How I spent my holiday

Ahh, Memorial Day.  The Unofficial First Day of Summer!  Parades, flag flying, family remembrances, cook outs, the always expected pop up down pours, yes, Memorial Day is fun for so many reasons.  This year was no different, but oh so different.

I know I will be showing my age here, but, I remember when it was a big holiday for everyone.  This year, my kids had to work, so no cook out with them.  My folks are not into grilling this particular day.  L:ke me,  they were counting it as a day off from Dr visits, IV's, and wanting to lay about like a lounge lizard. Even Luscious was not at his peak, due to a summer cold.  Sigh.

Not to be denied a bit of fun, I embarked on a great one day project.  You know me, always looking for something to keep my hands busy.  Recently, I found a patio set leaning against the dumpsters where I work.  Being a dumpster diving diva from way back, I snagged it for my daughter and just knew I could get it cleaned up and in shape in no time.  Here is what it looked like when I carried it home:

Some pretty serious elbow grease was needed.  Being a child of those who were raised in the great depression, I learned how to re use and fix all sorts of things.  Like how to re use aluminum foil, de grease and rework screws and nuts and bolts and I also learned how to clean rusty objects with the handy dandy naval jelly.  First I scoured the base and table with a strong wire brush and then applied the naval jelly.

While this sits around starting to do it's naval jelly thing, I began firing up the grill in order to make these:

When the aroma of burgers over charcoal reached Luscious Larry's olfactory sense, he pulled himself off the sofa to come outside to play.  The fresh air made him feel a wee bit better.  Goody for me.  He got to finish the burgers off while I went off to check on the progress the naval jelly was making.

As you can it, it's WORKING!  I began in earnest scrubbing it with screen paper - like sandpaper but QUICKER; and rinsing it all off preparing to paint it.
  I applied the rust prevent primer - wow quick drying and got to do a quick one coat to the top and underside of the table and base.

The burgers were ready by then:

We carried a few tempting morsels down the hill to the folks, played with the newest edition to stray into their yard:

After a bit of time with the folks, we went back up the hill to survey our small garden patch.

 This is just one of the veggies plots we have.  This is for our squash, zucchini and a few beans.
We are so glad that we checked it - we found some surprises!

There were several squash ready to be picked.  Hubs always gives our first harvest pick to friends and family. 

To end this very long day saga, I will say that I didn't get to finish the patio set but it is like my house.  It is patient and will be finished today. I hope.

While we didn't attend a parade, we did not forget to honor the many who have served their country, offering the greatest sacrifice - their lives.  We are proud to be Americans!  We are proud of our men and women near and far.  God Bless America!