How can I possibly be 77 years old? Yikes. Anybody with a birthday on the day before the biggest summer holiday knows that you celebrate with the carnival, picnics, fire crackers, parades – all the hoopla connected with the 4th of July. I took Red to the car wash so we could put the top down and drive to Clear Lake.
Becky and I went to the park downtown and watched some very frightening rides and it wasn’t even very crowded.
Then we went to a new restaurant next to the Surf Ballroom and had shrimp tacos.
Thank you for all the cards, online greetings, phone calls and emails. Each one was read and appreciated.
Becky and I have been exchanging this card on each birthday since 2006. I have added pages, repaired it and it’s still got lots of good years in it. It’s become a dear tradition between us.
We have no plans tomorrow so I’m looking forward to a quiet day on the porch and in the sewing room. Maybe I’ll bake my birthday cake. I’m watching the Des Moines Symphony Yankee Doodle Pops concert on PBS and it’s just wonderful! The Fever beat the Aces tonight for the first time since 2019! GO FEVER!
And that ends the 77th birthday …. from the blog about nothing!
Happy Belated Birthday to you, Mary! Yours is the only blog that I read faithfully, it’s the best as far as content and comments! I love that you have readers from all over the world and hearing about everyone’s daily life and accomplishments. Thank you for bringing all of us together in this wonderful place, Country Threads blog. Jan in MA
Jan – thank you, Jan! Readers have stepped up to make this a fun conversation – I am just talking to a wall if nobody picks up the thread – haha! And you know what I always say – it’s the blog about nothing – just us folks chatting.
Wishing you a very happy new birthday year, Mary! Thank you for making all of us so happy with your wonderful blog and shared accounts of life on the farm.
Happy Birthday Mary! It looks like you had a lovely day.
Sherry W.
Happy, happy birthday! I love the card too. Hope this year is wonderful.
Happy Birthday and Happy 4th! I liked the card you and your sister share; it reminded of the recycled gift paper my husband and his sister reused and reused on each others gifts.
It’s around 90 in Ohio today, but not as humid. So, it’s been a nice day for the 4th.
Happy belated birthday.
Oh, Mary, I loved your “I don’t care!” parking job 🤭! You deserve it, Happy Birthday again!
I am doing better sleeping in recliner than bed after TKR surgery, at least I have small improvements every day. Darrell has fixed us tv dinners, could be worse.
Happy (Belated) Birthday, Mary. Sounds like you had a fun day and a relaxing evening. Time goes by and we are busy with life. Then on our birthday we stop and think about our age. On my birthday in August, I will be 84. What! Wait a minute! That can’t be possible. But it is. I know how you feel, Mary. I hope and pray that the Lord will give me some more years, in which I can keep making quilts for my family and quilts to give to charity.
I’m glad you could spend your birthday with your sister. I am hoping my sister will be able to come visit me this summer. She is in MN, and a widow, but we try to get together if we can get the details worked out. Sisters are the best.
I picked some berries this morning and then made a potato salad for our 4th of July party at church tomorrow. We had one a couple years ago, and it was a lot of fun. We could sit and enjoy while the younger generation took over. If it rains, or is too hot, we will go inside.
It is hot here today. The forecast is calling for rain for us tomorrow, but one never knows until the day arrives!
Enjoy the rest of your day. Ours is quiet. Bob grilled us a hamburger for lunch, and we had an ear of corn and potato salad and a piece of fresh red raspberry pie. All good, and quite easy.
Mary, I hope your birthday was a fun one! I did catch the parking of little red!! I’m sorry to hear of Patty’s passing. I really enjoyed seeing her quilts. I’m having a very quiet 4th and getting ready for a road trip! Love your blog with my morning coffee! Happy fourth to all!!
Doris in Alabama
Love the parking job Mary! And the card you and Becky exchange.
I mentioned the I don’t care club to my daughter, and she directed me to another one! It’s by Just Being Melani. It’s hilarious and I think you’d enjoy it also. Happy 4th!
Happy Birthday and Happy 4th of July! Your birthday card is priceless; I love those two bathing beauties. Either someone is moving the parking lines, or I need to practice. Sometimes my parking could be better. The sky is turning blue; we had storms all morning. More rain more mosquitoes. I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th.
Happy Belated Birthday!! Sounds like you had Nice one!!!
Happy Birthday! Aren’t we grateful for AC?? Hope you can do all your favorite things.
Mary H – we just turned on our ac today and it does feel good!
Happy day late Birthday Mary! If I were closer I would definitely bake you a cake! We lost our Golden Retriever last August & just recently began to look for rescue dog. Going soon to meet a 4 year old Yellow Lab. Fingers crossed….. if all goes well we will be bringing her home to our 2 cats! Aside from that .. low key 4th for us. Live on large lake which puts on public fireworks display. Can enjoy from afar but hate the noise that terrifies many animals. I am finishing a quilt also. And have birthday 81 very soon. My Sister coming from California to celebrate. I really don’t know where the years have gone .. but agree with all comments regarding “ grateful to be here “ ! To a safe 4th to You & Readers
Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoyed your special day. I love reading your blog about nothing even though you always have something to say. Enjoy your holiday today.
Brenda – so it’s like this….if I don’t say SOMETHING, I start getting emails wondering if I’m ok. All I have to do is look around and I have plenty of thoughts so it isn’t as hard as you think –
Mary, I got the staged picture! Two sisters out just having fun! 77….try 80! Birthdays never bothered me, but turning 80 did! I look at all the things I want to do & think, girl you better get busy! I certainly need to get sewing on all this fabric! Also finish up these UFO’s!! Today Ron & I are going to a picnic with my former work friends. Most of us have been retired for 20+ yrs but we still get together ever 2 wks for lunch & catch up with each other. It’s the one really good thing about working at Walmart! Most of us were dept mgrs. I managed the fabrics & crafts dept when it was a huge dept. I had 5 large displays hung from the ceiling across the back that I changed each season. Since it was a 24 hr store I worked 3rd shift to get those put up. Good thing I wasn’t afraid of heights, but the ladder I used was one of the big rolling ladders with a safety rail around the top middle & the wheels locked. At that time most of their fabric wasn’t bad, I even got in flat folds of Waverly decorator fabric. Things certainly aren’t the same anymore! Not sure they even have dept mgrs anymore! Everyone have a safe – wonderful 4th!🇺🇸
I laughed at Big Red’s parking spot – figured it was your birthday and you were going to park it anyway you wanted. (That really is a cool looking car, by the way.) 🙂
What is your special Country Threads Heath cake?
Have a blessed 4th all.
Jan
Jan – I’ll post the recipe.
Happy belated birthday, Mary. I’m looking at that 77 number come November and as you say, unbelievable. Loved the “red car park”. A perfect gift to all your blog readers. Your exchange card with Becky is wonderful. As is the photo. You two are priceless. Definitely make your birthday cake today. Great way to celebrate the 4th. I went out to my backyard this morning to find that a deer had once again found its way in despite our best efforts to block all entrances. Ate all the remaining daylily, hosta, lily blooms and most of the tops off the phlox that were just starting to bloom. And either they or the rabbits have started eating cone flowers. Sigh. They did leave the bee balm so maybe we’ll get a few more sightings of the hummingbird. Will have to plot a new strategy, Enjoy your porch day!
Karen c. In MD
Love that photo!!!!!! How lovely to have a sister with whom to celebrate. Later this month I will have my 87th birthday! Gosh, how? One day at a time, I suppose. Each morning i thank the Lord that I can rise and walk, even if it hurts a bit at first! Here in central Texas we are having a wet Fourth of July. I didn’t put my flag out, but we never complain about rain!!!!!! It is so scarce this time of year. I enjoy reading about all you do on your property. We have acreage and it is becoming a challenge to get things done, but we struggle ahead! Happy belated birthday!
Carol in TX – we are seeing all the devastating rain in TX. My favorite little town that way is Comfort – only been there once but I loved it. Now you realize that the photo on the card is not us – it’s a commercial card that we started in 2006 but it COULD have been us – I’m 5 years older than Becky and she always liked to wear a boys swim suit with a cowboy hat and boots! Don’t I wish I could find that picture again!!!
Glad you did what you wanted to yesterday to celebrate your birth day. The tilt-a-whirl you pictures use to be my favorite ride at our local firemen’s carnival growing up. Now no way could I handle that swirling around.
We are at the camp and our youngest daughter has purchased a small camper so she is next to us and we love it. She’s getting to know the “ cast of characters” as I tell her about all the people in this private campground. You buy your own plot of land here. Being in a small village along the lake, they began the day with a kiddie parade with kids on bikes and vendors set up on the lighthouse lawn. Then at 5 we watched the Independence Day parade with antique cars, restored trucks, antique fire engines, Boy Scouts waving the flags,, golf carts all decorated up which you would have loved the creative families, you can tell it’s generations all together here crammed in cottages and enjoying the boats. Then at 10 pm there is a place we could assemble to see the fireworks being done over the water from a pier. We were far enough away to see them but not hear them. Our daughter was asking about plans for today and I told her we just wing it and do whatever we want now and whenever we want for the rest of the weekend. She thought that was great . I don’t care if we eat chicken salad for the next three days! I brought a child’s donation quilt to sit outside and sew the binding on. My kind of weekend.
Kathy – your daughter is going to be next door? How fun for all of you!!! A little community with your parade, vendors and all. Becky and I liked the tilt a whirl best, too, but I can just feel my neck tensing up thinking about it right now. Is that an old lady statement or what???? Tooooo funny!!!
Happy Birthday, Mary! I’m about 6 months older than you and just glad I wake up every morning! We all have a few more aches and pains as we mature (we don’t get old…we mature!), but at least we can still get up and go every day!
Mary – I’m far from a rocking chair at this age but health problems become the great unknown!!
Happy belated birthday Mary!! I looks like you had a good day with Becky driving around in your classy red truck. Nice way to celebrate in style! Have a great 4th of July.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
Happy Birthday, Mary! I love that card and the tradition!!
Happy birthday and many more! My friend Cindy had a birthday yesterday, too—she’s 74. One of our other quilt guild friends turns 95 tomorrow! May you all live long and prosper!
Happy Birthday Mary!! It’s good to be here to celebrate another year, right? Cheers to 77 and taking the pretty red car for a drive!!
Happy 4th of July to everyone out there in Blog land. Mary, glad to hear you were able to spend your special day with your sister. This will be the 1st 4th of July not spent up in NY in many years. The little farming town we just moved from (Warsaw, NY) always does this holiday up right with a Country Fair, parade and a 21 gun tribute to all the soldiers and war veterans . We usually spend the rest of the day on the front porch with family and friends drinking assorted beverages followed by a supper BBQ and finally fireworks in the evening. Down here in SC nothing is going on. My family down here are all going somewhere else and Jim and our son are moving our sailboat to a different marina on Lake Murray so they will be tied up most of the day. Not even sure if there will be any fireworks on the lake tonight and I really don’t known anyone yet to ask in the neighborhood. The few people we have met are gone for the holiday, mostly up to the mountains in NC. Guess I’m in for a quiet 4th.
Barbara – sounds like my day but I don’t mind. I’m going to move a cutting mat to the porch and cut a bunch of 3” blocks to sew when I need to be in the AC. I might find a movie to watch on my iPad or listen to an audiobook. Sounds like a good day to me!
Happy Birthday Mary! Here’s to many more years of life on the farm! 🎂
Happy, Happy Birthday!
Gotta say it again! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Happy belated birthday! I don’t get to see your blog until the next morning, so it’s the 4th today. The Shri,p tacos looked wonderful. I love them too. I’m glad you got to spend it with Becky. Great job you did parking Little Red. It was your turn, right? I celebrate my birthday for weeks. You should too! 😂
Frances – this will be a quiet day of sewing and reading on the porch – perfection!
So glad you had a nice birthday outing with Becky! I know it is a day late but I want to add my wishes for a happy birthday and a thank you for your blog which starts my day off every day (or ends it if I stay up very late!).
Happy birthday, Mary! I agree with Joan S, we look forward to a morning cup of coffee and this blog. I also love being a member of the “I Don’t Care Club”. I don’t care about fireworks, magazines, weeds, dust, even making supper some nights.Have a great 77th year.
Debra – I just love the I DO NOT CARE CLUB! And I’m with you guys – I’m reading comments and drinking coffee on the porch. We all are of the same mindset!
Our grandson Ford was born on July 2nd so we celebrate “Happy Ford of July” all month long! Happy 4th of July to everyone!
Jane – OMG! I love it! I’ll bet Ford grows up knowing he’s the reason for all the celebrations on the Ford of July. Is he a little boy or grown up?
Mary…Ford just turned 4 so he’s a ball of fire most of the time! Unfortunately he got sick yesterday so his celebrating today was to stay home in the ac & get well! Maybe he celebrated his real birthday too much on Tuesday!!
Jane – oh, I feel bad for Ford having to miss the celebrating today! Tell him I love his name.
Happy Birthday wishes Mary from the Hocking Hills in Southeastern Ohio where the temperatures have been extremely hot, like you! My best wishes for a birthday year filled with lots of Fever Wins, happy days in the porch, golf cart rides with Rick, and good health to all !
Karen – you just described the things in my life I love – just add in Hazel Jane and Keeper Boy!
Happy Birthday Mary! Sounds like you had a good day. My sister Rhonda and I had a card that we passed back and forth. Not sure what happened to it after she passed away. Hope everyone has a good 4th!
Happy belated birthday! I’ve always “milked” my birthday and celebrated my birthday month, birthday week, birthday weekend!! Hope you do the same and enjoy it!
Happy Birthday, Mary! A great day to celebrate all the things that you are still able to do — including walking around the carnival where no one was. Lol! I hope you had a delicious birthday cake. I get to bake my own too. Hahaha! At least we still can, right?
Happy Birthday, Mary!
It’s raining this morning here in Texas, and apparently did all night.
1.24 for the week. What a blessing.
Radar shows rain for next few hours, may have to postpone feeding animals.
I love rain anytime but especially before fireworks. There have been several wildfires too close.
It sounds like everyone is having a quiet 4th. Me too as it’s just too hot to have any ambition outside. I just finished reading “Piano Days” by Don Reid (Statler Brothers fame). It’s a great read like his other books. Nothing violent just kids growing up and their experiences.
Have a great 4th everyone.
You are so lucky to have a sister like Becky to spend your birthday with. You two have so many special memories to share. Becky and my birthdays are coming up in August – I just cherish the leather bracelet she made and gave me for my birthday.
Happy 4th of July everyone!🇺🇸
Gloria – I just thought about your shared birthday last night! How do you celebrate yours? We always let the birthday girl pick the place to eat and exchange small gifts. Last night she gave me a bag of fresh picked garden peas which I love!
Glad you were able to spend your birthday with your sister. Food looked amazing. Spent yesterday watering veggies, reading a book on the porch, baking a cake, sorting my 2 1/2 squares into colors and watching the Fever game. They did good.
My fourth will be a quiet day.
Thanks for all you do and for all the readers contributions.
🥳Happy healthy Birthday Mary! Enjoy your special day!
Rita – and thank YOU for your responding comments. When nobody chats with me it’s not much fun – I love to hear what everybody is doing or sewing!
happy birthday
well the car park is very much improved.
Brenda – you do realize we staged that bad parking just for a joke but I don’t think anybody got it.
Happy (belated) Birthday! Sounds like you had a fun day.
My 4th of July will be quiet like yours – spent mostly in the sewing room.
Happy, Happy Birthday! and many morrrre. Sounds like you had a fun day.
And tomorrow will be a laid back day. Fun, also.
I’m always looking for a laid back day.
Have a blessed year.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mary!!! One of my brothers shares this day with you. I think he turned 75. I’m up in ND to help with the grandkids and supervising finishing up 4H projects. Their county fair is called Achievement Day. It goes for 3 days. No carnival and hoopla. What I like is that if a project receives a blue ribbon, that project can be exhibited at the ND State Fair. It will be a busy month. It is very hot here- 93 today. Our 4th will be spent at home and watching a movie in the cool basement. I hope you and everyone else have a relaxing July 4th.
Happy Birthday Mary. Absolutely love the card!! Which one is you and which one is Becky?? I can’t remember if you ever told us your age difference. Sorry to be nosy. lol
Nothing special here tomorrow either. I want to finish my improv tote bag, then pick pie cherries.
Sue – Becky is the topless one – she’s 5 years younger than me. As a little kid she dressed in a boys speedo, cowboy hat and boots!!!! That’s why this picture on the card is so perfect.
Happy Birthday Mary! You look marvelous! AND are such an inspiration!
You go girl!
Happy Birthday Mary, sounds like you had a wonderful day. Best wishes for the year ahead.
Happy Birthday Mary. Love your blog about nothing, animals, quilts,plants. I made a patriotic cake, red white and blue with sprite in it. Wish I could share it with you. Watched fireworks this evening from my deck. Quiet day for the 4th. Carolyn b Shenandoah Valley Virginia
Happy birthday, Mary! I had to look twice, that looks like your smile on the older girl so I wondered if it was a photo of you and Becky. Enjoy every minute of #77 and have a pleasant day tomorrow doing your thing. I miss your porch.
Happy birthday, Mary! Sounds like you had a great day. My birthday is on Veteran’s Day. It’s great to have a birthday that falls when everyone is celebrating with us!
Happy Birthday Mary! Sounds like you had a fun day. You and Becky sending the same card back and forth reminds me of my dad and his brother doing that also. Hope you have a great 4th of July.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY,!! 🎂. Hope it’s been a good day!! And hope you have the makings for that wonderful Country Threads Heath Bar cake on hand!! You go girl!!
Happy birthday, Mary! Of course, your birthday is celebrated with all the hoopla! It looks like you had a fun day out with the girls. I enjoy your blog about nothing so much. I love the community you have created, thank you! Enjoy your birthday weekend, fireworks for a firecracker of a gal. Have fun!
Chris R – thank you – I also love the community that this blog has created! I look forward to hearing from so many of you – I’d like to delete the rest who just lurk in the background but I won’t.
Happy birthday Mary!
How many people do you think just lurk in the background?
I did for years and I still don’t comment much, I do enjoy the blog very much
Dale- 500-600 lurk every day because I can see how many views versus how many comments. Here’s a little known fact / Connie is a lurker! And I can say that because she’ll never see this!Haha!!!
I miss seeing her on the blog and seeing what she is working on.
Happy Birthday and many returns of the day. The card is priceless!
Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday. The card tradition is a fun one. Sisters are sure something special!
Happy Birthday Mary!
I plan on doing the same thing as you tomorrow!
Happy Fourth of July!
A very happy birthday to you!
Mary,
Happy birthday!
I’m catching up on the blog news. Still a few days to read but wanted to add my condolences to Mr. Ed if he were ever to join your blog. I so enjoyed Patti’s quilts and comments. She is missed.
Happy Fourth of July, everyone! 🌻
Happy Birthday Mary. My day ended like yours. Fever game and Yankee Doodle Pops on tv. We went to the Capitol the last 2 years but decided to watch from home this year. Too darn hot.
Happy Birthday and best wishes!!5
Ann in Virginia
Happy birthday, Mary!! I hope you have another wonderful trip around the sun. You give all of us something to look forward to every day! 💛