Running Around Like My Head Is On Fire And My A*s Is Catching...............

Sorry there hasn't been much Ice Cream round here. I think someone stole the damned machine. Last week-end I took part in Miss Nancy's PIRATEHAWK! (Or as I call it, Flintlock 101) This coming week-end I am attending the Battle of the Hook. So I am rushing around as normal. Until I can get my ducks in a row,  here's a recipe for you to play with over the week-end.

Shrub

1 Quart of DARK rum
1 Cup of sugar (either natural or brown)
2 small cans frozen lime or lemon aide concentrate
Enough water to make 1 gallon of drink.

You can play around with the sugar amount as listed, this drink IS pretty sweet. Serve cool and dream of the balmy breezes of the Caribbean.......

Bad Day At Black Rock..........

I was MUCH too sorry to post yesterday, but I wanted to note yesterday's date in history.

On June 25th,

In 1876, Lt. Col. G.A. Custer and 286 men under his command were K.I.A. in an engagement with hostile Sioux and Cheyenne Indians near the Little Big Horn River in the Montana Territory.

In 1950, The North Korean Army launched a massive surprise attack across the 38th parallel into South Korea. This plunged that country into a three year war that ended up costing the United States over 20,000 dead. The war still isn't over, the shooting stopped due to a "truce" and to this day, there are still American servicemen, locked and loaded, standing behind barbed-wire and sandbags, on watch, in that troubled land.

June 25th just wasn't a very good day for American men at arms..............

Today In History...........

May 10th 1863.....

General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson died as the results of wounds received on May 2nd 1863 at the battle of Chancellorsville VA.

Jackson who was attempting to exploit the Confederate successes at Chancellorsville was personally leading a night reconnaissance mission between the Federal and Confederate lines when he and his party came under fire from his own forces (18th North Carolina Regiment) who were under the impression that Jackson's group was Federal cavalry. Jackson's injuries led to the amputation of his left arm . Based on the medical records I have reviewed, this was a survivable wound, and Jackson did well during and after the operation. However, he had complained of chills the night of the 2nd so he might have been coming down with a cold, or because of the medical theories of the time, he was made to rest and not move around. He was heavily sedated with opium products such as laudanum and he developed pneumonia. This was what killed him, not the gunshot wound. 

The Army of  Northern Virginia was never the same after the death of Jackson. I am not one of the school that believe that if Jackson had lived the south would have won the war. I don't believe the south COULD have won, but with Jackson alive, the war might have gone on longer or there might have been a negotiated settlement. Who knows for sure?

Since January? Damn, time flies when you are having fun..........

Nope, ain't dead, (although there have been SEVERAL mornings that I would have argued the point with you.) I have discovered that it is a GREAT deal easier to DO stuff than it is to write about it. I got caught up in a creative fever and have turned out a BUNCH o' stuff and have somewhat changed my focus and taste in firearms. As my long suffering wife will attest, when I get in one of my fevers all goes by the wayside until I can shake it. (However, no matter what she says, I have NEVER come running out of my work shop screaming "It's alive, It's alive !!!!!! ala Dr. Frankenstein)

I did however manage to take a few photos of projects and as soon as I can remember how, to post them.

As most  of you know, I am old school to the max, which has led to my focus being directed in the area of historical reenactments and period weapons. Well, what seemed to be a natural branch off of that seems to be cowboy action shooting so I am working on gathering up the gear to start out with, I've made a few contacts in the sport and it looks like it will be both challenging and fun. It's been interesting in getting it all together, all bright and shiny.

I am also getting fired up about Nancy R.'s second annual kid's shoot. It's scheduled to be held on the first weekend of June and will be filled with the normal activities as well as a few surprises. You will get a chance to see strange and unusual firearms, a free range Dr. Mike and world famous star blogger and Internet icon Jay G. Please drop by if you can, it should be LOADS of fun, plus you get more or less free eats. (I'VE been known to go to weddings and funerals of people I didn't even know, just for the free chow.) So ya'll come on out, hear?

Today In History.............

150 years ago on January 1st 1863



By the President of the United States of America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

If you read this carefully, you will see that this was more of a measure designed to hurt the ability of the Confederacy to pursue the war. It did not end slavery in the states that had not rebelled, nor did it free slaves in areas that were under federal control. It did however give a moral standing to the war from the Union point of view. It also served to prevent other countries (particularly Great Britain) from recognizing the confederate government and lending military support since that would be supporting the institution of slavery. It was however, the begining of the end of slavery in the United States.    

That Long???????

I'm spending the holiday with Nancy R and family doin' a little well deserved R and R. it's been a VERY busy past couple of months and I needed a little decompression time. It's been fun to take this break,

Miss Nancy reminded me that today is the fifth anniversary of this blog, I can't say that it has been something of great importance to the general public, cured any diseases, helped to bring about world peace and understanding. But it's been fun for me, it's given me a chance to vent my spleen every now and then and best of all, it's giving me a chance to be a part of the gun blogger community. Since I have been blogging, I have met some of the finest people that I have ever had the privilege of meeting.

Thanks for reading these ramblings and allowing me to be a part of the family.

Attention All Hands...........

Attention All Hands..........

Splice the Main Brace!!!!

In honored memory of the immortal Nelson and his band of brothers of the Royal Navy who met and defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets at the battle of Trafalgar 207 years ago on this date.   

Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order and increasing by staying in port; but know he finds, I fancy, if Emperors hear the truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night than ours in one year.

Firstly you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own regarding their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil.

Now I can do no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer of all events and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this opportunity of doing my duty.

My character and good name are in my own keeping. Life with disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied.

It is warm work; and this day may be the last to any of us at a moment. But mark you! I would not be elsewhere for thousands. - at the Battle of Copenhagen.

In honour I gained them, and in honour I will die with them.

Lord Horatio Nelson