Just thinking about all the things that have to be done in the transition from one season to another is fatiguing. There are so many details, so many items to be looked after, particularly between the passage of winter into spring, and its reverse; fall into winter. Summer is home free, leisure time, when we just have to tend to ordinary, everyday things so many of which are sheer pleasure.

At this time of year, though, that old tradition of spring cleaning and changeover looms over us. In the house, once the mud we carry in from our daily forays into the ravine to trek the forest trails has finished, all the winter rugs at the back, front, and side doors have to be lifted and deep-cleaned -- as in washed. And replaced with smaller, lighter ones, easier to deal with when the floors get washed weekly. Boot trays emptied of their muddy boots, everything cleaned and put away.

Winter coats have to be washed and put away for the season and the same with all the woolly accoutrements accompanying the jackets. The same for strictly winter clothing; washed, cleaned and stored out of the way while lighter clothing is brought out. Bedclothes the same, quilts changed over and different types of bedding linen exchanged.

Kitchen cupboards emptied, washed and restocked. Curtains taken down, washed and rehung. Windows washed. I've started saving coffee grounds rather than putting them into the compost bin, so I can scatter them around the blue and pink hydrangeas for better performance. I used to crush eggshells and gather them into large plastic containers to be used instead of diatomaceous earth to scatter around the stalks of emerging hostas to protect the foliage from slugs.

I've partially emptied the compost bins in the backyard to sprinkle the rich finished 'soil' comprised of decayed kitchen waste into the garden beds at the front of the house. I'm considering doing the same with the back gardens, but hesitate because Jackie and Jillie might be attracted to it to roll in, although it's been so long in the making there's no odour I can detect to attract them.

We went out to the ravine a little later than usual this afternoon because aside from the house-cleaning this morning, I added in a few other tasks, but we did get out there and there's such a difference to be seen every day. Dogwood shrubs are putting out little green leafy shoots. The hazelnut shrubs' catkins are now fully open, just dripping off the branches. The wind has brought down tons of the red florets of the maple trees. We saw the emergence of partridgeberry greenery shining dark green through the leaf mass of the forest floor.

Jackie and Jillie met up with some doggie acquaintances they were happy to see and hang out with briefly. They tend to bark excitedly as a 'hi, how'r'ya! when they see an old friend. Among them were two little pint-sized Yorkie mixes trotting through the trails, a fraction of the size of either Jackie or Jillie, and they're fairly small dogs themselves. 

And yes, the Mallards that we saw four days ago are still hanging around the creek. Seems they're finding enough aquatic vegetation and/or insects to satisfy their nesting hunger. It's lovely to see them, they're so calm and attractive. They're completely unfazed by any attention they get, nothing seems to bother them, though it undoubtedly would if a dog decided to go for a dip nearby them and thrash about in the creek, and much more so if they were ever viewed as 'game' by a Malamute, for example.