Still Scratching

   Sunny and warm today so I had a swim before lunch - very refreshing! Tried to play tennis this morning but my wrist is toast! I could barely get my serve over the net. Luckily I am "on the board" on Friday so won't have to play. Watched Wimbledon this morning - one Canadian through but the others are gone.

    My ant bites are itching like crazy (only a couple of them) so I am not a happy camper. On the plus side, I managed another batch of strawberry jam today and prepped the rest of the berries for the freezer. I kept out a few for desserts today and tomorrow. Unfortunately, a few were too ripe when picked and had gone so mushy they had to go in the composter. 15 jars of jam - that should last me all year. I still have one jar left from last year even though I gave some away as gifts. I will make some rhubarb and ginger jam later in the summer.

   I bought a sweet pepper plant at half price on the way home from tennis today. It looks very healthy despite being so late in the season for plants. I may get another later. Still space in the vegetable patch for some other veggies if I can find them.

Strawberry Fields Forever

   Out of the house early to pick strawberries. I forgot it was a holiday and the strawberry farm was crawling with people carrying baskets and buckets - also lots of kids. But I was there early enough to get my bucket filled and out of there in half-an-hour. The strawberries were plentiful and humongous!

   Luckily the grocery stores were open despite it being a holiday so, after several attempts, I did find one that had some of my favourite brand of pectin left. I also needed sugar and a couple of lemons so that went on my grocery list too.

    After bridge I got all the ingredients for jam ready and scalded some jars. The strawberries were so big it didn't take long to prepare the fruit. Once I got the mixture boiling away a problem that I'd never experienced before developed, the mixture was about to boil over! I was using the same pan as usual and the same quantities so I have no idea why it occurred. However, I managed to control it by removing the pan intermittently from the heat. Once it had cooled down a bit I got the jars filled and sealed - first batch done!

   Still can't load photos here but I have put one on Facebook.

Ants In My Pants!

   It started out nice and sunny - and not nearly as humid - but it is looking quite black again so we may be in for some more rain. The temperature has dropped 5 degrees in the last hour which is rather ominous!

    The tennis courts were busy this morning and we had to resort to the "timing" system, to many players disgust but otherwise they do tend to hog the courts. We had a ladies foursome for our first stint - Betty and I were in the lead when we had to give up the court, then got back on with a different foursome when Cathy and I were ignominiously defeated 6-0 by Kathy and Tamara! I was exhausted by then and barely staggered home.

   I went out later in the afternoon to work in the garden, but I was defeated by a swarm of tiny ants which were crawling all over me and biting me. I went to another part of the garden to pull weeds but quickly lost interest as I was scratching from the ant bites. It was nice enough to sit reading in the shade - more my style!

  

Confederation Day

   Today, here in Canada, we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Normally July 1st. is just Canada Day but this is a special one. There are tons of special events today - at my tennis club we had a BBQ with two large cakes in the shape of the Canadian flag - and tonight there will be lots of firework displays. I plan to stay home and watch it on TV. I'm not a big fan of crowds plus the weather is a bit iffy.

   It was extremely hot and humid at tennis and I only played two sets. Gayle and I won the first set, and Cathy and I won the second. But that was it for me! After lunch I headed home for a swim (8 laps today, but they are pretty short), a nap and a bit of gardening. It rained lightly for a few minutes but not enough to freshen the plants.

   After the big lunch, sausage in buns, Greek salad and potato salad, I just needed a light dinner so had a bowl of soup and salmon croquettes. I made my own tartar sauce and, along with a slice of lemon, that was enough.