Canada Day

   Canada is 148 years old today! I celebrated the holiday with my tennis friends at Don Mills - lots of tennis and a great lunch. It was a BBQ with various salads, fruits and several desserts. Coffee was on tap all day and plenty of cold drinks so, all in all, everyone's needs were satisfied.  The weather was perfect (low 20's) except that it was quite windy. Rain had been forecast but never materialized. There must have been at least 60 people there so we had to take turns on the courts but I had more than enough tennis. After lunch we joined in singing "Oh, Canada" so all felt very patriotic.

   Home for a nap, cut the front grass and tidied up the borders, taking advantage of the good weather. Picked some kale, parsley and lettuce from the garden and have a healthy vegetable tart in the oven. I will have it with some salad and my pickled beetroot. There's even some chocolate brownie I  brought home from the tennis club lunch so I will be well fed tonight!

Kale, onion and mushroom pie. It also had parsley and cheese. Lettuce and avocado salad with cucumber and red pepper.

I had 1/4 of the pie so I will be eating it for lunches and dinners for a while. The salad had a lemon, balsamic and olive oil dressing.

A Visit to the Dump

   We are not done with the rain yet and it continues to be unseasonably cool, only 17C today. I got to tennis around 9:15 and played a couple of sets. But I was just about to go on for a third set when the rain came down. It was quickly obvious that that was it for today so we all headed home. At least the grass is nice and green. The downside, however, is that it constantly needs cutting and the weeds are growing like crazy. Now I know what it's like in the UK where they have abundant rainy days! Luckily I had cut the back grass yesterday (and trimmed the edges) but will have to wait until tomorrow  to cut the rest.

   I have 5 books "in transit" at the library and one arrived today. So, since I am almost out of reading material, I hopped over to pick it up. Now I am all set for the next few days. I also got rid of my old back door which has been sitting at the kerb for almost a month. with no pickup. I managed to haul it into the back of my car and dropped it off at the local dump for which I was charged $10. The smell of the place is still lingering in my nostrils. It was pretty disgusting. At least the guys there took the door out of my car for me!

   More tennis from Wimbledon again today but one of the Canadians is out, losing in 2 sets to a qualifier, how ignominious as she was seeded 12th!

   I will warm up some leftover chicken with the kale casserole from a couple of days ago and cook a potato for dinner tonight. I haven't bought any green vegetables in ages as I have an abundance of lettuce and kale in the garden. But I did pick up a couple of red peppers and two avocado yesterday just for a change of flavours. I roasted one red pepper for my lunch sandwich, which I like to have in a croissant with cheese, toasted.

  

A Visit to the Doctor.

   I spent most of today watching tennis from Wimbledon. One of the Canadians is through to the second round, the others play tomorrow.

   I had to get some antibiotics from the doctor today as I have been bothered with an earache for a few days. Hope they start to work soon. It's "swimmer's ear" but I can't believe that swimming caused it as I practically never put my head under water. While I was at the doctor I asked him about my sore hip and he sent me for an X-ray. It would be nice to know the cause. Luckily it doesn't bother me on the tennis courts, just when I go on a long walk.so it's probably due to the repetitive motion. It was a nuisance when I was in Portugal as walking was my main way of getting around.

    I made a loaf in the bread machine this afternoon and had a slice with a chicken salad I put together. It had lettuce from the garden, half a pear, half an avocado, some red pepper and a few slices of cucumber. I made a tasty dressing and jazzed it up with a dab of spicy artichoke and asiago dip I had in the fridge. I cooked the chicken in the oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Very tasty!

    No dessert tonight but later on I may have a scone or a slice of rhubarb bread with tea.

The Rain Continues

   It is still raining! It stopped for a short time this afternoon and I sneaked out to pull some weeds but that didn't last long. Everything was very wet and, although the weeds came out easily, I was soon wrist deep in dirt. So the rest will have to wait until everything dries out a bit.

    I made some scones this afternoon with a new recipe and I think I will stick with it as they turned out well. The recipe called for buttermilk but I had to substitute plain milk with some butter added. The scones were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle and delicious with some homemade strawberry rhubarb jam, my mid-afternoon treat!

   Still some chicken left for dinner but tonight I will make a kale casserole with lots of cheese to go with it. I picked the kale during a dry spell this afternoon. There's nothing like freshly picked fruit and vegetables. I think I will get a picking of raspberries tomorrow!

A rather soggy back yard!

Kale fresh from the garden.....

.....and scones (minus one) fresh from the oven.