Dear Neighbor . . .

 

FRIDAY, July 4th, 2025
Estate Lane, Nova Scotia
17*C/63*F
Light rain falling

Dear Neighbor,

First of all, I want to wish all of my neighbors to the South of us a very Happy Fourth of July.  I hope you have a safe and happy day, and that nothing spoils your plans.  I remember being in the US many, many years ago on the Fourth of July and being impressed with all of the flags, etc. the sense of Patriotism. It was lovely to see.

We have quite a few relatives who live in the States, mostly in New England, and Vermont in particular. I also have some very dear friends who live down there, so my happy wishes are quite sincere.

 

(source)

Cindy and I went out for a little bit yesterday morning. I had to pick up my glasses, which were ready and a few bits at the grocery store.  I call them my old/new glasses because they are an older set of frames with new lenses. It is surprising how much better I am seeing with them.  I did not wear them until I got home, but put them on then and have worn them ever since. I am quite used to them now, I think.

I had wanted to pick up some things at the grocery store to use in making the supper for Eileen and Tim last night.  Eileen had remarked on a recipe which I had posted on Facebook.  She had said that she would really love to try it and so I decided to make that for their supper, with a few adjustments for Tim's portion.  I made them the Chicken Dinner Poutine.  I knew that Eileen would enjoy it and that I could deconstruct it enough that Tim could enjoy it also.

I worked the rest of the day to make the stuffing for the poutine, etc. and it was soon time to go and pick them up. Time really does fly when you are having fun!

 

(source)

We did have a lovely visit together.  Eileen's lip was certainly very banged up and looked quite sore, and of course her hand as well. I am so grateful that she did not break anything. She did put a good scratch on her eye glasses, but that can be easily fixed.  If she had hit her head she might have gotten concussion and that would have not been so easily fixed.

I washed her hair for her after we got back to the house.  She asked me to. She did not want to get shampoo into the cuts on her hand, which was understandable. Washing her hair at the kitchen sink reminded me of when she was a girl and I would do things like this for her.  It was a nice feeling to be able to do something extra for her.

They both enjoyed their supper very much.  It turned out that Tim does like Poutine, just not with chicken, peas and stuffing on it. So I just made his poutine on the side of his plate and added chicken and peas to the other side of it. He had second helpings with the peas as they are his favorite vegetable.  Eileen of course really enjoyed hers. I sent the leftovers home with them, along with the watermelon that I had bought.  We had dishes of ice cream for dessert and there was no room for watermelon!

I took them home about 7 p.m. after having spent a really enjoyable time together. 

 

(source)

Doug and his family will be here overnight on the 9th of July (which happens to be my mother's birthday). They are coming over from the Island for the Ashram Camp, which starts on the 10th.  He is feeling back to normal now, which is an answer to many prayers. I am really looking forward to seeing them. It will be all chaos for the night, but a happy kind of chaos. It will be so good to see them all.

The boys are growing up too fast.  Jon will be 20 on his next birthday, which seems hard to believe. Doug and Kayla are celebrating their 20th Wedding Anniversary this month. That is also hard to believe. 

So much water has flowed under the bridge since then. I was quite happy to have been able to come over for their wedding.  My brother was also able to come down for it, and of course mom was still very much alive.  David drove us over to the Island for the wedding and mom paid for our hotel room.  I stayed with mom and David shared a room with you know who. 

It was a very joyous occasion as I was able to see all of my children at once.  I believe that was the last time I saw them all together.  There were no grandchildren yet and now there are eight.

Time flies as they say!

 

(source)

Tim got in all of my Canadian flags yesterday and took my compost down to the green bin for me, which was such a big help. I had noticed that all of my neighbors had taken down their flags so I thought I should as well.  It was really good of him to do that for me.  He didn't mind.  I wish that they could get themselves a bungalow or at least an apartment somewhere on the first floor. They are on the top floor of the apartment building that they have their place in.  Heat rises and it can get quite oppressive in the summer months.  If I could afford it, I would get them an air conditioner to help cool their place, but alas, I cannot. 

They are on a waiting list to get one of the low rental bungalows in town, but at the moment the bungalows are not habitable.  Everyone in them has been moved out to other places while renovations are being done. Apparently, they were full of black mold, which is not surprising, really.

There is a new apartment building going up in town, but with luxury apartments, and underground parking. The rents are going to be quite steep for it.

I question the judgement in building such a place when we have so many homeless people about. Surely the money would be better spent to build apartments that are much more affordable.

I do feel very blessed to be where I am. It was a gift from God in my opinion. A real answer to my prayers and so far so good. I have managed to be able to pay my rent every month without problem. I just pray that continues.

 

(source)

We are going to take Dad out this afternoon and pick up his friend Maryann. Cindy and I will do a bit of window shopping while they have their visit together at the A&W.  Dad always has himself a buddy burger and Maryann buys her scratch cards, etc. They sit there together and do them.  She buys quite a few of them. Sometimes she wins big and sometimes not, but she enjoys doing them and that's what counts. 

Cindy and I will probably have a boo around Dollarama and perhaps even Walmart, maybe Sobeys.  They are doing work on the bridge on the road into Kingston so we will avoid that area altogether.  Yesterday we noticed on our way back down the Valley that the traffic was in a tailback almost all the way to Wilmot because of the roadworks being done in Kingston. No fun in the summer heat and humidity.  The key is to plan ahead and avoid those areas whenever possible.

It is Cindy's birthday this weekend.  Dad is taking us out for Fish and Chips on Sunday for her Birthday and probably mine as well.  Kill two birds with one stone. I am going to bake a cake tomorrow and we will go back to Cindy's after supper to enjoy it. I will just make a small one so there are not a lot of leftovers.

What a blessing it is that I am back in Canada and able to enjoy these special moments. My Patriarchal Blessing said that would happen and here I am. 😃 It's great!

 

(source)

It is very quiet in here this morning.  The cats are both snoozing away and all is well in my little corner of the world.  I can hear the fan buzzing, but that is all. I have turned off the heat pump because it tends to blow cold air on me when I am sitting at the computer and I don't really like that. I will turn it back on a bit later as it is sure to get humid as the day goes on.

We are in for quite a few rainy days coming up. The ground and the farmers need it as it has been quite dry. I have been watching videos on my Facebook page of tornadoes put on by Storm Chasers. I don't know how these things pop up but it seems that once you watch one of them, then you see more of them. These people who chase the storms and tornadoes are either the bravest people on the planet or the most foolhardy! 

Watching them is fascinating, to be sure. It does make me feel very grateful that I do not live in an area where such things are a problem.  I cannot imagine chasing them for a living or for fun.

 

(source)

Lemonade is not something which I have had in a very long time now. I can remember making lemonade syrup when I was much younger to keep in the fridge and the freezer for the hot summer months. It was always so refreshing on a hot summer's day. 

When I was a much younger child, I can remember some children in the neighborhood setting up lemonade stands. I cannot think they made much money at it but they probably had a lot of fun doing it. I used to make cool-aid  by the bucket load when my children were growing up. I cringe at the thought now. So much sugar. They did not mind, of course!

Do you remember those colored tall metal glasses that they had back in the day?  Everything always seemed to be so much cooler, temperature-wise, in them.

I did not have any, nor did our mother. But I had friends who did.  I believe Mom had plastic Tupperware glasses, and indeed that is what I had for my own children to use. 

I have not seen Tupperware in ages. It used to be all the rage and I think over the years I had pretty much all of it that you could buy. I even sold it at one point, but not very successfully, as I was far too shy. I was only ever my own best customer for any of those schemes, even Avon.

I still have my old Tupperware Cookie Cutter set. How I managed to save that I will never know! There was no rhyme or reason to it.

And with that I best leave you now and end this missive with a thought for the day!

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

 *.To be kind is more important 

than to be right,

Many times what people need

is not a brilliant mind that speaks

but a special heart that listens.

~F. Scott Fitzgerald * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

 * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The Kitchen today, a delicious Ramen Noodle Salad. Quick and very easy to make. Perfect for BBQ's and get-togethers!

I wish a happy day today for all!  May it be blessed and filled with light and joy.  Don't forget!

═══════════ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═══════════ 

⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════  

And I do too!