Under the Weather

   Not much has happened in my neck of the woods in the last week.  I spent the weekend in bed with a bug which lingered until Tuesday but I had a couple of commitments on Monday so had to dose myself with some home remedies and hope for the best.

    Burn's Night on Monday with my social group so it was "piping in the haggis" and a meal with 'neeps and tatties and lots of other goodies. Luckily my stomach had settled down enough for me to enjoy the treats. I had leftover turnip and haggis again yesterday and turnip rissoles tonight. I may be eating it for the rest of the week!

    Tennis yesterday morning but I skipped Bridge lessons and slept all afternoon. Just needing to let my body fight off the virus.

   I closed the coffee bar early today as I had to be at Book Club by 2:30. We were discussing "The Painted Girls" by Catherine Marie Buchanan, a story set in belle epoque Paris and featuring Edgar Degas and Emile Zola. We were split on its merits (I definitely liked it though some thought it rather slow) but everyone agreed the author portrayed the period very accurately.

    Beautifully mild and sunny today - almost like Spring! - but back to winter tomorrow. It has been great not to wear boots or heavy winter coats too often!

On the Go All Day

   I am having a restful evening watching tennis from Australia after a busy day - no nap today and I won't be having an early night as there's a show I want to watch that doesn't finish until 11:00 p.m. So I shouldn't have any trouble getting to sleep tonight!

   It has been a fairly mild day today, it got up to -3C this afternoon with sunny skies and no need for boots. There's a massive snow storm coming north from the U.S. but it's supposed to miss us, fingers crossed. I really like the winter we're having this year.

   I was out of the house by 9: 45 this morning for the Probus meeting (skipped Yoga), went from there to Bridge with Marie, Margaret and Bonnie around noon, and from there back to Agincourt Community Centre for a swim. I tried out the sauna and found it quite relaxing, but after being in there a few minutes, the hot tub didn't feel hot at all! I did my usual 12 lengths - I don't seem to be able to increase this but at least have not had to reduce it. 

   Another meatless dinner tonight and not much carbs. You'd think I would have lost a pound or two but no such luck. I guess it's all the cookies with my coffee!

Catchup Time Again

     Back to Sunday - I had a quiet morning doing chores, reading and working on my current puzzle. I made soup and had an early lunch because I was due at Broadlands for demo team practice by 2:00 p.m. It was a good turn out with two full sets and we did several fun dances, but I was tired by the time we quit at 4:00 p.m.

   I found a short cut to the DVP and was up in Markham by 4:30 for James' birthday party. He opened his presents while we relaxed with a glass of wine and a cheese tray. Then Judy served a delicious dinner of Pork Wellington (pork tenderloin wrapped in puff pastry), roasted vegetables and kale salad. This was followed by chocolate cake with a yummy strawberry filling. Later we played "Headbandz", Elliot was the big winner. He's so smart!

    I got home in time for "Downton Abbey" and "Borgen", my two regular Sunday night shows, and was ready for bed by 10:00 p.m. - a busy day!

  A stay-at-home day on Monday until the evening and I was happy to stay indoors as it was very cold (-10C) and windy out. Scarborough social group in the evening with another good turnout. We certainly need a few of these as our rent is going up this year  by almost 50%! It remains to be seen if we can sustain this over time as the church is asking us to continue to pay the monthly rent through the summer months when we don't meet and therefore have no money coming in. Time will tell!

    Another cold day today with minus temperatures and an icy wind, but no snow. I had an early start to the RWTO meeting at 9:30 a.m. followed by lunch - roast beef, yum! And they even remembered the horseradish!! Cheesecake for dessert, also yummy.  

   A quiet evening watching tennis from Melbourne - what a treat! No Canadians playing today but Milos and Eugenie are still in the mix. Good luck to them.

It's Saturday Again - How Time Flies!

    An early post tonight as I am off dancing this evening. It's the monthly dance at Crescent school so I won't bother with any dinner as we get tea and sandwiches around 9:00 p.m. I had a quick look at the dances earlier and only a couple are going to be challenging - I may sit them out!

    No freezing rain overnight after all, in fact no rain at all and we had a sunny afternoon. The temperature has dropped just below zero now and it's a bit windy but not too unpleasant.

   Usual Saturday chores today but I spent the afternoon reading my current library book - "Career of Evil" by Robert Galbraith (also known as J.K. Rowling) and the third book in the Cormoran Strike series. He's an ex-army private detective and a rough but quite lovable character so I'm enjoying it immensely. I still have the Saturday paper to read so will get stuck into that once I finish posting. The fire's on and it's cosy in here - I noticed today that it was still light at 5:00 p.m. so the days are getting longer.