Friday this and that . . .

 

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Thank you all very much for your messages of comfort and support yesterday.  I appreciate them all.  I really do. It is such a complicated thing, this loss.  It is wrapped up and tangled in so many other feelings as well. I can't really put words to it. I just know that it hurts . . . deeply.  I think I cried off and on all day yesterday. My eyelids look like little sausages.

How lucky I am to have known someone 

and something that saying goodbye is so damned awful."

Jill Kinmont, The Other Side of the Mountain

Right  now I don't feel so lucky. And neither do Dillon and Steph.  But we will one day. I know. Grief is a process.  And I know some will say, she was just a dog, but she was much, much more than that to us. She was/is family.

After Cindy and I finished making our crabapple jelly the other day we decided to go and see  if we could find the farm market that the crabapples had come from.  We did, but what a disappointment it was.  It wasn't really a farm market at all, although it was advertised as such.  We were just down the road from The Dempsey Corner Orchards Farm Market however, so we decided to check that out.

This is our old stomping grounds from late in our teenage years.  We were both dating boys from this area. I remember going to lots of very lively parties in Dempsey Corner.  (This farm market was not in existence then.) My boyfriend's best friend lived on a farm right near this place, probably the next farm over and had some very permissive parents.  They had parties at their place every weekend, and the hard cider would be flowing. 

Anyways, we were both keen to check this place out.  We have often bought their baked goods at Goucher's farm market.  

It was really nice. There was a huge assortment of fruits, vegetables, pickles and preserves, handmade soaps, children's area, etc.  and even a small café.   It is run by Mennonites, so you know its very well done.

We both spent more money than we should have.  I got some Sweet Pickled Beets, Mustard Beans, Spiced Apple Butter, Sweet Cherry Applesauce, Peach Lime Sweet Chili Sauce and a bag of their snack mix.  I have already tried the beets and the beans. Both are very good.  I am keen to try the Chili Sauce with some chicken for dipping, and I have a roast pork recipe which uses apple butter as a glaze, so that is in the planning stages.

I wasn't so keen on the snack mix. I found it to be far too salty, but I did find it inspiring.  It has Captain Crunch cereal in it. I have never thought of adding that to a snack mix. I am thinking of perhaps making up my own snack mix, using Captain Crunch as a part of the ingredients. We shall see.

You really could spend hours there perusing everything.  They had some lovely sounding soup  and chili mixes.  I am wishing now I had picked up one.  The Chicken Chowder one sounded especially good and I could have made it when my brother is down at the end of the month. I was sorely tempted to buy it, but being a single person living on my own prevented me from doing so. It was $9.99 for a package and I didn't want to risk spending that kind of money only to end up throwing it away months down the road because it didn't get used.

We stopped at the Spurr's farm market in Wilmot as well, looking for some baking powder biscuits to enjoy with our jelly.  I also picked up some Viennese Hot Dog Buns.  I had one of those with a Juicy Jumbo for my supper.  I know  . . . hotdogs are so bad for you and the fat that comes out of those Juicy Jumbo's is unreal . . . but sometimes your heart just wants what it wants.

I was quite disappointed in the biscuits.  Or at least in the one which I tried.  My mouth was stinging with the taste of baking powder. Have you ever had that happen?  I called Cindy up to see how hers were. She said hers were okay.  I think I just got a bad one. You know how sometimes people don't stir their baking powder enough into their dry ingredients. I think I got a mouthful of baking powder.  Anyways, my loss was the local crow's gain.

The 3-wick candles at Bath and Body Works are still on for half price so I picked up a new scent. I cannot resist anything with pumpkin spice.  Pumpkin Snickerdoodle, and it smells good enough to eat.  I have almost burnt my Honey Crisp Apple out of existence now. I think the scent of that one has to be my all time favorite scent and I find myself wishing I had picked up several of them as they don't seem to have any more. It smells phenomenal.  But this Pumpkin Snickerdoodle one does also.

I love scented candles. 

 

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I have never eaten Sweet Pickled Beans before, but I have always wanted to try them. I confess they are not something I ever tried pickling myself. Mostly because they need to be water bath processed.  I did crack open the jar yesterday and they were quite good.  I will have to be eating them at every meal now until they are gone however to justify their cost. I am not sure how long they will keep opened in the refrigerator.  Does anyone know?

The pickled beets are fabulous, but then again, I love beets in any way shape or form.

I noticed yesterday that almost all of my neighbors have taken down their hummingbird feeders. I think that is a mistake. From what I read online, it needs to stay up until at least mid-October if not longer, just in case there are stragglers, and indeed I had one, a female, visiting my feeder quite regularly yesterday.  I am glad that I have kept mine up.  There are not a lot of flowers left for them to be feeding from now.

 

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They are expecting another surge in Covid now that the schools are back in.  I am going to call, perhaps today, and make an appointment for my next booster.  I don't really want to take any chances with picking something up again so soon after my  cold. I am just now starting to feel better and am hardly coughing now.  I am still very tired however.  I just don't want to get sick again.

My sister thinks I am just not used to Canadian germs, having lived overseas for so long.  My friend Jackie thinks I am just supersensitive to everything because I am still traumatized from the events of the past few years,  and my immune system is very low. Perhaps they are both a bit correct in their assumptions.

It was Todd's 85th birthday yesterday.  Very mixed emotional feelings about that. I don't think I have totally dealt with all of the baggage yet, as much as I think that I have. Maybe I never will.

 

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But today is a new day.  I have plans to bake some scones this morning and I think I am going to go to Cindy's this afternoon for a paint afternoon. It will be good to get out of the house and to spend some time with her.  I love her so much.  How blessed I am to have a sister who is also my best friend.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

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

*The intellect of the wise

is like glass; it admits the 

light of heaven and reflects it.

~Augustus Hare•。★★ 。* 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Cheesy Meatloaf & Tater Tot Casserole.  This was very delicious.  Simple to make as well.

I hope that you have a Friday filled with lots of things and people that you love.  Be happy, be blessed and don't forget!

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⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

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And I do too!