This has been a hard season to traverse and it is not over yet. I fear we are only beginning, but I remain hopeful that all will be well in the long run. She has her ultrasound on the 17th of June, and things will progress from there. Each night I pray that it won't be that bad and that everything will be contained and easily removed. I live in hope. I also pray that I will be strong enough to be able to give her the support she needs throughout all of this.
I so have enjoyed spending this time with my sweet, brave girl. It will be a few weeks yet before things are ready in the apartment for her to move into it, so I will treasure those, and then of course she will be hopefully staying here with me afterwards.
She has been greatly uplifted and inspired by your many kindnesses and I thank you for that and for the prayers. Those are so very appreciated by us both. 💕
I picked up some cotton balls at the Walmart yesterday and then last evening I soaked several in peppermint oil and then shoved them into the air exchanger ducts using my grabbit tool. (I don't know where I would be without that thing, it comes in so handy.) My home smells lovely, like peppermint, and there were no wasps last night to spark fear and anxiety. I slept like a baby. (I was exhausted.) I will renew them periodically. I have my fingers crossed that I have solved the problem.
I do not like to harm any creature, but I cannot have wasps sharing my home. They are not very nice roommates. I was reading up about them in my quest to get rid and was really freaked out by the fact that they can recognize faces and will attack people that they deem to be a danger to them.
Face recognition . . . wasps . . . inside my home . . . that sounds like a scary and lethal combination to me, and not one I embrace. We will see how it goes.
The cleaners are coming to Eileen's apartment today to give it a thorough cleaning. Here's hoping they can get rid of the musty smell. At least I will know that I did all that I could to make it healthy for her to move into. I strongly suspect that the culprit is that old wooden floor. I wish that I could afford to cover it all over with laminate or carpeting, but I cannot. Hopefully the cleaners will make a difference. We will get some plug-ins as well, which may help.
Apparently the step mom has been harassing Tim about getting in to get Eileen's things. According to Eileen she really upset him, so the CSS workers are going to be addressing her about it. I got a note from them yesterday to say that they would be going to the apartment with both Eileen and Tim next Friday and sorting things out. I have never spoken a word to Tim, not about anything. I may have had my own thoughts about everything, but I have left it all for Eileen to sort with him and with the help of her workers. My attitude has just been to give her whatever help she needs to get her life sorted. I don't think harassing a developmentally challenged person serves any purpose. I am not sure he even understands what he has done really, and there is a part of me that doesn't blame him. There is another part of me that is pleased that she won't have to take care of him any more, and knows that she is a lot happier separate from him. I know it has been a very hurtful situation. But I reckon the hurt probably exists on both sides, albeit for different reasons.
And . . . I am not entirely unbiased when it comes to the stepmom. I keep trying to allow her Grace. But I am only human and sometimes I could spit nails when another thing comes out regarding her treatment of Eileen in the past. Each day I pray for the strength to forgive the almost unforgiveable, and I remember that there . . . but for the Grace of God go I. I have no recourse but to just hand it over to Him. He will forgive whomever He will forgive, but as for me, I must forgive everyone. And so I try. Sometimes I don't do so good at that, sometimes I do, and sometimes I do better. But I try. That's all that I can do.
That's all any of us can do.
I really love this. I need to do better and getting rid of the things I don't need or use and to get better at not bringing in new stuff. At organizing. Everything. Perhaps if I did I might have more time to play. I really miss playing with color and paper, and needles and thread. I am pretty good at yarn and hooks . . . but it is the other creative endeavors I miss. I used to really get a lot of joy out of creating little works of art, even if they were not always any good. They brought me happiness and joy. Just the act of creating them brought me so much peace . . . they were a real stress reliever. I miss making dolls also. Perhaps one day I will be able to get back to these things.
I read this morning that people were dismayed to see the wrinkled face of Carolyn Kennedy Schlossberg at some awards thing.
She was born in 1957, and is a woman who has spent a great deal of her time out of doors. I think, wrinkles or not, she is beautiful, and I applaud her for not bowing to the modern affinity of going under the knife or submitting to the needle to give her an artificial plastic appearance. We need more brave women in the world like that who are not afraid to show that they have lived their lives, that they are proud of who they are. Women who are not afraid to carry a few pounds on their bones, or wrinkles on their faces.
Here, here Carolyn Kennedy! You go girl!
The powers to be have chosen to close quite a few of the public libraries here in Nova Scotia. The library in our town is one that is to be closed. I think the closest one to us will be in Berwick. Eileen had taken a few books out of the one in Berwick about a month ago when she was there with one of her workers. I tried to return them to the one here in town (she had been told she could do that) yesterday but they have everything all sealed off with a sign that says there are no book returns to be accepted from here on. Which leaves us with several books and a few magazines that need returning. I had thought that we could just post them back to Berwick, but the cost of doing so is astronomical. I suggested to Eileen that on one of her visits they take her to Berwick to return them, but she says that they don't have time for that sort of thing. Hmmm . . . perhaps then they shouldn't have taken them out? Well, to be fair at the time she was told that she could return them here in Middleton. There was no talk of libraries closing even just a few weeks ago. This has come suddenly and out of the blue.
I think it is rather sad that they are closing libraries. The local library was such a firm fixture throughout all of my growing up as well as adult years. Visits were made weekly and sometimes daily. I spent many hours perusing books and reading books. To this day I love the smell of books and paper. To me the library was a local cornucopia of knowledge and joy, a part of the communal landscape. It is just sad to see these places disappearing. It breaks my heart a tiny bit.
How much more of my childhood is going to be erased? I dare not hazard a guess . . .
Well, here I am and it is almost 9 a.m. Mind you I did get up a tiny bit later this morning, and I have taken lots of detours through this post . . . to photograph cards, to see to the cats . . . to open the door and let some fresh air in along with the silly music of the guinea fowl as they pass, amongst a host of other things.
I really must be on about my day before it, too, is spent, and not much more than memory.
A thought to carry with you . . .
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Î _____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ ç”°ç”° ｜é–€ ★
for an interesting life.
~Mason Cooley
In The English Kitchen today . . . Blueberry, Lime & Coconut Friands. Small bites of buttery deliciousness. One bite of their delicate crumb and subtle macaroon‑like chew, and you’ll understand why they’re impossible to resist.
I hope that you have a beautiful weekend. Not much planned here. Just a bit of this and that. Eileen has gotten us Roast Beef dinners supplied by a fund raiser from the local church of the Nazarene. Not sure how I feel about that. Happy to support a fund, but a bit iffy about eating food prepared by strangers. We will see how that goes! Church tomorrow and family time. Whatever you get up to, stay safe, be happy, and don't forget!
