Meanwhile…

…back at ~~the ranch~~ this old house. For Friday’s Fave Five and Five on Friday I’m sharing the following collages and photos of what’s been happening around home.

Steve and Lana, Bob and Jan, Andrew and Katie, Matteo and Sandy. Friends and family gathered for our Fourth of July celebration. I took photos of the couples but missed getting Paul and Monica together but I do have one of Paul and Dear.

Dear smoked a couple of Pork Butts and we enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, beans, corn on the cob, and salad. We had hot artichoke dip and onion dip for appetizers.

Our neighbor Sandy brought cupcakes and my sister Lana brought trifle for dessert.

Even though all of the couples did not know each other everyone enjoyed conversation and getting to know someone new. It was good to find out more about our neighbors.

Lots of purple blooming about the yard. One of our hydrangeas is an intense purple and the other is a cross between purple and blue.

Not everything is purple. Our Fuschia continues to charm us.

Our apples and pears are going to be ready sooner this year than last.

Our latest yard project is digging out the grass area in front that is encroaching on the drive and making the yard area more defined. We are adding a crushed base so the drive doesn’t get muddy from the rains. When we win the lotto we’ll have a cement driveway poured.

I’m thankful for family, friends, freedom, flowers, fruit trees and still being able to do some hard work. Don’t know if we’ll be able to move without moaning tomorrow but we are happy with our work progress.

Thank you Amy and Susanne for hosting these weekly Friday memes.

UPDATE: Our hearts and minds are with the families of the police officers killed in Dallas last night. Here are a few thoughts from a pastor in Dallas…

A Few Thoughts Regarding The July 7th, 2016 Dallas Shootings

21 thoughts on “Meanwhile…”

Beautiful desserts and flowers and I like how you are cleaning up the driveway. Isn’t there always something to do?

Yummy! Dessert looks fantastic!

Your drive is going to look great. Glad you had a good Fourth of July. Have a great weekend 🙂

A lovely group of five things! Well, perhaps the driveway isn’t lovely, but it will be when the work is done! Isn’t it amazing how grass spreads. The flowers are very pretty aren’t they! Thank you for joining in Five On Friday, I hope you have a great weekend! xx

Sounds like you had a lovely celebration and a great time with family and friends.

Enjoy your weekend

What a lovely Independence Day celebration! Especially love the cupcakes!

What gorgeous flowers! I have never seen a hydrangea that intense except in some fake ones I have. Beautiful!

Seems like there’s always stuff to be done on property, but it feels good to be able to tackle those projects.

What a beautiful 4th you had with family and friends…and the food sounds delicious.
So sad for Dallas…I am stealing your scripture to take to my blog. 🙂

Wonderful photos, that dessert, oh my! As to Dallas and the other shootings, I just don’t understand my country any more.

Gorgeous blooms and also fruit! Lovely shots of the family as well!

You certainly had a great celebration, those desserts looked amazing.

I love purple and the collage of purple flowers is my favorite! Such beautiful smiling faces, too. Your celebration sounds like a lot of fun.

Looks like a fun Fourth of July. I love the photo of the Fuschia!

Your menu sounds like a perfect summer choice.
Another big project! I hope it went well and that you aren’t in too much pain after the work!

Boy, your hard work around the yard is looking great. And those blooms — hydrangeas just never do that well for me down here, but they just glow in your neck o’ the woods.

Glad you had a good time with your neighbours. We all could do with reaching out a bit more and sharing in our similarities and not our differences

You guys are getting lots done in your yard this year! I planted a pink/purple hydrangea this year. We’ll see how it goes. Your parties always look like so much fun!