Summertime on the Farm

Summertime Saturday... the boys were bringing their families out for the day and Dayle put a big pan of BBQ boneless pork ribs on the grill to slow cook in homemade BBQ sauce. A car pulled in the drive and a man got out and he brought this to me - it is a hand carved rendition of the sign I designed that was placed on the highway here.  It had been made and awarded to him at his retirement in 1990 with the Oregon Dept of Transportation.  His name is Bob Sandman.  He decided that I should have this as he knew I drew it.  Wasn't that nice?  I will treasure this and pass it down to my kids.

Dayle boiled the red potatoes and the eggs out on the BBQ side burner so we didn't heat up the house - it was going to be a warm day.  He also simmered the orange baked beans outside while tending to his BBQ ribs.  They turned out tender and juicy!  I made the potato salad, with chopped red potatoes, chopped eggs, celery, chopped bread and butter pickles and a bit of minced onion - then added the pickle juice to mayo and some mustard and stirred it all up.  A summer feast!

Above is Beth, Shawn's wife - below is grandpa, Travis and his wife Kristi. 

Grandson Michael.. yum yum.  The little boys were at a little table, but decided that playing was more fun than eating. :-) 

For dessert we cut up a ripe watermelon and the boys had fun eating their slices. 

Sweet and juicy! 

 The roses are enjoying the sunny weather and are blooming.. this is my "4th of July" rose.

Our hardy fuchsia is huge and blooming beautifully. 

The garden is lush and green from a record rainy June.  The sound of water from our waterfall brings a melodic tone to the scene. 

We all just hung out and relaxed all day with the boys running about having fun.  This is Kristi's VW bus, she handed out boxes of "poppits" - little exploding things that you throw and they make a popping sound.  As you can see, my son Travis is throwing some at me in this photo!  I had fun throwing a bunch of them on the walkway, too.

The boys had fun all day climbing up on the stump from the old maple tree that we had removed last year.  Grandma made them pose for a photo. :-) 

After this photo I did a walkabout in the yard and here is a pretty pink rose - one of the ones Travis planted in the yard for us after Kristi removed them from their front yard.   

Is there anything prettier than a pink rose bud? 

My "Scentimental" rose.  I love stripey roses! 

Each rose is totally different in appearance. 

Grandpa said.. who wants ice cream?  WE DO!!!  He dug scoops for us all and added Hershey's syrup and we also added homemade raspberry freezer jam on top.  YUM!  Before we could grab it, Caleb snatched up the empty Hershey can and was licking the drips off. :-) 

Grandpa decided to help him out getting the last drops out of the can.  

Awwww.. 

The warm rays of sun shone through the red maple as we enjoyed the afternoon and evening on the deck. 

The Rose Campion was glowing in the sunlight so I zoomed in and shot this image. 

Even the koi enjoyed the day as we tossed them some food.   

We even enjoyed one big firework rocket that Travis brought out, that was fun.  Not sure the horses next door thought so. :-)  I hope you're enjoying your weekend!  Tonight we're treating my sister and her husband to a steak dinner to repay them for all their efforts on planning our tours of WA DC and Gettysburg, and doing all the driving and navigating.  Do you have any fun plans for the summer?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)