And the message from Environment Canada to all of us in Eastern Ontario affirms what that little Woolly Bear caterpillar a few days back was trying to convince us of; don't despair, the weather is due to change and mild will soon be in the air: "One more night of patchy frost. In September and October, and maybe even until Remembrance Day or mid-November, we think the flavour, the personality in the Ottawa Valley should be warmer than normal. There's a lot of heat stored in the lakes and the rivers and the land", said the chief environmental officer of the modelling results. Sheesh! They could just have consulted that little caterpillar...!

This means, among other things, that we'll now have to re-adjust our meal plans back to summer-mode. Yesterday's cold temperature turned me toward a more body-warming-satisfying meal. I roasted a Cornish hen. I made a noodle-egg-raisin pudding for dinner. Sumptuously warm and comforting as befits an early fall day that went out of its way to convince us that late fall had precipitately arrived. 

Not that it's very warm today, and not that some of the garden plants don't look extremely peaked. Which is to say, touched by frost, shriveled, miserable. But not all of the plants by any means, many of them holding up and proving there's more life in them yet. Despite which I continued with the cold-weather mode and prepared a hot-spice tomato-lentil soup and cheesy croissants to accompany the soup. For dessert, a blueberry crisp, and it too will be warm. 

Tomorrow? Well, according to the forecaster we could be in the 20s. A born skeptic, I say prove it. On our way toward the ravine for our late morning ramble through the forest trails, we could feel the warmth of the sun probing our backs. But though Jackie and Jillie decided to shed their little tee-shirts, we ourselves wore jackets. And once we were in the ravine, making our way through the trails, we regretted not having brought along gloves.

On our way up the street to the ravine entrance, there was the sound of geese high above. A watercolour-clear blue sky and streaking across the sky in a very businesslike manner, a formation of migrating geese. Absolutely nothing is as nostalgic as migrating geese, particularly when they're headed south. Romantic and pleasant while also pensively sad; goodbye summer, hello autumn, take your time, winter. And as we approached the forest, its fringe laid out below before us, we could see in plain living colour that amidst the dark green of the evergreens, poplars and maples beginning to change.

It was, as usual, lovely in the forest, the sun scattering light through the forest canopy, light wind bringing down the occasional dry-and-yellowed leaf. Never let it be said that dogs don't have excellent memories. Our two were excited to greet a young woman with her Brittany spaniel; not because they love the other little dog, but because the young woman whom we haven't seen in quite a while, once had dished out treats. As she did again today.

This is the time for asters, and they're everywhere. White, pale mauve and bright pink or purple. Medium-sized, minuscule and large. Oh, of course, also pilotweed. The Black-eyed Susans are still in bloom, but they confine themselves as do the Himalayan orchids to the forest glens, where ample sun illuminates their growing spaces.

Later, in mid-afternoon we had appointments for our puppies at the Veterinary clinic nearby. That place is a Five-ring circus. Although every-other parking space is to be kept vacant, even so, vehicles kept driving back and forth for the hour or so we were there. The drill is: sit in your car, with mask on. An attendant rushes out to welcome you, and take the particulars of your appointment. You wait. Eventually others come along to take possession of your puppies. You wait. Eventually they are returned to you.

They are scheduled for physical check-ups and for their yearly shots, but not those that are to be given every three years. The veterinarian comes out after attendants return your puppies, to discuss the examination, her findings and recommendations, and a long chat ensues, very friendly and informal. And then the ordeal is over, but the puppies take quite a while to settle down after the trauma of separation.