The Last Barbecue

     I'm afraid I am not one of those hardy souls who BBQ all winter, so I had my last BBQ last weekend. Just sausages but they were yummy with a freshly picked corn cob. Yes, I did find the farmer who comes down here with his crop and sells it from the back of his truck.

Can't claim this beautiful display - it's one of my neighbours who definitely has a green thumb.

Another view of my neighbour's front border.

The barbecue sits on the front porch with this lovely planter. It comes indoors when the weather gets chilly.

It's just a table top BBQ and is stored in the garage for the winter

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It's powered by this propane tank which is just about empty - it's done the whole summer.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

    A day and a half of almost constant rain so I have been mopping puddles in my basement again. However, I have had someone come and look into the problem and they will be back to fix it relatively soon. In the mean time I am hoping for no more heavy rainfall as I am extremely tired of the constant mopping!

   I went back to have my ear checked this week ( I think I wrote about it earlier) - it was a basal cell carcinoma and, unfortunately, they didn't get the whole thing on the first visit so there was some more cutting and scraping, thankfully all under anesthetic. It wasn't as bad as the first time and should be all healed in a couple of weeks, fingers crossed.

    I was getting tired of the fish dishes I have been producing recently so tried something new the other night - curried fish with braised kale. It was quite good. It had shredded coconut in it which was an interesting addition.

It made quite a lot but I ate the whole thing! I added tomatoes and black olives to the fish (not in the recipe but a good addition). The white on top of the kale is grated Grano Padano cheese which I prefer to Parmesan, everything enhanced with a squirt or two of lemon juice.

The Fruits of Fall

    My mountain ash (Rowan) tree is ready but no sign of the robins. They have usually stripped it bare by this time. Folklore says that when there is an abundance of berries it is going to be a hard winter.

   One rose bush still blooming, this is one of my favourites as the blooms and the buds are so delicate.

An End-of-Summer Right of Passage

    I have since had two swims (actually twice today so that makes three) as it has been a beautiful weekend. So happy I postponed the pool closure until next week. We often have a summery week late in September so that has been a definite bonus!

   I cleaned the pool yesterday so it won't be too disgusting when the pool guys come to partially drain it and put the cover on. That is always a sad day but at least my electricity bill will be reduced considerably, and the water bill as well. I couldn't survive the summer without a pool but it is quite an expensive luxury.

Still looking good!