Perfect Sunday
 

Today it was beautiful outside. Warm and sunny, and not too windy. Most of my summer flowers have died by now, but some are hanging on. I spent a few hours rearranging some things in my little garden, and also in some containers. Now it looks better, and more suitable for fall and winter. A lot of stores sell fall flowers in pots, which surprised and delighted me the first year we were here. In Manitoba, that just never would have been an option. But here it stays warmer, longer, and the winter doesn't get nearly as cold. Last year I could dig under the snow and still find green parsley if I wanted it.

One of these years we will have to change that awful burgundy paint that pervades everything in our yard. House, shed, deck, fence....it just has to change. But that is a lot of painting. So it will have to last one more winter...

The damsons taste funny this year - too pasty. I'm not sure what we'll do with them, if anything. Making jam is a lot of work, because the stones are so tricky to get out. I've heard you can make a nice liqueur from them, but we'd have to send that to my parents, or maybe my Opa, because I don't think we are liqueur people...

After the yard work was finished, we did some baking and cooking. Darcey made his signature Beer Can Chicken on the bbq, and I baked some bread and made some chicken broth for the freezer. This is my favourite bread lately: whole wheat/wheat germ/flax and olive oil (among other things, of course). This time I added rosemary to it, but I don't think I liked that addition. Darcey says it tasted good with blueberry jam, but I prefer raspberry, and somehow that just didn't work, for me. But it really smelled nice when it came out of the oven, that's for sure.