The Adventures of a Middle Kid
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Extra! Extra!
    • The War Between the States--A Journal
    • Book List
  • The Bee Project

Finished a Book!

2/28/2015

0 Comments

 
It took me longer than it should have...but I finished a book!! A very interesting, enjoyable book too.

A book about a Christian Man.

A book about a Confederate.
 
A book about a Hero.

A book about an Artilleryman.

A book about a Man who died nobly at the age of 24. 

In other words, most of the deeds of bravery that JEB Stuart's chief of Horse Artillery, John Pelham did, happened when he was my age...give or take a year. He was something else when it came to his gun know-how...and as I have a "thing" for artillery (ah, the roar of a cannon thrills me...though I'd be scared stiff if I had to charge one!), I found his escapades to be jaw-dropping and eye-wideningly interesting.

Stonewall Jackson thought so much of him that he said this: "With a Pelham on each flank, I think I could whip the world." 

I wrote a review over here...if you're interested.

But I thought I would share a poem found in the back of H. Rondel Rumburg's book, John Pelham of Alabama: The Gallant Chief of J.E.B. Stuart's Horse Artillery.
Pelham Still Fights His Gun!
Into the hurtling storm of shell.
Into the gaping mouth of hell,
Pelham, the dauntless, lashed--
Out from the meager line of gray,
Out to the bloody fringe of fray,
Where thousand thunders crashed.

Lashes to straining horses plied,
Cheers of defiance as they ride
Under the eyes of Lee
Out of the day and into the night, 
Clouded in smoke they ride to fight--
Glorious sight to see!

Out of that bedlam Freedom speaks;
Hear it in Pelham's Parrot's* shrieks,
Pelham, 'tis bravely done!
In the concentring deadly hail,
Daring to die but not to fail
Pelham still fights his gun!

What is that sound? 'Tis not a cheer--
There, yet again--list! Comrades hear!
Hark, 'tis the hymn of France!**
Rising the lofty swells,
Over the din of countless hells
Freedom defiance chants!

Never was witnessed braver deed,
Bringing of praise its richest meed,
Making a deathless name--
"Courage sublime in one so young!"
Words from the heart of Lee he wrung,
Crown of immortal fame!

~~A. Sidney Morton;
 written about Pelham at the battle of Fredricksburg
*The "Parrot" was a rifled cannon.
** This refers to Pelham's "Napoleon Detachment"; mainly French and Italian born men from Mobile and New Orleans. They were known for singing Marseillaise--even under heavy fire.


I really enjoyed this book if you can't tell. Now...on to the next one! :)

     Racheal

0 Comments

Running Commentary, Cont.

2/26/2015

1 Comment

 
1st Lt. Daniel Sloan of Capt. Lesley's Co. B was 53 years old in 1864. I found his resignation letter, written to Col. Munnerlyn (HQ Brooksville) on November 18, 1864.
I wonder if it was accepted?

I'm starting to notice something...a lot of these men are showing up on registers for different groups. For instance, Sgt. B.F. Stokes is listed as a Sgt. Co. A, Cow Cav, also on the 5th Florida Rangers, and Ludlow's Co. and all with the same rank. This leaves me wondering if Capt. Ludlow did not perhaps succeed Capt. Faulkner is command at some point. (I have not yet seen a the actual name of Ludlow's company other than that--Ludlow's. I suppose is possible that it was Co. A...later on.) All in all, it's a bit confusing; particularly as I would like to construct these rosters as accurately as possible.

Wow...Capt. William B. Watson got shipped all the way to Washington D.C. after his capture (or surrender)!! The Yankee's must have considered him an important man!
Picture
Captain William Benjamin Watson (sometime after the war; for some reason I would guess this was taken in the 1880's.)
(If you want to see his wife, click here.)

Wilcox's 2nd Lt. L.A. Whittier was transferred (I'm guessing to) the 4th Ga. Cav. January 18, 1865. Interesting little tidbits of information...

James K. Williams, 5'2" and a red-head. Wonder if this blue-eyed fella was an Irishman? :)

Doing back-up research on names...George W. Hendry, Ft. Meade...was in Co. E, 7th FL Infantry Reg. That's the same one my g-g-uncle and half-uncles were in!! (I'm hazarding a guess that this is the Captain Hendry's brother George Washington Hendry.)
                                                                             Requisition for a pair of shoes and a pair of pants.


Um, so in the middle of my research they decide that now is the time to do an update to the website!! Crash goes Fold3 research for the day.

However, I was just looking at ANOTHER George W. Hendry...who, due to the signature...may actually be the Cow Cav's G.W.H. If so, he was in the 9th Fl. Inf. and enlisted in Tampa. Could be a second enlistment though...which is why I wanted to go back and look at the G.W.H. in the 7th Fl. Inf. Guess I know what I'll be at a later date. :) (I tell you...this research is A-D-D-I-C-T-I-N-G.)

Off to go wash the dishes and make bread. (Squash based. ;D)

     Racheal

1 Comment

Running Commentary...

2/25/2015

0 Comments

 
Running thoughts as I went through the Cow Cavalry Rosters on Fold3...

 Seriously...if I had the last name of "Coward" I would change it!!

Hmm...a mysterious case of couldn't get the man's name right: From all appearances, Pvt.s B.A. Drigges, Benjamin Driggus, and Bery Dugus are all the same man. My question is: which was his actual name? :D
(Did I mention I am having fun?) 

Richard Lafayette Garrison: Sent to Key West on suspicion of being a a dangerous character. 
There's a story lurking in there.... ;)

Who says boys can't be men at 15. Here's a 15 year old sergeant. Those Hendry men must have been something else--they are all over two of the Cow Cav companies...


This Henry H. Hodges started out as a Pvt. (duh) and ended up a Sgt. Problem is, I'm seeing evidence of "Co. A" (of which there were two) and "Watson's Co. [D]". Confusing...likely enough he served in both. Oh, and, he was apparently enlisted by Col. Munnerlyn himself! 

*whistles*

Some of these guys were TALL--for instance, Pvt. Richard H. Hunter was 6 feet tall 11 inches!! That beats the 6 foot 9 incher way back in the C's...

OH WOW...the charges of treason against Capt. L.G. Lesley!! (He was a Methodist preacher, by the way...) I'm going to see if I can read it all and transcribe it over here for y'all...(um...to warn ya, there is a smidge of what folks might consider "bad-language" in here...)
                           Charges and Specifications against L.G. Lesley

Charges of Treason:
Specifications & -- In this the said L.G. Lesley, late Captain in the Rebel Service and now a Minister of the Gospel residing in Hernando County, Florida, did on the 8th day of October 1865 while in the Street in the Course of his remarks to the audience assembled at a --- Meeting in Polk County Florida, assent that Jas [James] D. Greene late Captain of the 2nd Regt Florida Cavalry U.S. Forces Committed a Heinous Sin in destroying Rebel Property while on a raid in Hernando County Florida.

Specifications [--] In this L.G. Lesley aforesaid did endeavor by his Haranguing to Inculcate[?] on the minds of the Congregation that Officers who discharged there duty in pulling down the Rebellion is guilty of a sin in so doing and requires his special Prayer for there Redemption at the same time and endeavoring to InCite the minds of his hearers against the officers and Soldiers of the United States army. 

All in the above Charge at the time and place above mentioned.

Charge[--] Inhuman Treatment to a United States Solider.

Specification: In this L.G. Lesley late Captain in the Rebel service and now a Minster of the Gospel residing in Hernando County Fla, did in the month of July 1864 fall in with a United States Solider who was on leave of absence from his Command fixing upon Said Soldier without ordering Said Soldier to Surrender a ball taking effect in the body of Said Soldier causing him, Said Solider, to fall in the Water by which he was Standing, the Said Soldier calling out. For the Lord's Sake help me or I shall drown. [W]hereupon the aforesaid Captain Lesley walked to where the wounded Soldier was lying and remarked. The Lord help you, you infernal Tory Son of a Bitch, or words to that effect, at the same time setting his foot upon the Said Soldiers head and Sinking it beneath the Surface of the water.

All this in Hernando County Florida on, or about the 5th day of July 1864.

[Witness[?]]  Charge 1st Specifications 1st
N.H. Deleosles [?] 1st Lt. 2nd US C Inf.
Sergt. R[something] C[something] Co. B, 2nd Fla. [?]
[something] A Carlton

Charge 2nd Specifications 1st
N. H. Deboster [?] 1st  Lt.  2nd U.S. C. Inf.
R.J. Bradley, Citizen Hernando Co, Fla.
Smith
I attempted to retain the spelling and grammar...and obviously that N.H. D-- guy is the same one. I don't think either spelling is correct, thus leaving them both up. :P

I couldn't quite read Capt. Lesley's defensive...maybe another time when my eyes aren't already bugged out I'll come back and give it a try...

Daniel Campbell McDonald...do I have anyone who is going to dispute that this man was of Scottish decent?

Hmm...I think that might be Col. Munnerlyn's commission from Pres. Davis....but I'm not 100% sure. I can't read it (now at any rate; eyes are too burned out to try to read this handwriting...)

**
Took a break to make supper. I informed Savannah, "I've had my head in Confederate soldiers all afternoon...tonight; we're eatin' Southern."

With that in mind, I held up the can of mustard greens. Then I moved off to remove a dirty skillet from the stove (I forgot to wash the lunch dishes). It was then that one of those amusing mis-heard statements took place. Savannah said (about the greens), "If they're not turnips..." and I heard, "That's not really dirty." So I had this confused look on my face because the skillet was clearly in need of washing. But once she explained, it all made sense. :D

Oh, and just so I don't leave you hanging...drooling is permissible...we're having grits (well, I am), eggs, mushrooms (Savannah, not me), mustard greens, and the leftover cabbage. 

I think I'll pick back up on this job tomorrow...I got all the way through the alphabet from A to P. R to Z tomorrow, I guess! :)

      Racheal

0 Comments

Another Story...

2/24/2015

0 Comments

 
I had so much fun editing "Once Upon a Time" yesterday that I decided to also try to finish up the other 'fairy tale' that I had started some weeks back. 

I did. I put it up this morning, after doing some editing-as-I-format....It's a bit longer, but hopefully engaging and enjoyable. :)

So here ya go: Sable.

      Racheal

0 Comments

Once Upon a Time...

2/23/2015

2 Comments

 
I decided, since I'm down with a meningitis attack that I would finish up this story I imagined Saturday night...

Every now and again, I have, in my own not-necessarily-too-humble opinion, a decent story, but then I can't think up a fanciful name. Thus it is  that this mix-up on the classic Cinderella ended up with that unimaginative name...

Without further ado: Once Upon a Time...

     Racheal

2 Comments

Chapter 16: Appendices 

2/22/2015

0 Comments

 
Today we take up the three remaining appendices from Chapter 16.

First, "Regeneration and Effectual Calling".
When the Westminster Standards use the term “effectual calling,” they include in that Divine calling the idea of regeneration....Although regeneration may be properly included in a definition of effectual calling, these two works of God can also be distinguished as two distinct, but inseparable works of God in the hearts of God’s elect. (691)

"Regeneration in the strictest sense of the word, that is, as the begetting again, takes place in the sub-conscious life of man, and is quite independent of any attitude which he may assume with reference to it. Calling, on the other hand, addresses
itself to the consciousness, and implies a certain disposition of the conscious life. This follows from the fact that regeneration works from within, while calling comes from without."  48. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1941), 471. (691)

It is helpful to realize the logical order of effectual calling and regeneration in the experience of an individual, bearing in mind that this logical order does not imply a chronological order. (1) The general call of the gospel generally precedes or coincides with the operation of the Holy Spirit. (2) Then by the exertion of recreative omnipotence, God produces in the individual new life, changing the disposition of his soul, enlightening his mind, and renewing his will....(3) Having received “ears that hear,” healed of their deafness caused by depravity, the effectual call of God is now heard and embraced by the sinner, and is brought home effectively to the heart....(4) Effectual calling secures through the instrumentality of the Word of truth, the first exercises of the individual’s new heart and spiritual disposition, which exercises are faith in Christ, repentance, and submission to Him. (691-692)
Second: "The New Birth and Faith".
Is faith the effect of the new birth? Or is the new birth the effect of faith?...Is regeneration the consequence of faith? Or is faith a consequence of regeneration?

Which has priority in the order of salvation: faith or regeneration?

The Anglican, John Stott, wrote in his commentary on 1 John: “[B]elieving is the consequence, not the cause, of the new birth.”55  Agreeing with that view, the Presbyterian John Murray, in his book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, speaks of faith as the effect of regeneration, and of regeneration as the prerequisite of faith. 55. John Stott, The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), 172. (694)

The final arbiter in all such controversies is the written Word of God (Isa. 8:20). It tells us that regeneration, as the recreative act of God, is the source of all moral changes in the heart and life: “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). (695)

The effects of the new birth include: (1) The ability to “see” and to “enter” the kingdom of God (John 3:3–6); (2) The practice of “righteousness” in our daily lives (1 John 2:29); (3) The “knowing” and “loving” of God (1 John 4:7); (4) The “turning” from sin day by day (1 John 3:9); (5) The “overcoming” of the world (1 John 5:4); (6) The “loving” of other people (1 John 3:14); and (7) The “victory” over Satan’s dominion (1 John 5:18). And the point to remember in all this is that regeneration is inseparable from its effects. (695)

The Scriptural terms for regeneration are: “quickened” or “made alive” (Eph. 2:5), (re) “creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), “workmanship” (Eph. 2:10), “regeneration” (Tit. 3:5), (new) “birth” (John 3:3, 5), (spiritual) “resurrection” (Col. 3:1). All of these terms indicate that regeneration is the work of God alone and not of man in any sense (John 1:13)....It is entirely and exclusively an act of the triune God and, therefore, it is real, permanent and complete....We have as much to do with our spiritual birth as we did with our physical birth! (696)

The necessity for regeneration should be obvious to anyone familiar with the Bible....The unregenerate cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). (696)

This spiritual quickening brings life to a dead sinner, enabling him to believe in Jesus....To quicken means more than to assist, enlighten or persuade. It means to bring life where formerly there was only death. Therefore, since quickening is the impartation of new life in Christ, it can be called a new birth or regeneration: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 3:5). (697)

God does not wait for man to take the first step before He acts. He Himself takes
the initiative. In Genesis 3:15, God affirms that this He WILL do, thereby enabling otherwise helpless man to overcome the power of evil through faith: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). (698)

In Deuteronomy 30:6 it is not our love for the Lord that produces spiritual circumcision of the heart. Rather, it is the spiritual circumcision of the heart that produces love for the Lord. (698)

Man MUST act, he MUST choose, he MUST respond to the claims and offers of the gospel in the way God commands, if he expects to be saved from his sin. BUT, the choice of a man to believe in Jesus and his acting upon that choice are predicated upon the enabling, regenerative action of God in his life. (699)

Being born of God is not the result of believing in Christ, it is the cause of believing in Christ. (700)


...since God alone is the author of regeneration, His divine work is irresistible, like the wind—it cannot be thwarted, reversed or finally resisted; it is sovereign, also like the wind, in that it is bestowed on whomever God chooses; and it is mysterious, like the wind, in that it cannot be fully perceived or understood. (700-701)


Regeneration produces faith. (702)

In John 6:29, faith in Christ is described as a work. Therefore, unless we believe in salvation by works, we are forced to conclude that we who believe in Christ do so because we were recreated by God in Christ unto that end. Faith does not make us new creations in Christ; it is the new creation that makes us believers. (703)

THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF THIS MORAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE HEART BY THE SPIRIT ARE: (1) The opening of the eyes of our understanding to the excellency and divine authority of the revealed truth of Jesus Christ; and (2) The movement of the entire inner life of a person to embrace that truth and that Savior. (705)

Our concern is the power of God to save sinners and the total inability of sinners
to save themselves. The point and purpose of this study is to uphold the glorious truth of the Bible that God not only offers salvation to undeserving and helpless sinners, but that He also, by the new birth, enables His chosen people to respond to His overtures of love in the gospel with faith and repentance. (705)
Third: "The Common Grace of God".
The common operations of the Spirit mentioned in Larger Catechism Q. 68 could include what we call today “the common grace of God.” God does bestow various favors graciously and generously upon all people, elect and non-elect alike. (707)

(1) It is COMMON grace. All unregenerate and non-elect people are the recipients of God’s common and universal and abundant generosity....“[T]here can be no escape from the conclusion that goodness and beneficence, kindness and mercy are here
attributed to God in his relations to the ungodly.” 61 Murray, Collected Writings, 2:105. (707)

(2) It is common GRACE. God’s favors upon the ungodly are always and without doubt undeserved and unmerited. (708)

(3) It is NON-SANCTIFYING grace. Whereas special, saving grace has a regenerating, sanctifying effect on the elect upon whom it is bestowed, the bestowal of the favors of common grace upon the ungodly does not have a regenerating, sanctifying effect. (708)

(4) It is BASED ON THE ATONING DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST. Every favor God bestows upon sinful man is given on account of the life and work of Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant (Eph. 1:3; Tit. 3:5, 6)....“While Christ died for the purpose of saving only the elect, nevertheless, the whole human race, including the impenitent and the reprobate, derive great benefits from His death. The blessings of common grace may be regarded as indirect results of the atoning work of Christ.” 65 Louis Berkhof, Summary of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1938), 121–22. (708-709)

Effects:
(1) It restrains sin in the sinner. ...
(2) It restrains God’s wrath. ...
(3) It restrains evil in the world. ...
(4) It bestows good and excites to good....Creation itself is the recipient of God’s personal and abundant generosity (Ps. 65:5–13; 104:13–23; 145:9, 15, 16; 136:25). ...
(5) It preserves some sense of truth, morality and religion in the ungodly. ...
(6) It enables the ungodly to perform outward good and civil righteousness. ...
(7) It brings to the ungodly many temporal blessings in this present life. (709-713)

Common grace serves the purpose of special, saving grace; and saving grace has as its purpose the glory of God in the salvation of the elect. (714)

"Biblical law is a means of grace: common [and non-sanctifying] grace to those who are perishing, special [and sanctifying] grace to those who are regenerate. We all benefit from God’s extension of blessings to us when we are externally faithful to the external terms of the covenant."  79. North, Dominion and Common Grace, 49. (714)

Conclusions:
FIRST, "the practical effect of this principle is very great. It means a profound respect for, and appreciation of, every good and noble thing, and it is this philosophy and ethic that has made Christianity in its true expression a force in every department of legitimate human interest and vocation....It has striven to give expression to the Christian faith in politics, economics, industry, education, art, science, philosophy, for its controlling conception has been the absolute sovereignty of God in all of life." 80. Murray, Collected Writings, 2:117–18. 
SECOND, to whom much is given, much is required!
THIRD, some have abused the doctrine of common grace in their philosophies of education saying that since “all truth is God’s truth,” students should spend most of their time in school studying non-Christian works and know they are products of common grace....Without a central and comprehensive focus on the written
Word of Truth, education in the truth is impossible.
FOURTH, “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men” (Luke 6:35). (715-716)

      Racheal

0 Comments

Succession

2/20/2015

2 Comments

 
It seems that so often, when ONE things happens, or goes wrong, something else is right on it's heels. Excitement tends to come in bursts around here, I guess I might say.

Savannah and I have been noticing that over the past couple weeks that when we stoked the furnace, there has been an increased level of smoke that came billowing out at us. Last night, things rather came to a head. Smoke was leaking out of the joints at the elbow where the pipe connects to the chimney. Well, at Daddy's suggestion we put metal tape around the cracks and that seemed to help. Then Savannah went back down to the basement again--and it was leaking from other areas, including around the door. She turned the blowers off and the thermostat in the house and we let it go out.

Thankfully, we have back-up with the electric heat (did I forget to mention the low was someplace around -5* last nigh?)...it isn't nearly as efficient, but it sure helps!! Well, anyway, that worked until shortly after 6:00 this morning when it quit too. 

Thus ensued the scramble to get some sort of heat up and running. When I went out to feed the chickens this morning, it was 0* outdoors and roughly 67* in the house. It had been determined that there had to be a blockage in the furnace chimney. I declared that, regardless of my fear of heights, I would go up on the roof and give the chimney sweeping a go. (Meanwhile we were on and off the phone and Skype with our parents.) Mama ended up giving that a very firm "No"...

I got to looking at the chimney and bonnet later (from the ground, that is) and decided that even had I been capable of getting the bonnet off (and Daddy told me it's hard for him), I am not sure that I would have been tall enough to force the brush down the chimney.

So anyway, we called a chimney sweep--who wouldn't be able to make it out here until Tuesday--and set an appointment with them. (It would later get cancelled; keep reading.)

Then, trying to trouble shoot even further, we went on an exploratory trek to the basement, Daddy in on-Skype consultation mode:
Picture
Those are my worm bins to my right.
I would end up unhooking the elbow from the furnace and doing an initial clean out there. The amount of junk was, all told, very negligible. 
Picture
This was after I had already stuck most of my upper body into the fire box and cleaned out what I could reach there.
Picture
Elbow off...
Picture
Who said anything about elbows? I'm up to my shoulder in this!!
Well, there really wasn't anything to talk about up as far as I could reach there either, so we left it hanging. 

Then Daddy had another idea:
Picture
That's right, a candle.

See, we could feel a little tiny bit of a draft at the pipe, so Daddy told us to get a candle and light it, then hold it up to the pipe. If it didn't get blown out due to the suction then we would know for sure that we had a blockage of some sort.

Well, it didn't even think about being blown out.

Daddy next picked up the phone and called Mr. M...one of our deacons and a man who works at all kinds of stuff like this for his living. Mr. M said he'd be there within the hour. Daddy told me to go ahead and get the ladder set up and to have the chimney brush handy for when Mr. M arrived.

I had just sat down to eat my lunch when I noticed that Abby was craning her neck in an alert posture as she looked out the window. So, I hopped up, jammed my feet into my cowboy boots while at the same time pulling my denim coat on. Last step as I stumbled out the door was to cram Daddy's "Russian" hat onto my head. (That was my headgear of choice today.) 

After greeting Mr. M, I supplied him with the brushes and held the ladder for him as he mounted to the roof. He started to say something about the roof when he reached the point of transfer, but he didn't finish his sentence for whatever reason. But I know it had to do with the trickiness of the transfer because Daddy told me that was the hardest part. :P

I scrambled back into the house and bolted the rest of my lunch. Abby was freaking out because she could hear Mr. M on the roof and the brush going down the chimney. 

After I finished my lunch, I suited up and headed back outside just about the same time Mr. M was coming down. Poor man was frozen! We invited him in to warm up and have a cup of coffee. I went back out and took the cleaning rod apart (he had been too cold to do it). I couldn't get enough friction to do it with my gloves on, so I had to take them off. I think that is why tonight the backs of my hands are red...and the whole surface is quite rough. Coming in contact with fabric is rather uncomfortable. 

After drinking half his coffee, Mr. M went back up onto the roof to put the bonnet back on. And then he came back in and finished his coffee. The three of us tramped to the basement and he put the rest of the furnace back together and Savannah got the fire going. (I didn't mention earlier, but we had taped a feed sack to the open end of the elbow to catch the junk coming down the pipe.) 

Mr. M informed us that we had had an one-hundred percent creosote blockage. That could have been way worse than a smoke filled house. It could have meant fire in the chimney...and worse. Praise God that we did not have that problem and that Mr. M so graciously came to our rescue!! 

Later in the day, the guys showed up to fix our electric heat. I am not exactly sure what they did...or exactly what the problem was--other than some sort of heat limit override sensor thingy. (So that sounded really brilliant. Sorry. I got out of bed running today and I have barely slowed down and I'm kind of tired.)

In between Mr. M and these other guys though, I brought in three buggy loads of wood--all by myself again. I'm hoping that I don't get a meningitis attack tomorrow. If I don't, that will make twice in the last week that I've done some good physical work without an attack! However, I'm not jumping to conclusions yet. It's not tomorrow. :D

Someplace in here I also made a trip to the apartment--some sort of paper-work that I was the gopher/runner for.  

Later, Savannah and I went into town; me driving. I have been "chauffeur" lately since her eyes are bothering her (Lyme shifting up again). When we got home, I fed the chickens...and stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's again. I got their kerosene heater going for them. They were both cold--and I can't say I was sweating even though I had five layers on; two shirts, a sweater, coveralls, and my heavy duty flannel-lined denim jacket. In other words, it must have been chilly in there. Usually in the wintertime their place is so down right hot you want a sleeveless shirt on out there. (That is slight hyperbole.)

Then I came in and hauled wood from the old oil room into the furnace room. I think it was about that time that I noticed my hip was bugging me a bit and that I had started limping again. Oh well. Grit your teeth and bear it. That's my motto when it comes to this Lyme-arthritis. There tends to be some grimaces that accompany that as well...but I really do try not to moan and groan and complain about it--though I have been driven to tears by the pain. (It's no where near that bad tonight, by the way. Just a nagging little irritation mostly.)

Some how or another, I also ended up the day with the tops of my knees chapped. I did go outside briefly three or four times without my coveralls on. I would hardly think that would be enough to chap my knees (through jeans), but I guess it was. Cold is strange. All in all, I think I prefer 99* and being soaked through and through with sweat. Heh...that brings it's own set of physical irritations, so guess I cannot claim that is "perfect" either! :D 

Oh well. I am VERY grateful to have heat tonight. 

      Racheal

2 Comments

Musician's Adventures...

2/18/2015

0 Comments

 
The Rising of the Moon by The High Kings on Grooveshark
Yes, musician's have adventures in their tracking down of songs. See, without PLAYING it first to double-check that it was the tune I thought it was, I copied off a tune for "The Rising of the Moon"--another high energy, Irish war song. And no, I do not have the ability (yet) to look at a piece of music and know what it sounds like. Particularly when the opening note pattern seems to be the same. 

If you have yet to guess, it wasn't the tune I was expecting. (On top of which, I had one of those momentary, occasionally situations where I got my flats and sharps backwards. I love it when I do that. :P) It's a fine tune in it's own right (probably, once the terrible fumbles I made with my backwards flats get ironed out), but weird to my ear with the words.

Wondering if I were just hearing everything wrong, I started humming the tune which I recognize "The Rising of the Moon" to...and all of a sudden I went: "Hey, that's the same tune as 'Wearing of the Gray'! It's the 'Wearing of the Green'!!" I did a quick internet search and sure enough...that's the tune most people I know of sing it to.

I already have said tune copied off in my "Civil War" music binder, so I don't have to copy it. :) Now...I have two tunes for the same song. I think I'll stick to playing it the way I'm familiar with it, but go ahead and learn the other tune as well. After all, I might as well since I took the trouble to write it over. ;)

Ah well...life! Savannah said she'd come play music with me in a few minutes, so I had better go re-warm up my fingers!!

      Racheal

0 Comments

Title-No-Title

2/17/2015

0 Comments

 
Um...so yes. That's a spin off of the name General JEB Stuart called his camp the winter of '62-'63...Camp-No-Camp just tickled my funny bone.

I am afraid I cannot claim an overly productive day today...but I don't feel grand, so that's my only excuse.

I have spent some time trying to find out more about the person that I intend on impersonating at an upcoming conference. (Impersonating is kind of like reenacting.) Thing is, I cannot seem to find out loads about my particular character. I also, as of yet, do not know specifically what the conference planner's have in mind for the questions that they intend us to be able to answer. (The impersonators are rather like the clues in a treasure hunt.) I think this is going to be so, so much fun...so hopefully I can learn enough about my character (yes, I'm going to keep y'all in suspense until May!!) that I can do a really good job. Going to have to work on my accent. *thinking out loud* Maybe I should write a mini-biography like paper which I can print off and practice with...get my sister to ply me with questions of random various sorts so I can work on being natural and not fumbling around. 

So, anyway, I spent some time doing that today. 

I also played my guitar some. I have the music bug today, so I think I'll go play some more in a bit. In addition to that, I sat here and copied over three songs. I found this great music site sometime back and anytime I run into a piece of old folk or British Isle music that I "have to have!" I go look it up there. Sometimes it's just the words and no tune, which is disappointing to me. I have copied off a grand total of something like 6-10 songs in the last couple of weeks. (I could just print them, but the resolution stinks. It's much easier to read my own sloppy notation than the tiny, fuzzy print out.) All that to say: I copied off three more songs today. I don't hand write all the words (generally), but rather put them into a document and print them. Savannah and I are both pretty excited about some of them! :) I also re-write stuff out of my "Civil War Songbook" because a good portion of the time, there is a page turn smack dab in the middle of the song. *crinkles up nose* Not very conducive to smooth playing...

I took a couple of pans full of jars to the basement--after I had the very Racheal-esque misfortune of breaking one of them this morning. Seriously, I walked into the kitchen and kicked one of them by accident. When it bumped into the ones next to it, it broke all over the place. I honestly have no idea how I do this kind of thing!!

After vacuuming the lower part of the house, I put my feet up and read for about an hour and a half until it was time to go feed the chickens. Now the cats are all informing me, in their various modes of communication that "It is time for supper". To which, I retort, "It is not time for supper. You must wait until six o'clock." Runty is wrowling at the head of the stairs and Abby is strolling about, licking the plastic feed sacks that serve as mud catchers in the mud room (that drives me nuts!), and reaching out a demanding paw now and again. Poor starving cats... 

It's about 19 degrees outside, but it feels colder because of the straight wind...I'm really looking forward to our 2 degree high in a few days. That shall be fun. :P I told Savannah to remind me to cover up my face when I go out into that...

So...cheers folks! :)

     Racheal

0 Comments

Cold-Day Rambles

2/16/2015

1 Comment

 
I'm cold. The furnace is blasting along (I just raked the ashes out and stoked it a few minutes ago), but the temperature is still only 69 degrees in here. I think the warmest it has gotten in her today is 70. If the living room weren't so cold, I think I'd go practice my guitar, but with my fingers cold and stiff, it'd make for a pretty lousy practice. (I may still stroll in there... :])

I hauled wood this morning. Savannah isn't feeling so grand due to a fall she had on the ice the other day, so I did it by myself. Thankfully, I remembered to put my brace on my left wrist before I went out, so though I did three loads of wood, my wrist didn't really start hurting--which is a good thing. It gets discouraging sometimes when you do "normal" work and end up not being able to pick up a chunk of wood with one hand or be able to carry more than one or two pieces at a time.

Thankfully, Savannah washed the dishes for me though, so I didn't have to take care of that. Anyway, ever since I came in this morning, my sense of time has been way off. We must have eaten lunch early because when I went to go clean up the small amount of lunch dishes it wasn't even 1 o'clock yet!! I felt like it was 2 or so--which is really kind of weird. 

I finally got around to doing my stack of ironing...I didn't bother counting the pieces needing the heat, but I know it was a quite a few. I don't dislike ironing like I used to, but it still seems to take me forever to get around to my pile. 

I think I shall go feed the chickens sooner than later today. I have a few other "little" things to do in addition to that--dumping the ashes for one and putting some meat Grandma re-packaged into the freezer for her for another. 

I did actually put the wood-clamps back in the old garage this morning after them sitting on the bathroom counter for nearly a week. Procrastination...it's a definite pitfall for me. Particularly when I feel the need to "suit up" in my warm coveralls before heading out of doors. Depending on the fullness of my skirt (since that is what I wear most of the time), I am sure the process can be amusing (from a viewers stand point) from time to time. Or, like this morning, I had one leg in and the other mostly in when I heard my phone start ringing. Savannah was upstairs, so I didn't bother to holler at her to answer it for me. I went bouncing through the house, with my toes still caught between the bottom of the leg zipper and lowest snap to answer my phone. It made me giggle while doing it, so I figure I looked pretty silly. :)

My "kilt hose" have been a welcome addition to my suiting up process the last few days. Since I did not make myself a pair of kilt flashes--or garters, I have been using my "dishwasher's sweater sleeve" trick on my socks. A rubber band about the top. It works well and saves any hassle of "oh, shoot...my socks are sliding down!" I don't know about you, but that bugs me a bit.

From time to time, depending on hair do, I have been borrowing Daddy's bushy Russian looking hat. It keeps me nice and warm and I don't have to deal with the scarf ends slipping loose from where I tuck them. It is rather dirty and smells of Daddy's hair, but I'm not wearing it to win beauty contests, so it doesn't bother me in the least. :D

Well, now that I have given you a peek into my going-outside-into-the-cold routine (rather unintentionally, in fact), I think I shall go suit up and take care of my chores.

Then maybe I'll still have enough energy to lug the vacuum upstairs and do my room--much to the cat's delight. ;P

     Racheal

1 Comment
<<Previous
    New post on The Bee Project! 04/26/18
    Picture

    The Middle Kid

    I chose to title this blog "The Adventures of a Middle Kid" because that is exactly what I'll be detailing (mostly). I chose 'kid' over any other word, like 'girl' (I am the middle girl so it also would have worked) or 'child'
    (since I am no longer exactly a child).

    I am a middle kid and I will always be a middle kid--even when I'm 80!

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013

    Follow
    Picture
    The anti-Christ will not overrun Christ’s church or kingdom.
    Christ will win. He is winning. He has won. --Joe Morecraft, III
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    1942 Truck Restoration
    Accidents
    Agriculture
    Authentic Christianity
    Books
    Caretaking
    Cats
    Cattle
    Chickens
    Church
    Confederates
    Conference
    Cooking
    Costumes
    Cow Cavalry
    Family
    Farmers Market
    Filmmaking
    Food
    Friends
    History
    Holidays
    Horse
    Knitting
    Lyme/Co Infections
    Lyme/Co-Infections
    Mechanics
    Movies
    Music
    Musings
    Musket Echos
    Nonesense
    Pictures
    Politics
    Reenacting
    Rodeo
    Sewing
    Shooting
    Theology/Philosophy
    Video
    War Between The States
    Weather
    Weddings
    Work
    Writing
    WWII

    Picture

    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    FREEDOM'S LIGHT FILMS
    Picture
    Picture
    Reformed Reviews
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    www.fold3.com
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    7 Lb.s of Bacon Mess Band
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.