The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[ecurbh]

Hey, I like the direction of the thread today! Or is that threads...

[Corin Stormhands]

Stop that! I'm at work!

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh! - What a story! - So she was made of wood then!

[HairOfTheDog]

That chain mail isn't going to protect her much I am afraid.

[ecurbh]

Yup, she weighed the same as a duck.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for bringing me up to speed!

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

Wow! Did I miss something?? I'm REEEEALLY into bathing suits .. Looking for a new one myself, but at 40 I'm thinking something a little less revealing.. hee hee

[ksen]

That chain mail isn't going to protect her much I am afraid.

It's more like chain lace.....

Thanks Ruthy! That makes up for Corin trying to pawn off that dwarf woman(?) as a Gondorian female.

[ecurbh]

Uh-oh, she just got shot during the Battle of Orleans!

[RMDupree]

Just a small kindness to make up for all of the swoon-fests we ladies take part in now and again! ;)

[Corin Stormhands]

[RMDupree]

It appears to be a bit tight around the chest! LOL!

[RMDupree]

HA!!!

Bring out your dead!

[HairOfTheDog]

Did I miss something?? I'm REEEEALLY into bathing suits ..

Then you should have been on this thread yesterday.

Bathing suits or birthday suits? ^

[Corin Stormhands]

That makes up for Corin trying to pawn off that dwarf woman(?) as a Gondorian female.

[HairOfTheDog]

Uh-oh, she just got shot during the Battle of Orleans!

Oh no!

[RMDupree]

If you like to tan, I would recommend the tan-thru suits by LifestylesDirect.com.

They have some nice cuts (I prefer one-pieces with full coverage in back) and you tan through the suit as if you were wearing a low SPF. But the great thing is they aren't see thru AT ALL!

They've got some really beautiful suits too. Some of them have gorgeous beach art on the front.

[RMDupree]

That is NOT a Dwarf woman!! That's Miss Liberal Feminazi 1985! HARUMPH!

Dwarf woman are lovely, albeit short-tempered. :)

[ecurbh]

A Short Biography of Saint Joan of Arc
Saint Joan was born on January 6, 1412, in the village of Domremy to Jacques and Isabelle d'Arc. Joan was the youngest of their five children. While growing up among the fields and pastures of her village, she was called Jeannette but when she entered into her mission, her name was changed to Jeanne, la Pucelle, or Joan, the Maid.

As a child she was taught domestic skills as well as her religion by her mother. Joan would later say, "As for spinning and sewing, I fear no woman in Rouen." And again, "It was my mother alone who taught me the 'Our Father' and 'Hail Mary' and the 'Creed;' and from none other was I taught my faith."

From her earliest of years Joan was known for her obedience to her parents, religious fervor, goodness, unselfish generosity and kindness toward her neighbors. Simonin Munier, one of Joan's childhood friends, tells how Joan had nursed him back to health when he was sick. Some of her playmates teased her for being 'too pious.' Others remembered how she would give up her bed to the homeless stranger who came to her father's door asking for shelter.

Joan was 'like all the others' in her village until her thirteenth year. "When I was about thirteen, I received revelation from Our Lord by a voice which told me to be good and attend church often and that God would help me." She stated that her 'Voices' were Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. At first her 'Voices' came to her two or three times a week but as the time for her mission drew near (five years later), they visited her daily telling her to 'Go into France' to raise the siege of Orleans, conduct the Dauphin Charles to Reims for his crowning and to drive the English from the land.

Joan went to the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs, which means Valley of many colors. There she spoke to the loyal French governor by the name of Sir Robert de Baudricourt. After many rejections he finally agreed to send her to the Dauphin who at the time was living at the castle of Chinon.

On the evening of February 23, 1429, she began her mission for God. In the company of six men, she rode through the Gate of France on her way to Chinon. Joan reached this town on March 6th, but was not received by the Dauphin, Charles, until the evening of March 9th.

After being accepted and approved by a Church council headed by the Archbishop of Reims, Joan was allowed to lead the Dauphin's army. This part of her career was meteoric. She entered Orleans on the evening of April 29th and by May 8th the city had been freed. The Loire campaign started on June 9th and by June 19th the English were driven out of the Loire valley. The march to Reims started on June 29th and by July 17th Charles was crowned King of France in the cathedral of Reims.

From this time on, for reasons know only to King Charles, the king no longer valued Joan's advice and guidance. She had always told him that God had given her 'a year and a little longer' to accomplish His will but the king seemed to take no notice of it. For almost a year he wasted what time remained to Joan, until in frustration, she left the court. Her last campaign lasted from the middle of March until her capture at the town of Compiegne on May 23rd, 1430. Her 'year and a little longer' was over.

Abandoned by her king and friends, she started her year of captivity. As a prisoner of the Burgundians she was treated fairly but that all changed when on November 21st, 1430, she was handed over the English. How she survived their harsh treatment of her is a miracle in itself.

The English not only wanted to kill Joan but they also wanted to discredit King Charles as a false king by having Joan condemned by the Church as a witch and a heretic. To obtain this goal the English used those Church authorities whom they knew to be favorable to them and the staunchest of these was Bishop Cauchon.

Joan's trial of condemnation lasted from February 21st until May 23rd. She was finally burnt at the stake in Rouen's market square on May 30th, 1431.

Twenty-five years later the findings of Joan's first trial were overturned and declared 'null and void' by another Church court, who this time was favorable to King Charles. It was not until 1920 that the Church of Rome officially declared Joan to be a saint. Her feast day is celebrated on May 30th.

[RMDupree]

I found the perfect thing to solve my bed-hair woes!!