What a weekend!

Friday brought us two surprises, a good one that our daughter, Meghann was coming unexpectedly to visit, and a bad one that we found a serious flood in our basement. We made an appointment for a plumber to come and look at the problem and he told us what the issue was (it wasn't pretty) and after an estimate on Saturday, we have an appointment to get the problem fixed and get our water back on Monday. They're going to have to excavate our yard and replace all the pipes from the water main. sigh. But Friday, we made a trip to New Oxford, PA to pick up an order of salt-glaze pottery for the business and had Korean food (a favorite of us all) for dinner. Saturday was the Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville, Florida. Since my absolutely favorite son-in-law is a huge Georgia fan, we had to wager on the game. Nothing too huge, but fun none the less. Mark and Meg and I went to Buffalo wild wings to watch most of the game on the huge TV's and then returned home to finish while Michael and I and Mark talked about the play by play via messenger. That's a picture of him, he's presently in Iraq. Needless to say, the Fighting Gators won the game and made me smile. Sunday was quiet, we went to Gettysburg to take care of ordering Mark's new Sergent stripes and had dinner there.

Cedar Creek weekend

This past weekend was the reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek which happened on October 20, 1864 between Winchester and Middletown, VA. The countryside was gorgeous and it was the largest event that I'd been to so far, with over 5300 reenactors, not to mention the civilians and support people, and there were definitely more horses than I'd seen before at an event.

This was a mostly cavalry battle in 1864, and our Unit is the 1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion so it was perfect for our portrayal. We had a huge turn out and everyone enjoyed themselves, despite the cold temperatures in the tents at night. We enjoyed eachother's company and the jokes of our Unit commander around the campfire, and generally renewed our friendships as well as doing the living history aspect of our hobby.
I was very proud to introduce my daughter Jennifer to the unit as well, she was able to join us on Sunday for a day of battle watching and shopping at the sutler's shoppes as well as a delicious lunch together. As with everyone, the unit welcomed her with open arms.

Flannel Dress #1 finished

Oh my GAWD, this dress is finally finished. When I had the supposedly smart idea to get some nice quality flannel to make a couple of dresses out of for Cedar Creek which is always a very cold reenactment, somebody should have grabbed me by the ears and told me to try to anticipate how difficult it was going to be to make a period dress in a thick fabric. Now, mind you, I have another one that has a bodice and one sleeve finished already and the 2nd sleeve is ready to go on. The issue is the skirt and putting it all together. The skirt on this dress is 5 yards of fabric, so double and triple pleats had to be taken to pull it all together. Yikes. Talk about thick! Now, it's going to be warm, that's for sure. And yes, I know now that they didn't have cotton flannel in the 1860's, they would have made the dress from wool or wool and cotton, but I couldn't find any that would be suitable so here I am. I'm already dreading finishing the other flannel dress, but I'm going to so that I have 2 warm dresses to wear. The rest of the stash of flannel is going to become pj's and nightgowns. I'm looking forward to going back to thinner and workable cottons again. :)

I've been hermiting again

But for a good reason. I've had a run of days on broken only by days that I've had things planned, appointments, classes, events, and such. This past weekend I took a class at the Genteel Arts Academy on Victorian period sleeves. That's right, Saturday and Sunday for 9 hours each, our class examined CDV's and photographs of period dresses with the emphasis on making the sleeves imaginative (within period correct bounds) and beautiful. We studied, worked on our own creations, listened, bonded with one another, and were helped in all of our questions by the very gifted teacher, Carolann Schmitt. We were supposed to bring a bodice that had already been made in order to make sleeves for the dress. I made the sleeves for this dress as well as sleeves and a bodice for another over the weekend.

I really learned a lot and enjoyed the class. Now I can make my dresses different than everyone elses' that uses the same types of patterns. This dress was partially a class project on the sleeves, and I'm working on a blue dress also with different than the pattern sleeves. There are always a few projects awaiting my attention in the sewing room, there are actually 3 dresses and a wrapper started right now that I hope to complete in the upcoming weeks.

I took a walk in OKC

I'm here on a layover in Oklahoma City today. I haven't been here since they took the Federal building down, I had layovers out by the airport that year. We're downtown now, and I walked down to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. So soon on the heels of the 5th anniversary of 9/11, it was a very somber visit. The buildings around where the Federal building once stood still show the damage from the blast, and there are actually still a couple of areas where they've preserved some walls from the original building.
The memorial is very beautiful, there is a museum and beautiful grounds that are very peaceful. Especially somber is the field with chairs, each marked with the name of a person that was lost that day. Some of the chairs are small, to represent the children that were in the day care that day and were killed. I overheard another visitor say to one of her group "isn't it horrible that terrorists think it's a good thing to kill innocent people that are just going to work". It so struck me that she was so very right, but also right about the flight crews on 9/11, the passengers, the workers in the buildings, the responders (police, firemen) and basically everyone that perished. What a different ideology the "bad guys" must have to go after people that were completely innocent. The people that were killed in each of these acts were not the ones that determined policy, that sent arms to the "other" side, or that did whatever it was that enraged the terrorists. These people were innocent bystanders, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sigh.

Mailing address for Jonathan

Here's his address in Basic training for those of you that want to send a hello:
PFC (you know the last name, I don't want to make it public), Jonathan
3rd Plt, Shadow dwellers
F Company, 1st BN, 13th Infantry
Ft. Jackson, SC 29207

Of course, it never ceases to amaze me at the childish behavior that I have had to endure with "the other house". It's no surprise that the address sheet sent by my son was was dated 8/31/06. It was only mailed to me (snail mail in the age of phones and email) by my ex on 9/11...mailed rather than my getting a phone call or an email immediately with my son's address. Hmmm, what is that, about 11 or 12 days? I have to believe in Karma, because that kind of selfish behavior deserves a cosmic return.

Hanover Living History Weekend 2006

We spent the hot and humid weekend in Hanover, Pa with the 1st Maryland Cavalry reenacting the battle of Hanover which actually occurred before Gettysburg and delayed General J.E.B Stuart from reaching Gettysburg until the 2nd day of the battle there. The Hospital in Hanover has begun this now annual weekend to benefit its programs. The Cavalry, Troopers and Artillery of our unit performed the battle for quite a lot of spectators on both Saturday and Sunday, and the Army Old Guard's Fife and Drum Corps performed twice on Saturday which was a fantastic treat. The city had a ladies tea for us as well as a dinner Saturday. Jon had to wear his hat all weekend because of his green hair until "one of the Moms" scalped him Sunday morning and now the green mohawk resides in a ziplock bag. The spectators also toured our camp and were treated to a mock trial for treason along with a mock execution after the trial, and the ladies put on a sketch for them as well prior to a night firing of 3 of the Mountain Howitzers. Mark was the one who was "Framed" for the event and I hear from our Chief of staff that there has been an appeal to President Davis that I get a widow's pension since he was the victim of the mock-execution. He ended up dying in battle both Saturday and Sunday and once during the execution so we think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on him so he breaks the habit in the coming days!
I had to add the pictures after the post was done as there were problems on the blogspot server today.
This one is me in front of the Revolving Battery Gun on Sunday after my migraine had gotten a bit better. Mark picked out the fabric for my skirt which goes so well with the red Garibaldi blouse that I made. I am in the colors of the artillary just like the red shirts that they wear.

My unexpectedly emotional weekend

In true Jonathan style, my baby boy called me Friday afternoon to say "guess what?". By 4pm on Saturday I took this picture at the Military Entrance Processing Center, he'd decided to join the Army. While I know that going into the military is what he wants, and he did get a great job which should keep him behind harm's way at least a little bit (Aircraft electronics and electrical), I'm still a Mom, so I've been emotional on and off since it sunk in. I'd known since High School that he was thinking of it, he'd gone to a Millitary program to finish High School and really enjoyed it, and he had talked to my Father-in-Law who's a retired Lt. Col. about it, so it wasn't a complete surprise. I had just said to him last week that I wanted to get a picture of his Green Mohawk before it faded or got shaved for my blog, I just didn't realize that I was going to be sharing this picture of it! Mark and I took Jon's girlfriend, Laura, and his Scoutmaster, Mr. Charlie with us to the center to wait for 5 hours so we could see him sworn in. It was worth every minute to be able to share in this momentus moment in his (and our) life.

The 2006 Bix7 Race

These are just a few of the pictures I took of the race in Davenport, Iowa that Mark ran in. Jon and I were there to cheer him on and enjoy the folks that had participated n Costumes! We're planning on going next year. Mark finished really well, and survived the 2 big hills on this 7 mile course with no problems at all! We had a fantastic time and a great weekend visiting. :)

Half-Thanksgiving Visit.

Our family used to celebrate "Half-Birthdays" because both kids' B-days were right around the holiday season. We always said Happy Half Birthday to them. So this visit to Hubby's Mom and Dad's was our Half-Thanksgiving. We plan on trying to make it an annual journey because going home once a year just isn't enough. :)We had a wonderful dinner on Saturday night with even more loved relatives, it was fantastic and worth every moment of the drive!Here's Nanny making Mark's favorite Potato Salad in her new kitchen at the New House. Of course, it has NO eggs in it because although he loves the potato salad (it is truly the best I've ever had), Mark doesn't like eggs.
Here's Poppa sitting in the Kitchen at the Breakfast Bar in the new house. The house is beautiful and they've done a fantastic job decorating it and making it feel like home.
Jonathan was able to fly in Friday night as he had to work Thursday and Friday while Mark and I were driving in. His very kind Auntie Lisa picked him up from Ohare and brought him all the way to Moline with her as he wouldn't have gotten on the flights to MLI due to some weather problems the day before. That's Jon still in his suit from the flight and Aunt Lisa sitting next to him with Ellen on her other side.
These are my two very favorite nieces from Chicago, Sarah and Ellen. I don't know for sure, but I hear that Sarah had something to do with Jon's newly green hair, and I'm sure that Ellen helped, or at least urged him on. :)
Here's Allison, who has made the Alleman High Freshman/Sophomore cheerleading squad. She was so kind to put on her uniform so that I could take pictures of her. She had cheerleading camp last week so she had her uniform with her when Poppa picked her up. I didn't get a picture of her sister and brother, we'll leave it for another blog entry.
And here is the real King of the house, Bandit. He's asleep on a chair waiting for Nanny and Poppa to come home so he'll get extra loving. We plan on making the running of the Bix an annual trek for at least Mark and me. I'll have pictures of the race up shortly.

Oh my gosh, finally, a FO (finished object)

Ok, I know I haven't really been knitting and all the spinning I've been doing has been getting made into scarves for my reenactment unit and the shawl that I'm knitting but haven't gotten a picture of. Well, I finally finished something! This is Jonathan's jester hat. He picked out the pattern and the yarn while on an excursion to a yarn store earlier this year and requested it for a ski hat. It's a bit dark for me, but the yarn is a soft mix of merino and mohair. I added the bells because I know that he likes to make an entrance and be the center of attention. It will be a holiday/birthday present as that yarn wasn't cheap! lol

New family members

Meet our two newest sheep. I definitely have a growing collection of sheep statues (and lets not even talk about my fleece stash). These guys were so cute that I just had to have them, but I did wait until they were on deep discounted sale! My dearest hubby named them last night. The boy is "Ramsey" and the girl is "Eunice". I thought they were prefect names! DH has been working on expanding the gardens for me as our plants were getting crowded. My son brought some "Rip Rap" sized stones from the quarry in the last post for the edges of the gardens, and he gets an employee discount! I thought they would look nice on the perimeter of the garden and it is nice to have a reminder of him when I look at the garden. We've only done half of the front yard, we are planning on doing the other side as soon as we get more rocks from our "supplier". heheI did move my friend the Gator from the crowded garden to the new area. Of course, I'm from Florida and a U of F Gator so it's a perfect garden addition, even in Maryland.

Slow week in Fiberland

I haven't been doing much fiber. In fact, I haven't been doing much lately. I have a desk full of spindles that need to be photographed, and 3 bins of yarn on the floor in the office that need to be photographed and listed but I just haven't felt up to doing much. I have been having a challenging gut time. I was lucky to get an appointment with head of GI at Johns Hopkins, to find out that the former diagnosis of Crohn's Disease was probably wrong, and that I have IBS instead. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I'm hopeful through the new meds and new diet that I can get to feeling a bit better. It's a whole different way of eating and dealing with attacks. I'm tired of having my abdomen rule my life these past couple of years. The Doctor tells me that stress is a trigger so I'm supposed to try to keep stress to a minimum.
But on to neat things, this morning our son Jonathan took us to his "office" to show us what projects he'd been working on. He works at the 3rd largest Quarry in North America and does pretty much any and everything, welding, hydralics, fixing and working every piece of machinery, and generally enjoying using his mind, his hands and his skills. None of the area is public and although he can take us to see it, the mine has to be closed down in order to go there. We always enjoy when he can invite us to take a trip there, now our jeep is now happily covered in mud and dirt from four wheeling on the rocky roads even though we weren't able to go down into the hole.
This quarry has been mined since the 1850's and is over 3 miles long and 600+ feet deep and they're not done yet! And, it's in the middle of a giant metropolitan area that has grown up around it. He often calls me from inside the hole or up on the giant belts that take the rock from the crusher to the screener as he's walking up checking to make sure it's working properly (when it's off, of course!) He faults or credits me with taking him and his sister up into the gold mining area in Colorado all the time when they were little (we lived outside Denver) to climb around on tailing piles and to look around at the equipment that was there. We'd peer into the chained up grates over the mine entrances and talk about the history of the region, the Railroads, the technology, and the people that pioneered the expansion of the Nation, as well as the Natural Beauty of the area. He then took Mark and I out to breakfast and we had a great time talking about everything under the sun. What a great morning!

Everything is just Sew-Sew

I had a few weeks of intense sewing lately. DH was on a business trip and I took the time to finish off this tea dress that I had cut out a couple of months ago, it has matching undersleeves of the same fabric as the middle of the bodice so that it looks like you're wearing a blouse and a jacket. I wore it to my living history volunteer work at the Museum and it was not as hot as some of the "up to the neck" dresses that are more correct actually for working as a spinner. I'm still spinning that big bag
of black fleece that I started in April. I'm also knitting a shawl from it and weaving several scarves to donate for support of the Living History teaching of our Reenactment Unit. After finishing the tea dress, I got busy on working through some work dresses that I can wear without hoops when the weather and conditions aren't really nice and I wouldn't want to wear a tea dress or a day dress. I got these three dresses finished for work wear. The green one is homespun fabric, and it was my first experience at working with plads and trying to match them. I'm getting better at doing piping, all three of them have piping around the neck and sleeves and the two that have cuffs are piped around the cuffs. I also am working on two blouses of solid color to wear with a couple of skirts I have made. I've been doing more research and reading into what is "period correct" as some of the suttlers in the Gettysburg region don't always have period correct fabric in their clothing. I try to improve on my own knoledge and impression each time I start another project. Happy 4 th of July everyone!

Buh-bye today, hello tomorrow

I have a little down time while sitting in Denver on the way to San Francisco. I have the lace sock with me to work on, and the Fair Isles Vest that Liz graciously showed me how to proceed on for my hotel room. Get up time today was 0215 so I'm not sure how much I'm going to get done but the thought is there. This weekend we're planning a trip to Sharpsburg to see Antietam. Have a great day everyone! :)

By way of apology for hermiting

June is always a tough month for me, and I know that I tend to become a bit of a hermit (more than flying, and working in general make me). I'm sorry. Today is Flag Day, June 14. It was also the anniversary of my Parents wedding, and the day that is exactly in the middle of the dates on which they passed away. Mom died on June 12 and Dad on June 16, though not in the same year. Needless to say, this time of year I am pretty darn quiet and reflective. And prone to tears...don't worry it isn't PMS! I have actually been trying to keep myself busier than usual, and have gone back to working on a lace sock that I started in January, since the shawl I've been working on during our explorations in the car is in the car as we speak, and the car is at the mechanics being repaired. I'll get a picture as soon as the car and the shawl are returned. I'm off to my volunteer job in a skirt that I made of fabric that Mark picked out yesterday afternoon. Have a good day, everyone. And please, call your Mom and Dad and tell them that you love them if you're lucky enough to have them still with you.

On the trail of History

It was a crisp and windy day and we decided to take a drive down to Point Lookout State Park. That was the site of the largest Prisoner of War camp in the Nation during the War between the States. It has had a section of the Fort rebuilt and there were a couple of tents for demonstration purposes, as well as a unit of reenactors that were talking to visitors. We were quite chilly as the wind whipped over the water and into the area. The prisoners and even some of the guards were housed in tents with some using the boxes that Hard Tack/Crackers came in to build crude walls around the bottom to shield them a little from the weather. That's where the term "Cracker Box Houses" came from. I can't even imagine the hardships they suffered. The "People in Charge" figured that Southern Maryland was a warm place...obviously they'd never been there in the winter time! We then came upon the cemetary that once held the remains of the nearly 4000 prisioners that died at the Point Lookout Prisoner Camp (some Maryland citizens were also jailed there in 1863-5 for having a dissenting opinion to the forces occupying the state at the time). There are 3002 souls still buried in the grounds in the cemetary in unmarked graves, there is a large monument with the known names as one as a smaller one put there by the State of Maryland. Being there was sobering. After a quick trip to St. Mary's City, the site of the first settlement and original Capitol of the State of Maryland, we then stopped at Soloman's Island for a delicious Seafood feast on the way back home. We are fortunate to live in a state full of beauty, history, culture, and things to do.

Busy Day in Pennsylvania

We had a wonderful and busy day in the Pennsylvania countryside yesterday. The day started off with a trip to the Mannings Spinning Seminar, visits with some of the spinners that I know at their large spin-in (I didn't know they were going to be spinning this year so my wheels were at home). Then we headed to Gettysburg where we did a little bit of shopping and then changed our of our "new-fangled" clothing into Period Correct dress for the Ball in the nearby town. We've been going to Victorian Period dancing once a month for a few months this year, and this is the annual end of season ball put on by the Citizens of Gettysburg. It was lovely, with everyone in Period dress, I was, of course, studying dresses and fabrics and trim for future sewing projects and dresses that I'll hopefully make. The one I wore had period correct fabric and trim, and is considered a "fancy day dress" as opposed to a ball gown. I felt that it would be too warm for a satiny ball gown this time of year. Mark went, as most reenactors did, in his uniform, and there were plenty of Civilian dressed men as well. We did so enjoy ourselves and arrived back home tired but feeling great!

Meg's Graduation and catching up a bit

This is a long overdue catch up post about our trip to Michigan for our youngest's High School Graduation (with honors, this proud step-mom has to mention!). We left late Thursday night. This is the New Graduate here with Roses that her Paternal Grandmother (better known as "Nanny") got for her. These pictures were taken the day after the graduation which was held on Friday night at a beautiful pavilion on
the grounds of the local University. It was a beautiful evening, a bit crisp but after a day of off and on rain, the weather cleared up and we enjoyed the graduation. It was a wonderful beginning to a lovely weekend full of family and fun. Mark's Mom and Dad came in from Illinois for the big event, and to spend time with everyone. Friday night we were pleased to have dinner with all three of our boys as well as Nanny and Poppa, then back to the hotel for some very needed rest after driving all night the night before. We went shopping with Nanny and Poppa early in the day after the Graduation while Meg was recovering from her all night party after graduation by sleeping late. Then we met back up with everyone later on for dinner. We had a wonderful Italian dinner together,and Jon was able to get the time off to go as well. Here's a picture of Jon and Meg "computing". On the way from Maryland to Michigan Jon, Mark and I stopped at Frankenmuth to drop off some fleeces that I'd had in the basement...as well as some Llama that had just arrived a day or so before. All together we brought 99.5 pounds of fiber to be processed. I can't wait to get it all back! My own personal fleeces (like my favorite CVM's from Myrtle) were in this load, and I even purchased some Peach colored unidentified roving that was abandonded at the Mill. I think it's Corriedale, and I'm enjoying spinning it on my Louet.

Good things loom ahead

Like many knitters and spinners, my stash definitely exceeds any possible life expectancy that I might have. I've collected yarns for scarves and small projects for awhile now, and continue to do so all the time. I also do demonstrations for kids of spinning and weaving, and was looking for a simple small loom that would fold up and be very portable. I already have a small right heddle table loom, but it isn't well made and is very combersome to thread and use. I decided to try the Ashford Knitter's Loom which is pictured here. The loom has some definite shortcomings if you're a weaver such as no separate harness and reed, you beat the weaving using the rigid heddle itself, but for a non-weaver that wants a way to make up small projects and not have to learn to weave in a more traditional way, it would be perfect. You wind your warp directly onto the loom and threading it is very easy. My practice project was a narrow scarf made of Euroflax Aberdeen Heathered yarn, but it's drying now after a ride in the washer so I didn't have a picture. This scarf is Noro very chunky weight yarn, and took one (very large) skein. The loom is warped with some heathered and variegated wool that I bought for a scarf that would go with my Navy Blue uniform overcoat. I like the way it's turning out already. I did 2 scarves yesterday, it goes very fast.