These really are the 'dog days' of summer. We're into another heat wave, with no rain in sight. So we've a drought situation brewing while we're deep in heat. Today, up to 35 degrees, which meant deciding to go out to the ravine for our usual daily ramble before breakfast, a good choice.

Jackie and Jillie didn't mind one little bit. They were actually excited at the prospect, leaping and bounding about as soon as our intention became clear to them.  It's a different light that greets us in the forest early in the day. The slant of the morning sun while not yet quite penetrating the tree canopy to glance off the forest floor in select places, tends to have the effect of lighting up the forest interior which is more often in a state of perpetually twilight.

And since it was so early, with the likelihood of seeing anyone else about minimized, we decided to try them off-leash.

They did really, really well. And it was a relief, actually to note that they did far less browsing off-leash than on, strangely enough. They stayed close to us, and it was only when they saw/heard another dog that they became agitated and unruly. We did come across a tiny Schnauzer whom we haven't seen in ages. I doubt our two even recall ever meeting her, but they had a very sociable encounter. She was a fiery puppy back when, who loved her tennis ball, and now at 13 Kira's personality is quite muted. She's almost blind and certainly deaf. But she is well loved.

After breakfast and showers I urged myself to get out into the garden despite the unrelenting sun, to do some tidying, cutting back spent hosta wands, lily stalks, dried-up geranium flowers, faded Delphiniums and sunflower stalks, that kind of thing. And to water the pots and some of the garden beds in the back. The front gardens had been done a day before. It was hot but there is so much satisfaction in doing these things.

Back in the house there were other things to be done; cleaning bathrooms, preparing a bowl of coleslaw to go with dinner. Yesterday my husband had done a bang-up job of cleaning up the detritus of accumulated plant matter that tends to gather on the walkways and around the garden beds. He's far more meticulous about these things than I am. While we were busy, Jack and Jill enjoyed themselves wrestling and chasing after one another. Providing us with ample amusing diversions.

These summer months of leisure and spontaneous activities.