Happy Mardi Gras!

Keep reading, there is a quilt in here somewhere.  

Still in full swing as I type this, Mardi Gras won't end until the Kings of Rex and Comus Krewes meet at the  foot of Canal Street.  Canal Street is the main street in New Orleans.  For those who have been here before, it is generally in the area of the Harrah's Casino.  Harrah's Casino is the only land based casino in the state!  All others float in some river or other body of water.

I am sure your local news has great shots of the partying in the French Quarter.  But the best parades are in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans where Frank and I grew up.  He was born in St Bernard and I was born in Arabi next door to St Bernard.  Kinda in the area of the 9th Ward that saw so much publicity from flooding after Katrina. 

Both St Bernard and Arabi saw plenty of flooding in Betsy and again in Katrina.  My friend said a 6 foot wall of water came rushing down her street while Betsy was in full force.  It is widely believed authorities blew the levee in St Bernard/Arabi to save the more exclusive subdivisions further down the river. 

We had just moved to Metairie about 4 months prior to Betsy.  Frank's family was one of the first in our subdivision and was already there by then, but his  extended family still lived in St. Bernard in the same house when Katrina hit.  His Aunt Emma didn't live to make it home.  Neither did my Aunt Evy see her home in Metairie again.  She died just weeks before house was to be completed.

We always went to the parades Downtown (as opposed to Uptown) when we were young.  We would park at my Grandma Graci's  house on Frenchman St. and take the bus to see MidCity.  My mother would make the most amazing costumes for my brother and I for Mardi Gras Day.  Then we would go to see Rex on Canal Street and catch glass beads.

They used to throw really beautiful glass beads; not the plastic junk they throw today! 

Last year after the flood, my friend Patty the Quilt Lady made me this Louisiana Quilt.  It is part of the rotating hangings I have in my bedroom and quilt  room.  Sometimes it is in one or the other. 

It is a t-shirt piece and done with Patty's impeccable handwork.  Every time I stop and look at it, I am wowed all over again by the work in this piece. 

And in the mail today came my Treasure Trove win!  Purple and green fabric with a package of Mardi Gras beads!