Homemade Soup and Bread

    Over to the Senior's Centre for the "Stretch and Strength" class and coffee afterwards. The ladies told me Wednesday was Senior's Day at the garden centre so that was my next stop. I bought a couple of tomato plants, some herbs (although I forgot basil), red peppers, eggplant and kale. I will make another visit next week to pick up begonia for my hanging baskets, some more tomatoes and the basil - if I remember.

   My smoke detector was beeping last night so I bought a new battery for it. However, once installed, the smoke detector failed to pass the test. I may have to buy a new one. Luckily I have a second one installed in the upstairs hallway.

   Made some soup when I got home and got a loaf in the bread maker just before lunch. I love my bread machine! 

 

The finished product - it sank a little so I will cut back on the yeast next time.

   I dug up the vegetable garden this afternoon, added some plant food and planted most of the herbs and vegetables. Then they got a good watering and are on their way (hopefully!) to a fruitful harvest.

New plants - first week.

Kaffeeklatch

   First day at Kaffeeklatch - and we ran out of coffee! It was rather a cool morning so people were keen to have a warming drink in between tennis games. We made another pot and it was gone by 11:00 a.m. but that was it, so the late comers had to do without.

    I had 4 (yes, 4) games and stayed until almost 12:00 p.m. so had to rush to get home for lunch and then over to the Senior's Centre for my Bridge lesson. Quite a busy day.

   I am cooking a stew tonight using a beef heart that was on special at No Frills, so am interested to see if it will be tasty and tender. It has been cooking in the slow cooker all afternoon and the accompanying vegetables certainly look tender. My freezer is full so I won't need to shop much this weekend. I have a beef tongue and beef liver, also on special this week so will just need vegetables and fruit and a few other staples. All the meat I bought this week, as well as being on special at 30% off, was bought using my PC points so really cost me nothing. My favourite way to shop! 
  

First Cut

   The back lawn got its first cut of the year today. I was surprised how long it was in places - and the dandelions have sprung up too. I will have to wait until we get a good bout of rain before trying to remove the weeds.

   A beautiful weekend, weatherwise. Blue skies and warm temperatures. In fact yesterday was almost too hot for this time of year. We were all sweating at Don Mills Tennis Opening Day. I didn't play much tennis but it was great to see everyone after the winter hiatus and lunch was excellent. Barbecued chicken, salad, rice, beans, and roasted onions and peppers. What a feed! Plus there were several kinds of dessert so no supper for me last night.

   To make up for my laziness yesterday, I played for a good hour this morning with Cathy, Kathy and Iona. Iona and I won in a tiebreak so it was a close match.

   I caught a monster raccoon plodding across the pool cover last night. He didn't scamper when I opened the door and put on the outdoor light - just stared at me. He left me a nasty present by the composter which I luckily managed to avoid stepping in. But at least it wasn't as disgusting as the headless mouse I found on the patio the other day! At least I think it was a mouse but it was a huge one.

    Looking forward to another episode of "Outlander" tonight. I can't wait to find out what happens to Claire and Jamie!

  

Spring Flowers

  Spring has sprung, the grass is beginning to rise and, finally, some tulips!