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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Bonjour, Bricks & Backyard Decks

Ten days each year after our Independence Day Celebrations come the celebrations in France for their National Holiday -- Bastille Day. This has always been a part of my memory ever since attending the many French language classes I took in both High School & College:


This year the significance of Bastille Day took on a different perspective around here and from the tree. Two families from our town and members of our family tree high-tailed it out on Air France flight # 83 with their destination Paris and environs. All seven participants left on Bastille Day to enjoy three weeks in France.

My wife and I out of curiosity drove by their house later in the day just to check on it -- the automobile that they had driven to SFO was back in their driveway . . . mysterious -- not really -- the family that they traded homes and cars with from France apparently were now in Healdsburg.  A similar phenom must have happened with the car at CDG in Paris as well,  as the travelers from the USA arrive there late on Bastille Day.

We look forward to hearing about their trip and we will make occasional drive-bys of theeir home here . . .

For those of us left behind here it is another celebration of sorts -- the once every two or three years of the painting of the decks . . . we have redwood decks that run the width of our back yard and they need to be freshened up every so often -- somehow we chose this week to do that -- part of the reason was that we heard that the weather was going to be really hot next week -- so this was a good week to beat the heat.

Of course we had to disturb Auggie (you can see the deck under the lounge) to actually paint  . . .


Now while our work around the house is going on and members of the family are traipsing around France we are also in the middle of "National Ice Cream Month"  who knew? But that does call for a celebration.



The NICM was designated as such by Ronald Reagan back in the '80s -- thank you very much. I am thinking back to my growing up days in the Chicago area and one kind of ice cream comes to mind -- Chicago Brick. It was not produced all year but came out seasonally -- maybe July -- and was very distinctive. Above you can see the three flavors that were included in brick form -- Orange Sherbet, Vanilla and Caramel -- it was a great combo and resembled the way Neopolitan Ice Cream is today . . .

Well, probably Hiles Home Made Ice Cream -- the origins are not known -- would have included "Chicago Brick" as well. We just might have to make a batch ourselves if we get the decks done soon.

Looking around at the "News" across the USA I spotted a recent article that was intriguing to me. I like shopping and sometimes it is fun to browse a yard sale or two just in the hopes that an "Antique Roadshow" item could be spotted and picked up "for a song" . . .


Now, if you click the above article you may be able to read the details. Basically it is about a yard sale that will stretch for about 160 miles -- from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Beebe, Arkansas. And the other interesting fact is that the organizer of the whole event is Linda HILES -- she must be related. So, if we are done with the deck and the world travelers are back, maybe a caravan to Arkansas is in order . . .

Probably more realistically is the fact that I'll be lounging on the deck using a new APP for genealogical research sipping some freshly made "limeade" and eventually drifting off into "another world". I recently added this app to my iPad:

Along with the several other genealogy related apps that I now have -- I am set for the deck.

In the meantime -- it is Slider Saturday Night -- and the patties are thawing for tonight's event. That is something to look forward to after deck painting on hands and knees -- three sliders  . . .

Have a fun week and see you in a few!

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