Pippin

October 15th, 2009

We lost another one of our cats two days ago, our little buddy, Pippin. Nate and I found him lifeless on the grass in our backyard Tuesday morning (he was only a few feet away from where we found Faramir!) – I knew something was up when he didn’t come immediately to eat his breakfast. The worst part is, we don’t know what happened! He was perfectly healthy, big and fast enough to be let outside at night, and there were no bite or scratch marks or blood to be seen on his body – whatever killed Pippin left him whole. All we know is that he died during the night, since rigor mortis had already set in.

We buried him across the creek, next to Faramir’s grave.

Dear Pippin! What a loss! He was my favorite. He was the most affectionate of our three cats, always following me around, and, like his namesake from Lord of the Rings, was often found getting into some small mischief. :-) Poor Merry. You can tell he’s lonesome for his brother. He and Boromir have to console one another now in each other’s loss.

-Kasie

Dance Demonstrations

October 13th, 2009

Our newly born 1860′s civilian society had their first dance demonstration last weekend! There’s a 100-year-old farm outside of town apparently filled with Civil War history, and they’re trying to get their name out there. We were asked to be apart of their Fall Festival and give a few dance demonstrations! Various members of our society were scheduled to reenact for different days of the Festival – we picked Saturday, and with the help of a few friends, demonstrated 5 period correct dances! . :-)

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Two lovely ladies sit and chat while waiting for the music to begin.

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The Gothic Reel

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Beautiful waltzing

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Reeling is such fun!

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The Plain Quadrille

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A couple of handsome dudes!

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Our shot of “girls, try to look candid!”           ~this one we got a little silly with! :-)

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Three of our dashing, 1860s gentlemen.

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Aww! Father and daughter.

The Civil War Christmas Ball is coming up sooner than we think – we’re helping friends get together their dresses, cloaks, capes and coats. It’s going to be fun!

-Kasie

Just a Couple of Pics

October 6th, 2009

For your information, no, I’m not done recording our family reunion. I still have more pictures! :-) I’m just taking a small break, spending time with family and friends, and working on things that need to be done at home.

In the meantime, however, I wanted to post these two pictures from recent happenings;

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~Em, Angie and I hanging out with my nieces (and nephews, but they didn’t make it in the picture).

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~Evan and Nate, thumping away on the bass while us ladies diligently sewed pieces to our Civil War wardrobe (it is Tuesday after all!) Two basses together rock! You guys sounded good.

:-)

More pictures are  coming. Have a nice evening, y’all!

-Kasie

Summer Vacation in September

September 28th, 2009

I’ve just returned from a fabulous vacation – one of those vacations that are so good, you never want it to end!  Want to know why it was so wonderful? it was our first ever family reunion!

Since our family is growing so large (I mean, two more babies were added this year!) we decided it was time to begin the tradition of vacationing together every few years. We chose this year, 2009, as a kick off year in honor of Mom’s 60th birthday, and rented a beach house together on the Outer Banks, NC. Not all of us could make it, unfortunately (it’s been 6 years since we were all together at Joy’s wedding), Brian and Tina’s branch of the family were missing. But we still had 29 people in that huge house!

That was one sweet house. :-) 8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, three levels, three refrigerators, home theater, heated pool, hot tub, not to mention the ocean side beach was our backyard! Ah! What fun we had.

So, there’s been a lull in the posting lately – expect a lot more to come. I think I took over 400 pictures! Yep, you guys are in for it. :-)

Ta, ta!

-Kasie

My New Bass

September 3rd, 2009

Just after we came home from NY I bought my self a new bass from Musicians Friend!!!

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Thats right folks, five thumbing strings.  I just love the way it looks and feels in my hands.

BassBelieve it or not this is actually my usual position for practicing.  I kind of like to lounge around while I play ;)

-NatetheGreat

August Trip #1: The New Baby

August 25th, 2009

Yes, I’m an Auntie again! :-D

Our main reason for going to NY was so that Mom could deliver my sister’s 8th baby. Mom, an experienced nurse and midwife, and has delivered four of Sharon’s children! Ever since we’d heard the good news nine months ago it’s been decided between our two families that, even though we live miles away, Mom would be there again to deliver this new blessing into the world.

Dad an Walter had to stay home and work, but Nate, Angie and I excitedly joined Mom for the trip. Our prayer was that the baby wouldn’t arrive before we did, but soon afterwards. :-) God answered our prayers exactly, for not two days later “Hannah Naomi” was born!

Labor apparently went by quickly, ’cause I missed the whole thing! One minute I was sleeping soundly on my cot in the basement, and the next I heard my nieces and nephews whispering “guys! Mommy had the baby: it’s a girl!

What joy! Babies are so, so precious – a true blessing from the Lord. Hannah has been getting a lot of loving, as you’ll see in the pictures. With so many eager arms about, she was never without someone to hold her. :-)

Isn’t Hannah just so cute?

-Kasie

I’m Back!

August 23rd, 2009

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Whew! I’ve just returned from a two-week trip up north with Mom, Angie and Nate – We had a blast of a time, but are glad to be back. We were kept quite busy visiting with family and friends, delivering babies (go Mom!), driving by our old home… ah!

Don’t worry, pictures and stories of our adventures are coming up ! Boy have I got a lot of sorting to do… :-)

Stay tuned!

-Kasie

The New Residents at Providence Glen 2

July 18th, 2009

Two kittens, Merry and Pippin!

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We weren’t planning on getting more cats, even after dear Faramir died (at least, not unto my knowledge), but this morning an opportunity came, and we took it!

natemerrypippinMom got a call from our friend who was at the local Farmer’s Market, asking us if we wanted anymore kittens. Apparently a lady had come to the market with a litter of four kittens, and was offering them to anyone who wanted them. Angie made many a trip up and down our hill, from the phone to Mom in the garden, and at last was able to convey that yes! we’d love two more kittens.

It was a busy morning! Mom and I had already been to the Farmer’s Market earlier to shop around and see some friends, and on top of that, we were all in the middle of picking blackberries and working in the garden. Nevertheless we made it to town in time (I was driving – that’s why! :-P ), and brought home our kitties. We immediately named them “Merry” and “Pippin”, keeping the Lord of the Rings tradition going. :-)

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~Pippin~

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~Merry~

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I just had to add this photo. Doesn’t Merry look a bit like a rat in this particular pose? I thought it hilarious!

So that’s our excitement for the day, and both kittens are making themselves at home alright. Let’s hope Boromir takes them well. Their first encounter this morning didn’t turn out too well:

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:-D

-Kasie

“The News”

June 15th, 2009

Update: They’re here! Our friends brought Sully and Violet a few hours ago this evening. Right now they’re familiarizing themselves with their new surroundings, and helping themselves to some grass. :-) Violet is looking so much better than before.The adventure begins!

In this post I promise to tell you the piece of news I’ve been hinting at the past few weeks and simply haven’t had the time to blog about it yet.

I have some bad news, and some good news for you.

The bad news is, Harley and Christy left last week for good. Their owner is taking them to a local Christian camp to be used for the summer, then they’ll be joining their family in South Carolina. I’m sure going to miss them!

And the good news is that I’m getting 2 horses of my own!

Yes, you read that right. This very week perhaps, gelding “Sully” and mare “Voilet” will be trailored into Providence Glen to stay: and they’ll be mine. :-)

Before you wonder how in the world this all came about, allow me to tell you the story…

There’s a family we know from church who live on a small farm outside of town. They rescued horses Sully and Violet four years ago and decided to keep them for their children to take care of, love and work with. The years went by, and although the family loved these horses to death, they simply didn’t have the time to train and be with them as much as they needed. (keep in mind these are rescue horses)

What with finances being tight, trying to sell their farm and moving closer to town, this family couldn’t keep the horses, and really wanted to give Sully and Violet a home where they would be loved on and worked with like crazy. So they began to pray.

And somehow, our name came up! :-) (not somehow really. I know it was God).

To make a long story short, after much prayer, consideration, and meeting Sully and Violet for ourselves, this family is giving us their two horses completely free, along with some tack and grooming accessories. AND if they don’t work out for any reason whatsoever, the family will take them back.

Isn’t that incredible? I’m ecstatic! Whoever thought that I’d be owning my own horses?

-Kasie

Facts About My Horses (because I just know you’re going to ask! :-P )

  • Violet’s real name is Easter Violet
  • Both Sully and Violet are “green”, meaning that they only have basic training skills (such as halter broken, maybe saddle). Sully also has problems with taking the bit and bridle, but I have experience with that. :-) I’m looking forward to the challenge, and the relationship between the horses and myself will be all the more real after with them.
  • Violet is extremely skinny. She’s been getting steadily better over the last few months, but has a lot of trouble keeping weight on. I’ve been reading up on horse nutrition, grains and feeds we can feed to her to keep her healthy. We need to fatten her up!
  • Sully and Violet hate being separated! They love being together, and are definitely a pair. That’s why we’re getting 2!
  • I really don’t know what type of horses they are. I tell people, if they were dogs, I would call them a mutt (not meant in a demeaning way). For a horse, they’re not very beautiful, but they’re sweet tempered, and they’re mine. That makes all the difference right there!
  • Sully and Violet are 8 and 10 years old.

Basically they both need lots of TLC, something I’m willing and ready to give them. This will be a great experience for me to train my own horses, to work with them, and to love them. It’ll be a lot of work but I’ll also be reaping all the benefits and joys. I just can’t believe this blessing! I totally didn’t see that one coming.

P.S. I still can’t believe Dad said “yes” to this! Thanks so much, Dad!

Camping Trip

June 14th, 2009

My family has always loved camping! Every year in New York – for about ten straight years – we would camp for two weeks at our favorite spot in the Adirondack State Park. We have enough memories and adventures from those trips to last us a lifetime!

This year we decided to “shake it up a little”, as we like to say. :-) For some time now Mom has wanted to see the reknown Mammoth Caves – the largest known caves in the world! The Adirondacks are too far away from Tennessee anyway, so last week, we camped in Kentucky at a little campground called “Hutchins Ferry” to spend a couple of days enjoying outdoors and tour Mammoth Caves.

Our first night we had s’mores and sat around the campfire (which was very pathetic until we bought some lighter fluid). It was just like “old days”! I’m sure all my shirts had that lovely campfire aroma. :-)

On the next day we drove to a popular lake in the Mammoth Caves State Park called Nollin Lake. We brought our trusty canoes, our bathing suits and, well, the pictures will tell all that we did. :-)

Our second final night at Hutchins Ferry brought its share of adventures! Just as we were about to drift off to sleep in our tents, we heard a ruckus coming from the parking lot of the ferry (and campground). I climbed out of our tent to see what was happening, thinking it was just a bunch of highschoolers and college kids, ready to party and make a bunch of noise to bother us and our fellow campers. Dad and Walter had done the same, and Dad was walking toward the group motioning for us to stay back.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later as I watched that I realized they were fighting! Guys were lining up, taking turns, having a “rumble” basically (think West Side Story. :-) ) girls were rushing about taking video and pictures.

But God protected us. I’m so glad Dad was there! All he said was that the rangers had been notified, and they zoomed off in their jeeps and pick-ups yelling “cops”! Neither the park rangers or police ever showed up, but at least the mob had left.

How’s that for an exciting, interesting adventure! Whew! That’s certainly never happened to us before. Anyone else? :-)

Anyway, back to our planned activities…

Wednesday we went to see Mammoth Caves. We didn’t take just any tour, however, we took a lantern tour, in which you have about 42 people per tour, and 10 oil lanterns for light. For three hours we walked in parts of the cave where there are no electric lights, the purpose of it being to recreate the ambience of what it must have been like for the earlier explorers.

I thought I might be a bit claustrophobic, but I enjoyed myself immensely: it was amazing! Mamoth Caves is truly, mammoth indeed. And we only saw a small section of it!

Our trip was wonderful. We had a great time! (thanks Dad!) I am glad to be back home though. You know the feeling of walking through the door after a day or two absence? Ah, “Home Sweet Home”. I love being able to say that!

Have a blessed day!

-Kasie