Happy Independence Day!

Are you feeling rebellious today?  I think about those overdressed, be-wigged men sweltering in that Philadelphia meeting room, hashing out how to extricate their colonies from King George the Third's grip, and I'm bewildered that they had the balls to do it.  I also think about other colonists and countries under the control of another, bigger country (economically, not necessarily geographically) today and think that someplace on this Earth, in another hot meeting room, men, patriots are plotting ways to wrest back control of their own destinies.  Kind of makes you take a step back, doesn't it?  We were taught in school about the brave and noble Founding Fathers who made this county but nobody talks about how crazy that must have seemed to most people at the time.  And it was treasonous too.  We're talking hanging offense here, folks.  Happy 4th of July!

Yesterday Durwood and I plotted our own little 4th of July celebration.  I bought Salmon's weenies to grill and some buns too, we have baked beans, and I volunteered (in a moment of insanity) to make some potato salad.  See, I was on my way to Walmart after dropping Durwood off at Sam's when he said he'd like some potato salad but would I please taste it so it wasn't too mustard-y and he wished we still had some of the potato salad I'd made for Father's Day.  "I could eat that day after day."  Flushed with flattery, my mouth took off before my brain engaged and I said, "I'll just make a half-batch when we get home; I know we've got all the ingredients."  I will confess that I did berate myself as I walked around Wally World and I was sorely tempted by prepacked potato salad for only $2.49 but I resisted and made some in the afternoon.  I gave him a taste before putting it away and he called it good.  I'm excited because I love me some hot dogs on the grill.  Yum.

I weeded out all of the nettles across the back on top of the retaining wall this morning.  I wasn't going to do anything today except sit on the couch and knit but I couldn't stand staring at that long row of gigantic nettles anymore.  So I got some heavy gloves, a garbage bag, and then a garbage can, and filled both of them, which meant a drive up to the yard waste dump site, but now it's nettle free back there.  I do need to get me some Roundup because the nettles are so big I can't uproot them, I have to poison them.  I hate doing it, hate using that stuff but I also hate getting stung by nettles so I'll do it.








Our little green tomato isn't so little anymore and it looks like it won't be alone for long.  See the blossoms on the other plant?  Tomatoes are in our future.











I left a few catmint plants on the retaining wall, mostly so it wouldn't be too bare up there, but it seems the goldfinches like the seeds.

July 4--John Henley, Runner.  

Sunset light slants between trees
striping the trail.
A runner scans
the day's barcode as she passes.
~~~~~

Okay, now I'm going to go knit on the cuff of the Autumn Cumulus sock.  I started it, got about 5 rows in, and then nearly fell asleep so I went to bed.  I know I said I planned to knit it all in one go to prevent the ribbing shift but, man, I was just too sleepy.  I keep thinking I should be ALL better, after all it's been three months now, but I tire out of an evening.  I stopped wearing the air cast a couple days ago when I realized that my Achilles tendon hurt more in the cast than out.  I'm still wrapping it in an Ace bandage for support but, since I'm against pain, I'm not wearing the cast.  I hope the doc doesn't yell at me when I see him later this week.
--Barbara