Heat Wave Continues

   Still extremely hot and now also very humid - I was on the tennis courts by 8:45 and dripping with sweat by 9:00! However, I did stay until almost 11:00 and played three sets. Not at my best and considerably worse than my level of play yesterday with Susan when we beat the two Cathies 6-1. I have had two dips in the pool today and only sat out long enough to dry off and water the garden. Time to go and give the plants in the front a drink, I think! We had some rain last night but the promised downpour today hasn't materialized.

   I am enjoying my current book, "The Vacationers" by Emma Straub. It's an easy, fast-paced read so I think I will finish it this weekend. Luckily I also have another good book from the library to get on with.

    Made these cookies this afternoon and they turned out really well. The secret seems to be to use corn starch with the flour and to mix it all in the food processor. Also, bake at 300F. I will store them in the freezer and nibble on them occasionally.

Too Much Nibbling

    It got up to 36C today and is still 32C at 7:30 p.m. I seem to have spent the day eating so some serious self-control will be required tomorrow. Here's how it went:
Breakfast was half a banana spread with peanut butter and a little bowl of yogurt. After tennis and a swim I served my tennis friends coffee and rhubarb cake - I just had a small piece. Lunch was half an apple followed by a bowl of cauliflower carrot soup but since then it's been continuous nibbling!

   I had a 2:00 p.m. meeting with the committee for our country dance group at Sheila's house. After the meeting she served us tea, cheese and crackers, and mini eclairs (I had two). Crackers and cream cheese with my pre-prandial glass of wine around 5:30 and dinner, which is pending, will be a chicken, tomato and roasted red pepper salad and, hopefully, that will be it! Perhaps some fruit or yogurt later.

Heatwave!

    It's 7:15 p.m. and still 35C. The A/C has been blasting away all day - hydro bill is going to be humungous this month!

    Defrosted some shrimp for dinner and will have them sautéed with a corn cob - that's all I feel like tonight.

  Although I did have a couple of dips this afternoon, it was too hot to sit outside, even in a wet swimsuit. I have been happily ensconced in front of the TV watching the Olympics. More swimming tonight but not much chance for any Canadians.

A Lovely Trip

   Finally a chance to post an entry after a few busy days. Most of the blame lies at the feet of the Olympic coverage from Rio, so let's backtrack to Sunday.

    I was invited to visit the Athertons at their trailer on Orr Lake. It's a lovely situation, a small privately owned trailer park on quite a substantial lake. Their trailer is fairly new and quite commodious with room to sleep the three  kids in bunks and a double bed for the adults. It also has a very large screened-in porch where they eat most of their meals. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera but will remember the next time I visit. The lake has a nice beach and is quite shallow, perfect for the kids to paddle in or plunge off the dock. I had a try at kayaking in the afternoon but it was so windy that I couldn't get very far from the shore - kept getting blown back! I left around 5:30 and had rather a slow drive home, getting in at 7:30, tired but happy.

    I had a quiet morning on Monday and left for Bridge around noon. Pinkie had brought some mango pudding for us to try - delicious - and we made plans to go for dim sum next Monday before our Bridge game, should be fun and Pinkie will order for us.

    I slept in a bit this morning - thought I was getting up at 6:45 only to discover it was actually 7:45 so had a bit of a scramble to get on the road to the tennis courts at a reasonable time. Hendrina was already there when I arrived so I took the cake out of the freezer and it was ready for our little celebration after we had played two sets. Hendrina was quite thrilled to have her 80th birthday recognized and the cake went quickly although she managed to save some to take home. Our last set was shortened as Carol succumbed to the heat - this is the second time she has had to quit early.

    Lunch at Panera Bread with Judy and Elliot (the other two are at camp). I had a chicken citrus salad which was delicious and just enough for me. Since I got home it has been a mixture of reading outdoors and watching tennis at Rio (Serena is out!) and there's more to come.

    Just a light dinner tonight as I made myself some bruschetta an hour ago. I am having trouble keeping up with all the tomatoes and peppers in the garden, not to mention the kale!