Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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Not sure how it happened but it's already April and we are into the fourth month of the year already! My car is sitting in the driveway, summer tires loaded and ready to go to the service center later this morning.  And I still haven't done my taxes. I am such a procrastinator.  Every year I say I am going to get them done early and every year I don't. The crunch is on now though.

This is a busy month of the year, what with my church's General conference this weekend, Easter and everything else that is going on.

We had the beginning of our April showers yesterday, but by the end of the day it had turned to sunshine. -4*C/25*F out there this morning however so it is cold.  Sunny and cold and not expected to get much warmer today.  I am glad that I put my heat back on before I went to bed last night. I had kept it off all day yesterday.

 

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I had Sheila at my door yesterday morning.  She had been messing with the controller for her heat pump and couldn't figure it out.  The maintenance guy had been over to look at it and put everything straight, but she said she didn't recognize half of what the symbols on it were saying.  I popped over to see if there was anything I could do to fix it.  There wasn't anything wrong with it as far as I could see. Other than the fact that her heat pump was a bit noisy, it all looked fine to me.  Anyways, I was able to reassure her that all was well. I had roasted a chicken yesterday also, so I brought her some of that and some mashed potatoes and veggies, which she appreciated.

She can't understand why my electric bill is so much less than hers and I cook all the time. I told her I think it is because she has her electric baseboard heating on all the time. I do not have mine on at all. That electric heat will gobble up the electricity like nothing else. That makes a huge difference.

 

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I had to pick up one of my prescriptions yesterday. It cost me $111.39.  Pharmacare doesn't cover this one at all.  Over in the U.K. the same prescription cost me 7 pounds, and in fact since I was over 60, it actually cost me nothing. If you are over 60 there, prescriptions are free. As are eye care and dental.  They take good care of their seniors, or at least they were when I left to come back to Canada. Most countries do take very good care of their young and their old. I do not think that is so in North America, but I cannot complain because many things here are very good.

Oh, another thing in April.  A federal election.  Make sure you vote people, this could be the most important election in our lifetime.

Anyways, My prescription was quite pricey yesterday, but it should last me three months, so I guess if you divide it up by three, that is only $37.13 a month. That sounds much better. My deductible on Pharmacare is the maximum however over $450 which I just paid. So, I have spent a lot on prescriptions so far this year. The joys of aging! ha ha It could be a lot worse.

 

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April was the month that we went to the South of France with our friends Audrey and Peter Lee all those years ago. What a wonderful trip that was.  Staying in the Dordogne in a stone cottage surrounded by vineyards and sheep.  There are not many friends you could go on holiday with and stay friends, but Audrey and Peter were wonderful people. It was not hard to love them.  Very amenable.  That was probably one of the best holidays I ever went on.  All it cost us was our air fare, food and some gasoline. Peter already had the cottage rented. It was a lovely escape from the real world for sure. It was lovely throwing open the bedroom shutters each morning and listening to the sound of the sheep in the field next to the cottage.  We took long walks each day, saw many historic places such as the Sand Dunes in the Aquitaine, Lourdes. Saint Emilion, etc. I got to taste my very first Cannelle and experience my first French outdoor market.  Fresh bread from the bakery in the mornings . . .  with that lovely French butter. A fire each night in the fireplace. Great company. It was just a lovely holiday.

I had never had a holiday in my life to be honest.  I had vacations from time to time.  We would use that time to visit my in-laws, but as far as actually traveling to a place for a "holiday," that was the first. It would not be the last.

I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to do such things while I had them.

Focus on the light, not the dark.

You can't let one negative in a

sea of positives hold power over you.

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I was looking through some old photos last night and I came across one of me from 2019, over a year before everything in my life fell apart.  I have never thought that I was pretty or attractive even, but when I found that photo, I thought to myself, hey, you were not so bad looking after all. I remember having it up as my profile photo for a time on the food blog and someone emailing me and telling me that they could help me adjust it if I wanted them to so that I looked better, younger, prettier. 😕 As if being who I was, was not entirely enough.

What is this obsession we have of these things??? The other day this girl I follow on Instagram was bemoaning the fact that she is not able to get her Botox injections and retinol treatments as she is still nursing her twins.  Like this was the end of the world. 

She isn't even 30.

We live in a world of plastic people. Especially younger people.  Lips pumped and plumped, eyelash and hair extensions, liposuction, Botox, fake tanning, etc. They have ribs removed to make their waistlines smaller, injections into their butts to make them rounder, breast implants . . .  it goes on and on. We are living in a world of wannabe Kardashians, I guess. People are just not happy with looking normal. I do not understand it.

 

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When I was 30, I had four young children and didn't know if I was coming or going most days. It took all of my energy and time to just take care of my home and family.  There was no money for going to McDonalds let alone Botox injections and, if there had been, I am sure I wouldn't have wanted or needed them.  

Life was full and it was busy.  I loved being a mom, wife and homemaker. I had never really wanted to be anything else, and I never ever experienced a lack of fulfillment for being such. Not that I can remember anyways.  

This was the kind of house I lived in. One bedroom down, a living room, small eat-in kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms up. It was also the same as the house I had grown up in. I don't remember ever feeling deprived. There was a bedroom for the girls and one for the boys and one for us. We had a fold out couch in the living room for company. (They got our room, and we slept on the couch.) Life was simple but it was good. It was busy. I was busy. 

Even after we had our fifth child, our house did not get really bigger, not until we decided to build our own home anyways, and then we had six bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a family room, a shop, a laundry room, a living room, kitchen, dining room, mud room, etc. It was huge in comparison. I loved that house.  We were in over our heads.  We went from that to a rented farmhouse that was overrun with mice and had no furnace. It was appalling when I think back on it.

I could write a book, on all the changes and seasons of my life.  Good times, bad times and everything in between.  I have always landed on my feet, no matter the difficulty of the journey. I am grateful for that.

 

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Not sure what I will get up to when I get home from having my tires changed. Perhaps I will get started on my taxes. Perhaps not. Maybe I will leave that for tomorrow and just focus on giving the house a good vacuum and mop the floors, do some laundry, etc. Then tomorrow I can start with a clean slate.

Yes, that sounds just the ticket, but I must get them done this week.  Oh, and Cindy, if you are reading this, don't forget to let me know the days you are free to come with me to the eye doctor so I can make my appointment. (I need a driver because of the drops.)  Putting it here to remind us both!

And with that I will end this as I need to get some stuff done before I leave for the garage.

A thought to carry with you . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.Accept what isn't,
so that you can move forward
with what is.  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Hot Cross Buns, the small batch.  This is a rather unique recipe in that you can have these made and be enjoying them in not much longer than half an hour. I kid you not. There is no messing about with rising doughs, etc. And they are a yeast dough as well. I saw them first on Monique's IG and then got the recipe from another. I adapted to make a small batch and changed the flavors, etc. slightly.  Very good.  I was very pleased with them, and I think you would be also.

I hope you have a lovely Wednesday. Be happy and blessed no matter what you get up to!  Don't forget!

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And I do too!