SUPPER CLUB -happy Fourth of July!

[purrfect-lady]

Good morning!

Happy Independence Day! I hope we have a peaceful day throughout our country.

Yesterday went even better than planned. We were done shopping before 10am - both Costco and Freddie's. I had everything wiped down and put away by 11 and we were out in the yard. I got the whole side yard cleaned up, pruned, raked, & weeded. Bill mowed and then moved our firepit away from the flowerbeds and closer to the patio so 6 can sit more easily and well-distanced. This was no small feat as that firepit has been there for 30 years, sunk deeply into the dirt. My brother, Jim, built it for us, welding on a small grill, too, and it's h e a v y. We had a nice relaxed evening out on the deck until bedtime. I sat on the swing and embroidered branches on my Christmas swap blocks while we watched TV. Bill sat in his usual chair, mostly dozing.

Today is vacuum the travel areas, clean the main bathroom, sweep the kitchen, sweep the patio, and set up a serving table there and gather chairs. We're going to order pizza for supper for us and our friends. That seems safer than a bunch of communal dishes. Though the thought of potato salad, beans, and hotdogs sounds delicious right now!

JANA - your placemats sound so happy and summery! Probably not what I'm looking for for a Christmas gift, though. That Ethan is no dummy! Nice to have a possible back-up supper menu!

BECCA - well, maybe there's some porch time for you today. . . Another surprise for CA? What did he get? Happy Birthday to him this week! What day is it?

IRISH - I don't get what the big deal is about wearing masks, either. Congrats to Kathy! Our friend, Tex, has a license to marry people. And my brother in Alaska can marry one couple a year IF they get married in his house. Seems an odd law, but he's married about 5 or 6 couples. Autumn's best friend got a license to marry and she married Autumn and Aaron, but never anyone else. So - did you win at Bingo?

LORI - I think your governor and ours must be good friends! They sure seem to think alike! Your supper last night sounded mouth-watering!

Well, I already gave away our supper surprise - pizza! I am going to make a tossed Mediterranean salad to go with and we have cookies for dessert from the good folks at Costco's bakery along with ice cream bars. There is also an assortment of individually packaged chips. And each couple will have their own plate of Boursin cheese & crackers as an appetizer. There just might be a glass or two of wine drifting around, too. Maybe.

Wishing us all a happy, safe, and healthy celebration!!
And remember - if you're setting off any fireworks, make sure there's no hand sanitizer on your hands - it's flammable!

[Becca]

Hello & Happy 4th
We had an afternoon & nite of fireworks and Shooting I have never heard so much noise I put cotton in my ears It is outlawed here but people do it on the 4th & New Years I can think of much better ways to celebrate

Maryz CA got a fruit cake from Denise & Mark Marty brought him candy & goodies
He is well supplied & loved Alex’s will be here today CAs birthday is tomorrow
Enjoy your gathering sure your yard looks great

Lori You had another delicious salad temping me Yum

On the silver hair subject mine has been for years just like my Mom We both had real dark black hair & grayed early Never bothered me I died it once & CA hated it plus all
My family so it’s been natural for years Denise has decided to stop coloring Her hairdresser told her she’s the 4 th one to stop color since virus She has only a tad

It’s grilled hotdogs & all the fixings Have a great day & stay safe Becca

[auntjana]

Good morning!

Happy 4th of July!

We are hot here today and windy too. Last night a few aerial fireworks, but tonight will be the big bang! It gets so noisy here, all that is heard is the booms. We will watch from the back deck, almost not knowing which way to watch all of them. We could sit in the front yard as well and see tons of them. I would think with jobs not happening for some, that the amount of fireworks would be less. Not so! Those aerials are very expensive!

Mary - glad you were in and out quickly. It will be a great party at your house.

Becca - Happy BD to CA early! Aaron always thought that the fireworks shows were for his celebration of his BD, which is Tuesday, the 7th.

Dinner around here gets punted all the time. I did polenta with a red sauce last night. It was a recipe from Cook's Country I saw awhile ago. Very tasty. I do polenta all the time, but the red sauce was not spicy and was very smooth. Only uses tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, a bit of salt, sugar, and garlic powder. All run through a food processor or blender and cooked for 15 minutes. A quick and easy dinner. So I have enough for dinner tonight.

Lila gave Gracie quite the black eye the other day. Lila was playing with a large hairbrush, and threw it at Gracie. Lila has a excellent arm, as well as aim! Poor Gracie doesn't wear a black eye well. Gracie was over yesterday and played with the new paper dolls that arrived at Grandma's. I bought three new sets and let Gracie pick which one she wanted to play with first. The others will wait awhile.

My new cat quilt block was released, so I have that to play with and other trouble I can get into the Batt Cave.

Stay Safe and Mask up!

Hugs,
Jana

[zfatcat]

Happy Independence Day! or is it?

Mary, sounds like you are ready for your gathering. Wow....the fire pit was in the same place a really long time.

Irish, I wear a mask when I go into a business, but not when we are out walking the dogs. We keep our distance from others because Wrigley just wants to be friends with everyone, and he's so big he can knock people over.

Becca, we have the aerial fireworks going off all the time. They are illegal here, but nobody will enforce it, so what's the point. Wrigley hates the noise. Jack just goes with it. I'm sure he's bothered, but doesn't show it. The cats hate it too. They were under the bed all last night because of the noise.

Jana, I thought the same thing about the fireworks. They are quite expensive. Put a baseball in that girls hand. Apparently she can hit a target. Poor Gracie. Hope she's okay.

Well dinner tonight will be a repeat of last night. Leftovers are easy. I love it. I did start working on a vets quilt yesterday. I had 8 blocks I didn't know what to do with so I found some other ones to add. They were cut and ready to sew. I just need to cut a little more background for 4 more blocks. So that will be my day.

Have a lovely day.

[Irishgram]

Good afternoon from sunny, hot, SW. Pa....I can't believe we're having this weather, this never happens in our area....Guess I shouldn't say that, I remember when I was still at home, our summers were very hot and being on a farm and mowing and baling hay was not a pleasant job, lol....

Mary, you really did accomplish a lot...Sounds like your get together is going to be loads of fun....It is funny about the different laws....I didn't marry people but sure did enough weddings and am proud to say, never lost a bride but always had that smelling salts handy....Also did the baptizing and the funerals so can say, I took care of them coming, in between and going, lol......

Jana, Wow, poor Gracie but I'll bet the paper dolls made it much better....I would love to try polenta, have never had it...AND I love that show, Cook's Country...I manage to find it on an off station but am disappointed that the older gentleman is no longer on...But, then, these shows might all be re runs.....Not sure what might happen with the fireworks here but at the other house, I didn't even look out the window....Just not really interested...We've had some boomers the last couple of nights but usually quit fairly early.....

Lori, See, you made everyone hungry when you posted your menu...One of these times, you might find a bunch of us on your doorstep....I wear a mask every time I go shopping but to just go for the mail or walk around the block, I don't.....But, to hear some people complain, it's funny in a way...Last weekend when I went shopping with my sister, hardly anyone in the store wore a mask and I really felt uneasy, couldn't wait to leave....I can see me, a year from now, grabbing my mask when I go to Walmart......

Becca, love to hear about all the goodies you have...Please wish CA a "day early" Happy Birthday from me....Years ago, I did color my hair and I'm not sure why other than I wanted it to be lighter...My problem, I'd forget from 1 coloring to the next which box I had used and I went through a few different shades, lol...My Mom had grey in her hair before she turned 20 and as she aged, it got more beautiful..She kept her hair long and had a standing appointment to have it done, with curls in the back...She worked as a nurse and was known for her gorgeous hair...When she passed, so many of her old patients came to visit the "nurse with the hair"....Mine is salt and pepper but my sister's is snow white...Makes you wonder.....

Today is a semi busy day....Did some easy uglies and have the potatoes cooking for the potato salad and did make cookies...Not sure what all we'll have to eat but I just know, I want a hot dog....Haven't had a dog from the grille for a long time......

You all have a safe holiday........

Happy eating....................

[gershwin64]

Good morning! I'm barely sliding into my chair just before lunch!
You all are making me drool with all this yummy food talk! It's too hot to grill here, over 102° expected today and for some weird reason our humidity is up in the 20's%. I managed to water everything out back before it became too unbearable but the front will have to wait.
I love fireworks and all they stand for and all my animals are fine with them. I used to have a cocker that would sit on my lap but she insisted on watching the kids do their little fireworks things LOL we do try to make sure that all of our animals are locked inside that we can though for the just in case part. Maybe they get our vibe of it being awesome plus we do live out in the country and as our kids have grown and moved away where we don't do our own anymore so have the distant neighbors. We do go park in the Cattle Sales yard and watch the City display at the airport a couple miles away, they are beautiful!
Well I'm making round steak, potatoes, gravy and green beans for supper and for dessert we'll drive out about 25 miles get a DQ Blizzard and go sit and watch the fireworks.
Happy Independence Day to you all!!!!!!
Tina

[FarmChick]

Good Saturday morning, and Happy Independence Day! As usual, I’ve been missing. I don’t know what happens, just interruptions of my best laid plans…

I’ll catch up a little bit… fuchsia trees—ours were tall, probably 15 to 20 feet. We had two different ones. Our house was over the garage, and the trees were taller than our windows. The humming birds loved them.

Jana—I have the same “putting away and finding” issues with my DH. You can tell where he has been by all the cabinet doors hanging open. I’m always having to go out to his shop and find things for him that he has mislaid. What was your recipe with the “banned” and malt vinegar? I understand about the cows and family crossing the freeway. The grass is always greener on the other side! That’s what my cows, including Covid tell me! Would love to see your July décor!

Irish—our double Rose of Sharon doesn’t come up all over the place like the single ones at the other house do. I should go get some or at least a gob of seeds. We are getting critical dry here. Had a 70% chance of rain earlier today, but it just evaporated in the heat and we got nothing yet again. I agree about not seeing DGS—must keep him and everyone safe and well! I like your window washing philosophy! I hear ya with the HEAT!!! Everything is turning crispy here. I would be in heaven in a cheese factory! Kathy is going to be known as Marryin’ Sam!

Mary—your poor hairdresser! I bet she is really taking precautions! That poor woman!!! She is fortunate to have survived with her conditions. Your temperatures make me jealous! The other morning I went to feed Covid at 6:30 a.m., and it was 80 degrees with 97% humidity. It’s like being underwater. I know why everyone in this area are referred to as “mouth breathers.” It’s because the air is too thick to suck through our noses, so we gulp air with our mouths like fish!!!

Tina—Guess several of us have the DH issues with finding things and replacing them. We have to be ever vigilant! I have to really keep track of refrigerator items, too.

Lori—so sorry to hear about your DFIL’s fur baby! It is so difficult, and I’m sure more so with your FIL’s age and attachment. I still remember all my fur babies and shed a tear or more. Your salad with the bleu cheese, cranberries and raspberry vinaigrette sounds wonderful!

Becca--The neighbor kid has been shooting off fireworks all week and terrorizing all the dogs. I think tomorrow is the last legal day to sell and shoot. I’m so glad! I do worry about fires with everything so brown. My hair turned white, so I still add my blue streak. I’m going to get some other colors when I go take my DD her birthday present on Friday. I consider my face and hair blank canvasses to play with colors! Happy Birthday to CA!

I thought we were going to have a bumper crop of blackberries as our vines were loaded. Last week I gave SIL about 6 gallons of huge plump berries from my freezer so she could make her jam. This week I was wishing I hadn’t been so nice and generous. We had rising temperatures to upper 90s with scorching winds. It was enough to take your breath away. Well, it took all the moisture out of the berries, and we are left with some little black solid seed balls. I have picked and picked and don’t have enough for a batch of jam yet. I was really hoping for that rain today. I almost cried when the chances evaporated. Last night I was out picking and got hit with two (yes, only TWO) drops. I looked up to see if there were any clouds building or if I was going to get wet. There was a beautiful double rainbow, and no rain materialized.

And, now I’m caught up. Sorry this got so terribly long! Dinner tonight will be at DS3’s pond party—outside and plenty of distance. Brats and burgers on the grill for the main dish, and everyone is to bring sides if they want. I am taking guacamole and chips.

Happy 4th! Bon appétit!

oops! I just realized I got the first paragraph written before I got interrupted and could get back here. So goes the days of my life...

[rosebud3]

Good afternoon/evening. There is nothing new to report here.

Becca-Happy birthday a day early to CA.

Jana-Happy early birthday to Aaron as well.

Chickie-I never heard of a double Rose of Sharon. What is the difference between a double and a single?

Irish-Hope you get that dog from the grille...

Tina-Sorry about the heat. The heat hasn't really skyrocketed here, but it sure feels like it has.

Mary-Pizza sounds pretty good for a Fourth of July celebration. Enjoy your evening.

As for supper here, it's a surprise. Charles said he was going to cook, but didn't give a definite as to what it would be. He mentioned fixing spaghetti and salad, then said he might fix grilled burgers and salad.

Everyone have a save, fun evening celebrating. If I can stay awake long enough, I will watch the fireworks show from my front steps.

Mary/Rosebud