Author Archives: kathousekelli70

Shootout At Pawnee Station

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We headed into Fort Collins late Thursday afternoon, well actually, perfectly timed for beer o'clock!

Friday we arrived ultra early for registration. Wild Bunch commenced at 10am with a posse of around 18 taking on 4 stages. Warm Up stages were then carried out to get the hands working in single action mode again and a few side events.

 

A full day, no lunch (forgot there was no lunch vendor out there) and we were ready to test each other's patience. We called it a day and headed for Walmart for supplies and dinner.

Saturday was rather warm and with Posse 1 we completed the first 6 stages. Two misses each and we are close in times – ended up 3 each.

Our Posse consisted of, Buckeye Al, Chey Town Colt, Cutter Schofield, Calamity Kitty Hudson, Dusty Garnet, G. W. Ryder, J. R. Tall-Eagle, Jackaroo, Josephina Bouchet, Juan Bad Hombre, Kathouse Kelli, Marshall Stockburn, Panhandle Kate, Red River Wrangler, Sandhiller, Sweet Lil, Texas Drifter, Wild Will Hudson.

 

We visited with a folks, did some measuring for future costumes and headed back to the hotel before the storm that was coming, reached the range.

It was Jack's Birthday (18th July) so we decided to forego the potluck dinner and side match awards instead heading out for dinner and margaritas.

Sunday morning and it's a pleasant, somewhat cooler, slightly overcast start to the last 6 stages of the match. The sun soon came out, really warming things up for the final 3. Clean for me, a couple bobbles and a miss for Jack but a great finish nonetheless.

 

After lunch was the Shootout, 'a throw your tag in the bucket and get drawn to shoot' against an opponent. Have a miss, you're out. Sounds like an easy elimination and way of progressing things quickly right?! Not! All of the women had a miss! So we went through another round and I finally went clean and finished the Last Cowgirl Standing and then I managed to beat (only just) Fort Hays Preacher who won the Last Cowboy Standing.

After all was said and done Jack finished 1st in Senior and 3rd place overall! I finished 1st in Lady Wrangler and 1st Place overall! Yes, you heard it right, I just edged out Union Jack. Haa haa haa two Aussie's and a Pom in the top 3.

In all seriousness, another fantastic match by the Pawnee Station Cowboys, their helpers, significant others etc thanks for having us yet again in Nunn, Colorado.

Cheers

Kat xo

http://pawneestation.com

 

What’s Next?

Posted on by kathousekelli70

So we have been back from End Of Trail now for almost 2 weeks.

In that time it's been busy clearing washing, folding and ironing, for Jack, cleaning and reloading for the next trip, and of course a couple of club matches thrown in good measure and getting to the gym and swimming.

Then to the new fabric choices on the board, sorting out what needs to be cut, sewn, drafted, ordered and put into production.

It certainly has been a busy couple of weeks.

– finished making a bustle skirt and corset – sent!

– 2 vaquero suits underway, passementerie trim arrived and patterns half sorted in my head from photos.

– 2 reticule's made aka small hand bag or if you are Jack – a shell bag for brass……no comment.

– 8 corsets at varying stages of production on the table. Extra steel has now arrived for completion.

– 1 bar keep's apron.

Ready to cut out – 1 split skirt, 2 shirts, 1 pr bloomers, 1 pr pants.

 

Find fabric for – 1 civil war bodice, 3 corsets, 1 b-western outfit, 2 b-western shirts….and that's only a part of it.

Oh, and just a small portion of embroidery to be done.

But you know what, it's not a chore. Everything is different, I love it and can't wait for the next project.

This next trip though the sewing machine will be going with me to do some portion whilst enjoying some of the Midwest highlights of this great country.

This week coming we will be heading back up through to Colorado to Nunn and then spend a couple of days with Aspen Filly before heading through to Cheyenne, Wyoming and beyond.

Check out the 'Where Along The Trail' on the website to see the schedule.

See you on the trail!!

Kat xo

 

 

Happy 4th Of July!!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Other than today being my birthday, (changing from a 44 special to a 45) it is American Independence Day.

 

We started the day with going to the Libertyfest Parade in Edmond. For an hour and a half with packed streets we watched participants, from School marching bands, bank floats, church groups, cars, emergency services to the Shriners. I've decided their group is obviously for men that have Peter Pan syndrome – never grown up – they have all the toys in the world to play with. Anything from cars, to 3 wheel bikes, the big wheel low bikes, small cars, dune buggies, you name it.

 

Later in the early evening we were back out and up to the University grounds for festival and fireworks. A walk through the grounds to the vendors found only 1 hot food vendor with a massize waiting line. It was quicker to go get take away and get back to our parking spot than wait in line and hopefully we have a quicker get away once the fireworks are finished.

So now we wait, 29 minutes left til fireworks go off. Sounds like it will be similar to Canberra's Skyfire with the fireworks synchronised to music.

They were worth the wait, fantastic, some massive ones that set car alarms off, and some fireball types – bombs bursting in air…..

 

Happy 4th of July America!

Kat xo

 

Back to OK

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It is the end of the trail….at least for now.

We celebrated Trooper's birthday last night at Pizza Barn in Edgewood. Yum! Bloody sensational pizza! A busy little place.

 

This morning it was of for breaky and then left them to get on the road back to Edmond. For them they head back through to Utah.

We took turns in driving and got through to the cars in the dirt just west of Amarillo. A Route 66 tourist attraction for many years we have finally, after a few times of driving straight past, managed a stop!

Someone gave us their paint can before they left which was great and we handed it on also.

 

I did however, find it a little disappointing to see plastic bags and numerous empty spray cans left on the ground around them 😦

It is however interesting to see over all the years, the amount of built up paint, the textures and multitude of colours makes for a pretty spectacular and unusual art piece.

It's very green coming back through the panhandle of Texas and into Oklahoma.

 

We are home, 101F, its maintenance day for the pool and the air con has been off for the 3 weeks! Hope it cools quickly!

Kat xo

 

 

EOT 2015: Day 4. This Is It!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

The banquet and festivities began last night with the costume contest and I really only went in it for the hell of it with my 1890's bicycle. I gave my spiel about costume changes in the 1890's allowing the liberated woman to exercise without restricting clothing etc etc Blah blah, did not expect to place! Lol! Had so much fun.

 

The B-Western shirts and matching skirt for Katie Younger and Robb n Co won them 2nd place couples! And Lil McGill's Jane Russell – Annie Oakley outfit won her 1st place Ladies B-Western. A very happy little seamstress. 🙂 Doc Barium didn't wear her seaside toilette because of the mud we had – totally understandable – so you may have to wait for convention or beyond for that one.

 

Later in the evening the Top 16 were announced – Blackhawk Henry, Bobcat Tyler, Bull Shooter, Cobra Cat, Cody James, Colt Faro, Copperhead Joe, Deuce Stevens, Doc Burwood, Duke Skywalker, Lead Ringer, Matt Black, Preacher Kid, Prestidgitater, Slick McClade and Waterloo. The 6 alternates were Tres Equis, Constable Nelson, C.S. Brady, Roy's Creek Dan, Mose Spencer, and James Samuel Pike.

For the Sweet 16 it was – Barbary Coast, Echo Meadows, Half-A-Hand Henri, Hey You, Holy Terror, Kathouse Kelli, Lefty Jo, Morguns Ann Ammo, Panhandle Cowgirl, Sass Kicker, Shamrock Sadie, Slick's Sharp Shooter, Spur Broke, Texas Tiger, Turkey Legs and Two Sons. The 6 alternates for the ladies were Silver Heart, Lawless Lil, Ivy Hills, Etta Mae, Diamond Kate and Claudia Feather.

So into the shoot out we went, and I drew Holy Terror. I was happy to be close behind – man can she run that '97!

At the end of it all Sass Kicker and Prestidgitater won the Ladies and Men's shoot out.

Onto awards and from 586 shooters there were 99 clean matches! Out of those, the Aussie's collecting their white buffalo pins were Constable Nelson, Mulga Bill, Coyote Baz, Mystic Meg, Lazy Dave and Charlie Hart. I only recall 1 Okie in the list as clean and that was I B Slow. Apologies if I missed anyone. It's hard to keep up with it and applaude at the same time! 😐

 

A few quick memories of placements.

Constable Nelson aka Trooper, 10th Place, Men's Modern Wild Bunch.

Rooster Cockburn, 10th Place, Senior Men's Modern Wild Bunch.

K C Woody, 5th Place, Senior Gunfighter.

Aussie Drover aka Moonshine, 9th Place, Duelist.

Sam Balin, 4th Place, Senior Duelist.

Charlie Hart, 5th place, Frontiersman

Jackaroo aka Ricochet, 6th Place, Senior

From Oklahoma, Highland Scottie, 7th Place, Lady 49er

From Oklahoma, Roy's Creek Dan, 3rd Place and from Australia, Constable Nelson aka Trooper, 2nd Place, 49er's.

From Oklahoma, C.R. Hicock, 1st Place, Buckaroo.

Kathouse Kelli aka Amazing Grace, 1st Place, Lady Wrangler.

There were probably more I could have listed but haven't.

 

The 2015, SASS Overall World Champion Cowgirl and Cowboy are Sass Kicker and Matt Black. Congratulations! By the way, if you don't know, they are both junior shooters. Very impressive!

 

A huge congratulations to all the SASS team, it was efficient, flowing and great to have the photos done inside. That way everyone could view the category winners and they weren't out in the heat waiting to get pics taken and missing out on hearing other's wins. Great job!

After many goodbyes, a quick 'tinny' in the car park with some other Aussies (Oh, and that may be a new Aussie piece of slang for some – tinny means cold beer in a tin can) it was time for us all to roll out. The car park was barren, most of the RV's and trailers had pulled out and Founders Ranch was starting to look like a ranch again.

Still beaming!

Kat xo

 

 

EOT 2015: Day 3. And So It Goes

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Day 3, last four stages, this is it folks, this is what will make Cowboys and Cowgirls, nationally and internationally stand up and shout for joy or slump their shoulders and just go 'oh well'.

Soooo, we head to the range proclaiming how it looks a little grey but no rain expected until midday and feelin' pretty lucky about the early shift.

We are entertained by both good

Tom Payne playing harmonica for us this morning.

hee hee hee, and….bad!

Lazy Dave and Grizzly Grumps from VIC, Australia, hamming it up in their union suits. Said it was too early to get out of bed.

No words could describe the disappointment with the weather man when it started pelting down like cats and dogs and small hail to add to the terrible conditions that had set upon us!

 

BUT Cowboys are tough, we've shot in ankle deep water, snow, high winds and heat before – so really a little rain wasn't going to stop us but would certainly make us think about our footing and perhaps make these 4 stages a little slower for us than we would really like. Hay went down in areas where required and on we went.

Oh these poor baby birds were in the barn, hopefully mamma will be back.

It's beautiful out now!? So good luck to the other 24 posses shooting in fair weather.

 

For now, it's beer o'clock and get ready for the banquet. Tonight is costume contest, dinner, dancing and the announcement of Top 16 Mens and Ladies for the Shootout tomorrow.

Good luck!

Kat xo

 

EOT 2015: Day 2. Main Match

Posted on by kathousekelli70

After a brief moment of rain last night, it's not enough to settle the dust but brought clear skies and a breeze to the start of Friday.

Today we are on the mid shift starting at 10.30am and will do Stages 9, 10, 11 & 12.

Well, we did well, one miss today for me 😦 but we know rank points can change everything. Jack had a reshoot and remains clean.

Tex said this is his first selfie, somehow I find that hard to believe! He's a hoot!

Tonight is Saloon Night, so it's back to the Motel to change and come up with something to say for the Daggers and Derringers contest.

There were 6 soiled dove/saloon girls entered in the contest with a further 5 entered for the Parlour House Madam's.

As it turned out after giving my 'story' as contestant #2 I managed to win 1st Place and a Derringer!

Photo courtesy of Nellie Blue, effects by me.

For the Parlour House Madam's was my friend Texas Flower! So we had a picture made together. She had the best story ever and a couple of great accoutrements to compliment both her story and her look.

Think this was Nellies pic too, effects by me.

Time for bed, early to rise in the morning and be on range by 7am. Night!

Kat xo

Disclosure: this story was written for and on Friday, 26th June 2015. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by not airing this at the appropriate time.

 

Haa haa haa! Enjoy.

 

EOT 2015: Main Match Begins

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It's Thursday people! This morning's early wave will be done, mid wave starting and at 1.30pm we will commence the late wave today.

As a side note: at the motel this morning it is a hive of activity. Etta Mae and Claudia Feather have vacated their room early but are standing in hopes of a glimpse of Jeff Bridges. Jeff Bridges you ask? Why? Well there is some filming being done at the Motel, so there are lighting crews, sound crews and production assistants moving gear left right and centre and some of the filming for the movie will take place in Rm18 (Claudia and Etta's room) right next door to ours! Plus the car park and the fields across the road.

 

……….Later that same day out at Founders Ranch, (The important stuff!) safety briefing was held with 12 (of the 36) excited posses ready to hit the range for their first 4 stages of the match.

We are with Posse 32 – Annabelle Bransford, Colbert, Dedo, Duke Skywalker, Hurricane Camille, Jackaroo, James Samuel Pike, John Bohemia, Kathouse Kelli, Max Montana, Rowdy Bill, San Juan, Shenandoah, Tejon Buckaroo, Tex, Texas Flower, Texas Mac, Thunder Man, Tom Payne, Tooth Ache, and V Luna (Viper not in attendance).

We have 2 Aussies, 3 Czech Republic and the rest American. It's a good Posse, everyone is working and relatively fast. So far so good, shot stages 8, 5, 6, then 7 – 1 day down, 2 to go.

 

With worn out feet we withdraw to have our Posse photo taken and we met a tiny little cutie named Clara. She asked for our autograph. So I had a picture taken with her. I actually think she might be Duke Skywalkers daughter. She was a sweetheart though and I hope she does get to be a cowgirl when she can one day.

 

Have a great 2nd day tomorrow those who are here.

Cheers Kat!

Oh, and I got interviewed by Shooting USA today when they were there interviewing the Czech's. 🙂

P.S. 7.32pm – It's still all happening outside! Sneaky pic out the window, I know it's not much but there is gear everywhere out there and soooo many people. Saw a couple of actors waiting on the porch when we came back earlier!! Wasn't game to pull the blind back further so you could see ALL the gear!

 

End Of Trail, Day 1 & 2

Posted on by kathousekelli70

After arriving in Edgewood Monday afternoon and checking in, Tuesday morning brought purpose to this next week of shooting.

It was Warm Up Match. We completed 8 stages for the day. All going good so far. The range is set up with some great stage design, a reasonable amount of movement this year but targets are still generous in size and distance. It will be an interesting match!

A wall honouring previous World Champions has been put together in the Belle Union Saloon. A fantastic tribute to our overall Cowgirl and Cowboy World Champs since SASS began. Some have passed, some don't shoot anymore, and some are multiple champions.

 

There is also a special tribute to the late U.S. Grant (SASS#2) who did so much for our sport and we were lucky enough to have had the pleasure of shooting with him.

Well done to all involved with putting this all together.

Prize draw is different this year too with everyone receiving a ticket in your pack to be placed in the jar relating to the prize. There is anything from guns, ammo, rigs or clothing vouchers to be won.

Into Wednesday and it's going to be another warm one today. This morning there is the cowboy flea market, time to visit vendors and peruse their wares, and, if you care to, take part in the odd side match as well.

 

This afternoon's Opening Ceremonies begins with Handlebar Bob as fabulous MC, introducing the Wild Bunch and proceeding with the colour guard of flags for nations represented at the 2015 World Championships.

 

The Star Spangled Banner was sung beautifully by Miss Autumn (Starr?) who has performed at the famous Carnegie Hall.

SASS Scholarship awards were handed out to some very worthy applicants by Justic Lily Kate, the new 2015 Regulators were announced by Hipshot (and to note, our good friends from Texas – Texas Mac and Texas Flower were part of this years recipients) the Judge was presented with a beautiful portrait photo from Major Photography in appreciation of their 20th year of SASS attendance, providing posse and action photos to Cowboys.

 

In closing Misty Moonshine gave a short eulogy type/let's remember US Grant tribute and a poem by Lassiter about remembering how to be cowboy and the spirit of the game, basically.


 

The canon went off with a bang and we all dispersed to pay respect to US Grant, hit the bar, eat and on to the Cantina for Margaritas!!

 

A good time was had by all and we look forward to a great weekend of shooting.

Aim straight and have fun fellow cowboys n cowgirls!

Kat xo

P.S. Among the vendors today, there is one called 'The Old Pine Box' they make beautiful pine box coffins…..I know, I know but I thought it was amusing and took Jack back by there because he always says he wants 'to go out in a pine box' – simple.

http://theoldpinebox.com

http://www.sassnet.com/EoT/

 

Heading to Albuqurque

Posted on by kathousekelli70

An early start out of Cortez this morning we headed for the 550 just South of Durango.

We went through a few little towns and into New Mexico we came across Aztec – your four corners playground, was the advertising. It was quaint and has a little historical museum and a gorgeous mural of buffalo being herded through town.

 

As we headed out on the open road we passed Angel Peak. Then Turtle Mountain (think it was mountain, remembered the turtle bit).

The landscape is changing fast from the Colorado trees and mountains to rock formations, flats and scrub.

 

We are going via Cuba! Lol!

Not much through there. Anyways made it into Albuqurque, changed and headed for the range, we are checked in, damn hot, off to Motel and settled in for the week.

End Of Trail 2015, bring it on! Hope everyone has a great match! See you on the range.

Cheers

Kat xo