Ponies on Parade

As I write this blog post, I'm in my sewing room listening to former-hurricane-now-Tropical-Storm Nicole blow and whip rain across our roof, intermittently pound windows, and make our Bismarck palm sway.

The palm has lost numerous chunks of "bark" - for want of a better term for the overlapping trunk wrap that's characteristic of most palms - and another frond has broken. I say another because on September 28, Hurricane Ian broke a frond that's been dangling ever since. The tree is too tall for us to reach and cut off broken fronds.

On Tuesday, Big Cypress Quilters hosted our annual baby shower for Children's Home Society of Florida. Our project coordinator, Patty H., went all out to make it seem like a real baby shower. We played a game while enjoying this adorable butterfly cake that Patty baked and decorated.

She baked cookies that looked like onesies, bottles, buggies, and footprints.

And made this cute-as-can-be fruit bowl. 

Thirty-four of our 68 members turned out, bringing all sorts of gifts, including quilts and Patchwork Ponies. (Patty's in the middle, in the orange top.)

 

Twenty patchwork ponies were made and donated! It was difficult to get them all in one picture, so I took a bunch of photos that I resized and cobbled together so you get an idea of what they looked like lined up along a wall. 

One of the cutest pictures of them was their little pony bums. 

Once again, all of us at Big Cypress Quilters are giving a huge thank you to Jo Avery of @joaverystitch 

👏👏👏

She permitted us to use her Patchwork Pony pattern to make these ponies for this worthy charitable organization. 

Book Recommendation

I've enjoyed Kate Quinn books in the past, but Mistress of Rome is not her typical style. Taking place in 80 to 90 A.D. this story is about all the intrigues, promiscuity, brutality, and debauchery that was the Roman empire. 

Thea is a slave woman whose mistress is the awful, self-centered Lepida who adores the gore and bloodshed of games in the Colosseum. Lepida desires the gladiator Barbarian, who Thea unwittingly befriends. When Thea and Barbarian's friendship goes further than Lepida likes, she tears them apart. Thea becomes a well-known singer and lyre-player who attracts the attention of the Emperor, putting her in the position of concubine to him. She longs to be away from his cruelty just as Lepida is conniving to take Thea's place in the Emporer's household. 

I've just completed a virtual Bible study with Lutheran Church of Hope (in Iowa) called Gospel on the Ground by Kristi McLelland, so reading a book like this was timely. Gospel on the Ground focuses on the early church (Acts) and how challenging it was for new Christians to carry their message of Jesus into the "Empire of Entertainment" - what Kristi called the Roman Empire. If what Kate Quinn wrote is based on truth, indeed it was brutal. In several instances, I thought Ms. Quinn's language and conversations used terms that were too contemporary for the time, but it got the point across. Overall, it was entertaining, if not a bit fantastical. 

Linda's score: 3.8./4.0

Linda