Fireworks!!!

I love fireworks and I look forward to the Gambo Day/Smallwood Days festivities every year.  Our little town puts off a spectacular fireworks show on the night of our civic holiday.  It is always on the last day of the Smallwood Days celebrations, which is Monday, at 10:00 PM sharp.  Everyone in town comes out for the show.  So, if you're in the area this year on August 6, check it out, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

I'm looking for some hints on photographing the fireworks.  I think I'll do a better job this year, as I've been reading my owner's manual and have learned quite a bit from that.  However, I want to share a few shots from last year.  These are by no means great, but I want to give an idea of how spectacular the fireworks display was.......

We had the best seats in the house last year.  We sat on our friend Wilson's back deck, right on the river facing up towards the Interpretation Center and the old railway trestle.  We shared drinks, great food, and lots of laughter, while watching this fabulous show.

I hope to capture some really good photos this year that I can share on my blog.

Have a great week, everyone!!
 

I had a bunch of friends coming over from work, so I thought I'd try a new sweet treat.  I used mini muffin pans, so they are a perfect "two-bite" sized treat. I love how it turned out!!!

This is the funny part......................my co-workers didn't even get to see them, until this morning when I emailed them all a photo.   You know how it is, I was in and out, from the kitchen to the gazebo, mixing drinks, pulling appetizers out of the oven, and of course, enjoying time with the "day-time divas"!!!!!  Lo and behold, after everyone left and I started putting things back into the refrigerator, there they were.

Anyway, all is not lost, I'll bring them to Roger's office this morning for the morning coffee break---ha ha!!

Here's how mine looked.....

The recipe...................................

Peppermint Patty Brownie Cups

*Makes 12 brownie cups

Ingredients

Box of brownie mix (about 20 oz) plus ingredients to make for cake-like brownies (or your favorite homemade recipe)
Muffin liners or baker's nonstick spray with flour
12 fun size peppermint patties, plus extras for garnish if desired      

1. Preheat oven according to package directions.  Line muffin pan with liners or spray bottoms lightly with baker's spray and dust with flour. 
2. Make batter according to directions.  Spoon a small amount into each tin, just covering the bottom. 
3. Put a small piece of peppermint patty on the batter.  Cover with more batter and smooth.  Each muffin cup should be about 2/3 full.  
4. Bake 15-20 minutes.  If you didn't use liners, loosen edges with a sharp knife while hot.  Let cool for 5 minutes and then remove brownies from tins.   Let brownies cool completely.

Frosting
8 oz  block of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of salted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
4 cups powdered sugar   

 
In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, vanilla and peppermint on medium speed until smooth and combined.  Slowly add powdered sugar and beat on low until just combined.  Increase speed to high and beat for one minute.  Frost brownies, and place a piece of peppermint patty on each one.  Chill for one hour.  

Some shots from around the Interpretation Centre in Gambo

Looking out towards Freshwater Bay

Looking towards the old railway trestle

Learning the Language....TE HE!!

 

My sister, Charlotte, sent me this in an email---I thought it was too cute not to share......

 

You think English is easy??

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this ..

There's a two-letter word that has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?

Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends.

And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning.

People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.

In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.

When the sun comes out we say it is clearingUP.
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP,

for now my time is UP,

so........it is time to shut UP!

Now it's UP to you what you do with this.

Gazebo is almost done!!

We had a pretty quiet weekend...lots of work, actually. 

We dog-sat for almost a week for Rana & Mark....but that was definitely our pleasure.  Their miniature schnauzer is the most adorable and well-behaved dog alive.....(now you can just imagine what type of Grammy I'm going to be--ha ha!)

Here's Bailey & Roger, relaxing in the gazebo, that we had just finished doing some work on......

The gazebo is almost finished!!!!!!!!!!!  What do you think????

Roger & I installed all the screens on July 2...in 32* heat!!!!!!

Look at the beautiful piece of wall art that I bought from a local artist--Tracy Traverse

Last night, Roger & I sat out and enjoyed a couple glasses of wine..I think we are really going to enjoy our gazebo!!!

There is just a little bit of cosmetic work left on the exterior, and I have to find some furniture to go in there, but it is awesome.  Roger worked really hard on this, it was a big project, but well worth it.  No more bug bites!! ha ha