Another busy day. They're all such busy days. So much for retirement. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, somehow the common belief that once retired from the active workforce in acknowledgement of advancing age and the opportunity to use time for whatever purpose one prefers, no longer having to 'make a living' and prepared to make living work for you, time doesn't stretch endlessly with nothing to do. In actual fact, there is much to do and constant little 'jobs' await, along with the opportunity to make the most of the leisure hours that are left to the day.

An average day like today saw us poking about the garden after breakfast, assessing the condition of the plants and the pots and watering things to ensure they don't dry out. We did have a brief rain shower last night, but rain, wile looking after the general landscape seldom pours itself into the garden pots filled with plants thirsty for a fresh drink. 

After that Irving went back out to the garage to finish yesterday's work after he filled the cracks and gaps that had opened on the cement garage floor after thirty years of driving vehicles dripping salt in the winter from municipal roads. All the filler had dried well, and he set about grinding down everything to make it smooth and even. It all looks very presentable, and the expectation is that the floor will be intact for years to come. About ten years ago our next-door neighbour had his garage floor entirely replaced, the old floor excavated and a new one put in. We didn't contemplate such an extreme.

While he was busy outside, I busied myself in the house, preparing a bread dough for use later int he week, and baking a cheesecake. And making preparations to roast a half turkey breast for a Caesar salad for dinner that will include cauliflower and asparagus. And of course, the obligatory chicken soup to preface the meal. 

We got ourselves out in the afternoon with Jackie and Jillie, and it was a perfect day for a ravine hike through the forest trails; relatively cool at 26C, sunny and slightly breezy, but the atmosphere good and dry, if not the trails themselves. There's so much to see in there. Mushrooms are coming up here and there, and it's obvious that mischievous squirrels are attracted to the orange and pale pink specimens. They may have memory of the hallucinegenic ones that come up later in the season perhaps.

Goldenrod is preparing to bloom. They've sent up their wavy clusters of delicate greenery that hasn't yet turned yellow, to join ranks with the other allergen of note, ragweed, that preceded it in presence. The Black-eyed Susans continue to flaunt their beautiful presence in great wide swaths, monopolizing part of the banks above the ravine's creek.

Wild parsnip, which we take care not to brush up against, is now in full bloom, insinuating itself among the field daisies in the open areas around the creek. And finally today we saw that some of the Himalayan orchid plants that have attained great height are in flower, among the later-blooming Elderberry shrubs, in a landscape symphony of white-and-pink. The fragrance of the Elderberry flower panicles perfumes the landscape.