Still Some Summer Left

   Beautiful day today, sunny and pleasant. Tennis this morning, two sets, and I came home via Value Village and dropped off some items. I am gradually clearing cupboards and closets in an effort to downsize but nothing major so far. 

   I dived (not literally) into the pool as soon as I got home and swam a few lengths, had lunch and napped for an hour. Then did some garden tidy up followed by another swim as I was quite hot and sweaty again. There were a few more ready tomatoes to pick and another humungous cucumber which I will have to find some way to use. Yesterday I made a tomato and cucumber relish which used four tomatoes and half a cucumber but I can barely stay ahead of the produce! 

   Dinner tonight is again from the freezer, pasta, beef and kale casserole - that's it finished - and the last item in there is a veal chop which I will barbecue tomorrow. Time to start stockpiling again!

   I am reading a really good book at the moment, borrowed from a friend (it was her last Book Club choice). "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver. It somewhat reminded me of another book I read, "Educated" (can't remember the author) although it was a memoir, not a novel. They both dealt with surviving horrific childhood experiences, so, be warned!

What I have eaten today

     I have gotten into a bit of a rut foodwise and thought it might help to put down on virtual paper what I eat each day. Last week, as I was getting my dinner most nights at the tennis tournament (one of the perks for the volunteers) was a bit of a writeoff - it was either chicken or fish. So starting afresh this week I will try to record whatever enters my mouth.

   There were no meat specials at the grocery store this week so I have been eating from the freezer. Tuesday and Wednesday were sausage rolls with a broccoli casserole and a beef and pasta casserole respectively. Today, after I went to the nurses clinic for my leg dressing to be changed, I hopped over to the Asian Food mart and picked up some sushi as a treat. I am going to allow myself to eat out or have takeout once a week. So here's today's food intake.

   For breakfast I had a bowl of oat bran with a sprinkle of brown sugar and some oat milk. Usually I just have a banana and yogurt. I had a coffee with milk and cream, and a granola bar at the Seniors Centre mid morning. Lunch was carrot and lentil soup and half an egg salad sandwich with cheese. I had the other half for lunch yesterday. It was accompanied by a piece of apple and some celery sticks. This is my usual lunch.

    At 5:00 p.m. my secret pleasure, a glass of wine or beer and some crackers and cheese! Recently I have been making bruschetta with tomatoes from the garden but that requires bread which I am trying to limit. Dinner tonight is the aforementioned sushi which will be followed by a clementine for dessert and sometimes I will have a cookie or piece of cake or sweet bread. Evenings are tough for me as I often have sweet cravings and have been known to get into a chocolate bar. Then I can't stop which is why I keep them in the freezer! It's not much of a deterrent but it helps. 

   So, you can see, I'm pretty good during the day but lose willpower in the evenings. Anyone else have this problem?

Sweltering!

    Still too hot to go out and water the vegetables - I will wait until the sun goes behind the houses, another hour or so. I pulled a few weeds and trimmed some dead branches while I was still wet from my swim. I have worked back up to 12 laps and am determined to get that in daily for the rest of the summer. Having to miss so many days in June and July, I really lost some tone in my arms.

   I am getting loads of tomatoes (Judy took a bunch yesterday when she came over for a swim) and quite a few cucumbers. I used some of the tomatoes and a bunch of kale in a casserole the other day but, unfortunately, overcooked it. Eating it anyway, I added some canned tomato sauce to try to restore it!

   Last week was very busy as I was volunteering at the tennis tournament. I found it very tiring this year, mainly because of the heat, one night my shift didn't end until after 11:00 p.m. and I wasn't home until midnight. I can't remember the last time I have been out so late. But one bonus - I received my twenty years of service pin and got a ticket for a box to watch one of the evening sessions, food provided. It was a real treat. 

   We have been promised a break from the high temperatures starting on Wednesday but today has been brutal - 32C but feels more with the humidity. I may need another swim this evening.

   

Garden Update

     It's extremely hot again - 33C when I went out to water the vegetables so it was just a cursory soaking. I'll go out again when the sun goes down. The pool is up over 80F so I haven't had to use the heater yet this summer. 

   I picked another bowl of raspberries yesterday (they were delicious!) but that will probably be it for this year. I also got a 9 inch cucumber - there are more coming and I noticed the grape tomatoes are starting to redden up. There are loads of tomatoes but all still green so far. They will all probably be ready to pick at the same time so will have to make tomato sauce for the freezer. 

   Too hot for tennis today but I did play a couple of sets on Tuesday while it was still relatively cool. This week I am watching a tournament from Washington D.C., it must be so hot on the courts I don't know how the players stand it!