A Few Quick Notes 198

-Starting yesterday temperatures dropped by a few degrees, something that was a rather pleasant surprise. A more pleasant surprise today is that even though the sun is out and the skies are clear the temperature is still quite reasonable. Today is one of the nicest days that we have had this summer.

-The beans I planted last weekend are really starting to do quite well. Manny more plants are visible now than were visible yesterday morning. Actually, a surprisingly large number of plants first showed themselves between yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon.

Amazingly, the new plants, particularly the green and yellow beans, are almost as large as the few plants that actually sprouted from the first batch. The scarlet runner beans, while not particularly large, are a bit bigger than the new plants, though I am not sure that this lead will be maintained for a long time.

-Today I was able to harvest a second batch of rhubarb. Again I will use this to make rhubarb crumble, the only rhubarb dish that I eat, for desert.

In a few days I hope to be able to pick some of the black currants that are growing in the back yard. I think that two smaller bushes that my mother started a number of years ago will finally produce currants this year (though not as many as they will produce in years to come).

-As I have been riding my bike between my permanent residence and the house at which I am house-sitting I have already noticed an increase in my endurance and speed. Hopefully the trend will continue in this direction. Maybe if things go particularly well I will be able to transfer such gains with me when I move to Halifax (though this would mean that I would need to buy a bike once I arrive).

-While riding my bike this morning my left foot slipped off of the pedal. The pedal then scrapped along my shin. While this didn't draw much blood there are a number of rather remarkable bumps and I presume that in a few days I will have some colourful bruises. I have taken this slippage as a sign that I needed to change the pedals on my bike to slip-resistant studded pedals (a change I have already made). While I have been contemplating this change for a number of days it seems that only injury was enough motivation to actually get me to make the change.

A little later on the in the ride as I was riding on Elizabeth Avenue approaching Churchill Square I felt my seat go. Something snapped and the seat bucked up and hit me in the groin. Fortunately I was able to maintain control of the bike and catch the seat with my thighs.

Once I was able to stop I found that the bolt that had been holding the seat to the seat post snapped. While I was in a fair bit of discomfort for a few minutes I am glad that the equipment failure didn't cause a crash and that I was able to keep the seat. Hopefully I will be able to get a replacement bolt on Monday.

-While walking my house-sitting dog today I just about blew chunks. Reaching down with a bag on my hand to retrieve its droppings was just about more than I could handle. Fortunately I was able to hold it together and complete the necessary but unpleasant task.

-Despite my best intentions and greatest efforts I just wasn't able to sleep in this morning. Life seemed to be conspiring against my desire to sleep. I guess this was good as it allowed me to take care of a few errands that would otherwise have remained undone for the next several days.