Dear Neighbor . . .

 

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FRIDAY, October 17, 2025
Estate Lane, Nova Scotia
10*C/49*F
Mostly cloudy 

Dear Neighbor,

It's a bit warmer this morning, but the temperatures are not supposed to get much higher today than what they are now. We had some glorious rain from Wednesday night and off and on through the day yesterday. My grass is actually starting to look a tiny bit green again. It has been brown and dry all summer and in fact, they have not had to mow it at all. I am sure that those in the lawn care business have been hurting this summer as nobody had really needed them.

 

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Pumpkins and Halloween decorations are starting to go up all over the place.  Dan has all of his up. A few on the street have jack-o-lanterns in place. I have not bothered yet. Decorating for Halloween is not something I have ever really done much of to be honest. It's never really been up there on my list of things to do.  

Some people get really inventive with their Halloween decorations. I can remember when I was a child and out trick-or-treating there would be the odd house that went all out with spooky lights and music, etc.  We would think that was pretty cool.  Some houses would make you tell a joke or some such in exchange for your Halloween treats. I was not a fan.

My friend Kathy was relating on FB yesterday how one year she had run out of candy and had started tossing in little packets of jam. (You didn't want to run out of candy for fear that you would have your windows soaped or egged.) Someone had given them some cartons of tiny restaurant packets of jam. The next day my husband had remarked to her about some idiot giving the kids jam, not realizing that it was her. (We had a good laugh about that yesterday!)

I remember when we moved to Meaford, we lived in an area of town where there were mostly Senior Citizens. My kids got some pretty weird stuff that year. The Seniors were not used to kids trick-or-treating at their doors and so were tossing in cans of soup and sodas, etc. They had probably never had kids come to their doors in years. 

This year I am not handing out chocolate bars or bags of chips. (Considered the mother-lode when I was growing up.)  I have candy eyeballs, bones, etc. Something different. I hope I don't regret it.

 

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Mom used to love it when our cousins would bring their little ones over to her place on Halloween. She always made sure that she had a special treat for them.  It meant a lot to her that they would stop by.  These were my mother's younger sister's kids and grandchildren. They always enjoyed a close relationship with mom and with us. Her older sister's kids not so much, although mom was very good to them also through the years. They never even came to mom's funeral, I guess. One of them said that they didn't consider mom to be family. I admit that statement has rankled with us ever since we heard it. Especially knowing how kind mom had been to them through the years. I know we are supposed to forgive others and I do, but I have a difficult time understanding how family members can treat each other that way.

But then again, knowing the way that some of mine are to me, I should really not be surprised.

Remember when we would get apples and paper bags of popcorn in our Trick-or-treat bags?  Or little bags of home baked goodies?  Or even popcorn balls! (What a treat!) Such things do not happen anymore. As a child I was not so fond of the apples, but I did like the popcorn, especially the way that it smelled. And popcorn balls! Well, those were like gold dust.

 

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I was reading this morning that Diane Keaton passed away from Pneumonia. I have had my pneumonia shot. I have also had the RSV shot. I had to pay for that one and it was quite dear. Worth every penny however. I have not had my flu shot yet this year. I am not sure if they are giving them out yet or not. I must check into that.  I know they don't seem to be giving out many Covid shots anymore either, and it's become next to impossible to get Covid testing kits.

I was thinking in the shower this morning about how expensive prescriptions are. In the U.K. once you reach 60 you get your prescriptions for free. Along with free eye care and dental. Housing benefit, a free bus pass, etc. It is the same in the Scandanavian countries. If they can do it, why can't Canada?  I, personally, know people who don't get prescriptions they need because they cannot afford them. I know there is Pharmacare Insurance for Seniors here, but I pay a premium of over $400 for that each year. It isn't cheap. Also, there is one of my prescriptions (the one I take for GERD) that is not covered at all, and I have to pay full whack for it each time, which is well over $100.  My iron tablets were over $100 last time I had to get them. 

Still, it is better than in some countries, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

 

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A bit of mail has started to get through. I got two catalogues yesterday from this online fabric shop I often get fabric from.  Nice catalogues, but the sales in them were expired.  I love quilting fabrics. I love looking through the catalogues. I haven't bought fabric in a while now, however. I haven't used up the fabric I already have so there is no point in me buying more.

I was watching Olesya and House on YouTube yesterday and she was making some table and cushion covers. She has the nicest gingham fabrics that she uses.  She has a red one, and then a pewter one and yesterday it was a bright yellow. She color coordinates everything to match in her house.  The kitchen curtains and table runners, placemats, cushion covers, etc. She changes them with the seasons. It's so pretty.

I bought fabric last year to make cushion covers for the throw pillows on my sofa.  I still have not made them. No excuse really.  Lack of motivation on my part I suppose.

 

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We went out to supper with our father on Wednesday night this week. They had a special on, Two-Piece Fish and Chips for what was essentially only $1 more than the One-Piece Fish and Chips dinner. We had fish and chips all around the table.  I was expecting them to be smaller pieces of fish, but they were actually quite large. I could not eat all of mine. I ate one of the pieces of fish and some of the chips.  Dad managed to polish off all of his. I was surprised. I got a take-out container to bring home what I couldn't eat and brought it next door to Sheilagh.  She never gets out to eat, and I thought she would enjoy it. (There was nothing wrong with any of it.)  She was really pleased with it.

Almost everyone in the restaurant was ordering the fish and chips. I noticed the next day that all of my clothes and even my jacket smelled like fish and chips. I had to wash it all. I like fish and chips, but I don't want my clothes or jacket smelling like it, lol. I expect the waitresses all had to take showers after work on Wednesday!

I can remember that one of the apartments I lived in when I was married the first time was over top of a small cafe.  Our apartment often smelled like Chips/French Fries.  I did not think it such a bad thing at the time, but now that I am a mature person, I would not like that one bit. I can remember back then thinking also that I would have loved to be able to decorate my home like a Chinese Restaurant with black lacquer furniture and red lanterns and screens.

It makes me laugh now to think of it.

 

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I would love to do a journal page in my art journal of toadstools and mushrooms. I do not take enough time to do my art. I take no time at all. There was a time, before I left the UK, that I spent every afternoon doing art or crafting of some sort.  I had a hard time getting back into it after mom died. I don't know why. I lost a bit of my mojo, and then with what happened with my husband, I really lost my mojo.  I have had a very difficult time getting into it ever since. I do sit down and journal from time to time. I did an hour or so of journaling yesterday, and I felt good afterwards. I need to allow myself more time to do things like this  . . .  to feed my creative side.  All work and no play is not a good thing.

I did have a bit of a nap yesterday as well. I sat back in my easy-boy chair and listened to the Rosary for half an hour with my eyes closed. I know, I am not a catholic, but I find listening to it very relaxing. Meditative.

 

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 It is still very dark when I get up in the mornings now and gets dark quite early in the evenings as well. The clocks are changing later this year, in November.  I know it is a gradual change, but you never notice it sneaking up on you until BANG, all of a sudden it happens and you cannot ignore it any longer.  The days become noticeably shorter. And if it is a rainy day, like it was yesterday, you need to put your lights on earlier and earlier.

I do not mind the drawing in of the nights too much. For some reason it somehow seems odd to be going to bed in daylight.  I cannot imagine what it is like to live somewhere that it stays light for half of the year and dark for the other half . . .  the Polar night. 

The year we went to the Scottish Highlands I noticed that it was still light out, albeit dusky, at 11 P.M. 

That was such a wonderful trip. Scotland was a place I had always wanted to visit.  That was right around the time the problem started with my left knee however and I wasn't able to do as many walks as I would have liked to do. I remember tripping over a box a few months prior to the trip and to be honest my knee has never been normal since.  If it wasn't for that left knee I would not have near as bad a mobility problem as I have. It is close to crippling most days.  You tell yourself that you are just going to make yourself walk through the pain, but in the end, you cannot. It just hurts too much.

 

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I might make some turnip lanterns this year. I did some a few years ago and they were not that hard to do. I used a melon baller to scoop out the turnips, and it worked well. They are much smaller and a lot easier to carry into the house than big pumpkins.  I think they are just as creepy looking don't you? Very ghoulish indeed!

I was watching Kirsten and Joerg yesterday and their latest weekend away in the Lake District.  The long walks they took, etc. brought back some lovely memories of the times I spent there myself. Such a beautiful part of the country with the rolling hills and stone walls, the Herdwick sheep in the fields, glassy lakes and woodlands.  So much history there as well with many of the Romantic poets having lived in that area and the Dales. 

It is a landscape that evokes deep feelings in the soul.  It speaks to the heart in a beautiful way. That is probably why it is such a popular destination.  Steeped in history and superstition. A land of legends and folklore. I am not surprised that Beatrix Potter loved living there so much. 

 

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The lawn is the leaves dancing floor. I like to stand leaning over the wall above watching them. The wind is their music and impulse; it is billowing the trees with half a gale. There are leaves from the creeper on the house, scarlet like soldiers, and green leaves, fresh as summer from the lime. Away they go, and even the dowager leaves of sober brown and silver grey awake and scamper after them in a gallopade. Then the gust dies, and they stand in groups stirring as in conversation. The wind swoops again; some run to the middle and the rest form a wide circle and revolve around them.

~Adrian Bell

This was me the other day, sitting in my chair by my front window and watching the leaves dance around. My soul was delighted at the sight of them. Some up and onto the deck, dancing right in front of the window glass and my eyes. It was such a treat to see them twirling about in their tattered golden gowns. 

My sister's neighbor Albert was out raking them in his beekeepers suit the other morning when I went over to her place to pick her up for my foot appointment. He had a huge pile of russet and gold that he was adding to, sweep by sweep of his rake. It was a pretty picture. I am so grateful for a heart that notices these things and gathers them in.

I have not a lot planned for the day. I will do a bit of work and hopefully a bit of play. My cushion covers are really playing on my mind. I need to just buckle down and do them, and a few other things I have been wanting to do as well.  It's like I tell myself every night when I go to bed . . .  who says I have to go to sleep at a certain time each night, or get up at a certain time each morning. There is nobody standing over me with a whip making me do anything. I am free to do anything, anytime . . . and at my own bidding. I am a slave to habit and routine. Perhaps I should shake things up every now and then.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*Go not to the elves for counsel,

for they will say both no and yes.

~J. R. Tolkien  • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Crispy Parmesan Chicken, tender and juicy with a delightfully crisp and flavor filled coating. I have also shared a recipe for a really great Caesar dressing that is quick and easy to make.

I wish for you a Friday filled with joy and color. Be happy.  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!