The garden hasn't needed much help from us lately. Aside from a bit of tidying up here and there, it been doing a really good job of looking after itself. Taking advantage of daily downpours followed post-haste by the glowing appearance of the sun. And the day-time temperatures have stabilized nicely to be quite comfortable; neither too warm nor too cool. Ideal for vegetation, and for humans and dogs as well.

This morning we took a little baggie along with us carrying part of an apple. There are no longer any berries to be picked, although there are some not yet sufficiently ripe. And nor are there any ripe wild apples. So my husband doled out little bits of apple to Jackie and Jillie as we proceeded through the ravine this morning.

And as we did so, seeing few other people. We did come across a very fit and young-looking, athletic in appearance grandmother whom we've been seeing lately, with her lively little grandson in tow. Or perhaps it's the other way around; the little boy out in front and his grandmother following at a short distance. And with them their supremely well behaved part Boxer, who has become accustomed to our two puppies' rowdy ill manners. 

And we also came across another friend of long acquaintance, a former high school teacher with his elderly Rottweiler, who has a penchant for standing around and grabbing all manner of conversational topics out of thin air to explore, ventilate over and communicate. He's a cheerful man, truly good natured and empathetic, and our conversations are never boring.

Other than that, we had all the forest trails to ourselves. Overhead, the wind ripped noisily through the canopy of the forest, the sun streaked its rays piercingly through the leaf mass, and the ground under our hiking boots was well sodden, the result of overnight rain so frequent this year that we can just take it for granted that it will rain heavily over the dark hours of the night.

A few days back I had noted a new follower on Twitter. The name so unique that I knew there could be none other than a woman I had once worked with when we lived abroad. That's the thing about the Internet and the various social platforms; you never know who might next pop up. I was absolutely delighted to hear from her. She was an especial favourite of mine. She and her husband had decades ago once travelled to Ottawa and visited with us. And then we lost touch.

Now we're in touch again, and it feels so good. She and her husband are now both retired, and he's taken up gardening. How cool is that? I have hopes that this renewed friendship will bear a long-term future. 

After breakfast when we returned from our forest hike, I decided to bake a blueberry-peach pie. Our granddaughter had described to me a dessert she had made that her mother had been skeptical of, but changed her mind over it once she tasted the combination; a blueberry-peach crisp. So I thought I'd try the combination myself, and it looks and smells enticing, so that's what we're having for dessert tonight.