Wednesday Witterings . .

 

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Brr . . .  it's really cold outside this morning.  Its just one above freezing and the weather app on my computer says it feels like -15 because of the wind that is blowing. It blew all night, making all sorts of weird noises, keeping the cats quite interested.  There is nothing they love more than things that go bump in the night. And things that crawl. 

Just so long as they don't crawl on me. I hate things that crawl being in the house.  I get that from my mother.  She had a big fly swatter, and she used it.  On everything.  Spiders, flies, ear wigs, unidentifiable balls of fluff. She once killed a mouse that got in the house with her fly swatter.  I wasn't there but I bet that fly swatter was swatting beyond the speed of light. Poor wee mouse. Poor mom.

The house she lived in up Nictaux way used to get bats in it periodically. She once went to pick what she thought was a dead leaf off one of her houseplants and it was a hanging bat. We bought that house off her back in the 90's and I can remember sitting on the sofa watching television one night when Eileen said to me, Mom I see a bat. I told her it was probably just her imagination.  A few minutes later she said, no it's not and it's coming down the stairs and so it was.  A nice big bat flying down the stairs right at us.  You never saw three people move as fast in your life as we did.

Doug was not home. It was just Eileen, myself and my youngest son. We moved so fast. I was on the floor screaming and holding a pillow over my head and the other two were out the door. The cat was chasing it. It just kept swooping down and every time it did I screamed.

My youngest son ran down to a neighbor, and the old man came over.  He turned on the light in the kitchen and the bat landed on the wall. He swatted it with a broom to stun it and took it outside. Problem solved.

There is a place for bats and mice and spiders and flies . . .  earwigs too, and it's not in my house.

 

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I had such a busy day yesterday and a sleepy day as well.  I did do another video for YouTube, but its just a talky one, introducing a few ingredients that I have gotten in to do some Christmas baking with (ie fruitcakes and Christmas pudding, mincemeat). I also introduced some of my favorite British cookbook authors and my favorites of their books. I thought if anyone wanted to get a lover of British food a gift, these books might be welcome.  That sort of thing.

I do plan on doing a cooking one later in the week. I have my recipe all sorted, etc. Even though I am not really good at making them, these videos do take a bit of planning on my part. Even the talkie one I did yesterday.

And bless his heart, Eldon Schmidt is always the first one to comment. He is a faithful friend.  His mother and my mother used to work together on the base many years ago. I don't remember Eldon that well from School, nor his sister either.  I just remember him as being quite tall and a bit robust. I was too wrapped around my high school boyfriend to notice anyone else, and more than a bit shy.  Anyways, Eldon is always so enthusiastic when I do a new video, and it is much appreciated. He makes me smile.

 

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I will be going out to dinner with Cindy, Dan and Dad today. It will be an earlyish supper. Dad wants to go to New Minas to look at computer chairs at Staples, and then he wants to take us to an early supper at Swiss Chalet.  As I said yesterday, he saw their Festive Menu advertised on the television and expressed a desire to have one. None of us have ever really enjoyed the meals we have had there in recent years, not even dad, but he does want to go.  And we want what he wants. He doesn't ask for much out of life and if it is the Festive dinner at Swiss Chalet, so be it. It's about being together more than anything and building memories together.

Maybe this time the food will actually be okay. We shall see!  They have Lindt Truffles, and those can't be bad.

They have assured me I will be back home before 7 pm, so I am confident I will be back before my Dr's appointment on the phone. 

 

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My brother hasn't heard back from his CT scan yet.  I am praying for the best possible outcome, and that it is just one mass and treatable, not two. I am sure he is more than a bit anxious about it. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

That is the ages we are getting to now. Where things can and will go wrong. It is inevitable that if you live long enough these things will crop up. Our bodies are aging. He is quite a fit man, however so hopefully all will be well.

 

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I finished the Love is Blind Habiba, and started Love is Blind Argentina. I was never a reality television person. I've never liked shows like Big Brother or I'm a Celebrity.  I have never been able to get into The Circle . . .  but I do like these dating shows for some reason.  The couples that do make it and get married do really well and I am happy for them, and sometimes they are the ones that you thought would be least likely to make it through. 

I never really dated.  Not ever.  I know that sounds strange.  There was no place to really go to, to go on dates, here where I grew up. Basically, what you did was to hang out together, and go to dances when they had one going at the local rec center.

I married right out of trade school and then went back home to my parents when that failed and then went with my second husband (who had been my first boyfriend ever) from there and then again back home to my mom's and then to England from there. No dating. 

There was no woo-ing or courting really. Three boyfriends, three marriages, three failures. None of them worked out. That's okay.  It was not meant to be.

 

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I do enjoy living on my own and being my own boss.  I don't miss having company. I think even if I were to have a paramour at this stage in life it would be more of a friendship thing than anything, someone to go out and do things with, basically on my terms.  I don't think I would ever invite anyone in to share my life with me again.  I have no desire to at any rate.

That's part of the reason I am not in a rush to get divorced, plus the fact that I don't want to have to give half of what I have built on my own to anyone who doesn't deserve it, and British laws are cut and dried, 50/50. No way, no how.

And in my church, you don't date unless you are single and divorced.  So, it's not really in the cards for me anyways, and I am happy just as things are. My father is always asking me if I get lonely and I can honestly say, "No, I do not."  He is the type of person who will miss having female company and someone to cuddle until the day he dies.  I am not the cuddling kind, or the least bit interested in romance or being romanced.

My sister and I talk about this from time to time, and she is much the same way in that respect. She has Dan of course, but if he wasn't there, she says she wouldn't be looking for anyone to replace him.

I guess we just don't need men to complete us.  Not at this stage of life anyways.

Who needs men when you have cats to keep you warm. haha

The latest spread in Cindy's sketchbook.  I just think she is so talented. The last time we visited Uncle Harold he gave us each a blue glass ink pot.  She did a fabulous job capturing it, and the apples as well as the mint box and the poppy for Remembrance Day.  The colors are true to form.  I think she is so talented.

I wish I had the time to work on my art. Well, I probably do, but every time I sit down at the table to do anything I get company that would hamper anything I tried to do. Chasing pencils, pens, etc. 

I don't really mind.  They are wonderful companions and housemates.

Cinnamon likes to get on my lap and make biscuits every night.  She sings a song to me while she is doing it.  Purr Purr Purr.  It's lovely.  Nutmeg is not a biscuit maker.  He is the strong silent type.

 

And perhaps a bit of a buffoon, but he is my buffoon.  I love them both to bits.

I can hear the crows out in the back yard making the most of the rest of the stale bread I threw out fort them yesterday. Nothing goes to waste. They get all the stale bread, buns and crackers . . .  sometimes cake.  I don't hear any complaints. Just contended caws.  The cats love to watch them from the back window. Hours of entertainment for the price of a few stale slices. You can't beat it.

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

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

 *.˛.Education should light a fire within

us to improve us and help our world.

~Sarah Joseph•。★★ 。* 。

•。★★ 。* 。

In the kitchen today, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes.  Delicious and fluffy. Using only four ingredients and they can be made up to two days ahead of time.

I hope you have the most beautiful day. Whatever you get up to, be safe and be happy. Don't forget!

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And I do too!