The 4th of July arrives, and once again, I'm unprepared for the festivities and fireworks. Friday night found me racing home to get to the fireworks at the local high school, and looking for a parking place in the crowded lot. Ha, luck was on our side, with two spaces marked "reserved" close to the field. Really, why had the spots not been taken? Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, at least not right now. That didn't start until we were stuck sitting in the parking lot because of traffic.
It seems that Franklin County is facing the same budget crunch as everyone else. All of the usual kids activities were there, and the food, yes lots of food. My favorite kind of food - fair food. Funnels cakes, kettle corn, snow cones...Mmm...I'm salivating just thinking of all the fatty goodness. So there was food, family and friends, and the kids played until the show started. We even managed to escape without spending a small fortune on the junk toys. Anyway, I was especially disappointed because the announcement prior to the start of the fireworks promised the biggest display ever. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed closer to the ground, with less spectacular explosions and a slightly anti-climatic ending.
Saturday meant a little work in the morning for me, and a cook out at Jeff and Sandy's that night. More delicious food, yummy hamburgers and kielbasa, sides and of course, dessert. Come to think of it, the 4th is becoming more and more like Thanksgiving, we spend the entire weekend eating our way from house to house. I'm sure I gained a couple of pounds that I didn't need. We did attempt to work off some of the calories with a game of badminton and West Virginia horseshoes, but it was a weak attempt at best.
There were more fireworks, this time provided by our hosts, and Chad and Alison. Several years ago, I was hit on the ankle by a mortar that tipped over at the New Year's party. This year I escaped injury and was relieved to enjoy the show without limping. On the other hand, Jeff narrowly missed injury when a mortar exploded in the tube. It was neat to see our firework display, while another show was underway at the lake. The effect was a multi-layered light show, that certainly outdid the display at the high school. And we didn't have to sit in traffic! Alison made a video of the finale, and I'll link to it if she makes a post.
It started to drizzle Saturday night, and continued through Sunday morning, so it left us looking for something to do. Thanks to the inspiration from Charlie, we decided to make butter from the the whipping cream I had leftover from the cake I made for the cookout at Jeff and Sandy's. I'm 34 years old, and I've never made butter, so I thought the kids would think it was fun. Hmmm...wrong, so so wrong. After a couple of shakes of the mason jar, they both decided that the reward wasn't worth the effort. I ran upstairs to get my hubby out of the shower so he could see what I was doing too. He also lacked the enthusiasm I was looking to see. Maybe I was just a little too excited about making butter, or maybe it was just too early in the morning for the rest of the crew. I did take pictures of the whole process, and A- would have been proud, had iPhoto not locked up while importing the pictures. Maybe it's fitting that the one picture that remained was of me, happily shaking the jar, while Court took the role of photographer. The butter was delicious and I will do it again, because I had fun, regardless of how the rest of my family felt about the experience. Lucky for them, I'm not like the Little Red Hen, and I was happy to share my creation.
After a trip to Shannon's grandparent's for lunch, we came home and again found ourselves needing something to do. This time it was my hubby who came to the rescue when he spotted a groundhog in the backyard. I don't have a garden this year, so I really don't care about those pesky critters, but when I had my garden, those little guys could do major damage. The groundhog family viewed my garden as a 24 hour buffet, and they weren't shy about making repeat visits to the salad bar. My hubby was placed on garden patrol, and has never retired the position, mainly because he likes to shoot them. You have to understand just how much he loves to shoot them. If one is spotted from the bathroom window, he will stop what he's doing, go get his gun and, well, you know the rest. I wasn't surprised to see him speed walking towards the back door with the rifle this afternoon, but imagine my surprise when he came inside and asked me if I wanted to shoot it. Huh? Really? Yes, really. Like I said, I was bored and tired of working, so the poor groundhog met his match. I think I had an advantage.
A-, yes I took this picture just for you.
So the 4th of July festivities have ended, and we're heading into another work week. The week is sure to lack the excitement of the weekend, and next weekend looks to hold no more promise since I'm planning a yard sale. I have kid's clothes and toys covering the pool table and filling an entire room. Wonder if the kids will help peddle their goods?
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Hope the butter was good! It's good to make something with your own hands sometimes. I've always felt that our need to create shows how we're made in the image of our creator.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats on bagging the field rat! I would probably feel guilty for weeks if I shot the darn thing. And I probably would've used a BB gun instead of a rifle. It would've just been wounded, gotten a horrible infection and lingered for weeks before dying in the most painful fashion. It's probably best you used a rifle. Good for Shannon for doing the gentlemanly thing and letting you shoot it.
The butter was delicious, it may have been in my head, but I think it tasted much better than what you buy in the store.
ReplyDeleteI think he's having second thoughts about letting me shoot it, maybe he thought I would miss and he would still get a shot. I don't feel much remorse, the pain of seeing my garden devoured is still too fresh. It's funny, I don't hate the rabbits nearly as much because they nibble and move on to other areas. Those groundhogs are regular lawnmowers (Which Shannon would appreciate IF they would only MOW the yard for him)!