All Things Nice . . . a day early

 

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I love the twilight of the day,

That lull before the lamps are lit,

When all the corners of the room

Are filled with shadows as we sit

Halfway between light and dark,

Like ghostly figures in a park.

We speak of little happenings,

The show last night . . . the price of tea,

A brand new baby up the street;

Point out a short snow laden tree

Standing with others in a row,

With fluted petticoats of snow.

There is the steady quiet click

Of knitting needles over there,

As grandma knits a little sock,

In the warm comfort of her chair,

She needs no extra light to show

Her how to round the tiny toe.

The faces in the tender light,

Are softened by a golden ray,

As if their anxious hearts had shed,

The toil and burdens of the day

And for a while had found release

In this warm atmosphere of peace.

Would that more folks would come to sit

And rest . . . before the lamps are lit.

~Edna Jaques, Twilight

The Golden Road, 1953

I am doing  my All Things Nice post a day early this week because my son will be here all weekend and I doubt I will be able to get on to post again until Tuesday after he leaves to go home.  

If you were to surmise that I am excited to see him, you would surmise correctly.  I had wanted to spend some one on one time with each of my children, without the distractions of other things and people. A time to talk and to just enjoy each other's company. Usually there are so many people around we don't get a chance to really enjoy the time together. So this is alone time. Just us. Doug is the first to come over and spend it with me.  Oh, I have spent alone time with Eileen already, and that was nice.  But I really wanted some alone time with my two oldest sons as well.  I hope that is not selfish of me.

 I had a lovely lunch out with Jacquie yesterday. We went to the Farmer's Family Diner which is near to the Oaklawn Zoo near Aylesford. It is quite out of the way, not on the main drag.  I had not been there in many years.  It had not changed since the last time I was there. A very humble, simple restaurant which serves simple delicious food.  

Apparently they are famous for their Club Sandwiches.  It is called the Colossal Club House Sandwich. We didn't have those, we each chose a turkey dinner. It was lovely and very generous.  With turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, squash, turnips, peas, carrots and corn.  Also a side of coleslaw and a roll.  I skipped the roll.  Everything was delicious. We were not going to have dessert but then we were tempted by the blueberry pie.

It was indeed homemade. You can tell and made with wild blueberries. I could only eat half of mine. My eyes were indeed larger than my stomach.  It was nice to spend the time with Jacquie and enjoy some good food together though. That was the best part.

After I left Jacquie I drove to my sisters and picked her up.  She wanted to go into town to get some better yarn for knitting doll sweaters.  She had knitted one but we thought it a bit bulky and wanted to get some sock yarn which would be finer.  We went to Cinnamon Creek which is a gift store in town that also carries fine yarns.  

I could spend hours in Cinnamon Creek. It is filled with loads of gift items.  Soaps, candles, ceramics, etc.  It is one of those stores which is really crowded, but there is a delightful surprise around every bend.  It also smells really good in there.

After that I came home and I had to get my work done ahead until after my son leaves to go home so that I can be free to spend the time with him while he is here. 

 

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We had our first real hard frost this morning.  Everything was covered in it. Of course it is burning off now. It is still only 0*C (32*F) but it is supposed to warm up a bit as the day goes on. Tomorrow we are supposed to get record highs for November with it warming up well into the double digits, but also accompanied with torrential rains and high winds.  Such crazy weather.  Its like Mother Nature doesn't know if she is up or down!

I got myself a couple of pairs of trousers this week. Well, they are more like jogging pants with rolled cuffs. I needed to get something. My old ones are getting all full of picks and pulls.  I ordered them from Joe  Fresh and they came yesterday. It is impossible to get any decent kind of trousers where I live if you are of a certain size. They seem to think that overweight people only want to wear leggings. I do not want to wear leggings. I hate leggings, and what's more, they are not in the least attractive on people that are overweight in my opinion. Your opinion might differ.

All of my pants are at least 10 years old and wearing out. I don't know what it is about this area but there is a real lack of clothing for  larger people and yet this area is full of larger people.  Mind you it is also an area filled with a lot of people on very limited incomes who don't have a lot of money to spend. 

 

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I belong to a FB group where people can ask a question, etc. pertaining to this area.  More and more there are people anonymously asking for help to feed their families.  People are really in dire straights. It is difficult to weed the sincere ones from the ones who are just looking for some easy cash.  Some want money and not food.  I was able to bring some food to a young woman a number of weeks back who had a very young son, but I can't be doing that all the time. 

There is something going very wrong in this country. People are having a more and more difficult time making ends  meet and feeding their families. The grocery stores are also having to cope with the challenges of increased theft as well. All of our local major shops now have a system in place where you can only enter the stores in one spot and you can only exit the store in one spot. They have everyone corralled in with railings. Once  you are in the shop you can walk around to your hearts content, but there is only one way out and that is through the cashiers. Its a bit disconcerting.

I feel for people with families.  I am sure it is getting more and more difficult for them to feed their families.  Costs are going up exponentially. Its scary.  $20 hardly buys you much more than a carton of milk, a loaf of bread, and maybe a bag of apples.  Its crazy.

On the bright side you can go gleaning in the fields after the farmers have done harvesting. You can pick up plenty of carrots, onions, potatoes, etc. that way.  Its hard work, but it is something at least.

 

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I am waiting and watching the street, looking for any signs of anyone putting up any kind of Christmas decor.  I have my wreath and wreath hanger ready to go out at the first sign!  I do not know if Anthony and his family will be able to make it over this year for Christmas.  Its a certainty that Doug will not, but he is coming now so that is good.  I will still put up my little tree and decorate a tiny bit in the house regardless.

I try to gather small things throughout the year for gifting. I need to be better at putting them all in one place when it comes to getting them together and wrapping them! It is usually hunt and seek because I seem to stick them in lots of diverse places. I usually manage to rout them all out eventually!

How do you do your gift planning?  Do you buy little things all year round or are you a last minute shopper?

 

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Cindy's youngest daughter had her baby this week.  A little girl, weighing over 8 pounds and just as cute as a button. Mother and baby doing fine. That makes two granddaughters for Cindy now and two grandsons. The family is growing bit by bit. I know it is difficult for her to be so far away from them all. I wish I could do something about that, but it is not a good time to leave dad either, and he very much relies on my sister for  most things. These things will work themselves out.

And with that I best finish this off and get my skates on.  I have a ton of things to do before Doug arrives!

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

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

 *.˛.°We must be willing to let go 

of the life we planned so as to have 

the life that is waiting for us.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

~Joseph Campbell° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ 

I was gifted with a new cookbook recently, The Gilded Age Cookbook.  If you enjoy food history and are a bit of a costume drama buff, this is the book for you. I have found it to be really fascinating myself. But I love food history and vintage recipes!  If you do too, then do check it out!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  Whatever you get up to, stay safe, be happy and don't forget!

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And I do too!