A Day Book . . .

 

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ...

A few days ago I saw a needle-like bug, not sure what the correct name is for them, and then yesterday as I went out to check my post, I saw a dragonfly. It is definitely summer.  We've been having quite hot and humid weather. It is already 19*C/66.2*F at 7 am and is expected to go up to 24*C/75*F with heavy rain for today in the forecast. The humidity is at 91%, so a hot, sticky and wet day ahead.  That's summer for you. I didn't mind the heat so much when I was living out West as it was always a dry heat, here it is always a humid heat and I find it really saps my energy.  I put the air con on for short bursts of time to cool things off in here, but I don't like to have it on for very long. It gets too cold, and of course there is the cost involved.

Yesterday there were wasps trying to get into the hummingbird feeder.  

It is garbage day today and so the street is lined with blue and clear plastic bags, with the odd black bag. I don't quite understand the way the garbage works here. I am sure I do it wrong, but they take it anyways. In the UK we had colored plastic boxes, one for cardboard and paper, one for plastics, one for bottles and tins and then a big black bin for garbage and a green bin for compost.  There was also a large garden waste bin.

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I AM THINKING ...

Yesterday I got an e-mail from a company saying something about Halloween.  I know we need to plan ahead about some things, but Halloween in July?  I have to say I am not fond of the retail business pushing the holidays on us all the time. One is no sooner finished and they are foisting the next one on to us.  Can we not just have a breather in between to enjoy the days that are?

 

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I AM ALSO THINKING ...

We had a Tayberry bush in our back garden in the U.K.  They would be ripening about now. They are a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry.  I loved them.  Berries are one of the things I love most about summer.  I miss my black currants.  They are not something you see here, not anywhere. Nor red currants either.  It is possible our winters are too harsh for them to survive? 

 

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LOOKING FORWARD TO ...

Wednesday lunch at Jonny's with Cindy and Sheri. Friday with Doug and his family's arrival. Eileen staying with me. Corn season just around the corner. Blueberry season. The humming of the cicadas. There is so much left still of summer to enjoy. I hope I get a few days out with Eileen. I am not one to go out much on my own. Last year I really enjoyed the day that I drove with David to drop his daughter off in St. Margaret's Bay and the day we went to Margaretville together, even if all I could do was to sit at a picnic bench while he explored the shore.  It was still fun anyways.  The fresh sea air, the gulls.  All lovely.

 

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WEIRDNESS ...

I am a person who has very vivid dreams, although I am not sure any of them really mean anything. I had this really odd one last night. In it, Todd and I were living in town here, just by the Baptist church on Commercial Street.  I had one job, but then the Butcher (no such thing here) wanted to hire me to work in his butcher shop for a couple of days a week. Todd thought that was a good idea. He was with me, ball cap on and his back pack on his back. There was also a book shop attached.  Then we went walking. We were going to Tim Hortons, but there was this huge area that was nothing but huge rocks with a ravine down in the middle of them before we could get there. For some reason Todd went down into the ravine while I stood at the top worrying about how I was going to get across.  He fell into the water and was swept down and out of sight. I called the police on my mobile phone, but they were very reluctant to come and in the meantime I am standing at the top of the ravine feeling very frantic.  The police finally came and Todd showed up again, all bashed about at the bottom of the ravine.  They did not seem to be bothered with getting him out, but I was very concerned that he was all wet and cold and had lost his eye glasses and his back pack. He didn't want his back pack or glasses, he just wanted out, but I kept saying to him, but you need your glasses to see and your back pack has all of your things in it like your wallet.  He was distressed and just wanted out.  And then I woke up.

See, weird dreams and very vivid ones as well! I promise I did not eat any cheese before retiring, lol

SOMETHING I HAVE STARTED DOING ...

These last few days I have given myself an hour each afternoon to just sit in my chair and read. No music, no television, no noise at all, just myself and my book.  Oh, and the cats. They take it in turn to come and sit on my lap for a tickle or two or three. Its been nice.

I spend too much time working and not enough on simple pleasures such as losing myself in a good book. I think I will keep the habit up.

I also wrote a short story yesterday.  Just about folding laundry. I might keep that up too and who knows, maybe eventually I will have a whole book to share of short stories. But maybe not.  We'll see.  What happens happens. It is a good exercise for the brain at least.

 

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ON FRIDAY ...

Doug and them want a nice pot of beef stew on Friday. I will do it in the Instant pot, but I also think I will bake up a nice loaf of that cheese bread I made a week or so ago. I think that would go very nicely.  I might get in a bag of eating apples as well. Something not so sugary for the boys to enjoy. I will make sure I have some money here for them to go to the Farmer's market behind me for an ice cream after supper.  That will be good. 

SOMETHING TO WATCH ...

Fatal Attraction on Prime. Paramount Channel. I like Joshua Jackson. He was my favorite character in Dawson's Creek and I have pretty much liked everything he has done.  This is really well done. It is a series and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Each episode reveals something from the past which  is a part of the puzzle of the whole "now" story.  I am really enjoying it.

STILL WORKING ON ...

My blanket. It is growing. I love the colors of this one as well. Also working on organizing things in the house. I feel better when there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. I am at root a very disorganized person. That is my adhd. A bazillion things going through my brain at once and it is very hard for me to focus on just one. It takes effort.

I AM READING ...

HOME SAFE, by Elizabeth Berg

EXCERPT: Helen's husband, Dan, died suddenly eleven months and three days ago, dropping his coffee cup and sliding almost noiselessly out of his kitchen chair and onto the floor. Helen, who'd been standing at the sink, still feels guilty about yelling at him for breaking his cup before she turned to see him sprawled on his back, his eyes wide open and startled looking. She believes the last thing Dan felt was surprise, and to her way of thinking, it wasn't a bad way to go. The bad part is he left her here without him, ignorant of, . . . oh, everything. 

 ABOUT HOME SAFE: In this novel, beloved bestselling author Elizabeth Berg weaves a beautifully written and richly resonant story of a mother and daughter in emotional transit. Helen Ames–recently widowed, coping with loss and grief, unable to do the work that has always sustained her–is beginning to depend far too much on her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Tessa, and is meddling in her life, offering unsolicited and unwelcome advice. Helen’s problems are compounded by her shocking discovery that her mild-mannered and loyal husband was apparently leading a double life. The Ameses had painstakingly saved for a happy retirement, but that money disappeared in several large withdrawals made by Helen’s husband before he died. In order to support herself and garner a measure of much needed independence, Helen takes an unusual job that ends up offering far more than she had anticipated. And then a phone call from a stranger sets Helen on a surprising path of discovery that causes both mother and daughter to reassess what they thought they knew about each other, themselves, and what really makes a home and a family.

I have never read an Elizabeth Berg book that I didn't  like.  She is one of my favorite authors. I am about halfway through this one now, due to my afternoon reading.

  

SAD THAT ...

I think I left a whole bunch of my art behind in the UK, including this one and quite a few others.  I was so upset and had so little time. It makes me sad that these things got left behind. I find myself wondering what happened to them. I fear they ended up in the tip, which is a shame, but oh well. At least I had the fun of creating them.

 

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TRACING THE GOODNESS ...

Every day is not a good day but there is something good in every day.  I have made it a practice at the end of each day to trace the goodness throughout my day. The little things that made me smile or put a song in my heart.  Small things and opportunities that have brought little pockets of joy. They are always there. ALWAYS there. Its a matter of perspective.

SOMETHING TO COOK ...

This sweet and sour pork from Cooking with Lei looks really delicious!  I would like me some of that!

A THOUGHT TO CARRY WITH YOU ...

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

 *.˛.Truth will ultimately prevail where

there are pains to bring it to light.

~George Washington•。★★ 。* 。

IN THE KITCHEN TODAY ...

 

Tuna Melt Sliders. These made a delicious supper yesterday.  Sized for two people.

I hope that you have a wonderful day. I am not sure what I will get up to. A bit of this and a bit of that I am thinking, whatever comes my day. Whatever you get up to today, stay safe and don't forget!

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And I do too!