It has been well over three months since my husband had the opportunity, much less the inclination under lockdown conditions, to go over to the liquor store. He ran out of wine months ago. And he usually enjoys a glass of wine with some of his evening meals. Or bubbly cider. Although spirits were declared a 'necessary' item for public consumption and liquor stores remained open during the period from March to June, it was sheer folly to try to shop at one.

Everyone seemed to have been driven to absolute distraction during lockdown, working from home, worrying about the future, that to distract themselves from those concerns, they appear to have been imbibing more than usual. Anecdotal reports about runaway sales of liquor abounded. True, there are some select supermarkets that have been permitted to carry and sell alcoholic beverages, but the one we frequent isn't one of them.

So today my husband thought he'd give it a try. He'd drive over to the local retail outlet for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, and if they weren't too busy, as in too crowded with shoppers, he'd slip in there, face-masked and gloved. He didn't get very far in his intention. On arrival at the location what he saw was not a crowded store, but a line several blocks long of people patiently awaiting an opportunity to get in, grab what they wanted and get out. What's more, this is an extremely hot day of 30C and the sun was beating down mercilessly on the people lined up.

At no time will my husband wait in a lineup if he can help it. And he could help it on this occasion. He drove right back home again. And then decided he'd wash the car, instead. By that time of the day, late afternoon, the driveway is in full shade. And since there is also a cooling breeze, and the water out of the  hose is nice and cool, washing the car turned out to be a good idea. While he was at it, I was outside in the garden, with Jackie and Jillie behaving themselves hovering about around us.

I did some dead-heading of blooms, tied up other plants, and took an inventory of what was happening in the various beds and borders. The roses are now beginning their June bloom, and so are the peonies. The clematis vine with its huge spectacular blooms is just about finished, preparing to lose those fabulous purple petals. The begonias are coming around very nicely, and so are the petunias in their glorious striped colours.

This morning we decided to go straight out to the ravine before breakfast and before the heat really built up. The street was quiet as we walked up to the ravine entrance; no one else around at all; people sensibly sleeping in after a hot and restless night. We thought at this relatively early hour we'd have the ravine and the forest trails to ourselves. The large thimbleberry shrubs that have been putting on green weight for the past several weeks are now beginning to bloom. And we finally saw the first of the daisies in bloom.

We were soon relieved of the notion that there would be few others around at that hour. As it happens, and unsurprisingly, we weren't the only ones thinking of evading the afternoon heat by traipsing through the forest trails before the day's build-up. What was interesting was that we kept running into people we know that we haven't seen in months. Which meant that we were out considerably longer than we had anticipated, since each time we'd greet an old friend, it meant standing about talking to catch up with their news.

Jackie becomes quite excited when he sees in the distance that people and dogs are approaching that he recognizes. If he were off leash, he'd dash forward to greet them. On leash as we now keep them, he begins to walk upright and does so for a surprisingly lengthy period. Balancing effortlessly on his two hind legs, he simply walks reminiscent of how in the cruel days of circuses bears were trained to do that for the amusement of circus-goers.