Domestic affairs certainly keep us busy and involved. Jack and Jill put things into a different perspective. Their ongoing and continual antics can be both frustrating and amusing, but never boring. There is nothing they will come across that doesn't present as something to gobble up. Our next-door neighbours are having their house windows replaced. The frames are rotted out, because basic upkeep like ensuring they be painted at regular intervals was ignored. The detritus that falls during the replacement process, including pieces of insulation appear to Jack and Jill like new treats.

Yesterday, after my husband had completed painting the final coat of the window frames at the front of the house he decided it was time to bake a bread for me. He also wanted to bake hamburger buns. For both he meant to use his bread-making machine. I offered to make the hamburger bun dough by hand, thinking he could then shape and bake the raised dough at his leisure rather than rely on the bread machine to produce the dough. He reluctantly agreed; he'd wanted to see what the outcome might be with the bread machine. So he'll try it another time, and I made the dough. When it rose sufficiently I reminded him the process needed completion.

But he was tired and I said I'd do it and he could watch so he'd know what to do when he did try out the bread machine for that purpose. I sprinkled the baking sheet with light cornmeal, cut the dough into six portions, shaped them into flattened rounds, brushed them with egg yolk to let them rise for 20 minutes before baking. My husband's contribution was to sprinkle caraway seed over the eggyolk wash. Next time he'll do those steps on his own.

In the afternoon, after our ravine walk we'd gone over to have a look at the garden plants at reduced prices at the Canadian Tire garden shop. A lot of the offerings were indeed reduced in price, but not in fine shape. There were tomato plants with nice ripe tomatoes clinging to the vines; if they're not sold (still over-priced) they'll likely be composted by the store ridding itself if unsold inventory. We saw potato vines with delightful pink trumpet-shaped flowers; never even knew potato vines could flower, none of ours ever has. We bought several as stuffers for our garden pots, and another pot of parsley to plant alongside one we have growing in the garden. We also couldn't resist (I couldn't resist, that is) a sale-price carpet rose with soft white-to-pink little blooms, and a blue-flowering hydrangea. We'd really gone there to get some fertilizer for the garden pots, and that's scheduled for today, watering in plant food. We figure the bonemeal and composted sheep manure originally mixed in with the soil has by now been depleted as an energy source.

As for bargains, when cherries from Washington State were on sale I bought a sizeable bagful, only to discover later at home they were fairly tasteless, unlike the seasonal cherries we've been enjoying up to now. So I plan to pit them and bake a big cherry pie out of them; a useful alternative to eating what isn't particularly toothsome.

And then there's Jack and Jill; there's always Jack and Jill. Their energetic frolics keep us in stitches watching the acrobatic grace of their speed and their playful challenges to one another, their mad dashes and clashes, their amusing language when they play, their exchange of position when one dominates and the other submits and vice-versa. Life in this summertime household is extremely enjoyable.

Our good fortune is a condition of our life that doesn't escape our gratitude.