Restoration Place

Civil War Reenactment ~ Gilmor's Raid

Last weekend we attended Gilmor's Raid, presented by talented Civil War reenactors, at the historic Jerusalem Mill Village.

Here we see Union soldiers marching to the lower field to present a black powder demonstration:

Yes, it was loud and we who are not accustomed to reenactments of this sort covered our ears:

To the far right of the photo are our good in-real-life As We Walk friends:

Lovely young ladies dressed in hoop skirts of the era:

Confederate soldiers:

 

The raid itself, in which Confederate troops converge on the general store, and take supplies (looks like I forgot to take a photo of the store...oops!):

The reenactment was very exciting for the children, as black powder guns were being shot, the horses were galloping across the field, and the soldiers were whooping and calling out to one another.

We've been having our own reenactments this week: boys running to and fro with toy guns and girls in hoop skirts.

Purging, Organizing...Relief!

May I be authentic and share with you my real-life organization which deteriorated sometime this spring--and has remained so until today?

Good thing I have cabinet doors with which to conceal this mess:

That mess of home education materials really disgraces my lovely antique dining room sideboard, don't you think? (I love this piece. I bought it in our pre-children days for a mere $120, and it's always been used for storage of one sort or another.)

Up close:

 

I'll show you the results when I'm done purging and organizing.

Let's move upstairs to what we call the playroom:

 

Dreadful, eh? Well, let me tell you the children cleaned up all the little loose train parts, blocks, and Rescue Hero guys which were strewn all over the floor so I could vacuum...and then take the photo. I'm not ready to be that real.

Order returned to one bookcase:

 

Turning around to view the other end of the playroom we see a very messy area:

 

At the back of the photo is a closet area that is under-utilized. We really need to install shelving and doors for all the games, puzzles, and arts/crafts supplies.

Now, on the way back out of the playroom there's a stuffed, disorganized basket:

 

I've got my work cut out for me, don't you think? Would you ever believe that before we moved here a little more than one year ago I was very organized? I've used the excuse that the previous house made organizing our stuff easier...but that's no reason to find a will and a way in this house, too.

I'm on my way ~smile~.

How Soon Can You Get Here?

Hot cinnamon rolls, dripping with vanilla glaze, and hot chocolate loaded with whipped cream.

Katie and I made them this morning. Her first cinnamon rolls; my first in oh, about 4 or 5 years. It's an easy Better Homes and Gardens recipe.

Hurry! Half the pan is gone!

Bridges, bridges!

Jacob is immersed in the world of bridges. Ever since we watched David Macaulay's Building Big: Bridges I've been running to keep pace with him and his new fascination.

Of course, the first thing we had to do was make a visit to a real bridge, so we chose the local Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore:

The Key bridge, as it is known here, is a continuous truss bridge and it's 1200 feet long:

 

The next thing to do was to empty the library of their books about bridges (two of his favorites--click on the right sidebar "Jacob Reading" to get a closer look):

Then, of course, it was time to actually construct a bridge...or two or three.

First, the planning:

And then construction:

 

Toothpicks and air dry clay for trusses:

Air dry clay shaped into stones to make a Roman arch bridge:

K'nex:

What's next? Jacob wants a complex bridge building kit from K'nex and we'll make a few more local trips to see bridges. Beyond that, well, we just don't know where the next bridge will lead us to ~smile~.

Red Spotted Purple Butterfly ~ Visitor

Our lovely visitor looked a little worn for the wear as she rested on our azalea bushes. She seemed too tired notice us hovering around her, taking several very close-up photos. But she drew the line at climbing aboard an extended finger, and then she was off.