Tag Archives: Australia

Meanwhile, Back in Australia

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Jack and I have safely arrived in Sydney, to be greeted by Christmas cheer, Aussie themed.

 

Nice touch Sydney, thanks for welcoming us back!

 

Had a good flight, got in around 6.10am, through Customs at 7am, Jack a half hour later. Sat and relaxed with a latte and hooked up to wi-fi to check on the worlds coming and goings.

On the 10th November, 1938, Kate Smith sings a rendition of Irvin Berlin's, God Bless America, during a special Armistice Day broadcast and it was an instant hit. (according to google on this day in history, thought it was fitting)

On this day 10th November, Australia has awoken to the news that (9th November in USA) has Donald J. Trump winning the election for U.S. President. Indeed, God Bless America, make America great again.

We will pick up a hire car soon and be heading for Canberra, our Nation's capital to catch up with friends and family before making the trek north.

For all those 'cowboy family' we leave in the USA, stay safe, be proud, look after each other and prayers up for those who need healing. Our thoughts are with you all until we return.

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

 

Australian Nationals

Posted on by kathousekelli70

To our Australian cowboy action shooters attending the Nationals in South Australia this weekend, shoot straight and have loads of fun!!

Jack and I hope it all goes well and we look forward to seeing some photos and results on Facebook!

Have a good one!

 

Kat xo

Aka Amazing Grace

 

Gunfight in Dixie XIV, done!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

What a great shoot!

We had a ball. Great stages, great range, awesome hosts! The shoot was based on Quigley Down Under. Yep, Tom Selleck, Australia, perfect really!

Besides the rain making everything a little soggy, this is a great range. Permanent facades with a lot of detail and thought adorns this neat little range.

 

There are signs and different bits and pieces that make the inside of the facades look like you walked back into time. Apparently the hotel has previously held poker games etc in it during the later evenings. It has lights and fans inside and tables can be set up in there.

 

Every stage had some cover, 5 have permanent cover and all have fans in them and at the loading tables.

 

Saturday night was dinner and side match awards, sitting listening, talking with different folks and drinking some of the purest white lightning I've seen or tasted at 95 proof.

 

Thanks to Hot Lead Lefty, Tennessee Whiskers, Cherokee Sergeant, Dew R Dye and all the Memphis Gunslingers and help, for hosting a great match!

We had a great Posse, with Cumberland Drifter, C W Knight, Tombstone John, our Posse Marshall Randy Saint Eagle, Dode City Dixie, Reno Mustang, Cullen Bohannon, Little JB, Ginderella, Jailbreak Jake, Johnny Tennessee, Mud Puppy, Silas Armas Aubrey, Tomme Gunz, Tennessee Pencil Pusher, Jack and myself.

 

Their top gun shoot off went well with a 10 plate knockdown rack for rifle, Texas star and dump plate for pistol and shotgun. I haven't got any pictures or video from that though.

Koda Joe and I won best dressed cowboy and cowgirl for the weekend. Congratulations to all the category winners and placers. Jack finished 1st in Senior and I was 1st in Lady Wrangler.

 

Top cowboy at the shootout was Slick Mclade with Dew R Dye taking Top cowgirl. Good fun!

The overall winners for this years Gunfight in Dixie was Blackfish Kid (cowboy) and Slick's Sharpshooter (cowgirl), congratulations!

Cheers

Kat xo

 

Wicked!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

They say 'blue and green should never be seen, unless a colour in between' but that fashion saying is way behind in the colour stakes these days.

Humour me here as I describe the scenario for the making of this shirt (and certainly no offence meant whatsoever!!)……'Grace can you make me a poofy shirt?'….looking a little startled and having to think quick, my come back was 'do you mean a B-Western shirt?'…..'Yeah, some sort of fancy, poofy shirt!' – this coming from a shooter with a wicked sense of humour and wants to shoot B-Western black powder or something along those lines.

I had to laugh and take the order. Sure, no worries, coming right up. So in the book he went, his turn came round and here's what we have.

 

Not too extravagant on embroidery detail, different colours which I really do quite like – blue and green, together – and blinged out.

 

Hope it works for you CTM and that you shine out from the crowd when you wear it!

Onto the next!

Kat xo

(Should have pressed it properly before taking pics!)

 

The Gamblers, Heartland

Posted on by kathousekelli70

This weekend The Gamblers annual shoot The Heartland gets under way in our home town Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

Pat Garrett and side matches will be over, and soon will be waking up to start main match.

To everyone attending from around Australia and from New Zealand, we hope the weather is kind, we know the stages are good and the hospitality outstanding. May you all shoot straight, have fun and be safe!

Look forward to hearing the outcome!

 

Hugs to all

Kat xo

 

End Of Trail Cowboy Action World Championships 2016

Posted on by kathousekelli70

As the saying goes…come for the shooting, stay for the people….its End Of Trail 2016, the 35th Anniversary of cowboy action shooting.

Last Tuesday was warm up day and the start of 6 days of fun. Well for some they could do warm up Monday as well but we were still wild bunching it!

Wednesday I assisted as an instructor in the Doily Gang ladies clinic along with Shamrock Sadie, Two Sons, Sass Kicker and Half-a-hand Henri.

 

We had around 18 ladies that we shared information with and coached through a stage giving them tips for working on or improving their transitions. I hope all the ladies enjoyed it as much as I did, working with 4 other World Champions, all sharing their knowledge.

 

It was on to the official Opening Ceremony that same afternoon. Jack and I had worn our Aussie outfits and I was honoured to carry the Australian flag as part of the ceremony recognising the countries participating this year. Australia, Austria, Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy, Germany and USA participated this year.

 

The 2016 class of new Regulators were announced with many friends recieving the accolade! Top Hand award went to Blackjack Zac. Congratulations to all!

 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were main match days. 4 stages a day, 36 posses going through 3 waves per day.

We were on Posse 32 – Buck Skunk, Deadeye Colt, Deadeye Jake Maas, Cat Ballou & Tex, Texas Mac & Texas Flower, Doc Neilson, G.W. Wade, Hands, Louie, Ranger McDuffie, Tijeras Pete, Timbercrick Mick, Tooth Ache, Whiskey Rick, Wyatt H. Ristl, Yellowstone Vic, Jackaroo and myself and of course our Posse leader Half-a-Hand Henri. (Was great shooting with – now – a 10 times World Champion and all won in different categories! What an inspiration this lady is!)

 

Saturday night was party and Best Dressed Costume contest. Lots of entrants fronted up for best dressed in different categories but the main one I was concerned about was Texas Flower in the 'Diary of Desire' gown. Doc Barium also showed up in her Seaside gown and hat I had made for her last year! So now I had two entries in the costume contest.

Grin from ear to ear when both ladies with their exceptional stories, were announced as 1st Place for Texas Flower!! 2nd place for Doc Barium and the lovely EZ GeeZee 3rd place for her Mexican civil war gown.

 

To round out the night the Top 16 Mens and Ladies were announced. Made it to the shootout!

Men's – Missouri Lefty, Waterloo, Matt Black, White Lightning Jack, Cobra Cat, Cody James, Creek County Kid, Ranger McDuffie, Roy's Creek Dan, Deuce Stevens, Austin Black, Damascus Jon, Duke Skywalker, Lead Ringer, Nick Nitro, Pecos Nick

Ladies – Shamrock Sadie, Echo Meadows, Kathouse Kelli, Sass Kicker, Slicks Sharpshooter, Bonnie Macfarlane, Panhandle Cowgirl, Two Sons, Spinning Sally, Texas Tiger, Whirlwind Wendy, Diamond Kate, Belinda Belle, Hey You, Little Red Sure Shot, Morguns Ann Ammo

Sunday to finish off a top week of action the shootouts were held for both Wild Bunch and Cowboy. Had a couple of fumbling runs through cowboy, shootout sure gets you going! Congratulations to Slicks Sharpshooter and Cody James for winning the shootout.

For main match awards – well, Jack got a buckle finishing 10th in Silver Senior category, much to his surprise after a 5 round rifle jam on a stage. Aside that, he shot extremely well during the match. Jack's back! Congratulations to General Jubal Early this years Silver Senior World Champion and to all other buckle winners.

 

To all my fellow Lady Wrangler competitors including another Aussie, Ex Sighted in 6th place and to my main competitors finishing 2nd place Echo Meadows (only 9secs between us again but rank points change that), Dew R Dye in 3rd place, a big congratulations to all buckle winners. This is one happy cowgirl taking a back to back world champion win!

 

A huge congratulations to the 2016 Overall Champions – Missouri Lefty and Sass Kicker!

 

What a day, what a week and a half!!

Leaving the dusty trail for another year,

Kat xo

June 26, 2016

 

EOT Wild Bunch 2016

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We arrived into Moriarty a fortnight ago on the Thursday afternoon and got ourselves ready for a huge week!

The Wild Bunch World Championships commenced on the Friday with warm up and side matches.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday were the main match days. Now I managed to convince Jack not to over do it, so he sat this one out. He still came to the range every day with me and was helpful in loading mags and the loading strip while I was listening to stage instructions. (thanks man, love ya)

 

I was with a great Posse, some new faces, some I already knew and have shot with before. A good mix of modern and traditional shooters. Thanks to Texas Jack Morales, Last Chance Morales, Goatneck Clem, Capt Sam Evans, Mojave Mick, Boggus Deal, Lady Jane, Idaho Sixgun Sam, Big Casino, Big Iron Patnode, Colorado Jackson, Beaver John, Claudia Feather, Czexican Dave, Hipshot, Fast Hammer, Marshal Stone, Poke and Tumbleweed Thom.

 

The stages were great, a tough match but a whole lot of fun. The average number of pistol rounds was 25, some had 20 and some had 30 but generally the 30 round only had rifle or shotgun, not both.

 

As you can see from the photos there were a whole lot of knockdowns which made it interesting and I still think I'm getting used to having a front sight again. In short I need to practice on some smaller targets!!

 

Didn't get to do the BAM Match (Bolt Action Military rifle) or long range this time as Jacks rifle sort of fell apart the weekend of the OK State WB shoot. Next time!

Anyway at the end of 3 days……and a week of cowboy in between……I got a neat little badge for 2nd place wild bunch shooting costume. Had a run in the Wild Bunch shootout, AND finished 3rd in Ladies Traditional with two fabulous ladies Lady Jane in 2nd place and the lovely Lacey Doyly the 2016 World Champion Wild Bunch Ladies Traditional!

 

From the one handed shooter!

Kat xo

 

Back in Oklahoma

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It's been a whirlwind 4 days as we got back into Oklahoma.

 

A few days shopping, rejoining the gym, hitting Cabelas for reloading gear, Hancocks for fabric (still can't believe it's closing down! One of my resources at times) and today…..we got to shoot again with the Territorial Marshal's.

Forty three shooters turned up on a glorious day to shoot 6 cowboy stages and for a few keen beans a short 3 stage Wild Bunch Pistol match. Good to be using the 45 again and with the new “$2” front sight we will just have to see how it goes!

Not that it looks much now, it's been cut, ground etc but yes my new front sight (for now, hopefully it will stay, it has lifted slightly) is made from an Aussie $2 coin.

 

Oklahoma State Wild Bunch Champs are on in a few weeks and we have a few midweek practices as well before we head out to End Of Trail.

Catch ya

Kat xo

 

Diary of Desire Pt 5 – Putting It All Together

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Yes, it appears the 'inner 15 year old child' managed to work it out as per the books instructions. Although one instruction wasn't adhered to and had to correct the error of my ways, thankfully still at the lining stage.

Everything seems to be sitting just perfectly except for one slight alteration needed at the back neck and shoulders. Got to be happy with that!

 

Here in lies the mishap! See how the front seems high?

 

Well, refer back to said instructions and previous shown photo of drafting and as I was told to – “add 7″ to the front skirt following dart allowances etc”. As you can see I felt in my, somewhat older than 15 years, that this seemed a little ridiculous (despite having drawn it up as instructed) when the rest of the bodice was only 5″ from waist to edge and so cut it off 2″shorter. The result? A bodice that's too high in the front and doesn't look right.

 

Right, stitch that bit back on and thankfully almost nothing of the join is to be seen once sides are trimmed to suit and once facings are in place all is concealed. Shhhhh!

Then it was onto the sleeves. Now in one mind I was tempted to use a Truly Victorian sleeve pattern but I had decided this gown was to be done using the drafting machine and this would surely be cheating. The book specifically details how to draft sleeves from measurements using the square rule.

So yes! I did draft the sleeve using the detailed square. Much to my surprise and sheer delight it worked! All I really needed to see was that it looked like I knew it should be!! Bit hard to see in the pink pen.

 

Next step was to pull apart the lining and cut each piece from the fashion fabric and reconstruct. With this now comes the customising – making it look like the photograph of the original gown.

 

You will note now the front is a sensible length? Lol! Sides to be trimmed.

Next step. Let's have a look back at the original bodice. Oh yes, tabs across front gold ruched section. Hooks and eyes all down one side for the bodice to be closed, so a small gold panel is put in place.

 

So far so good me thinks!

 

Take one gold ruched panel 12″ down to 41/4″ stitched in 4 places. Pin to inside right. Excited much!

Collar appeared to be slightly curved and lined in gold so that's what we now have.

 

Facings have been stitched in ready for hand finishing and that my friends is where it has been left.

Sleeves to be completed back in Oklahoma and embroidered lace to be created.

 

Cheers

Kat xo

P.S. Internet back on and back in Oklahoma. 🙂