Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

 

April 3rd, 2026

Estate Lane

Middleton, Nova Scotia

-1*C/31*F

Snow showers

Dear Neighbor,

They say we are in for a messy day today weatherwise.  Snow, ice, rain.  The whole gamut. Not surprising really, as it is Good Friday and I think Good Friday always has nasty weather of some sort.  As if to remind us of the significance of the day, even if we are not all believers.

I have been thinking about why they call it Good Friday, this day which is commemorated for having been the day our Lord was crucified.  There really wasn't a lot of good about it. Not to those who were living it in real time. They should have called it Hard Friday, or Sad Friday. 

Oh sure, we know now, with all of the knowledge we have now, that it was really a good thing that was happening, but then, Christ's family and followers did not have the knowledge that we have.  They only knew that this man they had been following and believing as their Savior and Messiah, was being put to death in a terrible and excruciating way. They had no idea that Sunday would come and that there were wonderfully good things ahead. Instead, they mourned at the foot of the cross as they watched their beloved suffer and die.   Hard. Sad. Anguished and broken-hearted.

I am not surprised that even the skies cried in sorrow and that they still do . . . 

 

When I moved over to the U.K. in the year 2000, I brought with me a large four liter can of Maple Syrup. That was back when  you could carry large amounts of liquid onto aircrafts.  I knew that I was probably going to really miss Maple Syrup and I thought it would help me to get through what I thought then was only going to be two years of my life in a foreign country. My beloved syrup would be right there with me.

I was reading this morning about how one producer of Maple Syrup southwest of Montreal has been selling a fraudulent product, tainted with cane sugar. Tests revealed cans labelled ‘pure’ maple syrup cut with at least 50% cane sugar.  You've probably seen the cans in your grocery stores.  From what I saw the syrup was in cans that are printed with maple trees. This may be the only brand that has been adulterated. I don't know for sure.  I always buy locally produced Maple Syrup.  Syrup which has been gathered and produced right here in Nova Scotia.

But, for all I know it is a common practice. It kind of reminds me of the horsemeat scandal that occurred in 2013 when I was living in the U.K. The 2013 horsemeat scandal revealed widespread food fraud in Europe, where products labeled as beef were found to contain undeclared horse meat, leading to significant regulatory and consumer trust issues. Through random DNA testing it was discovered that that 37% of beef products contained horse DNA while 87% contained pig DNA. And even worse,  frozen beef products such as burgers and lasagna actually contained 100% horse DNA.

Things have been put in place now to hopefully prevent that from happening, but it did happen and just goes to show how vulnerable we, as consumers, are to food industry practices. 

I have been thinking more and more in recent weeks that we should be eating things, as much as possible, that we make from scratch ourselves and not relying on already produced foods. Its probably a lot healthier as well.  I am not sure how practical it would be, but I like to think that I could do it.

 

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I took Eileen to the hospital here in town bright and early yesterday morning so that she could have her blood tests done. Hopefully they will find that the iron infusions have done their job.  Afterwards I took her to the grocery store to get a bag of frozen corn as her contribution to the special Easter Meal that the CSS workers were putting on for the clients yesterday. It just so happened that one of the workers was right behind her at the cash register so she was able to give it to her then and not have to carry it with her all morning.  She wanted to go to Tim Horton's for the morning, something she had not done in a while.  So it worked out well. I was able to drop her off at Tim Hortons after that. She was looking forward to having one of their Breakfast biscuits and spending time with some of her friends.

Cindy and I went to Greenwood to Walmart.  I needed cat food. It seems I am always buying cat food, lol. I also wanted to pick up a few small things to put in Eileen's Easter basket. Some travel sized toiletries. I do have her a Lindt bunny, but I wanted to get a few other bits.

When we left Walmart we went to Giant Tiger.  I was able to get Eileen two new t-shirts and the cutest Hello Kitty pajamas. There is so much she needs, but it is a start. I really don't know how she is going to be able to decently clothe herself once she moves into her own place, which really makes me worry about what is going to happen to her once her father and I are gone.  Cindy, I know, will keep an eye on her, but once Cindy is gone, what then . . .  her only siblings who regularly contact her live so far away, in New Brunswick and P.E.I.  The two that live right here in Nova Scotia never contact her at all, not even when she contacts them. They totally ignore her. It is a concern to me. She has more contact with my sister's oldest daughter, who lives in Ontario, than she does with them. Its sad really, and I do worry about it.

 

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I got a message from Eileen mid afternoon yesterday asking would I please come and pick her up at the venue for the Easter dinner.  I went to get her and she was waiting outside in the cold and was visibly upset. I got her in the car and she told me what had happened.  Apparently Tim had gone off on one because some money had gone missing from their joint bank account. Some bible app had taken a considerable sum from it. She didn't want me to talk to anyone about it, but I couldn't let it rest so when we got home I messaged one of the CSS workers because I felt I needed to know what was happening. Apparently the old bank account is tied to their phones, and Eileen had somehow subscribed to a Bible Coloring app and it had taken the money out. She did not know she had done this. I think it was $200 or something like that. (Which seems outrageous, but there you go.) Hopefully she has learned her lesson.  But it was deeply humiliating for her that he had this hissy fit about it in front of everyone. She has never known how to access their online account for that bank and has not had any idea about how much is in their main account or in their savings account. And I don't know if she is ever going to get any of it at all. (To my way of thinking she should get half of everything.) 

To be honest, I blame the CSS workers, who got them these phones to begin with and obviously haven't really taught them how to use them properly or the dangers of using them improperly. No cards should be attached to their phones as they are not intellectually responsible enough to know the right and wrong of this stuff and there are so many financial pitfalls attached. Anyone could hack into their phones and steal all of their money if they wanted to. Also, from the moment that she and Tim separated, all of their monies should have been divided.  They do both have new bank accounts, but the old accounts should have been closed and everything that was in them divided between them and put into their new accounts.  This has all been handled in a very slipshod manner in my opinion. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems to be very clear cut and dry to me about how it should have worked.

Instead for the last two months, he has had access to all of their funds with money coming out to pay all of his rent, expenses and groceries etc. and she has been given $60 a week. It just seems all wrong to me, but perhaps I am being a bit biased.

 

(source)

Oh dear, I am being a bit of a negative Nelly here this morning and I don't mean to be. I hope you will forgive me. I am just sharing what is on my mind  . . . 

I made that lasagna again yesterday. Originally we were supposed to go to Glenna's for a dinner with the Missionaries, but she had to cancel as her daughter is visiting from out west, so I still had the ingredients to make the lasagna.  I didn't make a full batch because there are just two of us here, but I did use some of them to make a small batch again. The jarred sauces and dry noodles will keep for quite a while longer, but I did want to use up some of the cheeses and the cottage cheese.  I still have a tub of cream cheese to use. I will have to scout out some recipes that I can use it up in. I am sure I will be able to find something.

We are planning a quiet day here today. Eileen says she is going to have a pajama day. The weather is really not going to be nice enough to go anywhere or do anything so it sounds good to me. Cindy and I had thought we might take a drive up to Pelton's to see what they had available, but if the weather is bad that will probably be a no go. The other day they were baking all kinds of pies, even strawberry rhubarb which is my favorite.  

Oh, I use the term "favorite" loosely as there is no dessert pie that I do not love. In all truth my favorite dessert pie is the one which is sitting in front of me at any given moment!

(source)

What a magical world it seems in this photo where little fairies are taking care of everything. When I was a young child I believed very much in fairies and magical worlds. I think reading all of those Enid Blyton books must have helped to fuel the fantasy.  That and old cartoons. I suppose that some would consider me to still be somewhat of a fantasist, but that's okay I am very happy in my own little world.  I shut that front door and I try to keep the outside world at bay as much as possible. It is impossible to it completely, to shut out the outside world and I am not sure it would be entirely prudent, but I do try to keep most of it out if I can. I pay attention to the things that matter and eschew all the rest. If you can manage to do it, it's the best.

I really have run out of things to share in my missive to you today so I will end this now. 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*The pull you feel toward

a simpler life isn't nostalgia,

it's instinct. ~Unknown

I revamped an older post in The English Kitchen today as I felt it was relevant to this weekend. Gingersnap Glazed Ham.  This is quite simply delicious and would make a great Easter Dinner option!

I hope that whatever you get up to today, you stay safe and warm and at peace. Don't forget!

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And I do too!