In My Garden

    This has got to be the nicest time in my garden before the true summer heat dries everything up. We had plenty of rain yesterday so flowers are bursting out all over!

       

        The first Weigelia, it has pink blooms whereas the later one has deep red. It hasn't started yet. Isn't that strange?

         Lilac, it only lasts a few days but smells heavenly!

   Bleeding Heart (I have several, all from the same plant), Violets and Hosta. The Violets are lovely when in flower but do tend to take over later in the summer. No matter how much I pull them up, they still come back the next year!

A Sad Time

    It's been a tough few days around here, although not to me personally. But when it's people you know, it still takes a toll. Last week my sister-in-law's husband died after being hospitalized for a week. Then just three days later, her brother, to whom she is very close, had a massive stroke and is in the ICU, intubated and in an induced coma. The prognosis is not good. She is devastated and the rest of the family is deeply concerned. 

    Then today a good friend's mother died, not entirely unexpected as she was very elderly and had been in decline for some time. But my friend is taking it rather badly and I'm afraid it will take some time for her to adjust to life without her mom. They will both need lots of support in the coming days. I hope I can provide it in some way or other.

First Day on the Courts

     It was the opening day social at the tennis club today and I was very rusty after not playing all winter. I didn't even get back to pickleball this year, which is played indoors. However, I am quite happy that I managed to serve and volley well enough to win a few games. It was lovely to see old friends and meet a few new ones, should be a good season once the weather settles down.

    The day started out fine but soon the clouds rolled in and rain stopped play around noon. We retired indoors for a nice lasagna and salad lunch (and cake!) and there were speeches and prizes for a lucky few. I won a new grip for my tennis racquet which was very welcome. I was in charge of the coffee - we went through a huge urn of the stuff as it was rather cool and damp - so had the job of cleaning the urn before I could depart. I have a feeling I will be a bit sore and achy tomorrow. Next outing will be Tuesday so I have time to recover.

May the Fourth Be With You

     This is what $50 bought me today at the local discount grocery store. I used some PC points and reduced it to $40 but still......

The coffee creamer was on special and, as you can see, I got 30% off the chicken thighs. Other than that everything was full price. The Boursin cheese was a treat to myself and was actually a little cheaper than usual due to the larger size container, 250 gms. instead of 175.

    This should do me until next Tuesday, my usual shopping day. Luckily, I still have plenty of food in my freezer to spin it out and will augment it with staples like lentils, porridge oats, raisins etc. I bake my own bread and have buns and croissants in the freezer too. I could have omitted the eggs as I still have four from last week but that's one thing I use a lot of and don't like to run out.

    I had already spent almost $20 at the local deli on some more treats for myself, smoked mackerel, Kalamata olives and my special nippy cheddar cheese. I can't imagine how people with large families manage, like my daughter who has three ever hungry teenagers!