Some Domesticity

    Just made a batch of "Mediterranean Chutney". It has tomatoes, eggplant, garlic and zucchini as well as other spices and vegetables and is quite zingy. The day started out sunny but clouded over quite early and became very windy.

   This morning I attended a workshop on Parkinson's disease. It was sponsored by RTO and I signed up for it to find out if there were some indicators to follow so as to avoid the disease. Other than keeping active and eating sensibly, there was nothing else one can do to avoid it. It's almost purely genetic. However, treats were provided so the morning was not entirely wasted.

    I bought some winter hardy plants for my front porch planter on the way home, and got them installed before lunch. Now that the chutney is cooling in its jars I am going to make some cabbage rolls using the last of the Swiss Chard from the garden. The tomatoes and garlic in the chutney were also from the garden making it a cheap condiment. There are still lots of tomatoes on the vines and one lonely red pepper. I am just going out to pick some parsley for the cabbage rolls. My garden has given me lots of produce this year.

The last of the summer's bounty - lots of tomatoes, a red pepper, a tiny eggplant , and some Swiss Chard.

Fall colours on my front porch.

Rainy Morning

    Normally I would be heading over to the golf course on a Monday, but today I had a dental appointment and it was wet and drizzly anyway when I got up. By the time I got out of the dental surgery, teeth shiny clean but with an appointment for tomorrow for a filling, it had dried up. First stop was Starbucks as I had a coupon for a Pumpkin Latte, mmmmm, delicious!

    I suddenly had a burst of energy (maybe the caffeine?) when I got home and stripped the covers off the family room couch and, while they chugged around in the washing machine, cut all the grass, front and back. Then I hung the covers outside so thank goodness it had dried up. There was even some sun!

    After lunch and a nap it was time for the struggle to get the covers back on the cushions. I did this while they were still a bit damp as that makes it easier to stretch them. I think this will be the last time for these particular cushions to get a cleaning as they are getting a bit threadbare. By the time they are in need of another cleaning it will be time for a visit to Ikea for a new sofa.

    I had some e-mails to compose and despite problems with Messenger, got them out in the airwaves just before heading out to dancing group. I just had time for a quick dinner of leftover pasta and scallops with some green beans on the side. Quite a lot accomplished today.

Still Lots of Outdoor Fun

   The lemon curd did, in fact, turn out well. It thickened up nicely once it cooled and made a tasty spread on my toast this week. I will be interested to see how long it lasts.

   The weather stayed nice all week and I had golf on Monday - 18 holes at Tam O'Shanter, really too much - and tennis on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I didn't play at Bellbury on Tuesday as there was a meeting of the RWTO committee to which I now belong as the guardian of the "book table". We meet at the Marleigh which provides us with a very generous refreshments table at which I indulged heavily. Note to self: don't have any breakfast on meeting mornings!

   Judy took me to Red Lobster for a birthday treat on Thursday; I had shrimp and scallops and she had her usual shrimp taco. Much oohing and aahing as we ate! After lunch I headed over to the library to pick up the book we are reading for the next Book Club meeting, Terry Fallis's "No Relation". Yesterday was the first of the monthly Scottish Country dances at Crescent School. There was a smaller than usual turnout but the band was in good form and we had some great dances. My favourites were "Glastonbury Tor" and Mrs. McLeod", both lively reels.

   Saturday saw a significant drop in temperature and now the furnace is on for the first time; the house was only 13 degrees when I got up this morning! I went over to the tennis courts but there were only a few of us. I played until 10:30  (wearing gloves for the first while) then headed home to catch up on some chores. This afternoon the demo pool met at Broadlands for a practice and Keith put us through our paces with some new dances. Now I am snacking on the last of the Balsamic onion cheddar cheese I bought last week at the Village Grocer. I have some scallops defrosting to put in a pasta dish later. "Outlander" is on tonight so I will be waiting with baited breath for Claire's next adventure!

Lemon Curd

   My first attempt at Lemon Curd may not be successful! I boiled it for what seemed like forever, but it refused to thicken. I'm just hoping it will thicken as it cools. I will test it tomorrow.

   Tuesday is usually tennis but I had an RWTO meeting to attend. K. called this afternoon and told me that some Bellbury people are planning to play tomorrow, so I will head over there bright and early and see if I can get a game.

   I had a nice afternoon at J's on Sunday as an early birthday present - leg of lamb with all the fixings, cake and flowers. J.W. helped me blow out the candles and I came home with 2 boxes of Girl Guide cookies (the good kind) courtesy of N's Brownie pack. They are safely parked in the freezer so I'm not tempted to eat them all at once.

   I have initiated a bit of landscaping in the garden - digging up a patch behind the garden bench where lilies were threatening to take over and where I will transplant an evergreen from another part of the garden. This will probably take me a couple of weeks to finish so I hope the weather continues to be mild.

    Tomorrow is garbage day and I will be getting rid of some of the stuff I didn't manage to sell on Saturday. I will be very glad to see it go!