Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

  April 24th, 2026

Estate Lane

Middleton, Nova Scotia

1*C/33.8*F mostly cloudy

Dear Neighbor,

It's very quiet in here this morning. The sun is already well up. I have noticed the last few days that the sky is already waking up when I awaken in the mornings and it is not getting dark until after 8:30 most evenings. 

When I look out my bedroom window the branches of the maple tree are loaded with small tender leaves . . . ruby colored . . . unfurling and ready to burst into full leaf. I can already see the promise of what they will become and in the front garden the bleeding heart advances out of the ground by an inch or two every day.  It is a wonder that we don't actually see it moving, but that is the magic of nature. Many things happen without you really seeing them.  They aren't and then like magic  . . .  they are . . . and you haven't really noticed the in-between.

 

(source)

I have been enjoying watching Glenna's daffodils across the way. Their little yellow heads dance and bob  with the slightest breeze and bring a smile to my face.  They are such a cheery sight.

I have good neighbors. Zila who lives to the right of me went over the other day and cleaned up all of Sheila's garden (to the left of me). It is looking all tidy and spruced up. What a kind, kind thing to do for someone.

Someone new moved in across the road about a month or so ago, but I have not really seen them. I think perhaps they are a shut in. The maintenance man brought one of the community green carts up and it is parked outside their place. And I notice that every bin day Zila's husband drags it across the road for the bin men to empty and then drags it back afterwards.

You see . . . good neighbors. 

 

(source)

Eileen came home with a beautiful buttercup squash yesterday. Her friend David's mother had given it to her to give to me. That was very kind of her.  Apparently she had been given a few from someone and wanted to give one to me.  I will probably cook it this weekend.  We are not going to Cindy's for Sunday dinner this week.  Cindy is going to some artist's meeting on Sunday afternoon and won't be back in time to cook a large meal. I will probably put something into the slow cooker on Sunday morning. I am not sure yet what it will be. We will see how it goes.

I will be giving my talk this Sunday. I read through it a few times yesterday and I am happy with it. 

Eileen asked me did I not get nervous. I had to think about that and really I don't get overly nervous. Perhaps just a tiny bit, but once I get started speaking, that all goes away.

Mom loved public speaking. She had a loving cup (that's what she called it) that she had won in a provincial speech competition during her last year of high school. It was made from real silver. I think our brother has it now. Mom was always very proud of that cup.  She was always a great speaker and was on the debating team at school as well.  Mom was always a great student . . .  driven to excel and succeed. 

 

(source)

I had my cleaners come to clean earlier this week. They usually come on a Tuesday.  Just before they arrived the town turned off the water in my area, which meant that there was no water for them to use. Thankfully I had two large jugs of water, but it was not hot and it was not really enough so I got a discount this time as they were not able to do everything they usually do.  

I have noticed that almost everyone on this street has cleaners that come in bi-weekly and do a clean. 

I used to have a cleaner in the U.K. until the pandemic hit. A part of me feels a bit ashamed that I have one now, but to be honest my knees make it impossible for me to really get down and clean under things, and since I injured my shoulder/left arm I can no longer reach very far up or into things either. It still causes me a great deal of discomfort. Most of my lack of sleep comes from pain in my arm waking me up every hour on the hour. I put liniment on it when I go to bed and take a heavy duty Tylenol with codeine in it, but it doesn't seem to help much at all. Last night my right hip invited itself to the pain party along with my left knee.  Moving in bed at all was torturous. 

I have a bone to pick with whoever called these the "Golden" years.  There are times when they just don't seem to be overly golden, especially when it comes to pain issues. The last time I went to my Doctor about it he said that it could take 12 weeks or longer for that shoulder/arm to heal. It's been since September now and whilst I do have some mobility in it, it is still compromised. I know I should go back to the Doctor, but I really don't see what if anything they can do for it. I am just learning how to live with it. It could always be worse.

 

(source)

Eileen had a dentist appointment yesterday. Everything was good. She had a check up and they cleaned her teeth.  She came home with a new toothbrush and a word search puzzle that she was excited about. She was doing it last night while we watched television.

I haven't been to a Dentist since before the Pandemic. I used to go regularly in the U.K. but because I was over 60 it was paid for. I can't really afford to go here and to be honest it hurts so much when I have my teeth cleaned. That is the real reason I am not going, aside from the cost.  I know I need to and should go, but Dentists are so expensive and I cannot stand the pain. The last time I went to a Dentist here in Canada they used some supersonic cleaning thing and I about went through the roof with the pain from it. I won't go through that again.  Imagine paying a fortune to be tortured. No thank you.

Anyways, Eileen doesn't have any cavities and all is well. The social services pay for her treatments. She might not be given a lot of money to live on, but her drugs, eye glasses and dental are all covered. I think even this sleep machine she has is covered. That's very good I think.

But I do worry about what will happen after her father and I are no longer here to help her out.

 

 

(source)

I watch a lot of cooking and homemaking videos on YouTube. I have noticed that a lot of them, when they are cooking or baking or whatever, place a cloth beneath their bowls, etc. pretty cloths.  Ruffled, flowered, etc. I find myself wondering at the purpose of it. It does make the videos more aesthetically pleasing when everything is pretty like that. I know that it is recommended to put a damp cloth under cutting boards to keep them from slipping around but I am not sure what the purpose, if any, there is in putting a cloth underneath a mixing bowl.  I have an enquiring mind I suppose.

That woman I watch in Belarus does it, as does the Italian woman I watch and now another lady I started watching in Ireland, oh and this woman I watch in Kent. Oh, and the girl in Finland. They all do it. Actually when I think about it, they all do a lot of things the same way. They light candles when they start and put on aprons as well.  I wonder have I learned to home make wrong? Have I been doing it wrong all these years?

Oh how I loved taking Home Economics at school.  All of the modules. The sewing, the cooking and the homemaking one. It is quite easy to understand why I enjoyed the first two . . . sewing and cooking, but the last one . . . it really was about homemaking. Learning how to sweet a floor properly and wash it, mending, etc. We even learned how to embroider. It was the gentle art of homemaking apart from the other two. And I loved it. I loved it all.

I think all I ever really, truly wanted to do or to be was a homemaker. A nester. A nurturer.

Aunt Bea. June Cleaver. Donna Reid. Margaret Anderson.

Well I guess it is time to end this missive now. Eileen will be getting up very shortly and I lose the ability to concentrate once that happens. I think she has a big meeting with her CSS workers/People's First group later on this morning and I am going with Cindy to take Dad to the mall with his friend Maryann. I look forward to those outings. 😊

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*Not everything we try works

but we still try it anyways,

That is how we learn.

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Cod with a Fresh Tomato & Herb Sauce. 

Tender, perfectly baked cod is paired with a vibrant sauce made from burst cherry tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and a swirl of butter, and finished with a trio of fresh herbs for brightness. This is really delicious.  

I hope that you have a safe and happy Friday.  That your day is filled with blessings, both large and small. Whatever you get up to, don't forget!

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And I do too!