A Cleared Freezer

   I just have a small freezer above my fridge but it does hold quite a lot on two shelves and sometimes I can't find stuff or forget what's in there. But today it is virtually empty!

   There's half a loaf of bread, one roll of puff pastry and some pitas and that's it. I defrosted a piece of fish for tonight's dinner and, as I was using a roll of the  puff pastry to make a fish pie, I also defrosted some sausages for sausage rolls with the extra pastry. A couple of sausages went in to the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. Now I can fill the freezer with  whatever's on offer at the grocery store at my next shop. However, it is a good feeling to have it almost bare today.

   I also did a big garden clean up, removing all the self-seeding sweet pea plants as the seed pods have popped. As well, a whole bunch of dandelions which were easy to pull up after yesterday's rain. This took me about an hour by which time I was ready for a swim. It's still very hot. I played tennis this morning, requiring another swim, and watched a tennis match in the afternoon, so it has been a busy day.

The fish pie containing lots of vegetables, and the sausage rolls. Having the oven on made the kitchen very warm, even with the A/C on, so I had the overhead fan going as well. It's still 30C outside at 7:30 p.m.!

Pitter Patter Rain Drops

    After a very dry couple of months it is finally raining heavily - giving the garden a much needed drink and filling up the pool for an added bonus! Luckily I cut the back grass earlier as I'm sure all the brown patches will spring back to life tomorrow.

   I set off early for tennis this morning. It had rained a bit overnight but the courts were quite dry. People finally started to trickle in just before 9:00a.m. and I hit with Helen for a while, then had a foursome with Stuart, Paul and Gordon. That really wore me out so I switched to an easier court when Kathy arrived to take my place. It was very humid and I needed a swim when I got home around 10:30.

   Lunch with the Probus ladies today at Lara's, a middle eastern restaurant that we have been to before. I had a Fatousch salad with grilled chicken - it was so humungous I brought half home and will have it for dinner tonight.

  It's still raining. Thank goodness I didn't bother to water the garden today!

My Day

   Here's how it went today:

7:00 getup, have breakfast (half banana with peanut butter, some yogurt), did

Sudoku and read the newspaper

7:45 talked to Zack (pool guy) about amount of chemicals  needed each week

I will be doing the pool check myself after next week.

8:45 leave for "Stretch and Strength" class at 9:00 at the senior's centre

10:00 coffee with friends after class

10:30 left to pick up library book, milk and eggs then home to prepare lunch

11:15 took lunch with me back for first half of "Osteo Fit" class - mostly aerobic

12:00 behind the counter at the coffee bar - ate lunch around 1:00

2:45 closed coffee bar, counted the cash and headed home for a nap

3:30 swim and sit in sun to dry off, read my new library book, "The Strangler

Vine". This is the prequel of my recent book, "The Infidel Stain" by M.J.

Carter

5:00 made avocado salsa to nibble on with tostitos and a glass of beer

5:45 to present - checked e-mails, blogs etc.

Now fixing dinner, broccoli casserole and a corn cob. Scared a mouse when I opened the composter to put in the peel from the corn!

Problem Solved

   I got the coffee urn situation slightly solved this morning at the tennis club - at least we had coffee! The borrowed pot worked and we will use it until when or if we buy a new pot. It wasn't too hot - in fact it clouded over at one point - I had two good sets, then headed home as Judy and the kids were coming around 10:30 and I had left the pool heater on.

    The water temperature was up to 80F by the time I got home and the kids had their fun in the pool, then we had lunch and they left just before 2:00. I cleaned the pool after they left and it is ready for Zack (the pool guy) to add the chemicals and give it a backwash tomorrow. Just one more visit from him and  then I will take care of it myself. By the end of this month the possibility of algae should be gone (I hope!).

   I worked up a bit of a sweat lugging the hose around the pool so, after a swim, the rest of the afternoon was spent in the shade finishing my current library book, "My Brilliant Friend". It was a bit of a challenge but I am glad I didn't give up on it. I might even try the next in the series.

  

   I used my last tomato to make a very substantial spaghetti sauce so now I won't need any more food until tomorrow's breakfast. I'm stuffed!