Calvin Jones

This week Daddy, Jennifer, Christopher, Cromwell, and I had the privilege to be introduced to Calvin Jones and hear him play live! Needles to say we are all big fans now!(especially Cromwell who clapped and cheered for every song!). Calvin Jones is a Reformed Christian and an absolutely amazing pianist and composer! It was a real joy hearing him play!

Here is Calvin Jones' Whitewater Chopsped Sticks that I found on Youtube, we heard him play this live and it is one of my absolute favorites!

A special day in Southern Histroy

A few months ago I was reading a book, "Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War", published by Sprinkle Publication. I enjoyed it immensely, it was very interesting, though like most of that time period unavoidably sad. In September 1862 Judith McGuire, the author of the diary, recorded this proclamation by President Davis after the Second Battle of Manassas that I found particularly interesting and thought I would share. One can only wish we had politicians today that had half the faith and guts to speak like this man did 147 years ago!

"To the People of the Confederate states:

'Once more upon the plains of Manassas have our armies been blessed by the Lord of Hosts with a triumph over our enemies. It is my privilege to invite you once more to His footstool, not now with garb of fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks for the great mercies received at His hands. A few months since our enemies poured forth their invading legions upon our soil. They laid waste our fields, polluted our altars, and violated the sanctity of our homes. Around our capital they gathered their forces, and with boastful threats claimed it as already their prize. The brave troops which rallied to its defense have extinguished their vain hopes, and under the guidance of the same Almighty hand, have scattered our enemies and driven them back in dismay. Uniting those defeated forces and the various armies which had been ravaging our coasts with the army of invasion in Northern Virginia, our enemies have renewed their attempt to subjugate us at the very place where their first effort was defeated, and the vengeance of retributive justice has overtaken their entire host in a second and complete overthrow. To this signal success accorded to our arms in the East has been graciously added another, equally brilliant, in the West. On the very day on which our forces were led to victory on the plains of Manassas, in Virginia, the same Almighty arm assisted us to overcome our enemies at Richmond, in Kentucky. Thus, at one and the same time, have two great hostile armies been stricken down, and the wicked designs of our enemies set at naught. In such circumstances it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defense, and to offer unto Him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise. In His hand is the issue of all events, and to Him should we in a special manner ascribe the honor of this great deliverance. Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do issue this, my proclamation setting apart Thursday, the 18th day of September, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God, for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more especially for the triumph of our arms at Richmond and Manassas, in Virginia, and at Richmond in Kentucky' and I do hereby invite the people of the Confederate States to meet on that day, at their respective places of public worship, and to unite in rendering thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and implore Him to conduct our country safely through the perils which surround us, to the final attainment of the blessings of peace and security.

"Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this fourth day of September, A.D 1862

JEFF. DAVIS, Pres. of the C.S

'J.P BENJAMIN, Sec. of State"

From 'Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War. By a Lady of Virginia'
P. 153 Sprinkle Publications

A long over due post!

Sorry I have not posted since some time around 558 B.C. I think y'all are all use to my spasmodic posting by now, but I am sorry anyway! Below are the pictures from our trip to Dallas in May, hopefully there will be more post soon to come that might bring this poor neglected blog up to date!

Visiting the E. Family!

Savannah and our one and only Lil' Wrangler Joel!

Lauren, as beautiful as ever! :)

While we were up there we introduced The E. Family to Imaginiff.

Smiling Rebecca

Rebecca and I playing imaginiff

Savannah and Lauren playing Imaginiff and Savannah taking the above pictures.

Nathan helping fold laundry

The boys playing the infernal "Babylon X-box of death" as it has been lovingly named. After hours of hearing, "all the noise, noise, noise, noise" preceding from the before mentioned contraption; Lauren and I thought it might be a good idea to found the first X-box temperance society! :)

Ladies in the kitchen.

Rebecca serving sandwiches as Lauren sets the table.

Enough food for an army was needed to feed all of us.

Sweet Rebecca

Nathan rough housing with Robert

Savannah and her Guitar

The Gents playing basketball

while the ladies inside give a sigh of relief that they temporarily don't have to talk over the X-box!

A trip to the museum

The 19th and 21st Century collide!

Styling Belles

Much to our younger sisters' horror (they did not want to be embarrassed by association) Lauren and I went all out in our costumes to go to the Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth.

On the way to the museum

Such darling little chipmunk cheeks!

Pretty hair

Sweet Caroline

We G.R.I.T.S proudly stand in front of a statue of Robert E. Lee

Confederate Grey

When we reached the museum we watched a really good 30 minute video on Texas' part in the War between the States. I wish they had it on YouTube so I could post it!

Calvin and I intently staring into the contents of the glass, a bit like children at a toy shop!

Some rather old but hansom uniforms!

I was surprised how small people were back in the eighteen hundreds. Most of the uniforms looked like they were for over grown boys today!

Here we have several of Gen. J.E.B Stuart's personal belongings. Spurs, watch, and even a lock of hair his wife took.

"Jine the Cavelry!"

Caroline

"I have seen some handsom uniforms decked off with buttons bright,

and some that are so very gay they almost blind the sight...

of all these handsome uniforms, I will not sing today!

My song is to the soldier boy who wears the suit of grey!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! for southern boys we say,

and God bless every soldier boy that wears a suit of grey!"

Words by: Miss Carrie Bell Sinclair.

The musuem was just full of Uniforms, guns, sabres, and knick nacks and curiosities of every description!

A Keppie

The personal belongings of Charles W. Marshal

Necessary Accouterments

Bugles, Drums, and Fifes, Galore!

Fascinated and interested in something

Dragoon Sabres

An interesting fact about Terrie's Texas Rangers is that unlike most Cavelry units they rarely used sabres at all. They were generally armed with short rifles, shot guns, and multiple sixshooters a piece, and they made it their habit not to let the enemy get close enough to have to use sabres in hand to hand combat.

Soldiers' Bibles

Lauren and Johanna

Rebecca and Savannah

The Stars and Bars!

Battle worn Battle Flag.

Savannah

Calvin completely engrossed with the placks next to the Texas battle flags

Here we GRITS are standing in front of a piano that was bought by Jefferson Davis for his niece.

This dress looks like it jumped right out of one of Augusta Jane Evans' novels!

The museum had a whole room full of dresses from the late nineteenth century.

Here Savanh told Lauren and I to look glum like all the ladies in the old pictures!

That's a little better!

Here Rebecca and I are shamelessly waltzing in the museum! Lauren and I of course started it and poor Rebecca was corrupted by our influence!

"They have arms and legs enough betwean them, and are the silliest girls in all England"

Mr. Bennet

Out side the museum

Our southern Mansion!

All good things must come to an end, and tis time to say goodbye again.

Adios Amigas!

Till next time!

Birthday Barn Dance

I am sorry it has yet again been an age since I have posted anything. Computers and I don't have a very close relationship and each day we spend as little time in each other's company as we can manage; and in the mean time I fear the poor blog suffers from shameful neglect. Here are a few pictures to try and rectify this situation, though I realize they are not enough to make perfect amends!

Birthday Barn Dance!

"If you have never seen a barn dance, it is a sight to behold!"

Henry Johnson

For my Eighteenth Birthday, my family (knowing how much I love to dance) arranged and put together a barn dance for my birthday! With the help of our dear friends who attended it was certainly the best birthday a girl could ask for! Thank you everyone!

Here we are trying to reenact the Square dancing we learned at the Reformed Family Bible Conference in Bluefield, V.A. We were a little rusty, but managed!

Uh....What do we do now?

Right and Left Grand! That's better! (It helps when you have a real caller!)

Too much fun!

Rebecca and I dancing the Salty Dog! Our favorite dance to do together!

"One foot front then drag it back, then you start to ball the jack. You shake then you brake and then you sag. If your partner zigs you're suppose to zag!"

"Your heart is light, you tap your feet, in rhythm with that rag time beat! Just pack up your troubles in an old kit bag, and dance all night to the Salty Dog Rag!"

Cromwell wanted to dance too, so here he is getting a dance lesson from his Tante Jo!

I love my Nephew!!! :)

Dancing the Gay Gordon, an old Southern dance!

Robert, Jill, Calvin, and Meredith.

"Step in, step out, cross over. Step in, step out, Spin off!"

We Danced a lot of our dances to Celtic jigs and reels, and were greatly amused to see the golfers on the green across the way start to jig themselves!

The Rifle Man.

This was a new dance to us all, but it was voted one of the favorites by the end of the night!

Mr. and Mrs. S. Dancing together. :)

Lorena and Mrs. S. Executing "Ladies Chain and get spun around home."

"One, Two, pass through..."

Like most dances we had a shortage of guys, but we managed to work around that inconvenience and have fun anyway!

Getting quite dark by this time!

The Virginia Reel, an old time classic and favorite!

Bridge and pass under.

Mr. and Mrs. S. "Strip the Willow" in the Virginia Reel.

We finished the night off with one last excitement. The Nature Park where we were dancing closed at nine o'clock, our family (a little late as usual) was not packed up and ready to leave till some time a little after. So when we went to leave we found that the Ranger had already come by and closed the gate for the night, locking us inside! We were a little worried for a while, spending the night inside our cars in a park that had fines for camping over night, was not what we wanted to do! Thankfully the Ranger made one last round of the park before going home for the night and let us out! Much to our relief!

We really had a blast! Thank you everyone who participated, I hope we can do it again some time!

Huzzah for Texas!

This appeared on the Drudge Report this morning! It is nice to know we still have some people with a back bone in Austin!
Huzzah for Gov. Perry, huzzah for Texas, huzzah for State's rights!

WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACK RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
Tue Apr 14 2009 08:44:54 ET

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Perry continued: "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas."



A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally designated powers and impede the states’ right to govern themselves. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

Developing...

Celtic Dreams Piano Recital

Johanna's Piano Recital

March 28, 2009

Every Spring I have a Piano recital. My teacher picks a different theme each year, and goes through a lot of pain finding music to match it for all of her students. This year our theme was Ireland in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.

"Be Thou My Vision", one of my favorite hymns, was the opening song for the recital.

I also played "Scarlet O'Hara's Theme" and Edward MacDowell's "Will O' the Wisp". There were a total of 39 students who preformed that night.

Me and my dear teacher of nearly eight years Donna Cusick.

Mummy, Daddy, and me :)

Me at the piano with my beautiful bouquet! 

(Thank you Grammie and Grandpa, the flowers are so lovely! I have really enjoyed them!)

The Highland Laddies

Miss Donna surprised people by arranging to have these two Bagpipers in full Scottish regalia serenade us during the reception!

They were a lot of fun to listen to and even more fun to jig to! Thank you Jill and Meredith for obliging us!

Thank you Miss Donna for all your work! It was a lot of fun!

A Day at the Races

A Day at the Races!

Last Saturday the Martinez family spent their day at the races, not to see the famed feats of horses, Grey hounds, or people, however. We went to the San Patricio 37th Annual World Championship Rattlesnake Races!

Here are some of our athletes. (no one asked for autographs)

Here are the starting gates/boxes. Take a close look at the name on box 29, I love it!

More snake boxes


Rattlesnake races have a lot more to them then just snakes. Here is the egg toss game. The object is to toss an egg to your partner across from you without breaking your egg. If you successfully accomplish this, you and your partner back ten feet away from each other and he throws the egg back to you.

By the end of it people were throwing eggs at each other across the expanse of the race track and a missed egg was a rather messy explosion. (We missed out on this little game, and I can't say I am too disappointed!)

A good ol' traditional sack race

Hello handsome!
Believe it or not rattle snakes have some uses, the primary reason behind rounding up all the snakes was not for racing, but for medical research and to extract their venom for anti venom. Of course rattlesnakes being a source of anti venom would not be of any value if they did not bite people in the first place, which is a little counterproductive on their part.  So see below pics for other uses for Rattlesnakes.


Wallets, key chains, hair pieces, headbands, bracelets, earrings, purses, hat bands, money clips, and the sky and your imagination are the limit! And as the old adage goes, "waste not, want not." what you can't wear or sell to a hospital, might make lunch!!!


Fried Rattlesnake, YUM, YUM!!!
Not for the first time the Martinez got to dine scrumptiously on Rattlesnake. For those of you who have not had it, Rattlesnake, (like most things) taste like chicken, except it is a little more tough. Little Noah D. in the picture above certainly thought is was good and would not let anything come between him and his bit of snake for anything....

Unlike his big brother, who would not have anything to do with it!

The races begin! Object: To herd your snake with a six foot pole across the finish line on the other end of the field first, without hitting, prodding, or eating him in the process. (oh and without being bit!)

Little Josiah D. looks on with great interest. (The boys really loved the snakes!)

Each racer was given a snake handler to make sure the snakes kept on course and did not escape to terrorize the audience.

A snake being taken back to his box after a race.

Don't tread on me!

One mean looking dude!

Snake handler with handy claw.

Nate & Josiah loving every moment

This little fellow that the man is holding up was only over six feet long.

Calvin and Dad.

We spectated for a while and then were prompted to get in on the action! Calvin and I (Jo) went to enlist ourselves. I was barely two weeks under age and was turned down, but Calvin was immediately excepted and sallied forth to do his duty on the field of snake racing.

A company there sponsored him and a snake and paid the entrance fee (yes, people actually pay to race poisonous snakes!)

Calvin was given the below certificate.

It reads: "John Calvin etc. Did despite the fact that he has heretofore shown the normal amount of intelligence, prudence, perception, and sagacity expected of civilized persons, willingly and flippantly entered his mortal body into the 37th Annual World Championship Rattlesnake Races on March 21st, 2009 in Old San Patricio Texas.

Whereas, the aforementioned person, armed with only a pair of snake leggings and one 6 foot pole, did, in broad daylight, and in the presence of a multitude of horrified onlookers, cajole, guide, and pray one fully fanged vicious Rattlesnake towards the finish line of one of the most bizarre contest in human history.

And whereas, furthermore, such courage, gallantry, intrepidity, pluck, umpusilianimouse behavior (and just plain lack of horse-sense) should not go unrewarded, This certificate herewith Guarantees the aforementioned recipient, never to suffer from the bite of any Rattlesnake, provided only that said recipient never get within fifty feet of ANY snake in his lifetime, or any life to come.

Good Luck
(and may you soon return to your senses)"

Well he didn't return to his senses before the race, that's for sure!

On your mark...

Get set...

GO!

Calvin's snake was named Tail Gunner, and he really gunned for the finish line.... at first...

Tail Gunner decided that he was part Sidewinder a quarter way through, banked left, and never got back on the straight and narrow.

To make a long story short...

Calvin and Tail Gunner didn't win.

Tail Gunner being taken back to his box after the race.


The Rattlesnake racer

Part of the shout and cheer team.

Random

They were selling live snakes there too.

What a charming smile!

The petting zoo! If eating Rattlesnake does not satisfy your adventurous spirit, you come here to actually pet one. (which we all did)

Now talk about Crazy! These snake handlers take the cake! They would pick the snakes up with their little hook, put them on the table, try to hold them down with the hook as they quickly grabbed the snake behind the neck before it could strike them. We saw several unsuccesful strikes from the snakes who were being grabbed.

Well that is all for now and it is time to go. If anyone is interested in coming to Texas to see some Rattlesnakes, come in March and we will be happy to take you to the races! :)

Till next time!