Girl's BBQ on the Deck

My older sister Roberta (center, in white) has her granddaughter Ava (2nd from right) here with her for a few weeks.  I offered to host a luncheon on the deck in her honor.  Our sister-in-law D'Ann (in purple) was serendipitously in town visiting her children and was able to join us also.  Far right is Tami, Roberta's DIL and far left is my younger sister Denise.  Dayle smoke grilled BBQ chicken breasts for us, Denise brought potato salad, Roberta brought fruit salad and Orange Baked Beans.  I have 3 siblings, Robert and Roberta are twins, then moi, then the baby Denise.

Today was the beginning of a heat wave here, I about died of the heat while bustling around before they arrived, cleaning, waxing the piano, putting a lace tablecloth on the dining table inside, setting the table outside.. making iced tea, etc.  Dayle was busy too, vacuuming, blowing off the deck, etc.  And it was all worthwhile.. lunch was perfection!!

I used a French style tablecloth, my Jadeite plates, the Mother-of-Pearl handled silverware, Ball jars for the iced tea, and Dayle picked us a bouquet of one pink rose and 4 "Double Delight" roses for the table.   

It got to 91 degrees here today!  We stayed fairly cool under the shade of the gazebo and with the waterfall next to us making melodious water sounds and giving off cool mist.  The girls headed off at 4 pm and Dayle and I cleared the table and came in the house and turned on our 2 AC units.  Ahhhh...

Sister Roberta had found some vintage Avon containers in a thrift store and bought one for each of us in honor of our Mom who had one of theses.  How nice of her! 

These held scented lotions - Mom loved Skin-So-Soft! 

The ivory roses with the pink edges are called "Double Delight" and interestingly, my younger sister's mother-in-law tested these for Jackson and Perkins and got to name them!  They smell divine!  If you don't have one, you should buy one.  I just checked and it's the number one rated rose for scent and beauty! 

Wish you could smell this. :-) 

We are now in the house and are cooling down.  Ahhhh... 

We got two strands of globe lights and Dayle and Travis ran them around under the gazebo for evening light.  Also - we got 6 new cushions for our chairs as the old ones were worn out.  I really like the tropical look of these.  Do you see our Blue Heron decoy?  He's there to scare off other real Blue Herons which have eaten many of our fish.. dang them. 

 I think we've almost gotten the deck ready for the summer, Dayle plans to pressure wash the deck and re-stain it.  

Dayle is very proud of his ceramic pot buying and planting project... Jasmine and blue Lobelia. 

He also brought home 2 hanging baskets of geraniums. 

The waterfalls (there are 3 with 3 ponds and then the larger one at the bottom.) 

I wish I remembered the name of the bamboo I planted there - it's very full and graceful, but it's roots do not "run" it stays contained.

I had mentioned to Kristi that we needed more plant stands to get the pots up off the deck - and she surprised us with a large collection of some that were extra at her parent's house! 

When were at a garden center buying the lobelia I snapped up a Lantana.. they thrive in the south and won't live through our winter, but I love how the flowers open up red, then turn orange, then yellow - very colorful! 

Just a few shots of Multnomah Falls yesterday.  Can you guess what is unusual about this photo?

OK, I'll tell you... the sun is shining on the waterfall!  This falls is on the north side of this tall cliff and the sun only shines down on it during this time of year - most of the year it's in shadow.  :-)

I just snapped this shot of the gazebo at dusk, all lit up and of the pond lights and Dayle's Dad's Chinese lantern that Dayle wired up to light.  :-)

Can we talk books?  I've been buying and reading books on my iPad - yes, I love real books and have many, but for ease of purchasing I've bought several eBooks.  I just finished one last night and I have to be honest.. there was way too much S*X in it!  It was "The Yonahllossee Riding Camp for Girls".  I found it by googling the best seller list.  It came up on several I found.  I thought.. girls.. horses.. camp.. this might be good.  I was tense the whole time following this young girl through her poor choices!!  Before this one I read "Sea Glass" - it had too much about the cotton mills striking and all.  I read "Last Summer" and wanted to smack the woman 1,000 times for not speaking her mind!  SHEESH!  I read "Where'd you go, Bernadette"... it was kind of crazy.  .... SO.. can anyone recommend a GOOD book? :-)  Enjoy your weekend and stay cool.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)