Late summer walk

This is where H and his friend M run, most Saturdays. I joined them last Saturday for a bit of fresh air. Normally I would have loved to take Patsy but having a dog makes it a bit complicated to find a suitable coffee shop after the run/walk.

As far as I can tell the dike/park is named after a local official. To go by the inscription on one of the memorial benches lining the running path, Jerry Sulina died relatively young, before he was 60. The dike walk is part of the Blue Heron Loop which in turn is part of the Trans Canada Trail.



The Loop runs along the North and South Alouette Rivers through some wetlands, so there is plenty of bird and wildlife to be seen.









This was one of the first places in the area I visited soon after I met H. In the summer the ponds are alive with ducks and frogs, and you can see various birds flitting from tree to tree. With autumn coming it's a bit quieter, but the air is so much cooler and fresher it is a joy to be out on a fine cool morning, walking with H and occasionally breaking into a run (Ahem!)



There are farms and houses bordering the walkway and it's fun to watch the chickens that sometimes come running when you pass by.





Back at home the sunflowers are ginormous. They're pretty much the last hurrah of this glorious summer.



There is a blue flower that recently started blooming in the front yard, delicate and lovely.



The tomato leaves are brown and drooping and aren't putting forth any new fruit.



The zucchini made a prodigious effort and gave us a foot-and-a-half long zuke last week. But today, just two new ones. However, I enjoy looking at the dwarf pumpkins that have come up, they're so teensy they are probably best reserved for our autumnal interior decor. The news in BC is some of the pumpkin harvests are early so that explains why these ones turned orange so soon.



A snap of H with his inevitable cup of coffee. These coffee mugs occasionally litter the garden because he likes walking around with a cup. Then he sets it down and forgets to retrieve it, which is why we sometimes don't have enough cups to go around. Darling man (grrr)!



Ah, fall. The season has turned. We are wearing more layers now and the sky gives us more overcast, drizzly days than not. My thoughts are turning to pecan pies and warm sweet cobblers, fleecy bed linens and cosy woolen blazers, my adored boots collection and scarves and mufflers.

Today is Labor Day. H has to work, the house is quiet and the gardens are...kind of muffled, waiting, quiescent. H tells me this is the first time he has had a real (i.e. planned) garden. We have had a magnificent summer harvest. Scratch that, we've had a magnificent summer. Full stop. Long, golden, baking hot summer days and glorious ease. Time now for the mellow, brisk days of September and October.