Dear Neighbor . . .

 

FRIDAY, July 18th, 2025
Estate Lane, Nova Scotia

22*C/71*F  

100% humidity

Dear Neighbor,

Well, all of the excitement of the past week is now over.  Doug and his family left to go home yesterday and thankfully arrived back at their place safe and sound. I always pray the whole time they are traveling. It is such a long trip and on a very busy motorway.  Thankfully the trip was without incident and Kayla is now back to work today.  Doug doesn't have to work until Monday. I told him to get plenty of rest between now and then. 

I enjoyed every minute I got to spend with Doug and his family. He is a good man and his boys are lovely. We even spent some time with Dad, which Dad really enjoyed. Not many people get to know or even spend time with their Great Grandfather, so this was special indeed!

 

(source)

We are into the sweltering days of summer now. High heat and humidity. Not my favorite days at all. One thing that I enjoyed in the U.K. was that, at least where I lived, there was relatively little humidity. No air conditioning or fans were needed most of the time.  It was a very occasional thing and only lasted a few days if it did occur. 

I was humid and warm enough yesterday that the restaurant around the corner from me closed for the day.

It could always be worse, however. My brother sent us a photo the other day and it was so humid in Ottawa that his glasses were fogged up. No thank you.

 

(source)

I have been having to refill the hummingbird feeder more frequently these past days. I refill the bird bath every day. I have had quite a few creatures coming to enjoy that.  The chipmunk, of course, a pair of mourning doves, blue jays, a squirrel, and that dark grey cat that roams the neighborhood. Him, I am not so fond of because he tried to attack my cats through our living room window. He has a collar on, so I know he is not a stray. Just a cat that is allowed to wander.

My grandson Jon has a set of headphones (wireless gaming ones) that have cat's ears. There are light panels inside the ears that change color.  Nutmeg was terrified of them when he saw them for the first time. He jumped and his ears went back and he ran to hide under the table. Poor thing. It took quite a bit of cajoling to convince him that they were harmless. We had to put them onto the living room floor and let him come over and smell them for a bit before he was convinced.  I don't think he ever did really take to them. Neither did Cinnamon really, but she is a tad bit braver and wasn't as spooked by them.

 

(source)

We are coming into the season of plenty now.  It was only a few weeks ago that I noticed the corn growing in the fields was about six inches tall and now it stands about chest high I would think. It is growing really quickly. I am not sure if it is cow corn or eating corn. But in any case, the eating corn will be soon ready as well. Once the tassels show and begin to turn golden brown. In the meantime, there are lots of other things. Raspberries, blueberries, cherries.  The beans and peas are starting as well. 

I do so love fresh fruit and veggies.

When we lived out on the farm, near Meaford, we had a huge garden planted, with carrots and potatoes, beans, peas, corn.  You always knew when the corn was ready because the racoons tried to harvest it. We tried all sorts of deterrents.  Some said even that if you hung Christmas lights on the corn they would stay away.  I never found anything that really worked, but the Christmas lights were pretty.

Doug said this week that of all the places we lived when he was a child, that was his favorite place. 

It was a lovely little town, situated at the southernmost tip of the Georgian Bay and it was quite a nice place to live.  The children enjoyed their schools there. I missed our home in New Brunswick though, and my oldest son who had stayed behind when we moved.

It is never easy to leave children behind. As a mother you always want them in your nest, but there comes a time when they all want to stretch their wings and fly.

 

(source)

I expect the remainder of my summer to be quite quiet. I don't anticipate any more company. My oldest son and his family have a new cat now and I don't expect they will want to leave her to come over here.  Her name is Ramona, and she is glued to his side. Whenever we speak, she is right there with him. 

I suppose, not much different than mine, come to think of it. They are always near me as well.

They slept a lot yesterday.  I had a pretty quiet day myself. I caught up on the course I was taking and have finished it now. All I need do now is to keep applying the principles I have learned and see if they bear any fruit.

I spent some time yesterday afternoon catching up on my journal writing.  I had not done any for a bit. Maybe next week I will have a chance to give my sewing machine a going over to see if there was any lasting damage from when the cats knocked it onto the floor. Hopefully not. 

I have some things that I want to sew. Oh, I have lots of things that I want to do.  Just not enough time to spend. I think that is a common complaint amongst many my age.

I do not know now how I got all the things done that I used to get done back in the day. I must be slowing down as I only get a fraction done now of what I used to get done.

 

(source)

It was quite busy on our street yesterday. A lady across the way had a birthday and the street was loaded with the cars of guests who had come to wish her a happy day.  They were lined up on both sides and the little parking area for guests at the end was full. It must have been a milestone birthday.  And yesterday also one of the local churches was doing their annual free BBQ in the common area between the two streets for all of the seniors who live on them. I have never gone. There is a green area between both streets with a gazebo and a patio for this type of activity. There is also a pond with a fountain. I suppose it is to encourage the people who live here to socialize.  I have never gone to any of the activities they have.  It is just not my thing to do.

I guess I am really not very social, and I prefer to keep to myself. I had put my name down for a Temple Trip with the church on the 26th and am already thinking of excuses why I can't go. It is just outside my wheelhouse of comfort, I think.  All of these things are.  I am not one much for card parties, etc.

I like to do my own thing.  I do enjoy going out and about with my sister though, as you all know very well.

 

(source)

We are taking dad out with Maryann this afternoon.  We will do a few errands while they enjoy each other's company at the mall. I do enjoy those times spent with Cindy. We share an easy companionship and are quite comfortable together.

She and Dan stopped by briefly yesterday. I had some extra cotton yarn she wanted to buy.  Dan brought my hummingbird feeder in for me to clean and refill.  Cindy had on the cutest pair of pants and some lovely new sandals she got at one of the local shops. Some European brand. The pants came from Temu. She has gotten a few articles of clothing from them recently that were quite nice actually. I have been surprised. 

Of course the lady next door came out on her porch while they were here.  She did that all week whenever Doug and his family came over. I suppose she gets lonely.  Each time she was querying them if I was alright as she said she had not seen me.  This is true, I guess. When the weather gets hot and humid I do not wander far from my air con. I did bring her over a meal yesterday.  I had not done so since before Doug arrived.

 

(source)

Other than going out with Cindy a bit later today I don't really have any firm plans for today. I will wash the bedding from the spare room and get it dried and put away. Perhaps vacuum and dust and just do a general tidy up, put a few things back where they belong. I need to clean out the fridge in the garage as well.  There is a bit of stuff from Doug's family in there that they had picked up during their visit.  A bag of burgers from A&W I think and a few other bits. I was going to do it yesterday but there was too much activity on the street. The compost bins are down the end of the street, and I didn't want to go past everyone with everything. 

Cleaning out my fridge is something I need to do regularly. At least once a week. As a person who lives on their own, I always end up with stuff that goes off before I can get it all used up.  I can remember when I first moved over to the U.K. thinking that almost everything in the shops was too small. Now I wish that everything in our shops was as small. Much less waste that way.

And with that I best get off here and leave you with a thought for the day. (I will try to catch up on all the comments today!)

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˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *Always find a reason to laugh.
It may not add years to your life,
but it will add life to your years.
~unknown  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

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In The English Kitchen today, Chicken Diablo.  Tender chicken breast cutlets in a rich sweet and tangy sauce. All done in a skillet, and in about half an hour.  You can be cooking your sides while it is cooking and everything will be ready at the same time.

I hope that you have a lovely Friday. May your day be richly blessed.  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!