Ho-Hum Days

     I'm trying to think back to my last entry - it's been a busy week. No golf this week but managed tennis on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We had a little party on Friday at Bellbury as it was Magda's 80th birthday and Jasmine had brought in treats and a cake. It was lots of fun and some good tennis but next week is our last week before the nets come down. However, we should be playing at Bridlewood for a few more weeks, weather permitting. I am keeping gloves in my tennis bag just in case!

    I went to a movie on Tuesday afternoon - "My Old Lady" - it was quite good (Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith) but I got home too late to attend the Don Mills TC annual meeting. Oh, well, there's always next year!

   Just a day of chores today - laundry and shopping in the morning and a bit of gardening in the afternoon. I really need a rainy day to get caught up on the indoor chores. The carpets need vacuuming and it's time to get out the Windex for the glass tables, They are pretty disgusting!

    Salmon and quinoa for dinner tonight. I picked the last of the basil and mint today so will make a pesto to put on the salmon. Also found some Swiss Chard to have on the side. I will cook it like spinach. The next garden chore is to get some garlic in the ground before it freezes and some compost on the roses. It's supposed to get down to zero tonight but hopefully they will survive a little frost.

   

I have brought some of my planters indoors and have been rewarded with this beautiful bloom - probably the last of the year.

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!