These are just some garden pictures that Mark took this morning. We've had tons of rain and the plants are really enjoying it! We have Echinacea, Bee Balm, Day Lilies, Baloon Flowers, Lamb's Ear and a whole bunch of others besides the Iris you've already seen.
We had a kind of quiet 4th of July day, I spent a bit of time in my sewing room working on a project that I'd cut out months and months ago. My shadow, Belle is now a little over 3 months old and has been looking for ways to help out around the house. She has decided that she wanted to help make my newest Civil War era dress, and decided to help by warming up the skirt while I worked on other parts of the dress. I haven't been sewing much since she adopted us because I wasn't sure that my sewing room was cat proofed enough, but it seems like everything is ok so far. She had to give up the skirt for awhile so I could pleat it and sew it to the waistband, but now it's ready to sew to the bodice and back on the floor waiting for her to lie on it until it's actually part of a dress.
I dropped one of my fabric markers and, you guessed it, it was immediately appropriated and spirited off to the hallway. I got some pretty mad looks when I relieved her of it, but I was afraid that she was going to figure out how to get the top off. I'm starting to get ready and pack the items I'm going to need for a 10 day long sewing summer camp and she's been investigating the growing pile of fabric and patterns I've been starting by the doorway too. She tells me she likes the fabric I picked out for my class, too.
I thought that putting the small items into a bin for my class would be a good idea, but Belle thought her idea of dragging her towel and her very own scrap of fabric into the bin and taking it over was an even better idea!
Belle thought that getting into the small space between my lamp and the wall to take a nap would be great! Nobody will bother her there, and the shelving unit full of soft and cuddly fabric is right there in case she wants to find another place to sleep.
Belle doesn't mind my sewing just as long as I make things like quilts for her to lie on when she is tired of being handled. Right now she's sitting on my lap while I type, trying very hard to ignore the sound of fireworks outside and not doing very well at acting brave. But I think she knows she's not going to fall to any harm so she's relaxed enough to close her eyes for a moment or two between the noises.
How To Give A Cat A Pill 
These are scenes from the 1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion's annual weekend camping at the Civil War museum in Gettysburg. We do this each year to teach living history, and as a fund raiser for our unit, and to draw visitors into the museum. Here's Lou and Tyler in the display area for the Revolving Battery gun. This battery gun is not a reproduction though it has been restored. It's a treasure of history and heritage.
Mark posing for the camera following the weapons firing demonstration. The soldiers do firearms demonstrations as well as saber drills and engage the spectators in the saber drills. We also have a recruitment area set up to sign up new soldiers from among the spectators, complete with cash payment in reproduction bills of the era for their enlistment.
Here's Patty, who, with her husband Jim, are new members of our unit. Patty brought a beautiful quilt to work on during the weekend and shared with us some of her other creations. I'm hoping that I'll get the time to work on one or another of my quilts since she has helped to motivate me.
It's me, sitting out in front of the museum watching the camp. I was knitting most of the weekend, but it was just too hot to play with the wool during the afternoon. One of the most asked questions of the ladies is always "aren't you hot in that?" The answer is that we're not much hotter than the folks in shorts and tee shirts because the dresses and undergarments are all cotton which breathes well, but it was very humid and sunny so everyone was hot, both in modern and period clothing.
Here's Rusty who is the head of artillery and owner of the Revolving Battery Gun you see here as well as the Mountain Howitzers that the unit uses during battles. Rusty is the Artillery commander.
A view of camp life, the guys are playing cards under the fly in front of the military commander's tent while some of the ladies that are visiting look on. We have several areas where we all tend to congregate and tell jokes or stories or play games and such. Usually we have a camp fire when we're out in the field but for the safety of all the people walking through our camp here we don't have one for this event. Our cook takes good care of the stomachs of the members when we're out in the field, in fact, we have been known to have deserters from the Union lines defect to our unit when lunch and supper are just about ready!
This is one of my very favorite dresses and one that I definitely enjoy wearing. When we went to lunch we had lots of people asking to take pictures of us walking down the street. There were lots of tourists in town from all over the world, and I posed for a whole lot of pictures along with other members of our unit.
Gerald, Gerry and Dan discussing battle plans over the Parrot Gun that is a permanant fixture out in front of the museum. Gerry and his son Gerald are new members of our Unit this season as well. Gerry has been in several Civil War movies including "Gods and Generals".
This is another shot of our camp including the gun rack that shows visitors the different types of muskets used during the 1861-1865 period.
The ladies in discussion outside the museum doors. That's Patty in the beautiful Green Silk day dress, and Linda in the gold day dress and me in the blue one you've already seen. We had a fun weekend and it was great to renew friendships and share time with our friends again.
More Haiku from Belle:
:) You never feed me.
:) My brain: walnut-sized.
:) Tiny can, dumped in
:) Am I in your way?
You know, most grandparents are proud of their grandchildren just because they love them...but we thought we'd share the fact we're especially proud that our grandson, Aidan, is the youngest person ever licensed to drive in the state of Hawaii. Here he is reacting to the horrible traffic in Honolulu, with Dad helping because he can't quite reach the brake pedal.
Aidan is such a good driver that he decided to take Mom and Dad to the beach and get out of all that traffic and relax. He just loves the water and is a frequent visitor to the pool as well. Maybe he remembers when Mom used to go swimming with him when she was pregnant.
Aidan is wondering why he can't just dive in and swim like the little Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle he thinks he is, but Mom is a little bit more careful and conservative than him. He's saying "Dude!" to the turtles and the fish and trying to figure out how to go pet them and play with them.
After a nice day at the beach, Aidan took Mom and Dad back home to see his sister Nutmeg and brother Milo. He wouldn't want to leave them at home too long and get them used to peace and quiet and not being chased around the house by a very mobile crawling baby. Nutmeg is still asleep, maybe Aidan can sneak up on her and say hello! She's very good with Aidan.
Milo says "welcome home, Aidan" and is thinking that he'll need a nap too, and soon after Aidan pets him and he gets all tired out. Milo is a wonderful tempered dog, very patient and sweet. Courage, strength, fortitude. Power not arrested in the act of judgement, but passing on to further action, sometimes obstinacy.
This is a card of courage and energy. It represents both the Lion's hot, roaring energy, and the Maiden's steadfast will. The innocent Maiden is unafraid, undaunted, and indomitable. In some cards she opens the lion's mouth, in others she shuts it. Either way, she proves that inner strength is more powerful than raw physical strength. That forces can be controlled and used to score a victory is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card 8 instead of Strength. With strength you can control not only the situation, but yourself. It is a card about anger and impulse management, about creative answers, leadership and maintaining one's personal honor. It can also stand for a steadfast friend.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
:)I need a new toy.
There have been a bunch of changes in our lives since Belle came into our home...one of which is that I've had to try to work on some of my spinning stash to get it into yarn form so it will take up less space and get put away. This is a 2 ply I made from one ply of light grey and one of chocolate CVM (California Verigated Mutant) fleece that I got from Myrtle Dow of Black Pines Sheep. She frequents the Maryland and Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool shows, and I absolutely love her and her husband Roy, and their "kids", their sheep. This yarn is wonderful and I think that I have enough to make a very large Civil War era/size shawl. This is the first skein I've made, I have another skein on the bobbins to ply, and plenty of fiber left to spin.
Belle especially loved helping me ply this yarn. It's one ply NZ corriedale from the www.Kendigcottage.com Spinning and Knitting shop and the other ply is some dyed Romney that I bought from a vendor at the Maryland Show some years ago to spindle while waiting for my daughter to join us at the fairgrounds. It was pretty coarse, and pretty hairy, and it felted partially in the bag from being carried around all the rest of the day. I took it all off the spindle and put it on a bobbin, and then pre-drafted the felted part, spun the bobbin full and found a coordinating color to ply it with. I'm making the Morning Surf Scarf with it from the Summer 2008 Spin Off magazine, or at least that's the plan. The kitten enjoys helping knit too.
Yesterday was Confederate Memorial Day and we went to the service to dedicate a stone that our Unit had donated funds to have restored. The Union veterans of the War between the States have their stones maintained by the US Government to this day, but the Confederates that are buried at Loudon Park Cemetary have stones that for the most part have weathered smooth and are now unreadable. This is the second year that we've adopted a soldier (these men for the most part lived after the war and died at the Confederate Soldier's Home right down the road from us in Garrison/Pikesville) and were not able to be buried with their families for one or another reason. We're standing right next to General Bradley Johnson's monument and grave, and his chief of staff flag is in the background.
I hadn't been able to attend last year, so visiting this historic cemetary was a first for me. I was amazed at the statuary and the history contained within these walls, there were graves here from about 1850, including many familiar names from Baltimore history. HL Menken is buried in this land, as well as the representatives from many of the streets that were named after notable families of the area. Mark took pictures of me while I was out exploring the grounds, it looked eerie to me, nearly like a ghost from 145 years ago was visiting a loved one's grave.
The family of this solider, Frank Bond, wrote to the Military head of our unit and asked that we take pictures of the grave to send to him. Apparently he served with the Maryland 1st Cavalry which is the unit that we represent. We got several pictures, unfortunately the color on Mark's camera malfunctioned for some of the pictures and showed only the greens.
I had been saddened by how many of the stones were tumbled over and was also curious about why some of the many masoleums that are dug into the sides of the hills here were cemented or bricked shut. Since the director, manager, and other personnel from the cemetary were in attendance at the memorial service and gravestone dedication, I happened upon one of the gentlemen and asked these questions. The director said that it is not legal to pick up or otherwise "fix" anything without permission of the family that owns the stone, and in many cases, there is no longer family that is reachable for permission. The vaults that have been filled and there is no longer any family have sometimes been requested to be sealed by prior arrangement with the cemetary.
This is the Colorguard that paraded in and stood with their flags for the ceremony. The temperature was about 95 yesterday during the ceremony with the heat index bringing it to 105-110F. The uniforms are all wool, there was no such thing as a summer and a winter uniform. One uniform was all the soldiers were issued. Two of the color guard got overheated and had to go sit out the rest of the ceremony and Mark, and Mr. Garcia who is the head of the cemetary took the flags.
This picture is another of Frank Bond's Stone from my camera so it shows the colors of the uniforms. These are some of our Unit's members in attendance around the stone. You can see the tents for the ceremony and the gravestones in the background. There are quite a few soldier's graves down the hill from Confederate Hill but these have been buried by their families as opposed to the 605 that were in the mass area.
The statuary in this cemetary was incredibly artistic, and while it's sad that these families lost their loved ones, the beauty of these statues and monuments has lived on for so long and will continue to do so. This place is called a Park, and truly it is a peaceful and beautiful place to visit. 
This is another shot of some of the statues that are continued on the larger family plots here. The large one shown here (of course, I can't remember the family name on it) has sheaths of wheat on the sides as well as angels and information about the people interred in the plot.
Some of the stones have been here so long that there are vines growing over them, it was like a walk back in time and history. I would like to come visit again when the weather is a bit cooler perhaps, and with a pencil and paper to write down all the familiar family names to try to figure out if I know them from Baltimore history or from Civil War in Maryland history, or what.
I have finally gotten some cleaning up and organizing and kitty proofing done around the house, including putting my stash of fiber and yarn out of kitty's reach. I have also managed to get my spinning wheel out and running again and since it's in front of the TV again now, it's quite relaxing to work on it in the evenings. This is an object of absolute fascination for Belle. She tries to help me all the time, but she is very careful not to get her paws caught in the wheel.
She'll get up on her cat tower and hang off when I'm spinning as I'm sitting right next to her tower...she wants to jump into my lap and help but she knows from experience that it will do her no good, I'll put her right back onto the floor.
Belle has figured out that the hammock the quilt hoop makes for her is very comfortable. And because it's on the opposite side of my spinning wheel from her cat tower, it's also a great vantage point for the whole spinning process.
I've let her lie on top of the ball of fiber I'm working from but when she tries to bite or taste, I quickly put a stop to that and she ends up on the floor again...she seems to be taking quite well to the training. Right now I'm doing a bobbin of chocolate CVM to ply with the grey that I've already finished. My S-75 bobbins hold 4 ounces each so I'll have about 8 ounces of yarn when I'm finished with just these two bobbins
Here's one of her just relaxing from her vantage point at the top of her tower. She's making herself quite at home.
It was a whole week ago today that we found the little kitty under the car. Thank you to all our friends for the outpouring of support and help, and the offers to take her if we weren't able to keep her. We have decided to keep her and we've named her "Belle". We've managed to become stabilized with our allergies, and they doesn't seem to be bothering us as much since we've been playing with her and brushing her. She loves getting under our kitchen table and getting comfortable, sometimes playing with Mark's legs.
This cute one was snapped while Belle was playing around under the blanket on the sofa. Last Sunday she wouldn't come out from under the blanket unless she were being held, and now she takes naps anywhere and is very comfortable even going up and down the stairs. She's gotten lots of toys now to play with and even a scratching post and she seems very content. Today's favorite is a box of books with a towel over it in front of the front windows which gives her a view of the outside.
She decided to lie on my lap last night while I was reading and fell prompty asleep. When she woke up she was still pretty tired until she got her energy back. She's very snuggly, and I definitely like that!
