It’s August 6 but day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’m running a day behind. I hope I can catch up and not fall further behind. It’s another hot day. Still no rain. I’m trying to work smarter and make life a little easier. It was tempting to skip my exercise class this morning. It wouldn’t be a smart thing to do so I tossed that idea. I need to keep healthy, fit and strong. I had a good workout and stopped at the community garden to water my brother’s and our plots. We share watering duties on alternate days. Our plots are side by side. It saves time and energy for both of us.

The day is hazy. The sun hidden by smoke from forest fires. The temperature is 31℃. The world looks uncertain and scary. Welcome to our new reality. Despite this, I am optimistic, putting my hope in my garden basket. Thanks to the river that runs through our city, we are able to water, water and water. We have such an abundance from all our gardening efforts in our greenhouse, outside garden at home, the community garden and the city allotments. Here are some of our harvest.

I can see I have my work cut out for me preserving and not letting things go to waste. My bowlful of Roma tomatoes are stewing on the stove. I’m doing the easy peasy. They will be jarred and frozen for spiced up tomato sauce when the need arises.