They raced about the house today like demented little sprites and it's just as well they did. The exercise they usually get was denied them today. So much uninterrupted rain that none of us felt the urge to challenge the elements. Getting out into light rain with raincoats on a less-than-cold day, depending on the full-leaf canopied protective cover in the forest is one thing. Chilly fall days of unrelenting rain are just kind of ... dismal, why fight the elements?

We certainly had enough to do to keep us busy. Jackie and Jillie snoozed about after breakfast. They're accustomed to Mondays when we zip around the house doing the weekly deep cleaning. So they just leave us to it. My husband finally got the all-weather tires out of the car and into storage over-winter in the garage after he had the ice tires replace them earlier in the week. He needed to get that done after all, though he was putting it off, procrastinating, as one of those nuisance things.

And then he was able to drive over to the hardware store to pick up a few items for the latest project he's working on. In his absence Jackie and Jillie are on the lookout for his return. Looking out the front door they watch to see if he's about to drive back up the driveway. Should anyone happen to pass by, umbrella held high, they go into a frenzy of barking.

I haven't yet mastered the art of interpreting the tenor of their barks; what pitch means 'stranger walking by' and which signifies 'here he is, back home at last!'. They're doing their utmost to teach me, I guess I'm just a slow learner.

When I glance out the front door I see and interpret the scene quite differently than do our little dogs. I see colour and aesthetic form, and appreciate it in the certainty that there's only a week or so left before that beauty will have evaporated into memory. Though I've done hours of garden preparation for winter I haven't had the heart to take out the still-blooming flowers that have managed to carry on despite night frosts. This weekend will likely see the end of their perky presence.

I decided to prepare a little snack that we haven't enjoyed in quite a while. My husband is especially fond of chickpeas, well cooked and peppered. I had dried chickpeas, so soaked them overnight, cooked them this morning, dried, salted and peppered and olive-oiled them to bake until crisp in a hot oven. They can be addictive, but healthily so.

 

When I had finished washing the floors, that marked the end of house-cleaning for the day. And as I trudged upstairs to change, Jackie and Jillie danced around my feet, excited and happy. They know the drill; I wash and change and then back down we go to the kitchen and they expect their little bowls of chopped fresh cauliflower; their expectations are never disappointed. Each with our own version of snack-treats.

The only thing that was missing today was our ramble through the forest trails of the ravine. But the rain carried on....