Neighbours

Now here is a couple I didn't know until many years later. 

Marguerite and Milan Lymberner were our neighbours from Caistor Center. 

We lived there when I was near the end of grade 2 until I was finished grade 6. 

Their daughter Robin was a year younger than me and a year older than Jeff. 

The picture above is how I best remember them. 

I never really did know Milan at all. 

I do remember helping them once with the haying - 

although I am very sure I was very little help at all.

I also remember him driving Robin, Jeff and I out trick or treating in his pickup truck.

But Mrs. Lymberner was my sort-of surrogate grandmother 

as I didn't have grandparents who lived close by. 

She was a very capable housewife and I remember her driving the family car 

back when not that many women knew how to drive. 

She was active in the community and knew just about everybody.

I remember that for Halloween she would prepare popcorn balls to hand out.

Boy they were good - and a real treat for us.

Milan has since passed on but Marguerite is over 90 years old and lives in Stoney Creek 

where she gets nursing care at Heritage Green. 

I am sure that that place is a better one because she lives there.

My Mom and Dad drop in to visit her from time to time.

I have visited her a number of times and 

I really should make the time to go more often 

because each time I am there I feel that I am in the presence 

of a marvellous woman who has wisdom and kindness wrapped up into one person.

I think of her often and when I do, I smile.

Bah pumpkinbug

Halloween is coming up this week and I must admit that I am rather ambivalent about the whole thing.

I don't really have anything against the idea of dressing up the youngest of our population 

and letting them loose on the neighbourhoods of our community 

to procure as much sugar as they can.

And I don't have any prejudice against the decorations 

that most like to bestow upon their homes.

Just don't really feel like doing it myself.

Although I will admit to being rather fond of the lowly pumpkin.

for it's colour - 

for its innerds that can look like guts -

for it's seeds that can be roasted -

for it's ability to contribute mightily to the grand pumpkin pie

(that when dolloped by whipped cream makes a most fine dessert)

Since we have lived here (since August of 1986) 

I think I can count on one hand the amount of 

trick-or-treaters that we have had come to our door.

There should be a term that we can use to utter the declaration that we have decided

 to opt out of the Halloween celebrating

 just as Scrooge was allowed to declare 'bah humbug' to anything Christmasy

we should have a word...

Anyone got one?

2001/7363

as of today
7363 pageviews in the life of this blog
and
2001 of them were for the page 'wicked'

that I wrote about the musical that we saw and the book that I read
I have no idea why so many people are looking at my wicked page

flowers of summer and a s'room or two

Now that we are firmly stationed in the autumn months...
(yes the air conditioner is out of the upstairs window)
(there are copious amounts of leaves falling from the trees)
(I am now leaving a sweater on every level of the house so I can find one easily when I am chilly)
...I will search some pictures for some of the flowers of summer that were found here at home.

 the rose of sharon that we got from my dad last year - 

we didn't expect it to be blooming this year but there she is

a mess of these are growing in the dirt pile at the front of the house

I have no idea what they are but I like them

there are more weeds in the back yard than blades of grass

our sod that we planted a couple of years back died a gruesome death over one winter

and that is after we watered the heck out of it

 this fall we had a number of kinds of mushrooms growing in the backyard

 too bad we couldn't eat them

just were not willing to chance it

thanksgiving

In honour of Thanksgiving Day - being celebrated on this day in the great land of Canada.

So today I write on one of the rather odd things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my basement carpet.
It is really an assembalage of a number of carpets but it covers most of the lopsided concrete on our lowermost floor.
It makes the space very nice for settling up the wooden Thomas the Train track for when the grandkids are over for a visit.
I am also thankful that the gabillion legged centipede that I squarshed under a shoe is still squarshed and will remain there until I am pretty sure he has disintegrated to dust.
I will then suck him up with my handy dandy vacuum and send him flying through  tube-like vacuum pipes into the sturdy metal receptacle until I remember to dump that out.
He will then make his way to the garbage bag, which like the others, is so marvelously taken away on Thurday mornings. From there I know not where he goes and that is fine with me.

I do not have photographic or video evidence of the magnitude of the beast but you will have to trust me on that. I found a picture of his brother (actually cousin once removed) so you can understand the scope of my bravery.

I am thankful for my basement.
I am thankful for the carpet.
I am thankful for the shoe.
I am thankful that the gabillion legged beast underneath the shoe is dead
- and that he will stay that way.