Out of the fullness of years I sing,
Out of the wind and rain,
Songs that are forged by the heat of life
Welded with peace and pain.
Out of the harvest of years I sing,
Bringing my sheaves of song,
Garnered from fields that have known the storm,
Reared where the winds belong.
Out of the furrows turned and brown,
Wine of the sun and sod,
Mellowed and aged in the out-of-doors,
Scourged by the chastening rod.
Out of the heart that won it's peace
And claimed the right to be free,
Come friend and sit where the sunlight falls
And sing along with me.
~Edna Jacques, Fullness of Years
Beside Still Waters, 1952
Some days I feel older than others. Yesterday was one of those days. I ended up not going out. By late morning I just felt depleted and I just didn't feel like I had the energy or the will to wander around the shops, etc. So I ended up messaging Cindy and letting her know. I did not like to disappoint anyone, but there will be other days and more opportunities. I will have to try to get out today to get some cat food. I will be picking Eileen up around 1 and she wants to go to the grocery store to get herself some drinks and snacks for the weekend, so I will get a few pots there. The cats will eat it or go hungry. It's as simple as that. They can be very stubborn when they want to be. But I know that they will not starve because food will be there and if you are that hungry you will eat it.
Do you remember that I told you earlier this week that two ambulances were down the end of my street. One left with the siren going and then the other one followed a bit later. Well, it was Jane. The lady who lived at the end. She passed. I was sad to learn of that yesterday. She was one of the first people to speak to me when I arrived on the street. Such a kind lady. An avid birder and gardener. I knew she must not be well as nothing had been done in her garden this year at all. Her partner of 45 years was pretty much bedridden so she was probably in the second ambulance. It is sad, but Jane is out of pain now. She is soaring with the birds she so loved to care for.
It is hard to believe but we are in August now. The days are becoming that little bit shorter. It is dark now when I go to bed, or darkening, and only just beginning to get light when I get up in the morning. I went to check my post box this morning and the guinea fowl were across the way. There were only two of them this morning so I am wondering what happened to the other two. Perhaps they had just gone on ahead.
There was a tiny white moth on the mail box. It was shaped like an airplane in it's resting state. I think it is what is called a plume moth but I can't be sure. I should have taken a photograph of it, but alas I did not. It was not a very big moth, but quite interesting.
I remember one time when I was working at the Manor there was a large Hawkmoth that had gotten into the kitchen overnight. (They had a habit of going to bed and leaving the kitchen lights on and the windows open.) I went to put the Mr.'s toast into the toast and it flew out at me from behind the toaster. It was huge and had the most beautiful wings. They looked like large oak leaves. Very pretty to see.
It has rained again in the night. We have gotten a lot of rain this week and it is cloudy this morning. The forecast says scattered rain showers are expected this morning. We will see. We can use it. It's been too dry and the gardens will soak it up. I did not have to water my plants yesterday as they had gotten a lovely soaking the day before. I may not need to water them today either. We will see.
Molly from down the end of the road came to my door last evening. She has the prettiest blue eyes. She had an invite for me to a Birthday celebration for Glenna across the way. it is on Tuesday afternoon. Thankfully I have already bought a card for her. her birthday is not until the end of the month, but I do think Glenna was planning on going out West with her son and his family to visit her daughters sometime this month so perhaps she is not going to be here.
Cindy asked me for some ideas of what I wanted for my Birthday, but I really cannot think of anything. I am so blessed to have all that I need. Just love I guess. I don't know who couldn't use a bit more of that. Time. I could use more of that as well. I need my cats nails trimmed and some help trimming Cinnamon's bottom. (It gets matted.) I don't really need anything else.
You love the roses -- so do I. I wish
The sky would rain down roses, as they rain
From off the shaken bush. Why will it not?
Then all the valley would be pink and white
And soft to tread on. They would fall as light
As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be
Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!
~George Elliot
I miss all of the roses we had in our gardens in the U.K. We had them of all colors. Red, pink, yellow, peach . . . in the back there was an arch with a gate separating the patio from the grassed area. The arch was covered in yellow climbing roses. So pretty when they were in bloom.
I don't seem to see many roses around here. Perhaps the weather is too cold in the winter? I see lots of wild briar roses, but not a lot of cultivated ones. Other flowers grow well however. Roses do require a lot of care.
I was thinking last night about how this street has changed since I moved here. On the other side of the street there are now only two people who were here then and on this side only two people who were here then. I suppose that it the nature of living in a neighborhood filled with Seniors. The residents living here can change quite a bit from one year to the next. But what a wealth of experience and knowledge are held on these streets. Its quite remarkable really when you think about it.
There is one lady across the road who belongs to a dinner club. Once a month, every month, they get together for a meal. But everything in the meal, all of the dishes have to have one main ingredient, which is the choice of whoever is hosting it that month. She was talking about this at the last Birthday get-together I went to. She was saying that she had to come up with a dessert that used potatoes. Someone suggested potato fudge. I find myself wondering now what everyone made. What an interesting concept that is. A dinner club like that.
I just messaged Eileen to make sure she was awake. She has been going to Tim Hortons each day in the morning. It's great that she is getting out and about and getting some exercise. One of her workers took all of her air fresheners and threw them away. Apparently one of the workers is allergic to scents. I didn't think that was right that she should do that. Eileen has a different worker every day and she might not even have the same ones from one week to the next. But they got thrown away anyways. At Eileen's expense. They were not cheap. Not much I can do about that but I don't think it is right.
I know that scents do bother some people, but I am not sure if it is an actual allergy. Then again, who am I??? Not an expert for sure. I don't like really strong scents and there are some things I don't like the smell of, but I wouldn't say for me it is an allergy.
You have to pick your battles I guess.
I am going to try to go to the Farm market behind me this morning for just a few things. I need some potatoes and I want a few vegetables. Maybe some beans and some corn. I would like fruit too, but I can get that later when I go to the grocery store with Eileen. Probably watermelon and perhaps even some blueberries. They seem the safest bet. I was hoping to make a blueberry cake one day. August is the season of blueberries, and corn.
And beans. Another few weeks and we should be seeing some of the early Winter squashes arriving. I love squash. Corn, Beans and Squash. A trinity of flavors that are usually ripening at the same time. I think the native people's called them the Three Sisters.
I think they used to be planted together as well, with the idea in mind that the hardy stalk of the corn would be able to support the vines of the squash and beans.
I started to try to watch this film on Amazon Prime yesterday. I have to say I gave up before it was even half through. It was not really a nice movie I didn't think. Perhaps I did not give it enough of a chance. I have quite a short attention span anyways, but this was not holding it at all. There are much nicer and worthier ways to spend my time. I just thought since I was having a bad day physically that I would watch a film. This was a poor choice.
On a bright note, I finally did catch the fly that was buzzing around. It finally lighted on the window out front and I was able to electrify it with my electric racket.
Oh, speaking of electrics. My microwave oven appears to be not working right. The panel on the front with all of the number buttons. The bottom three number buttons seem to have stopped working. I suppose I can still use it with the other six. I am not wanting to buy a new microwave oven at the moment and what do I do with the old one? I cannot lift it down or carry it out and I don't believe you are allowed to leave it out by the road for pick up. Oh, and I was reading yesterday that due to a fire at the local rubbish depot, pick up times for rubbish are going to be much longer as it is needing to be driven much further away to dump off.
I just bought Eileen a microwave oven too . . . I will just have to keep using mine until it gives up the ghost entirely. As long as most of the button still work then it's still okay. That's my theory anyways!
I don't know if I have told you about this girl before or not. I have been watching her on
YouTube for a while now. I enjoy the soft gentle pace of her videos and she doesn't seem to have an agenda like so many of them have. It just seems like a soft space to land in. I really enjoy it. Old ways, values, etc.
On a side note, I really don't know how these young moms do all that they do. I never had much time to explore things like this when I was bringing up my children. Mind you, because my husband was in the Military and was away a lot, I was on my own more often than not. I had double the responsibilities. When I had my fourth baby, I had three in diapers. Not to blow my own horn or anything but, they were cloth diapers also because . . . who could have that many kids in diapers and afford disposables. It seemed like I was always washing diapers.
I was always washing diapers. lol Anyways, with that and everything else I had to do I would never have had the time to produce and curate such interesting videos. MY hat is off to these young moms who seem to be able to do it all.
One thing I really like about Jennilee is that she doesn't seem to be using her children like so many other influencers do. You do see her children occasionally but mostly in the background. I am not sure how I feel about these moms who are always making their children the focus of their videos. I don't actually think it's very healthy for the kids. It's probably not safe either. It smacks of "stage door" moms to me. I could be wrong. It is just my opinion.
Anyways, if you are looking for a nice video channel to watch The Pioneer Home is a good one. They are fixing up a small building on their property for use as an Air BNB as well. I think it is a really cute small space. I quite enjoyed watching that video.
I am fast running out of time this morning so must bring this to a close. I used to be able to write one of my blog posts in under an hour's time. It seems to be taking me longer and longer these days, and I am not sure if any of them are all that interesting any more, but oh well, it is a habit I am not about to stop even if nobody comes to read. It's my journal and I really do enjoy the writing. If you are still here after all this time I applaud you! And I thank you.
A thought to carry with you . . .
☾ ° ★° * 。
• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★*The winds of Grace
are always blowing,
But, you have to raise
the sail.
In The English Kitchen today . . . Mini Lemon & Raspberry Cakes, No Bake. These are so simple to make, quick and easy, using only a few ingredients. The perfect dessert to make for a last minute group. Filled with raspberry jam and toasted almonds and frosted with a lush lemon cream cheese frosting.
Have a beautiful weekend. Whatever you get up to I hope it brings you peace and joy. Don't forget!
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And I do too!
