Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

 JUNE 12th, 2026

Estate Lane,

Nova Scotia

16*C/60*F

Cloudy

A humid day in store

Dear Neighbor,

I hope this finds you well and happy. Things are pretty quiet here this morning. I have the front inside door open to let in some of the cooler morning air. There is naught but the sound of the cars driving past on the road at the end of the street, the wittering of some morning doves, the odd birdsong (very pretty) and chippy chipping away as he sits on the front railing. The guinea fowl have already made their way through. They were in the yard across the way when I got up this morning. They must be early risers as well.

Nutmeg woke me up about a quarter to six meowing on the other side of my bedroom door. I had had enough sleep so I decided to get up and put him out of his misery.

With him it's all about food, and he has very definitive times for eating. He almost gets frantic when I go past those times. He is not starving to death by any means. He's just a cat who really likes his food, and he likes his meals served on time. He makes me laugh.

 

(source)

We had to cancel our road trip yesterday and it was all my fault. We were all disappointed but things just happen and that is that. I had a bit of a disaster in the bathroom on Wednesday night. As you know my bungalow is quite a small place. I had some jars and cans of food stored on a shelf in the bathroom and as I was taking off my robe to hang it up, I knocked a jar of spaghetti sauce onto the hard ceramic tile floor and it smashed.  

Spaghetti sauce and glass everywhere. It took me ages and ages to clean it up and by the time I had it all sorted, I was too wide awake to go to sleep. It was about 3 a.m. before I finally succumbed to sleep and then I was awakened by an emergency alert on my phone at 4 a.m., just got back to sleep from that when it was repeated. And then my furry alarm clock woke me up at six for breakfast. 

So I had next to no sleep all Wednesday night and was not alert enough to be able to enjoy a day out rambling the roads. I would not have been fit company, so we have put it off for another time.  Eileen was disappointed of course, but she understood.

I did get two hour-long naps in during the day, (so not like me) and I slept last night from about 9:30 until when Nutmeg woke me up this morning. I only got up once to go to the loo. Not even the fear of wasps in the bedroom deterred me from sleeping . . .  I was exhausted.

 

(source)

Gooseberry Fool -- Put the picked fruit and a glass of water into a jar with a little moist sugar, and set the jar over a stove, or in boiling water, till the fruit will pulp. Press it through a colander, and mix the pulp by degrees with cream or with common plain custard.

~Margaret Dods, The cook and Housewife's Manual, 1826

I used to have a gooseberry bush in the garden in the U.K. It gave us a mix of dusky green and amber fruits. I had never tasted gooseberries before I lived over there. It was not a fruit that I had ever seen here in Nova Scotia, or indeed anywhere in Canada that I lived. I have never seen them in the shops either. They were much more common over there.  

I used to use them for baking muffins, crumbles or even Gooseberry Fool. I did a gingernut one which was exceedingly delicious once.

I think that they are basically a European fruit. I am not altogether sure they are capable of withstanding Canadian winters, but I could be wrong. They are tasty little fruits when cooked and mixed with sugar, but very tart and unpalatable on their own.

 

(source)

I just almost had a disaster here this morning. A few minutes ago I looked up to see that the screen door at the front of my house had been pushed open. I looked over because I could hear chippy chipping rather loudly. I caught Nutmeg waltzing back into the house from having been out of doors.  Thankfully Cinnamon was still sitting in the lounge area on the carpet.  

I am so grateful that I noticed the door open and that he was on his way back in. I could not chase around after them did they both get out and I would be just devastated did anything happen to either one of them. 

I am so grateful all was well. 

Note to self: Do not leave front door open to the screen again. 

Actually if I could afford it I would get myself a new screen door. This one is ill-fitting and easily pushed open, obviously. I had not thought it was, but this morning Nutmeg proved me wrong.  I feel almost faint at the thought of what could have been. Now he has got the taste of outdoors, I will have to be more alert.

 

(source)

Up until my mother went out to work Friday's were always a wash day in our home. On Fridays mom did the bedding.  Our sheets were changed and washed.  Mom never used fitted sheets back then, only flats.  The sheets would be switched out on Fridays with the top sheet going on the bottom and the bottom into the wash.  A fresh sheet on top and new pillow cases all around.

Back in the day it took her a long time to get the wash done.  She only had the wringer washing machine, no dryer and it all got hung out on the line, which was an improvement upon the equipment which her own mother had had to do the wash with.  Mom used to have an old washboard that had been her mother's. I don't know where that ended up.

"Build a fire in the backyard, bring a tub of water to the boil. Throw in a cake of lye soap, add bedding and clothes, stir well. Next day, remove laundry with broom handle, and scrub on washboard. Rinse, wring and repeat. Starch (Stir flour into cold water until smooth, thin it with boiling water.) Pour rinse water in flower beds, hang laundry on line, use soapy water to scrub porch. Make tea, change dress, rock a spell."

From this month on my SB calendar.  How blessed are we that we don't have to do our laundry this way anymore. It sounds exhausting.  I still wish I had  line to hang my bedclothes out on to dry however. That line dried scent is amazing and so refreshing. There is nothing on earth like the comfort of tucking yourself into a bed freshly made with line dried sheets.

 

(source)

Speaking of Susan Branch, she has not posted a Willard in a long while now. I think the last one was in March. I have always enjoyed her newsletters so much. She has not written as much since she moved back to California. She is 79 now though, and I expect that she is slowing down. I cannot say that I blame her. I am in the same shoes.  The shoes of slowing down. It takes me twice as long to do anything these days as well, although I am sure she is much quicker than I am.

I have been an admirer of Susan's artwork since she used to do illustrated recipes in the Country Living magazine, a magazine which I never failed to purchase. (I used to have stacks of them saved from over the years.) She and Mary Englebreit. Their artwork was my inspiration. I always wanted one of those Mary Englebreit dolls, and I always wanted to live in a cottage on Martha's Vineyard, and I always wanted to have a home just like the ones I saw in Country Living magazine.

Now, I am just grateful to have a home.

 

(source)

The locks have been changed in Eileen's apartment. So it is safe and secured again. Today she and her worker, and Tim and his worker, are going to their old apartment together to divide things up, so that she can get what she wants or that is hers and they can take it to her new apartment. Tim apparently is going to get a new apartment as well. The one he is likely to get is right across the road from Eileen's. I am not sure how I feel about that, but hey ho. It is what it is.  He wants to be able to get a cat as well and they were not allowed pets in their old apartment.

In any case I am grateful that her new apartment is now secure with a new lock. I am not sure which will be the move in day for her. She has her ultrasound on Wednesday next so things may progress quickly from there health-wise. She will be allowed to stay with me while she recovers from her surgery. 

Right now she is just worried about how on earth she is going to drink 2 liters of water and keep it in without wetting herself for 2 hours while she has her ultrasound. I am with her on that one. It is a hard ask.

 

(source)

Eileen is up now and I must be off here and getting myself sorted. She wants to do her usual Friday morning thing of going to Tim Hortons for her breakfast, so I need to be getting dressed, making my bed and getting her in the car to drive her there. She will be picked up by her CSS worker there.  A busy day for her for sure.  I am going to go with Cindy to take Dad and Maryann out this afternoon, so a busy day for me also.

A thought for the day  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*A little madness in the Spring

is wholesome even for a Queen.

~Emily Dickenson

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Chicken Enchilada Bake. A simple layered chicken casserole with decidedly Tex Mex flavors.

I hope you have a really lovely day today. May it be filled with lots of the things you love. Stay safe. Be happy. Don't forget!

═══════════ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═════════════ 

⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

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

And I do too!