Videos from the June ‘11 Civil War Ball

Will be adding videos from the ball here as they are uploaded.  I am saving all of these videos in 1080p so uploading them to YouTube is a long process.

I wasn’t able to get as good of a view of the dancing as I had at the dance lessons, and there are times when all you’ll see are the backs of spectators.

Spanish Circle

Grand March-Fast

The grand march that opened the ball in quick-time (though in reality it is in .wmv) [laughter from geeks].  If you’re real patient take a look at the grand march video below that is in real-time.

 

 

Grand March-Realtime

Duke of Kent’s Waltz

Virginia Reel

Videos from CHEF Civil War Ball 06/11

 

Will be adding videos from the ball here as they are uploaded.  I am saving all of these videos in 1080p so uploading them to YouTube is a long process.

Spanish Circle

Grand March-Fast

The grand march that opened the ball in quick-time (though in reality it is in .wmv) [laughter from geeks].  If you’re real patient take a look at the grand march video below that is in real-time.

This video of the opening grand march of the ball is sped up very, very quickly to just show what kind of patterns we did in the march.

If someone leaves a comment on this post asking for a video in real time or for a different section of the ball I’ll be happy to oblige.
Filmed on June 22, 2011. Dances were called by John M Ramsay.

Picking the First "Fruits" of Our Garden-Green Beans

Noah Works Up the Nerve to Do a Backflip

New Blog Design

   I have just changed the appearance of this blog to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War and this year’s CHEF Conference.

   The header picture was taken in our Civil War outfits before a Civil War Ball that we attended in June.

The former design was from our trip to Florida last November:

2011 CHEF Conference-Photos

The conference is held at the St. Charles Convention Center in Missouri, but the hotel that is attached is called the “Embassy Suites.”  In this picture you can see the lobby and breakfast area from 6 stories up.

 

 

 

 

Noah & Mom heading down to breakfast the first morning...

A few of the attendees in the convention center

Eating pizza the evening of the first day

 

One of the booths at the vendor hall

 

There were a lot of other young men going to Mr. Potter’s sessions

I’m not sure why but I found this picture of a headless listener very funny.

 

Photo Shoot before the Ball:

The ladies with their hoop skirts

In a lot of the Civil War-era photos the subjects aren’t smiling so we took a few photos without smiling either

Some filmmakers at the conference were filming a scene with a Civil War dance so we all volunteered for a few hours to be in front of the camera.  I’ll post a link to the film on this blog whenever it becomes available.

We got to know the Mays family a lot better at this conference and my brothers and I spent most of our time with their son, Nate.

Eating a fabulous made-to-order breakfast with the Mays family

I sold this clock to Nate, but he only paid me with Confederate money.

  During the last evening of the conference there was a Civil War ball (hence all of the lessons we had taken for the past few months.)  There were a lot more people there for the ball and also in costume than I had ever imagined.  I am not a very good guesser but there were probably 300 dancers on the floor.

  The video I got from the ball isn’t as good as the footage I’ve filmed at the dance lessons, but I’ll post a few videos from the ball whenever I have the time.

Farewell to the Farm

 

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Lisa, Kate, Andrew, Benjamin, Noah, Lydia and GPD (Grandpa Dave, Kate’s Dad)

   We just finished the last day that we’d ever spend at “The Farm.”  The Gamel farm has been up for sale for about a year and a half and since the death of Grandpa Gamel.  The buyer will close on Thursday, so we came out to get a few photos and maybe bring home a few things that may be sentimental.

  

We drove down the field where Benjamin shot two of his turkeys and visited the old railroad bridge over Joachim creek. According to the bridge’s cornerstone it was built in 1898.

  

   We climbed up onto the top of where the rail used to be and found a few old railroad spikes.

 

Talking about whether an Ak-47 is better than an AR-15.  You know, just one of those typical conversations that we have in our house.

There are two springs on the property that were really the deal-maker for the buyer.  It’s been estimated that over 300,000 gallons of water a day flow into Joachim creek that really begins here.

The is so cold and fresh…it tastes really good. 

On this rock in the creek there is a natural cross made from abrasions of the stone:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey Eggs

   We read aloud a letter they had found that was written by Kate’s Grandpa and told about a few of his WWII experiences.  In the letter he articulately shared the thoughts that were going through his mind and when the letter was over we were left wanting to read a whole book by him.

 

The kitchen cabinets were made from a tree on the farm.