Christmas on the Bayou

Choo Choo Bayou (I'm not making that name up).

After first having Santa arrive early (on the 23rd), then going over to my sister's house, we traveled to Lake Charles, Louisiana via Houston on Christmas Eve. My mother-in-law's house, which flooded and had extensive tree damage during hurricane Rita, is still being repaired, so we stayed at a house next to Choo Choo Bayou (I just like to type that). The bayou is just beyond the palmetto in the picture below (you'll need to click on it to actually see the palmetto).


I've been to Lake Charles, my husband's hometown, dozens of times, but there are still aspects of it that charm me every time. One is the drive through daiquiri places, another is the possibility of seeing alligators.
If you're from Florida, South Texas, or Louisiana you're probably laughing at me, but for a girl from Maryland they never lose their exotic flair.
We visited my mother-in-law's house to check out the progress of the repairs. They're almost complete! I was concerned that all the trees behind her house were knocked down, but some small ones were still standing. The dead cypresses that I photographed many times in the past (and were the design source for Bayou Reflections) were knocked over, but still looked interesting to me in repose.

Obviously, no quilting got done, but I did manage to put a zipper in my Ribby Cardi and knit on My So Called Scarf. I'll have to wait until this weekend to get good photos of the Cardi.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments after my last post - things were terribly hectic before the trip so I haven't gotten to email all of you, but I really appreciated it.

On a very personal note, tomorrow my husband is having a "procedure" at Johns Hopkins Hospital. We're hoping and assuming that everything will go well and he'll be feeling much more himself afterwards, but any positive thoughts and prayers are welcome!

Next time hopefully I'll have some actual fiber content. Happy New Year!