I was beginning to feel really guilty, slack about looking after the grooming welfare of our two little dogs, so I resolved to cure that, and this morning sat out on the deck, sheltered from the sun, and gave them both haircuts. This time Jackie behaved well and allowed me to snip away, and it was Jillie who objected to the indignity. Eventually it all got done to our mutual satisfaction, and I felt better and they were relieved to be freed from that particular type of anguished torture.

Unfortunately their well-groomed appearance won't last. They're born ragamuffins and that's what they usually resemble. For the time being we can admire how they look, tomorrow will be another story altogether. Besides, we were hoping that with their hair cut shorter we'd have less trouble picking off the burrs that invariably stick to their hair because those damn things are everywhere now and every time they trot off the trail into the woods they come back with sticky things adhering to their paws, their legs, their ears and we have the unenviable job of picking them off.

On our way into the ravine this morning, just off the entrance, we were surprised to see that someone who obviously lives nearby had taken a wheelbarrow-full of ripe apples and dumped them on the side of the ascending hill. This happens every year, and one can only wonder at people who prefer to trash the fresh fruit growing in their backyards rather than relishing them.

Today's yet another lovely day, just a few blackflies to veer into my eyes, making it mandatory that I wear sunglasses. Several days earlier I just had them perched on top of my head when a blackfly went straight into my right eye and it was irritatingly painful. Good thing my husband has always been adept at removing such things, but why flies appear attracted to my face and its orifices is beyond me.

In some areas of the woods Queen Anne's Lace has grown to over my inconsiderable height of five feet this year. And, for the first time in our memory, we discovered a patch of purple loosestrife beginning to flower, the invasive species of wildflower that had environmentalists in such a tizzy several decades ago and more, warning people to be on the lookout for them and to destroy them or contact authorities as soon as they were seen. Since then it's been discovered they aren't the pervasive threat they were thought to be, taking over habitat of native species.

We came across someone we've seen a few times before walking three British Labs through the forest trails, two white and one black. They're shorter, heavier and bulkier in appearance than the ones we're accustomed to seeing, but as good natured as their North American counterparts.

By the time we concluded our excursion in the woods thunderheads were gathering overhead and thunder began rolling ominously. We'd had overnight rain and the forecast was for a 60% chance of thunderstorms. Once we arrive back home we don't mind one little bit if the skies open up. The work crews still hard at it at the area just beyond where we enter the ravine wouldn't much appreciate it, though. We think they're in the mopping-up  stages of remediation that has taken them over four months this far to ensure that the ravine's hillsides no longer slump, as occurred in April, as a result of the record-breaking rainfalls we've been having this spring and summer.