It was warmer and sunnier a month ago, in April, than it is now in May. We've had a continual spate of cooler, windier and rainier days. We thought today was going to be an exception, but it wasn't, after all. It started out sunny and 11C, albeit windy, but the temperature hasn't nudged upward, the wind continues, and dark-streaked clouds move in, obliterating the sun. But not before Jackie and Jillie sounded their alarm at the appearance even earlier in the day of our little raccoon friend.

Irving decided, since no rain was in the forecast and the grass appears to have finally dried, to cut the lawn front and back for the first time this spring. So while he was out, we were in, since Jackie and Jillie become very belligerent in close communion with mechanical objects that roar, but once the grass was cut in the back and Irving moved to the front of the house, out we went, and I set about cutting back dead rose canes.

It's ouchy work for which rubber gloves are recommended and good sharp loppers. There's always the concern that tender little paws will step on newly-lopped canes, but they managed to evade them, poking about in other parts of the garden. It's the best time of year to do this kind of thing; foliage is just beginning to green on the canes and it can readily be seen which canes have exhausted themselves and will no longer host life.

While I was at it, I did some heavy cutting of old canes that should have been cut away years ago, partially filling up a large tough paper compost bag. And there's always other things that need attention; some understory dead branches of the backyard weeping mulberry, for example. The small magnolia in the backyard is just beginning to fully open its blooms. It's not as spectacular as the older, larger magnolia, though there's only a decade between them.

To my surprise, I discovered more snakehead fritillaries coming up and blooming where none had been before. It's the kind of surprise that's always appreciated. These are exceedingly delicate plants and quite beautiful, so I'm glad to see them naturalizing and appearing here and there.

By the time we realized it, afternoon had arrived, and it was time to set out with Jackie and Jillie into the ravine for our daily perambulation. Things are drying up in there, too, although the forest trails remain steeped in mud. Another few days without rain, and some penetrating sun still able to sift through the unleafed forest canopy should do it.

Irving suggested I might like to hike down one of the hillsides from the ridge where the main trail is to see whether any white trilliums are yet in bloom. While I doubted they would be, since they're usually later to appear and to bloom than the red ones, I scrambled down to an area where we've found white trilliums in the past, and sure enough he was right, a few scattered white trilliums were just beginning to bloom.