Author Archives: kathousekelli70

Mason Dixon Stampede 2016

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Arriving into Thurmont last week, did the tourist trips to Gettysburg, Thursday was the start of the match with Wild Bunch and Speed Events.

It had turned to light misty rain, compared to the previous weeks, enough to be annoying but nothing real drastic.

The three stage Wild Bunch match saw some very interesting little targets (6″X6″) being used which made for an exciting day. Good fun!

 

We had a couple of run throughs on the speed events, rifle, pistol and shotgun. Rifle I got down to 3.83sec's and was extremely pleased as the week before the best I could do was 4.56. Jack ripped out an awesome 3.30secs! We had a crack at the shotgun and pistol events as well before packing up for the day.

 

Friday, main match, Day 1, same drizzly rain. We had an awesome Posse! Posse 6 – Annabelle Bransford, Rowdy Bill, Tom Payne, James Samuel Pike, Yukon Mike, Silas Highland, Travis Spencer, Spinning Sally, Cold Brook Kid, Belle Evans, Marshal Jacobey John, Dirty Dingus Diggs, Geronimo Jim, Wild Bill Diamond, Ziggedy Zag, Jackaroo and myself.

 

They were awesome and it was like listening to or being in a movie with all the New York and Jersey accents. (I think and hope I got that right)

They are as entertaining as always! Tom regaled us with the National Anthem played on his harmonica before we kicked off for the day.

We shot Stages 6-10 on Day 1, clean for me and a couple misses for Jack.

 

Day 2 and we complete Stages 1-5. Jack had a much better day than the previous and I'm clean again!

 

Saturday night was the banquet in the big tent and the “Reel” West restaurant. The stages were based on different cowboy movies. Wild Bunch and Side Match Awards were handed out with Top 16 and Sweet Sixteen being announced.

After dinner in the club house, was the gambling night, raising funds for the SASS Scholarship. Try your hand at Chuck-A-Luck, Faro, and Roulette or you could just buy tickets for the raffle.

 

Sunday morning you could try your hand at an informal man on man stage and a 3 team event before the awards commenced.

Jack came second in Silver Senior. Congratulations to all Silver Senior's. 1st Place Dirt Rider, Jackaroo, and unfortunately the rest I do not have names and the scores aren't up yet, my apologies.

 

Congratulations to fellow Lady Wrangler 2nd place Calamity Jill.

 

Overall Divisional Champions for 2016 went to Sunshine Marcie and James Samuel Pike!

 

Top Overall Cowboy and Cowgirl – James Samuel Pike and Kathouse Kelli! Yee Haa! (I finished 8th overall from 154 shooters, very pleased indeed)

 

The Top 16 and Sweet Sixteen received a really neat Lone Star badge and then it was on to the shootout. Winners for the shootout were Sunshine Marcie and Indiana Loose Cannon.

 

A big thank you to Chuckaroo and his team, in particular Dog Meat Dadd who ran proceedings while Chuckaroo was not well again. All the ladies who assisted and many other hands of the Thurmont Rangers who put this match together, thank you!

Kat xo

 

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We are now in Thurmont, Maryland.

Taking a short trip up into Pennsylvania, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at the Gettysburg National Military Park. Sensational! To say the very least!

The first thing we did was bought tickets to the Film, Cyclorama and Museum.

The film was narrated by Morgan Freeman (love his voice) and there was so much to see on the big curved screen, my eyes were darting everywhere trying to take it all in.

It was pure genius, a visual sensation, beautifully done by the History channel, the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The Civil War battle that took place over July1-3 of 1863.

Total casualties for the three days (killed, wounded, captured, missing) of fighting were 23,000 Union, 28,000 Confederates.Incredible numbers fought, lost and won during that 3 day campaign with Robert E. Lee as the Confederate commander and George Gordon Meade, the Union commander. 70,000 Confederates went up against a Union army of 93,000 on that 1st day in July.

 

Next when you exit the theatre you are taken up into the viewing room of the cyclorama. (Cycloramas – a 360deg view panoramic painting of a scene, viewed from the centre, often with music or narration, first developed in 1787 – popular in the early 19th century)

A spectacular vision of sound and light, as if you were standing behind Union lines. It is the largest oil painting in America. Painted in 1884 by Paul Dominique Philippoteaux, it came to Gettysburg in 1913.

The 377ft painting debuted in Boston 132 years ago and in 2008 restoration began for this project.

 

It truly is magnificent and the detail incredible. The artist has even included himself in the painting as his signature. See the picture below of the bearded officer leaning against a tree with sword over his leg,

 

The Museum section has many artefacts, beautifully displayed with excerpts of speeches, letters and legislation surrounding the walls. Timber plaques have also been printed or etched with pictures and text,

 

A number of interactive displays run through the 3 years of the war on screens of varying size throughout the museum.

 

It is an exceptional place full of history and if you ever get to this region it is not to be missed! A very comprehensive display. They weren't wrong when saying you would easily need a couple of hours for the Museum alone.

The weather was divine on Tuesday but turned a little overcast and on the cool side on the Wednesday.

 

However that did not deter us from making our way back to Gettysburg and taking the 24mile auto tour of the battlefield.

 

There are 16 tour stops along the way and instead of purchasing a cd at gift store we found an app that ran off the GPS and would talk to us once we reached the spot on the map. Relaying information regarding the battle for the point we were at, we could then get out and view the magnificent monuments, fields and take in the terrain that would have been encountered by so many on foot back in the day.

 

An extremely humbling experience.

Kat xo

Sept 28, 2016

This is only a small sampling of pictures taken. So, so much to see. Loved it.

 

Monday, Maryland

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Leaving Hancock, MD in the morning we trekked through into West Virginia again.

First stop was down into Martinsburg, quick, as I wanted to see the Belle Boyd house.

 

Maria Isabella Boyd was her real name but her parents called her 'Belle'. She was the eldest of 8 children, a head strong, inquisitive girl who's final education was at the Mt. Washington Female College in Baltimore County, MD. “……I had just left school when war was declared and I entered heart and soul into the cause of the South.”

On July 4, 1861, Belle was sent to jail after she killed a Union soldier for disrespecting her mother. She was 19 at the time and so began the start of her espionage days. Oh by the way, she was exonerated in favour of defending her mother.

From 1861 to 1864, she undertakes spy activities for the Confederate Intelligence Service, gaining information from Union soldiers and relaying same back to General “Stonewall” Jackson and General Toutant-Beauregard. She is known as 'La Belle Rebelle'.

Gen. Jackson later awards Belle the Southern Cross of Honor. She was also made an Honorary Aide-de-camp on his staff and Captain in the Army of Confederacy.

 

She wasn't without fault and at one point gave information to a Union spy chief. By this time she has now been arrested six times, imprisoned twice and 'reported' nearly 30 times in Federal military dispatches.

In May of '64 she gets on a blockade runner in the attempt to get to England with a message asking for their help in securing the war for the Confederacy. However, it was taken over and she was jailed once again. This time she charmed her captor, Ensign Sam Hardinge, who was so smitten with her he proposed to her, helped her escape, only for her to do a runner!

 

Although she does after being banished to Canada for a short stay, go back to England and did marry him, poor man! She had one child, Grace, a couple of years later she divorced him.

1865-66 she writes her biography, Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison (think I might have to find that and read it) and she made her stage debut at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, England.

Once back in America she starts touring and performing.

1869 she marries Lt. Col. John Swainston Hammond, they have four kids and she divorces him in 1884.

Belle doesn't muck around, marrying an Ohio born actor Nathaniel Rue High in 1885 and begins touring the nation, giving dramatic lectures of her life as a Civil War spy.

In June of 1900 Belle died of a heart attack while touring in Wisconsin.

(Information with my twist from the Belle Boyd House brochure)

We grabbed a couple of quick shots of the Roundhouse Centre at the B & O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad yard, circa. 1843, and headed towards Sharpsburg.

 

Now back in Maryland in Sharpsburg, we went to the Antietam National Battlefield.

 

The battle of Antietam was Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North occurring in September 17 of 1862. It is said to be the most bloodiest and most decisive of the 5 Confederate offensives in that year.

Union forces were assembling near the Potomac River at Harper's Ferry, posing a threat to supply lines for Lee if something wasn't done.

“Stonewall” Jackson was sent to Harpers Ferry with approx. 25,000 men. Gen. D. H. Hill was sent to Boonsboro and Gen. James Longstreet was to take the rest to Hagerstown, getting ready to move into Pennsylvania.

All this changed when Lee's plan fell into Union hands and they were quickly forced into a holding pattern gathered near Sharpsburg, northeast of town on the ridge. Two days later the armies met in the bloodiest one-day battle in U.S. history.

I was interested to see the many photos from the Civil War, albeit bloody and horrific scenes of vast devastation, it fascinated me that these 'memories' as such, were captured.

 

In the brochure it says that photography was quite advanced by this time and they would follow armies and take pictures. They couldn't take moving pictures however, the need for longer exposure for a scene to be captured on glass plates was around 5-15seconds.

Alexander Gardner took the world's first photographs of war dead on September 18,1862 in the aftermath of Antietum.

Capt. James Hope, from the 2nd Vermont Infantry sketched most of what he saw and later painted 4 panoramic paintings (1892) of the day's battles. Three of these large paintings are hanging in the museum with the 3rd of the series of 4 was so badly destroyed by birds, rodents and floods that it as unable to be restored.

The detail in these paintings is exquisite, there isn't enough time to look and take it all in.

 

The Museum has a beautiful collection of military equipment from firearms, swords, uniforms, packs, cannons, bullets, belts etc. just incredible that all the civil war museums we go to have so much gear! BUT when you look at the numbers in these wars and the number of men left on the fields, and see where they trekked you can totally understand how so many pieces could be found and of course others donated by many who saved them.

 

Despite the other hillsides, valleys, cornfields and rivers where this battle took place the most significant would be the Sunken Road or Bloody Lane. A place where residents and others returned to see significant loss of men in rows as they were formed when marching forward, lay on the ground in heaps.

So began the many burials of these soldiers, often in single or shallow trench graves.

Now the lines of battle are preserved, grounds are being restored to what they would have been like – corn fields, natural grass and wild flowers, unmown, to truly give you a sense of what these hundreds of thousands of men experienced during that time.

After the museum exhibits we did the battlefield tour and took in all the monuments, observation points and information boards of this incredible battle between North and South.

 

A sobering experience to say the least.

Kat xo

 

25th Anniversary, Appalachian Showdown

Posted on by kathousekelli70

The CASS Inc. held their Appalachian Showdown Silver Jubilee (SASS West Virginia State Championships) this past weekend at Singing Hills Ranch, Largent, West Virginia.

Photos are from their display they had to celebrate their 25 years, they had a great lot of memorabilia.

Just outside Berkeley Springs, is this beautiful tree covered property with 8 shooting bays. Traversing the range is a workout in itself, but it's very well laid out with decks built in to set your gun carts on.

Friday the shoot kicked off with Wild Bunch in the morning. Four fun stages with about 17 Wild Bunch shooters taking on the challenge. In the afternoon we had a couple of runs at the side matches – Speed Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, Derringer, Pocket Pistol and a one stage run.

 

Into main match day on Saturday, again the weather is just perfect for shooting, cool in the morning and warm during the day. Not a particularly good day for Jack but I was surprisingly clean! The targets seem somewhat smaller than we have been used to but mostly I think they are just out there a little further, I guess that means I must have been using my front sights better?!?

 

That night the banquet was on in Berkeley Springs at the American Legion. Great food! Side match awards were handed out and a great bluegrass band got some of the ladies up dancing and later the Class of '61 came through from next door in a Congo line!

 

Sunday was much cooler and took until after lunch to warm up some! Jack was clean for the day and I remained clean with a couple of hang ups. A neat little shootout with a Texas star, knockdowns and clays rounded out the match.

Awards were held with Jack finishing 2nd in Senior and 1st Place in Lady Wrangler for me.

 

Cody Walker was 1st Mens overall, West Virginia State Champion 1st overall went to Twin (who I might add, did it with one foot in a boot, he is one focused cowboy!) and a huge congratulations to Sunshine Marcie for being West Virginia State Champion and 1st Lady overall AND she got me in the shootout! Well played Cowgirl! There were only 3 rank points and 2.42secs between us. Also congratulations must go to Cody Maverick for winning Mens shootout. (My apologies, I didn't get any pics of the winners this time)

To Lady Benson and Texas Tom, for their amazing hospitality and property for the help they received from Black Orchid and Bobwire Brenice, Match Director – Punch and all the CASS Rangers, thanks for having us!

Kat xo

 

Into Maryland

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We left the tree filled state of West Virginia and entered into Maryland.

A little more open ground between trees here. We made a stop at the welcome centre picking up brochures and more info on Civil War Trails and St Mary's City, the first capital in 1634!!

A quick pit stop and I'm met by a little squirrel, she looked as surprised as I did! I told her there were no nuts in the Ladies restroom! Haa Haa Haa ahh Haa ..l.ahem…..

Our continued beautiful weather has followed us from Oklahoma. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

 

Checked into the Motel in Hancock, MD and took a drive 12 miles South to the range so we know how far and where it is. Through winding twisting road, through sleepy little hollows, trees, creeks we made it out to Singing Hills Ranch in Berkeley Springs, WV.

It will be an interesting little match!

 

Wild Bunch and side matches tomorrow. Wherever you are and if you're shooting this weekend, keep your powder dry, may all your bangs go clang and giddy Up! (To steal a few of my favourite cowboy's sign offs!)

Kat xo

 

Streaking Through Kentucky

Posted on by kathousekelli70

That got your attention didn't it! Lol!

No streaking, drive on, drive on.

Springfield, KY – est. 1797, Lincoln Legacy Museum, closed Wednesday's, quick picture of the Lincoln Statue and some nice old buildings.

 

Perryville, KY – steeped in civil war history, we visited the Perryville Battlefield State Historical site. Great little museum and 30minute film about the battle in October of 1862. The story unfolds with Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Mississippi and Don Carlos Buell's Union Army of Ohio.

 

The museum is very informative and has a great collection of artefacts and uniforms. The cannon or “Six-Pound Smoothbore Field Gun” are always spectacular to look at! The ammunition case beside it was cool and now I know where the meaning of 'shrapnel' came from. The 6pound spherical case shot was invented by one Henry Shrapnel.

 

The soldiers on both sides suffered greatly as Kentucky experienced drought through this time. Many suffered heat stroke and died of dehydration as well as any injuries received during the battles that ensued.

 

When you look at the grounds surrounding Perryville, I try to imagine the some 70,000 odd troops that would have been in and around here. Great lines of men fighting each other.

 

The Bottom House is quite small and still it is hard to fathom hundreds of bodies littering the yard and porch as it was made a makeshift hospital. Many houses during that time were commandeered for such purposes.

 

Some stats from the brochure.

  • 55,396 Union and 16,800 Confederate soldiers.
  • 203 cannons located in Perryville, 90 were used in the battle
  • At least 21 states were represented in the Battle of Perryville – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisianna, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
  • 1,431 soldiers were killed (890 Union, 532 Confederate)
  • 5,618 were wounded (2,966 Union, 2,652 Confederate)
  • 669 missing or captured (433 Union, 236 Confederate)

So in fact looking at those figures for total casualties 7,718 (4,298 Union, 3,420 Confederate) that's 1/5th of the Confederate force and only 1/12th of the Union. Like most of the Civil War period Union forces definitely outnumbered the Confederates.

All things considered, that's a huge victory for the Confederates.

Winchester, KY – est. 1792, didn't see much through here as we sort of bypassed the historic downtown, oh well.

Onward through rolling hills and the green trees of Kentucky. Fall is starting to show her signs of change, as reds and yellows creep through the forest.

We have now entered into West Virginia! A new state for us, staying somewhere around Charleston tonight, then a dash to the very northern section of the state to Berkeley Springs tomorrow.

 

Signing off with a bit of John Denver ……almost heaven, West Virginia….blue ridge mountains…..

Kat xo

 

Road Trippin’ Again

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Yesterday we took off for Forest City, Arkansas, virtually a 7 hour straight through road trip. Sharing the driving we got into Forest City around 6 pm.

Yippee, a great room with iron and ironing board meant a good few hours of sewing could get done.

Lights out just after midnight and we crashed, no alarm neat we didn't wake until 10 to 9! Must have needed some good sleep. Let's go!

A quick breaky and we are in the car, stopping in at the Delta Heritage Centre in Brownsville. Wow, we have come across some great random little places travelling around here.

 

What a fantastic free museum of cotton, blues music and THE home of Tina Turner music. Well the school house in any case.

 

The school house was moved from Nutbush (yes it is a town, not just the song……Nutbush…..Nutbush city limits….(and cross your feet and turn)Haa Haa ) to its current position at Brownsville. It has been kept as the school house inside but has many exhibits of Tina Turner's outfits, records etc.

 

A great little find! All the staff were lovely and very helpful.

For now it's on through fields of cotton at various stages of growth. Touring the countryside along Hwy79, heading North through Milan, Paris, Dover – yep we are still in Tennessee, lol!

 

Well not going through Dover now, too slow, found a different route into Kentucky and onto Bardstown. We will make it in time to purchase more Four Roses bourbon and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, get changed and head down to the Old Talbott Tavern for dinner.

Ripper! Cheers

Kat xo

 

Ruckus In The Nations

Posted on by kathousekelli70

This past weekend was the Oklahoma State Championships, Ruckus In The Nations, held in Sand Springs at Zink Ranch.

The ITSASS club put on the match with Match Directors Burly Bill and Catoosa Red heading the team.

The weather was kind with only a light sprinkle on the Friday.

Thursday was side match day where you could have fun wih plenty of laughs.

 

Friday was main match day, 150 shooters gathered and headed out to be with their posse to get 5 stages done for the day.

We were on Posse 1 with Ambler, Naildriver, Creek County Kid, Snake Oil George, Matt Valentine, Montana Dan, Tail N Kid, Stumpman, K D Steel, Oklahoma Tequila Rose, Red Knee, Scott Wayne, Fort Worth Dallas, Cherokee Runner, Deadeye Dillard and Calloway. An awesome Posse, we had a lot of fun!

 

That night it was potluck dinner and side match awards. See results below, I won a few and Jack won the Speed Rifle!

 

Now a while back, actually think it started when we were back in Australia. Ambler asked if I was making Jack a leprechaun outfit. Well that grew to more banter between them and it never really stopped. I decided to fix him and made the two of them matching shirts. All in good spirit, they wore them on the Saturday for the final 5 stages. Great photos!

 

The banquet was held Saturday night at the Community Centre – with a rather interesting small gym/walking track above. So you would get the odd person using the machines or walking. When 3 young guys came in during one part of the awards it took me all I knew not to yell out “run faster!”

 

All in all, a great match, thanks to Burly Bill, Catoosa Red and their helpers!

I won Lady Wrangler category with Pistol Packin' Pami 2nd and OK Krazy Kat 3rd place.

 

Overall winners goes to Creek County Kid and Missouri Mae! A huge congratulations to both of you!

 

Another one for the books!

Kat xo

 

Do You Remember?

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Today is 9-11, September 11, when 15 years ago the world changed.

Many lives were lost and thoughts of loved ones around the world wondered where there relatives were, if they were safe. When you couldn't wait to get back to your kids, to hug and hold them tight. To be thankful.

Not only the personnel working in the Twin Towers that day – bystanders, flight crew, passengers and many first responders did what they could and never came home. For those, we remember.

Our club match today started with the pledge of allegiance and a moments silence with 3 rings on the bell by Roy's Creek Dan (ex-firefighter) to honour the fallen and his many fire fighting comrades.

Jack and I wore one of our patriotic outfits in honour of this day also.

A smaller shoot list compared to yesterday but we still had a great turn out of 35 willing participants.

We hope your day was filled with memories and fun shared with great friends and/or loved ones.

 

Make each day count.

Kat xo

 

Hair Tearing! Swearing!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

I had it all planned out this afternoon, to start on four projects that require embroidery work and type an article for the Chronicle that I had promised.

Fair enough, easy she says, everything is done and ready to roll.

WRONG!!!! (And I don't even know how to do emojis the old fashioned way to express my horror so you will just have to visualise!)

So my heart skipped a beat as I plugged in the USB to my embroidery machine with the (many hours work in the car, last trip) embroidery design to be stitched out. Hell no!! No design showing up on the machine.

You have to be kidding me!!! The ones previously are showing up but none of thE NEW SIX DESIGNs are showing up!

Okay, think Jo (yep my real name), what am I going to do now…………okay, delete files and reload onto USB stick. Plug in, turn on machine …….nothing!

Whaaaattt!!!

Okay, by now the cursing has well and truly started. Probably in between thoughts of throwing myself on the ground and chucking a hissy fit!

Next, use your brain, what's it gonna be? Okay so tried different USB, nup same thing – oh and I might add at this point the stupid file is showing on the USB/s on the computer! – so resort to deleting and formatting said USB stick! Save file, put in machine, turn machine on, still no file. Aaaaaahhhhhhh!

Ring Mum, quick! It's 7.30am in Australia, ring Mum, she'll know what to do.

After discussion we decide two of us can't figure out, agree to send files by email and wait for Mum to get back to me! 😦 😦

I have now wasted 3 hours of work time, it sounds more like a room of sailors with the swearing and thank god it's drinks time.

So not content to sit back and enjoy my Shiner Bok, I started googling more info ('cause I'm really peeved and freaking out because I can't afford not to have it working!) and what to my wandering eyes should appear? Not 8 tiny reindeer but a thread on an appliqué site and the lady said how the stitching area was smaller than the hoop!?!?

 

Off I go back to the computer – duplicate, new frame, paste, make slightly smaller, save, save on USB, put in machine, turn on……….

Ta da!!!!

It freaking worked! Now it's showing up on the screen and ready to stitch! Holy moly, I was having pink kittens (as Gram's used to say) rang Mum back (and I might add she was on her computer getting ready to check it out even though she did say she wouldn't be checking til their night time! Thanks Mum) SORTED! Happy Girl.

Now I can get back to what I should have been damn well doing in the first place!

 

Well maybe I'll just rest and have a drink first.

Cheers big ears!

Kat xo