Dear Neighbor . . .

 

 FRIDAY, September 12th, 2025
Estate Lane, Nova Scotia

9*C/48.2*F

clear, a moderately warm day ahead

Dear Neighbor,

I hope you are well on this brisk September morning. I am a bit late getting started this morning, but here I am. I finally made it. I have my front door flung open and I can hear Blue Jays making that call they make that sounds like a squeaky clothesline moving, and of course the sound of cars roaring up towards the main highway.  I just put some peanuts and black sunflower seed out and a nuthatch has just visited me.  I can hear the guinea fowl as well. They have probably already made their way across the road.  They are such comical birds. 

They make me smile. I am sure that one of them is going to get hit by a car, however, if they don't stop crossing across the road at the end of my street. It is such a busy road and people just roar down it.  It is not too bad if they are coming down towards Main Street as there is a stop sign there and they are or should already be slowing down for that, but if they have come from Main Street and are heading in the other direction, they seem to put their foot down as soon as they hit the road at high speed. And of course there are never any police around to stop them.

As of 3 days ago the wildfire near me was considered being "held." I am not sure what that means exactly but it is not "out of control" any longer I am assuming. This has been a really frightening summer when it comes to that. It has been so dry, and the air has been thick with the smell of smoke. We have had little to no rain to speak of. One day, that's about it. And yet the cars are covered with dew in the mornings. All the rivers are incredibly low and yesterday we noticed that you could see the bottom of the pond in the park in Kingston. I saw on Facebook a photograph of a man walking down the Annapolis riverbed in his boots. This is a river people boat, swim and fish in. 

This may not make me many friends, but I am praying for a rainy autumn and a snowy winter.

On the plus side, I have not seen any earwigs.

The gnats, however. My word. I have been putting stuff down the sink. I have four butter plate sized bait traps set throughout the house (small house), and yesterday I brought in the big guns. I picked up my bug lamp at the local Home Hardware. I am not sure if it is attracting them or not.

This is how bad they are. I had just brought a sealed plastic tub containing a Portuguese custard tart and a donut into the house and set it on the table. Not too long afterwards my sister looked down and there was a gnat in it already. Somehow it had circumvented the sealed plastic lid. Until they are gone, I cannot have anyone over for any reason, and especially not to eat. This is very discouraging.

 

(source)

We did not get out for our lunch together yesterday, but Cindy and I are hoping that maybe we can go for lunch while Dad and Maryann are visiting together at the mall today. We will see what happens.

Yesterday we went back to the Indian Grocery Shop and topped up our Indian spices. We also went to Walmart and we each picked up some half pint jars to put them in for storage. We each have quite a selection now. We are both well pleased that they opened that Indian shop.  We decided yesterday that the next time our brother is home, we will be well set up to cook him an authentic Indian meal. 

I had my Indian cookbook out two days ago and have been earmarking recipes that I want to try. It was difficult before because I couldn't get the spices and didn't know what to look for. Now, I have a better idea of what they are and am more prepared. 

I really love Indian food, and I love the smells in that little grocery store. That is funny because fifty years ago when I first moved to Calgary we were staying in a motel, and it was owned by East Indians, and the smell of curry was very strong. I thought it was awful and worried that everything we had was going to smell that way. Now I am much older and educated and not so ignorant, more mature I guess, and I love the smell. Because I have eaten lots of Indian food and enjoyed it, it smells delicious to me.

How blessed we are to have a world filled with different tastes, lifestyles, cuisines and perspectives at our fingertips. Our world is so open now and that is not a bad thing to live an open life with an open perspective, and with loving and kind hearts. 

A world filled with division is not a happy place. 

 

(source)

I dig out my mother's transfer patterns and have some white pillowcases. I think I am going to do some embroidery in the coming months ahead. It is something which I really enjoy. I might get some of my fabrics out as well and try my hand at making some square cushion covers for the sofa throw cushions. We will see what happens.

Maybe I will make some dolls this Winter. My fingers are itching to play.

The man was here earlier this week to detail my car. How wonderful it was that I did not have to leave my home to have it done. He did it right in my driveway. He did a fabulous job. My car was just sparkling afterwards, inside and out.

I need to make an appointment now for my safety in October and also an appointment to have my Winter tires put on and the car winterized.

I want my car to last me as long as possible. It is ten years old now and still looks pretty new. It is still in great working order as well. Mind you, it doesn't get driven very much or very far. I cannot afford to get another car however, so I must take care of this one as best as I can.

 

(source)

There is a lady that I follow on YouTube called Anna. She lives in a Mobile Home and has a lot of health problems. She mostly chats, cleans, and cooks simple food. But her enthusiasm for what she does, despite her health challenges, has always inspired me.  Yesterday she did a chat video. Apparently, someone has set up a YouTube channel which is centered on nothing but pulling her apart and bullying her. I was not going to go look at it, because . . .  why give attention to such a person, but I ended up going to have a look in the end and I was appalled. Whoever this person is has put in great effort to be super critical of Anna and her channel, of what she shares, etc.  I hope it gets taken down. I think it is really sad that there are people in this world who think they can do and say such things as this with impunity.  

We see it happening to famous people all the time, but to attack an older lady who is just living her life and sharing it, is really nasty. I don't get it. What is the purpose in this?

If you don't like something, don't read it, or watch it, or whatever. There is such vitriol and hatred in the video about Anna that it sickened me. It has made me question if I really want to do any more videos on my channel or not.  One does expect criticism. Even with this blog and my food blog I have gotten more than my fair share, a bit of hatred as well.  But this was way over the top. I have never seen such negativity channeled towards another person in such a vitriolic way.

She's not famous. She is not a politician. She is just a normal person living her life and sharing it. She is not young, nor is she beautiful. She lives in a trailer and in very humble circumstances. It's just plain wrong to bully her in this way.

 

(source)

I love these blankets. They are just simple. Probably made in India or Bangladesh. I have seen them online and been tempted before. I wonder what quality they are?  They are very pretty I think. 

It is almost nine a.m. now. I know, hard to believe. I have gotten distracted many times while I have been writing this. To give the cats treats, to go to the loo, to feed the birds, etc. I seem to do that a lot these days. My attention span seems very short, but on the plus side I finally remembered the name of mom's Avon Lady.  It only took me two weeks to come up with it.  It took a while, but . . . I did eventually come up with it. I am grateful for that. Bonus!

And with that I will end this missive.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

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

*"Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. 

They take their time and wander, 

on this, their only chance to soar" ​

~Delia Owens  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Oven Swiss Steak. Another vintage recipe for two that I cooked the other day. It was quite simply delicious!  I love these old recipes!

I really hope that you have a lovely day.  I hope it is filled with light, love, peace and joy. 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!