A Good Soaking for the Grass

    Rather a dull day today but not cold. A couple of quite heavy rain showers this afternoon but it is now sunny and drying up. A pleasant 24C.

   There was rain overnight so I didn't go to the tennis courts. Instead I spent the morning watching the Men's Final from the French Open - great tennis and quite a tense match, but Novak beat Andy in the end to get his first French Open title and all four slams. Yesterday's Women's Final was also exciting with Serena being beaten by a youngster from Spain.

    Some gardening this afternoon in between showers. I finally feel I am getting the upper hand although the rain will just encourage the weeds to keep growing! No need for a swim but the water has stayed around 74F and the rain has kept the water level up.

   I picked some rhubarb yesterday and made a rhubarb crumble - there's still some left for tonight. Dinner is Mediterranean chicken legs (baked with onions, tomatoes and home made sauce) and a corn cob. I am still reading "After You" by Jojo Moyes, the sequel to "Me Before You" which we discussed at Book Club a month or two back.

   The sky is getting darker again and I think I heard some thunder so the wet weather is not done with us yet!

Treats and Gossip

   No post yesterday as I went up to Port Perry late in the afternoon for a practice for the White Heather Ball which is on June 16th. It took me over an hour, fighting the rush hour traffic on the 401, then driving an interminable distance north of Whitby to get there. It was fun once I arrived and I did learn a couple of tricky dances, but driving home in the dark on a road I was unsure of was no picnic either. I don't think I will go there again.
  
   Gorgeous morning on the tennis courts - I stayed until noon, not playing all the time but had 4 sets, coffee and cookies, and caught up on the gossip, then helped Magda clear everything away so we are welcome next time. We really need to get people to wash and dry their own coffee cups - they must think their mother works there!

    I had two stops to make on the way home - the bank and the library - so it was almost 1:00 p.m. before I got in the house and straight into the pool. The water temperature is still hovering around 74F but was so refreshing after a sweaty morning that I stayed in for quite a while. Then lunch and a nap until about 2:30 when I did a bit of gardening. I cleared a little border by the back walkout and think I will put in another echinacia plant to attract butterflies - tomorrow is Senior's discount day at the garden centre so I will pick it up then. It had clouded over by then so it was quite comfortable working outdoors.

    Did I mention my visit to "The But and Ben"? It's a little Scottish bakery by the Civic Centre (I was there for the Planning Board hearing into the church application to close the walkway we use). I bought several unhealthy but delicious treats (pie, bridie, haggis)which I will have for dinner tonight - naughty me!

Not So Warm

   No swim today - decidedly cool and I wasn't doing anything to work up a sweat. It was sunny but only got up to 21C because of the north wind. The pool has dropped a couple of degrees and will continue to do so while the nights are cool. At least it is comfortable sleeping weather.

   I had my fitness classes this morning then in the kitchen at the Senior's Centre for a few hours this afternoon. Classes are beginning to wind down, only a couple more weeks until they are over until July. I will have to get out on the golf course!

   Fried fish and green beans for dinner tonight - if the fish is defrosted in time! I'm not starving yet so will give it a couple more hours. The pool guys came by today to check the chemicals in the pool even though I asked them to come only every other week. I will have to give them a call. The return vents are still producing a lot of bubbles, indicating air is getting in somewhere but they don't seem concerned so I won't worry about it either. No news is good news!

Sunny and Warm Again

     Came home from three sets of tennis in a lather and went straight into the pool. The water temperature was 74F (23C) so it cooled me off nicely although getting my hot body immersed was a bit of a shock! No Bridge class today -  Frank (our teacher) was sick so I just had an early lunch and headed for a nap. Since then I have been alternating between gardening and reading in the shade with another dip in the pool when I got hot and sweaty.

   The grass is now all cut and the edges somewhat trimmed but still lots of weeds to tackle. I will do more of that soon once the sun goes down. I used the weed whacker today and for once it was working properly (for a while). It almost always jams after a few minutes and I have to reload the string.  

   I am rushing to finish "The Lake House" by Kate Morton as it is due back at the library on Thursday. The author keeps hinting about a mystery and I must find out what it is before then. I think this is called "foreshadowing" if I remember correctly from my English Lit. course, way back when.

   Nothing to cook tonight  - just leftovers to heat - but I had some of the soup I made yesterday for lunch and it was very satisfying. It was all the vegetables needing used up (including cauliflower leaves and broccoli stalks) cooked in chicken stock and  pureed with the immersion blender. So easy and cheap!