Soon Be Swimming

    Although I have been going regularly to swim at the community centre pool, it will be lovely to use my backyard pool exclusively - no splashing or poky swimmers! It's now filled and ready for start up so I hope the pool guys will be here early this week. The water is rather chilly (58C this morning) but with the heat today and forecast for the rest of the week,  that should gradually change.

    Tennis this morning at Bridlewood. It was quite busy but we only had a short wait for our second set. I played with Kathy against John and Cathy - we won one and lost one, mainly because I was running out of steam. But it was a satisfying result as we were quite close in skills.

   Pottering in the garden today - got all my hanging baskets out, watered the vegetables and planted a couple of cuttings in the planters that go by the front door. I planted the King Coleus plants yesterday but will need a few more to complete the border.

    The French Open was on TV this afternoon and I watched a couple of early round matches. I am so happy to have more channels to choose from without an increase in my monthly rate. Outlander tonight, yaay!

   I cooked a beef tongue today - it was on special - and hope it will be tasty and nourishing. It required boiling for 2 hours but I forgot to check the water level and it got a bit dry so it may not be as tender as expected. I am going to serve it with a mustard-horseradish sauce, mashed sweet potato and asparagus.

Good Food and Good Fun

    Yesterday I had to skip tennis as it was the day of the RTO AGM and lunch. The meeting was short and sweet so lots of time to socialize with other members. I was introduced as the new Secretary - hope I don't live to regret THAT decision. Bonnie assured me it was an easy job and I do have more time nowadays. My duties don't start until the next Executive meeting in June so I have time to prepare mentally for it.

   The lunch was excellent and we were even offered seconds and it would have been rude to refuse....so I didn't! Salad to start, then chicken escalopes with cheese and a tomato sauce, roast potatoes, carrots and asparagus. Then a creamy cake and coffee as we listened to the very funny entertainer, Steve Brinder. He had us in stitches!



Salad with Spelt bread and the olive oil from Portugal.

   On the way home I detoured along Lawrence Ave. to Edwards Gardens where there is a farmer's market on Thursdays. I bought a loaf of spelt bread (no sodium) and a bag of arugula which I planned to use for supper. I was so stuffed from lunch I only needed something light so made a salad. I picked some kale from the garden and combined it with the arugula and added cucumber, red pepper, tomato, half a grapefruit and a hard-boiled egg. For the balsamic dressing I used the olive oil I brought home from Portugal. It's quite peppery and not for cooking (too expensive!) so is ideal for salads. I had the salad with the bread I bought and that was plenty for me.

   I didn't get off very early for tennis this morning and, as a result, found the traffic moving along quite well. I got there in 20 minutes, a big improvement over Tuesday. It suddenly turned cooler around 11:00 a.m. and the wind from the north was bitter. However, there was a decent turnout and coffee and bagels, courtesy of Jasmine.

     The pool guys had arrived by the time I got home, to remove the cover and start cleaning up the water, and I have the pool filling as I type. There's the chance of frost tonight so I have covered the vegetable plants with plastic and will pray that they survive. I have made a mini polytunnel using the tomato cones. It should hold until the weather warms up tomorrow. One sad note, I happened to look out a little later and saw a dead bird floating in the pool. It wasn't there earlier so I'm not sure how it ended up in the water, but it is well and truly deceased!

   Shrimp for dinner tonight, probably in some more salad but with more protein. I may make a garlic potato salad as well.

A Productive Day

    I can't believe how much I achieved today!

   First stop this morning was the "Stretch and Strength" class at the Senior's Centre. There's a rumour going around that all the classes next year will be drop-in which could be monumentally challenging, given the number of people who already attend plus the waiting lists. We shall have to see how that works out. 

   Second stop was the garden centre where I bought 6 King Coleus plants to go along the pathway to the front door (where my hedge was before being killed off in the winter storm last year).  I removed the last of the hedge and dug up the soil but I won't put the plants in until the weekend as we have some frost warnings for later this week. They should be OK in the garage.

    Made a pot of soup for lunch, celery and carrot. The, after a short nap, cooked up a batch of rhubarb and ginger jam. Yesterday at the RWTO lunch there was rhubarb for sale and I bought two bunches. I picked up sugar, ginger pieces and Certo on the way home from the lunch and mixed the rhubarb and sugar to sit overnight. I got 5 jars for the price of the rhubarb ($4) and sugar and ginger (about $3) so quite economical.

   I put some beets on to cook while I cut the front and side grass, then skinned and sliced them to pack into jars and pickle. Easy-peasy! I also finished two books that have to go back to the library soon. Now I need a quiet restful evening of TV. Dinner is leftovers with some fresh vegetables added, probably brussell sprouts. The fridge is getting remarkably empty.

   Bonus yesterday. I had some coupons for items at Metro and when I got to the checkout, the cashier asked if I wanted to cash in my Air Miles! My bill was $7 instead of $23.50. I love coupons and Air Miles!

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, ready to add to my storage shelf!

Victoria Day

   Tennis this morning - it was the Don Mills Victoria Day social and the traffic was very light. I got there quite early and played three short sets before lunch. It was delicious as usual (for just $2), BBQ chicken, two kinds of salad, green and Greek, rice and a bean, corn and chickpea salad. Also pita and humus. Desserts were scrumptious, especially a chocolate brownie of which I had three pieces. There was lots left over so I hope we have it at Kaffeklatsch tomorrow.

   Did a bit of gardening this afternoon but it was so hot and humid I came in after half-an-hour to cool off. It was a two-shower day today! I am trying to tidy up the back yard before the guys come on Friday to open the pool. Not before time! I could have done with a swim today.

   Leftover stew for dinner but right now I am not in the least bit hungry. I will wait until later to eat.

Bleeding Hearts - always the first perennial to appear. I must put in another one.

 

All that's left of the climbing rose but I did spot one bud. Maybe it will come back to all its former glory!

 

Early days for the Dragon Redwing begonias. They should fill the baskets with blooms soon.