Summer Solstice

    The weather continues to be cool and comfortable for this time of year as we arrive at the longest day. Temperatures have been consistently in the low  to mid 20's, cooling off overnight. The down side of this is that my pool is warming up very slowly and, although I haven't had to resort to using the heater, it has been rather chilly for my daily swims!

   Tomorrow is my big Garage Sale! Since getting home from tennis this morning (and taking a nap) I have been organizing, pricing and writing labels and signs. I'm hoping to get rid of most of the toys I've accumulated for the grandkids to play with when they are here and also some household items that have sat in cupboards for most of my years in this house. It will be interesting to see how much of it goes and how much will have to be consigned to the garbage. Most of it will not be coming back into the house!

   The garden is flourishing although the peonies, which usually keep blooming for a couple of weeks, took a beating in the storm on Tuesday. We had a mammoth amount of rain and wind (close to tornado conditions) but it was short lived and no major damage, at least not here. I did hear that many people lost power and that a tornado did touch down in Angus, a small town about 120 kms. north of the city, and there was considerable damage to houses there.

This beautiful dragonfly was, unfortunately, dead on closer inspection!

 

The first rose of summer - it was much more beautiful earlier in the day as it began to open but I didn't have my camera handy at the time.

Pleasant Weather

   Beautiful day, sunny but not too hot. I had my first dip in the pool after an afternoon of gardening. It was only 72F but, once I was in, it was very refreshing! The garden is in dire need of a good weeding but my back gets too sore from bending down to pull up the blasted things. It was much more pleasant to sit under the awning with a book so that's what I did.

   Two sets of tennis this morning - not too many at the courts. I guess all the Dads were being treated to breakfast in bed. I played with Susan, Iona and Chan and we split the sets so quite  a satisfying result.

   Pasta and shrimp for dinner tonight, in a cheese and mushroom sauce. Green beans on the side to make it a reasonably healthy meal.

......And It's Saturday Again!

   Thursday started out cool and overcast so we didn't have a great turnout for the Bridlewood social tennis  just 5 of us. It's not my favourite as the other guys just like to hit, no games, and I find that both boring and tiring. I only lasted an hour and a bit. I much prefer Don Mills as we play actual games.

   On Friday James and I had a last visit to the play group and took a present as he won't be back. He got big hugs from all the teachers as he has been going for three years now and they were genuinely sorry to see him go. He stayed long enough to make a Father's Day card for Dave and play with some of the toys. After lunch he didn't seem to need a nap so we spent an hour at the park. It wasn't too hot and he had fun running in and out of the splash pad.

   Today, just my usual chores and a bit of gardening. The garden seems to have suddenly taken off, especially the weeds! I have a few tomatoes forming and a pepper. The parsley and basil are going like gangbusters and I picked another green onion today. Nothing special for dinner tonight, just some cooked chicken from the freezer, but I had a delicious lunch - blue cheese and pate on a cranberry and pumpkin seed loaf - all compliments of my Air Miles at Metro! I also got some smoked mackerel which I have been looking for, for ages.

   Television tonight has been usurped on most channels by the FIFA World Cup. I may have to resort to reading!

Time Flies

   I barely turned around and already it's Wednesday. Monday was as usual, James here and he declared he is done with Play Group, so we won't be going there any more. While at the mall I took him for a haircut - not as neat as his last one but, can't complain when it's only $6. Following that we had a treat at Tim Horton's as he sat so very still for the cut.

   Tuesday, tennis in the morning, I managed 4 sets with breaks in between, even though it was quite hot and humid. I stopped at Starbucks for a Frapaccino on the way home, it was delicious, very refreshing,  and I had a "dollar off" coupon. Dancing with Natalie in the evening. While dinner was cooking (Spaghetti with a nice tomato sauce) we practiced the dances.  We tried three dances but, as it turned out, she was pretty exhausted by the last one so maybe it was too much. Next week we will go back to just two. It was a lovely evening and DITP was much better attended than last week. Hope they made some money!

   James here again today (this is the last three-day week) and we spent the morning hunting for a replacement bulb for my Tiffany lamp. Seemingly they are discontinued but I managed to find a similar one at Canadian Tire. He was very good about trailing from store to store so I took him to the indoor pool for a swim after lunch. I ate the leftover spaghetti for lunch while James had his usual sausage and egg. Tonight I am still eating leftover pork pie. I'm getting very bored with it and, since there is still almost half of it to eat, I may have to send it back to the freezer for a future time. Peas and some Swiss Chard from the garden will be all I will need for a balanced, healthy meal.