Tuesday 4 - July 4th and More!!!!

 Tuesday 4

Happy Fourth of July (yesterday!) and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4!
Let's talk about Independence Day.


1. In previous times every family read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights on July 4 to keep in mind the huge price paid by a minority of patriots for freedom and liberty. What do you think about this tradition? I hope you will institute it and value it. It is so important.

We have never done that before, but it sounds like a wonderful idea and tradition to keep.  Our family certainly values our freedom and the price that was paid to achieve that. We continue to stand strong for freedom and the values upon which our nation was founded. If you missed what I wrote about this yesterday, you can read it HERE.

2. Fresh made lemonade was a huge deal in the Midwest when Laura Ingalls Wilder was a young girl. It was a very special treat. Every family brought a dish to the town celebration. What foods and drinks will you have on this important day?

Well, we didn't have fresh lemonade, but I would love to have some one of these days! I haven't had any real fresh homemade lemonade in a long time.  We had iced tea, both sweet and unsweet, with our meal yesterday.  And as for food, well, see for yourself:

(These two pictures of the food are courtesy of my sister Doris, as I forgot to take one)

And here we are, posing for that all important picture of the family at the table enjoying their meal:

Left to right: Tina is our DIL Rose's sister, but Rose couldn't be with us because she was scheduled to work at her job at Home Depot. But Tina, and her son Charles (next in line), were here helping our son Benton and Rose (before she had to leave for work), with some major projects for their store, Dixie Cottage. But they took a break to come and eat dinner with us. Next, is Benton, then Scott, who came home from his new place for the day to grill the chicken for us and help with a lot of other special projects for us, like finding the ice cream maker and all its parts in the shed, where it has been stored since we moved here almost 3 years ago and never used since until now, and thankfully he found all the parts which were stored in secret hiding places that we never could have found on our own. LOL. Moving right along, next is my brother in law Art, who came with my sister Doris all the way from their home about 2 hours away. Oh, and Doris also brought the potato salad, watermelon, and the delicious Oatmeal Cake that we had for dessert...

Here's my hubby John after filling up his plate

And finally me with my sister Doris. "Now, may we please eat and stop taking pictures?" everyone asked.  LOL.

After lunch was over we got to work on making the home made ice-cream, which is a family tradition from my side of the family.  Of course, in my family we only had the hand crank style and everyone had to take a turn cranking the ice cream or they weren't allowed to eat any! (well, that was the threat, anyway, but everyone always got to eat some home made ice cream!)

So here's our "boys", getting the machine hooked up and iced up and salted and ready to run. So happy to have my kids still taking part in this all important rite.

And now members of Rose's family, Tina and Charles are participating in the family tradition. Even if this is an electric churn, you still have to take your "turn"...pretending of course...

There's my sister Doris taking her turn at the "crank". 

And Benton, pretending it's just SO hard to turn that crank! LOL

And of course I make it look easy. LOL.

Here's Scott, making sure it is finished before we can turn off the motor and eat it. 

And now for the real test...homemade ice cream over my sister's oatmeal cake.

Yes, it was very very good!

Here's the "old guys", staying cool in the house while we did all the work outside...but they still got to enjoy the fruit of our labors:

And Benton enjoying his bowl...and yes, he took home some for Rose for later.

And there's Doris with hers...

Tina and Charles enjoyed theirs...

John says, no more...but it was sure good!

Yeah, I'd say we had plenty to eat and wonderful memories were being made and traditions being carried on.  My Dad and Mom would be pleased to know their families are still keeping this tradition alive.
Here's a link to a previous post about these wonderful family memories and traditions, with some wonderful pictures and memories attached.

3. Will you be watching fireworks.. a great American tradition on this day? They are deeply rooted in the American tradition .

Well, since it was SO VERY HOT and muggy, we really weren't planning to go watch any fireworks last night. Plus we were just dog tired after everyone went home.  But then around 9:00 p.m. I said to  John, let's go see if we can see them from a distance anyway...and so we drove into town and found a parking place nearby where we could actually sit in our car and see the fireworks from downtown Interlachen just fine.  Here's a few pictures I took from inside the car. It was too hot (and buggy) to go outside:

Of course, these photos don't do them justice. They were much prettier (and LOUDER) in person.

But it was fun to go and watch for a few minutes and then we came home and went to bed.

Thankfully the noise died down pretty quickly last night and we didn't hear a lot of loud booms once we got to bed.

4. Will your flag be out? Do you own one?

Yes, we put our flag outside on the front porch every day, weather permitting. We are very proud to wave our flag for all to see.  Sometimes I even recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or sing the Star Spangled Banner when I take it out and put it up.  I don't care what the neighbors think.  I'm proud to be an American!

These are some of the decorations I had. The candles are burned down a bit today. You know it is getting really hard to find tapered candles anymore.  No one seems to sell them. Walmart only has a few and you have to watch for them or they will disappear.  I love using dinner candles on the table.  I don't like scented candles mixed with food. 

Quick 4th fact: Did you know that the term Commander in Chief cannot be used except in times of Congressionally declared war? A president has no authority over the military until then.

No, I guess I never realized that before. Very interesting information that apparently not even our "Commander in Chief" seems to know.  

Well, that about sums up our Independence Day Celebration. I know some of you have already seen most of these photos on Facebook, but for those who haven't, I hope you enjoyed spending the day with us.  I don't do many big gatherings anymore like we used to, and I miss having a lot of people around, but I must admit I don't miss all the work involved. I just can't do it anymore. Thankfully everyone pitches in and helps with food and cleanup and that is a BIG HELP.  I commended Rose's sister Tina yesterday for taking over washing the dishes.  She became my adopted "daughter in law" for the day. Rose usually is right there helping with everything.  But she still works part time at Home Depot and holidays are busy days for them, so she had to work. I do have some big news, however, that I've been just dying to share with you.  

Most of you are aware that our son Benton and his wife Rose own a store in St. Augustine called "Dixie Cottage".  It is a furniture and decor store, specializing in coastal themed furnishings and custom built furniture that they build.  Well, with the economy the way it is, and the GAS prices soaring, and their commute one hour one way each day, they have been really struggling to keep up.  Business fluctuates seasonally, but with the added cost of gas it has really hurt them.  So, when an opportunity came up for a very excellent location for a store here in our hometown of Interlachen, they took a leap of faith and rose to the occasion!

They have leased this building for almost 1/2 the price of what they were having to pay in St. Augustine, and it is in a very good location at a busy intersection right in the heart of town:

They are still operating their store in St. Augustine until July 23rd, and then they will make the big move here and open up, Lord willing, on August 2nd.

They will still be offering custom built and/or painted/repurposed good used furnishings along with interesting and fun decor items.  Coastal items will still be available, but not their main theme, since we are not a  coastal town.  It may take on more of a rustic/farmhouse/Americana style of furnishings, but again, custom orders are always available in any style.

We stopped by their workshop last night (at their home) and Benton showed us a few of the items he and their nephew Charles were working on yesterday (in between eating BBQ chicken and homemade ice cream).

Benton showing off how he works. LOL.

HERE is a link to their Facebook Page if you want to check it out.

And here is their Instagram address

They will be making a public announcement sometime today, so that is why I had to wait until today to tell you this good news.  We are excited and happy for them, even though St. Augustine is a wonderful destination for people to shop, it just wasn't paying off for them in the long run. So we pray this step of faith will be exactly what is best for them and that God will bless their business even more than before.

Oh, and since it is right here close to home, I will probably be spending a bit more time there to help out in the future.  

Okay, so that's our big news!! I hope you will drop by and visit us anytime, after August 2nd, at the new location!

So, back to the Tuesday 4 meme...thank you, Annie, for hosting this each week, and for all of you who participate and follow along. I will try to get around and visit you soon!