A Bad Cold

   Feeling a bit under the weather today - it started with a scratchy throat yesterday and now I am sniffling and sneezing and a bit shivery. I had to go out this morning to the RTO meeting but went straight to bed when I got home and slept until 4:00 p.m. I think I will skip Fitness class tomorrow unless I am feeling considerably better. Luckily I had booked off my volunteer job in the kitchen at the Senior's Centre as I would just be spreading my germs around!

   The meeting this morning was at Black Creek Pioneer Village and they gave us lunch - a very nice salad and assorted wraps and sandwiches, with yummy little cakes for dessert. I am still stuffed so haven't thought of eating anything tonight although I am very thirsty. An early night I think - once the U.S. election results are in!

I'm Baaack!!

     I'm munching on a delicious artichoke cheesy dip with a glass of beer so all's right with my world! The artichokes, from a can, were left over from the Tuscan chicken I made last night - chicken thighs, sundried tomatoes, chickpeas and the aforementioned artichokes, one of my favourite ways to cook chicken, and there's lots left for later in the week.

   Got back from my trip on Friday and seem to have overcome the jet lag pretty well. I even went to demo pool practice yesterday although I have a painful foot that started bothering me on the flight home - probably from sitting in one position for eight hours. We had wonderful weather for the whole two weeks and I was in the sea several times and the hotel pool most days. Only negative thing was the food which was served buffet style and tended to be rather repetitive. I had a serious bout of food poisoning in the second week and didn't eat anything for a couple of days, but it was no great loss. The best meals were two we ate at local restaurants, lovely salads and fish at one and paella at the other.

   We finished off the trip with a day in Valencia which is quite an unusual city - a mixture of ancient and modern. I would love to go back there for a proper tour some time.

   Bridge was cancelled today which was disappointing as I was looking forward to playing after a long break. We may not get to play next week either unless we can find a substitute. I spent the afternoon in the garden - it was a gloriously sunny day - and got several bins ready for the garden refuse pickup on Wednesday. Cut the back grass on Sunday to take advantage of the nice weather. A little piece of salmon for dinner tonight - it's dance group and I don't want to eat too much.

Getting Ready For a Trip

   Off to Spain tomorrow so it is unlikely I will be able to post while I am away. But there should be lots of photos when I get back.

   Just my usual Wednesday - Fitness class, a couple of errands then back to the Senior's Centre for my shift in the coffee bar. I closed up just before 3:00, walked home, had a nap and did some packing. I hope I haven't forgotten anything - on my last trip I didn't bring an umbrella and got so soaked on one particular day that I had to throw away my shoes!

    A final meal consisting of leftovers and it was remarkably good - three sausages, two tomatoes, a handful of peas, a cup of cauliflower and a generous amount of cheese. I cooked the tomatoes into a tasty sauce, browned the sausages and boiled the cauliflower. Then combined everything and baked it for half-an-hour. There is even enough left to put in the freezer for my first night back!

Eating Up Leftovers

   I started the day with over an hour at the dentist, getting the whole works - gums pricked, teeth scraped and polished and a couple of X-rays. Thank goodness I get 85% back from the insurance company. I got a good report on my teeth healthy and won't have to endure this thorough a check up again for 5 years!

    I had salad twice today in an effort to have nothing perishable in the fridge by Thursday. The first salad was at the RWTO lunch today and it was followed by grilled chicken breast in a delicious sauce and lots more vegetables ( I didn't eat all the mashed potatoes). Chocolate ice cream and coffee for dessert.

    Tonight I made another salad (still have half a tomato and a bagful of watercress from Judy - at least I think it's watercress, she wasn't sure either) and the last (small) slice of quiche. This was followed by a kiwi in evaporated milk. So not too much left in the fridge. Tomorrow I will work on the pot of cauliflower soup but will have to freeze the rest of the cauliflower - it was huge! Then there's just a couple of bananas, an apple and a clementine to eat.

   Came home from lunch and immediately cut the back grass as it was finally dry enough to cut but the sky was getting dark again. The temperature got up to 25C this afternoon but the rain didn't materialize. Last night we were discussing if the last few days constituted and Indian Summer but seemingly there has to be frost before the mild spell, so not quite.