Friday, October 30, 2009

Happy Halloween, Happy Birthday!

Happy Halloween....and Happy Birthday, Patchwork Pie!
It's amazing that we've all been enjoying a slice of the Pie for two years now! And I really want to thank all my friends & followers for continuing along this quilting journey with me.
In this mysterious time of year, I have been pleased and suprized by several happenings.
Two days ago I went out in the morning for the newspaper, and found this scarey fellow watching over the house!

He looks great all lit up tonight! Thanks, dear husband, for your artistic carving.
This is really what you'd call "ephemeral art" here in Florida...a Jack O'Lantern just doesn't last too long!


And speaking of ephemera, or things that don't last long (and are a bit valuable if they do manage to survive), I received a mysterious package from my father.
This is is what I found inside:

This is paper-mache, about 5" tall, and the face is printed on paper behind the openings for eyes & mouth. Inside is a tiny metal tube made to hold a candle about the size of your little finger.
But this just not any Jack O'Lantern...this guy came from my grandparents' engagement party in 1922! I love it! (OK, the candy is NOT antique).
Yes, indeed...let's do the Time Warp again!

As a nice wrap-up to the mysteries and family connections, the Night Blooming Cereus suddenly had a bud!
Now, this is my "heirloom plant", which belonged to the same grandparents as the Jack O. above, It's not an attractive plant, and goes for years without blooming, then might have one or twenty flowers! It's a mysterious plant, for sure.
Dad says the only time he was allowed to stay up late when he was young was to see the Night Blooming Cereus flowers open after dark.
This flower also has a wonderful and unique fragrance....

Not much to look at, but it was already 6" long when I first noticed it, right in a place we walk by almost every day. The bloom comes right out the side of a leaf!

You could almost see it growning larger from the morning to the afternoon for three days. But when would it bloom? I was afraid it was waiting for Halloween or the Full Moon, and I'd be away and miss it!
And, of course, you must go out after dark to see if it has opened up. About 10:10, if you know what I mean.
Oh, boy! We came home from our weekly Mexican dinner tonight, and found the flower ready to go! When it is completely open it is about 10" across.
As I loaded the Quilt Mobile, I watched the beautiful bloom come to full flower:

And this is it...only one night of glory! By morning it be done.
So now you, too, have seen the Night Blooming Cereus!

The QuiltMobile is loaded once again, and ready to hit the highway for North Carolina and the Campbell Folk School. Cherry-Cherry gets to come along as my class assistant, so stay tuned for adventures ahead!

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