Last Trip to the Dermatologist

    Final visit for treatment to my ear but - halleluiah! - I got the all clear and no need to return. I am so relieved, I wasn't even upset that I had to wait half-an-hour for my two minute visit. I skipped out of the clinic with wings on my heels, I can tell you!

    We had tennis planned this morning but it was a drizzly start. It has been on and off rain since Sunday and we were itching to get on the courts. However, we persevered, dried off the courts as much as we could and hit the ball tentatively for half-an-hour. Finally the drizzle stopped and the last hour was fairly dry. Not many opportunities to play before the courts are closed at the end of the month so we have to make the best of it while we can.

    One more thing to check off my "to-do" list - got the plumber here to fix a leaking tap and it took him literally 10 minutes to replace the leaking part. It was the line leading to the cold tap and he replaced the other one while he was at it. No charge as I have a Parts Plan with the energy company, well worth the monthly premium as plumbers here are expensive!  

    

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.