Busy Busy Weekend

Holloween found me first taking pictures at a wedding practice & then at D&D's doing the treats thing. A surprising number of Hersey's Dark Chocolate Morsels appeared to be defective & had to be disposed of by yours truly.



Saturday afternoon Don & I - with help from Dolores of course - took over 800 photos of Sara & Noel getting married. Kat was a bride's attendant, the photo is the bride & her 2 Chatham Hall attendants doing the "Chatham Hall Angles" thing. And yes the bride really does know how to shoot, the day after the wedding she went hunting with her Dad & brought home a nice deer.



It was fun & I liked doing the photos for Sara, but @#$%^&* am I one tired out puppy !

OVPR Rendezvous !

My favorite rendezvous are hosted by the Olde Virginia Primitive Riflemen - they host a 'vous in March & again in October. Unfortunately I usually can't get time off for all of the October 'vous, so I just drive up Friday morning after work & stay until around noon on Sunday. Its still a bunch of fun, just not as much fun as I would like. I met up with Jane aka Buffalo Woman & a shining time was had by one & all. This event also marks the end of another rendezvous season. From now until late March I'll work on getting various pieces of gear made & learning new old songs for the fireside singing.

Fall is Upon the Land

Since late May I've been working on painting the trim on the house. Its now gotten too cold for the paint to set up properly, so now I just wait for May to roll around again. I've gotten all the window & door trim cleaned, sanded, primed and painted with 3 coats of Valspar exterior satin paint. The paint is named "Lime Twist" but it dries into "John Deer Tractor Green". At least its a traditional rural color. The rear gutter has been removed, the trim cleaned, sanded & primed too. It may not look impressive as yet, but there's a lot of surface area to a window frame. Its a job that has definetely kept me busy !

Unexpected Pleasure

Ruckersville hosts a modest Civil War Re-enactment the 3rd weekend of September. And I of course must work on that weekend, which is a serious bummer. The event is all of 4.6 miles from my house, I could bicycle there already. But I gots LUCKY ! Work needed to reschedule my time off next week and I of course agreed - agreed to go home early Friday night and stay home Saturday night. Huzzah !

So Saturday morning early I went & hung out with my 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Co. F buddies. Then when it started to get unpleasantly warm, I headed home and painted house trim for a couple of hours. I could hear the cannon firing from my yard. Dinner rolled around, I put on a Garabaldi skirt & blouse & headed back to the CW doings. Ambled over to the Rebel horse camp, had a great dinner with the horsey guys, meandered back to the dance tent, danced a bit, then finished the night off with the night cannon firing. I had a fantastic time. Saw a whole bunch of friends & arranged to sell my Amrisport .58 Springfield. Sorry, no pictures. I was too busy having fun.

The End of Summer

Its official. Summer is over. I know, the weather is still warm, the woods still verdant green but summer is over. The fireflies have stopped rising, there have been no blinking little bugs in my neighborhood for a week. So summer is over. Much as I love fall (which really is my favorite season) I always feel a profound sadness when summer ends. It has been a good summer, I have been camping once a month at the Izaak Walton League in Lynchburg, attended 2 'Vous and ALBA, spent some time with my kid, seen Tina off to Japan, and gotten well along on the exterior house trim painting. It has been a good summer so I guess feeling a sorrow at its ending makes sense.

This is the late summer woods behind my home.

Going to the 'Vous

Belle Grove near Strasburg VA is primarily known as a Civil War battle site, but its got a neat pre-Civil War farmhouse and it happens to be were the Shenandoah Longrifles hold their rendezvous. So on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends I'm usually camped at Belle Grove, cooking food over an open fire and wearing the height of fashion if one were the widow of Joe-the-Farmer and it just happened to be the mid 1700's. This year I got to the Grove mid-day Friday which means I missed the rain but still had the mud to contend with. So I carried my camp in from the treeline rather than risk getting my 2 wheel drive truck stuck in the mud and set up my lodge next to my friend Jane. My lodge being a 5 foot tall wedge tent with a 7x7 foot floor. Definitely on the cosy side but big enough to let me use a cot inside so I'm not sleeping right on the ground. Which is a good thing if the ground is rather squishy. Anyway now attired in shift, pocket, petticoat, sleeveless bodice and apron with my knife hanging from my belt I was ready for anything.

And at dark anything started - a rough table appeared hosting a keg of strange brew in which rum was a primary ingredient and it was surrounded by persons of the lower sorts. Rogues, scoundrels and pirates gathered there only to be joined with itinerant musicians and wenches of dubious reputation. I had stumbled into the Pirates Annual Court and they were about to choose their new Prince of Rogues. I sought to stay quietly in the shadows but fate had other tricks to play and the next thing I knew I found myself compelled to oversee the proceedings. Two women esteemed by the gathering were to judge the contenders, a "Mistress Smith" and "Mistress Jones", and I was to cast the deciding vote in case of a tie. I silently prayed no such tie would occur and in my best fish mongers voice called the gathering to a rough sort of order. Six seamen stood before the rum table, each one a mother's worst nightmare. The Mistress Smith and Jones were long in deciding as various bribes were offered by this rogue or that pirate but in the end a local ship captain was chosen with two other seamen named as his court. Cheers rang out and libations flowed as a company of musicians began to play. I of course joined the musicians and a good time was had by all at last.

A few folks watching the Frying Pan Toss

Saturday was just a day of visiting with friends and the camp dinner. The Shenandoah Longrifles camp potluck is usually very good but this year was unusually fine, the best ever of the 'Vous I've been to with this club. I as usual brought a gallon of fresh cider and then put the bottle of rum I won as a door prize at the Laid Back Affair on the libations table. Hardest bottle of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum I've ever tried to give away, it took until late Sunday afternoon for it to be emptied. Why Is the Rum Not Gone ! I also sold the 12 quart footed Dutch oven, so I no longer need to haul it around to 'vous, it has a new happy home. That night the musicians were out in force with fiddle tunes at one lodge fire and singers at another. I stayed at the singers' fire and we sang until the wee hours. I was up early Sunday, spent more time socializing and then it was noon and time for me to head over the mountains and home. By Sunday night I had my clothes cleaned and gear put up. I'm as ready as I'll ever be for another work cycle.

Summer is for Camping

August is turning out to be a very busy month. This weekend found me back at Izaak Walton in Lynchburg with my modern camping gear and archery tackle. The weather was a bit cool but still warm enough for a good swim and the cool temps were nice on the archery range. Jane and I hiked along the new trail the Boy Scouts laid out around the fishing lake and had a nice campfire sing Saturday after the camp potluck dinner. I've gotten my modern camp gear all squared away so its packed and ready to go at the house. Which makes it easy to put it in the truck and go camping without first spending half a day figuring out what to take, finding it in my house and then packing it up. Excess camp gear has a rendezvous with eBay next spring when camping season begins again. I'm getting very fond of eBay, its really helping me clean out my house. A never ending yard sale on my computer. I love it.

A Very Laid Back Affair

Every August about 70 motorcycle riders gather in Buena Vista and, well, ride motorcycles. All kinds of motorcycles - tour bikes, street bikes, dual sport machines, trikes, one guy even brings a trials machine. We camp out mostly at Glen Maury Park, organize our own rides both on and off road, and have a camp feed Saturday night. Its about the best fun you can have with modern clothes on (remember, I do historic attired events too). This year was no exception; Kat, Jane & I all went, we had a splendiferous time, and we enjoyed our selves to the max.
























Jane rides a scooter & my Harley isn't running right (grrr) so she & I headed off in Kat's car (which we brought instead of my truck 'cause it gets better mileage) on Saturday to Amherst and the Monacan Indian Museum. Both of us have been driving past the museum sign for years. Anyway, its a nice little museum on the site of the now closed Indian school and the still open Episcopal church that both served the Native community there. Well worth the trip. And a drive on a pleasant summer day in the Blue Ridge is almost as good as a motorcycle ride through the same area. The only bummer about the Rally is it does sorta mark the end of my summer. Time with good friends never lasts long enough.





Here's a picture of my friend Jane with the cat that lives at the Episcopal parsonage. A VERY friendly critter with a lawnmower purr.

































Of course no LBA would be complete without the Saturday night camp feed and door prize drawing. Door prizes at the LBA are biker themed but otherwise quite unique. We give away new motorcycles (as in motorcycle shaped lighters, Timex clocks or Matchbox toys), various gag gifts, bungie cords, belt pouches, duct tape - you get the drift. I won a baseball cap from The Dragons Tail in Deals Gap (318 curves in 11 miles, very technical ride), a head cover to wear inside a helmet and a rather large bottle of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. Not sure what to do with the rum since I don't drink - I tried putting it on the margarita table but it was still there unopened Sunday when it was time to pack up and go home. I'll think of Something. After the dinner and door prizes we were treated to 3 guys playing 'ol timely mountain tunes - a most excellent way to close out the meal.

Run - Run - Run

OK, so I stayed home this weekend and tied up a whole bunch of loose ends. I've finally got internet access to all my bank accounts; the warranty-I-didn't-want has been properly canceled and repayment made; the tents, sleeping bags and cookware are ready for the Laid Back Affair; the laundry and dishes are done; and the bathroom has been cleaned. In my spare time I put things up on eBay, practiced archery, threw my hawk and knife, raked the pet burial area again, watched 2 DVD movies and went to the dentist this morning. Just 2 more days of work and I get to spend time with Urchin and Jane at the ALBA. Bring it on !

OK, so this isn't my kitten, but it sure is how I felt Sunday night !

Ack ! Its Almost August !

This was the work break that wasn't - I had to go into work on my day off for my annual firearms qualification. So I was at work from 7:30 AM until 2:30PM on Tuesday. I did shoot slightly above my personal goal for this year and I got the hearing protection I left at the range last time I qualified back. But I still lost a day off for less than a full day of work. I did go groom Irish & Louise, who are both looking good. Otherwise not much got accomplished. Bummer.

August will be here after this 2 day work cycle, 2/3 of the summer is gone already ! This weekend is catch up on chores and pack for A Laid Back Affair, which is an old school motorcycle rally. Kat, Jane & I are all going, the ALBA is held in a camp ground, most folks stay there while a few will motel it nearby. We do self organized rides and have a rally dinner Saturday evening. Its just a bunch of folks who like to ride motorcycles who get together a few times a year and, well, ride motorcycles.

I hope everyone out there is having a good summer.

Banks Are Weird

OK, so I have my mortgage and vehicle loans from the same bank. It doesn't happen to be the either the bank or the credit union where I have checking and/or savings accounts. I wanted to get online access to the loan accounts so I could check on when payments had posted and then set things up so I could make my loan payments online. So I went to the bank's web site to set this all up only the web site didn't recognize my account numbers. So I called their 800 number and got things setup that way. Except their web site has a broken link in the sign up process so that wouldn't work either. So I stopped at a bank branch while I was doing other errands to get online banking setup. Only because I had already started the process via the 800 customer service line they couldn't set me up unless there was a change in my customer accounts. But since I have 2 loans from them I can get a free checking account. So now I have another checking account so I can get online access for my loans. All of which seems like the long way around the barn door to me. Oh well, I can I can use this account for setting aside funds for rendezvous etc. Meanwhile I still don't have online access set up, I need to wait for the check card to arrive and then call the 800 number that comes with the card. I will get a $50 gift certificate by doing it this way so I guess there is a silver lining to the cloud. Meanwhile there are ads all over the bank's web site and branch office encouraging their customers to sign up and use online banking. Go figure.

A Camping We Will Go

A Camping We Will Go
A Camping We Will Go
Hi Ho the Derry-O
A Camping We Will Go

Part of the reason I pushed to get the house painting project solidly started was so I could go camping with my friend Jane. So Thursday morning I cleaned up my kitchen then packed up my modern camping gear, the long bows with their tackle and my guitar for 3 nights and 2 days of R&R at the Izaac Walton League site near Lynchburg. Jane got there first and had her RV all kitted out when I got there. But it didn't take me long to set my traps up while Jane cooked us venison burgers, fresh veggies and other wonderous stuffs. Then we got right into the serious camp work of making music around a campfire.

Friday saw Jane and getting down to the really really serious business of camping - fletching arrows for my Genesis modern bow, eating fresh blueberries with yogurt for breakfast, swimming in the IWLL lake, shooting the aforementioned bows, paddling on the lake, collecting ripe blackberries from the lakeside bushes via canoe and of course eating more great food. Night fall found us again at fireside making more music with a full moon and fireflies in attendance. Saturday was more of the same with a potluck camp meal to bring things to a close. After the dinner some other campers gave us a how-down of country classics from the likes of Johnny Cash and Jimmy Rogers as well as the country gospel tradition. A good time was had by all and sundry.

The Joys of Home Ownership

This is a banner for the Brother's of the Tomahawk, a Masonic Lodge of Rendezvous Men. I'm obviously not a member, but I sure have been busy as a beaver of late. As of today the wood window & door trim as well as the aluminum storm window frames on my house have all been cleaned, sanded as needed and primed. My feet and legs ache from all the ladder work, my arms and shoulders are a bit stiff from the scrubbing, sanding and brush painting but the door and window areas are ready for the green trim paint I just bought. I'm a very tired but very happy puppy.

Happy Birthday Urchin !

Twenty six years ago today at about 9:45 AM Kathleen Mathieu Cornell, aka "The Kid", aka "Urchin" entered this world. And the world hasn't been the same since. The Urchin who skipped 2 AM feedings as uncivilized arrived at my place today at around - ah, well - 2 AM. By 7:30 AM we were back up and on our way to her work with Sophie aboard. Urchin signed Sophie in for a bath and grooming session then gave me a tour of the Doggie Day Care & Boarding facility where she works. It is impressive, there is even a complimentary StarBucks coffee machine in the lobby. Then we cruised on over to the local Anita's for some New Mexico style brunch - which seems appropriate since Urchin's first restaurant visit as a 2 week old Kid was the original Anita's in Vienna. The inner woman fed it was then time for a nap at Urchin's digs. Well fed and reasonably well slept we decided Get Smart was a movie of the proper mood for the occasion, which it most definetly was - it had us laughing very hard more than once. From there we picked up Sophie and headed back to my place, a bit tired but happy. It was a very good day.

The photo is from Urchin's semester abroad at Doshisha Woman's College in Kyoto, Japan fall of 2003. I think the other young lady is her host sister. I don't know who the short fellow with the broom is, but if he is any good with that broom he can come to my house any time.

Farewell to A Good Friend

This is Noel, Queen to Ivan the Terrible and Calico Cat Par Excellence. For over 13 years she has shared my home, brought me mice for dinner, removed noisy crickets from my house & yard, and been a cuddle kitty laptop. Plus helped me raise my own Kat to adulthood. Noel died peacefully in her sleep late Sunday night after 17+ years of life. She is buried next to Ivan under the trees in the backyard. It is a most excellent cat place.

Happy Birthday to the USA

I got off work the morning of the 4th and took the county roads over to US 29 at Brandy Station. Seems there is a Brandy Station Battlefield area tour, I just hit 2 stops along the tour by accident. Humm - I see a pleasant motorcycle ride with camera in my near future. Anyway, I headed on over to D&D's place in Vienna for some sleep and a 4th party. Kat was already there when I arrived. After I got about 3.5 hours of shut-eye Kat & I washed her car, my truck and D&D's SUV. We just washed everything, it was starting to rain lightly so we didn't wax anything. D&D's SUV must be in shock, they said they had never washed it. It wasn't raining much so we went ahead and grilled burgers, dogs and BBQ chicken, steamed corn and tossed up a salad. It was a wonderful meal and the company was even better. It did start to rain harder about 8pm so we decided to skip Vienna's laser show along with any of the local fireworks displays. We did watch the TV broadcast of the DC Mall fireworks. (The photo above is from Vienna's fireworks a few years ago.) It was a most enjoyable evening.

The rest of my holiday weekend was a wash - mandatory OT Saturday night prevents me from going to church for Vespers & Liturgy. But the 4th was a fine day, so I'll rejoice and be glad for it.

Lazy Hazy Summer

June, July & August - The Lazy Hazy Days of Summer




Here's some pictures of some visitors to my yard.






I always expect summer to drag on for ever, a mindset developed in my childhood by the school schedule. Of course, it was only those childhood summers of unstructured time with lawn mowing my only responsibility during which summer unfolded with luxurious slowness. Now it seems to slip by all too fast. It has been 16 years since Kat & I spent today riding the Harley across the California desert and through an earthquake to Needles CA. Ten years ago Kat was touring Italy & Greece with her fellow Latin students and I was filling out financial aid forms for Chatham Hall. Eight years ago we were packing for Kat's freshman orientation at Wells College. Four years ago I was unemployed and Kat was frantically trying to get everything ready to move to Japan. Last year I was working a killer of an OT schedule at work, had 2 major events at church in June, a motorcycle rally in August and the Eastern Primitive Rendezvous in September. I only had a life at an event. Humm - my summer suddenly seems a quiet and lazy time.

Something Old - Something New

Tina in kimono at Holloween (No, her hair isn't really gray.)

Wednesday evening I had my last dinner with Tina. For those of you who don't know Tina is my daughter Kat's college roomie. She moved here after graduating from Wells with Kat. Kat went to Japan and taught English on the JET program, Tina got work here. Now Kat is back from Japan and Tina is going to Japan to be a JET teacher. Tina & I have had a lot of good times in the last 4 years; we've gone shopping, visited local art exhibits, hiked a few metro park trails, gone to a local orchard and eaten a lot of dinners at various buffets. Wednesday Tina hosted a modest farewell party at her place - a wonderful little picnic and a quiet way to say goodbye. Now she has an orientation meeting for JET in DC, then she's going back to upstate New York for a month with her family. By the 1st of August she will be half way around the world. It has been a great 4 years with Tina as my friend, May You Live Well & Prosper Tina !

The artwork is Tina's, done for her grandmother's autobiography.

Summer Time is Here at Last !

Kat came by at noon today so we went for a nice motorcycle ride around Greene county - except I kept forgetting which roads were gravel and which were not so we had to turn around a time or two - gravel isn't all that much fun to ride on particularly on the first ride of a new season. But we had a nice hour ride anyway. Then we met Tina for a farewell dinner at Outback - she is going to Japan on the JET program. Then the Urchin and I just sorta hung out for a bit and enjoyed each others company. All in All not a bad way to start a summer. This is Kat's bike, a Kawasaki Ninja 250.

The Camping Life Style

My friend Jan & I camped out at the Lynchburg Izaak Walton league Friday & Saturday. In spite of the really really hot & humid weather we had a great time. We swam in the lake, bailed out her canoe, removed 2 crayfish and various other critter from the canoe, paddled the canoe on the swimming lake, swam some more, prepared various wonderful foods, watched the fireflies, watched other folks having fun in the sun and then swam in the lake again just for good measure. Ah the little pleasures of life !

I'z Got New Wheels !

OK, so I didn't set out to buy a new vehicle, but there it was sitting on the lot a full 3 weeks after I first saw it there while I was getting my Blazer aligned. Tina, Kat and I were at Quick Lane to get Kat's car an oil change and Tina's car a tuneup. Kat took it for a test drive, I took it for a test drive, Kat pointed out it would cost me less to buy it than it was costing in repairs to keep the Blazer functional. So I now have a 2008 GMC Canyon SL 2.9L pickup with fog lights, a 5 speed trans and 2 wheel drive that had 2242 miles on it the day I bought it and a 36,000 factory bumper to bumper warranty. It's the newest vehicle I've ever bought that has more than 2 wheels. Since this picture was taken I've gotten a Line-X spray in bedliner, window visors, a trailer hitch and the trailer lights T-connector. I've still figuring out the best way to set it up for carrying a kayak or 10 ft. tent poles. I am one happy trucker.

It is also now officially summer - the fireflies rose for the first time this year at my friend Jane's house. As far as I'm concerned, when the tree toads start singing its spring and when the fireflies start rising its summer. This silly sun-position-in-the-sky thing is no way to define the seasons ! Its what on the ground where you are that matters, not some date on a calendar when the sun's postulated line of orbit crosses an imaginary line on the earth. Talk about smoke and mirrors !

The New Blog

OK, I've changed blog sites. This one has an easy way to upload photos and LiveJournal does not. So watch this space for further events !