Wednesday This and That . . .

 

(source)

Its raining out there this morning.  April Showers.  My front garden looks lovely and clean this morning. The Missionaries did a great job at clearing out all the weeds and dead leaves. You have to wonder where the dead leaves come from, when there are no trees in the front gardens of most of the houses on the street. I suppose they blow in from somewhere.

They found a plastic frog under a rock that must have been there from the previous tenant. They stuck it on the deck and you should have seen my two furry companions.  They had been watching the chipmunk earlier in the day and when this frog (which is rather ugly) showed up they did not know what to think about it. I think they were somewhat afraid of it.

The other day a big black crow alighted on the lawn and Nutmeg headed for underneath my bed. He really was not sure what to make of that big thing being so close.  He is a big scaredy cat.  Cinnamon is much more braver.

 

(source)

I was thinking this morning of the Springs we used to have in Manitoba when I was a child. We lived in a small airforce community for about 6 years. We moved there when I was 4 1/2 and about to start school and left when I was almost 11.  It was not a very big base.  Especially the PMQ (married quarters) area.  There were only about 6 or 7 streets and a trailer park.  Mind some of the streets were very long streets. We had two schools. A large one shaped like the letter "H" which was the elementary school and a bar shaped one which held kindergarten and grades 7-9.  It seems odd to me now that they had the kindergarten children with the older ones, but there must have been a good reason for it.

We used to get tons of snow there in the Winter, or maybe it is just that as a child everything looks like more.  I do think that we got a lot more snow everywhere 50 years ago.  Spring came overnight on the Manitoba prairies and the snow melted seemingly overnight, leaving huge swathes of puddles in the open fields and whatnot. It wasn't so bad by the houses as there were big runoff ditches bordering each street to collect the water. (My brother almost drowned in one one year, but that's a whole other story.) 

In the field between the houses and our school, it simply had nowhere to go and I can remember having to walk through water at least six inches deep or maybe even more to get to school. Sometimes it would freeze over night and you were punching down through ice with every footstep.

As the temperatures warmed some puddles became ponds and I can remember watching water bugs skidding across the surface.  One year we tried to build a raft that we planned on floating across it, but all it did was keep us occupied for most of a day. We never actually went anywhere with it.  The teacher had been reading us Tom Sawyer in school.

 

(source)

I can remember collecting branches of Pussy Willow to bring into the house. I am surprised now that my mother allowed it. She was not one much for having any kind of mess in her house, but perhaps they reminded her too, that warmer weather was on the way after the cold and dreary Winter months.

We spend most of our time out of doors, which is why we hated it when it rained. Having to stay in the house was boring. We didn't have iPads and video games to occupy us, and television was not what it is today, and even if it had been my mother was not one who allowed us to watch very much of it.  Rainy days meant we were stuck in the house with not a lot to do. I loved to read of course, and that would occupy some of my time, and then there were always the coloring books, crayons, pencils and papers.  We didn't really have a lot of toys.

I loved paper dolls and would spend lots of time drawing coloring and cutting out new clothes for them.

Our biggest job was to stay out of our mother's hair.  She was not used to having us underfoot and was very house proud. She was an excellent housekeeper. Her floors always gleamed and everything was dusted, everything in its place and a place for everything. She was not one for really playing with us or doing things with us. Taking care of the house kept her far too busy. 

 

(source)

My father came home from work for his dinner each day. We had our big meal at noon. It had to be ready to serve him right when he got in. There was a siren on the base that went off at 12 noon every day so you knew it was dinner time.  If we were out and about, we knew we best skedaddle back home to the nest as dinner would be ready and waiting.

Mom was a simple cook, but that is how my father liked it.  Sometimes it would be hamburger patties and potatoes and vegetables.  I never liked those days.  I did not like hamburger. Mom never bought quality hamburger. It was always cheap and fatty and full of gristle and sometimes even pieces of bone, which would make me gag. 

If we were really lucky there would be dessert as well. I suppose it all depended on how busy mom was in the morning. If she had made a lemon pie (my father's favorite) she would always make an extra dish of lemon pudding for my brother to eat because she felt his constitution to delicate to eat pastry.

Oddly enough I do not remember my mother ever sitting down to eat with us, and I have a very good memory for lots of details of things. I do not remember her sitting at the table. Not even on holidays. Funny that.  I asked my sister and she doesn't remember either. I do remember her sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter, but that is it. 

Mom was very slim and petite.  Her mother had been very overweight, and one of her sisters and I suppose she was afraid of that happening to her.  She had been a bit chubby for a year or two when she was about 13/14, but that was it.  She had a very dim view of people who allowed themselves to get overweight.  Knowing that always made me feel very ashamed of myself in my adult years when I became fat myself. I always felt I was a disappointment to her. Oh, in reality I know that I wasn't, but knowing how she felt about overweight people never made me feel very good about myself. But I digress. We are none of us perfect. 

 

(source)

It is very nice to see the front garden looking so tidy and clean. I am so grateful.

I heard a big crash last evening and Nutmeg had jumped up onto my work station and knocked my little 2-cup Brown Betty tea pot onto the floor. It was of course smashed beyond repair and my heart mourns the loss of it, but when I checked at the cost of replacing it, I almost swallowed my tongue. It will remain a loss because I cannot afford that! Over a hundred dollars if you can believe it!  Too much money to spend on something which can be broken and lost so easily and in an instant! It will not be replaced.

I had to call the Vet yesterday afternoon. I had ordered myself a few tops and they came yesterday and there was one of those silica gel packs in the package. I stuffed it back into the bag the tops had come in and went to check my laundry before coming back to dispose of the bag, etc. only to discover that Nutmeg had fished it out and had it on the floor torn open and was proceeding to try to eat its contents.  I quickly shooed him away and hoovered it up, but I was really concerned that he had eaten any of it so I called the Vet. She assured me that he would be okay. That it was not toxic, and at worse he might have a bit of an upset tummy. He was okay though, with no untoward effects so I probably got him away from it before any damage was done! Never a dull moment with Nutmeg around!

 

(source)

The Primary Care Clinic at the hospital called and the Doctor wants me to come in to see her re my last blood tests, so I suspect the news is not good new.  I will probably have to have an MRI next to confirm things.  I have an appointment the second week of May. I would be lying if I said I was not concerned, but I am trying to reign it in. Worry about things never did make anything better.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for today . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *Love is never wasted, 

for its value is does not 

rest upon reciprocity.

~C. S. Lewis•。★★ 。* 。  

Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Kielbasa, Cabbage, Potato Skillet.  Simply delicious!

 Have a wonderful day and evening.  Be blessed and don't forget! 

 

 

═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════

⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════  

 

And I do too!