So far, summer is continuing to shape up very nicely. We're now in a spate of the most pleasant of weather-days; warm but not hot, plenty of breezes, and a mixture of sun and cloud. And, of course, intermittent rain events. Yesterday, we deemed it reasonable, given the weather, to do a little work in the garden. Mostly tidying up, an all-summer-long occupation, in actual fact. Sun exposure, ample rain and reasonable weather conditions encourage vegetation growth. And from time to time -- at least once a week, the garden begs to be attended to, cutting back spent flowers to encourage new ones, sweeping up the detritus that tends to gather.

 

 

Nature is an endless assistant. Too bushed to do the watering yesterday, we wagered that it would soon rain, and rain it did, heavily, several hours after we completed our labours. Hard not to feel a bit smug about that kind of natural intervention. Despite that we've had so much rain this spring and summer it has all been absorbed by the thirsty ground below us. The trails in the forest have dried up nicely, and it's hard o discern that the gardens have received a needed quota of rain; with the constant wind, everything has a tendency to dry quickly.

 

 

Sun and rain have also hastened the ripening of the wild berries in the forest. And Jackie and Jillie are major beneficiaries. They know where the pickings are best because we've parked ourselves in those areas alongside the trails for weeks now, picking ripe raspberries, and now thimbleberries for them. The last of the berries -- are in even greater abundance, though they will be a while yet in ripening.

 

 

Yesterday we had seen a pair of male Pileated woodpeckers in the woods, not far off one of the trails we were on. Strange to see a pair -- not a male and female -- together actually working in concert with one another. They flew together to the trees of interest to them, and finally settled, one on each side of an old tree trunk, just a foot off the ground, to begin battering the decaying wood.

 

 

Despite the beautiful weather and the recreational allure of the forest trails, and anticipating surprises now and again at unexpected sightings every time we enter the forest, we haven't seen too many other area residents around and about in the forest. Conditions that we consider a bit of a nuisance: muddy trails, hot, humid atmosphere, stinging insects, are a real turn-off for most people. Constant threat of rain keeps a lot of even dedicated trail hikers away. But there are always exceptions, and today an old friend appeared, patiently awaiting his reward of doggy cookies. 

 

Today, as we made our way up one of the hills in the ravine's forest we saw a mess of equipment at the side of the trail, and recognized that the young men who had weeks ago set up a zip line were at it again. One man begins by shimmying up a tree trunk to fasten his end of a line that has to be taut enough to take their weight, while at the other end another of the men is also busy with his end of the line, intent on getting the tension just right. From the upper ridge of the ravine, the zip line extended across the creek to a lower portion of the ravine, across the pollinating meadow with the forest on either side. Hard, exacting work.

 

 

Jackie and Jillie were alarmed at first at their presence and the strange objects they saw beside the trail. Then their attitude changed to curiosity as they sniffed about. We were ourselves curious, speaking briefly to the two men as we passed, earning ourselves broad smiles. No doubt they were feeling a little cautious, hoping that no one would draw attention to what they were doing and invite any kind of unwanted questioning by the local parks and recreation authorities. We urged them to have a care.

 

 

Back home, time to relax briefly in the garden, look about at everything and recognize areas that we missed on our clean-up routine of yesterday. I briefly flirted with tackling the backyard which is also in need of trim-and-tidy, but I had too much to do in the house, so decided to leave it for another day in this coming new week.