Another perfectly lovely day heading into calendar summer; on the cool side at 21C, windy gusts and a sparkling-bright sun. The sun so bright in fact, that it can be dangerous to look directly at it for any length of time; say, 5 seconds. A perfect morning to wander about the garden in the backyard and take stock of everything. With the help of Jackie and Jillie, of course.

Irving was busy on the deck, assembling all the pieces that go into two armchairs, a settee and a table, new deck furniture he bought a few weeks back that came complete and flat in a cardboard box, waiting for the purchaser to put it all together. And that's just what he was doing. Shades of Ikea! Instructions for these things are always somewhat lacking. If there's anyone familiar with tools and piecing disparate parts together, it's him. Himself a skilled furniture-maker on occasion. 

But the bolts that came with the bits and pieces were loathe to fit into the places they were meant to be, mostly because the material making up the faux bamboo is not rigid. But he soldiered on and finally completed the job. We were both of us, actually, finished our chores at about the same time. For me, it was bathrooms and kitchen, linen laundry and other sundry things.

Then off we went on this beautiful day to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie. Still on the cool side, and gusting winds to 50 mph. Directly in the sun it felt wonderful. Out of the sun, in the forest, still pleasant, since it was about 6 degrees warmer than yesterday's high of 16C. 

Before we completed our circuit we decided to go by a short, open trail in a bit of a glade alongside the creek toward the pollinating meadow we visit on occasion. There, we saw plenty of maturing milkweed, great for butterflies, but also stands of wild parsnip, not so great for those who cannot recognize the noxious plant and who may come away with skin badly irritated.  

There was also daisies dancing in the wind, and fleabane that had grown as tall as I am. Scads of thimbleberry shrubs with their bright pink flowers, and astonishingly, blackberry canes whose flowers had already begun to transform into berries. 

Irving had offered to do something on the barbecue and we agreed that 'something' could be sausages. So when we arrived back home after I cut up J&J's afternoon salad, I began making several salads for us. A desert salad comprised of strawberries, clementines and kiwis. And a cauliflower salad that had sliced green onions, chopped tomato and red bell pepper in it, to accompany the sausages. Sausages really cry out for wine sauerkraut, and that'll be on hand, as well.