Getting Ready for Winter

    A stay-at-home day yesterday, just a little gardening, until the evening when I went to dancing group. I was on tea duty so got there earlier than usual to set up. Just a small group but we had some fun dances.

    Tennis this morning - next week is our last week outdoors - and it was very nice , no wind and quite mild. I stayed until 11:30 then a quick stop at home to change and pick up some lunch. Next stop bridge lessons and I got in quite a nice group. I played a couple of good hands, much to the disgust of the opponents. They went down on their contracts.

    After such a busy morning I didn't feel like doing anything else for the rest of the day - I didn't even go out for a run after dinner. By the time I had eaten it was already dark.

   The robins have been madly stripping the berries from my Mountain Ash trees. They swallow the berries whole in a couple of gulps - it's fun to watch. They must be stocking up before their flight south.

Technology

   The furnace was working when I got home from the monthly dance last night so I was able to cancel the service call. Who knows what the problem was but it seems to have fixed itself. I wish I could say the same for my printer!

   Steve came over today ostensibly to take me out for my birthday lunch, but I got him to take a look at the problem. He worked on it for over an hour with no success, except for a message that said the ink cartridges were low. Just to remove that possibility we went out to get new ones. We stopped at Eggsmart for brunch first as we were both hungry by then. I had a Mediterranean omelette with fresh OJ and he had the "Big Breakfast" (eggs, bacon, sausages, ham and pancakes).

   Our next stop was Walmart for the ink cartridges but, guess what, when we got home and installed them, the printer was still not responding. The next step is to try the printer with another laptop so he will stop by next week some time to give it a try with his. If that fails I guess I will have to invest in a new printer!

   Still stuffed from brunch so I think a salad will suffice for dinner tonight.

Is Winter Here Already?

   Very chilly again today and a cold wind coming right from the Arctic. I hope this isn't the end of the pleasantly warm Fall weather - it's too soon for winter!

    We had an outdoors demo this afternoon - a Street Fest - but it really was too cold for dancing in our shirts. We kept our jackets handy to pull on after each number. There was quite a crowd so we were able to cajole some into trying out the easy dances. We were done by 2:30, just in time to turn the mike over to "Elvis" while we headed for the coffee shop to warm up.

    My furnace didn't turn on this morning (indoors it was 13C) so I have a call in to a technician to fix it tomorrow. Meanwhile I am well wrapped up in several layers and extra socks. I'm sure I will survive another night. I will be out at the monthly dance tonight so will just jump into bed with extra covers when I get home. Off to make some egg salad sandwiches for the tea break!

The Temperature Drops

    I just rescued an avocado in time before it turned! I bought it last week when it was still quite green and forgot about it. Luckily it was still edible after I removed a few black spots and I made it into a salsa dip. Delicious with a glass of wine and some tostitos!

    It has been quite cold for the last two days with the mornings only 4 or 5C. I had to wear gloves for tennis! Yesterday was sunny which warmed things up a bit, but today was cloudy and quite windy - very tricky on the courts. This week was the start of the Fall exercise classes so today I did that first before I headed over for tennis. In fact this week was my last day at Thursday tennis as I got into a yoga class which starts at 9:00 a.m. I will continue on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays for another couple of weeks (unless it snows!). Then we start indoor tennis at Hendrina's condo.

   Judy took me out for lunch today for my birthday. We went to Panera bread and both had a delicious salad and a nice chat. They are off on their cruise next Wednesday so I won't see them again until they get back.

   I brought in some of the plants in pots and a few tomatoes today in case we have a frost, and cut the back grass. There are always lots of chores as we approach winter, getting the garden tidied up and put to sleep. I will tackle it a little bit at a time. Next job is to plant the garlic for next year's crop.