Trying to Stay Cool

   I spent most of today outdoors despite it being extremely hot. It started with an hour of tennis while it was still cool. Susan and I hit the courts at 8:00 a.m. Cut back some bushes, had a swim, repotted my violets, had a swim, watered the vegetables and, you guessed it, had another swim. But a nap was called for after lunch. A special lunch today - egg salad with basil from the garden, lettuce, cucumber, radish, red pepper, green onion and half an avocado, with a dash of lemon juice and a drizzle of EVO oil. Delicious!

    The main floor of the house has stayed remarkably cool but tonight may be a bit hot and sticky in the bedroom, being upstairs. I will open all the windows once the sun goes down and hope for a bit of a breeze.

   I spent quite a bit of the afternoon reading - another one from my shelf, "By Its Cover" by Donna Leon. I hadn't read it for a while (I love Commisario Brunetti) and couldn't remember the denoument so it kept me guessing. Tomorrow I have booked a time to pick up my holds from the library (curb side pick up and drop off only at the moment) so finally something new to read.

Looking a lot more comfortable in their bigger pot.

Refreshing

   Beautiful day - hot but not humid. An hour of tennis this afternoon followed by a cold but refreshing swim. Due to the cool nights the pool is struggling to get above 74F. Luckily I don't mind plunging in, even at that temperature, after working in the garden or coming off the tennis courts. Mind you I don't stay in very long, just long enough to bring my body temperature back to normal levels.

Sun setting on the backyard pool. And just in case you should ask, no, I don't use the diving board, just swim decorously back and forth.

Asparagus

    My shopping day is now Thursdays as that is when seniors are given priority access to my local No Frills store. Unfortunately the time slot is 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. which means I go before I eat breakfast. This is fatal as I invariably buy things I don't really need. This week it was two different fancy cheeses which were both 50% off. I couldn't decide between them so took both!

   Also this week there was a special on asparagus. I do love asparagus but is is usually so expensive I feel guilty buying it. This week's price was too good to resist. However, now I have to eat asparagus with every meal and tomorrow I will even have it in my breakfast omelet. After that I will be sick of it until next Spring!

The fancy cheeses - one Brie and one Camembert.

The asparagus keeping moist along side a "living lettuce" with its roots still attached, on my kitchen counter.

Doing Some Rereading

   The libraries are still not open and I am running out of reading material. Curb side pick up and drop off is supposed to start next week but you have to book a time, which is a pain. I have moved all my "holds" to a branch that has a curb (my home branch is in a mall so won't be opening) so hopefully I will get some books and videos soon.

   I have several books set in France that I have dug out. I read "The Olive Harvest" by Carol Drinkwater last week and today started "A Good Year" by Peter Mayle. Another book I plan to read again is "French Kisses", by George East, set in Normandy so a bit different from the first two which are set in the south of France. 

I have read most of his books but this is the only one I own. I might try to see if the library has a copy of the film based on it.