Hot! Hot! Hot!

     My outdoor thermometer registered 31C this afternoon, the pool was 77F and it's September! Not too shabby!!

    Tennis this morning and, although it was hot, the humidity seems to have dissipated. Played mixed doubles with Paul against the two Cathys and we won after a slow start. We played until about 10:30 then it was home for a swim, a little gardening, a pot of soup on the boil and finally lunch and a nap.

   I watched the US Open men's quarter-final match this afternoon and will see the other one this evening (two were played yesterday). The seeds are falling but  still some exciting players left in the mix. Tomorrow it's Ladies semis so I will try not to miss that.

    Yesterday, I made cabbage rolls, only I used some Swiss Chard leaves from the garden instead of cabbage. They worked perfectly and I will have the leftovers tomorrow. Tonight it's broiled salmon fillet and green beans with some of the leftover rice mixture from the cabbage rolls on the side.

    Got my Hydro bill today and it's a whopping $345. Probably from running the pool pump although I do turn it off at night. That's for 2 months but is considerably more than last year at this time. I've only had the air conditioning on a few times this summer but that also may account for the increase as I didn't have a working air conditioner last year.

Stormy Day

   I went out to cut the grass this afternoon and noticed the sky was very dark. Sure enough, before I was half way through, the storm rolled in and deposited a fair amount of rain, accompanied by some distant thunder. This is the first substantial rain we have had in a couple of weeks and should revive the grass, which was getting quite yellow. I will finish cutting it tomorrow.

   Lots of tennis in the last few days - a good set of mixed doubles at Bridlewood on Sunday morning, the Labour Day round robin at Don Mills, followed by a barbecue lunch (great sausages and awesome desserts) on Monday, and today, our first visit to Belbury tennis courts which will be our home away from home for the next 6 to 8 weeks while the new lights are being installed at Don Mills. There was coffee but not a great crowd - maybe some people had trouble finding the place!

   It has been very hot and muggy the last few days but the storm seems to have cooled things off. I noticed that the temperature dropped from 26C to 21C once the rain started but the sun is coming out again (albeit almost down for the night). After my strenuous tennis this morning - I played almost continually from 9:00 to 11:30 - I ate a huge lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches, cherry tomatoes and veggie juice - I don't think I need much dinner, possibly a salad of some sort as I have lots of vegetables to use up. Still watching the U.S. Open tennis but all the Canadians were eliminated yesterday. Quel domage!!

Last Day of Kaffeeklatch

   A few goodbye's today as we finished off Kaffeeklatch at Don Mills. A much more pleasant day as the temperature was in the low 20's and no wind. Not a great turnout, surprisingly, but it is the beginning of the last holiday weekend of the summer and a lot of people head out of the city for a few days.

   Next week some of us are joining another club, Bellbury, for an impromptu social on Tuesdays and Fridays. There probably won't be coffee but it will be fun nevertheless and an opportunity to extend the tennis season by a few more weeks.

   Cooking some shrimp for dinner tonight. I will probably combine them with pasta in a sweet potato and sour cream sauce as I need to use up leftovers. I am trying to clear out my freezer and now just have some chicken thighs to use up sometime on the weekend.

   I picked my potatoes recently (got a fair sized haul) and had some with chicken and corn last night. They were very tasty! I also dug up the garlic and it is looking very good hanging in the garage to dry. I will save one clove to plant later in the fall for next year's crop. The tomatoes are ripening fast and are very juicy - should keep ripening for the next five or six weeks as there are still plenty on the vines and flowers still opening. I have another pepper on the plant so hope it will turn red before the first frost. The "critters" got all my eggplants this year!

  

Tennis on TV

   The U.S. Open started on Monday so I have been watching the early matches with a small degree of enthusiasm.  Three Canadians are still in the mix although Frank Dancevic is going down to a Portuguese player as we speak. Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard are both through to the 2nd. round.

   Yesterday was extremely hot, our hottest day this summer, but, luckily, it has cooled off again. Tennis yesterday was really no fun as I was pouring with sweat by the second set. But I did manage a third set after a chance to cool down. This is our last week at Don Mills as they are closing for maintenance (installing new lights) after Labour Day. There will be a social next Monday and then we will be playing at another club for September and October.

    Today was very pleasant and the grandkids were over for a swim. We didn't manage to get James in the water, despite it being over 80F in the pool, but the other two and Judy had a grand time. I had my last visit from the "pool guys" today and will handle the maintenance for the rest of the summer, probably only a couple of more weeks.

   I have quite a glut of tomatoes and made some tomato chutney the other day. It started off as a big pan of tomatoes, apple and raisins but cooked down to just 2 small jars. Hope they will turn out well.