What an unexpected change today has been from the cooler, most often wetter weather we've been experiencing lately in this season of mid-Fall. Yesterday's frigid atmosphere has become today's almost tropical-in-comparison day of much-appreciated warmth. It was not only we who marvelled at the  change of weather and took advantage of it. We noted swarms of Ladybugs flying about, landing on the sides of the house, the garden sheds, and the sliding door screens -- their ambition clearly to enter the even greater warmth of the house interior.

Irving decided to take advantage of the 19C temp and full sun to proceed with his already-started preparations to repaint the outdoor windowsills. Scraping away the old, flaked paint, checking to  determine the state of the wooden sills for remediation work as required.  As he worked outside on a ladder leaning against the house, kamikaze ladybugs kept flying into him. Jackie and I did some reconnoitering around the back to pick up and store some garden items away for the winter months in the garden sheds.

For dinner last night, in view of how cold it was, I had prepared a bread dough with the intention of baking croissants. For something a little different I used what would normally be an egg-loaf dough, adding grated old cheddar, herbs and sesame seeds and rolled it all out into croissants to accompany the vegetable-barley soup I planned for dinner. Hardly expecting that the day to follow would be one where a summertime salad would be more appropriate. 

When we were both finished with our household chores, we informed an ecstatic Jackie that yes indeed, it was time for our ravine walk. The forecast is for a number of days to follow to continue this warming streak, so Irving will use another day such as this to continue with his window-painting project. And I will wait for a true frost before finally extracting the annuals for compost while completing my own fall garden chores. 

At this time of year -- Thanksgiving -- when families gather to spend time together in a shared harvest meal of gratitude, another component of sharing often occurs, and it's when we frequently see members of the greater extended community venturing forth into the ravine introducing children to seasonal nature. Families comprised of grandparents, their children and their children's children and the family pets weave a procession through the forest trails, as though in a kind of yearly ritual. 

And so it was that we encountered far more people out on the trails -- expectedly -- than we normally would, and enjoyed a number of very genial conversations with others whom we don't normally see in the ravine. Jackie, in his turn, was fairly well taken by surprise at the sight of unfamiliar dogs and possibly far more, to find himself in the company of young children taking advantage of an opportunity to explore the unfamiliarity of a forest landscape.

Such an utterly pleasant day that could elicit complaints from no one, is well shared by a community. There are people, including householders with dog companions who have never set foot into the forest with their dependents, having obviously no interest whatever in relaxing in a leisurely shuffle through woodland trails steeped deep in pine needles and birch, poplar, beech and maple foliage fluttering down from the forest canopy.