Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

 

 JUNE 19th, 2026

Estate Lane,

Nova Scotia

16*C/60*F

Mostly cloudy

Dear Neighbor,

I think it has been raining during the night as the pavement out front is wet. There are no puddles that I can see, so it can't have been heavy. I don't mind the rain. We need it.  A happy mix of both rain and sunshine is ideal.  

Kind of like life.

A happy mix of both rain and sunshine in our lives is ideal as well. "For it must needs be that there is  opposition in all things." 2 Nephi 2:11

 

Without opposition, concepts like righteousness, wickedness, happiness, and misery could not exist. He explains that all things must be a compound of opposites; otherwise, life would be inert, lacking life, death, joy, or sorrow, and creation would have no purpose or meaning. You cannot truly taste the sweet without first having tasted the bitter  . . . 

 

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The store shelves are now lined with boxes of mason jars and packets of Certo pectin. In anticipation of the upcoming canning/preserving season. In the U.K. we used jam sugar, which already had the pectin in it. Much easier I guess than having to add anything else. 

Strawberries are $6.99 a small basket at the moment. I cannot see making jam with berries still being so expensive. Well, I don't really make jam at all any longer as I just could not use it up, but for anyone who does make their own jams, the cost of berries is rather high at the moment.

They sure look good though. I was eyeballing them at Spur's yesterday and thinking how lovely it would be to enjoy a small box.  But I decided they could wait a while longer.  As above, they will taste all the sweeter for having waited.

Here's hoping.

 

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Eileen and I finished watching the third Twilight installment last night, "Eclipse."  I do remember reading the books a number of years back, but I think I had only ever watched the first two films. Eileen would love to have the DVD's, but I told her she should wait for Christmas and then see what Santa brings. You never know  . . . 

Yesterday she went out on one of her visits with her CSS worker. The first actual visit since going to hospital on Sunday.  They went to the mall and she picked up a few things for her apartment. A shower curtain and liner, a bath mat, a bed in a bag, and a set of extra sheets. She was very proud of her purchases. They get a small moving in allowance from the program. It will need to be managed very carefully. 

Oh, she also got a blind for the window on her front door. Now all we have to do is to get it put up and have the living room curtains installed. I had given a set to my sister when I got the new thermal ones for my place and Cindy ended up giving them, plus a rod, for Eileen's place. 

The only other big thing that is needed doing is bringing her bed from the old apartment, and her dresser, along with her television and some other things like her rice cooker, electric frying pan, slow cooker, etc. plus a few personal items.

I think her place will be nice and cozy once she settles in.  I am not sure when she will be able to have a cat, but somewhere down the road she is hoping to get one.

Baily has settled in very well at Cindy's place. I thought that there would be a bit of trouble between him and the cats, but really the only cat who has shown any displeasure at his presence is dad's cat Princess, who lives up to her name. 

When I was there yesterday he seemed very happy and content. I think this was a much better solution than him staying in Sheila's place all by himself.  Dogs are animals who really need the company of humans. (And vice versa!)

I need to call Carol today and find out how Sheila is doing.  She was supposed to have a rod or some such put into her hip in Tuesday. Hopefully she will recover well from this.

Life really does turn on a dime.

 

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My neighbor across the way had her cleaners over there cutting back these two green cedars in front of her place yesterday. It was quite the operation. They had been taller than the house and right in front of her front deck, so I suppose keeping out a lot of the sunlight.  First they lopped off the tops, like little Christmas trees ad then they had a hedge trimmer which they used to even off everything. It does look nicer.  The man who lived there before was a very private man.  He did not like talking to anyone or having any sort of company. I suppose those two tall trees suited him just fine as it afforded him some privacy. I used to see his legs sticking out from a chair on the front deck that he would sit on early in the morning. He would sit and watch the hummingbird at his feeder. He was always in bed by noon according to Sheila. I think he had worked a night shift all of his life, so he slept in the day time and was awake half the night.

The look of this street has changed a great deal since I first moved here.  The three units across from me used to be filled with men, now they are all ladies.  I think the only men on the street are the husband next door and Will's son who lives down the street in her old place. Rumor has it he is moving out and into his girlfriend's however. I think he was only staying there to live out Will's lease.

Jane who lives down at the end will be glad to see the back of him. She thinks he is horrible, but only because he encourages all sorts of wildlife, and she is not a fan.

I wonder what she thinks of the Guinea Fowl.

 

 

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We heard a big crash earlier this week. It ended up being one of the shelves on one of my bookcases letting go and the books all falling out with a loud thump. I need to go to the hardware store to get some new pins to put into it, perhaps steel ones or even small dowel plug that will hold the shelf up better.  In the meantime the books are all laying on my table which is rather unsightly. I guess you get what you pay for and I did not pay a lot for these shelves. They are not solid wood, just press wood that is made to look like wood. Even the backs are just laminated cardboard. Nobody seems to make real wooden furniture any longer. I had a lovely bookcase stored at my mom's that my ex had made, but it is in use now and that is for the best.

Anyways, I am going to pop out this morning and try to get some new pins and a new carpet for in the bathroom to replace the one that got all messed up with jars breaking etc. 

I also have to mail a birthday card to my youngest daughter's son today as well. His birthday is on the 22nd and I am late getting it out. Thankfully it doesn't have too far to go, only Halifax. I have never met him in person. He will be 13, a teenager. I hope my card is appropriate. From the last photos I have seen of him, he looks to be quite a handsome young lad and I am sure he is very nice. His father is a real gem.

 

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The lily has a smooth stalk,

Will never hurt your hand;

But the rose upon her brier

Is lady of the land.

There's sweetness in the apple tree,

And profit in the corn;

But the lady of all beauty 

is a rose upon a thorn.

When with moss and honey

She tips her bending brier,

And half unfolds her glowing heart,

She sets the world on fire.

~Christina Rossetti, The Rose

There are briar rose bushes at the end of the street and they are all abloom at the moment. They are such a pretty sight. It would be the perfect time to take a trip to Briar Island to see all the wild roses blooming there.  If I could walk better I would be there. As it is I pay a hefty price each time I walk around the grocery store.  Yesterday I went shopping with Cindy and I was in quite a bit of pain when I got home. I have been using a walker here in the house since my back went out a number of weeks back. It seems to help a great deal around here and I take multiple walks back and forth through here each day in an effort to try to make things easier. It is my left knee which causes me no end of trouble, combined with the Achilles tendon in my right foot and the right knee a bit.  It makes each step I take an exercise in pain.  Chronic pain is so debilitating. I do not like to complain, but it does make me wonder what it will be like in 10 years time if I am still here. I dread to think. I just keep pushing back. Good days and bad days. We all have them. What we can do best for ourselves is to make the best that we can out of each day given.

 

I had ordered these flower stakes for the garden from an ad on Instagram on the 2nd of May. They have never arrived. I paid a lot of money for them. I have not been able to contact the company and when I try to track the shipment, it takes me nowhere. The shipping number is incorrect. I think I got ripped off. Again. Note to self:  from now on do not order anything from Instagram.

La Rocchetta Lighthouse, Piombino, Italy

Oh how I would have loved to visit Italy when I was living in the U.K. It was on my bucket list along with Greece. I will never get there now, but there was this little painting of this lighthouse in the search bar of my laptop this morning and it made me want to see what it was about and that is what it was, the la Rocchetta Lighthouse. Tuscany. Just the part of Italy I really wanted to see.

A young missionary that served in Chester and his wife moved to Italy with their three children to live about a year ago now.  From the state of Washington.  They have since had a baby over there and are having the time of their lives. I thought it was very brave of them to move over there with young children, but they seem to be thriving and living the life. I think the time to do these things really is when you are young. More power to them. I think they had only planned on staying for a year, but have enjoyed it so much they are staying longer.

I really don't have a lot to tell you this week. My days are busy but they are not really filled with much of interest to be honest. I long to be painting or sewing, but alas, the hours just seem to slip away and much of the things I have planned I don't really get to like I wish that I could. 

How is it that soap opera went?  Like sands through the hourglass go the days of our lives?

I think that's it.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*Be somebody who

makes everybody

feel like a somebody.

 

In The English Kitchen today, Perfectly Roasted Bone-In Chicken Thighs. Oh boy, but these turned out really lovely. Only three ingredients as well. The chicken, salt, pepper. That's it!  Very delicious. Tender, juicy and with a lovely crisp skin. Half an hour tops. We both really enjoyed these.

I hope you have a wonderful Friday. May it be filled with light and with love.  Whatever you get up to, 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!