Let Freedom Ring

It's Independence Day week-end and we take this celebration seriously. You have to concentrate to have this much fun. Which means.....not much building going on. Ed went down to the building department to see what it would take to get approval to create a french door opening onto a balcony off the back of the garage studio, since the windows were so high. "No problem," they said, "just structure it like the one on the house." Hallelujah! What a wonderful place! We didn't have to bribe anybody, shoot anybody, or break any laws. We don't have to redo the architectural drawing, or have the structural engineering redone. Needless to say, we were thrilled. Ed came home and framed in the windows and the back balcony door, and finished shaping up the eyebrow dormer headers. He also notched the header to accept the ceiling joists, which is the next major step. That was pretty much it for this week. There was a party to prepare for!

We had family and friends up for the holiday. We played, took walks, ate, laughed..all the things we're usually too busy to really enjoy as they should be enjoyed. It was wonderful. OK , ok, so since I'm a foodie.. breakfast was scrambled eggs, fresh squeezed from my chickens, toast, chicken and apple sausages (not from my chickens), and hash browns. Needless to say we skipped lunch (well.. there was some snacking) then dinner was smoked baby back ribs with Aunt Joyce's SECRET bbq sauce (don't ask, I'm not giving up the recipe), corn on the cob, baked beans, salad, then after dinner was the bonfire and roasted marshmallows. When it finally got dark about 10:00 pm, we had a terrific fireworks show...yeah, we went for the big-boy fireworks. We all went to bed exhausted, but man, was it fun.