Sad and Happy

    Thinking back the other day to Queen Elizabeth's coronation. I was 9 years old and loved the pomp and ceremony. There will be much ceremony around her funeral but of a very different sort, remembering her long and faithful service to the country and Commonwealth.

   On a happier note - it has stayed very warm here and I have been swimming the last two days. I usually don't get in the pool much come September. Maybe this year will be the exception. The closing is booked for September 20 so I still have several more opportunities to get in.

Labour Day

    A holiday here, traditionally the last day before school starts up again after the summer off. This year the teachers are back tomorrow but the kids will have to wait until Wednesday to see their friends and meet their teachers.

    It is also traditionally when my tennis club hosts a round robin and BBQ but it didn't happen the last two years due to lockdowns and restrictions on gatherings. It wasn't a great day weather wise but the rain held off and the temperature was pleasant. There was a great turn out, over 50 people, for the first Labour Day celebration since 2019!

On Wednesday a friend and I will be celebrating NOT having to return to school as we are both retired from teaching. We will toast our still-working colleagues with something alcoholic over lunch at Red Lobster. Photos to follow!

Afternoon Tea

     A lovely time at the Old Curiosity Tea Room this afternoon with my two favourite ladies - Judy and Natalie! We ate until we had no more room and took the rest home. I had prepared by eating only a small breakfast and managed to avoid most of the treats at the tennis social this morning, so was quite hungry.

Situated on Main Street, Markham, it's a picturesque and popular spot.

We each chose a different tea and had our own pot. Mine was a herbal blend, very refreshing!

Trying to look very genteel!

The sandwich stand. There was something for every taste. My favourite was the cheese and Branston Pickle, Natalie's was the egg slice and Judy's was the cucumber and mint (instead of watercress).

And, of course, the dessert stand. Judy's favourite, Empire biscuits as well as shortbread cookies and scones with jam and clotted cream - clotted cream first, then the jam in case you're wondering.

    No dinner tonight although I may have a small snack before bed.

Beez Begone!

     Much as I hated to do it, the bees had to go. The team fixing my deck refused to complete the job until I had the bee problem "taken care of". I think I mentioned that one of them was stung while they were working on raising the slabs. 

   So, reluctantly, I called a bee expert to see what could be done. He surmised it was a small colony of bumble bees, not honey bees, which would have been a very different story.  Fortuitously, when he arrived no bees were in sight and he opined (optimistically) that they were all out foraging. So he doused the area with a powder which (he said) would discourage them from returning to the nest. We shall see! I didn't ask about any bees still under the deck. Less said the better. My grandson, the environmentalist, was very annoyed with me for not finding a more bee-friendly method of removing them.

      You can see he's not getting too close just in case.

   A final application to the problem area. I will check for any activity tomorrow and he promised to return to give it another dose if needed.