Irving does everything that has to be done technically in our house, and he always has. It's the third house we've owned and lived in, discounting the houses that weren't owned by us but in which we lived for years in both Tokyo and Atlanta. From plumbing to electrical, building walls downstairs in the basements to transform the space there to an additionally livable part of the house, installing doors and altering 'open concept' spaces to fully enclosed rooms, designing and producing stained glass windows for every window in the house, to excavation work in the garden and building stone retaining walls and brick walkways, there is absolutely nothing he couldn't conceive of, and build.

 

It was as though each of the prior houses represented a rehearsal for the final house we now live in, and have done for over 30 years. Among other things he did was to install dimmer switches in all the bedrooms. One of those switches exhibited a penchant for mischief over the years, suddenly deciding to turn itself on independently during the night hours. The ghost-in-the-light-switch as it were. When we shut down the dimmer function, it began to balk at being turned on and off, until finally it gave up the ghost (see?). So today Irving rummaged about in his workshop to come up with an ordinary switch and an hour later the balky dimmer switch was exchanged.

 

 

His ability to do such a wide variety of things always impresses me. He attributes it to the fact that when he was in his teens and at high school 'shop' was a mandatory class where he was exposed to all manner of maintenance and upkeep standards having equipped him to tackle all these household chores. And that may be so, but only partially, since his own inbred sense of aesthetic and  his indistinguishable curiosity really prepared him to explore and learn and flourish at creative tasks and enterprises.  

We've got another hot, humid and sunny day, with an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms forecasted today. A bit of a breeze helps, but barely. A number of trips out to the backyard in between laundering towels and linen and deep-cleaning bathrooms gave me the opportunity to do a little bit of weeding in the back garden; a task that frays our patience but whose presentation is never-ending. Jackie and Jillie view such excursions as opportunities to chase rabbits and squirrels within our firmly fenced backyard.

 

Later on, out we went to the ravine, roasting in the sun until we reached the confines of the forest. On the way we picked some ripe raspberries for the puppies, who hover expectantly beside us while we do the picking and the mosquitoes punish us for disturbing their places of residence. Yesterday's heavy ongoing rain events through the late afternoon into the evening left a fine glittering veil of moisture over everything where the sun cannot penetrate the forest canopy.

 

The trails winding through the forest are as steeped in muck as we've ever seen them, and the rain puddles are extensive, their avoidance requiring little detours we all indulge in. The wildflowers of early- and mid-spring have had their day, to be replaced by summer wildflowers that are going into bloom much earlier than usual, thanks to a very wet and humid spring. Even the ripening of berries is earlier than usual by weeks. Now, we see Black-eyed-Susans and Queen Anne's lace, Pilotweed and Fleabane in nature's summer garden.

We came across only one of the many dogs who make a beeline for Irving, a Bernese Mountain Dog accustomed to plopping himself down beside Irving to await notice (as though his presence could be overlooked) and receive his reward for exemplary behaviour.  Jackie and Jillie as delighted to see the dog as it is to encounter us, just as we prepared to clamber up the last long hill to street level, and home. Their delight stems from the fact that while the Big Boy gets a selection of big cookies, they too are acknowledged with their own array of tiny cookies.

Once home, we take advantage of a shady nook in the garden's seating arrangement where a very efficient breeze demonstrates just how welcome the elements of shade and wind can be restoratively on such hot, muggy days. That rest period also gives me another opportunity to do a little weeding and tidying-up in the garden whose presence gives us so much pleasure.