Weather Complaints

   Torrential rain today for several hours and flooding all over the city. We had only managed one set of tennis before the skies opened and driving home was horrendous. When I got home I had a fairly big puddle in my basement but it is all mopped up now and should dry out pretty quickly. 

   With all the rain the pool almost overflowed but I had called a friend who advised to do a backwash out to the street to lower the level. However, now I see the liner has detached from the cement wall and will have to be pumped out - another big bill, I suppose! Pool-related expenses have been brutal this year. 

   Now the sun is out and it is getting steamy. The grass badly needs cut but I will wait until the sun goes down to give the grass a chance to dry off and it will be cooler by then. That's it for today, folks!

First Produce

    Apart from a few raspberries (a very small crop this year after last year's bumper one), I finally got to pick a zucchini today. It wasn't very big but was enough to make a batch of fritters. It made 6 fritters and I had three with my evening meal and will have the rest tomorrow. It was a very easy recipe from Lidia's cook book, just grated zucchini, an egg and some flour with baking powder and salt mixed in. It probably took me 20 minutes to make and cook. I think the secret is to squeeze the grated zucchini in a kitchen towel to remove as much moisture as possible, then they fry up nice and crisp.

    We had quite heavy rain this afternoon so, since I was house bound I made a loaf in my bread machine. It will be cool enough to slice soon so that's my last chore for today.

Strawberry Social

    It was all white on the courts today as we celebrated Wimbledon with a strawberry social. It was hot again and, after a couple of sets of tennis,  we were happy to adjourn to the clubhouse for a special treat provided by some of our members.

   First we got a plate of strawberries and cream on scones or shortcake and were able to add other treats - watermelon slices (so refreshing), chocolate eclairs and ice cream cones. This has become a regular event and is very popular, as you can imagine. Who doesn't like the summer freshness of strawberries and cream? 

   The Mens semi-finals at Wimbledon were on the TV but not too many were interested, preferring to socialize with new and old friends. After all, isn't this what retirement is all about?

The End of the Strawberries

   Hot and humid again. I went to tennis early (as did many others) but by 10:15 I was done. A few managed to hang on until noon but I spent the rest of the morning in the clubhouse watching Wimbledon or chatting to other dropouts!

   It was a two swim day, first when I got home from the tennis courts and again after doing some gardening. By then it had clouded over enough to be able to stay outside but it was still pretty humid so I was quite sweaty. The rhyme says that "Horses sweat, men perspire and women gently glow" but I was definitely sweating!

   I used up the last of the strawberries in a crumble with more rhubarb and will have that for dessert over the next couple of days. It's really too hot to have the oven on but needs must!