With the onset of July, officially we are now more than halfway through the year. July is a month that has always been a month for great celebration in our family. First there is Canada Day (not to mention the 4th of July in the states) and then there is my sister's birthday on the 6th and our mother's on the 9th. School has ended for the year; the warm weather has hit in earnest and the summer holidays have begun for many people.
For us here in Nova Scotia, the humid weather has begun. There is a heat warning already in effect for today. UGH . . . I hate humidity. It ruins summer for me every year, at least here in Canada. One thing I liked about living in the U.K. was that the weather didn't really have great extremes. If you did get hot and humid days, they only lasted for about a week. Other than those few days summer was beautiful and very tolerable. There is no real need to air conditioning over there. It didn't get that cold in the winter either, which is probably why palm trees grow and flourish in many places.
This is a photo of the palm tree in my old back yard in the U.K. I got it from my next-door neighbor there. I can't believe how big and full it has grown. To think that started off as a tiny plant about the size of my index finger that was given to me as a welcome gift when we first moved into that house. That's amazing!
I was talking to my next-door neighbor over there the other night. She's been through a really bad patch in recent months. She was always such a good neighbor and was so kind to us during Covid. Always bringing us bread and milk from the shops, etc. And she wouldn't take any money for it.
I have been blessed to always have had good neighbors.
Yesterday, Canada Day, was pretty uneventful around here. Apparently, there was a Canada Day Parade in town, but it was very under-played as I did not even hear about it until it was over, and I haven't seen any photos of it anywhere. I know that some of my American cousins were up and going to one out in New Germany.
It was a beautiful sunny day for the most part. I ended up going to Cindy's for supper. She cooked a fabulous meal as always. Smash burgers and salads.
Speaking of neighbors, they have some new ones across the road. They have three big dogs, some cats, chickens, goats and their yard is full of cars, trucks, boats and a huge RV.
A little old lady owned the property previously, so a huge change. Hopefully they will be good neighbors.
There is light rain falling here at the moment which will add to the humidity. Last night when I was on my way home from Cindy's there was a huge downpour. It was raining quite hard at one point. I spent some time going through some old weather reports for July of 1932 for something I am writing. That was quite a wet July from what I can find out and it figures in perfectly with what I know about the month and was told about by my mother. That is the month and year she was born in. The Doctor had to jump the creek to get to the home to help out with the birth. His car could not get through as it was swollen, so he ended up going on foot.
It is sad that the house she was born in is no longer there. We have never been able to find out what happened or why it burnt down. Was it deliberate or an accident?? We will probably never know.
Growing up July was always a magical month for me, aside from it being a Birthday month for the family. School was over and the days just tended to blend one into the other. A lot of families went away on Vacations. We didn't do Vacations in my family as such. We did go several times to visit my father's mother and family in Northern Quebec but other than that the summer was spent at home. Swimming lessons in the morning and lazy afternoons at the pools. Lots of bicycle rides, berry picking, jam making. We had not yet got bored and were still excited to be on our summer holidays from school.
When I wasn't at the pools, I was reading. Oh, I spent many an hour with my head buried in a book. I was a daily visitor to the base Library. I am sure they got quite tired of seeing me. I would spend ages going up and down the aisles looking for the perfect read. Enid Blyton was a favorite as were the Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew books. I did love a good adventure.
And then there were the classics that I read many times. Little Women, Five Little Peppers, Leaves of Grass. Yes, Leaves of Grass. I was hungry for the written word and would read anything I could get my hands on. There was an abridged version of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman in our family encyclopedia. I can't begin to tell you how many times I read through those books.
There was the encyclopedia itself, but there were added volumes of geography and classic literature. They all got a good going through by myself.
Quite often in those days all of the children in the neighborhood would get together to play games. Tag, British Bull Dog, Red Light/Green Light, etc. We all seemed to get along well, boys and girls together and I can remember having great fun. Back in those days if it wasn't raining, we were banished out of doors for most of the day.
I don't remember having a paddling pool, but my sister remembers us having a square one. Two blown up rings. We did have a swing set. One swing was mine; one swing was my sister's and the teeter totter on it was my brothers. We also had an orange waxed canvas teepee with an Indian head printed on it. It had no bottom. We sat in it on the grass. It had a smell very peculiar to tents. Wax and canvas. Similar to a box of crayons. Especially when it was hot outside.
I don't remember ever being really bored. Not in July anyways.
I don't really have a lot else to share this morning. It's been a very quiet time here. I am not going to complain about quiet times. Quiet times are the perfect times to relax and gather your breath. I am not sure what I will get up to today. A bit of this and a bit of that I predict. I also have to catch up on the course I have been taking. I am a few lessons behind.
A thought to carry with you . . .
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★ *.As we work to create light for others,
we naturally light our own way.
~Mary Anne Radmacher° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
In the kitchen today, Turkey Smash Burgers. These were the best turkey burgers I have ever made. So delicious. I highly recommend you give them a go! Prepare to fall in love.
I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday. Wherever you are stay safe and keep cool. If it is really hot and humid where you are, don't forget to hydrate! Whatever you get up to, don't forget!
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And I do too!
.jpg "Strawberry Devonshire Tart")
