Friday

 Good morning.  This lovely weather goes on and on, doesn't it?  Mornings and evenings are cooler but it's beautiful through the day.  I'm very much hoping it continues when the leaves start changing in earnest as the effect of sunlight on autumn leaves is one of the outstanding sights of each year!

The early morning swim was great.  The booking system may have told me that I was number fifteen on the list but actually there were just seven of us in the pool, plenty of room and lots of smiles.  For the first time, the lifeguard had a list and was ticking people off as they showered.  I could see that the list was, indeed, much longer than seven.  One is supposed to cancel if one can't turn up and that's very easily done online via their website or by phone.  I wonder if they are clamping down on no-shows.

I still haven't got round to asking them to guide me through their 'machines' and how they work - I really must get my act together.

Tuition was great fun - I like all my students but this one is such a character in their own, quiet way and we chuckle and smile our way through the session.  Like the parents, there's no nonsense about this student, what you see and hear is what you get.  Never rude or impolite, just straight speaking.  Fantastic!  Oh, and they work hard as well!

SW group was lively.  It's just a shame I hear very little but the vibes are good and I can help out and feel useful that way.  Numbers have picked up at our particular time and, I think, generally, and we're getting some new members so fingers are very firmly crossed that there's not another lockdown.

In between morning and late afternoon/evening activities, I pottered around at home.  The tomatoes were escaping from the window ledge so I set to and made another large bowl of passata which needs to be strained as I didn't get around to that yesterday, and several containerfuls of small, peeled tomatoes, frozen whole.

The dehydrated pear slices and the apple and plum leather both worked out really well and I popped in another batch of pear which I've just cooled and jarred to take to Dad's.  I think he will love it.
I made three strips of leather and, as Beth and Alex popped over in the evening, that was one each, and a huge success they were too.  A real burst of flavour.  After the weekend, I will have a go at some apple and pear leather.  It seems a good way to use up the allotment fruit, seeing as none of it is 'keeper' fruit.

As it was a good drying day, I got two loads of washing done and dusted and in a short time I will get out the ironing board, turn on the telly, connect the sound to my hearing aids and have a 'Homes Under The Hammer' fest as I iron.  I do like to get it all done fairly quickly - such a change from working days when some items might stay in the basket for weeks!

I also managed to get the place reasonably tidy for the cleaners today; there's just a few things to clear away this morning.

After getting all the chores done, I will pop down to the allotment to harvest as I'd like to take some produce up to Dad's when I go.  For decades, he and Mum have been so generous with their food stuffs.  Mum used to load me up with cake and shortbread for the children and Dad with fruit and veg.  It's really nice to pay it back a bit now.  It's not an obligation, it's a pleasure.
So I will be taking (refreshing my memory here) some home made chilli for dinner and freezer, some tomatoes, green beans and, hopefully, courgettes and the dried pear slices.

Alex goes back to uni today.  Beth's taking him with car loaded to the gills with all his stuff.  I think there's mixed feelings - he's been at home for six months now so part of him is wanting to get back and part of him is very apprehensive.  I'm sure he won't be the only one although his autism does present a big additional challenge.  I'm very proud of him.

As always, I will try and post while I'm at Dad's but if I don't, I will be back on Monday.  Take care and stay safe.  xx