Dear Neighbor

 

 

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ESTATE LANE, NS
Unseasonably mild and mostly clear
for now

Dear online neighbors, I hope this morning finds you well and happy. It is hard to believe that we are sitting on the first day of November this morning and it is relatively mild out. I do believe that yesterday was one of the warmest, mildest Halloweens that I have experienced in many a year. I had quite a few trick-or-treaters. They started quite early with the first visitors arriving about 4:30. They were quite young however and wearing the most darling costumes.  My heart smiled when it saw them. The cats went barreling into the back bedroom at the sight, being quite afraid. That suited me just fine as I did not have to coax them in to lock them up. 

They really are scaredy cats. I know now where the name comes from.  They were truer than true scared. Poor things.

Dan really outdid himself in the pumpkin carving arena this year, having produced two very fabulous jack-o-lanterns!  He did a superb job on both of them. I was quite impressed with his artistic talents. I am sure it must have been the aid of the pumpkin carving kit that I gave him last year after Halloween that helped him in his efforts. haha  He and my brother David both got kitted out in costume.  My brothers was an old aviator's suit from the 1970's I believe he said that a friend had gifted him with, and Dan was quite fearsome.  I am quite sure he did not greet any trick or treaters with the bat.  This was purely theatrical for the photo.

David, on the other hand, sat there in his chair, with chocolate bars and packets of crisps waiting for the trick-or-treaters but they kept passing him by.  He supposed it must have been because he had no decorations up?  Who knows.  Trick-or-treating is a somewhat fickle animal.  I had some racing up my lawn to the door and others racing by. I did not have any decorations out either, so maybe there was something in David's theory.

In any case I still managed to hand out about 150 treats and finally shut my light off and closed my door at 7 pm, thinking the cats had suffered in the back room for long enough and the trick-or-treaters having petered off to almost nil.

 

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Like the wild geese flying South for the Winter, my car will be flying to the service center this morning to have its Winter tires put on.  A bi-annual rite of passage, which happens every Spring and every Autumn.  Dan came over yesterday and put the winter tires in the back of my car and will be back today to take the summer ones out and pop them into the garage.  He is such a great help to me. I am blessed. to have a Cindy in my life, but I am also blessed to have a Dan. 

I am just blessed, full stop.

 

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I do enjoy my little corner of the world, very much. Occasionally however there is something that disturbs it, and that I find somewhat perplexed by the insanity of others. So much so that I am considering making this blog private and open only to invited readers. I did consider taking the hateful messages left to the RCMP as well. Internet harassment and cyber bullying is very much against the law.  There is a certain someone who thinks it is funny to leave me messages that are nothing but the word "DIE" in capital letters, typed over and over again a bazillion times and with force. Well . . .  I am assuming they are doing it because they think it is funny.  I would hate to think that someone actually wishes for me to die.  Surely the world is not that nasty a place yet. 

In any case, it does cause me to rethink whether I wish to continue this blog in its present format.  I do like to think that my writing is there to be shared with the whole wide world, but then again, I am not sure if it might not be a better option for me to reduce that world to just the people I know and invite to share it with me. It is a matter for deep thought. I will let you all know so that you will have an opportunity to let me know if you wish to be invited to read or not.

At one time, I used to get thousands breezing through here nd reading on a daily basis. Now it is less than 200 and that is fine with me. Most are very good apples, but it only takes "one bad apple to spoil the whole bunch girl" as Donny used to sing. Let me know how you feel about it. I am interested. I want this to be a safe space, for everyone.

 

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So again, here we are in November and things will begin to change rather quickly now.  Almost all of the leaves have danced off of the trees and are carpeting the ground, brought to life with any errant breeze. I think it is now hunting season, so one needs to take care if they are walking in the woods and wear bright clothing.  My cousin has a bear that visits him regularly, which is quite a fearsome size. I do not think I would be encouraging this type of visitor.

My father used to like to hunt and fish in his younger years. I remember him getting a deer once and it hanging in the garage.  But only the once. I think most years he came up empty handed. Our cousins would get several deer most years and my mother always enjoyed them giving her a deer steak once they had been butchered.  It was not something I ever acquired a taste for myself. But mom did like deer and rabbit . . .  and moose for that matter. 

I have never enjoyed any of it. I would rather hunt other treasures such as vintage glassware and fabrics.  No blood or guns involved.

But yes . . . the days will become increasingly colder with each day that passes now.  I remember when I first returned to Canada four years ago, the ground being quite hard and frozen, and covered with a heavy frost each morning.  

When I think back to those first days in that motel room and how very broken I felt, I can see how far I have come in the ensuing years. My heart still swells when I think of the kind message of welcome home and vase of flowers that my sister left me in the room, the fire lit.  And when I remember Eileen's cheerful visits to and from work each day, Tim as well . . .  masked greetings through the window.  The daily messages of encouragement and the many prayers of others. It was the worst of times and yet in so many ways it was also the best of times. To be so loved. I will always be grateful for that.

 

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I have a few empty canning jars and I am thinking that I might like to make some pumpkin jam.  I used to make pumpkin pickles back in the day, using the cubed flesh of peeled pumpkin and they were very good. I am thinking that pumpkin jam might also be very good. I think I will search for a good recipe to try.  Pumpkin jam tarts, now those sound very good indeed.

And with that I will leave you with a thought to carry with you until the next time . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.˛.°I think, at a child's birth,

if a mother could ask a fairy godmother

to endow it with the most useful gift,

that gift would be curiosity.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

~Eleanor Roosevelt° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚  

Cooking in the English Kitchen today . . . Sweet & Sour Cabbage & Tomato Soup. Delicious, heart and belly warming, comforting. That's a good thing. I enjoyed this for an early supper yesterday along with some hot buttered and toasted sour dough bread.

I hope you have a happy Friday and that November is a month that is kind to us all. Whatever you get up to, don't forget!

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And I do too!