All Things Nice . . .

 

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I pray thee for safe conduct Lord

Through all this world's unrest and strife

Strength for the day and peace at night,

And at the last eternal life.

I pray Thee for the grace to bear

Whatever comes of good or ill,

A house to keep and polish up,

A little niche that I can fill.

A church just up the street a bit,

Where I can sit in our old pew,

Sing the old hymns that I so love,

And worship as my neighbors do.

A few relations here and there,

A friend or two of by-gone years,

That I can visit now and then

Sharing our laughter and our tears.

I pray Thee for safe conduct Lord

Through world's strife and fear and hate,

Someone to love me  . . .  and at last,

A kindly hand at heaven's gate.

~Edna Jaques, Safe Conduct

Fireside Poems, 1950

Fireside Poems was the original book of Edna's poetry that my mother had in her bookcase and that I read almost every day of my growing up years.  There is a poem in it called Bleeding Hearts.  It is about Grandmother's garden. I can remember my mother telling me that it made her remember her own Grandmother's garden and brought back many a fond memory of the time spent on her grandparent's farm on the South Mountain.  Whenever I read that poem I think of mom and my grandmother.  Well, this whole book makes me think of my mother. I have such fond feelings attached to the words on it's pages. 

I think of that sad old farm house, neglected and falling to ruin now . . .  and the voices that echo down through time of those that once lived there and called it home.  I think of my mother exploring the wonderful flower gardens that my great grandmother kept and of my mother and her sister sitting on the old front porch looking down the mountain to the valley below and the dreams and hopes they must have had.  Voices that echo down through time. Our mother was born in that house . . . 

When my sister and I go to see it, as we sometimes do . . . we can feel the roots tugging at our hearts.  If either of us ever won the lottery we would try to buy the place and restore it to its former grandeur.  You got to have a dream in order to have a dream come true they say.

I love this old photograph of my mother (on the right) and her older sister Thelma (on the left).  That is not dirt on their dresses.  They would have been pristine. My mother had the original photograph taped into a photo album with green tape which got smeared on the photograph. Those pretty handsewn matching dresses. I expect they were their Sunday best dresses. Mom might have been three or four years old in this photograph. It would have been during the great depression, as mom was born in 1932.  I wonder now, was this taken on that farm, near that house?  I will never know now  . . . 

We had a lovely visit with our Uncle Harold the other day.  Uncle Harold is my mother's youngest sister Freda's husband. We all love Uncle Harold very much and it was so nice to get to see him and spend time with him and his wife Barb. Aunt Freda has been gone many years now. She passed on their wedding anniversary when she was only 64 from lung cancer.  Anyways, Uncle Harold was so surprised to see us all and I think very pleased that we had taken the time to go up there. He lives up the North Mountain in a house overlooking the bay.  It really was a nice visit, and it was so nice to be able to do it together, the three of us.

We are very much enjoying having our baby brother around. Who knows how many more times we will have this opportunity. We are all getting up there in years now and each day given to us is a bonus and a blessing.  I find myself wishing he lived closer, but he has been in Ottawa since he was a very young man, and all of his children are there (as well as his wife and her family!) so that is where his home is and quite rightly so.  As we get older though, the ability and desire to travel becomes less and less . . . 

So, in any case, we are enjoying these few days together.  Yesterday we went to dad's and gave him a bath while David sorted out some things on his computer. Our father has just discovered Pinterest. He keeps calling it "Printerest."  He had wanted our brother to get his printer working so he could print some things from "Printerest."  

On Wednesday night we all went to supper with dad to the Big Scoop.  Dad and I broke from tradition and did not have fish and chips.  David, Cindy and I are planning on going to Jonny's, tomorrow I think, and I am saving my fish and chips for then!  I think tonight will be pizza night with pizza from our cousin Hal's pizza place in town.

I have also managed to get all the legal stuff done for my will, etc. this week.  The timing worked out perfectly so that I could do it while my brother was here as he and my sister are both co-executor's of my will. Not that I have much of an inheritance to leave, but at least I have the peace of knowing that what I do have is in good hands.

 

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Each day now brings big changes around us. The leaves are really turning and changing color now and falling to the ground. It was only 5 degrees when I got up this morning and it was quite misty out. We do get those misty mornings in the autumn here in the valley.  The other day our skies were covered in a haze of smoke from the fires in Labrador and Quebec. It was hanging right over us.  You could see the sun, but it was like a gold ball in this pewter colored sky.  Very odd.

 

 

Last night I made a jar of spiced apple rings to use in this recipe I am making for my vintage menu post next week.  Spiced apple rings are not something you see around here.  I found several recipes for making them. One was all  natural and the other used those red cinnamon candies.  I have not seen those red cinnamon candies in years, so I went with the natural one.  They taste good, but are  not the bright red color that the recipe wanted.  I will just have to use them anyways, and hope that people understand. Apparently they are supposed to be good with turkey and pork, so maybe we can enjoy some for Thanksgiving as well.

We shall see.

 

 

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I have decided to start masking again when out and about. Not just to protect myself from Covid, but also to protect myself from getting colds and flu and other illnesses like that. With this AAT Deficiency I don't want to get sick if possible, or to get any lung infections.  And there are plenty about this time of year. Covid is on the rise as well.  In Ottawa where my brother is from, they have had to all mask up in the Seniors place where his FIL lives due to infections, and I see that medical facilities are masking up again. Also my cousin who owns the Pizza place in town went into hospital last week to have his gall bladder out and ended up catching Covid in there. He has an auto-immune disease so not nice. Oddly he managed to get through all of the Pandemic without catching it and here you go . . .  catches it in the hospital.  Funny how that works out!

And not haha funny, but strange funny.

Anyways, on that note I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

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

 *.˛.Tell me who admires you & loves you,

and I will tell you who you are.•。★★ 。* 。

~Charles Augustin Sainte-•。★★ 。* 。

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Cranberry & Apple Pie.  Simply delicious!

I hope that you have a lovely day and a beautiful weekend!  I probably won't get on again now, until Tuesday, so don't worry if you don't see me.  Stay happy, stay safe and be blessed. Don't forget!

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And I do too!