A Frustrating Day

   The pool guy came quite early this morning and fixed the leak. He did a great clean up afterwards but will be back in a day or two to replace the portion of deck he had to dig up. Since then (apart from a quick nip out to pick up groceries I will need tomorrow and Friday) I have been stuck at home waiting for the Enercare guys to show up. I had two different guys come at different times and the A/C is still not fixed. Someone will come back on Saturday to (hopefully) finish up. I couldn't even go out in the back yard in case I missed their phone call or doorbell! Meanwhile the A/C is still not working and I am praying for cool weather for the next few days, especially at night.

    I managed to amuse myself by keeping busy in the kitchen. I made a batch of carrot and lentil soup and baked a big strawberry rhubarb pie for Friday. It does look scrumptious. (OK I did go out in the back yard for five minutes to pick some rhubarb!). Since they left I have been reading "The Ice Child" by Camilla Lackberg. I highly recommend it, although it is quite gruesome, and I am at the exciting denoument. I had to miss Book Club this afternoon which was very annoying but it was either that or have to stay home tomorrow.

   I also watched some good tennis matches on TV although it was raining at Wimbledon. Luckily they have a roof on Centre Court. Both Canadians are quite easily through to the second round so next week will be exciting.

   Off to warm up some leftovers for dinner and there are still some strawberries left for dessert. Yum!

Two Chores in One

  I had a busy morning - left the house just after 8:15 to be early in line at the Service Canada Centre for my new health card. It was on the way to the strawberry farm so I thought I would chance it. Unfortunately, at least a dozen people had the same idea! I hung around until almost 9:00 but the centre hadn't even opened so I left in disgust. 

   I went and picked a bucket of strawberries and decided to see how long the line was on my way home (I love combining two errands) and only had to wait about 10 minutes, got everything taken care of and was back on the road home in less than half an hour. I had bought a coffee and a pastry at the garden centre and the coffee was still warm so I enjoyed that in the car.

   Bridge this afternoon and my partner, Marie, had a Grand Slam! Unfortunately we had only bid at the three level so wouldn't have earned all the points. Other than that the cards were pretty dismal so I think Samia and Diane would have come out on top.

   It has been extremely hot today and got up to 34C this afternoon but the A/C in the house and the car are working efficiently. I spent a little time outside, watering the plants and reading in the shade, and had two dips in the pool. The water is still up over 80F but tonight  should be cooler so it may go down before morning.

   Liver, onions and mushrooms for dinner tonight and I will also cook some green beans - strawberries and cream for dessert!

Surprise Visitors

    When I got home from tennis this morning (Susan and I beat Kathy and Candy) there was a message on my answering machine. Judy asked if they all could come over for a swim - it was hot! I rang back and caught them as they were about to leave so assured them visitors would be welcome, especially with the promise of providing lunch! I tried to clean the pool but gave up after 20 minutes as there was virtually no suction, but I did turn on the heater. It's well over 80F now.

   They arrived about 11:30, had a swim, cooked hot dogs on my barbecue and were back in the pool for another swim soon after. I couldn't find my camera so didn't get any pictures but, hopefully, it's the first of many days of fun in the pool. They left around 3:00 and I went for a nap. Then a quick trip to the store to replenish supplies and that's been my busy day!

   Salmon for dinner with green beans but no carbs - I had a big sausage in a bun for lunch and will try not to eat anything starchy until tomorrow. The temperature was in the 30's since early this morning. Thank goodness the A/C is working.

Clearing the Fridge

     I am still trying to use up all the food in my fridge and today I managed to clear out one freezer drawer by making a salad. Now it will get washed (the drawer I mean) ready for shopping tomorrow. The salad had two lonely lettuce leaves, a quarter avocado and half a small grapefruit, all doused in juice from half a lemon, some balsamic and olive oil. Nourishing and healthy!

   With the salad I will have a baked basa fillet on a bed of kale (from the garden) and some broccoli and cheese casserole, using up an opened container of sour cream approaching its expiry date  in the process! I feel very virtuous, and no carbs.

   I got in 3 sets of tennis this morning despite Kaffeeklatsch being restricted to just four courts due to the paving of the main driveway. There was lots of time for socializing and plenty of coffee in between sets but I left around 11:15. It was quite hot by then but, on the whole, it was a very pleasant morning

   The techies came to fix my A/C this afternoon and were here quite a while. The problem was more serious than I thought and they have to come back tomorrow to finish. Fingers crossed that they can do so as it is supposed to be quite hot over the weekend.

   "Outlander" tonight and a new episode of "New Tricks" so I will be well entertained until bed time.