goings on…
It’s been mostly a quiet July 4th, though our neighborhood has a DIY parade every year. It’s always a treat to see how excited the kids are, and how much fun everyone seems to be having. The kids (and some adults) decorate bikes, scooters, wagons….
and even themselves and their pets. I have to say, our neighbors know how to celebrate in style!
Up until a couple of years ago, they held the big fireworks show just a half mile from our house so we had a great view from across the street, but they’ve since moved the location a little further away and now we can hear but not see them. For years we hosted a big BBQ and then would relocate everyone across the street for fireworks and dessert, but since they moved the fireworks we’ve stopped. I miss the fun, but not the work of putting together (and cleaning up after) a party for 30+ people. Le Monsieur is going to throw a couple of steaks on the grill later, and we’ll probably enjoy dinner on the patio, serenaded by the occasional boom of illegal fireworks. The dogs, oddly enough, don’t really freak out. Byron will bark at the louder ones, and Coco is more comfortable staying close to us, but they don’t seem to be overly disturbed.
About the only plants in our garden that seem to be thriving under the watering restrictions imposed due to the severe drought in California are these blooming sage bushes.
They are lording it over everything else in the yard, except maybe the Mexican pine tree. Even my lavender is giving me the side-eye right now. (“Are you SERIOUS? You call this irrigation?”)
How’s your weekend going?
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Have a great weekend Susan. I love your pictures — especially of peoples’ dogs.
Sounds like a nice holiday – I love the idea of the DIY parade! It’s been too hot here to do much outside, although I think it only reached 90 today (only!). Very quiet as half the city (the more wooded part) has a fireworks ban. Makes a nice, mellow change.
Well, down here it was like being in (sadly) Baghdad. Semi automatic weapons, cannons, 4 wheelers, dirt bikes, jazzed up golfcarts, rapid fire illegal stuff, target explosives(unbelieveably dangerous stuff but legal!!) along with the now legal ( !!!) fireworks here in GA. Since we run an equine facility we hate the 4th, New Years, and all other excuses to bring out the artillery. I love America, but NOT the freedom to own and posses such weapons illegal or not. What does a cow farmer need with a machine gun? Not to mention all this done while drunk. Don’t worry folks- I have a contract on a 100 acre new farm. In a much saner and less redneck area.
Happy 4th and have a nice weekend!
Your sage is beautiful(and brave!)
The sage always reminds me of Zane Greys Raiders of a purple sage ,I have read as a child 🙂
Dottoressa
looks like a fun neighborhood! Our day was quiet and we had a lovely dinner with friends at their ‘ranch’ in Healdsburg. Didn’t hear any fireworks and didn’t see a display either! (not sure what happened there–bad timing?? 😉
The sage is gorgeous–our climbing roses seem to be doing ok but everything else is VERY parched.
Have a lovely quiet Sunday.
The little glimpses of your pretty garden are tantalizing. Look forward to seeing more in the future. The Zane Grey book– I read it and loved it too, as a child, dottoressa! Who wouldn’t like a cowboy tale with “purple sage” in the title?
We also get the muffled, sporadic booms of fireworks by the lake (about 2 miles from here). Our four cats notice, but usually seem unperturbed. Hubby and fifteen year old son wanted a small backyard show too, so we had one, in front of our old, decrepit sundial garden. Lovely sputtering sparks.
It was a nice end to a night in which we watched “Yankee Doodle Dandy” on Turner Classic Movies. I never tire of Jimmy Cagney in this role– such an original, surprising, brilliant talent. “It’s a grand old flag, it’s a high-flying flag…”
A belated Happy 4th July to you! Lovely to see your photos, thanks for sharing. Hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Our Spanish dog Lisa is lying in front of me as I type, sheltering under the computer table, as there are loads of loud bangs here. This weekend there are two fiestas: San Cristobal and San Fermin, with lots of processions, bands playing and fireworks, which are always noisy ones! Lisa was a street dog, which is probably why she is so scared of loud noises.
So many wildfires springing up around us right now that the thought of fireworks is very nervous-making. . . An eerie sky across the water today thanks to smoke from various directions. But we have a houseful of guests, including a very cute baby, so we’ll do our best to enjoy the sun, if it ever breaks through the haze. . . your neighbourhood parade looks like great fun!
Awww… that’s cute. Any excuse for wearing costumes and living large is a good one. Your plants are amazing.
Our town and the neighboring ones had their fireworks displays on July 2 over the bay. We drove to a beach across from the fireworks and saw both displays. July 4th was pretty quiet – steak and monkfish on the grill.
I love a home-grown parade. I like saying, hey, that’s so-and-so and look what he did to his kid’s stroller…! We have a few of these parades in Vancouver and I’m glad when I stumble across one.
It seems to be a water smackdown in the garden. We have a similar problem here, no rain for weeks, or just enough to tease. I hope we all, plants included, get relief soon.
We too have a neighborhood parade that is lots of fun followed by a neighborhood picnic in the park. Because they can be torture to pets and combat veterans with PTSD, and especially with this year’s unusually high fire danger (due to drought and the heat wave), I thoroughly dread the fireworks and other explosive noisemakers that are used on July 4. After reading Susie’s comment above about the use of actual weaponry to celebrate this holiday, however, I guess we are fortunate…I’ve never seen a gun or heard gunfire in our neighborhood, where no one admits to even owning one.