These are lovely summer days with a reasonable mix of sun and showers and temperature highs that are not exhausting.  Perfect days for strolling about in the ravine, shaded by the sun.  And this morning we came across two women we'd never before seen in there.  Older women in their early 50s and quite overweight, but enjoying the experience nonetheless.  One of the women was holding a teacup poodle close to her, giving the tiny thing a break from walking on its own four paws.  It looked a minuscule image of our own Riley, who paid it no attention even while we stood there talking for a lengthy period of time as the tiny dog's owner told us it was 14, had undergone a number of surgeries, one to remove all but two of its infected teeth, and on another occasion when it had a broken foot, a metal plate implanted.  A dog so wee must always be in danger of being stepped upon, sweet little thing.

Another person we came across was an East Indian woman, younger than the other two but also overweight, though not as much as they.  She stopped for a chat about how wonderful it was to discover the unspoiled ravine with its forest and its running water, its hills and intriguing flora and fauna, and how much it meant to her.  She had noticed me putting out peanuts and she reminisced about her mother in India, feeding ants, of all things.  And taking her and her siblings to old age homes to teach them patience and empathy.  She was certain that her health issues with high blood pressure have improved immeasurably since she began regular walks in the ravine, and it was my opinion, as I relayed it to her, that she was perfectly right.

Our granddaughter, who preferred to stay behind at home, choosing not to accompany us despite that we had taken her (or perhaps because of) out on a daily basis when we were her caregivers until she was nine years of age, had her lunch in our absence.  Leftover pizza pockets that all of us made together last evening, while we also prepared a large pizza.  She had wanted chopped onion in hers, along with bell pepper, tomato, cheese and no mushrooms, thank you.  Ours had mushrooms, and we also liberally sprinkled fresh sweet basil leaves from the garden on everything.

She's gone off with her grandfather to make a number of stops; the bank, the pharmacy, the bulk food store and the hairdresser where he will leave her and poke about in the Sally Ann located in the same plaza.  He will then accompany her to a shoe store where she had checked online beforehand to determine whether they had the type of shoes she was looking for.

Ambulating in the garden, I'm struck by its ripe beauty, and happy with yet another summer of gardening.  It's such a mature garden that in fact very little needs to be done with it, other than occasional trimming and weed-pulling, and not even all that much of it.  We're amazed and pleased to see that the magnolia in the backyard which has begun to really put on weight, although it's nowhere near the size of the magnolia in the front, has been thriving.  Unlike the magnolia in the front garden which blooms only in the spring, the one in the backyard blooms in the spring, and then hosts another bloom in late summer, which it is now treating us to.