Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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The sun has long been set,

The stars are out by twos and threes,

The little birds are piping yet

Among the bushes and the trees;

There's a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes,

And a far off wind that rushes,

And a sound of water that gushes,

And the cuckoo's sovereign cry

Fills all the hollow of the sky.

~William Wordsworth, A Night in June

Oh, it has been a very long time since I have lay in bed with my window open listening to the night skies sing to me.  Because my home is on a slab, and a bungalow, my bedroom window is at ground level and I am just not comfortable having the window open to the night. There are a lot of peeping Toms and yard creepers in this small town I live in. A lot of homeless people who prowl around at night looking for a chance to take something, etc. Last year a bunch of people across the way from me had their sheds broken into and their winter tires stolen. (I keep mine in the garage.)  Anyways, as a woman on her own, I don't feel safe with open windows at night.

But I have spent many a June night in my lifetime, laying in my bed as the dusk settles in, listening to the night creep in over the land. When we were living in Kent the air was alive with the sound of birds calling out to their families . . . time to come in, time for bed, hurry home now.  And there was an especially melodious Thrush that would sit and sing it's heart out on the Chimney top of the Estate Manager's cottage next door. 

In my teen years we lived in a small house nestled amongst the pines and at night we would listen to the wind ruffling through the pine needles. I felt like Heidi in the loft of her Grandfather's house in the alps.

Yes, I have always had a mind filled with fancy and the heart of a poet.

 

 

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The carpets I bought for Eileen's place came yesterday, along with a floor runner Cindy bought for her and the curtains and tension rod for her bedroom. I think she is going to take them with her when she goes out on her CSS visit today.  I don't know if she will lay out the carpets or put up the curtains or not.  I had wanted to go yesterday afternoon, but she wasn't feeling like going. I am not sure either if the landlord has changed her lock or not. It seems to me that he should have done, but . . . nothing happens quickly in this part of the world. Just so long as it happens. To my way of thinking it should have been done that very same day.

Like the wasps in my house. I killed another one last evening so went around with my cotton balls and peppermint oil again. Someone needs to look up in the loft over my house, not make a cursory look around the outside to see if they see any wasps going in or out in the middle of the day. They need to open the hatch in the garage and have a good look at what's up there. I may have to contact an exterminator myself as I don't really think the handyman is going to do much at all about it.

Landlords down here are very slack in my opinion. They want their rent yesterday however, lol.

 

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When did it become cool to mash the grooms face into the wedding cake while you are cutting it? I was watching one of the wedding reception reels from a girl I know who got married just recently and she full on mashed her new husbands face down into the cake. And it looked quite aggressive as well. I didn't think it was cute in the least, and a few comments to that effect were left on the post, but boy oh boy were those who said so ever shouted down!  I don't even like to see them mash the small pieces of cake into each other's faces. I think its cute for them to feed each other a piece of cake, but that's about it.  Call me old-fashioned I guess.

I just don't get it.

 

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It is a beautiful warm sunny day out there today. No rain now until Saturday. I do so love sunny days, but after the fires of last year I do get a bit concerned when we don't have a lot of rain days to compensate for it.  That was a bit too close for comfort. Anyways, I will enjoy the sunshine while I can. We don't have these lovely summery days for long.

Summer is not my favorite season however. I am really an autumn kind of girl. I love the winter also with the cozying in. I am not a huge fan of heat and humidity. But I do enjoy when it is just sunny and hot. Without the moisture.

Someone asked me yesterday where would I rather live and which do I like better? Here or the U.K.  Oh, no doubt about it I loved living in the U.K. I loved it over there with all of my heart. I do miss it a great deal, but  . . .  I love my family more. And if I had to choose between them and the U.K. I choose them.  I choose family and living here near them. I don't even have to think about it.

But I did like the weather and the countryside over there very much, and the food. It was much, much better. The temperatures were not so drastic. It did rain a fair bit, but you didn't get the wide extremes that we get here.  It was beautiful there. You did not have to drive very far to witness great beauty. My own garden was beautiful. And the food, well I was very spoiled. Fresh fruit and veg, great meats, poultry and fish. beautiful cheeses, the bread, the dairy, etc. All were excellent. I think that where I live now, we are at the end of the food chain and we end up with what nobody else wants or what's leftover.

Except during growing season. Then we are blessed with plenty of fresh local produce. It's expensive though.  

I also miss being able to get things overnight. With it being such a small country there, I could order anything today and have it delivered overnight at no extra cost.

But family  . . .  I love my family and I love being near them.  They more than make up for anything I might miss from over there. Both Anthony and Doug are coming over in July with the boys and in August my brother and his wife are coming down. There is much to look forward to.

 

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I used to love going barefoot as a child. There was something really lovely about feeling the coolness of the grass beneath my feet. I also used to love going barefoot in the house. I don't do that any longer. As a diabetic you have to be very careful about your feet and not injuring them, so I wear slippers or shoes at all times now.

I did always love to put on socks in the evening and then take them off just when I got into bed. There was something about the way the sheets felt on my bare feet just after taking off my socks that I really loved.  Perhaps I am just weird.

Speaking about weird. I started watching the Michael Jackson video/series on Netflix, chronicling his criminal trial in 2005. I have watched two episodes of it. I admit that I have always been of a mixed opinion concerning what did or didn't happen. I do think he was one very weird individual. Really wealthy and famous people are targets to be sure. But I also think that where there is smoke there is fire. Nobody will ever know for sure. 

 

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I have a very busy day ahead of me today.  I have a lot of work to get done as I will be away all day tomorrow. We (Cindy, Eileen and I) are going on a road trip up-country. Something which we have wanted to do all Winter and are only just getting to. Eileen is really looking forward to it.  I probably won't be posting tomorrow as we will have to leave fairly early to get on the road. We plan on going up to Canning and a few other places.  Tonight we are going to try out the new Diner that opened at the campground/cabins just the other side of town. It looks like a really good place to eat and we have wanted to try it since it opened. I am looking forward to that, as is Eileen.

In any case I will see you all on Friday with tales of my adventures and will leave you now with a thought for the day  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*Sometimes the greatest gift

you can give another person

is to simply include them.

~unknown

In The English Kitchen today   . . .  Chicken & Mushroom Pot Pie.  An older recipe that I brought up to date.  This is a lovely and simple pie to make however. No bottom crust, just a filling and a top crust. You can make both ahead of time and just put it together about half an hour or so before you want to serve it. Easy peasy, and oh-so-tasty!

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and Thursday. I will catch you back here on Friday. Hope your days go really well. Stay safe, be happy and don't forget! 

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And I do too!