a while to start.  The refrain melody says:

Emmenez-moi au bout de la terre

Emmenez-moi au pays des merveilles

Il me semble que la misère

Serait moins pénible au soleil

which translates into:

Take me to the end of the earth

Take me to a wonderland

It seems to me that misery

Would be less painful in the sun

    

This week we bought several plants - annuals and herbs.  It took him two days, under supervision, but he planted them all.  He even noticed a little frog that had decided to hop into a Coleus plant, named "Spiced Curry." 

Also, moving some boxes in the garage I found a very old oil painting that I had done in the mid to late 1960s.  It was supposed to be a self-portrait but I did not like the portion around my mouth and chin and thought I had thrown it away (as so many of my paintings) but there it was.  I took it to the kitchen to snap it for y'all.

Memorial Day is here - take a pause to remember.  Summer will follow now.  I hope everyone will have a great summer!