Restoring Sean: A Final Flourish

Sean has completed his massive carpentry project and now proceeds to deorate his new drawing room.  Although his aesthetic is very different from mine, I have to admire all his hard work on this room, far beyond anything I could hope to accomplish.  He certainly has every right to be proud of the results.

But buying books just for their covers and not for their contents?  Not something your Head Trucker would ever do.

Before my last move, I had probably 2000+ books of all kinds and genres:  the collection of a lifetime, acquired one by one as my usually meager funds would allow.  But I had to let some go, which broke my heart. My books were my friends.

-----

Todd and Rob's Steamy Weekend

Todd goes topless in this day-in-the-life record of the diggings and dawdlings at their mountain cabin on a hot summer weekend.  Don't miss the fascinating close-up at the 13:20 mark.

-----

Father David: Prophetic Voices

Father David's very timely homily is based on yesterday's reading from the book of Amos as well as Jesus's speech in Matthew 23:

It's almost as if Amos and Jesus were responding to today's headlines, isn't it?

-----

Sunday Drive: Mama

Boys, do you ever miss your mamas?  Mine has been gone from this life more than thirty years, but I miss her still. And I know her bright, shining love will meet me when I get to the end of my road.

An old favorite song of mine: 

-----

New State Portraits in Buckingham Palace

A look at the two new portraits of the King and Queen, as well as others from past reigns.

-----

What We're Watching: Jim Butcher's Story, 1994

A poignant story of a young gay man coming out to his fundamentalist family in Dallas during the plague years.  We wept.

-----

Todd and Rob's Mountain Oasis

The Georgia boys show off the luxuriance of their mountain garden in the height of summer:

BTW, don't miss the light show in the last eight minutes.

-----

Sunday Drive: "God Made Me the Way I Am"

Cameron shares his faith journey as a gay man raised in a conservative Christian church:

-----

Waitin' for the Weekend

"Old School Charm #1" by Clint Collide:

-----

Chateau for Two

Tom and Damien are a charming Canadian couple who bought a derelict chateau in France, where they have a monumental repair and renovation job ahead of them:

In their second video, they give a mini-tour of the chateau:

(Mais je ne comprends pas pourquoi les gars ne parlent pas le francais dans leur videos. Pour le convenence de leurs telespectateurs anglophones, je me suppose.)

For a full tour of Chateau Poseidon from top to bottom, and a bit of the grounds, see the video they made for So Chateau here.

-----

Boyfriend Bait: Key Lime Pie

New York Times food writer Vaughn Vreeland promises this homemade pie will be Love Potion Number Lime if you follow his recipe:

-----

Bernie and Pete: Where We Go From Here

Bernie Sanders denounces the looming healthcare disaster caused by Trump's "big, beautiful bill":

Pete Buttigieg is rocking the beard and stache, with a message of hope for all Americans:

-----

Growing Up Gay: Ken from Kentucky

"An Endless Tune":  from Kentucky to Florida to Hollywood and beyond.

Bonus:  Jane Pauley interviews Jeanne and Jules Manford, founders of PFLAG, on the Today show, July 6, 1978:

This was about the time I came out to my own mom, while I was in college.  Mama was great, she was immediately supportive, but it took her a while to process it all.  I brought her to a meeting of the gay rap group at school, where a lady who had started a chapter of PFLAG gave a talk, and that helped my mom a lot.  

Times were changing, but in 1978 it was still quite a scary thing to come out to anyone.  There were as yet no openly gay celebrities on TV or in public life, certainly not in the Deep South.  Only Anita Bryant running her mouth about the "homosexual threat" . . .

-----

Jeffrey Kevin: Nautical Tablescape (4th of July)

Navy blue and white are the main colors of this week's patriotic tablescape:

-----

The American's Creed

Written by William Tyler Page, 1917, and well worth remembering:

I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of many sovereign states; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution, to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies.

Bonus:  Adam Kinzinger's Fourth of July message "Still Worth Believing In":

-----

Restoring Sean: From the Top Down

Sean completes the ceiling and a lot of trim work.  The best view of the overhead work is from 36:30 on. 

-----