April got good and fed up with our complaints. Instead of sending more punishing weather our way, she forgivingly brought us warmth and sun. And weren't we gratified and grateful! Just ask Jackie and Jillie. They keep insisting they must get out on the deck to wallow in the sun. Mind, they won't stay outside while we opt to remain inside doing stupid things like paying bills and doing spring cleaning. So they've appointed us their official doormen. In-and-out, out-and-in, there's a good human.

We were out ourselves, much earlier in the morning to get our food shopping done. They forgave us the moment we walked back into the house, mollified to some degree by the apologetic offerings that came their way in the form of cauliflower florets and 'bacon' doggy strips. 

They had enjoyed some beef stew last night, after their own dinner and were still in a mood of bliss. We too felt pretty good about the beef stew with carrots and mushrooms we enjoyed ourselves, served over cous-cous, and green beans on the side. They had green beans too; as much as they like meat they appreciate vegetables even more. We didn't share our dessert with them, but when I was cutting up the pears and plums to make a fruit compote, they emphatically suggested that raw fruit slices would do very nicely, thank you very much.

These 'heavy' comfort foods will soon be replaced by lighter, summer meals. So we'll enjoy them while we absolutely must. Today we'll have one of those lighter meals. I pre-prepared (blini) cheese blintzes for dinner. To have with a fresh vegetable salad, and fresh strawberries and kiwis for dessert. And then, when all the little issues that had to be looked after were completed, we turned our attention to the day's highlight.

Full sun in a glorious blue sky, and a temperature that rose steadily to a graceful 15C. At that temperature we can take the wind; it tends to feel light and caressing even though it's insistent enough to sway the masts of tall hardwoods in the forest canopy. Parts of the trail system are drying out nicely, other parts remain thick with mud. And those areas that jealously hold on to their ice will have to wave goodbye to it in two weeks' time if this wave of warmth is maintained (as it must!).

The call of the great outdoors is irresistible to all of us, but it's only Jackie and Jillie that speed through the trails. We follow in our own good time. They double and triple the mileage we wrack up at our speed, with their fleeting spurts and returns. They take their responsibility to look after us very seriously, and we're grateful to their sense of duty that brings them sproinging back.

Irving stopped me as we were labouring up one of the hills, to point out the first of the snakes emerging from their winter lairs. This was a fair-sized fellow winding its way through the litter on the forest floor; a small garter snake; small because though mature, they are a small variety of reptiles. When we've seen the emergence in spring of baby snakes they tend to be coiled about one another in a bit of a knot, squirming to be free and detach themselves as they emerge from the nest where they were held prisoner by winter.

And then, just a few yards on, as we approached the top of the hill, the unmistakable shadow of Mourning Cloaks. We had anticipated that we would likely see these first of the butterflies to emerge from their winter cocoons. So we stood awhile, watching them drying their wings and readying themselves for their mating rituals. Where the male seems to spiral and dance around the female in mid-air, graceful and skilled pirouettes. 

When we got back home, I decided to continue cleaning out cupboards in my spring cleaning mission, and got a few done, before I decided that was enough strenuous activity for one day; time to relax!