Rascally little Jackie, it's hard to remember when I laughed so hard. Weekly, on return from our food shopping expeditions, both he and his sister are on the lookout for cauliflower. Their favourite vegetable, though they love all kinds of vegetables and fruits. He is particularly fond of cauliflower. When we unload everything from the four large carryalls we pack our food choices in, Irving always cuts away the extraneous stalk and accompanying thick 'leaves'. They take up too much unnecessary room in the vegetable crisper.

And while he's at it, he slices away slender pieces of the stalk for Jackie and Jillie to run off with and knaw on. This afternoon Jackie couldn't wait for all that to happen. He nosed around in the boxes and found himself a treasure. A stalk of broccoli. He scooped the thick, ungainly stalk into his little jaw and ran off with it, me in hot pursuit. He dropped it, in one of his beds in the family room, and defied me to retrieve it. And when I did, telling him he'd soon get his treat, he wasn't happy. I was, getting a good laugh out of his antics.

Well before that we had gone off for our daily amble through the ravine trails. Earlier in the morning workmen had finished laying fresh asphalt at the end of our driveway, where a week or so before they had cut a narrow trench in the process of laying upgraded fibre optic cable for the upgraded communications system. The awful mess we had seen on other streets where the work had been initiated in the community just didn't happen with our lawn and driveway nor those of our near neighbours.

The crews worked diligently and with due care to ensure homeowners weren't too discommoded. They had machinery for everything, including a small front-end loader-brush that scooped up the soil and other detritus that had spilled out onto the road during the ditging process. Whatever work they would accomplish in a day would see them hard at work cleaning up the area before departing for the end of their work day. We thanked them for their care and the work they performed as we headed up to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie.

And then, to my surprise, Irving showed me, when we drove out to do the shopping later in the day, that all the homes toward the foot of the street had their lawns as well as their driveways dug up on a far wider, larger scale than ours had been. Our lawn by comparison, had a small square dug up and a permanent marker put in place. In contrast at the end of the street and upward, lawns had huge sections taken out of them covered by boards that will eventually be repaired. In the interim they live with an awful-looking mess.

We've been exposed to a spate of really beautiful fall weather hard on the heels of late October being mired in cold, wet conditions. Although the miniature lakes that were established at that time on the floor of the ravine have still not yet been absorbed, we've enjoyed clear skies and full sun exposure for days -- unusual for November -- along with double-digit temperature highs, making for a balmy atmosphere. And it's very much appreciated.

We had a great time out in the ravine with our puppies today, even taking into account their hugely irritating habit of ferociously barking at other dogs. We passed in opposite directions on a narrow trail, a young woman with a huge German Shepherd, a really beautiful dog. And that dog had a lot to say about our two and their bad manners. J&J were quite taken aback by the German Shepherd's return barks as he corralled them too close for their comfort. He was only eight months old, a puppy, but better behaved than our two.

I try to plan meals a day ahead for the most part, since I'm convinced that's the only way to function efficiently. I bought mozzarella cheese and fresh mushrooms, planning to make a 'lighter', 'fun' meal for dinner tonight. Last night we'd had what I consider to be a 'heavy' meal; in fact I identify all meat-based meals as 'heavy'. I had roasted a Cornish hen, and whipped up an egg-noodle pudding to go with it. To me, that's a heavy meal, albeit delicious.

So, it's pizza tonight in this household, a treat that needs no special occasion to account for the lilt of pleasure of a different kind arising from the fragrance of it baking in t he oven, and t he anticipatory effect of cutting the still-hot concoction to be relished at dinner time. Not that the same wouldn't have applied to yesterday's meal. Both good, sturdy comfort food for cold fall nights.