The quotidian first order of business holds no appeal for fastidious little Jilly who is never anxious to unnecessarily expose herself to winter cold or summer heat following a comfortable long night's slumber. For his part the only invitation to momentarily exit the house for the backyard is an open door, for Jackie. You never know who he might come across and that first thought obviously occupies his mind as he goes bounding down the deck stairs to greet the day -- and anyone who might be about. It just so happened I decided to accompany them this morning. Mostly because Jillie was balking because at some time in the early morning hours we'd had a heavy rainfall and wet conditions are her nemesis.

 

Out we went all together and the next thing I knew, descending the few steps to the garden, was two fleetingly blurred black shapes, but way ahead of them was a pair of rabbits. The little creatures had been browsing in the backyard, as they usually do, and got their usual rude reaction from the backyard supervisors. There's no contest really, the rabbits are faster than our pups and speedily secure themselves in their warrens under the gardening sheds.

 

We're back into another spate of really hot and humid days. Yesterday we hit 30-degrees Celsius with deep humidity and a cooling wind. I had started the day following breakfast with my usual baking indulgence for the week. It had occurred to me that it might be a little different to put together an apple-raisin cake batter for cupcakes. So I grated two apples, put together the rest of the ingredients and for the first time used a Becel product advertised as a butter alternative. It worked out really well, even for the frosting on the cupcakes which came out light and a trifle moist even though I used all-purpose flour rather than cake-and-pastry flour, in deference to the fruit I was using. We quite enjoyed them.

 

Today is our lazy day. A day left clear of household chores. And since there's time to spare, I decided to tidy  up the garden a bit, starting in the backyard, finishing at the front of the house. We've so many trees planted decades ago that overhang the garden in the front, that leaves are forever falling and gathering on the patio and walkways. We were also delighted to note that the standard Hibiscus tree that Irving had bought to celebrate our 69th wedding anniversary was blooming again, exactly a month following its first bloom.

 

When we left for our early afternoon hike through the forest, it was fairly hot with full sun exposure as we walked up the street to the ravine entrance. Once within the confines of the forest,  however, the tree canopy shielded  us beautifully from the sun. On the upper, flat portions of the ravine, the usual rain puddles haven't had much of a chance to dry, given almost daily rain events. I imagine them to be squiggling with mosquito larvae. The adults did their best to harry us, but we managed. We neither of us use repellent, but even when bitten once we return home the itch will have subsided.

 

Jackie and Jillie are for the most part busy as we make our way through the network of trails. The equivalent of our reading the daily newspapers, their constant sniffing as we proceed, veering off trail now and again to interpret canine news of the neighbourhood and occasionally leaving their own messages.

The bright and beautiful songs of robins permeate the air, complementarily to the fragrance of the blooming serviceberry trees in the forest understory. The robins are contentedly joyous over these wet conditions that bring out the constituents of their favourite mealtimes. Now and again squirrels appear and Jackie and Jillie gain brief diversions. We come across no other  hikers or their companion dogs today , although a man and his pre-teen son on bicycles pass us and though it's a beautiful day we wonder how pleasant an experience that might be for them, hearing the man shouting several times at his son to avoid mishaps as they negotiate a steep descent before they're out of sight and sound.

 

Back home again, we seat ourselves for a comfortable rest in the garden, while Jackie and Jillie mosey about. I had put together a defoliant concoction of water, salt, dish detergent and vinegar in a spray bottle, leaving it in the garage for any time I might remember to use it between the bricks of the walkway and patio where weeds intrude now and again. So I made use of it, and I'll look forward to noticing how ineffective it might be, tomorrow.

 

Finally, we decided to go back into the house, because Jackie and Jillie looked famished, awaiting their afternoon salad treat. And though they had their little bowls full of snap peas, bell pepper and grape tomatoes, while I was busy preparing a refrigerated salad for us for dinner consisting of vegetables and pulses, their impudent little faces appealed for more treats as the irresistible flavours of the vegetables reached their acquisitive little snouts.