In my opinion there are few mouth-watering aromas lingering in a kitchen promising a delicious evening meal than the combination of garlic and onion in olive oil along with chopped bell pepper, tomatoes, smoked paprika (judiciously applied) saffron and bay leaf to which will be added rice, small squares of haddock, shrimp, scallops, clams and peas. My version of seafood paella in any event. A meal-in-a-pan that when plated will become a meal-in-a-platter!

 

 

It's really what I consider to be a sumptuous comfort-dish meal for winter, but it won't be difficult to accept it on a 26C, sunny, humid day. Yesterday it was even hotter, more humid, and the rain did little to dispel the suffocating humidity. So a fresh garden salad was in order, along with cheese blini and regional fresh strawberries for dessert.

 

 

There were five loads of laundry today, time-consuming on any day. I don't mind feeding the washing machine, but emptying the drier is the least popular of all household tasks to me, the tedious folding that is involved and putting everything away. Strangely enough I don't mind the ironing that comes out of laundry day.

 

But that finally done, we embarked on our afternoon hike through the ravine. On our way up the street the tiny Yorkie that lives adjacent to the ravine entrance came running over to greet us; Jackie and Jillie almost tower over the little fellow, they're happy to see him and almost bowl him over in their enthusiasm. He's used to them, and compensation is a few small cookies reserved for small dogs.

 

 

The rain of yesterday afternoon and evening combined with all-night rain left the ravine fairly sodden. In the same token the trails become easier to negotiate descending or ascending a long slope where boots grip tiny bits of gravel for good traction. There's a slight breeze, and by then the sun had been out awhile and the temperature, at 26C, wasn't quite as hot as the previous few days.

 

 

The sweet fragrance of ragweed flowers no longer permeates the air, the blossoms that bees were so busy with yesterday afternoon had been made short work of by the pounding rain and the bees had moved off to more promising venues, like the stands of still-intact flowering burdock and thistle.

 

Halfway through our hike along came one of Irving's cookie regulars, Millie, responding to the loud racket Jackie and Jillie make when they know one of their friends is nearby. Her companion was one of the first people we've known for a long time as a regular ravine-hiker whose husband died two years ago as a result of having reacted horribly adversely to Astra-Zeneca's vaccine; his heart gave out fatally.