The velvet touch of petals,
And colors of the rose; ,
The source of its sweet fragrance,
Such magic no one knows.”
“Beauty and Magic” by Lillie Manter
Our roses are still flowering, although at a slower rate than in June. Hubby went outside with his camera yesterday morning and came in with a photo of the most beautiful coral-colored rose. We could submit it to a gardening magazine because of its unusual color. Hubby planted four amaryllis bulbs, which we did not get a chance to plant before Christmas. One of them came up with a lovely amaryllis flower in a pot on the front porch. It did meet with trouble when a strong gust of wind splattered much of the dirt in the pot all over the porch floor. We have not been able to find Nepune’s Harvest Fertilizer but we did find a fish fertilizer at Home Depot. It is doing a good job feeding the indoor plants. By the way, we must compliment our neighbor Dee on how lovely her yard looks.
***
We had the greatest third of July evening. Cousins Margie and Janet had invited Hubby, daughter Sue, and me to their cottage as they have for many years. I cooked about eight pounds of potatoes on Thursday. As soon as they were cooked, Hubby and Sue had to make sure they were not poisoned, especially with a little butter and a touch of salt on them. (Such Irishmen!) As soon as the “spuds” cooled off a little, Hubby took them over to Sue’s fridge.
Friday was a beautiful day. The temperature was just right. As we drove along Wollaston Beach, we could see some police along the way. When we arrived at the library in Houghs Neck, we saw about 20 officers waiting with their bicycles. Later we saw some officers on motorcycles. Security would be tight that night. We were early so we found a parking spot easily. Sue put the potato salad right in the screen house with all the other food. Margie and Janet’s brother Bobby was already there with his son Kevin, wife Dara, and their boys Ryan and Adam. We were shocked at how much taller Ryan was that night than he had been at Christmas time.
Margie and Janet announced that it was time to eat. I wondered how they could fit so much food in the screen house. In addition to the potato salad, we had meatballs, ziti, deviled eggs, hot dogs (only Deutschmacher’sbrand), thicker hamburgers (but grilled very well), black olives, with the leftovers given to Sue, green olives, and several types of pickles, which my family loves. I must tell you the story of the brand of baked beans that Margie and Janet use: Friend’s Beans. Their mother’s Great Aunt Getta lived down Houghs Neck. She ran a corner store and made a great many of the products sold there. Because she had been trained at the Fannie Farmer Cooking School, she became an excellent cook. Over the years, she made excellent baked beans. The Friend’s Company contacted Aunt Getta and bought her recipe from her. It may not have been the exact recipe that Friend’s uses now, but it probably contributed to it. By the way, you might wonder why Great Aunt Getta (Pray) Dillon had such an unusual name. She was named in honor of her father, who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Daughter Jeanne and son-in-law David joined us just as we began eating. Janet had started some of the food on the grill. David, God love him, took over, with Jeanne assisting. The McDonaghs – Michael, Jean, and Maura – came into the yard (their last name is spelled the correct Irish way, with an “agh”). They had no kids with them this evening. Maura’s boys were down Maine with her in-laws. Our cousin Larry and his wife Michele also joined us. Larry took photos throughout the evening and sent them to us the following day. He told us how happy he has been since he retired in April. We congratulated him. We all ate heartily as we chatted. Then Janet brought out the dessert. Jean McDonagh was up early that morning and was at Lyndell’s Bakery in Somerville when it opened to buy two dozen of their exceptional cream puffs. We all had at least one. While we were eating, we noticed that someone had a drone and was flying it around the beach area. It was a scary thing to watch, but it was beautiful to see it sail through the air.
Then we took our folding chairs and walked the few steps to the beach. The evening’s fireworks were supplied by the town of Weymouth. Janet had brought down a bag of Glow Sticks so we could keep track of our crew. Four little neighborhood kids thought the Glow Sticks were terrific and kept coming around daughter Sue, who was giving them out. A couple of the kids even received two. They had them on their wrists, on their necks, and they used them to wave in the air. They had a ball. The fireworks were excellent. Then we all began to notice the huge full moon rising in the lower left corner of the sky. As it rose, we began to think that the smoke from all the fireworks made the moon a deep-orangey-red color. It looked as though it had been made from tiles or checkers. It was the strangest sight. As the smoke began to clear, the moon turned its solid yellow.
We walked back to the cottage when the fireworks display was over, but we had to wait at least 15 minutes for the local teens to clear out from walking in the streets. In the meantime, Margie and Janet packed two bags of food for us to take home. Some of the food we froze but we still had enough to make dinner three evenings in a row. We thank them for their kindness in inviting us.
I must tell you where the grandkids were that evening. Granddaughter Erin was at the Red Sox game with her friend Tyler. They were positively thrilled to see the Navy Seals’ group of “Leap Frogs” parachute right into Fenway Park. Grandson Brendan had to work overtime by cleaning up after a large crowd had watched fireworks. We missed them both.
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Here is a terrific saying I spotted in the Old Farmer’s Almanac: “The whole point about getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.”
