A New Book and a Quick Dinner

    A few raindrops this morning but I decided not to go to tennis as the skies were pretty dark. It didn`t actually rain but by then I had gone on to do other things. The morning seemed to go in pretty fast and I had a short nap this afternoon before finishing some gardening. The borders are looking so much better and I cut back a bush that was threatening to squeeze out the beebalm, which has grown very tall. There`s another that needs the same treatment.

    I spent quite a bit of time today reading a new library book. It has the unlikely name of `Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall` by Suzette Mayr. Like its title it is a rather quirky story but I think I am going to like it.

   I had crudites for my early evening snack (red and orange peppers, cucumber, broccoli and some pita) then used the leftover dip to prepare my dinner. I had some leftover salmon which I flaked into the sauce, added frozen peas, stirred and sprinkled it all with grated parmesan and warmed it in the toaster oven. It literally took 3 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to heat up and it was delicious!

A Quiet Day at Home

   The house cooled down nicely overnight with all the windows open and has stayed cool today with lower temperatures. I spent a good chunk of the day watching Wimbledon and saw some good matches. Still one Canadian, Milos Raonic, in the mix.

   Now that I have made a dent on the weeds, I have started trimming the borders. I bought a new pair of shears and they are working a treat - hope they stay nice and sharp. I had a nice refreshing swim after gardening. Yesterday I was in the pool twice!

   Nothing else on the agenda other than the usual Saturday chores. Salmon with peas and cauliflower for dinner, and I will have the last of the strawberries for dessert. They have kept well.

Air Con is On!

   I couldn`t get on to my new post page yesterday so I will catch up today.

    I left home at 8:45 yesterday and wasn`t home until 3:15 - fitness class started yesterday, a run to the garden centre, then three hours in the kitchen. At least it was busier so I wasn`t bored. I had an interesting dinner. I cooked some chicken drumsticks in salsa (without the skin), chopped up the meat and had it in a pita (with more salsa) with veggies and lots of cheese. It was a bit messy to eat but quite yummy.

   Today I was out early to the tennis courts but I didn`t play as my wrist is still sore. It was heating up quite a bit but was overcast so not unbearable. I came up with a new system to make sure people weren`t sitting around too long. It helped that there wasn`t a big crowd! We will try it again next week.

   I spent the whole afternoon watching Andy Murray and Fabio Fognini battling it out on Centre Court at Wimbledon. Murray won although he wasn`t at his best and Fognini was on fire! Andy was lucky to pull out the win.

   More chicken tonight with Brussel sprouts but first an hour in the garden. I am gradually making a dent in the weeds. The air conditioner has just come on so it must still be hot out.

A Close Call

   I hate it when I do something stupid but it almost happened again today. Here`s the story:

   Last Thursday I took my Prius into the dealership for an oil change. This is not a big job but they managed to find enough things wrong with the car (OK, I hadn`t taken it in for a service since last fall and it is 10 years old) for me to end up with a humungous bill - about 10 times what I had expected.

   I reasonably expected that it would now be in tip top shape. However, on Saturday, an excessively hot day, I turned on the air conditioner only to be blasted with hot air. How had they not noticed the AC was on the blink!

   I tried it again on Monday and it was still not working so yesterday I made an appointment to have it fixed. On the way over there this morning I decided to give it one last try and only then realized that the thermostat had been turned up to over 30C which was why it was heating the car instead of cooling it! Lo and behold when I turned it down to a more appropriate number, cool air flowed out.

    My only assumption is that the guys who worked on it on Thursday turned it up to test it and forgot to turn it down. So it wasn`t really my fault but I would have felt very foolish if I had made a huge fuss at the dealership only to have them fix it in seconds. So I dodged a bullet there.