No sooner did we acclimate ourselves to the over-heated days of last week's 30+C days, than the heat wave broke and now we're back to cooler days of 14C. I should have put a second light blanket on our bed last night, but failed to, and it wasn't pleasant being thrust back into cool nights without preparation, both psychological and comforting. We did, though, revert to cool-weather eating yesterday. I prepared beef meatballs in gravy over cous-cous, with broccoli served on the side, and raspberries for dessert. That warmed us up nicely until we got into bed. Extra blanket tonight.

Our neighbour Dan was over early this morning to give Irving the rundown on their exploratory alternatives for our shared fencing. Who ever imagined it would cost over ten thousand dollars to re-fence our backyard? I imagine we paid a trifle thirty years ago for the first fence. At that time, all the neighbours got together and did the fencing themselves, everyone working on everyone else's fence. A feel-good enterprise.

It's quite different, however, to fence a yard that is clear of any planting. This time around we've all got mature trees, shrubs, garden infrastructure and garden beds to work around. It's a tough job, best left to professionals. I can't even imagine how they'll manage to get around all the obstructions. We'll be sharing the cost with Dan, won't bother the people in back of us since they're not the original owners and there's a thick cedar hedge backing their lot now; as for our other neighbour, it's a lost cause.

Irving finished up moving about those massively heavy garden pots and filling them with fresh soil in preparation for planting. After I finished my household chores I went out too, and added bonemeal to the soil, then I was able to plant a few things; a new climbing rose of the 'Explorer' series, cultivated for our Canadian climate, a new hibiscus, some nicotiana and dahlias.

Then we decided to break off and enjoy a long trek through the ravine with Jackie and Jillie who had been very patient, roaming about the garden, very interested in the appeal the odour of the bonemeal had for them. At times they went a little berserk racing after one another, wrestling, boxing in their inimitable way as twins.

Another cool day with the temperature nudging up to 15C, and a brisk wind, but clear and sunny. The woods are still saturated from the rain we had yesterday morning and the night before. Those large pools remain, not quite ready to be absorbed by the sodden forest. But the wildflowers look perky and happy, so all's well with their world. Every day has a new surprise for us. We've been on the lookout for one of our favourite woodland wildflowers and there was one at the side of one of the trails; a Jack-in-the-Pulpit!

The mosquitoes are also happy and would be even happier if we weren't wearing long trousers and long-sleeved tops. Stopping for more than a few seconds is a clear invitation for them to converge and do their best to overwhelm a victim's defences. Jackie and Jillie never keep still for more than a second, busily trotting about here and there.

Once again, the trails were ours, all ours. No one else out and about. Busy doing any number of things that take peoples' attention. And we had plans of our own once we returned home. We'd acquired so many single plants and flats of bedding plants for the garden and the garden pots, the prospect of planting them, arranging them architecturally and colourwise, excitingly appealing.

So that's just what we did for the remainder of the afternoon. Jackie and Jillie behaved themselves because there was an absolute dearth of people going by and no dogs at all. We visited briefly with our neighbour directly across the street who was busy herself digging out dandelions, her tiny grandson absorbed in doing the same as his grandmother.