Garden Bounty

   Tomatoes doing well this year. I have been getting lots of the cherry variety for a couple of weeks now, and picked the first of the beefsteak variety today.

This was today's haul. Isn't that a beauty!

Kale also doing well. I put a couple of leaves in yesterday's soup.

Lots more to come - and that's just one plant!

Easy Summer Living.

    Humongous downpour this afternoon but we had already enjoyed the day - tennis first thing then swimming with the grandkids until noon. They brought balloons and had great fun filling them with water then exploding them. They were back in the pool after lunch so it was well used today. Camera battery needs recharging so no photos again.

   Everything is now well watered and I may have to step up the grass cutting. It's been an easy summer so far. 

So Sad

   Difficult post to write today - we had a shooting in town on Sunday with two random casualties. One, a 10 year old girl, was in my granddaughter's class at school. So everyone grieving and terribly sad for the family. The other victim, a young lady who had just finished high school, was only 19. What a waste, so senseless! It is impossible to make sense of it.

Hectic Day!

   Out of the house by 8:00 a.m. and got the coffee going at the tennis club by 8:30. Worked the board until 10:15 then played a couple of sets. It was very hot and humid.

   Home by 12:30 for a swim, lunch and a nap. Cut the grass in my swimsuit, had another swim and, while still damp, made some sugar cookies to take to tennis on Friday (the grandkids will get some on Thursday first). Finally, still in my swimsuit, cleaned the pool and yet another swim to cool off. Exhausted!!

   P.S. After a day of temperatures in the 30's, the sky has got very dark and I just heard a rumble of thunder. A downpour might be in the offing!

A Recent Trip

    I was out of town on Thursday for the day to visit Judy and grandkids at their trailer. It's in a trailer park on Orr Lake, just north of Barrie and we had a nice day together - touring the park, canoeing on the water and eating al fresco on their covered porch, cottage living at its best! The lake is big but quite shallow, so warm enough for swimming, although Natalie was the only one to venture in. Elliot was into a good book in his favourite spot, the hammock, and James had several little projects on the go. Unfortunately I forgot my camera again!

    Rain today, just a steady downpour until about 3:00 p.m. so I did some indoor chores and worked on my puzzle. After that I got out the gardening tools and filled another bucket with weeds. I also trimmed a couple of bushes while it was cool.

Luckily I took this photo yesterday as the flower didn't survive today's rain.

Thoroughly Refreshed

   Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief this morning - it was so fresh and cool after our recent heat wave. I enjoyed my walk to fitness class and had so much more energy after a good night's sleep. Spent the rest of the afternoon with my nose in a book, my favourite pastime.

   

Lined up on my bedside table - the one's on the right are from the library and MUST be read from top to bottom, although I am dying to get to the Diana Gabaldon book, she of the "Outlander" series. The others are for next year's book club and will be left until closer to the meeting.

My echinacea plants are doing well this year, and the insects love them.

Hawaiian Lunch

   Special event at the Senior's Centre - the food was more Chinese than Hawaiian but we were entertained by the dance group after. Then we got to try it!

About 80 people attended.

Rain At Last

    A heavy downpour this afternoon but it hasn't cooled things off much - still hot and humid. Since the rain had softened the grass I spent half an hour pulling weeds but still lots there. At least the rain filled up the pool a bit.

   Bridge this afternoon but I didn't walk over in case I got caught in the rain. There was a treat waiting for us - a plate of fresh fruit! I guess they want to make sure we seniors are getting enough of it. I had brought a very healthy lunch, Waldorf salad, so I was well fed. Fish for dinner tonight, probably Kedgeree with pickled beetroot.

Another Scorcher!

    I have been hiding indoors today as the thermometer hit 36C this afternoon - that's 97F and that was in the shade! It has cooled off a bit but still over 30C at 7:00 p.m.

    I played tennis this morning but, after a short warm up and two games, I was pretty much done. I managed to complete the set but Kathy and Helen beat Susan and me 6-1!  Thank goodness it was a short set. Home for a swim and a nap (I didn't get much sleep last night) and the rest of the day spent reading with another dip or two. The garden is in need of a good soaking. My current book is "By Gaslight" by Steven Price. Very good!

Cherry tomatoes ripening nicely. I have had a couple with lunch for the last few days.

Strawberries and Cream at Wimbledon

   Still very hot so the A/C has been churning away for the last few hours. The grandkids were over yesterday for a cool-off in the pool and I have been in several times a day as well.

   I remembered to take my camera to the Wimbledon social at the tennis club on Tuesday... then forgot to bring it home! But now I have it, somebody had put it safely in the office for me. We all wore our tennis whites (except for the guy in the red shirt!)

Nancy Jean dishing out the strawberries and cream. There were also blueberry muffins and lemon drizzle cupcakes.

This is our large, air-conditioned lounge - very welcome on a hot day. Everyone enjoying their treats!

Time For a Catch Up

   Feeling very guilty as much has gone on since my last post. Will try to update my goings on. It was very hot until Thursday when we had a humungous rain storm which ushered in cooler nights (high 'teens). It is still hot during the day but at least we can get some sleep at night!

    A week last Sunday was Canada Day and we had a good turnout for the holiday social at the tennis club. People were actually playing in the heat - not me! Lunch was barbecued chicken skewers with bean salad, greens and potatoes. Dessert was a very good Canada Day cake and there were leftovers for us to finish up at the Tuesday round robin.

  On Thursday we had a cruise of the harbour aboard the Mariposa. I forgot my camera which is a shame as we had some great views of the city from the water. I was amazed how many trees could be seen despite the area being almost completely built up. We had a buffet lunch but it was extremely hot on the boat - no breeze out on the water at all! Before returning home we had a visit to the Distillery district and found some relief in the air conditioned shops there. I got some really good Greek olive oil for salads.

   Since then I have been binge watching Wimbledon - still one Canadian left in the men's draw but all the past ladies top seeds are gone, so it will be an unseeded player who wins this year. It is shown in the mornings here which has worked for me - I can get on with other things for the rest of the day.

July Flowers in my Garden

Phlox

Day Lilies

Bee Balm

Balloon Flowers

Don't know the name of this shrub - I used to have four of them but the others expired. This one hung on and is gradually filling out again.

The Last of the Strawberries

   My annual visit to the strawberry fields yielded 6 jars of strawberry jam, one strawberry and rhubarb pie and seven jars of strawberry rhubarb jam, plus quite a few that just got dunked in sugar and went straight in my mouth! It's been a busy couple of days but that will stand me in good stead for the rest of the year.

   It's a holiday today so I didn't go anywhere - mostly watching Wimbledon and making the last batch of jam. It clouded over at one point and we had a few sprinkles of rain so I managed to get the grass cut. Not enough rain to wet the garden so I had better get the hose out and give everything a drink. Still hot!