Thanksgiving

   Lunch at Judy and Dave's today. All in attendance including Lucy the dog. Natalie is seriously attached to her and can't wait to dog-sit her sometime soon.

   First was roasted pumpkin soup, very delicious. Then came the turkey with stuffing, pumpkin risotto, two kinds of potatoes (roasted and cheesy), brussell sprouts with bacon, goat cheese salad, cranberry sauce and gravy. By the time I had sampled a little of everything I was seriously stuffed! And there was more, pumpkin pie and Judy's speciality, pumpkin cheesecake, with whipped cream optional. I managed to hold off on only having a small slice of cheesecake and no pie but it was hard.

    While we ate we went around the table sharing what we were thankful for. After we had  digested all the great food we took Lucy for a walk around the block, all except James who was on his bike and about half a mile ahead of us. Luckily Uncle Steve was up to the challenge of corralling him in, so he never quite got out of sight.

   Came home for a nap, after getting restocked with Girl Guide cookies - no more food for me today!

Table set ready for the meal.

 

Plates loaded and ready to eat.

 

Dishing out dessert - the cheesecake was the best ever (in my humble opinion.).

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.