These August dog-days-of-summer hold no surprises for us. It's one of the most unsettled months in our experience, ricocheting continually from one weather system to another at the virtual blink of an eye. But it's all there, hot days, days swamped with rain, foggy mornings, cool and windy, you name it. In any event, ours is not a geography that would ever claim it can guarantee a long run of absolutely perfect weather.

And as far as we're concerned, whatever the weather, it is perfect in the sense that not being predictable it's never boring. We never quite know from one day to the next what will happen; will it rain? will we have a day of sunshine? will it be too humid and hot? We get it all and more, in the summer months.

The garden doesn't seem to mind. It needs all of the above to flourish and flourish it does. By this time of summer all the vegetation has had the opportunity of months' encouragement to proclaim their proud presence, spreading out, growing tall, preening and pretending they're the only plants in the garden, nudging their better-behaved neighbours to move over and give them more room.

In the forest, fall has already arrived. Its signature is everywhere. And to us it's unbelievable that the summer has succeeded in treating us to one of its phases after another and the fact that it's on the cusp of bowing out has eluded us to the present. The dogwood understory in the forest is decorated with berries, there are no haws left on the hawthorn trees, but the wild apple trees are busy dropping half their crop of apples perhaps wondering why no one is interested in picking them.

Two mornings ago when we made our way through an absolutely soaked forest there was no one else out and about. Jackie and Jillie had the woods they are convinced they are the sole caretakers of entirely to themselves; no need to assert themselves as they strutted through the trails, king and queen of all they surveyed.

But yesterday, a bright sunny morning, the trails hosted quite a few hikers, mostly with companion dogs, keeping Jackie and Jillie alert to any conceivable challenges to wardens-of-the-forest, a title they have bestowed upon themselves.

We returned from our ramble on the forest trails to a very happy garden, one that had ample opportunity to welcome the rain that has been incessant the last week, alongside sunny portions of each day, encouraging another flush of roses, making begonias and the last of the day lilies very happy. And when they're happy we are too.