I got out for two walks today. First thing in the morning, I met up with Sharon and her husband Adam to give them a bakery tour of downtown. Sharon is a baker from Rochester, Minnesota who I met via bakers4bakers We went to all the good haunts, although there wasn't much nature except for the walk along Wharf Street. The flowers in front of the Empress Hotel are filling in nicely, although those plants are so well tended I worry they don't count as nature.
After supper, Cindy and I walked through Beacon Hill Park and along Dallas Road. Lots more semi-cultivated nature there. We saw Mr. & Mrs. Peacock wandering beside some picnickers and a nice sized deer eating the shrubbery along Dallas Road. We identified some more flowers in the perennial beds and admired the work of a sketching group who were sitting out near the rose garden. I'm inspired to get out and draw more; it's been ages since I've drawn or painted anything.
We both remarked how these evening walks have been a delight this month. So often we want to crash on the couch after supper. We still do, but it feels better to crash after supper and a walk.
And with the late summer light, I was treated to a lovely sunset as I sat down to write this diary entry. So a good outdoor day from start to finish.
![Garden Dahlia with deep purple centre and light purple outer petals, Beacon Hill Park](/img/YXxN96GjGI-400.jpeg)
Garden Dahlias are my new favourite flower