Just as well we've returned to cooler weather, after last week's full-on heat wave. With the sudden proliferation of wildfires appearing all over the country, that kind of heat along with the dry conditions and high wind activity spells trouble. In the Ottawa area, that suffered through a highly unusual derecho a year ago which brought down thousands of trees, there's the added combustibility of dry and rotting tree trunks in forested areas. Including our own forest.

It's been ridiculously cool this week after that week of extreme heat the week before. Irving had brought up floor fans, two of which sit in the family room, which certainly helped during the heat. They're understandably idle now. What was more useful for us last night was the fireplace. So it was burning away merrily last evening, the two fans sitting dejectedly on either side of it.

Meal planning has also done a pivot from warm-weather fare, back to winter-comfort foods. Yesterday was the perfect evening to serve chicken drumsticks with Spanish-style cous-cous. A delicious combination of vegetables, seasonings and minuscule pasta, as it were. Colourful enough to cheer us up and nutritious enough to serve us well, closing out the day.

We're sleeping more comfortably, however, in this cooler weather. For which an extra blanket came in downright handy. Not a peep out of Jackie and Jillie, they too found it far more comfortable for sleeping than the week before. And with the return of cooler weather, their appetites have returned to their usual state of greedy expectation.

It was late afternoon by the time we took ourselves out to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie. Irving had been gone for hours, out on a shopping expedition, ostensibly looking after a number of errands. Actually, he enjoys going out here and there shopping around. As we left the house light rain began, but it seemed tentative, and we simply proceeded toward our destination, figuring the tree canopy in the forest would keep us reasonably dry. No need, after all, since the sun came out shortly after. 

On our return back home there was a bit of gardening to be done; a little like furniture-moving, since I transplanted a few annuals that were injudiciously placed to begin with, too close to the potential spread of hostas. I also mixed up some baking soda and sugar to sprinkle on a portion of one of the garden beds in the hope I could persuade an old colony of ants to decamp.

Ottawa's air quality is much improved today. The acrid odour of burning wood is far less detectable, and there isn't any haze occluding the atmosphere that we could see. The weather experts have warned us that the haze and the particulate matter circulation will return for the weekend. In the meantime, it's great that rain has arrived, because we certainly need it if for no other reason than to dampen the potential for any more explosions of sudden wildfires.