Grab your camera, he said, and come outside for a minute. So I left the final cleaning-up in the kitchen, fumbled for my ever-present camera and went out onto the deck. Hmm, nice sky, reflecting the setting sun on a hot, humid day. Not all that exciting, we've seen far more fiery clouds, usually in the fall. Still, I took a few photos. And they weren't much to look at. But the ones my husband took were far better. And then twilight eventually entered and we entered the house, Jackie and Jillie following.

A hot, sticky night with slight relief from a floor fan. When the outside temperature doesn't fall much below 24C, you know you're in for a restless night. But all of us slept well anyway, and strangely, the bedroom window miraculously opened itself at some point during the night, allowing us the illusion of cool night air streaming within, for relief.

Heading for 32C with clear skies, we left the house early, for the ravine. We had set the table, somewhat more elaborately than usual, since it's a Saturday and on the weekends we tend to splurge a bit, both for us and for the puppies. Before we left, Jackie and Jillie lined up for their usual treats of bits of hard cheese to hold them over until breakfast. And off we went, appreciating a light breeze directly at our faces before we entered the ravine.

Not many others out. We were slightly earlier than usual, just before eight. And then, halfway through the circuit we'd chosen, along came a young and very playful pointer, inviting Jackie and Jillie for a bit of fun. Carefree and free of the nuisance of a leash, the beautiful dog cantered and curtsied in and around the orbit of our two little dogs, getting snared in one leash after the other. Current reports of coyote sightings, and one friend describing a night last week of coyote choruses in their backyard, will keep our two little dogs on leash.

As far as we can deduce,for the most part, coyotes remain secretive and elusive, wont to engage with dogs generally only when they're being harassed. And that is precisely what Jackie and Jillie excel at; barking at 'dogs' they're unacquainted with, and prancing around them in a frenzy of hostility. They'd be guaranteed to do the same with coyotes and we just won't take the risk. I've seen one ever so briefly lingering and silently watching from behind a copse of trees close to the trail we were on, months ago. Occasionally, our pups will come to attention and begin barking when we cannot see anything that would take their attention; on this occasion they failed to detect the presence of a strange 'dog'.

We decided to go on a bit longer and further than our usual circuit. Because we could see in the distance where the creek carries on and where the forest had been partially cleared some years back as a result of a slump of a hillside into the creek, that some intriguing colour had appeared on the opposite creek bank. I knew they were wildflowers, most likely the currently flowering ones, Pilotweed, Queen Anne's Lace and Black-Eyed Susan. We haven't been that way for a while. And to approach the wildflowers we'd have to do a little bushwhacking.

So that's just what we did, making our way off-trail amongst the bracken and trees on a broad hillside to come accounter the wildflowers. And they were delightful. Because they have full exposure to the sun they're larger and more fully developed than their skimpier cousins that grow alongside the trails in the forest interior. So, 'click', 'click', 'click', while we traipsed about. Mindful of ticks, but Jackie and Jillie take seasonal medication against ticks and other pests, and we were dressed with long pants.

Back home again, later, we did a little more traipsing; through the gardens, where I took stock of what I intended to cut back, intending to do so after breakfast. The garden looks bright and cheerful, some of the mature plants crowding out other mature plans, needing a little bit of discipline to be fair to all of them.

Later, as we prepared for our pre-breakfast morning showers, I felt a little prick on my arm, looked down to see a tick. While Jackie and Jillie are protected against the little monsters, it doesn't mean that the occasional one mightn't decide to take a free ride on their haircoats. That we might overlook it, even though we conduct a cursory review after returning home.