Using Up Zucchini

   It rained all morning so no tennis today, but the afternoon was very pleasant, sunny but staying cool. I had a few errands this morning and spent some time in the afternoon pulling weeds. They came up easily because the ground had had a good soaking. I also made a pot of soup and baked a loaf in the bread machine, so a productive day.

     I made a low carb lasagna yesterday using zucchini slices instead of the pasta. Other than that I used my usual recipe, a layer of spinach and cottage cheese (with lashings of garlic) and a layer of meat sauce and mozzarella, topped off with parmesan. One recipe I found suggested grilling the zucchini slices to dry them a bit but the final result was quite wet. However, today it was much better. Next time I will grill them longer. I got five portions so three went in the freezer.

Camera at the Ready

    Got the pool heater fixed yesterday (those darn spiders - seemingly they are attracted to the smell of gas and built a nest in there) so the family came over for a swim. It has been cool overnight most of this week so it took a while to get the temperature up but they were both in and James swam 30 lengths. The pool is only 10 meters long but still that was an impressive 300 meters.

I now have two pumpkins - this is the larger one. Should be ready for Hallowe'en.

Not sure what this is but it was worth snapping.

I asked Natalie to stand by the sunflower to show how tall it is - she's about 5'7".

Almost ready to be picked. I've had quite a few cherry tomatoes already.

First Sunflower

    Got rid of the rest of the giant zucchini to daughter yesterday - she and James came over for a chat and a swim although it wasn't very warm. She has lots of recipes so will use it up quickly.

   Tennis first thing today and it was much more pleasant, hardly humid at all and quite fresh. We weren't able to get a court next Sunday so it will be a day of leisure. The booking system is quite a good idea but, in the past, we would just show up and hope for a court. 

    Several of the sunflowers are developing "heads" but this is the first one to open. Still a while until the seeds ripen.

Tonight's Dinner

    I felt like something light for dinner tonight so went on a hunt through the fridge and in the garden. Voila!

Lettuce, cherry tomatoes and raspberries from the garden, nectarines, cucmber, feta cheese and olives from the fridge and needing eaten up. A match made in heaven and it was filling and delicious not to mention healthy to boot!

Giant Zucchini

     Can't claim to have produced this mammoth specimen - a friend brought some to tennis yesterday and I was the lucky recipient of this beauty!

I made fritters with about one quarter of it (enough for three meals). Now what should I do with the rest? Suggestions welcome!

Damp Basement

     After all the rain we had earlier this week, I was horrified to find puddles in my basement when I went down there this morning. It was actually in the crawl space so no furniture was damaged but some carpeting I had down there was pretty wet.

   Unfortunately, with the high humidity we have at the moment, it will take ages to dry out. I had to throw out some cardboard boxes which had soaked up quite a bit of the water, but stuff I had in plastic bags seems to be OK. It was a good reminder not to stockpile stuff down there so I will be doing a bit of decluttering soon.

The Grand Tour

    As I have said before, I have a pretty small garden around the house. However, all the borders are packed with plants, mostly perennials, that are really blooming with all the recent rain. So, today's post is a tour around "the estate"!

I'm afraid I am not much of a photographer, but this will give you an idea of what's blooming today.

This perennial is called Balloon Flower (Platycodon Grandiflorus) - you can see the balloon shape of the buds before they open.

I have slipped in an indoor violet as it is blooming so spectacularily!

Echinacea and some Bee Balm.

Self-seeding sweet peas - they come up every year but are just one colour and have no noticeable scent. Very pretty, nevertheless.

Phlox and more Bee Balm.

My first attempt at Sunflowers - they have really reached new heights this week!

    I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my garden. Today we had two thunderstorms with more heavy rain so I expect things will have grown even more by tomorrow - and the grass needs cut again!

 

More Bounty From the Garden

     Considering I only have a small patch of garden set aside for growing food, things are producing well. Today it was raspberries, haricot beans (my first attempt at growing them) and a large scallion for tomorrow's breakfast omelet.

The raspberries will be my dessert tonight. I have been nibbling a few each day but this is the first substantial picking. I will have the beans tonight too, with a lamb chop, mint sauce and new potatoes. Yum!!

 

 Big excitement today! I finally got a haircut after 8 months. It is such a relief to have a neat head of hair again. My hairdresser has been worked off her feet this week (the first week of opening) so I am very glad she managed to fit me in. I just hope I don't have to go so long before the next cut!

Everything's Growing Like Crazy

     Off to pick some lettuce leaves for a salad for my dinner, in between showers. We managed almost an hour of tennis first thing this morning before the heavens opened, and it has been raining intermittently all day since then. The garden is very soggy and there is lots of rain in the forecast for the next few days. No sign of any sun.

It's nice to be able to pick just what you need. Plus they needed thinning out.

   Susan came back for coffee after tennis (we were both slightly damp) and watched the tennis from Wimbledon, the women's semi-finals, two exciting matches. Tomorrow it's the men's turn and they should be exciting too.

My Hectic Life.....not!

    Nothing much to write about today but realized it is some time since I last posted. Just the usual, keeping busy with chores. It was very hot for a couple of days so I wasn't even getting in my daily walks. We have had quite a bit of rain recently (hailstones on Monday!) so the grass needed a cut today. That took up most of the afternoon but now it looks so much better.

    Watching Wimbledon in the mornings - one Canadian still in the Men's draw so that makes things interesting. I actually prefer the Women's matches although there are no big names left in the draw apart from #1 Ash Barty. It will be interesting to see if she prevails! 

Second Shot

    So glad to get my second shot yesterday, now just have to wait two weeks to be fully protected. It was easy and fast. Most of the family are coming up for their second shot too, except for one grandson who is needle-phobic. He will have to get both doses before school starts back in September so that is a worry. He really wants to be vaccinated but gets a terrible panic attack when confronted with the needle.

   Today is cooler so I got lots of gardening and other chores done. I went to a local village market but didn't buy much as it was all over priced and I wasn't entirely sure things were local! I don't think I will be going back.

Canada Day

    For our tennis game today we decided to wear our national colours, red and white. It was a perfect day for tennis, then home for a BBQ and swim with the family.