The kind of volatile weather we experience in the Ottawa Valley has no counterpart anywhere else. It is so changeable, so swiftly, the contrast leaves our heads spinning sometimes. On Thursday it was hot and muggily humid, the sun a fierce fireball. Friday began a cooling down and ongoing heavy rain meant the sun was shut out. Saturday the rain finally stopped dredging our world, the wind was cool and it became jacket weather again.

But I was able to complete the planting process, to get everything finally either in the ground or in the garden pots to my huge satisfaction. Everything looks fine and this marks the beginning of our daily morning gardening inspections to exclaim with pleasure over each and every new sight we see in our gardens of something coming up or maturing.

And then we set off for our ravine walk fully expecting what in fact greeted us there; soggy, mucky trails; what else could we expect after such torrential rainfall as we experienced yesterday when the woods were already soaked from previous heavy rains, after all?

Spring rains bring the inevitable fungal growth and some of it is an artist's delight.

We noted that the Jacks had matured immensely; overnight some of them gained double in size, and their flower heads had fully developed.

We came across one spread of woodland violets in bloom after another on the forest floor under the developing leaf cover of the trees. Among them were yellow and also mauve violets and between them the occasional strawberry in bloom.

False Solomon's seal has taken the opportunity to mature in just the space of a few days to the point where it has also begun developing its trailing flowers.

Red baneberry has bloomed, and the bright red balls that characterize it will develop from the fluffy seedhead.

There are areas in the ravine where it more resembles a wetland than a forested ravine.

We came across a pink trillium among all the bright carmine flowers.

We also came across Taz, the tiny Chihuahua with the energy of a Tasmanian Devil, chasing all the squirrels following in our peanut-peddling wake.