My Week

Last Sunday, Easter, we went to see my son in Peoria as mentioned in my last blog post.  We noticed odd turds in his yard and Moe went crazy under his shed.  So since his brother goes up there on Monday, I had him take my trap.  On Friday morning he caught a small raccoon. 

I went to an SAR dinner on Wednesday evening where they presented awards and welcomed prospective members in the works. It's amazing that I knew people there through some of my historic reenacting. Same type of people who respect their heritage to the Revolutionary War.  They really want to meet my sons who are the real members and direct descendants of George Connolly the Patriot.  I also met Bill Lear (sp) who mention good things about a chaplain from Peoria named Justin Antweiler. I said I knew him.  Justin is the team leader at the Peoria Veterans Center where my son works.  I'll vouch for that.

I've got most of the relation tied to Patriot George Connolly except for one brick wall:  George W. Connolly b 1804.  Each document relating to the patriot has been scanned and linked to keep organized:

https://sites.google.com/site/connollypatriot/

According to Ancestry.com, the references for 1804 George problem are here and cannot be checked out:

History of Harrison County, WV

F864 431 442h ~ At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

Roane County History, WV

F864 R62 B622h ~ At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

WV Heritage Encyclopedia

Henry C. Adams  Memorial Library (Prophetstown) St Louis County.

Wednesday I did my Goodwill shopping trip and had lunch at the salad bar at County Market.

Thursday I took my props over to the Illinois Military Museum for a station presentation on battle field conditions from a woman's perspective.  I had asked if I could give the presentation as a practice of an upcoming presentation of Belle Reynolds at the Lincoln Home on May 17th and it was granted provided I keep it shortened. 

Friday my riding mower was picked up for repair so I can give it to Alan for his new house.  It's a little big for me anyway.

Saturday I went to Keokuk, IA for a Civil War Reenactment.
http://www.dailygate.com/news/article_6ee58b10-cbc3-11e3-aecb-0019bb2963f4.html
I modeled my brown dress in the Ladies Tea and Fashion Show.

 

Below I am standing at the base of the statue in Rand Park dedicated to Chief Keokuk.

This dress was used but like new when I got it on ebay. Bonnet I decorated myself from a felt form. Ha! I did the finishing touches of lace and flowers on the drive over.

I even had my picture taken with someone in high places.  Here's a picture that I took at the ball.  During the battle, the narrator told us about the history of the mini ball.  It was named after Claude-Etienne Minié not the fact that it was small.

Unlike some of the Civil War dances that I've been too, this is one of those occasions where some of those soldiers come in smelling of battle and campfire smoke. 

Since I got up late on Sunday, I went to the later Mass after securing a substitute reader in my place earlier.  The weather was nice the day before and my reenacting was distracted by the sound of motorcycles which I urged the need for wind in my face.  The weather was still nice when I went to church so I rode Wheezer but after church it was not so nice.  I noticed I had the following Kudos in the church bulletin:

OWLS Potluck attendees enjoyed our April potluck with our food entrée and all of the delicious side dishes. Thanks to Rosemary Connolly for sharing her Germany travelogue with us accompanied by pictures taken by herself, Dan Bedell, and Cliff Shehorn. We were able to enjoy the beauty of Germany and surrounding area through the presentation. Our committee deserves thanks for stepping in to oversee the evening: Ron; JoAnn Hefer, Mike Sharon Crowley, Jim  Pam Friel and Ken Gail Cardoni.

The rest of the church bulletin is here:
http://content.seekandfind.com/bulletins/01/0164/20140427B.pdf

My son came over with his dog for laundry day.  I fixed Teriyaki chicken from Aldi, broccoli, and some asparagus from my garden.

Monday morning I did the presentation of Belle Reynolds at the Illinois Military Museum for high school literature students that are reading a novel about the Civil War.  I will had a station from the women's perspective and there were civil war soldiers having stations as well.   They became my test audience for a presentation at the Lincoln Home on May 17.
I used an online stopwatch to time myself.  Program seems to run about 11 minutes.

This is the video of my presentation which I use for self improvement.


My written script was shared with the Lincoln Tomb.  Now I have an offer to present Belle Reynolds first person at the Lincoln Tomb on my birthday.

After this presentation I covered the lunch hours at the Old State Capitol on their first day of the 7-day summer schedule.  Because I was busy performing as Belle Reynolds in the morning and dance practice in the evening I could only volunteer a short while to cover for their lunch hours.  There were storm clouds on the way to Metamora but I headed in the opposite direction for the most part.

Tuesday was the day I planned to give tours in addition the the request for additional help.  I went to find clips for my Welcome Home banner at Joanne fabric store.  Clipped them to the banner and put heavy duty string around letters/clock on the overhanging baggage claim sign.  Worked like a charm.
Here is a link to photos taken at the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight on April 29.
April Land of Lincoln Honor Flight 

Have a nice week.

My week

Thursday the handyman came to take down my weak attic ladder which I'm replacing with an aluminum ladder.  The replacement went up on Saturday with an assist from his son. 

Easter was spent with my sons.  I had intended to trailer up the riding mower but I couldn't get it started and it has a flat tire. Instead, we took him some more of the stuff in my garage.  We brought Sean's dog, Moe, with us since he hadn't met him yet.  Discovered some turds in the yard of his new house.  Moe seemed to be scratching at the ground under the shed.  There's a critter down there.  Next trip up he'll have the trap.  We ate at a local diner and it was pretty good.  My son wanted to eat at an Italian restaurant but is was closed on Easter.  Always looking for a place that has beer with the meal.

It must be spring because the ants are back by the kitchen sink.  I got this suggestion: "Mix equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar. The sugar attracts them; the baking soda kills them. They can't tell the difference between the two, so they ingest both. The baking soda mixes with chemicals in their little bodies and they literally explode."

My neighbors basketball net has a robin nest.

You know your yard is pretty bad when the brown grass patches show up on google Earth.  I've been working on that one patch at a time.
I have been rewriting my script for the first-person interpretation of Belle Reynolds for May 17th at the Lincoln Home Historic Site.  I'm learning something new.  Apparently she did have a uniform jacket with a major's braid like the stereotype vivandiere.   I'll prob put the blue jacket with gold braid on a dress form and wear my camp dress because I believe that's what she really would have worn.  I did pick up a travel trunk for a prop at Hobby Lobby.  Now the word is getting out and two other locations have wanted presentations of Belle Reynolds that are in the works.

Tuesday I volunteered at the Old State Capital from 10am to 3PM.  It was a busy day for tours and staffing was low.  They seemed to like the tour.  I got a compliment from one man in the group and his wife stressed that it was a good compliment coming from her husband because he was a history teacher.  

Afterward, I went to the shooting range with my son at the Lefthanders Club that he belongs to.

I've been redecorating my short brim bonnet.  I was looking at old photos of bonnets and more had flowers than feathers.

My Week

Tuesday morning I volunteered at the Old State Capitol.  There were many group tours that day so that's why I came in.  I was eager to add something new to my tour and messed it up.  I wanted to say that three former presidents have graced these halls:  Lincoln, Grant and Van Buren and instead I said Buchanan.  Kicking myself with guilt.  I left early so I could have lunch with the Womens Overseas Service League.  Then at 6PM I went to a meeting with the Soldiers Aid Society.  We were debriefed on the Civil War Fashion Fair we had at Edwards Place.  The second half of the program but another unit was full of 'bling'.  So much that "Sandra" had shown off a very expensive necklace on loan from Denny Jewelers.  So our leader passed around a bowl with toy bling rings to us at our meeting.

Wednesday morning I dropped my dog, Marley, off at the groomers.  I did have a coupon for that.  Then I enjoyed senior day at the thrift stores. My son's new dog chewed his Droid phone.  He said that Moe had that guilty look too.  I stood with the Patriot Guard Riders for a visitation for Bob Davies of the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight who passed away.  I left early so I could attend an AmVets meeting at 6PM.

Thursday morning I went to the funeral for the escort to Camp Butler Cemetery.  The weeping willow trees were turning green first.  Then I went to the luncheon for the funeral.

In the evening, I went to our Catholic war veterans meeting.

Friday I gave a presentation to our church's OWLS group (Older, Wiser, Lovable, Seniors) about the parish pilgrimage to Germany last October.  I wore my little German dress.   After that I went to let my son's dog in the back yard for a little bit since he went to a Cardinal's game.

Saturday morning I went to the St Louis Civil War Ball.  We toured the Magic Chef Mansion.

these photos were clipped from Facebook.

Then we toured the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  This is a selfie with my camera's timer.

Dinner and change for the evening ball that ended at midnight.  During the Civil War, there were triplet dances with one man dancing with two ladies since many men were away at the war.  This is one of those dances.  That's me on the left with the dark blue dress. I just recently added lace under the sleeves.  I love this dress but it is so difficult to put the bodice on with hooks and lacing up the back.

 

Post by Kristen Bergquist.

I'm at the beginning of that video dance.

Post by Kristen Bergquist.

Miss Rose at 1:30 on the Gothic Arches Dance

Sunday morning I got up at 6AM so I wouldn't miss Palm Sunday Mass.  It was a nice service and I was a Eucharistic Minister.  I came home and took a nap until my son came over to do laundry.  I asked him to try and start my Toro mower not that the grass is turning green.  He couldn't start it either so he helped me load it in my car to take to the dealer.
I then went to take the Easter Baskets that I prepared for the mentally disabled kids at Hope School.  I didn't ride my motorcycle because I just got up from a nap and didn't have time to gear up.  Besides, I live closer to Hope School than the rally point they depart.

Once again I had to feed my dogs by hand because he comes to me to follow to the treat jar.  I popped the cork on my souvenir bottle of wine from my trip to Ste. Genevieve, Bulduc.

Having difficulty starting my electric push button on my new Toro Mower.  My son helped me lift it into the car to get help at Kuntz mower service.  However, it likes to roll in the back.  I stopped by Harbor Freight for some chocks.  They were all too big for my need so I settled on a bristle boot brush to put between the wheels.  worked like a charm.

I have been picking asparagus.  Someone suggested wrapping them in bacon.  Yum.

I presented a wreath on April 15th for our Catholic War Veterans on Lincoln's Death Day

Since this is Holy Week:

A cold snap went through here too but no snow in Springfield.  However, I had dance practice last night in Metamora and it stuck on the ground there.

My Week

Ah, this is the week that the grass turned green.  Means mowing soon.  I have to find time to get the riding mower up to my son for his new house.

My dog, Bentley, came to me begging. I get up and follow him where he points to the counter (where the treat jar happens to be). So, I kneel down by his untouched dog food bowl. I hand him a few nuggets of dog food (not that cheap stuff either). At first, he sniffed and ran to the counter. But eventually he ate from my hand and so did Marley. They finished the bowl out of my hand. Kids...sheez! Don't they know that there's not treats until they finish their dinner?

Wednesday morning I went to Camp Butler for the first Unaccompanied burial for veterans that had no military honors.  This was very moving.

Thursday Morning I went on a trip to Ste Geneviève, MO with Little Flower Parish. It rained hard that night and one missed the bus due to a power outage and couldn't get her car out of the garages.  It rained most of the day and I got emergency text alerts about severe weather and flash floods.  However, it cleared up when we needed it most to tour the historic settlement.

Saturday morning I went to a meet and greet for volunteers at the ILES House historic site.  I had time to kill between that and a At 2PM  presentation on Lincoln in the Black Hawk war.    I went to Lowes and picked up an attic ladder.  I also stopped by Hobby  Lobby and got a wood trunk and some lace for reenacting.

new additions to my Civil War closet:
New parasol.

 I found this fan at a thrift store and cut off the pink plastic.  I couldn't get all of it out so I used a seam ripper and then re-sewed the straw.  I believe it is fancy, period correct.  Most seem to use a style that is shaped like a spade.

 This dress is coming from England and is a bit pre-Civil War.  That will be good after this 150th anniversary of the Civil War is over.  I may want to add a Bertha collar.

Now I want to finish my trim on my summer straw bonnet (I'll put that picture in next week's blog) and put some trim on my widows weeds for the upcoming Lincoln Death Day commemoration on Apr 15th.
Saturday I was pleased to receive a thank you card from one of the veterans on the Honor Flight who thanked me for the letter in his "mail call" sack.

Sunday morning I went to our Catholic War Veterans Mass.  I met two of the ladies that were on my trip to  Ste Geneviève.

Sunday evening I got a call from Clara Wright whom I know through the Old State Capitol.  She asked me to be guest speaker for a balloon launch the day before Memorial Day.  Last year was the first event and they sent up 200 balloons with names of loved ones for $1 donation.  I had referred Clara to the American Legion last year for help with her idea last year.