I just wanted to share a hilarious little story...

After supper this evening, I got a terrible set of hiccups--you know those kind that rip through the diaphram very loudly. I was busy washing dishes and laughing while hiccuping. After a while, over my hiccups, I hear Granddaddy say something. I stepped around the corner and said, "What'd ya say?" He kind of laughed, his eyes twinkling, "Can you cut them down?" I laughed, explaining that I can't stop these things.

I returned to the dishes and didn't hiccup any more!! A few minutes later, Granddaddy remarked (I could hear him smiling), "I guess it worked." If that isn't what he said, it was pretty close. I just laughed again and retorted, "You scared them out of me!" I don't know if he heard me, but I think he might have. I was having spasms of laughter about that...though not nearly as bad as the ones that go with the following picture!
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There! I'm laughing uncontrollably again! I do love you Katie!! You should be a comedian... :D This is a Danny Kaye face alright...
I hope she doesn't kill me for this...I love this picture and I just had to share! Normally, only her family sees this side of her. I have no idea why she was making this face and I had no idea she was making it until I looked at the pictures...then I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. :)

        Racheal

 
We headed out Thursday morning after a whirlwind early morning trip to the feed store...

We got to our hotel in time to eat a quick snack-ish lunch and find the church (and Robert and Lessie) before the first session started. R.C. Sproul had the first talk--on justification. He joked throughout the weekend that he has spoken on justification at least as much as Martin Luther did! I did not realize until Thrusday afternoon that Dr. Sproul was a stand-up comic along with being a theologian...not that I have any problem with a little humor thrown in with my theology! :) The second session was supposed to be by a man named Robert Godfrey, but apparently he was so ill that he could not make it so they asked Steve Lawson to fill in for him. Mr. Lawson therefore did...he spoke on the nature of Truth. Then there was a question and answer session--during which I did not take notes. It rather amused me when the Presbyterians and Baptists got to talking about baptism...Mr. Begg and Dr. Sproul had a nice friendly argument. (I wish theological discussions could be that amiable more often!) There were two 'optional' sessions by author's about their latest books. I sat in part of one of those and talked to Robert some. The final session of the day was Alistair Begg on preaching the Word. I forget when we ate supper Thursday evening...what I do remember is that Robert kindly purchased a Caeser salad for both Savannah and I (as he like-wise did twice on Friday).

Friday morning, bright and early, we were back in the chuch listening to Mr. Lawson talking about Martin Luther and the sufficency of scripture. His talk was followed by one by Cal Thomas (FOX news commentator) on the family. After a short break, we were back listening to Sinclair Ferguson on doctrine. Lunch (Caesar salad for us) was next. I managed to consume the entirety of that salad even though I wasn't exceptionally hungry...it tasted good, but I was stuffed.

After lunch came Mr. Alistair Begg instructing us to be merciful. Dr. R.C. Jr. (whom we have always known by the nickname 'Red-beard'--though it doesn't fit anymore since his beard is no more), spoke next on being a 'Good Offense'. There were two more 'optional' sessions after that and then Ravi Zacharias encouraged us with the knowledge that Christ is risen and what that means for us. He got a standing ovation. The speaking done for the evening, we went back to our hotel.

Saturday morning we were back at the church for a second session by Mr. Ferguson. He spoke of Christ and the church. There was a second question and answer session, which I likewise took no notes from. The final session was by Dr. R.C. Sproul on not compromising--the theme of the conference and what everyone was encourging in their lectures. I will get around to posting all my notes sometime.

Now for the more humorous stuff: coming back into the hotel Thursday night, the toe strap on my right sandel gave way. Oh well, I've had those sandels ever since 2004 so I suppose they were rather out of style! I also made the discovery that I didn't have a nightgown! I didn't do my own packing and whomever did forgot to pack one for me--probably because I didn't have one laid out. I'm grateful that someone else did do my packing because I was so flustered I might have forgotten something myself! Thankfully, Lessie had an extra nighty which she loaned to me.

Friday I was told at lunch by the ladies who had been sitting behind us, that they could hear me singing during the time of song before the sessions. I was rather astounded by that fact because of the beautiful loudness of the organ and the Symphonia (as well as nigh on 5000 people singing!)

We got one of the free DVD's on economics that R.C. Jr. was giving away for free...I look forward to watching that. I also got a free book by Steven Lawson on Luther when I signed up for Tabletalk--only for some reason I suspect that Robert and Lessie have it! We were car-pooling with them and I did have it in her bag...

Saturday morning, they had a volunteer choir sing the "Hallelujah Chorus". I was thinking about maybe trying (though I am really not very good at all singing parts), but by the time they were ready to start practicing, I was in desperate need of a cup of coffee. By the time I had had my coffee and was feeling like I could have given it a shot, the practicing was mostly done. They didn't loose anything by not having me in the choir either! :D At the very end of the conference, they got up there on stage and sang. It was so amazing!

We went to St. Andrew's Chapel on Sunday before heading home. St. Andrew's is beautiful, built like a minuature cathedrel. It was all beautiful...but, if I can say this without treading on anyone's toes...it had too much of a 'high church' feel to it. I'm a Presbyterian and I was on the verge of uncomfortable becuase it seemed to have an Anglican flair too it...it just wasn't Presbyterian, I guess!
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Our hotel room..the decor through the hotel was very 1970's.
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Friday morning coffee...I look like I needed it!
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This is a job I WOULD NOT like to have!!
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The Ligonier Symphonia (sans strings)...
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The organ's pipes!!!
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Close(r) up of the one side...
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Savannah Saturday evening...

This morning we said, "Bye" to Mama and Katherine and they headed back for the domains far north...before they left we had a short picture taking spree...if you can't tell, the wind was blowing!
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Goofy faces...
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There...that's better!
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See how much taller my little sister is?? Actually, I was slouched down some. :) She's reminding me to lift my chin so the second one doesn't show! :D

        Racheal

 
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I got my box of SCV cross dedication DVD's today!! It's that a great cover? Savannah took the picture.

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Front and back...along with the spine...makes a full picture.
Now I just have to get these to the A.'s...I'll send them an email after we get back from the Sproul Conference this weekend.

Racheal

 
The hen coop is well underway. We didn't finish today because we ran out of wire and I thought we'd wait and ask Mama a few questions before we continued. Anyway, here are the pictures from today's adventure.
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What we started with...
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My tape measure doesn't have a lock swtich on it, so I have to improvise. :)
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We cut four strips of wire that were roughly 12.5 or 13 feet long...
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Then we laid them out like this over the 'ridge' pipe...
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And wired them down...
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This was probably the trickiest part. Katie gamely undertook to hold the 12' 2" PVC ridge poll up while I wired it to the top of the triangle. She managed to get this really good shot of herself after I had the first end wired.
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Wiring the opposite end.
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For me, this was the most uncomfortable part...I'm fine up a ladder so long as it has NO wiggle. Here it was a tad jiggly, so I had Katherine steady it for me. She's terrible cute with her glasses on the top of her head!
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"Don't lean over TOO far, Racheal..." I was wiring to the middle sections of the triangle.
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This isn't a very good shot of what we finished with, but it'll have to do. As you can see, the ends are open--we still have to rig that up somehow; more wire of course. I have some plastic stuff, but I'm not sure that won't get used in the horse trailer...
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And in closing, how about a picture of a lovely old oak?

        Racheal

 
Well, we pretty much got the rooster coop done today! I have pictures to prove it...
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This is what we started with this morning...wire on three sides and the top wire hanging down inside.
We added a few more support bars and then started putting the wire back on. We had to patch it some, but it worked fine!
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So....I was goofing off with the PVC pipe cutters. (Great tool, by the way!!)
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Cutting pipe...I was sitting on a feed sack because the grass was still wet from the dew!
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Drilling holes in the ends of support pipes.
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Inside the coop...I was talking to Katherine.
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Ah, there she is!
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Cutting a piece of chicken wire to patch the side.
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Katherine 'sewing' the sides where the different peices of chicken wire came together. (That is my uncle's boat in the back-ground...)
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The finished project!! (Minus however I'm going to practically close the 'door'--the end facing you.)
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The state of our hands...mine are a tad more scratched up than Katherine's.
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So this one really has nothing to do with chicken coops... :P
It is just the author...having fun!

        Racheal

 
Greetings again...it's been a while, hasn't it? Anyway, I got around to the next step on the coops today. The "roo" (rooster) coop's frame was assembled and I later went to town and got the wire (it's green!)...but instead of putting the wire on, I rode Snip.
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The Materials...
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Measuring...
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Cutting...
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Rrrggg....
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Rooster coop frame
I was going to write further, but since I'm Skyping with Daddy, I'll save that for later... :)

        Racheal

 
That's right...I got my little chickens this morning! 

While cooking either Savannah or Granddaddy's breakfast this morning, I meandered out to my desk (where I keep my cellphone) and flipped it open. Sure enough, I had missed calls and a voicemail telling me that my chicks were in at the post office. I went ahead and ate breakfast myself, loaded some stuff (i.e. chick feed, chick grit, cow feed, and a hearty cardboard box) into the back of the truck, and roared off. 

As of yesterday afternoon, we were going to put the chicks in the horse trailer as a brooder...by the time we went to bed last night, the plan had changed. Or rather, reverted to my original plan with a few minor detail differences. 

Upon reaching the other house, I first fed the cows, then hauled the box out and hurried out to the barn were Mama said Daddy had told her he had another one. I found it without any problem and didn't even see any spiders. Then I rushed back to the garage with it, and started getting set up. Mama told me to go on and get the chicks and she would finish setting up. She also warned me not to have a wreak because I was in such a hurry... 

I got to the post office and had to wait while a couple other people went through the line ahead of me. By the time it was my turn, there were a couple people behind me. I stepped up to the counter and said, "I'm here to pick up a shipment of chickens." After getting my name, the man behind the counter headed to the back to find them. I heard the peeping before he showed up again and it made me grin. In the meantime, I had a short exchange with the three people behind me. One was a older black lady who has such a pretty smile. She said she used to 'do that' [chickens] and that she used to get Rhode Island Reds. When I told her mine (half of them) are Rhode Island Reds, she seemed so pleased! She then proceeded to remark that she would have to do this again once she retired. The other people, probably a couple from up north someplace (they didn't exactly look or feel like locals) asked me a few questions too...when I was going out, the gentleman went and opened the door for me. It was unexpected, but appreciated. 

I had to stop by over here to pick up some apple cider vinegar and garlic to make a home-made version of an electrolyte solution. I got across the creek and Mom mixed up the solution (I was getting the lights set up). Once done with that, I started unpacking the chicks, dipping each one's beak into the electrolyte solution water until I determined they'd gotten a drink, then I set them down into their boxes. 

My roosters are Rhode Island Reds and my hens New Hampshire Reds...I got muddled in my thinking and thought I had gotten half Rhode Island Red hens and half Rhode Island Red roosters (the same with the New Hampshire Reds)...so I split them up that way. And then I got to looking at the label on the inside of the box. Phooey...so Katherine and I got them straightened out. I think I still have at least one rooster in the with the hens, but since the top of his beak was a little bloody, I'm fine with leaving him in there. The hens don't seem as vicious, but they sure were more stubborn about starting to drink! :P

McMurry Hatchery always includes a free 'exotic' chick in their orders...I think the one I got is a Brahman. We had a couple of those two years ago...the one hen was dumb as a box of rocks. I rather liked the roosters, they weren't so bad. After we butchered them (at about 5 lbs or so) we found out that it isn't unusual for them to get up to 10 pounds!
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New Hampshire Red...they'll change colors. :)
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The one I suspect is a Brahman...
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Take a drink, little chicky...
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Little fuzzies...
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Rhode Island Red
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And just because...here's my two week old calf!
There you have it! Now, I'm off to go run feed store errands...

             Racheal

 
Well, actually this is Part 2, since I started on the coops two weeks ago. Anyway, with Katherine's help, the frame of the first one is finished. Problem is...it didn't work like it was supposed to!

For starters, it was supposed to be shaped something like this:
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My cute as a button assistant...
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You know, I can be rather goofy sometimes...
We had all but one hoop (there were supposed to be 5) together, when they started snapping! 1 inch 40 SD PVC pipe popping is rather startling. This was the result...
Sooo...we brain-stormed...I called Daddy...and this is what we ended up doing: We made a triangle out of the pipe (instead of arches). I drilled holes through the ends, stuck a nail through, and pounded it down. 
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I started by sawing off the one unbroken pipe.
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Then I drilled holes in the top of the pipes...
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(How'd you like those orange ear-plugs? )
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Pounding away...(I had to have another pair of gloves held against the head of the nail to keep from hurting myself.)
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Finished frame!
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It wasn't that hot...I just thought this one was a cool picture! (I was still up the ladder when Katherine took it.)
Well, there you have it...we still have to finish...but that'll come in Part 2.


 
Here for your perusal are some pictures of Savannah and I's 1860's ball gowns.  Mine is made from an 1860 pattern--the dress is called the "Saratoga". I really, really like it!
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Savannah in her gray silk gown...
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Savannah has changed her gown a bit--she took the black lace over-skirt off and made herself a black chemise. She also added the lace on the sleeves.
My session cockade (which you will see in the pictures) was just 'sitting' on the dress. It isn't completely finished--I still need a 'CSA' button (planning on purchasing one this weekend at Brooksville). This way I can't be mistook for a Yankee! (Since all my clothes are blue!) 

Katherine made my earrings; they are clip-on's since my ears, though pierced, are terribly sensitive. It's kind of cool to be able to wear earrings! (I never wore clip-on's because they always bothered me--too tight--but Katherine has figured out how to make them comfy.)
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Racheal modeling the "Saratoga" dress.
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Period correct--no make-up! :D
I put these close ups here so you can see the details a bit better...the white undersleeves actually belong to my chemise. 
If you are interested in getting a dress like this for little more than the price of the materials--please visit Liberty Seamstress!

I love my dress! 

            Racheal

 
That sounds almost gruesome...but it sums up New Years Eve and the beginning of New Years Day fairly well...

Yesterday, the last day of the Year of Our Lord Two-thousand Twelve, Savannah and I rose early. I woke up five minutes before my alarm was set to go off (5 am). This is not unusual, since I have trained myself to wake up like that. Anyway, I went to turn the alarm off before it started beeping (such an irritating--but effective--beep). I kept trying to push the switch down. It didn't work. I got out of bed and walked over to the light switch, banging into books and finally running into the door. (That woke Savannah across the hall.) The alarm was beeping by now and I had shoved it under my pillow. I flipped the light on, walked back to the bed (without stubbing my toes this time), pulled my clock out from under my pillow, turned it over, and groaned at myself. Here I had been trying to slide the switch vertically...and it goes horizontally!! (Come to think of it, I think I've done that before. I use an alarm so infrequently that I forget how it works!)

I got dressed, fed Snip and the cats in the dark (none were up--but this way they got their food), and then drove over to our place across the creek and put out the cow's pellets. My nose was like an ice-sickle by the time I got home. It was nice and chilly out....I enjoyed needing the jacket and my bandana tied over my ears.

After I ate breakfast (I hadn't had my coffee yet), we headed off. I waited until we were on the main road to pour my coffee from the thermos. Savannah also had a second cup at that point. We arrived at the S's trailer before they did--Savannah called Mr. Bill, who was picking up the U-haul truck (he got the biggest one he could and still have a regular driver's licence). Soon Mrs. Sandy showed up with grandkids, Sam and Lucy in tow. A few minutes later, we were all in Mrs. S's car headed just literally around the corner to the storage unit. Mr. Bill was right ahead of us opening the gate when we arrived. Shortly thereafter, the S's eldest son, Brian, along with four of his kids, and the S's youngest, Tom (accompanied by preganant wife and their three other children) arrived. Mr. Bill had an announcement like ceremony where he told everyone that Savannah was in charge of loading the truck. We don't call her the "Load Master", for no reason. No one argued about it...though Tom did crack a joke or two (aimed more at his Dad than anyone.)

Tom and Brian, along with Gavin (Brian's oldest son--14), did most of the heavy lifting, though I pitched in and helped Gavin with both a matress and a cabineted sewing machine. (It wasn't because I was trying to prove I was as strong as the guys, but simply because I can't just stand around while other people do something that I can help with!) I got the impression that Gavin had never wrestled with a matress before...it was something about the way he handled it... :)

Tom kept everyone in stitches...he is terrible. Really. Of course, I rather know where he gets his sense of humor from--but he's twice as bad as his dad!! :D

After we finished at the storage unit, we went back to the trailer to pick up the last few remaining pieces of furiture and boxes. There, we practically unloaded the truck to reload it. I know that Savannah is a tad worried that things are going to rattle around too much. The truck was too big. :D

I was Savannah's "PA" system a couple of times--I guess that just tends to happen when you have a good set of lungs and your sister can't talk very loud. Not that I mind, it's just a humorous way to think of oneself. :D

I almost learned how to throw a football correctly yesterday. The kids (including myself) wound up tossing a football back and forth in the street for quite a while before and after lunch which provided by Kerry (the S's daughter and Sam and Lucy's mother). But, back to the football. I've only ever played football once and that was last fall (okay two falls ago really) with the B. boys in Indiana. We really did more running with it than throwing it though (and I somehow managed to outrun Daniel and make two touchdowns! I still wonder how I did that...) Yesterday it was just throwing and catching practice. I was catching like a girl; I normally can catch better than I can throw. Anyway, I just laughed it off. I know how to do that.

Once we were done there, Mr. Bill went to pick up the car hauler and Mrs. Sandy to do something else. The younger S men and their family's returned to Brian's while Savannah and I followed Kerry home. We spent several hours there. I mostly played with Lucy--that is, after I washed Kerry's dishes. Since we are "family" of sorts, I offered and did it even though she basically told me I didn't have to. I didn't REALLY feel like washing a stack of dishes, but I did because it was something I could do to be helpful. Perhaps I am learning not to be so selfish...

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking and playing and taking pictures. I happen to know that both Mrs. Sandy and Kerry have some blackmail photos of me! *laughs gaily* I told them, "Yep...Mama always says I could ruin a good picture." It's true too...you look through the pictures we've taken over the years. Who is it who is distractedly staring behind her? Racheal. Who is it who is making a silly face? Racheal. Who is it...well, you get the idea. :)

I hope that they send us some of them because some of the pictures were actually good.

After a nice little supper, Savannah and I said our adieu's. Nobody cried on the way home even though we are going to miss the S's something dreadful.
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My eyes are reflecting the sky...so they look almost blue--and I most certainly do not have blue eyes! I hear when I was born they were a muddy greenish color...

        Racheal