July 4th 2022

We will be grilling burgers and having traditional, for us anyway, sides.

Cold watermelon and potato salad are on the list.

Jim grocery shops and I did ask for a treat of caffeine free diet coke if he can find it. I very rarely drink sodas but I like that one.

The day will probably be quiet until dark.

Then all the folks who spent a lot of money to make noise and sparks will get started setting off their fireworks.

We won't be going to see any big shows this year although I love them.

My fireworks pictures here today are from Apache Junction in 2008.

Not the greatest, I know but I like them and remember the night watching them light up the sky over my house.

Hope all of you have a safe and happy 4th!

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Looking Forward to Summer

Now that Easter is in the past it is time to look forward to summer. In my mind the coming summer season is a time to relax until the holiday routines start again with Halloween. You know how it goes, right? Halloween with the need to get great candy and smile at all the kids. Thanksgiving with families gathered round the table and cooking, lots and lots of cooking. Christmas with the pressures of decorating and gift giving and receiving. Next is New Years when the young are excited to stay up so late and older folks like me would rather be in bed by about 9. Last in the line up is Easter which was just celebrated with bunnies, eggs and chocolate.

Summer bracketed at the beginning with Memorial Day and at the end with Labor Day does get interrupted by what I think of as the best holiday of all, the 4th of July. To say that I countdown to the 4th like a kid waiting for Santa might be a bit of an understatement. Follow along here and let's see if I can convince you about how great this day is okay?

• Clothes for the day are casual and comfy like the 4th of July shirts available from The Flag Shirt.com.
• Most towns large and small start the morning with a parade and I love parades!
• Easy food with friends and family is the order of the day. Picnics or a barbecue it all sounds good to me.
• The evening includes fireworks in most places. Big displays overhead with the local radio stations playing music or kids in the backyard with sparklers. It is all bold, bright and fun!
• The day ends with tired, well fed and maybe slightly sunburned Americans ready to do it all again next year. 

Are you looking forward to the 4th now too?


Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

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I hope....

I really hope all my readers had a wonderful 4th of July. Ours here was simple but nice. We grilled some steaks, had potato salad, fresh corn on the cob and watermelon. That is one of my very favorite summer meals.

Later when the fireworks started I got the camera out to try for some nice pictures. A lot of them were duds of course but one of my own shots made me say wow how cool.

Take a look!



I had a lot of fun with lenses and settings. Can you tell? This picture is straight off the camera. No cropping or adjusting of any kind. Guess what my new desktop wall paper is?

Summertime

It is definitely summertime here in the Valley of the Sun. The temperatures will be in the triple digits for the next couple months. I have found things to enjoy here despite the blast furnace temperatures that you just have to figure out how to survive. As part of an EtsyBloggers carnival for the month of July I have been asked to name 5 of the most enjoyable things about summer.
Here goes-

1. I like it when the days are longer in the summertime. Not getting dark until 8:00 or 9:oo pm lifts my spirits and I can be busy much longer. I am the type that when the sun goes down I want my pajamas and a book. My day is done.
2. Here in the desert we experience one of the most awesome things that makes the heat bearable if only for a short time. I am talking about the monsoons. You can see the clouds build all through the hot afternoon and wait hoping for the rain. Sometimes the storm kind of falls apart but other times you get to see the lightening, hear the thunder and be amazed by the heavy downpour that can be so heavy at times that I can't see my back fence only about 20 feet away.
3. One of my favorite holidays is in the summer. That is the 4th of July. This day brings to mind barbecues and fireworks. I think everyday should end with fireworks but then again that would mean the display wouldn't seem so special so I take that back.
4. Our wedding anniversay is in July on the 24th, so summer time is a time for celebrating that. This year will be our 33rd and the longest lasting marriage in our families. Dinner, romance, maybe and an overnight trip somewhere, what is not to like about that?
5. The last great thing about summer is the clothes. You can get rid of all the layers of winter and wear simple, beautiful things like sundresses. I have found some lovely ones window shopping on Etsy for this post.

Take a look and tell me what you think. Clicking on the picture will take you to the shop I found then in.


I love the flow and shape of these dresses. They can be found in the shop Chic Complement on Etsy.