Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

Friday, April 11th
3 ESTATE LANE, Nova Scotia
=5*C/23*F, expected to be sunny and warm-up
as the day progresses

Dear Neighbor,

It's a tad bit nippy in here this morning, but the heat pump is warming things up and all is well in my wee little house.  We did have a bit of snow earlier this week, but it was all gone and had melted away by end of day. It's that time of year. Winter has no grasp any longer.  Anything she tries to leave us with is like the pouting stomps of an angry toddler as it exits the room.  All bluster and no substance.

 

(source)

All this week I have awakened to light.  It is no longer dark out when I open my eyes.  It is still dark when I go to bed, but that will soon change also. I noticed an almost full moon out my bedroom window last night. 

I remember when I took that trip to Scotland, it was still dusk at 11 p.m. They had really long days there and it was still spring. That trip was the first one where my knee really started to cause me problems. I remember wearing a knee brace the whole time which was far more trouble than it was worth, chaffing my leg and almost making things worse. Knee pain is no fun. I would have enjoyed that trip so much more had I been able to really walk around.  My mobility really put a damper on things for me.

I can still go to visit things, but these days I park myself and enjoy from a seated spot. I can no longer amble around and explore like I was once able to. Oh, how I used to love to go on long walks . . . 

 

(source)

There has been a reign of terror in this small town I live in for the past week, with there being a series of robberies at knife point and in broad daylight. A young man with his face masked.  He did the grocery store day before yesterday and actually physically assaulted one of the employees. Scary stuff.  This is a very small town. Things like that don't happen here.  They got him though. This last robbery they were able to get some clear photos of the perpetrator, despite his face being masked, and he was arrested yesterday.

I would not dare to hazard a guess as to his motivation in committing these crimes. They could be drug related, or poverty related.  Your guess is as good as mine. I do think however that as the cost of living, etc. continues to rise disproportionately these types of crimes will increase. We are already herded in and out of the grocery shops like a bunch of criminals. Once you go in, you cannot leave without going past the tills, and there is a huge plexiglass wall separating you from any merchandise at the exit route. 

It is a shame but there you have it.  Many people are in dire straits these days and families are suffering. The number of homeless people is on the rise and they are building an expensive apartment building here in town with underground parking.  Who is going to be able to afford to live in it? Not those that are already homeless that is for sure.  

I do not know what the answer is.

 

(source)

With each day that passes the grass gets a little bit greener and less brown. I noticed that the forsythia bush that sits on Glenna's lawn is covered with buds waiting to burst into color and my maple tree is loaded with red buds just ready to burst into tender leaf.  There are signs of life everywhere.

I looked up online when should I put out my hummingbird feeder and it said the middle of April to accommodate the earlier arrivals, especially where there is not a lot in bloom at the moment. It does seem rather early, but I will do as I read and have it up by Easter at the latest.

 

(source)

Did you used to buy the Easter Egg coloring kits for your children when they were small?  I did.  It used to be so much fun dying the eggs and putting the decals on them.  When I was a child our mother colored our eggs with crayons. They were never hard boiled either.  Always raw and mom would poke a hole into each end and blow out the raw egg. We would have scrambled eggs for breakfast.  She would string the empty eggs on yarn for us and we would wear our eggshell necklace all day.  My favorite ones would be the ones she colored with all of the crayons in a rainbow of colored stripes all up and down the eggs.

It would have taken her a long time to color them, I am sure.  We only had about 3 a piece, but still that was 9 eggs to color, by crayon and by hand.  A true gesture of love.

Using egg coloring kits was easy in comparison.  There was never anything as fancy as these robin's egg blue ones with gold glitter. Very pretty but not very practical.

Over in the U.K. it is large chocolate eggs that are popular, more so than Easter Bunnies, with some children getting five or six or maybe even more of them.  The size of a small football, each chocolate company puts out a variety of Easter Eggs, large, hollow, and containing a small packet of their most popular chocolate candies.

I saw a recipe the other day that had those larger chocolate eggs, halved and filled with chocolate mousse for dessert and sprinkled with crushed candy mini eggs as a decoration.

I made an Easter Lamb Cake one year.  Looking back on it, I think it is rather cute although I did not think so at the time.  I did not have a lamb cake tin. I had a shortbread tin shaped like a Scottie dog that I used as the baking tin. I guess it did not work out too badly.

The rice paper flowers, etc. looked very nice and were of course edible. I have tried making several fancy things through the years, but as fancy as they might have been I doubt that any of them gave me as much excitement in my heart as the Easter Bread our Aunt Thelma used to make and send up to us. Just a loaf of white bread but sweetly iced and decorated with cherries. We loved it.

Our Aunt Thelma was our mom's older sister.  She did not have much.  She was a single mom for many, many years and worked hard to raise her family of five children as best as she could. I had a lot of respect and love for her in that regard.  

I never think of Easter without remembering her sweet offering of bread.

 

This was Nutmeg next to my chair as I was tapping away yesterday trying to finish off my work. He was wanting to remind me that his dinner time was only half an hour away. He had already been pestering me for half an hour already, bent on making sure I did not forget.

The closer it got to the time, his tactics got even more impossible to ignore.  He moved up onto the desk next to my computer and that stare . . . there is no denying he is a man cat with a message, and he wants it heard.  FEED ME!  He is so funny. This always starts at least an hour before feeding time. The direct stares, etc. I can hear him outside my bedroom door about 4 a.m. sometimes. Meowing. It's a good thing I keep my door shut or he would be in on the bed poking at me, I am sure. There would be no ignoring him.  Cinnamon is a little less direct. She simply places herself within my gaze and stares.  Relentlessly.

Mac got through his operation all right, but the bad news is they found a mass at the back of his throat.  They were not sure if it was infection or a cancerous growth, so a biopsy has been taken and sent off.  Not the best of news, so please do continue to keep both him and Cindy's household in your happy thoughts and prayers. Very upsetting indeed.

 

(source)

There is not much else happening around here. Life continues in its simple, everyday way. One day does not pass much differently than the day before.  I try to get as much done each day that I can, but I seem to be doing things a lot slower than I once did.   I get distracted very easily and will start one chore and before I know it, I am off on a completely different tangent. I need o make a list each day of what I want to accomplish and then tick things off as I go along. That would probably help me to get a lot more done, I think.  I want to be ready for ant season, which is just around the corner. Not my favorite. It is right up there with fruit fly season.  Ugg . . . 

And with that I will end this missive with a thought for you to carry with you . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*.Happy people focus on what they have.

Unhappy people focus on what's missing.

~unknown  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today. Six Classic Oatmeal Cookies.  This recipe makes only one half dozen delicious crispy edged, chewy in the middle oatmeal cookies. Delicious indulgence but not enough to really get you into trouble.  Also just enough to make a tasty gift for someone.  In a small basket with some nice tea and a mug.  Perfect.

I hope you have a lovely Friday. May it be filled with joy and all the things and people you love.  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!