Some of the raspberry bushes that we were plucking ripe fruit from the last few weeks have been bearing much smaller products than normally, since they weren't the beneficiaries of the copious rain that has been falling for the last week, after a long spell of drought conditions. Now that other raspberry shrubs are just preparing to come into full ripeness, we can see their fruit is larger. They need both sun and rain, and we have ample sun, without which they aren't sweet, while too much rain prompts them to grow large but with a tendency to lose firmness while failing to acquire sweetness.

We don't get blueberries in the ravine, but there are wild strawberry plants and an abundance of thimbleberry and some blackberries. All this sweet goodness is hugely appreciated. Even Jackie and Jillie know they represent a treat. The apples this year, however, are scarce in number, and we theorize that April and May, colder than usual this spring, may have nipped their flower buds. It's odd to see how some vegetation flourishes in the forest, while others seem to suffer.

No suffering for the Queen Anne's lace, the fleabane, daisies, buttercups, dogwood, yellow loosestrife, goldenrod and asters, however; they've been perky and much in evidence. The colony of jewelweed is sporting as many blossoms on their delicate stalks as they do in any normal mid-summer. And the beaming bright faces of sunflowers on their robust, tall stalks spell summer loud nd clear.

These latter days of July which had brought few rain events, have been accelerating in making up for the rain deficit. Though the follow-days of constant rain and thunderstorms seem to be behind us now. Rain events are interspersed with surprisingly cloud-free skies allowing the heated rays of the sun to dry off everything in between rains which erupt surprisingly quickly, as high winds seem to push an abundance of rainclouds episodically throughout the course of the day, shutting out the sun.

It makes for some quite interesting concerns; as in will we be able to get through an hour's ramble in the woods with Jackie and Jillie before the rain starts up again, or won't we? So far, luck has been with us. We can look up through the leafy canopy of the forest, seeing nothing but clear blue, and a half hour later, the inner sanctum of the forest has turned to dusk, then dark -- and then we're home and marvelling at the ferocity of a thunderstorm we're grateful to witness from the interior of the house and not from the perspective of shivering and drenched under a copse of trees.

Is it soggy in the ravine? Yes, yes it is. With intensified colour sensibilities, as well. And the appearance here and there of mushrooms growing where tree roots and old stumps still stand, feeding on the woody underground detritus as it decays.

The creek has been running full ever since t he rains have begun, needless to say. And even the spread-out tributaries of the creek now cradle ponds of muddy rainwater. It does make some parts of the forest trails slippery and muddy and we have to exercise due caution, preferring not to slither downhill on our backsides. But it's all part and portion of enjoying our good fortune with such easy access to such a natural treasure.