Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

 

March 27th, 2026

Estate Lane

Middleton, Nova Scotia

4*C/39.2*F

rain, stopping in about an hour 

(It always amazes me how they 

can be that precise.)

Dear Neighbor,

Another week gone for the most part and this the last week of March.  Once again the pages are slipping off the calendar far quicker than I like.  Mind you, January and February were, for the most part, a waste with me being unwell, so I must take that into consideration. 

It certainly has been a week of "weather." Up, down, snow, rain, a bright sunny cold and clear day or two and everything in between. March has been busy making sure that we really take note of her as she flounces out of the room!

 

(source)

Eileen got her sleep apnea mask this week and is doing well with it.  At first they had given her the nose attachment, which had two plugs which fit into the nostrils and pump the air in all night. She couldn't cope with that. It made her nose sore, and so she took it back and got the mask attachment. This seems to be working much better for her. I can tell you that there is no snoring or loud breathing coming from her room in the morning, so it is an improvement. She was making quite a ruckus before.

I know that I snore. People have told me. I am not sure I could sleep with one of those masks however. I am not a back sleeper. I like to sleep on my stomach/side. Always have done. I probably always will.

 

(source)

Yesterday we baked brownies for Eileen to take to a bake sale that they are having to raise funds for their People's First Organization. We did two 8 inch square pans.  Normally I don't ice my brownies, but we did ice these and then decorated the tops of them with those little candy chocolate eggs. I put everything into the bowl and Eileen mixed them up and then helped me to divide the batter between the two pans.  Then after they were done and cooled I spread the icing on and she put the candy eggs on. They looked quite nice.

People's First of Canada is a national organization representing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has belonged to the group for quite a few years now. At the heart of this movement is the right to live within the community rather than in an institution.

 

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One thing I discovered yesterday while Eileen and I were talking was that it was not her choice to have her tubes tied before she and Tim got married. I had always thought that it was.  She had said to me a long time ago that she wouldn't be able to take care of a baby if she had one so she was getting her tubes tied. But apparently her dad and step mom made her get it done when she and Tim got engaged. It was not her choice. She did not want to have it done. I was surprised to learn this. 

I thought those days were long gone when people with intellectual and learning disabilities were forcibly sterilized. I was quite disappointed to learn this had happened. Do I think it was the smart thing to do. Probably. Really she would not be able to care for a baby on her own, but it should have been her choice to make, not somebody else's. I believe she would have made it, regardless, but at least it would have been her own choice.

 

(source)

She has spent some time this week copying recipes into the recipe binder that I gave her. A number of years back I had purchased five Susan Branch recipe binders that I had intended on putting recipes into for my kids. Good intentions and all that. It never happened. I just don't have the time. Eileen is having a great time filling one up on her own. It keeps her occupied so that she isn't just sitting there scrolling on her phone, etc. She is being pretty smart about the ones she is choosing to put into it as well. She has Pinterest and she is only putting in recipes that she likes the look of and that use not a lot of ingredients. Being on a very low and fixed income means that she doesn't have a lot of money to spend on ingredients she will only use once and never again.

She does keep quite busy. She has her bible study today and she has homework to do for that each week, plus the recipes. She has been doing her spool knitting and also bead-art. Then there are her CSS visits. She is keeping me busy as well, which is not entirely a bad thing.

 

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Dad has had a bad cold this week. He is very much a social animal and is always hugging and getting close to people. I am not surprised that he doesn't get things like colds more often. I hope that he starts to feel better soon. A cold at his age can turn into pneumonia and we don't want that.

I also don't want my sister to get this cold. I have my fingers crossed. She has COPD and a cold would not be good for her to have. 

She made the most beautiful little accordion art journal this week.

 

I am so in awe of her talents. I wish that I had the time to do art, but alas it seems I don't.  I do enjoy seeing hers however.  She is amazing.  (I hope this shows up when I click post at the end of this letter.)

 

(source)

I am still struggling to get my stuff organized for my taxes. I also have that talk to write. Both have been mulling around in my mind. I am so tired by the time I finish my work, that I end up doing nothing, which is really bad.  Eileen will be out for most of today however, so maybe I can make some headway then. She is quite distracting, not that I am complaining. I am not. But it does make it difficult for me to concentrate. I am grateful however that I am able to be here for her. Its a real blessing for me and for her, at least I hope it is a blessing for her.

We took some big steps this week and erased Tim and his GF from her Facebook page so that she couldn't doom scroll on them. That is not healthy. I know that there is no really getting away from them, but it is not healthy for her to obsess on them either. I have been trying to influence her to move forward from that and get past it . . .  to heal. It's hard though. And I know it.

 

(source)

One of the lights burnt out in my bathroom this week, right by the shower, which made it quite dark when you were in the shower having one. Anyways. I thought it was okay, but I was awakened one night by a flashing glowing light coming from it through the darkness of my bedroom. At first (because I sleep without my glasses on) I couldn't really make out what it was. It was a bit scary if I am honest. I didn't know if someone was flashing a light through my windows or if it was a ghost (don't laugh, your mind goes there when it is half asleep) or what. Anyways I bravely got up and went to investigate and learned it was the light. How it had gone from being completely kaput to flashing I don't know.  Anyways, I managed to get it to stop but felt a bit out of sorts about it. I wasn't sure if it was an electrical problem or not. The maintenance man came yesterday to have a look at it and it just needed a new bulb, which I had him put in. 

I confess I felt a bit stupid having him come and replace a lightbulb.

I need to get myself a small ladder. Those are things you don't really think about getting when yourself but there have been quite a few times this year when one would have come in really handy. So I will have to look for one and save up for it.

 

(source)

My cupboard clearing out seems to have stalled.  I have not been able to get any further than the one cupboard that we did.  If I have time to do anything at all it really must be my taxes and talk, but the cupboards are beckoning me and I know that they also need to be done. There is stuff in there that has been in there since I moved into this place I am sure. Food stuff. It will all need pitching. Tall cupboards are a waste to me. I cannot reach them to get anything out. Live and learn.

And, now I am older, I am a bit afraid of falling as well. I still have not recovered from my last fall. My arm still pains me when I move it a certain way. I have had too much else to deal with with the stones, etc. I need to start chasing up my arm and getting it sorted out.

After my taxes and talk.

 

(source)

The snow has completely gone now. We have had some flurries this week, some really heavy ones, but none of it has really stayed.  Hopefully soon the grass will be turning green and the peepers will start. I can see little buds on the branches of the maple tree behind my place.  Lots of dead leaves laying on the ground as well that probably need raking, but I would have to buy a rake. I guess I really should have a rake.

All the bread that I had thrown out to the birds over the winter months that never got eaten because it got covered with snow has shown up as well and I need to get out there and clean that up. It is a soggy mess.  Sigh  . . . 

As Rosanna Rosanna Danna would say, it's always something.

 

(source)

When the cleaners were here earlier this week, the older one had told me about her son getting hit by a car on the crosswalk towards the gas station in Greenwood at about 3 am the week before.  Someone had actually stopped their car, aimed for him and his girlfriend and knocked them over and then driven off. They are trying to get the person or people who did it. He was on his way to get some cigarettes at the gas station when it happened. What kind of person knocks someone over with their car and then takes off? I don't know.

What kind of people are out and about at 3 in the morning? Getting cigarettes, driving cars, etc. I am missing out on all the night life I guess. I don't think I was ever awake on purpose at 3 am. Maybe when I was taking care of newborns, but that's about all.

Oh, that does make me laugh. I just remembered a time I was visiting my sister when she lived in Windsor, Ontario. She talked me into going bar hopping with her.  I went. There happened to be a convention of older Chinese gentlemen at the hotel where the bar was and the only person who hit on me was a very (seemingly to me at the time) old Chinese guy. I have never attracted real male attention, or at least the kind I wanted to. That's probably a good thing!

Well, I guess that's about it for my letter this week.  I have pretty much caught you up on all the goings on in my little life. Not very exciting, but then again, I am happy just the way I am.

Time now to go wake up Eileen so she can be ready for me to take her to her Bible study.

A thought to carry with you   . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*When one sees something

especially wonderful,

it's always nice to have

someone to share it with.

~Mary Anne Schwalbe 

I am sharing an Easter Recipe Roundup in The English Kitchen today. Some tasty ideas for mains and sides and desserts.

I do really hope that you have a lovely day today.  I hope it is filled with lots of things which bring you happiness and peace.  Be loved.  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!