Dear Neighbor . . .

 

FRIDAY, June 27th, 2025

Estate Lane, Nova Scotia

12*C/53.6*F

A sunny morning

Dear Neighbor,

I am a bit later getting started this morning. I don't know why. It has just taken me longer to get myself sorted out. I was awake at 5:30 a.m. laying in bed and thinking.  Go up, fed the cats, had my shower and now I have my front door open letting some fresh air come in via the screen door.  The sun is shining, and I can hear Chippy off somewhere on the street, chipping away.  I can smell toast as well. That is such a lovely smell.  The smell of toast. It whispers good morning and gives you a hug. It makes me feel all warm and comfortable and safe. It makes me think of all the mornings of my childhood. My mother making coffee in a black enamel pot on the stove for my dad.  The smell of toast wafting through the air. The hustle and bustle of getting my own children ready and out the door for school.  The sound of clinking china and tea trays rattling in the old people's home that I worked at when I first moved to the U.K. 

There are so many feelings attached to the smell of toast don't you think? For me they are good and I am grateful for that.

 

(source)

One of my favorite things to have on toast, aside from butter, is jam.  Strawberry jam to be exact. I adore strawberry jam. Bonne Maman makes a very good commercial one, but my absolute favorite is homemade strawberry jam and right now is the season.  I think I should get some berries and make myself some this year. Not a lot, maybe only half a dozen jars and even that will be too much, I fear. I just don't go through it now like I used to.  When I had the children at home I would make at least a dozen jars, if not more.  And it would all get used up before the year was through and it was time to make it again. That would be in addition to a few others.  Blueberry jam and blackberry jelly (jelly because it had no seeds).  Also, Crabapple jelly.  Those were the favorites.

I picked up a package of pickling spice yesterday. Not because I want to make pickles, but because last year there was something that either Cindy or I wanted to make that required pickling spice and we could not find it anywhere. I thought it prudent to get a pack of it while I saw it, just in case.

 

I am guilty of the sin of coveting this morning.  This is a photo taken from my bedroom window.  My new neighbor has this chair in their back yard. It is a birdhouse Adirondack kind of a chair. All the slats in the back of the chair end in birdhouses at the top.  There is also a birdhouse sitting on the seat.  Clearing it is for decoration only and not meant to be sat upon. I am in love with it and want one for myself.  ha-ha Won't happen, but it is so close to my garden I can pretend it is mine, right? I can look out at it every day and get some joy in seeing it.

I was thinking the other morning, how pleasant it would be to sit out back on the patio some days and to enjoy the fresh air beneath the shadow of the maple tree, perhaps reading a book, or even just sitting and thinking.  How lovely that would be. 

I never go out there. I have no chairs to sit on if I did.  But I do wish that I could.  Perhaps I will hunt around for a folding chair. I don't have a shed so it would present a bit of a problem to find somewhere to store chairs in the winter. Oh, the costs are mounting when I think about it . . . I will just have to satisfy myself with looking at their chair from my window and wishing it were mine.

 

(source)

The house we had when we were living in Ralston, Alberta was by the nicest PMQ that we lived in during my previous marriage, other than the house we built that is. It was quite large and had a big kitchen and a huge dining/living room.  There were glass paned doors leading into both and a big bedroom downstairs and two larger ones upstairs.

The South facing outer walls of the house were lined with beautiful pink hollyhocks in the summer months, the back with peonies. Of course I did not know what they were back then. Only that they were pink and pretty.

There was a white picket fence all around the yard.

We did not get to live there for very long, less then two years.  Amanda was only a few months old when we moved into it and was only about 18 months old when we left.  Long story short, we got asked to move out of it as my then husband had his release in to go to work for the Alberta Prison Service and the base said that they needed the house for incoming personnel.  

We found ourselves homeless.  Well, the children and I were homeless. My ex could stay in quarters on the base. He got me and the children onto an armed forces flight out of Calgary to Chatham, N.B.  I was six months pregnant for my middle son.  I found myself flying all by myself across Canada with three children, the oldest having just turned five, a three-year-old and an 18-month-old, heavily pregnant for my fourth. I don't know how I did it now.  I was very brave.

We landed in Trenton, Ontario and I was not able to get onto the connecting flight as there were no seats for us.  We sat in the terminal all day until close to midnight before we could get on another flight to Chatham.  We landed in Chatham about 2 in the morning.  My father-in-law, whom I had only met once before, picked us up and we piled into his car, picked up my mother-in-law at the motel they had been staying in and drove to the ferry to PEI.  We waited for that and then went across the Northumberland Strait to the Island and to their home in Saint Eleanors.  I was exhausted to say the least.

Mentally and physically. Exhausted.  We were there for about a month until my brother was able to drive to Aulac, N.B to pick us up and bring us to my parents place here in Nova Scotia. We stayed there until November.  

At that point my husband had decided to stay in the Armed Forces and gotten a posting to London, Ontario. So, he drove down with the cat and picked us up at my parent's place and we moved to London. Douglas was born only a few weeks later.

That was the way it was for the whole 22 years we were married. Those years were filled with tumult and uncertainty.  Lots of joy as well, but there was not a lot of stability when I think back on it now.

 

(source)

I had a facetime with Doug the night before last.  He had just not long since got home from the local ER. He was there as his heart rate was up to 148.  He is my son with the heart problems and who has a defibrillator fitted in his chest. They could not find any reason for it being so high. They tested everything.  They thought perhaps he was dehydrated from the heat and so they pumped him full of fluids, but it still did not go down. So, they sent him home. He was staying hydrated and had a note to be off work for a few days. I messaged him last night to see how he was doing, and his heart rate was still up. I do not know what the problem is, but I am concerned.  If you could keep him in your prayers, I would so appreciate it.

He is only 44. He is a good, good man.  With a kind and gentle soul. 

They are planning on coming over for the Christian Camp that is held near here every July.  They go pretty much every year.  He said he plans on spending some time every day with me, but we will see. Hopefully he will be well enough to come over.  Kayla (his wife) as well. She fractured her back hitting it on a table not long ago and has been in quite a bit of pain. She is working but is not allowed to lift anything. Hopefully it will heal itself.

You never think that you are going to fracture your back so easily, but there you go. She could use your prayers for healing as well.

 

(source)

The fields around where I live are full of the first hay cutting of the season.  There should be another 2 or 3 before the season is done. It is drying in the sun before being baled.  The corn is about 2 feet high now as well. It seems like it was only a few days ago now that the first leaves were unfurling themselves on the branches of the trees and now the trees are so full that you can barely see most of the houses from the road as you drive past.  They are tucked away behind layers of green foliage. 

But it wasn't a few days, it was weeks and weeks. Time just passes so quickly.

The kids are just about finished with the school year.  I saw on the board at the high school in town that the last day is the 30th with an early closing.  The summer weeks will pass by quickly and before we know it the store shelved will be filled with back-so-school supplies.

At least that is how it seems.  The days fall off the calendar far too quickly for my liking.  I expect it is the same for everyone.

I took a photograph of one of the peonies at my sister's place yesterday. They are almost done now.  They are only single peonies, these ones nearer to the house. There are more of them further out back.  So pretty.  

We went out yesterday together for a bit.  I had to drop off something at my friend Jacquie's house and Cindy needed to go get a new pair of glasses as the frames for her old ones have started to come apart. I helped her to pick out a new set and then we went to Walmart to get a few bits and then onto the Superstore to get another few bits.

I had in mind to get myself a steak for my supper. Oh, I have been craving a nice steak, but . . .  I am not paying the prices they are asking for a piece of beef that is too thin to cook properly.  They had a piece of tenderloin, enough for one person, but it was $35.

I settled for some spareribs, already prepared, that were on special for $6.75.  Not a brand that either one of us had ever seen before. 

I had some of them last night with some rice and a salad.  I didn't really care for them. They were quite fatty in my opinion. I know spareribs are fatty anyways, but these seemed to be overly so.  I found myself eating them and wishing they were steak.

I could not bring myself to buy the strawberries that were in the store.  They were down to $5.99 but they did not look very fresh at all.

 

(source)

I am not sure what I will get up to today. I have a million things that I want to do, but only so many hours to do them. I seem to get distracted very easily these days as well. I do not know what is up with that. I start to do one thing but find myself doing something else completely or getting interrupted many, many times by one thing or another.  Ok, it is usually the cats. They have become quite needy of late.  Interrupting me and wanting attention much more frequently than they used to. They are bored with their toys it seems and want something more. Oh, that I could afford a Catio.  But then it would need taking down often for the mowers. There is no good solution.

Cat tv.  But they also get bored of that.

And with that I will end this off and leave you with a thought to carry with you as you go on your way . . .

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

 *.If you've never experienced the joy

of accomplishing more than you

can imagine, plant a garden.

~Robert Brault° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

From my calendar this morning.

 

In The Kitchen today, Quick BBQ Chicken Flatbread.  A quick and easy supper that you can have on the table in about half an hour's time give or take.  Delicious as well!

This is an AI rendition of it that I did just to see. I think it was the painting version.  Pretty colors.

I hope that you have a beautiful day no matter where you are or what you get up to. Stay safe, be happy, enjoy your day, and don't forget!

═══════════ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═══════════ 

⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════  

And I do too!