Happy 4th of July!

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Libby

Thanks Annette!
Happily spending a very quiet 4th here.
Cheers to all!
Patti

Happy 4th to all you wonderful folks! It is a special day for me as well, both my sons have birthdays today...sort of Labour Day, Mother's Day, Independence Day and Birthdays all rolled into one (I would skip the labour part but it is all about life, lol)Martha

Thanks, Annette. I LOVE the Fourth of July!

We too are spending a quiet 4th at home, but we always do. We have no regulations about fireworks here, since we are not incorporated. DH stays home to be sure we are not caught on fire and for the animals, and I stay home because he is here. Dixie hates thunder and fireworks, and we don't know how Belle is going to react yet.

We have a brisket on the pit, cold drinks chilling, potato salad in the fridge, and fresh corn-on-the-cob soaking, to be put on the grill later. Some kids are coming, not sure how many, and I think they are going on down the coast to watch the big fireworks display.

The crowds are too big for me. I am happy here.

Janie

Thanks,

Nothing special here. I may go out to my son's if I can face getting in my hot truck.

When I was expecting my youngest son we told the older two boys (ages 3 & 4) we would get our baby around fire cracker day. We went to the city display that night and as we headed home, one of them said, "Oh no, we forgot to get our baby".

BTW: He was born on the 12th.

Happy 4th of July to all dear American cottagers! Enjoy your parades, barbecues and fireworks, or simply a nice day in the garden with the family!

Eduarda

Found this posted on another board I frequent and thought it was interesting. I made a campfire tonight and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows all by my lonesome - plus my one dog. She became frightened when the neighbors began shooting off fire crackers so we had to come in. Happy 4th. everyone.

4TH OF JULY
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well-educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wifeÂs bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldnÂt.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. ItÂs not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free! ItÂs time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics and baseball.
City
Henry Whitney

Happy fourth to everyone! Thanks for the kind messages, friends to the north and east! And I forgot to sing/mumble "O Canada" on the 1st! (I have to say "blah blah" in quite a few places.)

Yes, it's odd how the holidays meant to commemorate things have really just become beach/family/drunk gatherings. I occasionally try to imagine the fireworks noise is actually the noise of the revolutionary war, since that is apparently the point of them. Schoolhouse's quote of the email with info about the signers of the Declaration was really cool.. However, that bit about the shame of being a patriot alerted my inner skeptic, so I had to check it on Snopes. The real information is just as interesting. And it's funny how the email's original author got so many signers' names wrong. I really enjoyed learning so much about the circumstances of the war, and what the signers and everyone else had to go through. Thanks for posting it. Here's the Snopes link, which explains what's true and what's not: http://www.snopes.com/history/american/pricepaid.asp

stage rat - that Snopes link was very informative! Thanks. I never thought to run the first link through Snopes, I just copied it from a travel forum I frequent. I really enjoy early American history. I'm going to forward the Snopes link to those to whom I sent the other.

chuckling softly here, I have been told so many times that something I sent on was a hoax that I have put Snopes on my desktop, to run things by them before I forward.

Even then, I don't believe everything I read at Snopes. They are only people, people make errors.

Thanks, schoolhouse, for posting that. I am one of those ferverantly patriotic people. I know the Founders went through extreme hardships. I love American history most, but all history is very interesting to me.

Janie

Here is a link that might be useful: Snopes link

Our 4th is always filled with friends. One of my best friends has a beautiful ranch home, a small cottage garden and a big back yard where a group of us gather every year with all the kids. It was a really beautiful day full of good food and fun. Every year I also celebrate Canada Day on the 4th by bringing out my Expo '67 jewelry (I collect Expo '67 memorabilia. We head home early on this day, because like little dani, living in the South means tons of illegal fire works and massive gunfire. The most unpatriotic effort was held in our community last night. Some guys in a car were driving around shooting AT homes, pets, vehicles etc. with a handgun. There should be special flaming, very warm place for people like this. What they did was despicable to their neighbors and their country.
Still, it was a great day. I spent the AM cleaning out the rain barrels and making newer (and higher) heavy platforms for them out of cement block and brick (not attractive, but better than they were)in anticipation for todays rain.

Happy 4th, all my Southern Cousins!! I spent the 1st very quietly, with friends, at their cottage. On the weekend, I was there again, for a disco party, with all of the shoreline, which may be predominately American, including her son,DIL and kiddies, who live in St. Pete's. Lots of fun.
The scariest 4th I ever spent was on the public beach on Siesta Key, near Sarasota, with all the beer, and roman candles one could have a nightmare about. North of 49 for me.!!

Nancy.